Mediagazer: Bill Marimow will take new approach to old job as Philadelphia Inquirer editor (Andrew Beaujon/Poynter)

10:25 AM ET, April 5, 2012

Top News:

Sky News admits hacking emails of ‘canoe man’ — Sky News has admitted that one of its senior executives authorised a journalist to conduct email hacking on two separate occasions that it said were “in the public interest” - even though intercepting emails is a prima facie breach of the Computer Misuse Act …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, Guardian, ZDNet, ThinkProgress, @jackofkent, @dansabbagh, Globe and Mail and BBC

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Assange: PCC stood by as I was libelled — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has launched an attack on the Press Complaints Commission, claiming he has been subjected to inaccurate and negative media coverage “possibly on a scale not seen since the abuse of the McCanns”.

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

NoW closure cost Murdoch nearly £250m — The closure of News of the World has so far cost Rupert Murdoch almost £250m, with the publisher admitting that the final bill could well be significantly more. News Group Newspapers, the parent company of The Sun and now defunct News of the World …

Reuters:
James Murdoch's BSkyB exit puts Rupert in firing line

Discussion: Financial Times and Guardian

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: AllThingsD, FishbowlNY, TVNewser and @mathewi

Peter Lauria / Reuters:

Exclusive: Low ratings could end cable deal for Gore's Current TV — Al Gore's Current TV has bigger problems to deal with than a potential lawsuit from fired news anchor Keith Olbermann - namely not getting kicked off Time Warner Cable for low ratings. According to three sources with knowledge …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The New York Observer and Business Insider

Media Decoder:

Marimow to Return as Editor of Philadelphia Inquirer — William K. Marimow, who served as the top editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer from 2006-10, will rejoin the paper in the same role, the company said on Wednesday. — His appointment, effective May 1, comes two days …

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

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Bill Marimow will take new approach to old job as Philadelphia Inquirer editor — Bill Marimow says his demotion in 2010 from Philadelphia Inquirer editor to reporter was “revelatory” because it allowed him to return full-time to reporting, the job for which he won Pulitzer prizes in the '70s and '80s.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, Gawker and Free Press

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

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Associated Press:

USA Today Begins More Staff Furloughs To Cut Costs — McLEAN, Va. (AP) — USA Today is requiring most of its staff to take an unpaid week off to save money, as the nation's second-largest newspaper struggles to sell more advertising. The furloughs, which were announced Wednesday …

Jim Romenesko:
Gannett announces 2Q furloughs for USA Today employees

Discussion: Politico

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.

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

Steve Myers / Poynter:
Stupid game lets you destroy parts of NYT story about stupid games

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

Wall Street Journal:

Settlement Near on E-Book Pricing — Talks to resolve U.S. and European price-fixing probes into e-books are heating up, with three international publishers inclined to settle the matter, according to people familiar with the matter. — Apple Inc., another target of the investigation …

Discussion: CNET, Wired, Thad McIlroy, Melville House Books and Bookseller news

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

USA Today Bets on Adaptive Mobile — Newspapers are experimenting with different ways of distributing content on tablets. When it comes to mobile, most publications rush to replicate their content via an app. USA Today is thinking different. — USA Today is betting on an adaptive experience that morphs with the device.

SportsBusiness Daily:

Will Fox launch all-sports network? — Fox Sports executives may have been publicly downplaying reports that it is looking to launch a competitor to ESPN, but the idea has gained a lot of momentum in recent months as Fox has dangled the possibility during rights negotiations with some of the country's biggest sports properties.

Newsosaur / Reflections of a Newsosaur:

Newsroom staffing hits 34-year low — The number of journalists working at U.S. newspapers today is at the lowest point since the American Society of News Editors began its annual newsroom census in 1978. — Newspapers now employ 40,600 editors and reporters vs. a peak of 56,900 …

Discussion: Gannett Blog and Jon Slattery

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:
New ASNE figures show percentage of minorities in newspaper newsrooms continues to decline

Discussion: asne.org, Media News, AAJA Online and rjionline.org

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 …

Reuters:

Canada's CBC to cut jobs, take more ads as funds cut — TORONTO, April 4 (Reuters) - Canada's public broadcaster will cut more than 475 jobs this year and more than 650 over three years after the federal government cut its funding in last week's budget. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp …

Joe Flint / Company Town:

Tribune and DirecTV make a deal — Tribune Co. television stations, including KTLA-TV Los Angeles, are coming back to satellite broadcaster DirecTV. — After a very public feud, DirecTV reached a five-year agreement late Wednesday to pay Tribune to carry its 23 local television stations around …

Discussion: mediabistro.com, Bloomberg, Media Decoder, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal and Broadcasting & Cable