In your ominous Tuesday media column: the first big scandal book deal of many sure to come, Peter Chernin lives, Gannett rips off Groupon, Tim Hetherington's final pictures released, and corporate infighting at Thomson Reuters.

  • British journalist Nick Davies, the man who covered the News Corp hacking scandal as closely as anyone, has gotten a book deal to write about it. Good for him. This scandal is to British media reporters exactly what the financial collapse was to New York business reporters two years ago, or what the Obama election was for boring DC political writers. Repetitive, unnecessary book deals for everyone! The thought of actually reading an entire book about the News Corp scandal makes me want to hit myself with a hammer right this minute, but that feeling may pass with time.
  • While everyone currently employed at News Corp is putting in applications at Dunkin' Donuts on the sly, former News Corp prez Peter Chernin, who left two years ago, is just getting ready to release the first projects from his own media company. "Planet of the Apes," is one. I mean it might suck, but it's still better than being back at News Corp.
  • Gannett is releasing its own Groupon knockoff, called DealChicken. Yeah, sure, just throw it on the pile.
  • Photographer Tim Hetherington was killed in Libya three months ago. Here are his final photos, for Newsweek.
  • Corporate intrigue at Thomson Reuters! The WSJ says that the Thomson family, which controls the company, is upset with the company's slow progress, and could be getting ready to can the CEO. Is there enough Wall Street money to go around, in this new recession-era world, to support both Bloomberg and Reuters on a truly global scale? This all adds up to probably the most important media story of the day, but also one that few people will "click" on. Business, baby. Reuters knows what I'm talking about.

[Photo: AP]