Mediagazer: Microsoft launching news operation, new MSN (Bill Rigby/Reuters)

11:15 AM ET, October 2, 2012

Top News:

Jimmy Savile: Newsnight editor blocked airing of sexual assault story — Newsnight journalists investigating Sir Jimmy Savile were told in late 2011 by the BBC programme's editor they could not broadcast what they thought was a nearly complete film about the late Jim'll Fix It presenter's alleged abuse of young women.

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Jimmy Savile: BBC denies cover-up — The BBC has said it is categorically untrue that it turned a blind eye to alleged inappropriate behaviour by Sir Jimmy Savile after several women claimed they were sexually abused by the late Jim'll Fix It presenter. A spokeswoman for the BBC …

Press Association:

Late BBC broadcaster accused of sex abuse — A television documentary to be released in Britain this week alleges the late broadcaster Jimmy Savile sexually abused schoolgirls. The program details claims from the women dating back to the 1970s, including allegations he abused girls in his Rolls-Royce and at BBC TV Centre.

Discussion: Guardian and Telegraph

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Reports: Layoffs hit Patriot-News, Post-Standard in shift to fewer print days — The Advance-owned Patriot-News laid off “about 70″ employees Monday, Stacy Brown reports for The (Carlisle, Pa.) Sentinel. Brown gets to that figure independently; Patriot-News publisher John Kirkpatrick tells him only …

Discussion: mediabistro.com, Sentinel, PennLive.com and YNN, Your News Now

Jim Romenesko:

Report: Over 100 layoffs at Syracuse Post-Standard — Longtime #Syracuse Post Standard columnist Dick Case among those let go. One worker says 110 total layoffs at the paper. (Michael Benny is a Syracuse TV news anchor.) The Syracuse Press Club's reaction: The Syracuse Press Club …

Discussion: CNYcentral.com and Poynter

Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:

New York Times launches experimental HTML5 web app for iPad — The New York Times today announced it is launching a new HTML5 based web app accessible to iPad users at app.nytimes.com. While called an “experimental web app” in the press release, the move mirrors a switch by other publications …

Discussion: The Next Web, TechCrunch and Nieman Journalism Lab

Steven Mufson / Washington Post:

Washington Post Co. buys hospice firm Celtic Healthcare — The Washington Post Co. said Monday that it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Celtic Healthcare, a provider of skilled home health-care and hospice services in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic regions.

Discussion: Guardian, New York Magazine, The Wrap, @jeffsonderman, Gawker, The New York Observer, The Newspaper Guild, JIMROMENESKO.COM, @jcstearns, @jeffjarvis and @scottrcrawford

Rick Edmonds / Poynter: Washington Post buys hospice company

John Paul Titlow / ReadWriteWeb:

How Journalists Are Using SoundCloud — Musicians and remixers were among the first to settle into SoundCloud, but the social audio-sharing service has been expanding in new directions. The company is sharpening its focus on providing a hub for radio-style journalism and commentary with an interactive twist.

Michael Wolff / Guardian:

What the New York Times really lost with the passing of Arthur O Sulzberger — Arthur Ochs “Punch” Sulzberger, the former publisher and chairman of the New York times, whose death at 86 is getting head-of-state treatment (at least by the New York Times), was a very nice, old-fashioned and …

Guardian:

Alex Marunchak and Jonathan Rees held as part of Operation Kalmyk — Scotland Yard officers investigating alleged computer hacking have made two further arrests, understood to be former News of the World journalist Alex Marunchak and private investigator Jonathan Rees.

Discussion: PressGazette and BBC

James Ball / Washington Post:

Video emerges of Austin Tice, U.S. journalist who disappeared in Syria — Video footage has emerged showing U.S. freelance journalist Austin Tice being held by a group of masked men toting assault rifles in the first direct evidence of his condition since his disappearance in mid-August.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Lede, The Huffington Post, New York Times, The Newspaper Guild, Business Insider, Boing Boing and @blakehounshell

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

Gawker's Ad Haul Leans on Standard Ads — Gawker head honcho Nick Denton yesterday tooted the company's horn for bringing in $2 million in revenue in one day. Not bad for a publication that claims to eschew traditional banner ads. — Yet for a publisher that believes banners are on the way out …