Mediagazer: FCC Clams Up on Its Own Transparency Initiative (Justin Elliott/ProPublica)

4:30 PM ET, December 6, 2012

Top News:

Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke / The New York Observer:

Newsweek Layoffs Expected Today, Tina Brown Confirms [UPDATED] — Newsweek's print edition is ending in a matter of weeks, and the anticipated staff changes have already begun. Layoffs are expected to be announced this afternoon, a tipster tells us. Meanwhile, we hear that a few editors are proactively jumping ship.

Discussion: Adweek, The Wrap, New York Magazine, Capital New York, NetNewsCheck Latest, SPJ and @katedailey

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

As Newsbeast layoffs begin, some are quitting on their own — Earlier this morning, Tina Brown announced the names of three editors who will top the masthead of the Newsweek-Daily Beast company after it replaces Newsweek's print edition with the digital-only title Newsweek Global in another few weeks.

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

Layoff season is under way as Newsweek begins notifying staff today — Newsweek is about to begin laying off staff, a move expected since the publisher scheduled its print magazine to shutter at the end of the year. — A memo from Editor-in-Chief Tina Brown and CEO Baba Shetty informs staff …

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico: Tina Brown promotes three at Newsweek Daily Beast Company

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Jimmy Savile scandal: Pollard inquiry to report in week of 17 December — Former Sky boss Nick Pollard has investigated the BBC's handling of its aborted Newsnight documentary — The Pollard inquiry into BBC executives' handling of the axed BBC Newsnight investigation into Jimmy Savile is to be published in the week of 17 December.

Michael Holden / Reuters:
Top UK publicist arrested in BBC sex abuse inquiry

Discussion: Guardian, Guido Fawkes, @timescrime, BBC, The Independent, Sky News, PressGazette, Guido Fawkes, @richpeppiatt, Telegraph, Channel 4 and Associated Press

Jim Romenesko:

The National staffers launch Facebook campaign to oust their editor — Some journalists at The National in Abu Dhabi have launched a Facebook campaign to force the resignation of editor-in-chief Hassan Fattah, who they contend has “led the paper into oblivion” and “forced a near wholesale turnover of the staff.”

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

Victim's family 'couldn't sleep' after seeing ‘traumatic’ NY Post subway photo — The family of Ki-Suck Han, the man immortalized in a front-page New York Post photo of his impending death on a subway track, spoke publicly on Wednesday about the impact of the image. — The New York Times reports:

Discussion: New York Times, Softpedia News, TIME, PetaPixel and Jack Shafer

Charlie Warzel / Adweek:

Huffington Post Media Group Names Jimmy Maymann CEO — AOL continued its moving and shaking today with the news that former AOL svp of International Jimmy Maymann will move into a new role as CEO of the Huffington Post Media Group. — As CEO, Maymann will focus on the development and growth …

Discussion: The Wrap, AllThingsD, Media Decoder, Politico, paidContent, FishbowlNY, NetNewsCheck Latest and LA Observed

Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:

Tim Cook hints that Apple plans to redefine the television set — Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has poured gasoline on the growing fire of speculation that his company plans to build a full-fledged television set in the near future, with comments disparaging current television sets as outdated pieces of technology.

Discussion: Business Week, Guardian, CNET, The Verge, VentureBeat, The Daily Caller, FishbowlNY and Globe and Mail

Michael Moynihan / The Daily Beast:

Why Did The Daily Die? The View From Inside the Collapse — The Daily is no more, but six former staffers tell Michael Moynihan that the cause of death is more complicated than News Corp. wants you to believe. — As staffers of the scuppered iPad “newspaper” The Daily emptied their desks …

Discussion: Poynter and NetNewsCheck Latest

Dan Stockman / Poynter:

Suicide by source: What do you do when a story is followed by the worst possible outcome? — The Google Alert plopped into my email inbox at 5:44 p.m., and it was a doozy for so late in the day - a local funeral home appeared to be preparing services for Stephen E. Clapp.

Discussion: The Raw Story

Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:
Suicide Is Not the Media's Fault

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, Daily Download, Saint Petersblog and Mediaite

John Nichols / The Nation:

FCC Must Not Give Rupert Murdoch More Control Over US Media — We now know that top players with Rupert Murdoch's Fox News channel plotted with General David Petraeus about the prospect of using the cable network as a platform for launching a “Petraeus for President” campaign.

Discussion: The Next Web, Free Press Blog and New York Magazine

Brian Lowry / Chicago Tribune: Media-ownership rules need new look

TMZ.com:

Trayvon Martin Shooter George Zimmerman Sues NBC Over 911 Tape — Sues NBC Over 911 Tape — I'M NOT A RACIST! — EXCLUSIVE — Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman has filed a lawsuit against NBC over the way it edited his 911 call — placed moments before Martin was shot …

Discussion: @brianstelter and gzvnbc.com

Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Nominated For Grammy Award — The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences revealed on Wednesday evening that MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has been nominated for a Grammy Award. — For her audiobook recording of Drift: The Unmooring Of American Military Power …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, TVNewser and Chickaboomer

John Robinson / Media, disrupted:

Erecting a paywall? Make sure everything behind it is better than before — The newspaper paywall debate continues, apparently unabated. (I'm in Steve Buttry's, Mathew Ingram's and Howard Owens' camp, by the way.) Now, as more papers are considering erecting paywalls — including in N.C. …

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest and GigaOM

Katherine Rushton / Telegraph:

Guardian steps up pressure for staff to volunteer for redundancy — The publisher of the Guardian and Observer newspapers has stepped up pressure on staff to come forward for redundancy, by telling them where the axe is likely to fall if they do not volunteer.

Discussion: @jamesro47 and @jamesro47