Mediagazer: Murdoch's News Corp facing growing legal threat in US (Ed Pilkington/Guardian)

11:45 PM ET, April 19, 2012

Top News:

New York Times Co. Reports Gain in Net Income — The New York Times Company reported on Thursday a large gain in first-quarter net income, driven largely by the sale of its regional newspapers, the sale of part of its stake in a New England sports group and an increase in circulation revenue at its flagship newspaper.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, mediabistro.com, Agence France Presse, paidContent, FishbowlNY, New York Magazine, Poynter and Media Decoder

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

The New York Times Company in 2015 — Trendlines—as of right now—don't point to its demise — Will The New York Times Company survive as a stand-alone firm past 2015? — That's unknowable, of course. A lot can happen between now and then. But extrapolating from current trends can give us an idea of where things are going.

Discussion: AdAge and Forbes

Katherine Fung / The Huffington Post:

New York Times Staffers Protest Contract Negotiations, Pensions (VIDEO) — New York Times staffers have put out a new video speaking out against the ongoing contract negotiations with the paper's management — particularly proposed changes to their pension plans.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Storm clouds form over strong quarter at New York Times Company — The New York Times Co. deserves to pat itself on the back, as executives did today in announcing first quarter results, for the first anniversary of its well-planned and superbly executed digital pay plan.

Discussion: Associated Press

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York: Will Sulzberger be the next Times Company C.E.O.? He doesn't quite say ‘no’

Jason Deans / Guardian:

Leveson inquiry: Rupert and James Murdoch to give evidence next week — Rupert Murdoch is to give evidence to the Leveson inquiry into phone hacking and media ethics next week, with a day and a half set aside for the News Corporation founder. Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of News Corp …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, Press Gazette and Telegraph

Ed Pilkington / Guardian:

Murdoch's News Corp facing growing legal threat in US — Lawyer Mark Lewis reveals at press conference he has taken on fourth case of alleged phone hacking on American soil — Rupert Murdoch faces a growing legal challenge in the heart of his global media empire as lawyers representing alleged victims …

Discussion: Crikey, Deadline.com, The Huffington Post, Thomson Reuters News …, @edpilkington, @mlcalderone, @edmundlee, @mlcalderone and @jeffbercovici

Guardian:
Watson: News Corp was like ‘shadow state’

Discussion: @kevin_maguire, @skynewsbreak, Daily Mail, @dansabbagh, Guardian and Deadline.com

Reuters:
UK parliament aims to publish hacking report on May 1

Discussion: Sky News, New York Magazine and Company Town

Gregory Korte / USA Today:

Misinformation campaign targets USA TODAY reporter, editor — WASHINGTON - A USA TODAY reporter and editor investigating Pentagon propaganda contractors have themselves been subjected to a propaganda campaign of sorts, waged on the Internet through a series of bogus websites. — Sponsored Links

Discussion: The Raw Story

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Final Numbers Make It Official: ‘GMA’ Beat ‘Today’ Last Week — The final score is in for last week's ratings race between NBC's “Today” show and ABC's “Good Morning America,” and the winner is ABC. — ABC's morning program surpassed NBC's by 31,000 total viewers for the week, marking its first full-week victory over NBC since 1995.

Discussion: Radio & Television …, @howardkurtz and Forbes

Mona Zhang / 10,000 Words:

Newton to Journalists: Focusing on the Story Isn't Enough Anymore — In the digital age, journalists are required to don different hats; from multimedia to social media, there is an increasing amount of tools available for telling the story and sharing it. Still, it may not be enough.

Discussion: The Muckraker

Rohin Dhar / Priceonomics:

The Kindle Index — “No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” — Some people like to read. Other people do not. Since the age of Confucius, the people in the former camp have been judging those in the latter harshly.

Robert-Jan Bartunek / Reuters:

Sony-led group wins EU approval to buy EMI publishing — (Reuters) - A Sony-led consortium won EU approval on Thursday to buy EMI's music publishing business for $2.2 billion, on the condition that it sell the worldwide publishing rights of artists including Robbie Williams and Lenny Krativz.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Media Decoder and Billboard.Biz

Jim Romenesko:

‘God Hates Fags’ group to speak to journalism classes — Four members of the Westboro Baptist Church will speak Monday to three Central Michigan University journalism classes taught by Prof. Timothy Boudreau. — “I try to bring [controversial speakers] in because students routinely claim …

Paul McNally / Journalism.co.uk:

Starmer: Charging advice ‘likely’ for more journalist cases — Director of public prosecutions says he expects more cases relating to arrested journalists to be referred to the CPS, following first batch this week — Keir Starmer: ‘These are simply the first batch of cases’

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk