News Corp godfather Rupert Murdoch capitalized on a weekend in which he could bury news about himself, by burying news about himself. The bejoweled Mr. Murdoch has removed one of his many hats—his directorship of News Corp's British tabloids—more likely than not because it is collectively the Von Dutch Trucker Hat of his media empire: A classically bad look, that continues to get worse by the day. Here's the Murdoch Spin. Here's a John Gapper column about it with a great drawing at the top of Murdoch cutting himself in half, ha. At this juncture, it's difficult to properly assess the significance of this news, seeing as how Michael Wolff has yet to pen a vaguely conspiratorial column explaining this as further evidence of Mr. Murdoch's enjoyment of tea sandwiches spread with Terrine of Plump Impoverished Children. Also, someone at The Daily Beast called this a "Saigon Moment" which is a little melodramatic and hyperbolic but also kind of hysterical and British of them, so it works. [Financial Times, Daily Beast]

The acerbic and brilliant Scottish-American columnist and author Alexander Cockburn died on Saturday at 71, from complications relating to cancer. Among his many achievements, he famously started The Village Voice's media column, Press Clips, and was a first-wave media critic, the likes of which this writer and many others like him do a piss-poor imitation of, to this day, in obtuse, failing tribute. Cockburn is survived by his daughter, two brothers, and several nieces and nephews, notes the Times, in a thorough obituary for the man. [NYT / Media]

In a lengthy Q & A with Talking Points Memo, MSNBC's weekend blogger anchor Chris Hayes shares the best advice he's ever received: "My mom once told me: If you’re on the fence about going to a funeral, you should always go." Honestly: Better than we'd hoped. He also tries to explain the difference between MSNBC and Fox News, which, whatever it was, Dylan Byers at Politico astutely picked apart: "The problem with Hayes' distinction is that, no matter how you get from point A to point B, you get there." [TPM, Politico]

Noted: The number of people (on paper) who contributed to Saturday's A1 NYT filing on the shooting in Colorado? Eighteen. Two bylines, with sixteen contribution credits. [NYT / National]

IAC chairman Barry Diller and New York's Worst Boss 2007 uber-producer Scott Rudin want to launch an eBook business. Match made in heaven? Some kind of match, made somewhere. [Deadline Hollywood]

And by the way, if you were wondering how Nikki Finke covered Friday night's tragedy in Colorado, you'll have to go to her site to find out. Here's the moment we stopped. [Gawker]

NPR vixen Teri Gross, on the fundamental difference in interview technique between herself and Howard Stern: "I don’t ask about [subjects'] penis size." [NYT Magazine]

Also from this weekend's Times Magazine, further kvetching about "curation" and Why It Makes People Angry, as if this isn't a third-wave debate that doesn't date back to 2005 (concerning bloggers as threatening the existence of everything sacred). Which is besides the fact this particular piece begins with the words "Years ago, in my penurious and somewhat traumatic 20s," a "GERIATRICS X-ING" traffic sign for wordage consumption, if there ever was one. [NYT Magazine]

Despite a This American Life story that was media reporting's version of a PETA video where one watches adorable baby chicks get ground up into McNuggets, the Chicago Tribune is sticking with hyperlocal journalism factory farm Journatic. But don't worry, it's okay: They hired a consultant. That always helps. [Jim Romenesko]

Scandal rocks Garden & Gun: They retouched a dog on the cover! Hilariously, in this NYT story on the old, storied, and not-at-all-new tradition of magazines retouching photos, the Garden & Gun dog was the lede. [NYT / Arts]

Buzzfeed's John Hermann gives credit where it's due: Some Kid On Reddit did an excellent job rounding up news on the shooting in Aurora, and no doubt, half the people covering it for outlets on the Internet took their cues from him, because that's how it works now. Elsewhere, someone on Reddit is still really concerned about misandry. Also, there needs to be a single-serve Tumblr for every time Buzzfeed writes about Reddit (as opposed to simply culling content sans-credit from it). It should be called IS THE BUZZFEED REDDIT MOBIUS STRIP ONRAMP OPEN TODAY? DOT TUMBLR DOT COM. [BuzzFeed]

Finally: The lovely albatross of the Observer's media desk for the last year and a half has been liberated from abdicated the position, and this writer will be filling in the interim. Please send your tips, gossip, rhetoric, legal threats, inspirational quotes, and freshman year poetry—along with, while we're at it, your nominations for Media Power Couples, Bachelors, and Bachelorettes (which, due to unpopular demand, we'll be doling out again soon)—right this way.

