Mediagazer: Are These Guys Crazy? — It has happened in newsrooms across the country. (Cary Spivak/American Journalism Review)

7:35 PM ET, November 26, 2012

Top News:

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Guest on Fox News to Discuss Benghazi Attack Is Given a Quick Exit — Thomas E. Ricks, the veteran defense reporter and author, said he expected his Monday morning appearance on Fox News to last about three minutes. It ended, in fact, after 90 seconds — his last sentence was a description …

Discussion: Gawker, New York Magazine, TVNewser, The Huffington Post, Pressing Issues and HyperVocal

Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:

Fox Interview Ends After Guest Accuses Network Of Operating As ‘Wing Of The Republican Party’ — A Fox News interview about the Benghazi attacks ended Monday morning after the guest openly accused the network of “hyping” the story — doing so with political motivations by acting as “a wing of the Republican Party.”

Discussion: Politico, The Raw Story and Erik Wemple

Dean Starkman / CJR:

The Washington Post needs a paywall—now — A strategic error needs to be reversed, stat — The not-so-gentle ejection of Marcus Brauchli from the top editor's chair at The Washington Post has cast a bright spotlight now on senior leadership, including his boss, Katharine Weymouth …

Discussion: ReadWrite, Capital New York and @jbenton

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Why pushing for a paywall at the Washington Post completely misses the point

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:

So Where Did That Fake Google Acquisition Press Release Come From? Aruba? — So now we know that the press release concerning Google acquiring public Wi-FI firm ICOA Wireless was fake. — But what do we know about who sent the press release, and why? — The release was posted on PRWeb …

Discussion: The Next Web, Ars Technica, TechCrunch, Gawker, Associated Press, Business Insider, The Verge, GigaOM, Hillicon Valley and WebProNews

Alexei Oreskovic / Reuters:
ICOA CEO says never had acquisition talks with Google

Discussion: Blogging PRWeb

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Report: Cameron will oppose calls from Leveson for ‘state meddling’ in the press — With Prime Minister David Cameron reportedly set to oppose any calls from Lord Justice Leveson for ‘state meddling’ in the press, leader of the opposition Ed Miliband has insisted that Leveson's recommendations should be implemented.

Discussion: Guardian, CNN, Telegraph, Guardian, The Independent and London Evening Standard

Robert Peston / BBC: Leveson: Cameron's dilemma

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Newspapers report ad revenue loss for 25th quarter in a row — Newspaper advertising revenues were down 5.1 percent in the third quarter, compared to the same period in 2011, the Newspaper Association of America reported over the holiday. … The results were marginally better …

Discussion: newsosaur.blogspot.ca and NetNewsCheck Latest

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Conservative critic claims ban by Fox News, Wall Street Journal — Bruce Bartlett and the Wall Street Journal have a disagreement. In a story today in The American Conservative, Bartlett, a conservative thinker who served under the Reagan and Bush I administrations, claims that his currency …

Economist: A Wall Street brawl

David Banks / Guardian:

Google is publisher according to Australian court — Search engine loses libel case and is ordered to pay $200,000 for online defamation — Google will have to be quicker to remove defamatory content, at least in Australia, after it lost a $200,000 libel action there.

Discussion: TechCrunch and ReadWrite

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

That Facebook Copyright Protection Notice Is An Urban Myth — If you want to freak out a billion people, here's one pretty effective way to do it: Make them feel like you're trying to steal their rights when they're not paying attention. — Governments and corporations have long considered …

Discussion: Betabeat, GigaOM, CNET, Slate and Plagiarism Today

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

It's not a crime to record cops, Supreme Court decides — The U.S. Supreme Court Monday left in place a lower court ruling that prevented Illinois from prosecuting people under its Eavesdropping Act if they recorded police officers. A federal appeals court ruled the statute “likely violates” First Amendment rights.

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, Infowars, Ars Technica, Reason.com, Capitol Fax.com, Politico, Business Insider and WebProNews

Cary Spivak / American Journalism Review:

Are These Guys Crazy? — It has happened in newsrooms across the country. News breaks that somebody is buying a newspaper, undoubtedly at a deeply discounted price. Buyout-weary reporters and editors look around their own newsrooms filled with empty desks and wonder: “Who are these guys buying newspapers?

New York Times:

From Man Who Insulted Muhammad, No Regret — LOS ANGELES — Fuming for two months in a jail cell here, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula has had plenty of time to reconsider the wisdom of making “Innocence of Muslims,” his crude YouTube movie trailer depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a bloodthirsty, philandering thug.

Discussion: Wired, Media Decoder, Prof Chris Daly's Blog, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, New York Magazine and LA Observed

John Koblin / Deadspin:

Media Experts Dan Okrent, Jack Shafer, and David Carr Discuss ESPN's Plagiarism Problem: “If I Were Them, I Would Be Embarrassed” — It's now been 138 days since we turned up ESPN entertainment writer Lynn Hoppes's extensive habit of copying and pasting from Wikipedia.

Bill Shaikin / Los Angeles Times:

Dodgers, Fox Sports talking $6-billion TV deal — Fox Sports could pay at least $6 billion to retain the Dodgers' television rights, three parties familiar with the negotiations said Sunday. The deal could be worth three times what the Dodgers' new owners paid for the team and almost 20 times …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, Radio & Television …, Cable Television News and Bloomberg

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Anchors Quit on Air, but Reason Is Unclear — Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio came to work last Tuesday with a secret: this was going to be their last day co-anchoring the news together. — The anchors, in Bangor, Me., had been talking for some time about leaving WVII and WFVX …

Discussion: Chickaboomer and TVSpy

John Eggerton / Broadcasting & Cable:

NBC, Verizon Strike TV Everywhere Deal — Deal covers TV stations, cable nets and the Internet — NBCU has struck a program carriage deal with Verizon FiOS that includes rights to over-the-top delivery to multiple screens. — The wide-ranging deal, announced Monday …

Discussion: MediaPost and Cable Television News

Asawin Suebsaeng / Mother Jones:

No, Andrew W.K. is Not the State Department's Cultural Ambassador to the Middle East — Over Thanksgiving weekend, hard-rock performing artist and self-declared “King of Partying” Andrew W.K. announced that he had just landed a new gig: America's “cultural ambassador of partying” to Bahrain.