Peter Greenberg - FishbowlDC

Morning Reading List, 03.21.08

Patrick — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:58:59 +0000

Good morning Washington.

Quickly navigate Morning Reading List:

Most of you will watch NCAA basketball this weekend.

A release announced, “Science News, the weekly magazine of the Society for Science & the Public, has named Judy Lewis its new advertising manager. The announcement was made by Elizabeth Marincola, president and publisher of Science News.”

An AARP release announced, “AARP, the largest membership organization for people 50+, today announced that renowned travel expert Peter Greenberg has signed on to become AARP’s new travel editor at large.”

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NEWSPAPERS

“My Ten Point Plan to Reinvent The Newspaper Business.” By Ted Leonsis.

We’ve been asked a few Politico-related questions lately, so here are the answers: Although their chats have basically disappeared lately, the have not been permanently cancelled and may resume some day in the future. As for why some of the columns have disappeared from the home page as a result of the redesign, it’s not because they’re cancelled but rather they’ve been moved to different parts of the website because they aren’t updated as frequently.

“Before the Chronicle’s Editor at Large, Phil Bronstein, interviewed noted journalist Carl Bernstein, at San Francisco’s Jewish Community Center they hooked up backstage for a lively conversation about current events.”

The Pew Weekly News Interest Index shows, “On the eve of Barack Obama’s major speech on race and politics, most Americans said they had heard at least a little about the videos showing the Rev. Jeremiah Wright making racially-charged statements to his Chicago congregation. At the time of the survey, however, there was greater public awareness of other recent campaign events. More Americans said they had heard a lot about Geraldine Ferraro’s statements asserting that Obamaâ€™s race has been a major advantage in his campaign than had heard about videos of Wright preaching to his congregation.”

The Wall Street Journal reports, “As newspapers across America shrink in readership, page count and format, the price of the paper they are printed on has been rising, piling yet another worry onto the industry.”

Reuters reports, “Several top U.S. newspaper publishers said on Thursday they will devote online advertising space to a new network that wants to make it easier to place ads on hundreds of newspapers’ Web sites at a time.”

Reuters reports, “Media General Inc urged shareholders on Wednesday to reject board candidates proposed by dissident investor Harbinger Capital Partners, saying the nominees are not good enough to guide the newspaper and television company.”

The Washington Independent reports, “How Two Leading Journalists Played the Public to Help Bush Sell His War”

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“Schieffer to Face the Nation a Bit Longer”

Some readers didn’t like Gwen Ifill’s interview with Sen. Obama.

An ABC release announced, “According to Nielsen Media Research for Sunday, March 16, 2008, ABC News’ ‘This Week with George Stephanopoulos’ outperformed CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ among both Total Viewers and Adults 25-54. This is the 15th time this season ‘This Week’ beat ‘Face’ in Total Viewers and the 13th time beating CBS among the key Adults 25-54 demo”

An 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, March 16, 2008 in all categories. On Sunday, the Russert-moderated program was No. 1, averaging 4.218 million total viewers”

A NBC release announced, “NBC News Middle East Correspondent and
Beirut Bureau Chief Richard Engel has been named the 2007 winner of the Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism. Engel was chosen for this outstanding work in MSNBC’s ‘War Zone Diary.’ The one-hour documentary, which was compiled from Engel’s video diary, gives a rare and intimate account of the everyday realties of covering the war in Iraq.”

Portfolio reports, “The commission schedules a second public hearing on network neutrality after a cable company stacked the first one.”

An ABC release announced, “ABC News, the National Constitution Center and WPVI-TV will host a Democratic Presidential Candidate debate in Philadelphia on Wednesday, April 16th. The live 90-minute debate, moderated by ABC News anchors Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, will air from 8-10 PM ET/PT on the ABC Television Network. The debate between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will be held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The format of the debate and information about media credentialing will be announced at a later date.”

The Huffington Post reports, “During Barack Obama’s media blitz last Friday, in which he started here on the Huffington Post and continued to hit the three cable news stations, he spoke with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann about the controversial statements of his former paster, Jeremiah Wright. Last night, David Letterman presented the ‘Barack Obama ‘Uh’ Count,’ in which they parsed his appearance with Olbermann and counted the verbal pauses of the candidate often praised for his eloquence.” Watch it here.

AdAge.com reports, “Broadcast-network TV’s place in the media landscape is changing, acknowledged NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker this morning, and as such, consumers can probably expect less scripted fare, but more shows aimed at reaching broad swaths of audience.”

MarketWatch reports, “NBC Universal plans to sell owned-and-operated television stations in Miami and Hartford, Conn. to place more emphasis on its outlets in the top 10 U.S. markets, according to an internal memo sent to employees Wednesday.”

