Sarah Palin has joined the masses of people heaving attacks at Newsweek and its cover piece, “Why Are Obama’s Critics So Dumb?” which was written by Andrew Sullivan. The Cutline reports that Palin tweeted to Newsweek, “Know what’s truly ‘dumb’? Giving a cover story to the Trig Truther conspiracy kook writer who thinks I didn’t give birth to my son.”

Palin was referring to Sullivan doubting that she was truly Trig’s mother. Sullivan responded to Palin that he didn’t know what she was talking about:

I have no idea, as I have said time and time again, whether Sarah Palin gave birth to Trig, and have never written such a thing. All I ever asked for a person who could become president was some basic evidence for her insane story, like medical records that most candidates have no problem providing. She never provided any, and preferred to withdraw from seeking public office rather than do so.

Of course, no response to the substance. She doesn’t do substance. Neither, it seems, does much of the rightwing blogosphere.

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Newsweek’s January 23 cover features President Obama with the accompanying headline:  “Why Are Obama’s Critics So Dumb?”

The piece, written by Andrew Sullivan, examines the middle-of-the-road politics of the President.

Doesn’t really matter though.

It’s the headline that’s got some circles riled up.  Heck, things just wouldn’t be right if Fox News didn’t shoot back on its show The Five with a segment entitled, “Why Are Newsweek Editors So Dumb?

But isn’t attention the purpose of it all? Mission accomplished.

The Daily Beast TV program that we told you about back in July is finally nearing its launch. According to Adweek, the online talk show is debuting in November, and while details are scarce, Tina Brown apparently knows enough to make use of Andrew Sullivan to grab some viewers. He’ll be taking his “Ask Andrew Anything” segment, which is pretty self-explanatory, to the new venture.

Daily Beast TV is being helmed by some TV minds too, with Susie Banikarim and David Wharton — both formerly of ABC News — working behind the scenes.

Other than that, we know that Lexus is going to be a launch sponsor, and Brown is already tired of people referencing her previous failed TV venture, “Topic A with Tina Brown.” Which means she’s probably going to be extremely annoyed if Daily Beast TV tanks.

When Andrew Sullivan left The Atlantic for The Daily Beast/Newsweek in late February, it was worth wondering just how much it would negatively impact The Atlantic. Sullivan’s writing was a major draw for The Atlantic’s website, but as Forbes notes, he hasn’t been missed that much:

In April — the first full month sans Sullivan — the site had its second-best month yet, traffic wise, says Bob Cohn, editorial director of Atlantic Digital. According to internal data, it drew 5.1 million uniques, more than 25 percent above its 2010 average of 3.9 million.

While that’s good for The Atlantic, we would bet that whatever traffic Sullivan is bringing The Daily Beast has been good for it as well. Essentially, everyone is a winner. And with that, we’ve reached our weekly quota for annoyingly positive thoughts. You’re welcome.

The Atlantic has expanded its online presence, this time in the form of The Atlantic LIFE.  The new channel offers views on five categories – Food, Health, Green, Travel, and Design, and is edited by Daniel Fromson, an Associate Editor at The Atlantic.

Bob Cohn, Editorial Director for the magazine, says that the new site is an extension of its online Food section, and will feature experts in each of the five categories:

We’ll cover lifestyle with a distinctive Atlantic approach – smart writing and thinking driven by ideas and the news.  By publishing leading journalists and practitioners, we’ll establish a high-low voice that helps us stand out.

If The Atlantic keeps growing at this rate, it’s going to reach the pacific! Sorry, but that was just too good to keep inside. Seriously though, the expansion is a good idea. Despite losing Andrew Sullivan, we expect the magazine to keep riding the waves of its online success. Ha! C’mon, these puns are too easy, no need to get all salty about it. Haha! Oh wow, FishbowlNY might have peaked with this post.

Andrew Sullivan is leaving his post – or actually just moving it – from The Atlantic to The Daily Beast and Newsweek. He posted on The Daily Dish last night that the column will be moving in April to The Daily Beast, and that he’d be contributing columns for Newsweek as well. Sullivan says in his post that he’s going to dearly miss The Atlantic, but the allure of The Daily Beast and Newsweek was just too strong:

The chance to be part of a whole new experiment in online and print journalism, in the Daily Beast and Newsweek adventure, is just too fascinating and exciting a challenge to pass up. And to work with media legends, Barry Diller and Tina Brown, and with the extraordinary businessmen Sidney Harman and Stephen Colvin, is the opportunity of a lifetime.

Brown recently implemented some cosmetic changes with Newsweek, and the talent she continues to add is impressive. FishbowlNY is excited about the direction she’s taking the venture, because the more time goes by, the more it’s looking to be the right path.

Earlier this year, we learned of Atlantic Media‘s plans to launch a new digital property when it brought on Slate founder Michael Kinsley to oversee the mysterious project.

Today, the parent company of The Atlantic announced another new hire for the project, Adam Pasick, who will serve as managing editor. The new digital property is set to launch in early 2010 and we now know that whatever it is, it will target “global business executives.”

