Mediagazer: Fox News Spikes Pro-Gun Column; Writer Told Issue Is ‘Too Sensitive’ (Gabriel Sherman/New York Magazine)

4:00 PM ET, December 20, 2012

Top News:

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

BBC director of news returns with rallying memo to crisis-hit staff — Helen Boaden tells journalists that after ‘several bruising weeks’, she will take Pollard review into Jimmy Savile affair seriously — The BBC's director of news, Helen Boaden, has issued a rallying cry …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Guardian

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian: Pollard report: BBC News deputy Stephen Mitchell retires without payout

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Gerard Baker lines up his new masthead at ‘The Wall Street Journal,’ names Murray, Blumenstein deputies — Gerard Baker, the recently-named top editor at The Wall Street Journal and editor-in-chief of Dow Jones is lining up his senior editorial team. — Baker, who was installed …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, FishbowlNY and Forbes

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

‘Daily News’ cuts a big chunk of photographers from its roster — The Daily News is disbanding its pool of photo permalancers, employees who work full-time hours for the tabloid on set day-rates but are not salaried employees with benefits, Capital has learned.

Jim Romenesko:

‘Fox Mole’ Joe Muto wants people to read his book ‘and laugh their asses off’ — On April 10, Gawker introduced a new columnist: The Fox Mole. The plan was for him to provide Gawker with “regular dispatches from inside the organization,” but then Roger Ailes & Co. “nailed” him.

Discussion: TVNewser

Carl Bernstein / Guardian:

Why the US media ignored Murdoch's brazen bid to hijack the presidency — Did the Washington Post and others underplay the story through fear of the News Corp chairman, or simply tin-eared judgement? — So now we have it: what appears to be hard, irrefutable evidence of Rupert Murdoch's ultimate …

Discussion: Politico and @jackshafer

Steven Greenhouse / Media Decoder:

‘Charlie Rose’ Show Agrees to Pay Up to $250,000 to Settle Interns' Lawsuit — Charlie Rose and his production company have agreed to pay as much as $250,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by a former unpaid intern who claimed minimum wage violations.

Discussion: Deadline.com, Mediaite and TVNewser

Laura Hazard Owen / GigaOM:

Amazon Studios taps the Onion, Daily Show writers, others for comedy pilots — Amazon Studios, Amazon's film production division, will produce pilots for six original comedy series, the company announced Thursday — including shows from the Onion, “Doonesbury” writer Garry Trudeau and Daily Show writer David Javerbaum.

Discussion: Amazon.com, VentureBeat, The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable, Home Media Magazine, TechCrunch, Wired, GalleyCat, CNET and The Next Web

Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:

Atlantic Media Revamps Site, Changes Logo — Out with the old, in with the new. Atlantic Media has revamped its website and updated its clunky old logo (pictured, right), in an effort to show that the company is “digital first.” The company behind The Atlantic, The Atlantic Wire …

Discussion: Folio, FishbowlDC, SocialTimes and TVSpy

Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke / The New York Observer:

Executive Editor Thomas Goetz is Leaving Wired — Thomas Goetz, Wired's executive editor, announced in a blog post that he is leaving the magazine in the new year to “turn ideas into action.” — “I've got an idea, hinted at in the name of this blog here, that I think will help people find powerful ideas …

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

With 2 Billion Video Views A Month, Maker Studios Raises $36 Million Round Led By Time Warner — There's more big money going into video startups: Maker Studios, which ranks among the top networks of creators publishing on YouTube, announced today that it has closed a $36 million round of financing led by Time Warner Investments.

Discussion: The Wrap, AllThingsD and Los Angeles Times

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

White House Reporters Defend Fiscal Cliff Questions After Obama's Gun Pledge — NEW YORK — After President Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to push concrete proposals on reducing gun violence next month, the White House press corps began asking questions — about the fiscal cliff negotiations.

Discussion: Daily Download and Media Decoder

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

David Cameron considers royal charter on press backed by legislation — Government proposes regulator under charter but says it will need two laws to make it work, ministers confirm to Hacked Off — David Cameron is considering two pieces of legislation and a royal charter to set up a new press watchdog …

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

Paywalls Don't Bump Ad Prices — The bet on paywalls, meters and other methods of charging for access to digital content is that the revenue generated directly from consumers will outpace an expected decrease in ad revenue. — The other assumption is that a publisher's paying audience …