The “Pink Slime” lawsuit is moving back to state court, much to the chagrin of attorneys for ABC News, whoa argued that its proper jurisdiction was in federal court.

The case, if you aren’t caught up, involves an ABC News story that referred to a certain processed beef product as “pink slime.” The manufacturer of the product, BPI, argues that the report was defamatory, and that calling it pink slime” misled consumers into think it was unsafe and unhealthy.

ABC News, Diane Sawyer, Jim Avila and David Kerley were all named as defendants in the suit, which is seeking more than $1 billion in damages.

“This is purely a decision on what court will hear the case,” says ABC News in a statement. “The federal court was very clear that in sending this case to state court it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case.  The court stated that ABC and the other defendants have the right to move to dismiss the case in the state court, and ABC intends to do just that.”

The AP has details on the latest move.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier ordered the case back to the circuit court in Union County.

Erik Connolly, a lawyer for BPI, said the company is looking forward to presenting its case.

“We originally filed the case in state court because that was the proper jurisdiction,” Connolly said in an email. “The Court’s decision confirms we were correct.”

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Attorneys for Fox News reporter Jana Winter appeared in a New York court yesterday, asking a judge there to shoot down a subpoena that would compel Winter to testify in Colorado to reveal her sources.

Winter was subpoenaed in Colorado to reveal her source in a story she wrote about the alleged gunman in the Colorado movie theater shooting. FoxNews.com has the details on the arguments.

On Wednesday, Holmes attorney Daniel Arshack argued to the five-judge panel that the issue was one of credibility. He said that a number of law enforcement officers had been asked whether they were the source of the leak, and that none had taken responsibility for it…

Christopher Handman, representing Winter, said allowing the subpoena to stand would take the power out of the state’s shield laws if she were forced to identify her sources.

The panel of judges questioned both attorneys, asking whether the issue was over press freedoms or one of court process, as well as whether New York’s public policy of protecting press freedoms had any place in the trial.

The George Zimmerman trial starts on Monday, and the cable news channels are gearing up for live coverage on the proceedings.

Most interesting is MSNBC, which is planning “in-depth, continuing coverage” as part of its regular programming.

“MSNBC will provide in-depth, continuing coverage of the trial of George Zimmerman beginning Monday, June 10,” an MSNBC spokesperson says. “The network will cover the criminal proceedings live as news warrants during our regularly scheduled programs.”

MSNBC president Phil Griffin said recently that his channel is “not the place” for breaking news, but rather is doubling down on politics. The Zimmerman trial is breaking news, though it has energized politicians and political pundits in a way that no other recent trial has.

CNN says that it will be covering the trial during its programming “as news warrants,” leaving the in-depth coverage to sister network HLN. HLN will be going wall-to-wall with coverage of the trial, in much the same was as it did with the Jodi Arias trial. George Howell will cover the trial in the mornings, Martin Savidge will cover in the afternoon, and David Mattingly will cover for “OutFront.”

Fox News says it will be streaming every minute of the trial live online and will “present live coverage” during the week on TV. It will also stream the trial live online. Phil Keating will be in Florida covering the trial for the channel.

More than 20 media organizations, including Fox News and Bloomberg News, have banded together to request press passes for professional court stenographers to attend the trial of Bradley Manning, the former American soldier charged with leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks.

“Public and press access is a hallmark of democracy in the United States. In an unusual move, the government has not provided the press with copies of transcripts or court rulings of the pre-trial portions of the Manning case, and we are concerned that this lack of access to the court proceedings will continue during the upcoming trial,” the letter reads. “…If they are denied, over 280 of our colleagues who applied for credentials will not be able to report on the trial, and the public, which is closely watching this case, will be less able to understand the process and decisions made by this court.”

Freedom of the Press Foundation, which is one of the organizations in the coalition, has the full letter. Other news organizations include Politico, The New Yorker and The Daily Beast/Newsweek. [h/t Politico]

NBC News is partnering with the publisher of SCOTUSblog to cover the upcoming Supreme Court decisions.

As part of the deal, SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein will become a contributor to NBC News, appearing on-air and writing for NBCNews.com and MSNBC.com through the end of the current term. The network is quick to point out that justice correspondent Pete Williams won’t be going anywhere.

“It is an honor to work so closely with NBC News and Pete Williams during such a historic time at the Supreme Court,” said Goldstein in a statement. “Bringing SCOTUSblog to the attention of the network’s huge and well-informed audience is a tremendous opportunity for us.”

SCOTUSblog has quickly earned a name for itself as one of the fastest and most reliable sources of news and analysis when it comes to the Supreme Court. Last year, when CNN and Fox News incorrectly reported the outcome of the healthcare decision, FNC’s Megyn Kelly saw SCOTUSblog’s take, prompting a correction. It also wrote the definitive story on what happened that day.

