Mediagazer: Murdoch: There was a ‘cover-up’ at News of the World (Paul McNally/Journalism.co.uk)

5:20 PM ET, April 26, 2012

Top News:

Murdoch: There was a ‘cover-up’ at News of the World — ‘There is no question in my mind that someone took charge of a cover-up’, News Corporation chairman tells the Leveson inquiry — Management at News International and News Corporation were “misinformed” about the true extent …

Discussion: paidContent, Guardian, @skynewsbreak, BBC, Reuters, Broadcasting & Cable, News Desk, Big News Network.com, CJR, Guardian, The New Yorker Blog, WebProNews and Vanity Fair

Estelle Shirbon / Reuters:

Hunter turns hunted as Murdoch “harassed” by press — Rupert Murdoch described on Thursday being “mobbed” and “harassed” by journalists and paparazzi, in an exchange rich with irony during his testimony at a judicial inquiry on press ethics prompted by criminal behaviour at one of his papers.

Paul McNally / Journalism.co.uk:

Murdoch: I should have closed News of the World earlier — Newspaper boss says he ‘panicked’ when the Milly Dowler revelations came out - but says: 'I'm glad I did' — News International: ‘We are now a new company’ — Copyright: Roger Jones on Geograph. Some rights reserved

Discussion: Guardian, Poynter, Guardian, New York Times, @lisaocarroll, @benfenton, @dansabbagh, @hayley_barlow, Journalism.co.uk, Press Gazette, Media Week and Telegraph

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Murdoch belittles the Huffington Post

Discussion: Erik Wemple, The Huffington Post, Politico, The Lede, AdAge, The New York Observer and Guardian

ITV News: Crone accuses Murdoch of a ‘shameful lie’

Nick Denton / Gawker:

Why Anonymity Matters — Gawker Media is flying in the face of conventional media wisdom. While other outlets are doing away with anonymity, we've built anonymous accounts into our new comment system. We'll accept some disorder if that's the price of freedom in one's personal life, in politics and the press.

Discussion: Guardian

Andrew Phelps / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Gawker: We want to elevate the discourse about frogs who sit like humans — Most news organizations would kill for Gawker's commenters, but Nick Denton is messing with them again. — Denton describes the failure of comments like an economist. It's a tragedy of the commons …

Discussion: Betabeat, Gawker, the Econsultancy blog, @fishbowlny and Lifehacker

Jay Yarow / Business Insider:
Nick Denton Is Crushing BuzzFeed And Jonah Peretti Right Now In Gawker's Comments

Discussion: rGn

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Journatic founder: ‘Being based in the community is not beneficial’ — Brian Timpone sounded frustrated by press coverage of Journatic when he commented on a Mathew Ingram post this morning linking to a story that mentioned the Chicago Tribune had tapped his company to operate its TribLocal network.

Jim Romenesko:
Journatic CEO answers critics

Discussion: Mathew Ingram, Poynter and GigaOM

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Vogue's flattering article on Syria's first lady is scrubbed from Web — It may have been the worst-timed, and most tin-eared, magazine article in decades. — “Asma al-Assad is glamorous, young, and very chic — the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies,” writer Joan Juliet Buck began …

Discussion: New York Magazine, mediabistro.com and magCulture.com/blog

Jason Del Rey / AdAge:

New York Times R&D Group Launches First Commercial Product (and It's for Brands) — Ricochet Helps Brands Drive Traffic to Relevant Articles, Surrounded by the Right Ads — The New York Times R&D Lab has spent the last six and a half years building what its chief calls the equivalent of “concept cars” for the media world.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Press Association:

Ofcom extends BSkyB investigation — Media regulator asks News Group Newspapers to provide papers relating to civil litigation in which Murdoch firm is involved — Ofcom has escalated its investigation into whether BSkyB remains a “fit and proper” owner of a broadcasting licence.

Discussion: Guardian and Journalism.co.uk

Jeevan Vasagar / Guardian: News International offered to sponsor academy school

Shiv Malik / Guardian:
FSA considers News Corp emails

Discussion: New Statesman, New York Magazine, Deadline.com, The Telegraph, Press Association and Guardian

Bloomberg:

Providence Said Selling Hulu Stake at $2 Billion Value — Hulu.com owners Walt Disney Co. (DIS), Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) and News Corp. (NWSA) are close to buying out Providence Equity Partners Inc.'s stake at a price that values the company at $2 billion, said two people with knowledge of the matter.

Discussion: Media Money …, AllThingsD, Deadline.com, VentureBeat, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Mashable!, Digital Media Wire and Business Insider

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Amazon's Q1 2012: Revenue Up 34 Percent To $13.2B, Net Income Down 35 Percent — Amazon just reported earnings for the first quarter of 2012. Net sales increased 34% to $13.18 billion in the first quarter, compared with $9.86 billion in first quarter 2011.

Discussion: Amazon.com, MarketWatch, VentureBeat, paidContent, GalleyCat, @tcarmody, @publisherswkly, Digital Book World and The Next Web

Justin Elliott / ProPublica:

Broadcasters' Last Ditch Push to Hide Political Ad Data — With the Federal Communications Commission set to vote Friday on whether to require broadcasters to post political ad data online, the industry has been scrambling to water down the proposed rule. — The data is currently available only on paper at TV stations.

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:
FCC wants to put political ad data online; broadcasters balk

Discussion: Company Town

Daniel Frankel / paidContent:

Why Netflix can still win — As volatile Nasdaq reactions go, Netflix's 15 percent stock-price slide this week is — from the perspective of investor psychology, at least — almost as disturbing as the much bigger 71 percent market cratering the company endured last year.

Discussion: Seeking Alpha