Previously, Pasick worked as an editor in the U.S. bureau of Reuters.com.
Atlantic Media (which also owns The National Journal Group and Government Executive magazine) has been focusing on its online presence since August of last year, when it hit a traffic peak and hired Felix DiFillipo and Bill McGarry from Forbes and CondeNet. In September, Atlantic Media launched The Atlantic Wire as a sister site to TheAtlantic.com. The Atlantic‘s most notorious columnist, Andrew Sullivan, blogs regularly, and we look forward to seeing what writers Atlantic Media scoops up for their new site.

Previously: Atlantic Shifts Tide With Hires, Atlantic Wire Launches With (Media) Star-Studded Fete

WebNewser: The Huffington Post launched its new technology section today. It’s being edited by former Washington Post national reporter Jose Antonio Vargas.

TVNewser: CNBC canceled former Forbes managing editor Dennis Kneale‘s “CNBC Reports,” but he’ll still anchor the network’s “Power Lunch.”

Toledo Blade: President Barack Obama said he would be open to a possible newspaper bailout bill. “I haven’t seen detailed proposals yet, but I’ll be happy to look at them,” he told reporters from The Toledo Blade and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The New York Times: Atlantic.com blogger Andrew Sullivan asked readers to subscribe to the print version of The Atlantic and it worked. “Within two days after last Monday’s post, Mr. Sullivan’s appeal pulled in 75 percent of the subscriptions that the Web site draws in a typical month…The Atlantic expects this month’s subscription orders to be double an average month’s.”

Associated Press: The New York Times Co. has corrected some errors in an SEC filing relating to stock options granted to CEO Janet Robinson and Arthur Sulzberger Jr.

Atlantic Consumer Media has launched a new stand alone site The Atlantic Wire, to aggregate some of the best opinions and debates on the Web.

The Atlantic has long been a source for well-thought out opinions and discussions, and some of the voice from the magazine and its Web site, like columnist Andrew Sullivan, do make their way onto the Atlantic Wire’s homepage.

Along with tabs highlighting the biggest debates today — right now they’re “Health Care Reform,” “Joe Wilson Outburst” and “Reforming Wall Street” — that homepage also includes a link to The Atlantic 50, a ranking of the most influential pundits doing the job today. The Atlantic Wire ranks them, then features their most recent thoughts side-by-side. The New York Times‘ Paul Krugman tops the list, followed by Rush Limbaugh, George Will and Thomas Friedman and David Brooks, also of the Times.

Of the 50, 14 columnists hail from The Washington Post, eight from the Times, five from The Wall Street Journal and eight are primarily bloggers, including Arianna Huffington and Salon.com‘s Glenn Greenwald. There are also as well as three commentators from the Fox News, including Glenn Beck, and two from MSNBC — Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow.

“Taking a systematic and data-driven editorial approach to the exploding universe of opinions, the Atlantic Wire helps readers engage with the most important political, business and social commentary,” said Bob Cohn, editorial director of TheAtlantic.com and the Atlantic Wire. “As readers face an overload of information and a deficit of free time, they can now visit one site to easily follow the topics they care about and the opinion-makers who fascinate them.”

The Atlantic Wire’s launch comes just days after its parent company announced that it had hired Slate founder and columnist Michael Kinsley as a columnist for The Atlantic. Kinsley was also brought on to launch a new digital project for the company early next year. We’re looking forward to seeing how that new project will complement TheAtlantic.com and Atlantic Wire.

Earlier: Slate Founder Michael Kinsley To Lead New Digital Launch For Atlantic

WebNewser: Runner’s World‘s Web site drove an 89 percent increase magazine subscriptions during the first half of the year, compared to 2008. Overall, the magazine saw a 5 percent increase in subscriptions during the first six months of the year.

FishbowlLA: LA Weekly writer Daniel Heimpel responds to a blogger’s negative commentary of his medical marijuana article.

Daily Intel: New York Observer owner Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are engaged and she sat down with New York magazine’s Daily Intel blog to discuss the relationship. They both sound like workaholics, but him even more than her. Says an enamored Trump: “Every night when he goes home, he works for about an hour and a half and return[s] e-mails he hadn’t had a chance to return before. He’s just very diligent…Even when we first started dating, I’d call him at 6 [a.m.] when I’m getting up, and he’d be awake; he’d definitely be awake when I was going to sleep. And all Sunday he’s in the office.” Mazel tov, you crazy kids.

AOL DailyFinance: Jeff Bercovici talks to Steve Brill and Gordon Crovitz about their Journalism Online project, which seeks to help newspapers and media companies charge money for their digital content.

The Week: High praise for Andrew Sullivan, blogger for The Atlantic‘s Daily Dish. “With the help of a couple of assistants, Sullivan produced a journalistic tour de force that was more comprehensive, informative, provocative, and addictively compelling than anything produced by news organizations with hundreds of professional journalists on staff and coteries of experts on speed dial,” says Francis Wilkinson. “His Iran coverage was the blogosphere’s moonshot, a feat of grit and daring heralding a new era in cyberspace. It was a preview of the future of journalism — and it worked. Or seemed to.”