Media Minutiae

We're off for the day celebrating the birth of our nation, but we wanted to leave you with something today ... just in case you are chained to you desk.

This week, we were lucky enough to see Kansas State University professor and anthropologist Michael Wesch's presentation about YouTube and Internet culture at the Personal Democracy Forum. Wesch rose to prominence in the YouTube community thanks to a short video he made in 2007 called "The Machine is Us/ing Us." While we wait for someone to post a high res version of his presentation from Tuesday, here is a similar presentation Wesch did last year at the Library of Congress. It's long, but its worth it.

FishbowlDC: The Washington Post responded to criticism of its proposal offering lobbyists and others off-the-record access to reporters and editors for a price. The "salon" idea has since been nixed altogether. Also: some fun bits from the AP's interview with President Barack Obama today.

The New York Times: Biweekly gay newspaper The New York Blade has suspended publication after its parent company, HX Media, was sold.

Editor & Publisher: MediaNews Group, which publishes the Denver Post and other daily papers, has denied bankruptcy rumors.

Boston Globe: Boston magazine owner Herb Lipson's approach to owning a magazine: "When the economy turns and it [the magazine] gets skinny, he figures the editor is an idiot," a former editor said.

BusinessWeek: Jon Fine has a chuckle at SalaryTK.com, "The job board for journalists who don’t want to get paid."

TVNewser: CNN has warned staffers that it may become subject to lawsuits alleging unauthorized use of Michael Jackson footage over the past few days. Those responsible for the broadcast of the footage in question "may feel the financial effect in year-end bonuses," the network told staffers in an email.

PRNewser: Meanwhile, the Jackson family has hired publicists to the stars Ken Sunshine and Shawn Sachs and announced that there will be no viewing -- public or private -- of the pop star at his former home Neverland. A public memorial is in the works.

Silicon Alley Insider: CBS has poached Gawker's star television recapper Richard Lawson to write for TV.com.

Gawker: There are rumors that Spin magazine has cut 20 percent of its staff. Not a good week for music magazines.

Daily Intel: A run-down of the week's best Web feuds featuring Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi vs. Goldman Sachs, CNBC's Dennis Kneale taking on the blogosphere (will they ever learn?), Chris Anderson and Malcolm Gladwell throwing down over "Free" and author Alice Hoffman and her critic Roberta Silman.

FishbowlLA: The Minnesota Supreme Court certifed Al Franken as the Senate winner after close to a year of fights put up by Republican rival Norm Coleman. Finally!

TVNewser: FoxNews.com entertainment columnist Roger Friedman has sued his former employer for wrongful termination.

MediaJobsDaily: A new tool created by WANTED Technologies shows that reporters should move to Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles or New York in order to find work. Well, we all know how crappy the job market is here, so maybe you'll have more luck in one of those other cities.

Mediaweek: Sources say that OK! magazine paid $500,000 for the picture of Michael Jackson en route to the hospital it ran on its cover.

WebNewser: YouTube launched its Reporters Center today, featuring instructional videos, tips and advice from journalists like Katie Couric, Bob Woodward, The New York Times's Nicholas Kristof, and Arianna Huffington.

New York Times: More information about the lengths the Times went to to keep reporter David Rohde's kidnapping off the media's radar: Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales joined in the effort to monitor Rohde's Wikipedia page and delete any references to the kidnapping.

Folio: Hachette Filipacchi Media is reorganizing its automotive brands, Car and Driver and Road & Track, under the Jumpstart online network purchased in spring 2007. The structure of the new Jumpstart Automotive Group will be similar to the new structure implemented for Hachette's women's and shelter titles.

The Press of Atlantic City: Longtime editor Paul Merkoski wrote a good-bye letter to his readers ala David Letterman, listing the "Top 5 Things I'll Miss Most Starting Next Monday" and "Top 5 Things I'll Miss Least Starting Next Monday."

Huffington Post: Disgraced New York governor Eliot Spitzer blogs for The Huffington Post for the first time since 2007. What motivated him to come back to the blogosphere? "The Plight of New York's Small Business Owners" for the site's new New York section.

