Mediagazer: Spotify: Staggering music releases (like movies) won't work (Greg Sandoval/CNET)

7:20 PM ET, February 29, 2012

Top News:

James Murdoch Steps Down as Executive Chairman, News International to Focus on Expanding International TV Businesses — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—News Corporation today announced that, following his relocation to the Company's headquarters in New York, James Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer …

Steve Myers / Poynter:

James Murdoch resignation revives News Corp. succession parlor game — James Murdoch's resignation as head of News Corp.'s British publishing unit marks the end of his time as Rupert Murdoch's heir apparent and opens the door for further speculation about who will succeed Rupert Murdoch as head of the company.

Discussion: Guardian, New York Times, Media & Entertainment, Media Week, MediaPost, Mixed Media and Globe and Mail

Robert Peston / BBC:

Murdochs: Exit James, enter Rupert — James Murdoch will remain chairman of BSkyB — “You don't need more than one Murdoch in charge”. — That is what a senior News Corporation executive said to me in explanation for why James Murdoch has quit as chairman of News International, the UK operations of the Murdochs' News Corporation.

Paul Sonne / Wall Street Journal:
James Murdoch Steps Down as Executive Chair of News International

Discussion: Company Town

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder: Investor Group Again Urges Sotheby's to Remove James Murdoch From Board

Dominic Rushe / Guardian: News Corp shareholders step up bid to oust James Murdoch

Edmund Lee / Bloomberg:

News Corp. Executives Weighed Spinoff of Newspaper Publishing, Carey Says — News Corp. (NWSA), facing inquiries by authorities over hacking and bribery at its U.K. newspapers, has discussed spinning off its publishing business, according to Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey.

Discussion: paidContent:UK, Guardian, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, @dansabbagh, Capital New York, Noted and Guardian

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Brooks ‘had her phone hacked twice a week’

Discussion: @megan, The Independent and Guardian

Matthew Holehouse / Telegraph:
Leveson Inquiry: phone hacking police identified 418 potential victims in 2006

Discussion: Guardian

Seth Godin / paidContent:

Who Decides What Gets Sold In The Bookstore? — We can probably agree that the local supermarket has no moral or ethical or business obligation to sell cherry-flavored Cap'n Crunch. If the owner doesn't like cherries, she doesn't have to sell them. — And the cereal maker shouldn't work under …

Discussion: TUAW, TechCrunch, WebProNews, App Advice, TeleRead, GeekWire, Joho the Blog, Daring Fireball, Melville House Books and The Digital Reader

Steve Myers / Poynter:

IRS delays make it hard for nonprofit news sites to build their businesses — Anyone with a cursory knowledge of the nonprofit news field knows the big players: VoiceofSanDiego.org, Texas Tribune, MinnPost, ProPublica, et. al. — You probably haven't heard of the Arlington Mercury or the San Diego Newsroom.

Discussion: J-Lab and The Newspaper Guild

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Facebook Pitches Advertisers on a New Ad Model — Facebook sold $3 billion worth of ads last year, but it's still feeling its way around the ad business. — And the ad business still isn't sure what to make of Facebook: Grand new marketing paradigm, or a collection of 800 million people …

Discussion: paidContent, PC Magazine, WebProNews, Forbes, Heard on the Runway, App Advice, Betabeat, eMedia Vitals and Noted

Stephen Galloway / Hollywood Reporter:

Whatever Happened to Ted Turner? — The “Mouth of the South” is no longer as he devotes his time (and $1 billion) to the U.N., jets between 28 homes and four girlfriends, misses Jane Fonda and opens up to THR about Rupert, Jerry and his abuse as a child. Says a friend: “He's definitely changed.”

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Post, Chickaboomer, TVNewser and The Daily Caller

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

NYT guild members have ‘quiet’ protest outside Page One meeting — Newspaper Guild members at The New York Times received this notice Tuesday: … Quiet protest, everybody! Sorry: (quiet protest, everybody). You can vigorously rustle your copy of the Observer, or tap out a polite tweet on your phone (keyboard clicks off, please).

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Steven Church / Bloomberg:

Tribune Paid Bankruptcy Advisers $233.3 Million Since Filing in 2008 — Tribune Co. (TRB), the biggest news media company in bankruptcy, paid lawyers and other advisers $233.3 million since filing for court protection from creditors in December 2008. — The two main law firms …

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:

Scoop: Less than 1M Google TV devices in use — It's widely known Google TV hasn't exactly been a success story. Early CE partner Logitech lost millions on the device, and consumer feedback was mostly negative after the first devices reached the market in late 2010.

Discussion: the Econsultancy blog, BGR, SlashGear, Online Video News, Softpedia News, Electronista and Business Insider

Michael Arrington / Uncrunched:

Helpful Tips For Keeping Your Job As Editor Of TechCrunch — I rarely get writers block, but I've aborted multiple attempts to write about the leadership change at TechCrunch yesterday. So I'm going to keep it simple. — I'm exceptionally bummed that so many people have left TechCrunch.

Discussion: TPM Idea Lab, Marketing Pilgrim, WebProNews, TechCrunch, Erick Schonfeld, VentureBeat and Gawker

Jim Romenesko:

Vanity Fair profiles Washington Post … Katharine Weymouth … More after the jump — Vanity Fair release — SARAH ELLISON ON THE EMBATTLED WASHINGTON POST — New York, N.Y.—"I wouldn't. I can afford to be sentimental," Warren Buffett tells Vanity Fair when asked if he would ever sell …

Discussion: Erik Wemple and Poynter