As it happens, SCOTUSblog is sponsored by NBC competitor Bloomberg, which has a long and complicated history with its parent company Comcast.

More information below.
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According to The Daily Beast, Attorney General Eric Holder felt “a creeping sense of personal remorse” after signing off on the search warrant that allowed the FBI to dig into Fox News correspondent James Rosen‘s email and phone records.

But for Attorney General Eric Holder, the gravity of the situation didn’t fully sink in until Monday morning when he read the Post’s front-page story, sitting at his kitchen table. Quoting from the affidavit, the story detailed how agents had tracked Rosen’s movements in and out of the State Department, perused his private emails, and traced the timing of his calls to the State Department security adviser suspected of leaking to him. Then the story, quoting the stark, clinical language of the affidavit, described Rosen as “at the very least … an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator” in the crime. Holder knew that Justice would be besieged by the twin leak probes; but, according to aides, he was also beginning to feel a creeping sense of personal remorse.

At issue: Holder views himself has a pragmatist with progressive views, and the investigation seemed to be at odds with that. Elsewhere, the New Yorker‘s Ryan Lizza, who has been all over the Rosen case, looks at what happened when the DOJ claims it informed News Corp. about the warrant in 2010.

Attorney General Eric Holder personally gave the OK for the Department of Justice to search Fox News correspondent James Rosen‘s emails and phone records, NBC News reports. The FBI pursued Rosen’s information as though he were a “co-conspirator” in the leak investigation.

The law enforcement official said Holder’s approval of the Rosen search, in the spring of 2010, came after senior Justice officials concluded there was “probable cause” that Rosen’s communications with his source, identified as intelligence analyst Stephen Kim, met the legal burden for such searches. “It was approved at the highest levels– and I mean the highest,” said the law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said that explicitly included Holder.

Holder had recused himself in the AP leak investigation because he was interviewed as part of the process. The news comes as Fox News CEO Roger Ailes sent a memo to staff accusing the administration of trying to “intimidate” Fox News.

Just to give you a sense of what the Jodi Arias trial has meant for cable news viewership, take a look at Tuesday’s 2pm hour. As the devastation in Moore, OK was still settling in, 1,000 miles to the west Arias was asking a jury to spare her life. While Fox News and MSNBC remained with storm coverage, HLN and CNN both carried Arias’ comments which began at 1:56pmET. Arias spoke for about 20 minutes. HLN won the 2pm hour Tuesday. In fact the network beat the combined averages of Fox News and MSNBC in both total viewers and the demo. Now you know why HLN has become the new CourtTV.

• 2pm hour, Tuesday May 21 (Total Viewers / A25-54)

HLN:  2,227,000 / 620,000
CNN:  964,000 / 332,000
Fox News:  1,488,000 / 270,000
MSNBC:  337,000 / 111,000

Photo via

The Department of Justice says that it is unlikely to bring charges against Fox News correspondent James Rosen, who had his email searched by the FBI in relation to a leak investigation.

A warrant was executed against Rosen’s email, accusing him of being a “co-conspirator” to the individual accused of leaking information related to North Korea.

The implication that Rosen was complicit, as well as the apparent breach of a free press, drew a sharply worded critique from Fox News yesterday.

The Washington Post has more on the DOJ decision:

In response to questions about how Rosen was characterized in the affidavit, the Justice Department said in a statement Monday: “Saying that there is probable cause to believe that someone has committed a crime and charging the person with that crime are two different things.”

“No reporter has been charged in this case,” the statement added. “And, at this time we do not anticipate bringing additional charges against anyone.”

A Philadelphia jury has found former abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies born alive. He was found not guilty on a fourth count.

Fox News was the first to report the verdict at 3:18pmET. Shannon Bream was outside the courthouse discussing how the judge was threatening to hold anyone in contempt for using cellphones in court as a means to deliver the verdict when her producer Kristin Brown ran to the live position with the news. Rehema Ellis, from the NBC newsroom, reported the guilty verdicts during MSNBC’s “The Cycle” at 3:19pmET. CNN’s Sunny Hostin reported the verdicts from outside the courthouse at 3:22.

Compared to this month’s other high-profile trial, the Gosnell case has seen relatively little coverage. Unlike Arizona, Pennsylvania does not allow cameras in the courtroom; additionally, the judge in the trial issued a gag order banning prosecution and defense lawyers from talking to reporters. And as Howard Kurtz said on “Reliable Sources” last month: “This is a gruesome case that journalists on both sides of the abortion question have told me is hard to stomach. That is especially true on television.”

Meanwhile, HLN, which has ramped up its trial coverage, reported the Gosnell verdict, while keeping cameras trained on another courtroom where another high-profile defendant was in front of a judge: OJ Simpson was in a Las Vegas courtroom today seeking a new trial in his 2008 robbery conviction.