With Rupert Murdoch‘s British newspaper News Of The World printing its last edition today, Christiane Amanpour assembled a panel on This Week to discuss what implications the phone hacking scandal might have on the News Corp. media empire. CourtTV founder Steve Brill suggested that even if it turns out that knowledge of the criminal activity only existed at the editorial level, he still thinks it is likely that Murdoch’s FCC licenses to operate television stations in this country will be challenged.

Conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer has had enough of the “liberal arrogance” when it comes to defending NPR and the government subsidy it receives. NPR’s Nina Totenberg valiantly attempted to defend her organization’s news coverage and disputed they were a “bunch of lefties,” yet Krauthammer wondered “if the product is so superior, why does it have to live on the tit of the state?”

The NPR sting video which led to the departure of CEO Vivian Schiller as well as the resignation of the man in the video, former executive Ron Schiller. It has also, according to 22 journalists from NPR News, “done real damage” to the entire organization. In an open letter, they write that they were “appalled” by Ron Schiller’s comments caught on tape.

On Sunday’s Inside Washington, NPR’s Nina Totenberg apologized for using the words “Christmas party” in a discussion about budgets. It’s unclear why she became as red in the face as the red Christmas flowers behind her when she mistakenly allowed the “offensive” words to escape from her lips. Yet she does regret that no alternative expression was available to describe the party she attended.

Nina Totenberg is speaking out about her controversial Jesse Helms remarks from 15 years ago. NPR’s legal correspondent has come under some heavy Fox News fire following Juan Williams dismissal for remarks she made on a television show called Inside Washington in 1995.

NPR’s controversial firing of former staffer Juan Williams is still providing plenty of talking points for Bill O’Reilly, and he addressed the issue again tonight, this time bringing in Weekly Standard staffer Stephen Hayes and asking why some other NPR contributors – particularly legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg – haven’t faced similar consequences to Williams.

Before the Juan Williams case, the media had a standard mode of handling newly radioactive cable news personalities: a public apology, a few weeks of silence, and some high-profile interviews with more reputable cable news personalities. Juan Williams is unique not only in that his firing appears to many as particularly egregious compared to that of, say, Rick Sanchez, but Williams’ path to redemption appears to be an all-out war with his former employer.

“The night of Bush v. Gore, Scalia called to see if Ginsburg was alright. She wasn’t. But the fact that he cared enough to call her demonstrates unseen inner workings of those who make up the highest court.”

Lights! Camera! SCOTUS! All eyes this week are turned toward the confirmation hearing of Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Mediaite asked some of our favorite legal eagles to share their thoughts on the Sotomayor hearings: The New Yorker/CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin, Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick, CBS’s Andrew Cohen and SCOTUSblog’s Tom Goldstein weigh in on today’s events.