The Breakfast Meeting: Zucker to Run CNN, and a Late-Night Sports Crooner

CNN announced on Thursday that the rumors were true, and that Jeff Zucker, the former chief executive of NBC, would be its new leader, Bill Carter and Brian Stelter report. In an interview, Mr. Zucker, who said he first began his discussions with the network around Labor Day, said he would focus on finding a consistent audience when there wasn't breaking news. “CNN has to find the right programming that exists in between the 25 nights a year when it is most relevant,” he said. “Beyond the fact that we are committed to news and journalism, everything else is open for discussion.”

The Leveson inquiry issued its report on Thursday on press ethics in Britain, a mammoth document that offered politicians and press barons alike a framework to impose standards on newspapers, John F. Burns and Alan Cowell write. After sifting through a series of abuses of power by the British press - culminating in the phone hacking carried out, notoriously, by The News of the World, formerly part of Rupert Murdoch's media empire - the report advocated a new form of independent self-regulation for the newspaper industry. The question for Parliament to consider was whether to pass statutes backing up this system, as the Leveson reported proposed, or count on the industry to create on its own independent system to replace the current, discredited Press Complaints Commission.

• The report also weighed in on the power Mr. Murdoch exerted within the British political system. It specifically rejected the suggestion that Mr. Cameron and Mr. Murdoch struck a “deal” to exchange support for Mr. Cameron's Conservatives during the 2010 elections in return for policies favoring the Murdoch empire. Rather, the report said: “Sometimes the greatest power is exercised without having to ask. Just as Mr. Murdoch's editors knew the basic ground rules, so did the politicians. The language of trades and deals is far too crude in this context. In their discussio ns with him, politicians knew that the prize was personal and political support in his mass-circulation newspapers.”

The Internet in Syria was cut off on Thursday, Anne Bernard and Hala Droubi reported, perhaps a sign that the government would be escalating its response to the rebels, who have been making gains recently. The move, along with the closing of Damascus International airport, adds to the isolation of Syria, as violent fighting threatens to turn even more violent. Both sides have used the Internet to communicate to the outside world.

• Despite the Internet shutdown in Syria, many of the government's sites were still accessible on Thursday because they were hosted in foreign countries, including the United States, Amy Chozick writes. After being contacted, however, these host companies took down the sites, including one for SANA, the official Syrian news agency. An executive order prohibits American companies from providing Web hosting to Syr ia without a license from the Treasury Department.

Barnes & Noble, the largest conventional bookstore, reported a modest profit on Thursday, but growth in digital content revenue slowed in the face of competition from Amazon and Google, The Associated Press reported. Revenue from its Nook tablets fell in the quarter that ended Oct. 27, the company said, because of lower average selling prices, and digital content revenue grew 38 percent, down from a 46 increase the quarter before.

Steve Somers, the overnight host of the sports radio station WFAN, tends to an odd crowd of regulars who boast, bemoan and otherwise obsess about the local sports teams, Charles McGrath writes. Dressed like an aging beatnik, and stealing time for smoke breaks, Mr. Somers commands a following with his wit, laid-back approach and a voice that is “thin and high-pitched,” Mr. McGrath observes, “the voice of a crooner more than a sportscaster.” Mr. Somers says: “I don't think I have a great voice. I don't know what it's good for except yapping. I talk and talk and say nothing, and yet I make a living.”