Mediagazer: Why digital-native media will (almost) always win (Mathew Ingram/GigaOM)

10:50 PM ET, April 4, 2012

Top News:

James Murdoch's BSkyB exit puts Rupert in firing line — (Reuters) - James Murdoch's exit from the chairmanship of BSkyB moves his father Rupert into the firing line in Britain, just as an inquiry into a phone-hacking scandal turns its focus on his peculiar influence in the country.

Discussion: Guardian

Michael Wolff / Guardian:
Rupert Murdoch's American media immunity

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab and FishbowlNY

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:
News International misses deadline to file its accounts

Discussion: NPR and AllThingsD

Paul McNally / Journalism.co.uk:
QC defends scope of original phone-hacking prosecution

Discussion: Press Gazette

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
DPP says there was ‘pushback’ from Met over hacking investigation

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Lucy Manning / ITV:
Report likely to accuse hacking witnesses of misleading parliament

Discussion: paidContent

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

New high score: How the NYT created its “stupid game” — When Jon Huang was younger he was the type of kid who spent his time making mods for Duke Nukem 3D. So it makes a kind of sense he's now turned The New York Times into its own kind of shoot 'em up. — Huang was the multimedia producer behind …

Discussion: Co.Create, Gothamist, FishbowlNY and The Huffington Post

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Stupid game lets you destroy parts of NYT story about stupid games — The Times has figured out a great way to increase time-on-site (and destroy our productivity) by illustrating a story about our obsession with “stupid games” with a game that lets you shoot and destroy parts of its website.

Discussion: The 6th Floor, New York Times, The Verge, Mediaite, Engadget, Betabeat and AllThingsD

Media Decoder:

Marimow to Return as Editor of Philadelphia Inquirer — William K. Marimow, who served as top editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer from 2006 to 2010, will rejoin the paper in the same role in a move that is expected to be announced this afternoon. — His appointment comes days …

Discussion: Politico, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Philly.com, Poynter and Off Mic

Paul Nussbaum / Philly.com:
PMN's new owners meet the employees, discuss the future

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

John Hudson / The Atlantic Wire:

Ben Smith: What I Read — How do people deal with the torrent of information pouring down on us all? What sources can't they live without? We regularly reach out to prominent figures in media, entertainment, politics, the arts and the literary world, to hear their answers.

Jim Romenesko:

WSJ employees told to fill out code of conduct questionnaire — Employees of the Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones publications were reminded today to take the Dow Jones Code of Conduct Questionnaire. Rupert Murdoch's company says it's “designed to remind all of us at Dow Jones …

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:
Reuters editor in chief received $2.7 million in 2011

Discussion: Reuters

Jim Romenesko:

Gannett announces 2Q furloughs for USA Today employees — Gannett community publishing division president Bob Dickey tells his employees that “I am happy to announce USCP [U.S. community publishing] will not institute furloughs in the second quarter.”

Discussion: Politico

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder:

Reed Hastings Will Get His HBO Go as Comcast Nears Deal on Xbox — Updated Comcast and HBO are close to finalizing a deal to make the HBO Go app available on Xbox, according to several people familiar with the negotiations. — The app, which offers all of the pay cable channel's shows …

Discussion: VentureBeat, The Verge and Multichannel

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Huffington Gains More Control in AOL Revamping — One year after its acquisition by AOL, The Huffington Post has become a source of growth for the beleaguered company, which is still trying to shed its dial-up Internet image. Now, in what Arianna Huffington characterizes as a move to keep …

Discussion: @mathewi

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Pottermore sold over $1.5m worth of Harry Potter e-books in 3 days — Pottermore sales were “considerably higher than I expected,” said Pottermore CEO Charlie Redmayne on a Radio Litopia show, “The Naked Book,” this afternoon. — Redmayne said Pottermore sold over £1 million worth of e-books …

Discussion: TeleRead and AllThingsD

David Barboza / New York Times:

Flattering News Coverage Has a Price in China — SHANGHAI — China is notorious for censoring politically delicate news coverage. But it is more than willing to let flattering news about Western and Asian businesses appear in print and broadcast media — if the price is right.

Discussion: Media Decoder and Reason

Dan Zak / Washington Post:

Woodward and Bernstein: Could the Web generation uncover a Watergate-type scandal? — The gabby, gray-haired grand poobahs of journalism sprang from the back flaps of their book jackets onto a real-life panel Tuesday afternoon in the air-conditioned guts of the Marriott Wardman Park …

Discussion: ShortFormBlog

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Why digital-native media will (almost) always win — Much of the traditional media business has been in the doldrums for some time now, a victim of declining circulation and the free-fall of print advertising that has sucked the oxygen out of many traditional business models.

Discussion: paidContent, Financial Times, One Man & His Blog, eMedia Vitals, Poynter and The FJP

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:

New ASNE figures show percentage of minorities in newspaper newsrooms continues to decline — The number of minorities in the U.S. is growing, but in newspaper newsrooms it continues to creep downward. — New ASNE figures show that the percentage of minorities in newsrooms is now 12.32 percent.

Discussion: rjionline.org, Gannett Blog, Jon Slattery and Reflections of a Newsosaur

Austin Carr / Fast Company:

Zite, CNN Launch Publisher Program To Ease Cease-And-Desist Concerns — Last April Fools' Day, publishers from Time Inc. to the Washington Post Company sent fast-growing startup Zite an aggressive cease-and-desist letter. The publishers weren't joking, accusing Zite's app …

Discussion: GigaOM, Adweek, VentureBeat, CNET and Poynter

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:

Why Don't Romney or Obama Have Anything to Say to the News Industry? — The president and his challenger both addressed a roomful of media executives with jokes and criticism rather than serious consideration. — Mitt Romney addressed the Newspaper Association of America on Wednesday …

Discussion: The Week

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Yahoo Cuts 2,000 Jobs in ‘Urgent’ Restructuring — Purple people eater? (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife) — The anticipated wave of layoffs at Yahoo has arrived, and it's as big as promised. — The Sunnywale, Calif.-based internet giant announced plans to eliminate 2,000 jobs, or about 14% of its workforce of 14,000.

Discussion: AllThingsD, BBC, Yahoo! Pressroom Home, Mashable!, CNET, mnilive.com and BtoB Magazine

Ruth Spencer / Guardian:

Fake tornado photos cause Twitter storm for Buzzfeed — The social news site Buzzfeed was criticised on Twitter for failing to check the authenticity of some tornado photos — Frightening TV footage and scenes of destruction captivated Americans for several hours late Tuesday afternoon …

Discussion: BuzzFeed