Happy Monday.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

Hi, Rupert

A trio of civil lawsuits will be filed in American courts against Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Reports in the Daily Mail and Daily Beast indicate attorney Mark Lewis is prepared to file suit on behalf of three unnamed clients in America, claiming the phone hacking, believed to be a U.K. phenomenon until now, took place here as well:

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast, Lewis confirmed for the first time that he plans to file three separate lawsuits on behalf of clients who believe their phones were hacked while they were on U.S. soil. At least one of the cases, Lewis adds, involves allegations that the phone of a U.S. citizen was hacked. "This is getting wider," Lewis says. A spokesperson for News Corporation declined to comment.

Mr. Lewis wouldn't say much about his American clients but indicated one possible victim had connections to the late Princess Diana, another was involved with a prominent English soccer team and the third was an instance where the alleged victim's contact with a major celeb made them a hacking target as well.

The American cases stem from information found in the notebooks of Glenn Mulcaire, a private eye employed by the now-defunct News of the World.

Mr. Lewis promised the Daily Beast that there could be more phone-hacking cases in American courts soon.

Well, via the New York Times' Brian Stelter, that person, Teri Everett, has resigned from her post: "News Corp's top PR person, Teri Everett is leaving; Julie Henderson is named chief communications officer, effectively replacing her."

The reason given? From the News Corp press release, emphasis ours:

"The past decade has, without a doubt, been the highlight of my career," commented Ms. Everett. "News Corp. executives are a peerless group and I will miss them immensely. I will always be grateful to Rupert and Chase for their support over the years and am thrilled that Julie will be succeeding me. While it may be a tired cliché, I am ready for something new."

While a statement like that typically leaves plenty of room for interpretation, who can blame her?

As if the life of Ms. Everett wasn't already difficult enough over the last two years, 80 year-old News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch recently joined Twitter earlier this month, to much hilarity. You know what people do on Twitter? Put their foot—or feet—in their mouth, 140 characters at a time.

Teri Everett had been with News Corp since 2000 as the VP of Corporate Communications in Los Angeles. In December 2009 she was handed the position of global corporate affairs and communications efforts; in September 2010, not even after a year on the job, Ms. Everett is handed the phone hacking scandal to deal with after a New York Times Magazine blockbuster story reopened the phone hacking investigation. The scandal caused the shutdown of one of the oldest newspapers in the world (the News Corp-owned News of the World) and the resignation of several executives, as well as the public hearings effectively putting Rupert and James Murdoch under oath.

Ms. Henderson has been with News Corp since 2006; until today, she's held Ms. Everett's old job since March of last year. The Observer's request for comment from Ms. Henderson on the joys of her new job was not immediately returned. We will update if it is.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

Rupert Murdoch is not happy

Police in the United Kingdom made new arrests Saturday as part of "Operation Elveden." The dead-serious probe with the Tolkienesque name is digging into allegations Rupert Murdoch's Sun paid cops for inside information. News Corp's Management and Standards Committee reported the arrests and took credit in the process:

"News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated," the committee said in a statement confirming the arrests of four "current and former employees" of the Sun.

Four suspects were journalists, a fifth was an officer with the Metropolitan Police. Reuters reported that the Sun's crime editor Mike Sullivan, news head Chris Pharo, ex-deputy editor Fergus Shanahan and former Sun managing editor Graham Dudman were among those taken in.

"Operation Elveden" is one of three ongoing inquiries into how News Corp's now-defunct News of the World gathered intelligence.

[Reuters]

(Photo: pcmag.com)

Fox News was the first broadcasting network to rollout the breaking news ticker on 9/11, so it’s not exactly surprising that News Corporation is ahead of the game again. Following The Wall Street Journal’s launch of WSJ Social on Sept. 20, more news organizations will unveil similar ‘Facebook editions’ at the annual F8 developer conference.

These branded news apps will resemble WSJ Social, allowing readers to consume content within the Facebook environment. Facebook invited several news outlets to produce pilot versions, including The Daily, CNN, theWashington Post and the Huffington Post, according to Forbes.

Though we can't say for sure why Facebook encouraged news organizations to develop applications, it’s probably because they don’t want people to click on a link and leave Facebook. We’re guessing users can expect the news apps to have ads in addition to those on the right-hand side of the site.

(Screenshot: The Wall Street Journal)

The Wall Street Journal announced Sept. 20 the beta launch of WSJ Social, a Facebook news application that allows users to read, share and comment on content within Facebook.

“It’s an app that will live on Facebook,” said Daniel Bernard, digital product chief of the Journal’s digital network, at a launch party Sept. 19. “Instead of taking the old paradigm of driving traffic to our website and having people go back and fourth, why not create a great useable product and usable experience for someone right inside of Facebook? So that’s the direction we’re heading…it’s fantastic.”

