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Geraldo Rivera Apologizes For 'Hoodie' Comment (Politico)
Geraldo Rivera is apologizing for his "hoodie" remarks about Trayvon Martin that touched off a media firestorm last week, saying, "I have obscured the main point that someone shot and killed an unarmed teenager." TVSpy Former WESH anchor Joe Oliver, a longtime friend of George Zimmerman, has been making the rounds this week to defend Zimmerman's role in the Martin shooting. Mediaite Oliver underlined that the incident had nothing to do with race -- and that Zimmerman is a good man who was trying to do the right thing, but "something horribly wrong happened." HuffPost Rush Limbaugh hit out at President Barack Obama's reaction to the killing of Martin Monday, alleging that the president was using the teenager's death as a "political opportunity." NY Observer Tuesday's front page of the New York Post is sure to whip the public into a frenzy: showing a photo of three of the six Democratic senators (Kevin Parker, Bill Perkins, and Eric Adams) who chose to wear hoodies in Albany yesterday in solidarity of the family of Martin, the 17-year-old who was shot in Florida for wearing suspicious clothing. THR As the shooting of Martin by a neighborhood watch captain in Florida continues to engulf the nation, Fox has removed the first teaser poster and trailer for its summer space-alien comedy, Neighborhood Watch, from Florida theaters. FishbowlLA "We are very sensitive to the Trayvon Martin case, but our film is a broad alien-invasion comedy and bears absolutely no relation to the tragic events in Florida," Fox said in a statement. TheWrap.com The promotional material consisted of a teaser, posters, and in-theater standees that could have been interpreted as being related to the Martin case. The trailer and materials will be phased out nationally as a matter of course.

Murdoch's News Ltd. Rejects TV Piracy Claim In Australia (NYT)
Rupert Murdoch's embattled media empire found itself facing fresh controversy Wednesday after an Australian newspaper published an investigative report alleging that News Corp. engaged a special unit in the mid-1990s to sabotage its competitors, leading the Australian government to call for a criminal investigation into the claims. NYT / Media Decoder News Corp. faced fresh scrutiny in Britain Tuesday after a BBC documentary reported that a company affiliated with the media conglomerate used computer hacking to advance the business interests of broadcaster BSkyB. Guardian The Sun's Sunday edition lost close to 100,000 in sales at the weekend, leaving the circulation of Murdoch's new tabloid down almost 1 million copies on its launch sale of 3.22 million.

NFL's Dicey Play (NY Post)
The National Football League is close to rolling the dice with its longtime nemesis -- casino advertisers -- with both the New York Giants and Jets owners saying they're open to considering it.

Which Former Fox News Anchor Was On The Diverted JetBlue Flight? (TVNewser)
Shepard Smith got some help reporting on "the weirdness going down on a JetBlue flight" from a former Fox News Channel colleague on Studio B Tuesday afternoon.

NYT: 'The Ball Is Now In The Guild's Court' (JimRomenesko.com)
New York Times labor senior vice president Terry Hayes tells Times employees that the newspaper has put a "new, comprehensive proposal" on the bargaining table.

Lotta Shakin' At Billboard (NY Post / Media Ink)
Joe Levy, the former editor of Maxim and Blender and a one-time top editor at Rolling Stone, is going to succeed the ousted Danyel Smith as the new editor-in-chief of music trade Billboard.

Is There A Buyer That Can Steer Variety Into The Fast Lane? (TheWrap.com)
Variety has an iconic brand and a 100-year-plus history, but analysts and experts see a weak market for the struggling Hollywood trade.

iPad Newsstand Moving $70K In Sales A Day (minOnline)
While only six months old, the subscription-driven Newsstand section of the iPad App Store is ringing up content sales for premium publishers.

Pottermore Effect? Amazon's Kindle Store Hits The Wall (paidContent)
Within hours of the Harry Potter series going on sale as e-books for the first time, the Amazon Kindle Store hit a wall: Titles of all kinds showed up as unavailable on Kindle Fire and iPad Kindle storefronts, while the browser version told would-be customers that titles like the top-selling Hunger Games aren't available in the U.S.

Sweeping Layoffs Hit TheStreet.com (Business Insider / Silicon Alley Insider)
Sweeping layoffs just hit market news site TheStreet.com, we're hearing from two sources close to employees. A source in contact with TheStreet.com employees says it has cut all of its Main Street staff, three people in Boston, and some tech employees.

FCC Approves Channel 36 Sale; 63 Layoffs Loom (The Blade)
The sale of a Toledo TV station that could result in as many as 63 layoffs was approved Monday by the Federal Communications Commission.

Arbitron Agrees To Improve How It Counts Minority Radio Listeners (NYT / Media Decoder)
Arbitron, the largest radio ratings service, has settled a lawsuit in California over how it measures minority audiences, agreeing to pay $400,000 and to abide by certain research methods in tracking black and Latino radio listeners.

Analyst: Auto To Steer Banner Upfront Haul (Adweek)
While client budgets have not been finalized, at least one analyst believes that a surge in auto sales will lead to a record windfall in this year's upfront. AdAge / MediaWorks CBS is launching packaged-goods-specific ratings for the upcoming network upfronts, encouraging marketers in 20 categories to buy space based on how heavily audiences consume products, rather than on traditional viewership measures. B&C NBC will be returning to Radio City Music Hall for its upfront presentation in May. NBC has booked the famous theater for next year's upfront, as well.

It's Official: Bay Citizen, Center For Investigative Reporting Will Merge (minOnline)
The "exploration" is at an end. At a meeting Tuesday, the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Bay Area News Project, which runs The Bay Citizen, agreed to formally merge their operations. JimRomenesko.com CIR executive director Robert Rosenthal says the merger "puts us in a unique position as journalists, innovators, technologists, and, yes, entrepreneurs." TheWrap.com / Media Alley The merger of the two news forces will create the nation's largest nonprofit organization focused on investigative and accountability reporting.

AMI Promotes Publisher (FishbowlNY)
American Media promoted Kristen Elliott from publisher of Fit Pregnancy and Natural Health to vice president, group publisher of the AMI Women's Active Lifestyle Group. In her new position, Elliott will oversee the Shape, Fit Pregnancy, and Natural Health brands. WWD / Memo Pad With 13 issues under its belt, how is it going at Reality Weekly?