Mediagazer: Daily Telegraph publisher's chief attended Downing Street dinner (Josh Halliday/Guardian)

5:30 PM ET, March 26, 2012

Top News:

Al Sharpton's Conflicting Roles in the Trayvon Martin Case — He leads a Trayvon Martin rally and covers it for MSNBC. — Al Sharpton, who has been crusading in racial cases for three decades, has claimed a starring role in the Trayvon Martin case. — He's also assumed a starring role in MSNBC's coverage of the case.

Discussion: Mediaite, Forbes, TVNewser and Tampa Bay Times

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

For Martin's Case, a Long Route to National Attention — Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old, was fatally shot on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. The next day his death was a top story on the Fox-affiliated television station in Orlando, the closest big city to Sanford.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Daily Caller, Media Decoder, The Informer, Chickaboomer and Mediaite

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

Sourcing Trayvon Martin “Photos” From Stormfront — Business Insider runs a linkbait post with a graphic of Trayvon Martin images it found on the neonazi website Stormfront. — It doesn't run them to debunk them, mind you, but to back up its thesis that “The Media Is Getting the Trayvon Martin Story Wrong …

Discussion: Riptide 2.0 and Business Insider

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:
ESPN drops ban on staff posting pics in hoodies

Discussion: The Wrap and The Maynard Institute

Patrick B. Pexton / Washington Post:

Is a paywall coming to The Washington Post? — Will you soon have to start paying to use The Post's Web site? No, not in the short term, and maybe never, if I read the tea leaves correctly. Paying for online or digital content (called a “paywall” in media jargon) is much in the news right …

Sarah Marshall / Journalism.co.uk: Mission America: How the Guardian's US move has added 4m readers

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Don't build a paywall, create a velvet rope instead

Discussion: Guardian, NetNewsCheck Latest, Noted and Guardian, Thanks:@mathewi

Jim Romenesko:

Philly.com 'doesn't much like news' — Former Philadelphia Inquirer metro columnist Tom Ferrick calls Philly.com “an anomaly among the newspaper-related web sites in America in that it doesn't much like news.” The people behind the site know they can't get millions of unique visitors with news stories …

Discussion: Metropolis, The Editorialiste and @davidfolkenflik

Dave Davies / newsworks:

More layoffs coming at Philly papers? — I really, really don't want to write this. But I've learned from a credible source that the management of Philadelphia Media Network, which owns the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com, envisions dumping another 35 people from the payroll over the next six months.

Discussion: Poynter

Lauren Collins / New Yorker:

How the Daily Mail conquered England. — On Thursday, January 19th, the front page of the Daily Mail carried a story about Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland. During Goodwin's tenure, from 2000 to 2008, R.B.S. quadrupled its assets …

Discussion: Fashionista, @lisaocarroll, Poynter and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Dominic Rushe / Guardian: Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre: American press ‘complacent’ and ‘self-regarding’

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Santorum ‘ready to take on the NY Times’ — My colleague Maggie Haberman reports late Sunday night: Rick Santorum's line earlier in his speech in Wisconsin tonight - about Mitt Romney being the “worst” Republican in the country to put up against President Obama - is a version he's used …

Discussion: Politico, The Huffington Post, KBOI, Mediaite, FishbowlNY, The Jane Dough and Chickaboomer

Juana Summers / Politico:
Rick Santorum lashes out at New York Times reporter

Discussion: @jeffzeleny, The Caucus, Politico, @nytjim, ThinkProgress, Guardian, @mlcalderone, @jaketapper and Capital Tonight

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Daily Telegraph publisher's chief attended Downing Street dinner — Murdoch MacLennan went to ‘thank-you dinner for major donors’ two months after 2010 general election — Murdoch MacLennan, chief executive of the publisher behind the Daily Telegraph, attended a previously undisclosed …

Discussion: Media Week and Press Gazette

Donna Bowater / Telegraph:
Cash for access: Rupert Murdoch calls for independent inquiry into lobbying row

Discussion: @lisaocarroll, @dansabbagh and Guardian

Mark Hughes / Telegraph:

BBC to make fresh claims of Rupert Murdoch firm law-breaking — Rupert Murdoch is braced for further damaging allegations against his News Corporation empire in a BBC documentary that alleges one of his companies broke the law to “bring down” a commercial rival.

Discussion: Guardian and Guardian

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Leveson inquiry: Met police may have to log all press meetings

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Lauren Indvik / Mashable!:

Why Do Magazines Look So Terrible on the iPad 3? — As with any high-profile product release, Apple's new iPad device has been peppered with complaints since reaching consumers' hands on March 16. Among them: that magazines look terrible on the iPad 3′s high-resolution display.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Adweek, Forbes, Business Insider and eMedia Vitals

Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:

The “Sharing” Mirage — This week's most stunning statistic: In February, Facebook drove more traffic to the Guardian web site than Google did. This fact was proffered (I couldn't bring myself to write shared) at the Changing Medias Summit Conference by Tanya Corduroy …

Discussion: Guardian

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Washington Memo: Supreme Court Goes Predigital for Health Law Arguments — WASHINGTON — There was a time — before Twitter, cable TV, bloggers and mobile apps — when political reporters in Washington waited until the end of a big campaign rally, court case or Congressional hearing …

Discussion: The Week, The Caucus and CNN