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Former Ms. Magazine Editor Mary Thom Dead at 68 (AP / Huffington Post)
Prominent feminist Mary Thom, a writer and former editor of Ms. magazine who also was an avid motorcyclist, crashed while riding on a highway and was killed, her nephew said Saturday. She was 68. NYT Thom joined Ms. magazine in 1972 as an editor, rising to become executive editor in 1990. She was known as a journalistic virtuoso who shaped the writing of many of the feminist movement’s luminaries, including Gloria Steinem.  Ms. “We who are Mary’s friends and family haven’t absorbed her loss yet; it’s too sudden,” said Women’s Media Center co-founders Robin Morgan, Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda in a statement over the weekend. “Ms. magazine, the Women’s Media Center, the women’s movement and American journalism have suffered an enormous blow. Mary was and will always be our moral compass and steady heart.” FishbowlNY Thom lived for decades in New York City and served as an editor for Ms. for nearly 20 years before leaving the feminist magazine in 1992. The glossy, which began as an insert in New York magazine, became a feminist powerhouse read in the 1970s but struggled to leverage commercial success with its ideological voice. Read more

Eliot Spitzer, Michael Buffer and Glenn Beck

At a bizarre press conference here in New York, the CEO of satellite TV company DISH Network said that there did not appear to be an end in sight regarding the ongoing carriage feud between DISH and AMC Networks.

The CEO, Joseph Clayton, was asked point blank whether AMC programming would be on DISH anytime soon. “Not that I am aware of,” was his brief retort.

Clayton was ostensibly there to promote a debate between Current TV host Eliot Spitzer and former Fox News host Glenn Beck, but DISH’s other PR incidents were also prominently featured. The other big controversy is over “Auto-hop,” a DISH DVR service that automatically skips commercials for viewers.

“Do you want someone telling you can’t skip commercials in the privacy of your own home? Are you kidding me? Come on,” Clayton said. “I don’t know how the courts will rule on this, but I know in the court of public opinion we have already won this one.”

Beck concurred with Clayton.

“[Commercials] are important, but they don’t work the way they did in 1955, it is not the 1950’s anymore, it isn’t even the same century anymore,” Beck said. “It has to be innovative.”

In this week’s episode of “5 Things You Need to Know This Week,” we talk about fantasy football, Fashion Week, Tim “Stretch” Armstrong, and Glenn Beck‘s new children’s show.

For more videos, check out Mediabistro.tv, and be sure to follow us on Twitter: @mediabistroTV

• TVNewser: In case you want double the annoyance in the same amount of time — Glenn Beck is going to be on “The O’Reilly Factor” tonight.
• MediaJobsDaily: Buyouts are being offered to staffers at The Philadelphia Daily News.
• PRNewser: Crazy Madonna responds to the crazies.

• TVNewser: Glenn Beck is leaving Fox News. We have no comment.
• AgencySpy: Here’s an ad for tap water, starring Rihanna. We have plenty of comments, but we should probably keep them private.
• SportsNewser: Nick Charles, CNN’s first sports anchor, is near the end of his battle with cancer. Here’s a video of him reflecting on his career. Here’s an article about how he’s appreciating the moments he has left by doing things like videotaping birthday messages to his five-year-old daughter. The article requires tissues, trust us.

Glenn Beck is a successful talk show host on TV and radio. But his syndicated radio show is losing the top market. The program, which airs on WOR 710 from 9 a.m. from noon each morning, is being yanked due to low ratings.

Veteran WOR morning man John Gambling announced to his audience today that he is increasing his shift by an hour, and Mike Gallagher will fill the remaining void.

Gambling, who had been anchoring a.m. drive from 5:30 until 9, will stay on until 10 a.m., with the syndicated Gallagher heard from 10 a.m. until noon.

A WOR spokeswoman tells FishbowlNY that the changes take effect on January 17.

This year’s Media Person of the Year, according to I Want Media’s readers, is none other than WikiLeaks founder and frequent flier Julian Assange. (This contest is not to be confused with Time‘s Person of the Year distinction, in which Assange is also a candidate.)

The competition’s first runner up is Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, who this year presented us with the iPad, the tablet that launched a thousand quips about how them magazine industry is doomed / saved.

So, what does Assange have that puts him ahead of the other nine finalists — like Glenn Beck, Tina Brown, or Nick Denton? From I Want Media:

His website’s release of classified documents showed how the Information Age has made accessing confidential data much easier and keeping secrets much more difficult.

