Mediagazer: In Defense of Instagram: Why News Photography Goes Well With Vintage-Filtered Cat Pics (Heather Murphy/Slate)

9:55 AM ET, March 8, 2012

Top News:

U.S. Warns Apple, Publishers — Justice Department Threatens Lawsuits, Alleging Collusion Over E-Book Pricing — The Justice Department has warned Apple Inc. and five of the biggest U.S. publishers that it plans to sue them for allegedly colluding to raise the price of electronic books, according to people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Fast Company, Wired, New York Times, Law Blog, 24/7 Wall St., The Week, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, PhoneArena, ZDNet, The Big Picture, The Next Web, CNET, Engadget and TeleRead

Jeff Roberts / paidContent:

The U.S. Threat To Sue Apple And Publishers: What It Means

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

PCC to close in wake of hacking scandal — Media watchdog will be replaced by transitional body until replacement is set up after Leveson inquiry — The Press Complaints Commission is to be shut down after 21 years, closing one of the most controversial chapters in the history of self regulation of the UK newspaper industry.

Discussion: Poynter

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Leveson inquiry: ex-Times legal boss gives evidence on NightJack court bid — Alastair Brett provides written information after claims he kept Times editor James Harding in the dark about high court action — The former Times legal manager, Alastair Brett, has submitted a written evidence …

Don Kaplan / New York Post:

Simmons' $5M salary, ‘antics’ led to WNBC ditching her: sources — There were 5 million reasons to oust Sue Simmons — and they were all in her paycheck. — WNBC/Channel 4 refused to renew the nightly news anchor's contract because she makes a whopping $5 million annual salary …

Discussion: NY Daily News, Poynter and Chickaboomer

Cindy Adams / New York Post:
Channel 4 booting anchorwoman Sue Simmons after 32 years

Discussion: The New York Observer, New York Times, mediabistro.com, PopWatch, B&C, The Awl, TVSpy, Gawker, The Wrap, Capital New York, FishbowlNY, Broadcasting & Cable, City Room, The Huffington Post, Colorlines, Gothamist, City Room and New York Magazine

Richard Huff / NY Daily News: New York TV news mainstay Sue Simmons to say farewell to WNBC audiences in June

Julie Moos / Poynter:

Inquirer: Rendell relinquishes lead in Philly papers purchase, as his group gets exclusive consideration — The group of local leaders interested in buying the Philadelphia papers is now being led by H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, who was asked to take over by former governor Ed Rendell, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Discussion: Philly.com

Jim Romenesko:

Why Tony Auth is leaving the Philadelphia Inquirer — He adds: “I'm looking forward to the future” as digital artist in residence at NewsWorks. (About that job title: “I made that up.") “I have nothing but affection for the Inquirer and everybody there. ... People who aren't in newspapers would say, ‘Oh you can work at home!’

Discussion: Washington Post and NewsWorks

Jean Kaplansky / Digital Book World:

The Shiny New iPad: What it Means for Publishers — Apple's announcement of the new iPad received a lot of attention today, but what does it mean for your business? — Advancements — Changes to the new iPad are primarily hardware-based. The new key features are a quad-core A5X processor …

The Onion:
This Article Generating Thousands Of Dollars In Ad Revenue Simply By Mentioning New iPad

Discussion: TechCrunch, Marketing Pilgrim and TechCrunch

Doree Shafrir / BuzzFeed:
Why I Probably Still Won't Get An iPad

Discussion: New York Times

@alexismadrigal: It's funny that people think iPad stories generate ad revenue for media companies. That's not how it works.

Bloomberg:
Apple Unveils New IPad to Widen Tablet Lead

Discussion: New York Times, TechCrunch, The Atlantic Wire, App Advice, Apple, PC Magazine, Fast Company, Bloomberg Tech Blog, @carr2n, The Verge, MacRumors, The Verge and Digital Book World

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

HBO Deals Keep Fox, Universal Out of New iCloud Movie Service — As widely predicted, Apple has updated its Apple TV accessory. This isn't an overhaul, but an update: The new box offers better resolution, and software upgrades. — The new device will support video in 1080p …

Discussion: Apple, Engadget, MacRumors, Speakeasy, Pocket-lint, Forbes, Home Media Magazine, Online Video News, PC Magazine, ZDNet, Multichannel, CNET, 9to5Mac, Folio, GigaOM, New York Post and The Official Netflix Blog

Greg Sandoval / CNET: For Apple TV, subscription video service still missing

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Here's What a Netflix-Cable Deal Could Look Like: The One That Netflix Just Announced With Apple

Discussion: C21Media, Techland and /Film

Heather Murphy / Slate:

In Defense of Instagram: Why News Photography Goes Well With Vintage-Filtered Cat Pics — The left half of this photo has been placed through an Instagram filter. The right half has not. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. — If its critics are to be believed, Instagram is one of the best deals in the world.

Discussion: Poynter and The FJP

Michael Hinkelman / Philly.com:

Strange bedfellows: Maher jumps to defense of Limbaugh — Liberal political talk show host Bill Maher has jumped to the defense of conservative radio jock Rush Limbaugh. Maher, a comedian and host of HBO's “Real Time With Bill Maher,” defended Limbaugh through Twitter.

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:
Fact-Checking Rush Limbaugh: The Real Impact of the Boycott

Discussion: Boing Boing, Mediaite, Media Matters for America, Company Town, Forbes and The Atlantic Wire

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Fox News Draws the Most ‘Super Tuesday’ Viewers — Fox News Channel easily out-rated its cable news rivals on Tuesday, the Super Tuesday night of primaries and caucuses in 10 states. The channel even topped the only broadcast network, NBC, that produced a prime-time special about the primaries.

Discussion: MediaPost, Multichannel and Mediaite

Kat Stoeffel / The New York Observer:

Copy Cats: The Secret Art Cabal Inside The New York Times — There's an early scene in CQ/CX—a new off-Broadway play about The New York Times that does not pretend any character's resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental—in which the guy based on Jayson Blair encounters …

Discussion: Poynter

Summer Harlow / JOURNALISM IN THE AMERICAS:

UNESCO launches Women Make the News 2012 initiative to highlight rural women's access to information — The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas has endorsed UNESCO's Women Make the News 2012 initiative, to be celebrated Thursday, March 8, in connection with International Women's Day.

Natalie Peck / Hacking inquiry:

Ex-senior Met Police officer accuses newspaper group of skewing investigation into MP — A former senior police officer has accused a newspaper group of trying to skew an investigation into a Conservative minister at the Leveson Inquiry today. — Bob Quick, former assistant commissioner at the Met …