Mediagazer: CBS Chief Leslie Moonves sells $22 million in stock (Meg James/Los Angeles Times)

3:45 PM ET, July 5, 2013

Top News:

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:

MuckRock cofounder plans to appeal NSA's response to his FOIA request — Michael Morisy didn't get the answer he was looking for after making a Freedom of Information Act request from the National Security Agency. Hoping to find out more about the NSA's Utah Data Center …

Discussion: @jcstearns

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Scotland Yard seeks Rupert Murdoch secret tape — In tape, Murdoch is heard admitting to Sun journalists that payments to public officials were part of 'culture of Fleet Street — Scotland Yard detectives were on Friday attempting to track down a secret recording of Rupert Murdoch admitting …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Beast, Spiked, ExaroNews and pressgazette.co.uk

William Turvill / Press Gazette:
Private Eye broke Murdoch recording three weeks ago, so why is it only hitting the headlines now?

Discussion: pressgazette.co.uk and The Daily Beast

BBC:

BBC 3D programming ‘on hold’ indefinitely — The BBC is to suspend 3D programming for an indefinite period due to a “lack of public appetite” for the technology. — Kim Shillinglaw, the BBC's head of 3D, said it has “not taken off” with audiences who find it “quite hassly”.

Discussion: Radio Times, New York Times, paidContent, Guardian, CNET, The Wrap, Guardian, Broadband TV News, The Next Web and Den of Geek

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Silver Lake Abandons Hulu Purchase Effort, as Final Bidding Deadline Arrives Today — According to sources close to the situation, Silver Lake will not make a follow-on bid to buy the Hulu premium video service. The giant private equity firm had been allied in the effort …

Discussion: VentureBeat, Variety and Wall St. Cheat Sheet

Eleanor Beardsley / Europe:

An Online Upstart Roils French Media, Politics … Every week, it seems, a new scandal is unearthed by the upstart, online newspaper Mediapart. The most recent bomb was that President Francois Hollande's budget minister was evading taxes when he was supposed to be cracking down on tax cheats.

Discussion: The Dish

Sara Morrison / The Wrap:

Al Jareeza America Still Has No Official Launch Date — News channel spokesperson says “the week of August 24,” but no set date yet — Despite media reports and employee tweets to the contrary, Al Jazeera America will not launch on Aug 20. An Al Jazeera spokesperson told TheWrap …

Sara Morrison / The Wrap: Soledad O'Brien Is Her Own Boss — and That Means No Jodi Arias Stories

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

CBS Chief Leslie Moonves sells $22 million in stock — CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves, shown in May 2012, sold CBS shares this week for about $22 million. (Evan Agostini / Associated Press) — CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves sold 450,000 shares of CBS stock this week for about $22 million …

David Streitfeld / New York Times:

As Competition Wanes, Amazon Cuts Back Discounts — Jim Hollock's first book, a true-crime tale set in Pennsylvania, got strong reviews and decent sales when it appeared in 2011. Now “Born to Lose” is losing momentum — yet Amazon, to the writer's intense frustration, has increased the price by nearly a third.

Discussion: NYT Bits, Business Insider and GeekWire

Josh Stearns / Mediashift:

3 Ways to Strengthen Press Freedom at the U.S. Justice Department — Want to stay current on media and technology from around the web? Get MediaShift's Daily Must Reads in your in-box! — One of the most troubling things about the politicians and pundits who are calling …

Discussion: Erik Wemple

IFEX:

Journalists jailed, fined for critical reporting in Somaliland — The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns the draconian sentences handed to two journalists by the Somaliland Court in Hargeisa. — Hassan Hussein Abdullahi, also known as Keefkeef, received a two-year jail term …

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders, Big News Network.com, Kirk LaPointe's …, Newstime Africa and Guardian

Wall Street Journal:

SoftBank Gets Green Light for Merger With Sprint, Clearwire — By - DANNY YADRON and - THOMAS GRYTA - — SoftBank Corp.'s three-way merger with Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. won final approval from U.S. regulators with the unanimous backing of the Federal Communications Commission, people familiar with the matter said.

Discussion: Reuters, AndroidHeadlines.com, The Verge and CNBC

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Alexander Lebedev sentence is just - and a great relief for his journalists — So it is possible to get justice in modern Russia. Alexander Lebedev's sentence to 150 hours of community service for punching - or appearing to punch - a man during a television talkshow seems about right in the circumstances.