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With Obama, Murdoch Defies His Image (NYT)
Has Rupert Murdoch gone soft on liberals -- or perhaps just reacted pragmatically to Barack Obama's sizable victory? The answer, according to people who have watched him operate at close range, is that Murdoch is a less predictable, less doctrinaire character than his critics imagine. Guardian: Murdoch has dismissed suggestions that the Internet will kill off newspapers, saying that industry doomsayers predicting their death were "misguided cynics."

Can NBC, Rosie Revive Variety Shows? (TV Week)
Having already revolutionized daytime talk and reinvigorated The View, Rosie O'Donnell is now hoping to resurrect one of television's storied genres: the variety show. It's a tall order -- which may be one reason O'Donnell has enlisted some serious showbiz firepower for her Nov. 26 NBC special, dubbed Rosie Live.

At National Review, a Threat to Its Reputation for Erudition (NYT)
In a span of 252 days, the National Review lost two Buckleys -- one to death, another to resignation -- and an election. Now, thanks to the coarsening effect of the Internet on political discourse, the magazine may have lost something else: its reputation as the cradle for conservative intellectuals and home for erudite and well-mannered debate prized by its founder.

Extinction Threatens Yellow-Pages Publishers (WSJ)
The yellow-pages industry is running out of lifelines. In recent years, as its customers migrated to the Web -- flocking to sites like Google -- the telephone-directory business followed, hoping the Internet would be its salvation. But that strategy hasn't panned out. Now, the economic downturn is sending the already ailing business into a tailspin.

Hanley Wood Cuts 20 (Folio:)
The growing list of major magazine publishers laying off employees just got bigger: b-to-b residential housing and commercial construction publishing giant Hanley Wood has laid off 20 staffers. Year-to-date, Hanley Wood has reduced workforce by 15 percent -- or about 100 employees, most from the company's magazine business.

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