Last night, Time magazine presented a panel discussion on the candidates for its upcoming Person of the Year issue, due on newsstands December 15th. This year’s panel, moderated by the magazine’s managing editor, Richard Stengel [pictured above, far left], included Daisy Khan, the executive director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement and wife of Person of the Year candidate Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf; Democratic campaign worker and political consultant Joe Trippi; Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of geographic and local services; musician, producer and one-time hopeful for Haiti’s presidency Wyclef Jean (Jean said he was “bamboozled” out of running); and blogger and author Meghan McCain.

Among the topics discussed by the panelists were their top picks for the annual honor. McCain selected members of the Tea Party and was interested in seeing how those running on an “anti-Washington platform” would eventually fare in Washington, as well as Glenn Beck. Jean picked the people of Haiti for their resilience in the face of recent earthquakes and an outbreak of cholera, as well as for their ability to show how technology can help bring different parts of the globe together for a common cause. Khan lamented that she couldn’t pick Time itself for its recent thought-provoking cover story on Islamophobia in the United States. Her picks, in order, were Mayor Michael Bloomberg, her husband, and Jon Stewart, who nominated as a candidate alongside Stephen Colbert. Trippi, in keeping with his background in politics, selected Nancy Pelosi as his number one pick, followed by the Tea Party members. Mayer, drawing on her own interest in tech, selected either Steve Jobs of the smartphone for their continued impact. She also recounted how Time‘s 1982 Person of the Year pick (then dubbed “Man of the Year”), the personal computer, marked her very first encounter with that type of technology.

The discussion took an interesting turn when candidates were asked to defend one another’s choices (most were not exactly game), and then asked to select their “Bad Guy of the Year.” Khan selected Beck for his stance on immigration and religion, opining that his views went against “the American ethos.” Trippi colorfully referred to the iPod and iPad as “slingshots for Goliath, and McCain felt that Australian Julian Assange‘s decision to reveal military information through his WikiLeaks site was “un-American” and likened him to a Bond villain.

Newsweek compiled its Power 50, a list of the highest-earning political figures of 2010.

The grouping, gathered by intelligence and research firm Wealth-X, includes several big name media personalities.

Rush Limbaugh is atop the list. Limbaugh’s estimated earnings are $58.7 million. He is heard weekdays on WABC Radio from noon to 3 p.m. as part of his nationally syndicated show.

Glenn Beck, whose syndicated program is heard from 9 a.m. to noon on WOR Radio, is number two. His estimated earnings are listed at $33 million. (Beck also hosts a show each day on Fox News Channel.)

Sean Hannity secured number three on the “Power” list. The WABC afternoon drive host (syndicated through Citadel Media) made $22 million in 2010.

Also syndicated with Citadel Media is Don Imus. The legendary morning man, who is number seven, pulled in $11 million. 

Additionally, Mark Levin made Newsweek‘s survey. The evening show host, heard locally on WABC, tied for 13th with an estimated $5 million.

President Obama, who many of the above consistently railed against, was tied for 19th (with Bill Maher), earning $4 million in 2010.

A profile of Roger Ailes in The New York Times yesterday highlighted the tension between the Fox News chief and his boss, Rupert Murdoch.

The profile includes a quote from inside the Murdoch family that speaks harshly about Ailes and his work at Fox News. Says Matthew Freud, great-grandson of Sigmund who is married to Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth:

“I am by no means alone within the family or the company in being ashamed and sickened by Roger Ailes’s horrendous and sustained disregard of the journalistic standards that News Corporation, its founder and every other global media business aspires to.”

Of course, this is not how Murdoch officially feels about his company’s Fox News division. He told the Times, “I’m proud of Fox News and what it is accomplishing, and I am grateful to Roger and his team for creating such a great asset for News Corporation.”

He also offered Ailes a contract that earned him $23 million, plus bonuses and additional income, more than Murdoch made himself last year, the Times reported. If Fox News really is as successful as the profile claims — said the article: “Fox News is believed to make more money than CNN, MSNBC and the evening newscasts of NBC, ABC and CBS combined” — then Ailes earned it. And that’s something he can take to the bank, no matter how Murdoch and his family really feel about him.

Read More: A Fox Chief at the Pinnacle of Media and Politics –New York Times

Previously: Ailes and Obama Called Truce?