Mediagazer: WikiLeaks and Assange lawyer decides not to represent Snowden, claims his “whereabouts are unknown” (Harrison Weber/The Next Web)

2:55 PM ET, June 26, 2013

Top News:

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Frank Rich just destroyed David Gregory — Frank Rich, the longtime New York Times columnist now with New York Magazine, has just written an absolutely devastating takedown of NBC Meet The Press host David Gregory, who last Sunday suggested Glenn Greenwald had aided and abetted former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Discussion: New York Magazine

Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:

Secrecy Is the Problem — Some people say that Edward Snowden is a hero because the secret NSA spying program that he exposed was ripe for abuse. Other people say Edward Snowden is a villain, because the program seemed to be well-run and lawful. Both of these positions are grounded in fantasy.

Harrison Weber / The Next Web:
WikiLeaks and Assange lawyer decides not to represent Snowden, claims his “whereabouts are unknown”

Discussion: WikiLeaks, Yahoo! News, Business Insider, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Associated Press

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Washington Post Guild: ‘The Post would like to fire you’ — The Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild says a Washington Post proposal for a new agreement with the union “would give managers the power to fire anyone for any reason” and also inserts a “poison pill that would make it even harder …

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Rupert Murdoch's News International Rebrands as News UK Ahead of Split — The Australian arm of the post-split publishing company that will be the new News Cop also will change its name from News Limited to News Corp Australia. — News International, the U.K. newspaper arm …

Discussion: Guardian, Guardian, The Australian, @abeaujon, Deadline.com, Media Week and News UK & Ireland Ltd

Nic Christensen / mUmBRELLA:
Australia's largest publisher News Limited is to change its name to News Corp Australia.

Discussion: BBC

CNN:

Crossfire Returns — Newt Gingrich, S.E. Cupp, Stephanie Cutter, Van Jones to Host Debate Program — CNN today announced that Crossfire, previously the longest running political debate program on television, will return to the network this fall. Hosting from the right will be Newt Gingrich …

Discussion: TVNewser, Politico, The Daily Caller, @dylanbyers and @sgallman

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

San Francisco Examiner sues San Francisco Chronicle — The San Francisco Newspaper Company, which owns the San Francisco Examiner, says the Hearst-owned San Francisco Chronicle “offered ad space to advertisers for a fraction of its cost on the condition that the advertisers not buy ads in the Examiner.”

Discussion: News, The San Francisco … and San Francisco Peninsula …

The Wrap:

Newsday Shuts Down Weschester, NY Branch (Exclusive) — Cablevision, which owns Newsday, shut down its year-old Westchester site effective immediately, an insider with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap. No statement from Cablevision yet, but its official Twitter account, @NewsdayNY, and Facebook is already gone.

Tom Cheredar / VentureBeat:

Cue the fight music: Pandora responds to Pink Floyd's op-ed on lower royalty rates — Internet radio service Pandora has responded to a strongly worded opinion piece written by the remaining members of legendary rock band Pink Floyd. — In the op-ed piece, Pink Floyd's members argued …

Discussion: Forbes, CNET and Plagiarism Today

Greg Sandoval / The Verge:
Pandora and musicians to discuss royalty settlement as war of words heats up

Discussion: USA Today, Wall St. Cheat Sheet, Hillicon Valley, GigaOM, Forbes, AllAccess.com and Rolling Stone

Liana B. Baker / Reuters:

Discovery explores Internet subscription service — (Reuters) - Discovery Communications is at work on an Internet streaming service that could charge cable subscribers a small fee to gain access to hours of documentaries and reality shows, executive chairman and founder John Hendricks said on Tuesday.

Discussion: paidContent, Home Media Magazine, FierceCable, The Verge, Engadget and bizjournals

Slade Sohmer / HyperVocal:

Cable News Nets Should Be Embarrassed It Missed Wendy Davis's Filibuster — What happened in the Texas Senate on Tuesday night was Must See TV. — Only the Wendy Davis Filibuster wasn't anywhere to be found on your television. The 24-hour cable news networks had more pressing matters.

Discussion: The Texas Tribune, GigaOM, Gawker, The Week and Daily Dot

Gavriel Hollander / pressgazette.co.uk:

Daily Mail in £110k libel payout over Syrian chemical weapons story — about Daily Mail in £110k libel payout over Syrian chemical weapons story- Comments — The Daily Mail has been forced to pay more than £100,000 in damages and apologise for a story linking a UK company with the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Discussion: Guardian

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Is 21-Year-Old Samantha Shannon The Next J.K. Rowling? — Alexandra Pringle was at her office in London's Bloomsbury neighborhood in April last year when she got the kind of phone call every book publisher is hoping for these days. Literary agent David Godwin, who for 14 years has shopped Pringle …