With the investigation into News Corporation heating up as Parliament began hearings this week, the threat has surfaced to other UK tabloids of investigation into their practices, as well. On tonight’s In the Arena, Mediaite founder and ABC legal analyst Dan Abrams argued that a more extensive investigation “has to be good” for New Corp, as any findings would widen the scope to the tabloid culture, and not just News Corp.

As Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corporation appears to veer closer and closer to being entirely engulfed by its corruption scandal in the UK, the defenses have risen in volume, with Wall Street Journal leading the charge in America with a scathing editorial this morning. But the odds are high that the tactic may backfire, argued Mediaite founder Dan Abrams to Don Lemon this evening, as the offensive defense could be interpreted as downplaying a scandal that, according to many in the media, has achieved Watergate proportions.

One of the more fascinating secondary narratives that has arisen from the phone hacking and corruption scandal that has enmeshed News Corp. is the way in which the many media properties under Rupert Murdoch‘s purview have covered this story. Perhaps because the story is still very much in a fluid state, the critiques of the reporting have been both up and down. But the recent defense penned by the Wall Street Journal editorial board is the most full-throated defense yet, and takes the unique approach of actually attacking News Corp. critics.

As the News of the World phone hacking scandal continues to claim scalps, the coverage– or lack thereof– of the story on its sister organization Fox News continues to claim headlines. On today’s Reliable Sources, host Howard Kurtz, admitting he felt “very strongly” about the issue, chided Fox News for keeping quiet, noting that “when CNN has controversy, we always do it” and that, by not covering the scandal, the network “undermines its credibility.”

Right after having a an unpleasant discussion about angrily having sex with Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann because his guests hated her so much, Maher later took issue with his critics calling him “sexist” for regularly attacking Bachmann and Sarah Palin. Plenty would label Maher presiding over such a conversation to be enough evidence to consider Maher sexist. Even though I personally don’t agree with the sexist attack, after his argument here, I think it’s very hard for him to claim he’s not a hypocrite.

We can finally count the first physical injury in the aftermath of the scandal known as “Weinergate.” During the taping of tonight’s Daily Show, host Jon Stewart broke a glass in the middle of a segment about embattled Congressman (and old friend) Anthony Weiner and bled visibly onstage, halting the filming temporarily. Stewart bandaged his hand, finished the show, and Comedy Central says the show will air in its entirety tonight.

Sarah Palin‘s “One Nation” bus tour has many speculating that she is ready to launch a presidential bid, but she has yet to convince everyone. On Fox News today, Wall Street Journal writer John Fund told anchor Gregg Jarrett that he sees her even less likely to run than Rudy Giuliani and Michele Bachmann, though at least more viable than Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Today likely Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is giving a speech in Michigan to address his albatross: Romneycare. The universal healthcare bill he signed into law in Massachusetts and which served as a model for President Obama‘s similar plan, has long been believed to be a major hurdle for Romney in his bid to win the Republican nomination. And now an editorial from The Wall Street Journal suggests that hurdle is insurmountable.

Fox News may rule on cable, but on the web, CNN’s the leader–and it’s crushing the titans of print. According to ComScore, for the first three months of 2011, CNN averaged nearly 8.5 million unique U.S. visitors each day. The best-performing newspaper, The New York Times, was ranked third on the ComScore list with an average 5.6 million.

MSNBC was in second place behind CNN with 7.4 million unique U.S. visitors, and Fox News averaged 2.3 million.

Count Fox’s Shepard Smith among those who’d like to move on and stop talking about whether the “President is from the United States of America or not.” In a discussion on raising the debt limit with Wall Street Journal assistant managing editor John Bussey, who called birtherism a “big distraction,” Smith called the birther debate “stupid stuff.”

On Wednesday morning’s edition of Fox & Friends, the crew was discussing the current budget fight when co-anchor Brian Kilmeade made a stunning observation. “How unbelievable is this,” Kilmeade exclaimed. “If the President wrote a budget, we wouldn’t need a continuing resolution.”

A few seconds later, Kilmeade repeated the charge, asking “Where is the executive branch writing a budget?”

Good point, except that the President did write a budget.

In this month’s edition of the The New Yorker, Ken Auletta seeks to answer the question “What is Robert Thomson doing at the Wall Street Journal?” There are two answers, judging from the article: He is the paper’s managing editor because he happens to be a close friend of NewsCorp head Rupert Murdoch and because he’s a no-nonsense editor aimed at targeting “a culture of complacency” in his newsroom – even if this means slashing staff.

