Mediagazer: Another Wisconsin paper says staffers signed recall petitions (Jim Romenesko)

12:45 PM ET, March 28, 2012

Top News:

Murdoch's Scandal — FRONTLINE goes inside the struggle over the future of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch's reputation and his family's fortune.

Discussion: Guardian, PBS, MetaFilter and Vanity Fair

Matt Siegel / New York Times:

Murdoch's News Ltd. Rejects TV Piracy Claim in Australia — SYDNEY — Rupert Murdoch's embattled media empire found itself facing fresh controversy on Wednesday, after an Australian newspaper published an investigative report alleging that News Corporation had engaged a special unit …

Discussion: Media Decoder, Deadline.com, Reuters, The Independent and Australian Finance Review

Josh Halliday / Guardian: Australian minister wants News Corp inquiry

Press Gazette: Thurlbeck: Phone-hacking was rife across Fleet Street

Michael White / Guardian:
Rupert Murdoch: a man of prices, not values

Discussion: The Journalism Foundation and Guardian

Michael Wolff / Guardian:

Mobile and the news media's imploding business model — Smartphones will soon be the primary news source for most Americans. That's if anyone can still make money by reporting — Pew research has a new survey showing that tablets and smart phones are now 27% of Americans' primary news source.

Discussion: Forbes and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Committee to Protect Journalists:

Two independent journalists killed in Syria — Syrian security forces shot and killed two freelance British journalists of Algerian descent and wounded a third during an attack on Monday in the town of Darkoush near the Turkish border, according to news reports and a witness interviewed by CPJ.

Discussion: Guardian and The Journalism Foundation

Elizabeth Flock / Washington Post:
Are Syrian citizen journalists embellishing the truth?

Discussion: MediaShift Idea Lab

Sarah Marshall / Journalism.co.uk:
Two British freelance journalists killed in Syria, CPJ reports

Discussion: ArabSaga and Guardian

Mike Armstrong / Philly.com:

Investor group's offer for PMN: $60 million — A group of local investors reportedly has offered to pay $60 million to acquire the parent company of The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com. — Those investors, led by businessman Lewis Katz and insurance executive …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Associated Press:
Perelman Drops out of Philly Newspaper Group

Discussion: Philly.com

Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:

University of Texas Student Paper Wins ‘Most Racist Trayvon Martin Cartoon’ Contest — Here's cartoonist Stephanie Eisner's latest political cartoon published in the Daily Texan, the student paper at the University of Texas- Austin. You can see “The Media” there, telling its lies again …

Discussion: Daily Texan, Business Insider, Austinist, Inside Higher Ed, Human Events, The Daily Texan blogs, Hair Balls and The Huffington Post

Dashiell Bennett / The Atlantic Wire:

The New Republic Tears Down Its Pay Wall — Readers and pundits have been wondering how a new owner might change the venerable Washington political magazine, The New Republic, and they just got a early answer. A post on the magazine's blog announced early this morning that the website will drop its pay wall for recent articles.

Discussion: paidContent, The New Republic and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check

Alicia Shepard / Poynter:

Chicago Public Radio to examine what went wrong with ‘This American Life’ story on Apple — The leaders of Chicago Public Radio and “This American Life” will conduct an in-depth examination into why they had to retract perhaps the most popular episode in the show's nearly 17-year-history.

Tim Carmody / Wired:

Bigger Than Agency, Bigger Than E-Books: The Case Against Apple and Publishers — Apple and five of the “Big Six” trade publishers are reportedly under investigation by the Department of Justice for antitrust violations. The point of concern is the five publishers' staggered but identical move …

Jim Romenesko:

Another Wisconsin paper says staffers signed recall petitions — The Wisconsin State Journal says six of its employees signed petitions calling for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker. One signer is staff photographer, three are imaging technicians, and two are part-time sports clerks/writers.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Poynter

Kelly McBride / Poynter:

ESPN should find ways to cover the Trayvon Martin story rather than become part of it — ESPN.com's Jemele Hill did a very nice, tight column this week explaining how the lives of professional athletes are connected to the life and death of Trayvon Martin. — Contrast that to ESPN's bouncing …

Discussion: ESPN, Techdirt, Jack Shafer and The Newspaper Guild

Daniel Frankel / paidContent:

Is Cable's Long, Glorious Ratings Run Finally Over? — For more than three decades, cable TV programmers enjoyed steady ratings gains—mostly at the expense of broadcasters. Inspired efforts like AMC's Mad Men and FX's Sons of Anarchy notwithstanding, those steady ratings increases sometimes belied …

Discussion: mediabistro.com