Today's "Angry Journalist" rant of the day: "I'm angry because I've had nothing to do for the last three hours. But because 'something might happen,' I need to stay here -- on the clock -- wasting my own time and the company's money."
A release announced, "Veteran newsman Richard Willing has joined the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as its Director of Public Affairs. Willing, 59, covered civil and criminal justice issues, as well as intelligence and national security, for USA Today from 1997 until this January."
NewsHour with Jim Lehrer announced that Betty Ann Bowser will be the new Health Correspondent. She will replace Susan Dentzer, who is the new Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs.
Bloomberg reports, "News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said a purchase of the Long Island newspaper Newsday would give his New York Post a 'more secure future' and help compete with the New York Times for advertising."
Politico's Michael Calderonereports, "WashPost's Dan Balz considers buyout"
Reuters reports, "Tribune Co is at risk of defaulting on its debt in as little as 18 months if the newspaper business deteriorates further, and it fails to unload more properties."
Forbes.com reports, "Thinner. Lighter. Skinnier. There's a good chance your daily newspaper is a lot easier to lift off your front stoop than it used to be. Economic pressures and competition are brutal, forcing newspapers to slim down. Industry experts warn that editorial quality could suffer. But does dieting have to be a negative development? No."
Bloomberg reports, "Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell will have to sell assets besides the Chicago Cubs baseball team and its Newsday newspaper on Long Island to pay back debt maturing in 2008 and 2009, bond research firm Gimme Credit said."
A White House press release announced, "The New York Times Mistakes Its Own Blindness For Presidential 'Invisibility' --
Apologist For Democrat-Led Congress' Inaction, Paper Criticizes President Bush For Public Unawareness Of Housing Event Old 'Gray Lady' Forgot She Failed To Cover"
Romenesko reports, "A study of blogs and audience engagement during the week before the fall 2006 elections found that most newspaper staff-produced blogs contained a small number of postings, failed to create much interaction between the blogger and the audience and attracted few audience comments. 'Newspapers might consider spending staff time monitoring blogs as sources of news rather than trying to re-create the blogosphere on their websites,' says j-prof Lori Demo."
Politico reports, "WSJ may endorse in '08; first time since Hoover!"
City Paper's Mike DeBonis reports, "On Monday morning, the Washington Post flooded the proverbial zone on its Nationals Park coverage -- more than 20 reporters documented every last aspect of the ballpark's first official major-league game. The Post also flooded the paper with an inaccuracy: that the stadium cost $611 million."
From a Postie regarding this, "How many pulitzers do you think the post will lose in the buyouts? Sue Schmidt is just the first band in that parade."
TVNewser reports, "The AP reports Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have accepted the invitation of CBS News and the North Carolina Democratic Party to debate on April 27. The 90-minute debate will follow 60 Minutes and be moderated by Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer."
The Baltimore Sun reports, "For decades, local TV stations in cities like Baltimore were cash cows for the companies that owned them. Even though one or two stations with the most popular anchors often came to dominate each market, everybody made money. Local TV was that surefire a business -- even for last-place and poorly managed stations. But not today."
TVNewser reports, "The number one network morning show last week was again NBC's Today show. All three networks saw increases in their A25-54 demo viewership."
TVNewser reports, "A producer/reporter working for the Brian Ross investigative unit at ABC News was roughed up Tuesday as he tried to get an interview with a West Virginia energy company executive. The unidentified producer, DV camera in hand, was trying to get an interview with Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey Energy."
Tech Crunch reports, "As Al Gore's Current Media gets ready for its IPO, the cable channel is drawing more on its Website audience for TV content. Today, it is launching Current News, a three-minute wrap-up culled from audience submissions on the Web that will play every hour on Current TV. As such, the site now has a new look, with the audience contributions front and center. Each one can be voted up the page, and at the very top are the most popular, which get packaged together every hour on TV in the new Current News segment. The video can also be seen on the Website."
ClickZ.com reports, "A classified ad industry research firm says Craigslist could 'easily' rake in $100 million with a few minor changes to improve service. The company, Classified Intelligence of Altamonte Springs, Fla., estimates Craigslist's 2008 revenue will be about $81 million this year, a figure Classified Intelligence Principal Peter Zollman called 'amazing' in light of the laid-back operations of the mostly-free classifieds Web site."
Wired.com reports, "Google argues that the plummeting click-through rates on its ads are a good thing -- but advertisers aren't buying it. A major change Google made in early March to its AdWords algorithm is resulting in a double whammy for some advertisers: The rates they're paying for ads have rocketed while conversion rates for those ads have dropped. Disgruntled advertisers have dubbed the move the 'Google slap.'"
Politico reports, "Gawker uses Nielsen data to chart the political leanings of news web site readers. Mother Jones is found to bring in the most liberal, with Fox News topping the conservatives."
Slate's Jack Shaferis "Grumbling about the misuse of hyperlinks on news sites."
TVWeek.com reports, "Ads embedded in YouTube videos perform just as well as ads on television, Google said. Those are the findings from a study commissioned by Google to measure the effectiveness of 30-second ads on YouTube, on TV and embedded into content online. Harris Interactive conducted the study."
Reuters reports, "Yahoo Inc on Wednesday unveiled new features to make Web search easier and more relevant to mobile phone users, the latest step in its battle with Google Inc in the next frontier for Web use."
Bloomberg reports, "Google Inc. reported the biggest workforce reduction in its nine-year history, cutting jobs at DoubleClick Inc., the online advertising company it bought last month for $3.24 billion"
DCRTV reports, "DC-based XM Satellite Radio joins with EWTN Global Catholic Network to launch a six-day channel covering Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the USA, including a major public event at DC's new Nationals Field. It'll be on XM-120 from 4/15 to 4/20"
The New York Times reports, "Randi Rhodes, an afternoon host for the progressive Air America radio network, was suspended Thursday after repeatedly insulting Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at an event last month."
Also from DCRTV, "DC-based lefty radio talker Bill Press releases his latest book, 'Trainwreck: The End Of The Conservative Revolution (And Not A Moment Too Soon),'" today.
TVNewser reports, "When You Think GQ, You Think... Karl Rove, right? The former Bush deputy chief of staff and current Fox News contributor is featured in a lengthy Q&A by Lisa DiPaulo on GQ's web site today. Rove describes his new job at FNC as 'odd.' 'It's weird for me,' he says. 'But it's interesting.'
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