After a failed attempt earlier in the week to provide his birth certificate, Donald Trump on Tuesday proved that he is in fact an American citizen. Trump is the latest person to demand that President Obama prove he, too, is an American, and the stunt got people wondering about Trump’s intentions. The birther movement may [...]

After several weeks of deliberation and in response to gains made by Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in recent days, the United Nations has decided to take action, imposing a no-fly zone over Libya and, in one draft, permitting the use of “all necessary measures” to help save lives during the conflict. With the resolution passed, some sources are saying Libya is hours away from receiving direct military intervention.

Over the weekend, a report surfaced that an end to the standoff in Wisconsin was imminent, and that the so-called “Wisconsin 14″ were ready to return to the state to vote on Gov. Scott Walker‘s (R-WI) “budget repair bill.” On her program Monday night, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow called that “bad reporting,” and interviewed State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who told Maddow that State Sen. Mark Miller, the legislator quoted in that report, was singing a very different tune to Erpenbach.

One of the things that sets Rachel Maddow apart from the rest of the opiniotainment universe is the fact that she holds strong, smart opinions, while managing to be nice about it. That generosity of spirit was on display Wednesday night, as Maddow broke down the inconsistencies in a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, and concluded that Americans vote against their own interests because of an “expensive re-branding campaign.”

Rachel Maddow is too nice to tell Americans they’re idiots, but I’m not.

CNN’s John King. Is he a CNN superstar, or the next Kathleen Parker?

Two anonymously-sourced stories on consecutive days insist King’s on the chopping block, with high profile replacements waiting in the wings–either CBS’s Katie Couric, or CNN’s own Soledad O’Brien.

Stefan Kanfer’s new biography about Humphrey Bogart, Tough Without a Gun, has led film fans and critics to reflect on the life and legacy of the Hollywood legend. “Bogie” passed away in 1957, but he’s left behind an indelible mark on Tinseltown; some say no star will ever achieve the level of success that Bogart did. What was it about the actor that made him such a force?

Lawrence O’Donnell strove today to prove the magnitude of the letter published today by 400 rabbis in the Wall Street Journal asking Rupert Murdoch to condemn the repeated Holocaust references on Fox News by trying to get just two of them to agree on something. O’Donnell invited Rabbis David-Seth Kirschner and Yehuda Levin to debate the issue and found himself not even being able to cut to commercial, much less reach any common ground.

Five days ahead of his State of the Union address, President Obama has rising support, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. The President’s approval ratings is now at 53 percent, an eight point jump in one month and the highest ratings for the president since July 2009.

NBC News’ Chuck Todd says President Obama is getting a boost from several factors, including a general sense of optimism among Americans. The poll asked “Will the Economy Get Better or Worse in the Next Year?” 40 percent said better, 17 percent said worse. The “better” answer jumping from just 32 percent in December.

The most boisterous governor in America is not taking the Tucson massacre as a cue to tone down the rhetoric. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie sat down with Paul Gigot of Fox News’ Journal Editorial Report today to give his take on the events in Arizona last week, and while he sees a need to constantly reflect on the tone of political language, he sees no reason to connect that need to acts of an independently “deeply disturbed young man.”

According to a report posted tonight on the website of The Wall Street Journal, CNN is considering replacing Kathleen Parker, co-host of the ratings-challenged Parker Spitzer. The WSJ story quotes unnamed sources who say a new co-host could be named to join Eliot Spitzer as part of a major overhaul of the show, which has floundered in the ratings since its debut three months ago. CNN’s primetime programs performed poorly in 2010, which marked the network’s worst ratings performance in fourteen years.

Sarah Palin has repeatedly expressed that First Lady Michelle Obama‘s antiobesity campaign leaves a bad taste in her mouth. Already Republican Mike Huckabee declared his allegiance to Team Michelle on the issue. And now, somewhat surprisingly, the conservative-leaning Wall Street Journal editorial page admits they also don’t smell what Palin is cooking.

CNBC’s Larry Kudlow took a look at the latest poll from The Wall Street Journal and NBC News and found a huge red warning flag for assumed 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney

Kudlow says Romney’s on the wrong side of the tax cut deal struck by Republicans and President Obama, and “I’m not letting him off the hook.”

As NBC Universal nears the conclusion of its acquisition by Comcast, lifelong NBC employee and departing CEO Jeff Zucker may be headed not to another media gig, but into a slot at a private equity group.

As The Wall Street Journal reports this morning, Zucker says he hasn’t finalized his next step, but has been approached by private equity firms–though he hasn’t ruled out a whole host of other options, including a return to news, going into digital media, or even politics: