At the Wall Street Journal, there’s growing evidence the Rupert Murdoch era has already begun, according to the New York Observer. The News Corp head honcho appears eager for shorter front page stories, seeks a “significant effect” on the paper’s Washington political coverage, and has begun setting up an office for himself near other Dow Jones executives.

(New York Observer)

Keep an eye on:

• Microsoft is offering to replace damaged discs of its just-launched “Halo 3″ game for the Xbox amid reports that special limited-edition packaging is scratching them. (Reuters)
• CBS named Amy Baer as chief executive officer of CBS Films, marking another step forward for the media company’s plans for a new film division. (Reuters)
• Debt-plagued U.S. movie rental company Movie Gallery plans to close about 520 underperforming and unprofitable Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in an effort to save cash and cut costs. (Reuters)
• DreamWorks Animation signed Tom Freston, former CEO of Viacom, to its board of directors. The New York Times said the move comes amid tensions between Viacom and Dreamworks over the possible departure of Steven Spielberg . (NY Times )
• Microsoft Corp to announce changes to the MSN Video site that are supposed to make the ads there less intrusive and more ubiquitous. Using technology from aQuantive, Microsoft is also working on a system to provide advertisers with a log of all the places on the Internet where people see ads before going to the advertisers’ Web sites. (NY Times )

(Photo: Reuters file)