Mediagazer: Stephen Colbert Suspends Production of His Show (Sam Schechner/Wall Street Journal)

8:15 PM ET, February 16, 2012

Top News:

Julie Bosman / Media Decoder:

HarperCollins Is Said to Pay Close to $4 Million for Amanda Knox Memoir — Updated Four months after being freed from an Italian prison and cleared of charges that she murdered her roommate, Amanda Knox has sold her memoir for close to $4 million, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

Discussion: The New York Observer, Mediaite, newsfeed.time.com, Hollywood Life, Jezebel, Gawker, GalleyCat and Vanity Fair

Jim Romenesko:

You shouldn't lie to David Carr and NYT — By Wednesday morning, Chozick and Carr had multiple sources confirming Osberg's meeting with editors, and the two knew they were going to use it in their story. “So that was one of my first questions [to Osberg]: 'Did you hold the meeting with the three editors? …

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Ed Rendell weighs in on Inquirer bid — My colleague Jennifer Epstein spoke to former Pennsylvania Govenor Ed Rendell this morning about his interest in the Philadelphia Media Network. — His comments in full, beginning with his decision to pursue ownership:

New York Times:
Interference Seen in Philadelphia Papers

Discussion: The Editorialiste, The Awl, Gannett Blog and Poynter

Buzz Bissinger / New York Times:
Who Will Tell Philadelphia's Story?

Discussion: Joel On The Road and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Brian Cathcart / Guardian:

News International needs to decontaminate the Sun brand — Newspapers presenting themselves as victims caught in a storm whipped up by the Leveson inquiry won't wash with the public — If you had told me just a few weeks ago that these five things would come to pass, I would have laughed in your face.

Discussion: totalpolitics.com and Press Gazette

Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:
Murdoch Set to Face Sun Newsroom After Arrests

Discussion: Guardian, Company Town, @tom_watson, @michaelwolffnyc, The Independent, Capital New York and Deadline.com

Josh Halliday / Guardian:
‘Journalists’ employers must protect sources'

Discussion: Jon Slattery

The Huffington Post:
Neville Thurlbeck, News Of The World Reporter, Uses Blog To Launch NUJ Recruitment Campaign

Discussion: Neville Thurlbeck

Lena Groeger / ProPublica: Murdoch's Circle: The Growing News International Scandal

Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:

Stephen Colbert Suspends Production of His Show … Stephen Colbert has suspended production of his satirical comedy show temporarily because of an emergency in Mr. Colbert's family, according to people familiar with the show. — The show is expected to resume production soon, perhaps as early as next week, the people added.

Discussion: Media & Entertainment, @producermatthew, Forbes, The Wrap, Politico, Rolling Stone, Mediaite, The New York Observer, UPROXX, Yahoo! News, CNBC, newsfeed.time.com, WebProNews, Media Decoder and The Raw Story

Tim Mak / @timkmak:
POLITICO confirms Colbert will not air Wed/Thurs “due to unforeseen circumstances,” per response from Comedy Central. No further deets

Discussion: @timkmak, @timkmak and @producermatthew

Robert Rosenthal / Center for Investigative Reporting:

CIR receives $1 million MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions — The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced today that the Center for Investigative Reporting is one of 15 organizations in six countries that has received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.

Discussion: Poynter and macfound.org

Stu Woo / Wall Street Journal:

Bay Citizen Aims to Regroup, Turn Page — Chairman of Nonprofit News Group Says Merger Deal Is in Keeping With Civic Mission, but Fate of Key Alliance Is Unclear — The nonprofit news outlet Bay Citizen launched in 2010 amid worries that with a shrinking newspaper industry, San Francisco could be left without enough local coverage.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest and San Francisco Chronicle

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Twitter + Robots = Instant Stories, No Humans Required — Hey, how's Newt Gingrich doing on Twitter? — You could try answering this question yourself by combing through Twitter and looking at what Newt says there, and what people are saying about Newt there. But that would take time and effort.

Discussion: WebProNews

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

A Newark funeral home braces for the last rites of Whitney Houston, the media event of its career — The city of Newark, N.J. is swarming with reporters and camera crews now that the body of Whitney Houston has been transported there from Los Angeles, where Houston died of as-yet unknown causes Saturday afternoon.

Discussion: The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable, Mediaite, Speakeasy and Forbes

Andrew Wallenstein / On The Air:

CBS producing for Netflix? Oh, the horror! — If it's not too late for CBS to take pitches for original series it's cooking up for Netflix, has CEO Leslie Moonves considered a story based on the classic character Frankenstein? — Because if Moonves follows through on the deal he indicated …

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
CBS May Produce New Show for Netflix

Discussion: Inside TV, The Wrap and MarketingVox News & Trends

Erik Wemple:

Politico TV coming to a station on your dial? — TV Newser reports that Politico late last year filed a fresh application to trademark “Politico TV.” The filing, reports the site, indicates that Politico “has intent to use it.” — Politico isn't commenting on the matter.

Discussion: FishbowlDC and TVNewser

Dylan Byers / Politico:

PolitiFact without the ‘Truth-O-Meter’ — PolitiFact, the Tampa Bay Times fact-checking project, has come under fire this week for a ruling that seems to contradict common sense. Yesterday, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow — PolitiFact's most vocal critic — went to town on the group for claiming …

Discussion: Saint Petersblog and The Huffington Post

Rem Rieder / American Journalism Review:
Ignoring the Facts at PolitiFact

Discussion: Saint Petersblog, Erik Wemple, The Huffington Post, Poynter and Politico

James Crugnale / Mediaite:

Pat Buchanan Quits MSNBC: I Was ‘Blacklisted, But Not Beaten’ — Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan officially called it quits at MSNBC, writing in The American Conservative that “My days as a political analyst at MSNBC have come to an end.” — RELATED: Bill O'Reilly Defends MSNBC's Right To Fire Pat Buchanan

Discussion: The American Conservative

Jon Russell / The Next Web:

Blockbuster Australian film will become first to premiere on Facebook in the US — Facebook is about to get it first box office coup as Tomorrow, When the War Began, an Australian smash hit title, is to become the first film to be released on the social network at the same time that it hits cinemas in the US.

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Jeremy Lin Is Shopping a Memoir. Start the Bidding! — Jeremy Lin. Image by Getty Images via @daylife — There aren't a lot of 23-year-olds who could get a million dollars for writing a book about a life mostly spent studying and playing basketball. But Jeremy Lin isn't just any 23-year-old.

Discussion: Forbes and The Atlantic Wire