Bloomberg reports, “The Sundance Channel, the cable network built around Robert Redford’s annual film festival, is for sale and Cablevision Systems Corp. may be the eventual buyer, according to Pali Research.”

The Wall Street Journal reports, “Confusion surrounded the buyout of Clear Channel Communications Inc. yesterday amid escalating tensions between the private-equity companies behind the deal and the banks that have agreed to finance it. As a key deadline approached, it was unclear whether the deal would close, some 16 months after it was announced. These doubts prompted a nearly 9% drop in Clear Channel’s shares to $32.60, below the $39.20 per share Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital LLC agreed to pay for the company in May, suggesting the market is betting the transaction won’t close. If the deal isn’t completed by the end of a so-called marketing period, which ends next week, Clear Channel could turn to the courts to force the private-equity concerns and the banks to finish the deal.”

TVNewser reports, “Okay, rule #1 for cable news anchors, don’t talk to the press, even blogs, especially blogs, unless your boss or PR knows about it. Or, if you’re gonna do it, don’t use your name! FNC’s Ainsley Earhardt learned that the hard way. We hear she was given a talking to this morning after she talked to a blogger, on more than one occasion, about her fill-in gig on Fox & Friends Weekend. A TVNewser reader tipped us off to the existence of the blog Carpe Diem late yesterday.”

A reader tells us, “Marvin Kalb, still very much alive, was the last network news hire of Edward R. Murrow. (At least so he said at one of his Newseum sit-downs).”

Hotline’s On Call reports, “ABC News sent out its official announcement for the 4/16 Dem debate in Philly. However, 4/16 has another meaning for a lot of Washingtonians — it’s the night of the annual Radio and TV Correspondents Dinner. The dinner is considered the secondest biggest event of the Washington ‘prom season’ — right after the White House Correspondents Dinner — and typically features all the big-name DC media types. An ABC spokesperson said that date was chosen because it was the night that worked in the candidates’ schedules. No word yet on how much of ABC presence there will be at the dinner. George Stephanopoulos is listed as co-moderator of the debate, along with Charles Gibson.”

Huffington Post presents, “Richard Engel’s Emotional Return To The Palestine Hotel: ‘This Is Where My Colleagues Were Killed’”

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ONLINE MEDIA

The Economist reports, “Social networking will become a ubiquitous feature of online life. That does not mean it is a business”

Venture Beat reports, “Online ad network Federated Media, which serves Web sites like VentureBeat and hundreds of others with ads it gets from large companies, is close to raising a $30 million round at a $200 million pre-money valuation, according to a well-placed source.”

DCist reports, “The literary Web site Hitotoki (pronounced hee toe toe key) is looking to launch a D.C. edition, but the editorial staff is facing a small problem — they need content. … If you’re interested in writing for Hitotoki, download a submission form or check out the site’s temporary D.C. page. Stories should be 200-500 words long, focus on a single moment in a specific place and authored by someone who either lives in or has visited the city.”

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MAGAZINES

“Why the National Magazine Awards are a crock”

The Press Gazette reports, “The Financial Times is to give its FT Wealth supplement an upmarket relaunch to target the interests of the ‘very wealthy’ global citizens. Published quarterly, the tabloid will now appear as a magazine in a ‘unique’ format.”

Mr. Magazine names “the 30 most notable launches of 2007″

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WEST WING REPORTAGE

Jezebel reports, “Remember Bush Administration spokespretty Dana Perino and that tough time she had remembering just what the Cuban missile crisis was? Well the other day she had another little missile crisis on Fox News Sunday, which is to say, she explained, she doesn’t really know what a missile is sorta, because, um, totes, kthanxbai, she was born a girl.”

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JOBS

The Gazette is looking for a Reporter, a Business Writer and a Copy Editor.

The Catholic Review is looking for a Seasoned Staff Writer.

The Free Lance-Star Publishing Companies are looking for a Photojournalist.

The Army Times Publishing Company is looking for a News Editor for Marine Corps Times.

CondÃ© Nast Publications is looking for a Brides.com Online & Local Print Account Executive.

National Public Radio is looking for a Supervising Senior Editor.

Stars and Stripes is looking for an Editor-Page layout/design.

Dow Jones & Company is looking for a Reporting Assistant.

Need To Know News is looking for a Broadcast Reporter.

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Hat Tips: DCRTV, TVNewser, IWantMedia, Romenesko, MediaBistro, JournalismJobs, JournalismNext

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Morning Reading List, 05.22.07

Patrick — Tue, 22 May 2007 08:57:50 +0000

Good morning Washington.

