Mediagazer: Trayvon Martin Shooter George Zimmerman Sues NBC Over 911 Tape (TMZ.com)

5:15 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, Capital New York, The Wrap, New York Magazine, NetNewsCheck Latest, @katedailey and SPJ

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

Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke / The New York Observer:

How Newsweek Predicted Its Own Demise — As we wait for final details of the Newsbeast staff cuts, we came across an impassioned case against layoffs that ran in the pages of Newsweek almost three years ago. The article, which was published before Tina Brown took over the paper and merged …

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 …

Edmund Lee / Bloomberg:
Daily Beast Considers Charging for Website

Thanks:@jaredbkeller

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

Julie Moos / Poynter:

George Zimmerman sues NBC over editing of 911 tape after Trayvon Martin shooting — Lawyers for George Zimmerman, who has been charged in the murder of Trayvon Martin, announced Thursday that he has sued NBC for its editing of a 911 call that was made after the shooting.

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: gzvnbc.com, The Huffington Post, Business Insider and @brianstelter

Keach Hagey / Wall Street Journal:

Washington Post Considers a Paywall — The Washington Post, one of the last holdouts against the trend of charging readers for online access to newspaper articles, is likely to reverse that decision in 2013, according to people familiar with the matter. — While details are being finished …

Discussion: @michaelroston, @thematthewkeys, @clinthendler and Boing Boing

John Robinson / Media, disrupted:
Erecting a paywall? Make sure everything behind it is better than before

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest and GigaOM

Stuart Dredge / Guardian:

Spotify pays out more than $500m in royalties since its 2008 launch — Sean Parker and Lars Ulrich settle differences, with Metallica agreeing to put their whole back catalogue on streaming service — Streaming music service Spotify has now paid out more than $500m (£311m) …

Discussion: AdAge, TechCrunch and Rolling Stone

Ben Sisario / Media Decoder: Spotify Event Tries to Bury the Old Feuds Between Artists and Napster

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.”

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

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

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

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, Globe and Mail and FishbowlNY

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

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

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