Fishbowl Initiatives - FishbowlNY

Meet the New Editors

Chris Ariens — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:00:17 +0000

There are a couple new guppies in the Fishbowl — sharks actually.

Meet your new FishbowlNY co-editors, Alejandra (Alex) Alvarez and Mike Taylor. Click here to find out more about them.

Tip love. Read them. Love them. And email them anytime, here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish

Amanda Ernst — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:30:00 +0000

I can hardly believe I’ve been trolling this fishbowl we call New York’s media scene for nearly nine months. Only recently have I started to feel comfortable among the network of friendly (and sometimes not so friendly) people I have met at parties, conferences, panels, happy hours and events since this spring.

Although I am reluctant to walk away from FishbowlNY, I’ve been offered a new opportunity that I have found hard to turn down. I am going to work as deputy editor for a new entertainment and lifestyle site that’s being launched by b5media later this month, Crushable.com.

And, if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone who has made this experience at FishbowlNY so amazing — from my mediabistro.com colleagues, to fellow media reporters, to the tipsters, commenters and readers who let me know what’s what, for better or worse. Thank you for dealing with me while I complained about the life of a freelancer and told my own story about being laid off, among other things. I hope I was able to inform and entertain.

And, I hope you’ll stay in touch. You can keep track of me here

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Wanted: Media Blogger Extraordinaire

Amanda Ernst — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:25:00 +0000

Don’t ever say I never gave you a good job lead.

FishbowlNY is seeking an avid media nerd with a nose for breaking news and a love of media panels to take over the reins of this blog from yours truly.

Yes, you heard it here first: I am moving on to a new project. And if you’re interested in the gig, I welcome you to check out the job posting. The best candidates will have a background in journalism, some experience hunting down and gathering news, a familiarity with how old and new media operates, working knowledge of New York’s media landscape and — what we’re all seeking — a unique voice.

If you enjoy dissecting Rupert Murdoch‘s latest tirade and know the difference between Cathie Black and Tina Brown, this might be the job for you.

(Photo via Flickr)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

FishbowlNY Looks At The Biggest Industry Trends For 2010

Amanda Ernst — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:00:00 +0000

We are not sad to say good-bye to 2009. It’s an understatement to say that the past year has been grim for the media industry. 2010 — a new decade even — offers a clean slate, a fresh start. We’ve seen that the business model that so many publications have relied on for decades is no longer viable, and everyone is looking for whatever next big thing will come and save us.

In the past few months, we have been hearing the same things mentioned over and over, so we know they are going to play a role in the media’s attempt to transform itself and rise from the ashes in the coming year. As industry leaders struggle to get our business back in the black, we know we’re going to be hearing more and more about these important things. Throughout this last week of the year, we’ll be focusing on four key topics we know we’ll be hearing more of in the coming year: e-readers, tablets and digital applications of pubs; pay walls; citizen journalism and crowdsourcing; and non-profit journalism and philanthropy.

Today, we’re focusing on all the digital goodies that lay ahead for us in 2010. We’ll be recapping some important events from this year and we’ve talked to some big names in the industry about what they are working on and what’s in store for the New Year and beyond.

Think we’ve missed something? Let us know in the comments or send us an email. Let’s get the conversation about the future going.

Previously: Our 2009 Lists

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

…And To All A Goodnight

Amanda Ernst — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:00:00 +0000

The time has (finally!) come for us to wish you all Happy Holidays and take our leave. Barring any urgent, breaking news in the coming days, we’ll be back on the media beat on Monday.

And if you miss us too much, here are some things to tide you over: all our end of the year lists!

Biggest Launches Of The Year

New York Media’s Biggest Business Decisions

The Year’s Biggest Moves In Media

Stories That Captivated NY Media

Events The Media Loved This Year

Our Most Read Stories Of The Year

Timeline of Magazine Closings

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

FishbowlNY’s 2009 Lists: Our Most Read Stories Of The Year

Amanda Ernst — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:34:00 +0000

Layoffs, magazine closures and a racially charged cartoon top FishbowlNY’s most-read stories this year. A quick skim through the list says it all about what was most important to you in 2009, from massive layoffs at Forbes and Condé Nast, to bidding mediabistro.com founder Laurel Touby farewell as she headed out on sabbatical.