Don’t be so shocked — yes, journos lean a little bit to the left

“MSNBC Pre-Empts Tucker For Blair Special”

ABC announced that the “World News” webcast “is available at a new, earlier time, 12:30 pm ET, on ABCNEWS.com and ABC News Now. On-demand viewing is available shortly thereafter on the website, via Apple’s iTunes or RSS readers, and on mobile phones. The webcast previously aired at 3 pm, ET.”

Today, Nathan’s Q&A will feature DC Madame Deborah Jeane Palfrey, and they are expecting a full house. Sharing the spotlight will be “The Travel Detective” Peter Greenberg.

Matthew Yglesias takes “Mickey Kaus’ assignment on the whippersnapper factor in the blogosphere.” And, he does it “bullet-point style.”

Newsweek’s Robert J. Samuelson said, “the sky-is-falling view of the news business is way off the mark.”

Did any DC Tribbers raise their hand?

The Press Club is hosting a magazine writing panel this Thursday at 7 p.m.

“Who’s Best at Reporting?”

From DCRTV:

DCRTV hears that DC-based XM Satellite Radio suffered a major outage on Monday. We’re told that the New York Avenue firm’s XM3 satellite lost its downlinking capability for some “unknown reason.” Their engineers are working on a fix. XM does have backup satellite capacity. Says a late afternoon statement from XM: “We are experiencing a temporary degraded performance issue, which has affected some of our customers. We expect to return to normal service levels this evening”…..

The Chronicle of Higher Education takes a closer look inside the U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings, including asking what the rankings do for U.S. News. Also, The Baltimore Sun reports, “ Alvin P. Sanoff, a former Sun reporter who covered the 1968 riots here before moving on to launch U.S. News & World Report’s annual ‘America’s Best Colleges’ editions, died of pancreatic cancer Thursday at Georgetown University Hospital. The Bethesda resident was 65.”

Andy Sullivan, Reuters reporter by day and rocker by night, has posted the tunes from his old band, Steeplejack, on the web for your listening pleasure. Also, mark you calendars — Sullivan will be performing with the Karl Straub Combo on Saturday, June 16 at the Quarry House Tavern in Silver Spring.

Tom Mesereau, Michael Jackson’s attorney, took a shot at some legal pundits: “There are some very professional legal analysts out there — but there are also some absolute monstrosities like Nancy Dis-Grace.” Page Six reports, “Mark Geragos also whacked Grace, calling her a ‘yapping, bleached blonde former prosecutor on Court TV.’ He went on to remark on the undue influence of Fox’s Greta Van Susteren on high-profile cases: ‘Our favorite expression coming in the morning before the judge was, WWGS — ‘What would Greta say?’ No matter what the ruling was the night before, whatever Greta would say that night, we’d have to revisit that ruling if she didn’t agree.’”

The Wall Street Journal asks, “Should the FCC Curb TV Violence?”

Amanda Long announced, “I will never buy another ‘separate’ from Ann Taylor.” This is largely due to the fact that she is leaving her position as Assistant Managing Editor of Washington Business Journal to work for Lululemon.com, a Canadian retailer of yoga, dancer and fitness apparel that is coming to D.C.

Express’ Michael Grass “examines the words of writer, observer and provocateur Gore Vidal.”

Google CEO Eric Schmidt discussed the “always-on nature of the Internet generation and its effect on the global political landscape” as a key note address at the 2007 Personal Democracy Forum Friday.

The New York Times reports, “As the movie business goes through a generational shift, many ex-titans of the media are being forced to take stock, searching for meaning beyond getting a favored booth at the Grill.”

Reuters reports, “Time Warner Inc.’s chief executive said on Friday the board is considering another stock buyback and other options, but quashed talk of spinning off its flagship Time Inc. publishing business.”

From a reader: “The new Post Points Web site is terrible — and that’s beyond the condom-esque logos. The site takes forever to load and often times out. If you put in the Express code or do the daily quiz you often get an error and points are not awarded. And the pending points doesn’t update at all. If you do a restaurant review you get no credit for it. It’s just bad news. The Post should have waited until all the kinks were worked out with the site before it launched the program — now it’s just going to loose a lot of interest.”

B&C reports, “A decision on Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl half-time reveal won’t come until close to the end of the year, at the earliest. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia has set Sept. 11, 2007, as the date for oral argument in the case, CBS confirms.”

Jobs

Stars and Stripes is looking for Copy Editor.

Al Arabiya News Channel is looking for a Producer.

Washingtonian Magazine is looking for an Administrative Assistant for the Photography Department.

The Monitor on Psychology, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association, seeks a science writer for its Washington, D.C. based staff.

Hat Tips: DCRTV, TVNewser, IWantMedia, Romenesko, MediaBistro, JournalismJobs, JournalismNext

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.