TVNewser: Walter Cronkite's family set the record straight today with a statement about his health: "In order to dispel false rumors, Walter Cronkite's family wants it known that he has apparently suffered for some years with cerebrovascular disease and he is not expected to recuperate. He is resting comfortably at home with family, friends, and a wonderful medical team. We thank you for your prayers and good wishes."

FishbowlDC: Swine flu hits The Washington Post.

Forbes: Fashion mag Elle booked more ad pages than style bible Vogue for the first time in the magazine's 24-year history.

Boston Herald: More details emerge about at Boston magazine, including the fact that the mag's execs went out for steak after axing several top staffers.

Folio: CMPMedica U.S. ceased print production of monthly magazines Infections in Medicine and the AIDS Reader this week, resulting in the loss of about 30 jobs.

TVNewser: The strangest mea culpa press conference ever: Gov. Mark Sanford admits to affair.

FishbowlLA: W's Gabe Doppelt is moving to Tina Brown's The Daily Beast's LA bureau. This is the first time Doppelt and Brown have worked together -- Doppelt started her career as Brown's assistant at Tatler and also worked as an editor at large at Brown's Talk magazine.

New York Magazine: We were blown away by the in-depth reporting that went into Matthew Cole's account of New York Times reporter David Rohde's kidnapping and the measures taken to try to get him out.

wowOwow: "60 Minutes" contributor Lesley Stahl interviewed CNN's Christiane Amanpour about foreign reporting and the crisis in Iran. "If I'm kidnapped I want you, personally, to lead the charge and make sure people know about it," Amanpour told Stahl, in response to the David Rohde kidnapping.

Vanity Fair: Matt Pressman examines why the public hates the media

TVNewser: Turner Broadcasting owned truTV is shutting down its "In Session" daytime programming. Up to 65 employees could be let go as a result.

TheDeal: A week after Gannett Co. CEO Craig Dubow took medical leave, questions are raised about whether the company can survive beyond June 2011.

Editor & Publisher: Leaders of the News Media Guild, which represents AP employees, have requested a meeting with editors to discuss a contentious social media policy distributed to staffers last week.

Plum TV: Jaquelynn Powers interviews former colleague, Page Six's Paula Froelich, about her book, "Mercury in Retrograde".

Time Out New York: If you read her blog you know that Julia Allison broke up with Time Out New York, where she was the dating columnist, a while back. But today, the pub has an exit interview with the media celebutante. And yes, she's still single -- and she blames her apartment. "It's like walking into a giant tutu," she said.

FishbowlDC: Coverage of the Radio & Television Correspondent's Association Dinner, including reviews of keynote speaker John Hodgman.

minOnline: Four of the top five magazines showing ad sales growth in July are Meredith titles: Fitness, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal and More. Flex rounded out the top five.

Washington Post: Howard Kurtz interviews Gawker's Nick Denton. "We don't seek to do good," Denton said. "We may inadvertently do good. We may inadvertently commit journalism. That is not the institutional intention." Also, is he truly bored? Said Denton via Twitter: "No, just British. It's an affect -- and we're born with it."

NYTPicker: After all the Thomas Friedman dust-up you think he would have known better. New York Times columnist David Pogue is getting flack for receiving a speaker's fee for speaking at the Consumer Electronics Association's CEO Summit last week.

AdAge: Simon Dumenco has an idea for a college course inspired by The Huffington Post: "Building Value by Devaluing Content: How to Make Your Investors Rich By Being Cheap, Trashy and Parasitic."

FishbowlDC: Congressional Quarterly will join Roll Call under the Economist Group umbrella.

Daily Intel: Swine flu reported at AOL.

WWD: Vogue's director of special events Stephanie Winston Wolkoff has stepped down. Who will take her place to help Anna Wintour plan the Costume Institute Gala?

New York Times: Struggling to find its footing, Reader's Digest moves to the right in order to find a niche audience.

Folio: FBNY editor Amanda's hometown of Stamford, Conn. hasn't gotten this much love since Woody Allen shot "Scenes From A Mall" there. Two regional publishers have both announced the launch of two rival Stamford magazines to cover the city.