Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton—whose previous job was running the division of Rupert Murdoch's empire that is presently engulfed in an out-of-control conflagration of criminality, almost all of which stems back to Hinton's tenure there—has stepped down. We totally called this two years ago.

Last week, when News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks faced down News of the World reporters to explain why the paper was being cashiered, she warned darkly that all would become clear when the full extent of the rot at her company became known. Today another shoe dropped: Reporters for News International's Sunday Times and Sun illegally accessed former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's bank account, legal files, and family medical records.

In your proxy Friday media column: MSNBC's David Shuster shot a pilot for CNN, Barack Obama demands (metaphorical!) oral sex from reporters, Smithsonian magazine stiffs a war-damaged correspondent, and losing just $80 million means you're Publisher of the Year.

Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton was asked last week by England's House of Commons to testify about the rampant wiretapping that he allegedly oversaw when running Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers. He's not going to show.

The wiretapping scandal rocking Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper holdings is getting bad enough that Rupert is ducking questions from his own Fox Business reporters. It could also reach across the pond to his beloved acquisition, the Wall Street Journal.

Dow Jones Chief Executive Les Hinton said in a speech that Google was a "digital vampire" that is "sucking the blood" out of the newspaper business. Cue the Gawker/True Blood/Bloodcopy jokes now. [Crain's New York]