1. February 18, Is the New York Post Comparing Obama to a Rabid Monkey?

2. February 9, Anderson News Suspends Operations

3. October 5, Breaking: Condé Shutters Four Magazines: Cookie, Gourmet, Two Bridal Titles

4. January 28, Will The New Yorker Fold Next?

5. October 28, Forbes Layoffs Decimate Staff

6. September 30, Exit Interview: Mediabistro Founder Laurel Touby

7. September 17, Ira Glass Reveals The End Of ‘This American Life’ TV Show

8. May 14, Times‘ Frank Bruni Leaves The Restaurant Beat Behind

9. December 15, Breaking: I.D. Magazine Shutters

10. October 26, Breaking: More Layoffs Hit Forbes

Honorable mentions:

What It’s Like To Go On The ‘Today’ Show

Exclusive: MSLO Faces Discrimination Suit After Firing ‘Phenomenal’ Staffer With Broken Back

Confessions Of A Condé Nast Layoff Victim

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

FishbowlNY’s 2009 Lists: The Biggest Launches Of The Year

Amanda Ernst — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:00:00 +0000

News of magazine closures was, sadly, pretty prevalent throughout 2009. But, although 428 magazines folded during the year, according to MediaFinder.com, 275 launched.

Launching a magazine or Web site in the midst of a recession is never an easy task. But we think there are a few new pubs on the block that will be around for awhile. Even mediabistro.com got in the launching spirit, debuting four new blogs this year: WebNewser, MediaJobsDaily, BayNewser and eBookNewser.

As the year closes out, here’s a look at some of the biggest launches in print and online.

Magazines
Much-anticipated travel magazine Afar celebrated its launch in August with an opulent party, pretty unheard of these days.

Get Married proved that there is still room in the bridal magazine market, despite the closure of Modern Bride and Elegant Bride this year.

And Modern added another design magazine to the mix.

Cookie may have crumbled, but Bonnier Corp. successfully split its parenting magazine into two editions, Parenting Early Years and Parenting School Years, later raising the rate base of School Years.

Other notable launches: Children’s Health, Organic Beauty, Women’s magazine VAIN and two Reader’s Digest Association launches, DIY mag Fresh Home and Rick Warren‘s Purpose Driven Connection, which folded later in the year.

After the jump, online magazine and blog launches

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

FishbowlNY’s 2009 Lists: Stories That Captivated NY Media

Amanda Ernst — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:34:00 +0000

Here at FishbowlNY, we stick to covering stories that affect the media. But it’s the media’s job to cover the biggest stories in the world today. Here, we take a look back at the news stories that left New York and the world riveted in 2009, covered faithfully by our local newspapers and the other pubs that are based here.

Tiger Woods scandal
The intrigue of this domestic-dispute-turned-sex-scandal started Thanksgiving weekend, and continues today — nearly a month later. Tiger’s escapades provided cover fodder for local tabloid The New York Post for three straight weeks, holding the attention of Post editors even longer than 9/11. And beyond the cover of our local papers and tabloid magazines, Tiger also caused some questions for Golf Digest, which has a close relationship with the golfer and, with some serious bad timing, put him on the January cover with President Obama. Men’s Fitness also got mixed up in the whole mess, reportedly striking a deal with Tiger for a cover story in return for covering up the scandal two years ago.

More after the jump

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

FishbowlNY’s 2009 Lists: The Year’s Biggest Moves In Media

Drew Grant — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:25:00 +0000

This year — full of flux and uncertainty about where the media is heading — has resulted in a vast number of job changes and departures across all matter of media companies and publications. In almost every field of journalism, big names have either been fired, promoted, retired, or simply moved on to more lucrative positions. Here, we take a look back at the biggest industry shakeups of 2009.

The Biggest Move in Magazines: Stephen Adler leaving BusinessWeek.
When editor Stephen Adler announced his departure from BusinessWeek this October following the magazine’s sale to Bloomberg LP, he wasn’t just making a statement, he was starting a trend. Soon he was followed by some of his former colleagues, like John Byrne and BusinessWeek‘s president Keith Fox, who decided to stay with magazine’s original parent, McGraw-Hill. (Not to mention all of those who involuntarily left the pub not long after.) It takes a lot of chutzpah to up and quit your editor gig in the middle of this turbulent media landscape, it takes even more to get your coworkers to come with you. Fortunately for Adler, he’s already landed another gig at Thomson Reuters.

