Receive mediabistro.com's Daily FishbowlDC Feed via email
Click here to receive mediabistro.com's Daily Media Newsfeed via email.
"I do think that the quality which makes a man want to write and be read is essentially a desire for self-exposure and is masochistic. Like one of those guys who has a compulsion to take his thing out and show it on the street." - James Jones
Bob WOODWARD has been working on a new Bush book with his usual cloak and dagger since 'State of Denial" came out in September 2006, regularly visiting the White House, State Department, Pentagon, various intelligence agencies, and the private homes of generals and other officials, high and low. The 352-pager will be out SEPT. 8. The SUBtitle will be "Bush at War, Part IV," but the title itself is a closely guarded secret.
Sign of the times: You can now track on a map layoffs in the newspsaper industry.
Most of you do not plan on seeing the "Sex and the City" movie. And I don't want to say that Vespas are all the rage right now, but...they're all the rage right now. Especially the Robin's Egg Blue ones.
Today's "Angry Journalist" rant of the day: "It's been one week since I left journalism for a job in another field. I know I'll always miss being a reporter (I had a good 15-year run), but this week hasn't been as heartbreaking as I'd feared. More money, fewer (or is it less? -- I forgot already) hours, more time with my family. Yes, it's worth it. If you're on the fence, don't be scared. Your paper will survive without you. In fact, no one will give a damn, at the paper or in the community."
We've got your morning mix of media Muesli after the jump...
AdAge.com reports, "Twenty-five years after USA Today zigged while everyone else zagged, it averages the biggest paid weekday circulation in the country, nearly 2.3 million and growing. The industry has learned to imitate its earliest editorial priorities -- color, brevity, sports, pop and dialogue with readers -- alongside bold business plays such as the front-page ads that started in 1999."
Washingtonian's Harry Jaffewrites, "Can a slight, self-effacing, 26-year-old writer from Normal, Illinois, help revive a Washington Post Style section suffering from shortened stories and shrinking staff? If readers come for witty prose on sometimes weird subjects, Monica Hesse could help bring Style back."
The New York Post reports, "Newsday yesterday said it will whack another 32 people from its payroll -- most of them middle management blue-collar workers who run the printing presses. The cuts come on the heels of last month's agreement by cable operator Cablevision to buy the Long Island daily for $650 million from Sam Zell's Tribune Co. The deal is expected to close by the end of the summer."
A reader points out that, even though CNN paid $100,000 for Puerto Rico's exit polling, they still trailed Fox News in calling Puerto Rico for Sen. Hillary Clinton (granted, by only three seconds).
A NBC release announced, "According to Nielsen Media Research data, 'Meet
the Press with Tim Russert' was the most-watched Sunday morning public affairs program, winning the week ending Sunday, May 25, 2008 in all categories. On Sunday, the Russert-moderated program was No. 1, averaging 3.570 million total viewers"
New York Times reports, "Can the environment make for entertaining TV? Discovery Communications is about to find out with its launch of Planet Green."
New York Magazine reports, "Low-key CNN anchor Aaron Brown was bumped aside in 2005 for Anderson Cooper. Now his CNN contract is up, and he'll resurface next month as host of a PBS documentary series. He's also pitching a public-radio show, appearing in an upcoming Kevin Costner movie as himself ('My worst nightmare,' he says), and teaching journalism at Arizona State University. He spoke to Michael Martin."
The AP reports, "Young adults experience news fatigue from being inundated by facts and updates and have trouble accessing in-depth stories, according to a study to be unveiled at a global media conference Monday. The Context-Based Research Group, an ethnographic research firm, found that the news consumption behavior of younger readers differs profoundly from that of previous generations."
Reuters reports, "Time Warner Inc Chief Executive Jeffrey Bewkes said on Friday that some analyst views of its growth prospects once it separates from its cable operating business are too low. Some analyst models have estimated growth in the mid-single digit percentages by simply factoring out the growth of Time Warner Cable."
THR.com reports, "Time Warner's core content business will grow operating income before interest, depreciation and amortization well above the mid-single-digit percentage range starting next year, CEO Jeffrey Bewkes said."
The New York Times reports, "An investor group led by NBC Universal and two private equity firms appeared to be leading the bidding for the Weather Channel."