The Facebook app will include a grid-like stream of content from articles and blogs on WSJ.com. Similar to linked materials on Facebook news streams, users can “like,” re-share and comment on articles through WSJ Social. But in addition to these traditional Facebook features, WSJ Social users can also read entire articles without getting linked to the original article.

WSJ Social does have advertisements but will be available for free for the first month. After that, Mr. Bernard explained to the Observer, users must pay for access to app’s content that's behind a paywall on WSJ.com. While he said the details for paying for WSJ Social access directly on Facebook haven’t been arranged, readers will be able to use the app with an online subscription after the first month.

In addition to WSJ.com content, other features will be added to the app in the coming days and weeks as part of the beta release.

One such feature treats users as “editors” of their own customizable content stream where they can share their favorite stories and follow other “editors.” Users with the most followers are recognized as “top editors” on the left-hand side letter board of the app.

“Basically every user of the app is an ‘editor,’” explained Maya Baratz, head of new products at the Journal, at the launch party. She said top editors are going to receive rewards for their activity on WSJ Social.

“We’re very excited for all of you to add the app to your Facebook, start using it and to start that competitive set to become one of our top editors,” Mr. Bernard said.

After the announcement, Mr. Bernard and Ms. Baratz joked that they’d become pretty competitive vying for a top editor position on WSJ Social.

“It’s really fun,” Ms. Baratz said.

Ms. Murdoch, at her Cinema Society screening (Getty Images)

Wendi Deng Murdoch, who made Tuesday morning by slapping her husband’s assailant at the News Corporation hearings in London, hasn’t let her family legal drama affect her unduly. Last Wednesday, she attended a Cinema Society screening of the film she produced, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, with guests including Nicole Kidman (the Australian pal of Mr. Murdoch whom former Page Six contributor Jared Paul Stern recently alleged “had a free pass” from News Corporation’s gossips), Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Harvey Weinstein. (Disclosure: Ivanka Trump Jewelry, an advertiser in The Observer, was the event’s sponsor.) She also attended a Saturday screening of the film in Southampton, along with Barbara Walters and Rudy Giuliani.

Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir was distraught over Ms. Murdoch’s crisis, though he said it was never discussed while planning the event. “She’s been working on the film, as you know, for years. It’s so unfortunate that this came about when she was about to have her moment in the sun.”

ddaddario@observer.com :: @DPD_

Wylie.

Speaking earlier today on BBC Radio 4, Andrew Wylie, the literary agent, expressed his thoughts on HarperCollins, the publishing house owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

According to The Bookseller, a British industry publication, Wylie said he had personally told Mr. Murdoch that HarperCollins should be "looked after a little more closely," and added that the increased scrutiny on the company recently "will perhaps turn on some lights in rooms that have been left dark previously and look more closely at what is profitable and what is not and what is proper behaviour and what isn't."

Mr. Wylie made no reference to any specific instances of impropriety, saying only that the heads of HarperCollins have been "unusually shrill and punitive towards authors."

Whether this warrants the kinds of investigations and resignations reverberating around other segments of Murdoch's empire is unclear. We wrote Mr. Wylie earlier requesting elaboration, but did not receive a reply.

A HarperCollins spokesperson told The Bookseller, "The more mundane truth is that HarperCollins have had differences of opinion on business matters with Mr Wylie in recent times." And on Twitter, there was a choice re-tweet on the HarperCollins feed referencing Mr. Wylie.

"We think it's a great format because the tablet in general lends itself to a type of journalism that is really new. The topography of a tablet, the multitouch screens . . . we think it's very exciting. These really are becoming our flagship products, even though they are very much in their infancy." 

So just what is this new type of journalism?

Sources say the publication is experimenting with an investigative secret weapon—namely, the Parrot AR.Drone "quadricopter" that all the geek blogs salivated over when it debuted at CES early this year. 

The Parrot does indeed look pretty cool. It comes equipped with two cameras (one facing forward, for steering; another facing down, for those OJ-in-the-Bronco news moments), an on-board WiFi transmitter, two interchangeable hulls, and an "ultrasound altimeter." Best of all, it can be controlled with an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad (synergy!). 

Check out these French dudes trying one out:

Competing news organizations might want to pop over to Brookstone and pick one up. 

Mr. Murdoch said that his gift to the RGA stemmed from his personal friendship with John Kasich, a former Fox News host and candidate for governor in Ohio. “It had nothing to do with Fox New," he said. The New York Times reported that the gift was one of the largest donations ever given by a media company to a political cause. 

As for the other donation: “We are members of the Chamber of Commerce," Mr. Murdoch said, "and I just thought I was being a good member." He said he never intended for his gift to the Chamber of Commerce to become public, but he expected news of his donation to the RGA to get out.

Earlier: The Political Mr. Murdoch Donates $1M to Another Republican Advocacy Group, Testifies on The Hill