Mediagazer: Jack Straw Tells Leveson Rupert Murdoch Likes To ‘Play’ With Political Leaders (Ned Simons/Huffington Post UK)

11:10 AM ET, May 16, 2012

Top News:

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Discussion: CNN, Associated Press and Bleacher Report

Barry Petchesky / Deadspin:

Laurie Fine To Sue ESPN For Libel — That “major announcement” that Laurie Fine promised for us later this morning, at a castle for some reason? It's exactly what you thought. Fine is bringing a libel lawsuit against ESPN, reporter Mark Schwarz, and producer Arty Berko for their reporting …

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Larry Kramer's vision for USA Today — Larry Kramer, media consultant and MarketWatch founder, was named president and publisher of USA Today yesterday, putting him at the helm of the most widely circulated print newspaper in the country. In an interview this morning …

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Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
New USA Today publisher Larry Kramer gets to apply his theories about newsroom evolution

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, eMedia Vitals, @martinn123, NetNewsCheck Latest, The Daily Beast, BtoB Magazine, Gannett Blog, Adweek and The Wrap

Ned Simons / Huffington Post UK:

Jack Straw Tells Leveson Rupert Murdoch Likes To ‘Play’ With Political Leaders — Rupert Murdoch liked to “play with political leaders” by tempting them with the possibility that his newspapers would support them, Jack Straw has said. Giving evidence to the Leveson inquiry into press ethics …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, @hackinginquiry and @lisaocarroll

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Leveson inquiry: Adam Boulton says Brown's pyjama party was ‘bonkers’ — The “slumber party” the former prime minister's wife Sarah Brown hosted for guests including Wendi Deng and Rebekah Brooks was “completely bonkers”, Sky News political editor Adam Boulton told the Leveson inquiry.

Matthew Fleischer / FishbowlLA:

LA Times Developing Quarterly Fashion Pub — Just got a hold of the internal LA Times memo from COO Kathy Thompson announcing the end of the Los Angeles Times Magazine. As we already reported, the mag's June issue will be its last. There are no plans to tinker and relaunch.

Matthew Fleischer / FishbowlLA:

Exclusive: LA Times Magazine is Shutting Down — Nearly three years after the LA Times Magazine was removed from control of the business end of the paper and put back under the LA Times' editorial umbrella, the monthly pub is being shut down. FishbowlLA spoke with the mag's editor …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Poynter and LA Observed

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Flipboard Expands: Adds Audio From NPR, Public Radio & SoundCloud; Introduces Japanese Version — “Social magazine” Flipboard may have to think up a new tagline for itself, as tonight the company is rolling out an update which greatly expands its focus beyond text-based content to also include audio.

Discussion: Techland, Media News, VentureBeat, NetNewsCheck Latest, The Verge and The Next Web

Daniel Frankel / paidContent:

ESPN: No talks yet about Apple TV authentication — As the most powerful programming brand on cable television, you'd expect that ESPN would spend the day of its upfront presentation bolstering its still-very-lucrative linear television business. — But the Disney-owned sports channel spent …

Bloomberg:
Disney's ESPN in Talks With Apple To Expand Digital Access

Discussion: CNET, The Verge, iDownloadBlog.com, MacRumors, App Advice, 9to5Mac, Gizmodo, parislemon and Business Insider

Jonathan Stray:

The hard part of solution journalism is agreeing on the problems — The only editorial mantra that ever made any sense to me comes from the Voice of San Diego new reporter guidelines: “Our bent: Reform. Things can always be better.” It's been said that the role of journalism is to inform …

Discussion: Groundswell

Politico:

President Obama and Mitt Romney's common enemy — Barack Obama and Mitt Romney spend a lot of time trumpeting their differences, but they do share at least one common conviction: disdain for a political news media they see as eager to vaporize them for the sheer sport of it.

Richard Sandomir / Media Decoder:

ESPN Doubles Up on ‘30 for 30’ Documentary Series — ESPN's faith in sports documentaries is so deep that on Tuesday it will announce a second go-round for its “30 for 30” series, which made its debut in the fall of 2009. — The first 30 films — produced by independent filmmakers as diverse …

Discussion: Bleacher Report, Grantland, The Wrap, Deadspin and SBNation.com