Mediagazer: Phone-hacking documents ‘confirm that Labour government was briefed’ (David Leigh/Guardian)

3:00 PM ET, March 5, 2012

Top News:

Rush Limbaugh, AOL Part Ways — WASHINGTON — AOL, the parent company of The Huffington Post, has become the eighth advertiser to pulls its money from Rush Limbaugh's syndicated radio program since he called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke, who spoke out in favor of contraception coverage, a “slut” and a “prostitute” last week.

Discussion: AllThingsD, Gothamist, Boing Boing, The Consumerist, Daily Kos, South Florida Daily Blog, Hispanic Business Magazine and The Newspaper Guild

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Limbaugh Advertisers Flee Show Amid Storm — Emboldened by Rush Limbaugh's public apology over the weekend to a law school student whom he had called a “slut” and a “prostitute,” critics of the radio talk show host are intensifying their online campaign against his advertisers.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Forbes, @brianstelter, Media Decoder, entertainment.time.com, The Maddow Blog, Washington Post, Erik Wemple, Indecision Forever, Michelle Malkin, Runnin' Scared, Poynter, The Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, BuzzFeed, @carr2n, TVNewser and Forbes

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Rush Limbaugh should take lessons from Imus, liberal talk-show host Shultz — Did Rush Limbaugh just have his Don Imus Moment? — With more sponsors bailing and Republican lawmakers adding to the condemnation of the talk-show host on Sunday, the flap over Limbaugh's comments …

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Advertisers' Boycott Won't Dent Rush Limbaugh's Earnings — The eight (and counting) advertisers who have pulled their sponsorship from “The Rush Limbaugh Show” to protest its host's sexist attack on a female law student are making headlines. They're making a statement.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Daily Kos

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder: As Advertisers Recoil, Limbaugh Says ‘So Be It’

David Leigh / Guardian:

Met chief dined with ex-NoW deputy after meeting Guardian editor — Sir Paul Stephenson tried to persuade Alan Rusbridger to halt hacking investigation and then had dinner with Neil Wallis — The then commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Sir Paul Stephenson, had dinner …

Discussion: Press Gazette

Neville Thurlbeck:

Corruption. The Agenda to Demonise News International — THERE is an increasing tendency to demonise News International titles for offences which rival titles have been equally guilty of. For evidence of this, we need look no further than the Daily Mirror.

Discussion: Daily Mail, Guy Fawkes' blog and Press Gazette

David Leigh / Guardian:
Phone-hacking documents ‘confirm that Labour government was briefed’

Discussion: Press Gazette

Devlin Barrett / Wall Street Journal:
News Corp. Probe Turns to Russia

Discussion: Guardian, Company Town, Financial Times, Deadline.com and New York Magazine

Mark Sweney / Guardian: Sun on Sunday estimated to have lost about 500,000 sales

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:
Leveson inquiry hears of alleged ‘trade’ between press and police

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Natalie Peck / Hacking inquiry: Former senior cop blames the force's ‘closed mindset’ for hacking investigation failure

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Yahoo's New CEO Preps Major Restructuring, Including Significant Layoffs — According to multiple sources both inside and outside the Silicon Valley Internet giant, Yahoo's CEO Scott Thompson is preparing a massive restructuring of the company, including layoffs that are likely to number in the thousands.

Discussion: Deadline.com, Forbes, InvestorPlace, Mercury News, Poynter, Guardian, msnbc.com, Mashable!, Beyond Search, WebProNews, Business Insider and ZDNet

John M. Clarke Jr / Forbes:
Yahoo Makes Move For Olympic Broadcast Rights

Discussion: TechCrunch and Globe and Mail

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

PEJ: Newspapers are losing $7 in print revenue for every $1 in digital gained — Revenue is just one of the problems facing American newspapers, says a new Project for Excellence in Journalism study. The culture at newspapers, and not just on the editorial side, is as much an impediment …

Discussion: Adweek, Journalism.org and Free Press

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

Pew: Papers' Biggest Revenue Threat Is Inertia; Second Biggest Is Action — Before we get into the results of the latest detailed look at how U.S. newspapers are faring on the digital revenue front, let's get one serious qualm out of the way: the Project for Excellence in Journalism's 16-month study …

Discussion: Guardian, Media Decoder, Gawker, Journalism.org, Shaping the Future …, Fortune, PewResearch.org, Nieman Journalism Lab, eMedia Vitals and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Current TV Announces Morning Block With Bill Press And Stephanie Miller — Al Gore's Current TV is taking the next step toward fulfilling its promise of a 24-hour slate of progressive news and commentary with the announcement that the network will debut a morning programming block featuring …

Discussion: rbr.com, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, TVNewser, mediabistro.com, Chickaboomer, The Huffington Post and FishbowlDC

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder: Current TV to Simulcast Liberal Radio Talk Shows

Wall Street Journal:

Plans for ‘TV Everywhere’ Bog Down in Tangled Pacts — It was dubbed “TV Everywhere.” But for many TV viewers, it has had trouble going anywhere. — Nearly three years after Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. kicked off a drive to make cable programming available online for cable subscribers …

Discussion: The Verge and Gizmodo

Neal Ungerleider / Fast Company:

Bloomberg Expanding Tech Coverage — The financial news giant is launching a tech vertical, several new blogs, and creating original video content. — The crowded tech news scene will become even more crowded this week—Bloomberg has announced a major overhaul of their tech coverage.

Lucy Tesseras / New Media Age:
Bloomberg Businessweek to launch first iPhone app

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Tim Carmody / Wired:

Nook in the UK: Barnes & Noble to Host London Event for Developers — Digitally altered promotional image from Barnes & Noble — Barnes & Noble is sponsoring an event for developers in London on March 19, possibly signaling a spring entry of its Nook e-reading and tablet devices into the UK and Europe.

Discussion: Mobile Monday London and The Next Web