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Morning Fix: Parliament blasts Rupert Murdoch. A Golden Globes ruling

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After the coffee. Before plowing through Parliament’s report on News Corp.

The Skinny: I have far too many workplace-anxiety dreams. Tuesday’s headlines include a blistering report from the British Parliament on News Corp.’s handling of the ethics scandal at its UK newspapers; Dick Clark Productions’ victory in the legal fight over TV rights to the Golden Globes; and Charlie Sheen not wanting to be immortalized by a New York City strip club.

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Daily Dose: Dick Clark Productions Chief Executive Mark Shapiro got a colorful critique from U.S. District Judge Howard Matz in his ruling in favor the company in its legal battle with the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. over control of the TV rights to the Golden Globes Awards show (see below). Noting in his ruling that former NBC executive Marc Graboff called Shapiro a liar during negotiations for the Globes, Matz said, ‘Shapiro’s negotiation tactics may boost his ‘street cred’ as a shrewd executive in the gabled world of Hollywood deal-making.’ When Shapiro testified in the trial, he acknowledged misleading NBC as part of a negotiating strategy.

Tell us how you really feel. A much-anticipated report from a British parliamentary committee probing the ethics scandal at News Corp.’s UK newspapers said the media giant’s chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, ‘exhibited willful blindness’ and was unfit to lead a company such as the media giant. Murdoch’s son, James, who oversaw the unit that housed the British tabloids News of the World and the Sun, was also chastised for showing poor leadership. Other News Corp. executives were accused of misleading Parliament. Now the question is if the report will lead U.S. officials to look closer at whether News Corp.’s actions in Britain ran afoul of U.S. laws. Early analysis on the report from the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and the Guardian.

Golden Globes ruling. A U.S. District Court sided with Dick Clark Productions in its legal battle with the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. over who controls the television rights to the Golden Globes Awards show. The HFPA, which owns the Golden Globes, had sued Dick Clark Productions in 2010, claiming that the company did not have the right to sign a long-term renewal with NBC for the show. Dick Clark Productions claimed it did. In the ruling, Judge Howard Matz criticized the HFPA for its ‘absence of sound, businesslike practices.’ Coverage from the Los Angeles Times, Variety and the Hollywood Reporter.

Chasing the dollars. If there is a shortage of shrimp and champagne at the broadcast network programming presentations to advertisers in New York in two weeks, put the blame on new media. Over the last few weeks, Yahoo, AOL and other digital companies held their first big presentations to woo more advertising money to the Web. ‘The Internet industry could have only dreamed of a week like this a few short years ago,’ Yahoo executive vice president Ross Levinsohn said. More on new media’s Madison Avenue sales pitch from the Los Angeles Times.

The people speak. Every year, USA Today surveys its readers on what low-rated TV shows should be saved from cancellation. This time around, NBC’s ‘Parks and Recreation’ and ‘Parenthood’ led the voting. More interesting was the response to USA Today’s question about what hit shows have overstayed their welcome. The winners were CBS’ ‘Two and a Half Men’ and Fox’s ‘Glee.’

How about the Carlos Estevez room? You’ve heard of the champagne room in strip clubs? Well, one New York club opened a Charlie Sheen room. Cheetahs named a room after the actor that allows its patrons to, uh, eat sushi off of some of the entertainers. Though Sheen can occasionally laugh at his own high jinks, no one else can. According to the New York Post, Sheen’s legal team is trying to shut down the room. What if they give Sheen a lifetime VIP pass? Would that work as a peace offering?

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Inside the Los Angeles Times: Steven Zeitchik on the Tribeca Film Festival.

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter for my critiques on NBC’s ‘Smash.’ Twitter.com/JBFlint

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