Should Shield Law Apply to Joe Muto?

Poynter’s Steve Meyers writes about whether New York’s Shield Law is applicable to Joe Muto…

A key legal issue, Leslie said, is whether Muto is being investigated for breaking the law by taking something from Fox News or for publicizing what he obtained. “If they’re going after him solely because he went to Gawker, then … that’s when the privilege would kick in. The privilege would help him more if what he did wasn’t illegal per se, but they didn’t like that it was publicized.”

So it would be easier for Muto to argue for the protection of information he obtained while at Fox News – say, his knowledge of what it’s like to work with Hannity, or photos of the bathroom – than materials taken from the company without permission, such as videos. The search warrant says that Fox News believes that Muto accessed and edited more than 10 videos like the ones that were posted on Gawker. (Leslie doesn’t know what Muto’s employment agreement specified.)

Even so, Leslie said, “Fox should tread very lightly before saying someone who works for a private company or another organization has a duty to never disclose that.” Employees’ decisions “of when to disclose information is very beneficial to journalists, even Fox News journalists.”

MSNBC and FNC…

New America Foundation’s Elixabeth Weingarten writes about a panel discussion tonight regarding FNC and MSNBC changing American politics…

Ailes’ decisions are particularly striking because of how passionate he is about the Republican party outside of TV, Sherman noted. Ailes has worked for former presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. “He has a tension at the core of him. He’s a TV guy and a political person…those things are sometimes in concert and sometimes in conflict.”

Ailes hired Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee, for example, so Fox would corner the market on conservative commentary, not because he supported their presidential runs. “In private, he lobbied Chris Christie to get into the race because from a political and image standpoint Christie was a more compelling candidate,” Sherman said. “He runs a TV channel, but in private, he wants people of substance, compelling candidates, to run. But the fact that Christie didn’t get into the race is because the political environment has been turned into a circus because of Fox.”

And that’s a critical point, one that Sherman made again later: “Ailes has created a political environment that has hurt the actual party he has devoted his life to.”

Margaret Brennan Out at Bloomberg…

TVNewser’s Chris Ariens scoops that Margaret Brennan is departing Bloomberg TV. In addition Ariens reports on other changes happening to the business channel…

Margaret Brennan, who has been with Bloomberg TV for nearly three years, is leaving the network, TVNewser has learned. Brennan joined Bloomberg from CNBC in 2009. Brennan’s departure, described as mutual, comes as the network plans changes to its morning lineup later this Spring.

Andrew Morse, head of U.S. TV for Bloomberg, says the changes are a continuation of Bloomberg’s “evolution into a digital, multi-platform news organization.” The changes have included a round of staff cuts as well as the posting of new positions, last month.

Robert Frank Joins CNBC…

Nik Deogun, Senior Vice President and Editor in Chief along with CNBC Business News and Kevin Krim, CNBC’s Digital General Manager sent out an internal memo announcing that Robert Frank would be coming over from the Wall Street Journal and be an editor and correspondent…

CNBC prides itself on delivering cutting-edge news, information and analysis for the most affluent, influential and educated audience. Few journalists have profiled and penetrated this audience as adroitly as Robert Frank, so we are delighted to announce that he will be joining the network as an editor and correspondent, effective May 14.

Robert is a best-selling author, award-winning journalist and leading voice on the topic of American wealth. He has been with The Wall Street Journal for 18 years as a reporter, columnist, editor and blogger. He was a foreign correspondent in London and Singapore, and later covered Wall Street and mergers and acquisitions. Eight years ago, Robert created a new beat covering the culture and economy of the wealthy and has become a widely cited authority on the subject—with two books, a popular blog, regular features and frequent media appearances.

Robert, along with CNBC’s team of reporters, producers and writers, will provide in-depth features, reporting and analysis about the world of the wealthy and how it shapes our economy, markets and government. CNBC will bring viewers, both online and on-air, inside the lives of the global rich—who they are, how they got there, and how they spend, invest, give away and fight over their fortunes.

Robert will report to Nick Dunn, managing editor of CNBC, and Allen Wastler, managing editor of CNBC.com. Please join us in welcoming him to CNBC.

More on the Zimmerman NBC Edit…

SFLTV.com has a story up regarding new information in the NBC Zimmerman 911 call edit…

insiders have told us WTVJ reporter Jeff Burnside was fired last Friday for allegedly editing the Trayvon Martin 911 tape, the same tape NBC aired on ‘Today’ in early April. Allegedly, his firing wasn’t announced internally and so far there is no information whether NBC made a conclusion if the edit was misleading on purpose or if it was an oversight.

Free for All: 04/25/12

What’s on your mind?

The Long Arm of….FNC?

Poynter’s Julie Moos has a nice roundup of what happened to Joe Muto this morning…

In a series of tweets, the Gawker blogger who worked at Fox News until he was outed as a mole announces this morning that News Corp.’s legal threats were not just talk.

The really fascinating story here is not going to be Muto’s legal mess but how FNC leaned on the DA and got them to bite so quickly. BTW, which DA is this?