A release announced, "The brand new National Archives Experience online
exhibit, the Digital Vaults (www.archives.gov/nae) continues to receive tremendous acclaim from top web and design competitions. The Digital Vaults has received three top awards, and has been nominated for two additional awards: Adobe -- 'Site of the Day' award for February 29, 2008. Adobe recognizes projects based on strong visual design, technical execution, usability, interesting and/or timely content, return on
investment (ROI), and benefit to the organization, as well as overall
innovative use of Adobe products." Also, "Favorite Website Awards (FWA) -- 'Site of the Day' award for March 30, 2008. FWA is an industry-recognized award program showcasing top websites. This is the premier site for flash developers, and the 'go to' site to see the latest websites and web technology."
Bloomberg reports, "Liberty Media Corp. may emerge as a buyer for Time Warner Inc.'s AOL Internet-access business, said Citigroup Global Markets Inc. analyst Jason Bazinet."
Bloomberg reports, "U.S. government engineers are winding up lab tests that will help determine whether Google Inc.'s plan to beam Internet searches over vacant airwaves would interfere with digital television signals."
Bloomberg reports, "Time Warner Cable Inc plans to offer subscribers an easier way to bring Internet video to their television screens as part of an overall home networking system, Chief Executive Glenn Britt said on Friday."
Media Week reports, "Turner is pasting together its vast collection of Web properties to form a sizable, brand-friendly ad network, just as the company officially swears off selling its remnant inventory via third-party ad networks."
Media Week reports, "Felix Dennis' The Week has long sold itself as the antidote to traditional news titles, boiling down news and opinion from elsewhere and leaving it uncluttered by ads. Now, it's setting out to demonstrate its high reader engagement by offering advertisers who buy at least three pages a comparison of their ad's performance in The Week versus other publications like Forbes, Fortune and The Economist. The Week is using data from Affinity Research's Vista Print Effectiveness Service."
The New York Times reports, "The advent of social networking Web sites has created a quandary for alumni magazines, which have been slow to embrace the Web."
Hampton Roads reports, "The decision to put Landmark Communications Inc. up for sale this year thrust the diversified media company into a position its chairman shrinks from himself: directly in the spotlight. It's been a decade since Frank Batten Jr. succeeded his fabled father as chairman of Landmark, whose holdings now include The Weather Channel; Dominion Enterprises, a Norfolk-based information and marketing services company; The Virginian-Pilot and dozens of smaller papers; two television stations; and various technology businesses. Since then, Batten has earned a reputation as a savvy entrepreneur, community-minded, scrupulous, exacting in his standards and yet willing to delegate wide latitude to trusted intimates. Much like his father. But inside and outside his company, he is seen as less passionate about newspapers, more open to risk and wise to the ways of technology. More deeply religious. More withdrawn."
A release announced, "Riding a wave of unprecedented activism and interest around media issues, the 2008 National Conference for Media Reform -- presented by Free Press -- kicks off this weekend in Minneapolis." Among the guests are Dan Rather, Arianna Huffington and Bill Moyers. "Full coverage of the 2008 National Conference for Media Reform -- including streaming video, audio of all sessions, and regular blog updates -- will be available during and after the conference at http://www.freepress.net/conference."
A release announced, "CQ Press, the book-publishing unit of Washington-based Congressional Quarterly Inc. (CQ), has been sold to SAGE, the leading independent academic publisher. The sale was announced jointly by Robert W. Merry, CQ's President and Editor-in-Chief, and Blaise Simqu, SAGE's President and CEO. CQ's corporate parent, Times Publishing Co. of St. Petersburg, Florida, announced on January 3 that it would
divest CQ Press in order to direct investment resources to other opportunities, notably the core CQ publishing business and the company's award-winning newspaper, The St. Petersburg Times."
Amherst-Nelson Publishing is looking for a Weekly editor.
The Washington Post is "looking for a strong editor to run our economics coverage. This person will oversee a team of senior economic reporters covering issues ranging from globalization to the economy, federal budget and tax policies. We are looking for a creative editor who can help us develop distinctive coverage. ... Anyone interested should contact Sandy Sugawara (4-4588), Greg Schneider (4-4445), Peter Perl (4-6188), or Kathryn Tolbert (4-7277) by June 11."
Click here to receive mediabistro.com's Daily Media Newsfeed via email.
FBDC twitter feed loading...