Runners Up: Time.com managing editor Josh Tyrangiel comes on board as editor at Businessweek; Marie Claire‘s publisher Susan Plagemann joins Vogue; Nancy Berger Cardone of shuttered Gourmet takes Plagemann’s spot at Marie Claire; Janice Min leaves Us Weekly; Mariette DiChristina becomes Scientific American‘s first female editor-in-chief.

More after the jump

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Welcome To FishbowlNY’s Best Of Lists Of 2009

Amanda Ernst — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:18:00 +0000

As the year comes to a close, we couldn’t resist taking a look back at all the great things that the media industry covered and produced, all the people who rose to prominence, maintained their perch atop the heap or had dramatic falls, and all the events that were covered faithfully and at length on the pages of our favorite newspapers and magazines and on computer screens across the city.

For better or worse, 2009 was a year that won’t easily be forgotten by those in the New York media world. It started with a bang: Barack Obama‘s inauguration, which gave us all hope of something better to come.

But for all that hope, we fear that for those in our industry, 2009 will be remembered for all those things lost. Popular publications like Domino and Gourmet published their last issues (and we’re still waiting to hear about what’s in store for Editor & Publisher) and thousands lost their jobs industry-wide. We also lost some big names in the industry, like Walter Cronkite and Dominick Dunne, to name just two.

As we head towards 2010, and a brand new decade, we’re cheered by the fact that our industry is started to show some signs of recovery. After a crushing 2008, 2009 became the year of “flat is the new growth.” We’ve already sunk to new lows, so any growth is promising, even if we’ll never reach the soaring heights in terms of the ad sales and employee counts of earlier this decade. Growth is our only option.

We’re happy to say goodbye and good riddance to 2009. But as we look to the future, let’s take a moment to remember all that happened this year — for better or worse. Over the next few days, we’ll be compiling what we think were the biggest moments in New York media this year. Plug in those Christmas lights, pour yourself some eggnog, and settle in for a recap of the year that was.

(Photo by Paul Mannix)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Daily Deal: Get $75 Off When You Sign Up For Short Story Writing Course Today

Amanda Ernst — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:35:00 +0000

Throughout the month of December, mediabistro.com is offering daily deals on a slew of its courses starting in January. Today’s deal is one we think FishbowlNY readers will really enjoy.

Sign up now for the online short story writing course using the special code DAILY1202 and save $75 off the registration fee.

The six-week introductory course, starting January 12, will help you learn the fundamentals of fiction and how to get your stories published. During the course, you’ll write two short stories and get feedback on each piece from instructor S. Kirk Walsh, who has worked at The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Details, Entertainment Weekly and Self. Kirk will also discuss where and how to submit your stories for publication, whether you want to be published in literary magazines or somewhere on the Web.

Learn more and sign up here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

One Day Promotion: Sign Up For NYC Writing Class, Get 30% Off

Amanda Ernst — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:17:00 +0000

You only have a few more hours to take advantage of this special one-day promotion being offered by mediabistro.com’s education department.

Sign up today for this class, a five-week course on writing for New York publications taught by former New York Daily News columnist Betty Ming Liu, and receive 30 percent off.

Just follow the link below and use the promo code SAVE30 when submitting payment to receive your discount.

Writing for NYC Publications

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Welcoming A New Fishie To The Bowl

Amanda Ernst — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

New York has no shortage of media reporters. But we thought, hey, why not add just one more?

Meet Drew Grant, the newest contributing editor to grace these virtual pages. We have brought her on to help us cover the biggest names in New York media, breaking industry news and the most happening events.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Check Out Our New Look

Amanda Ernst — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:00:00 +0000

The FishbowlNY homepage has gone through some changes, and if you read us on an RSS feed, it’s worth a trip over to see our new enhancements.

Our search and subscription features are now easier than ever to find, just right up at the top of the homepage. You’ll also notice bylines right under the headlines.

But the best new features are at the bottom of each article. It’s now easier than ever to share your favorite FBNY stories. You can send a story to Twitter with just one click, or share it in a number of ways, including through Digg, Facebook or Delicious.

We’re pretty excited about our new look. We hope you are, too.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Best Places For Freelancers To Work: Housing Works Bookstore Cafe

Amanda Ernst — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, we asked our freelance readers to tell us where you like to spend your work days — outside of your apartment. With coffee shops around the city cracking down on laptop use, finding a good spot to sit down, plug in and caffeinate can be a problem.

You sent us lots of good responses and we’re going to try to visit them all and let you know how they all stack up. This week, our first visit was to Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in Soho.

Read on for the lowdown

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.