Mediagazer: George Hearst Jr. - Hearst Corp. chairman - dies (Carl Nolte/San Francisco Chronicle)

11:20 AM ET, June 26, 2012

Top News:

Michael J. De La Merced / DealBook:

News Corp. Considers Dividing Itself in Two — Updated News Corporation is considering dividing itself in two, cleaving its publishing arm from its far larger entertainment division, a person briefed on the matter told DealBook early on Tuesday. If News Corporation follows through …

Discussion: Deadline.com, @jbflint, FishbowlNY, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Media Decoder, TVWeek.com, Bloomberg, Poynter, msnbc.com, Wall Street Journal, @edmundlee, The Huffington Post, Chickaboomer, Gannett Blog, Deal Journal Australia, London Evening Standard and Vanity Fair

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

News Corp statement confirms spin-off plan under consideration — Following numerous reports that News Corp is thinking of spinning off its publishing operations, the company issued a short statement that it is “considering a restructuring to separate its business into two distinct public companies.”

Discussion: The Wrap and New York Magazine

Bill Dedman / MSNBC:

Bloomberg TV's ads make false claim to Pulitzer nomination for anchor Liu — NEW YORK — Bloomberg Television has a new ad campaign in the New York City area, touting the journalistic credentials of its morning anchor, Betty Liu. “PULITZER PRIZE-NOMINATED,” the ads shout at commuters on trains in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Discussion: TVNewser, Inside Cable News and The Huffington Post

Carl Nolte / San Francisco Chronicle:

George Hearst Jr. - Hearst Corp. chairman - dies — George R. Hearst Jr., chairman of the board of the Hearst Corp., died Monday at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto of complications following a stroke. Mr. Hearst, who became ill June 16 at his ranch home in Paso Robles (San Luis Obispo County), was 84.

Discussion: mediabistro.com, FishbowlNY, LA Observed and MediaPost

Jordan Weissmann / The Atlantic:

Why Porn and Journalism Have the Same Big Problem — Nobody wants to pay for their product. — The smut business just isn't what it used to be. — The early days of the Internet were a bonanza for major pornography studios, as the web transformed adult entertainment into an instant …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM and bookforum.com

Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times:

Anthony Shadid's cousin takes a shot at NYT — and journalism in general — Those who were there said the crowd gasped. Ed Shadid, the cousin of late New York Times reporter Anthony Shadid, was speaking at a banquet for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee on Saturday night in Washington …

Discussion: Poynter

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

‘Newsroom’ Debut Draws Audience of 2.1 Million — HBO generated a huge amount of talk — positive and negative — about its new Aaron Sorkin drama, “The Newsroom,” and it managed some better-than-average audience totals for its premiere Sunday night. — The drama, about a fictional cable newscast …

Discussion: Erik Wemple, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Gawker and Capital New York

Dan Rather / Gawker:
Dan Rather Reviewed The Newsroom for Us and Liked It

Discussion: TVNewser, Guardian, Deadline.com, The Wrap, Tampa Bay Times, Baltimore Sun, The New York Observer, Capital New York, entertainment.time.com, Poynter, Washington Post, The Huffington Post and New York Times

Steve Outing:

10, 15 free web articles a month: Is this a mistake? (Yes!) — I think it's safe to say that what Walter Isaacson and Steven Brill started — a wave of newspaper websites putting up “metered paywalls” where there's a subscription or membership fee required for site visitors who want to read …

Neil Gough / DealBook:

Australian Billionaire Threatens to Dump Fairfax Media Stake — HONG KONG — The Australian mining billionaire Georgina Rinehart has threatened to sell her recently acquired 19 percent stake in Fairfax Media, sending shares in the Australian publisher tumbling on Tuesday.

Sarah Marshall / Journalism.co.uk:

Auto de Fe launches first on iPad, web second, print third — Auto de Fe launched on iPad earlier this week, with some content going online this weekend and a print edition due to be published later this year — A new magazine “of inquisitive journalism and intelligent photography” has launched for iPad.

Ben Quinn / Guardian:

Prominent Americans urge Ecuador to accept Julian Assange's asylum request — A letter signed by leading US figures in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's application for political asylum in Ecuador has been delivered to the country's London embassy.

Discussion: The New York Observer, justforeignpolicy.org and The Raw Story