Click here to receive mediabistro.com's Daily Newsfeed via email.

'Hillary 1984' Pro-Obama Web Video a Watershed? (SF Chron)
It may be the most stunning and creative attack ad yet for a 2008 presidential candidate — one experts say could represent a key moment in 21st century media and political advertising. Yet the groundbreaking 74-second pitch for Sen. Barack Obama, which remixes the classic 1984 ad that introduced Apple computers to the world, is not on cable or network TV, but on the Internet.

Viacom Losing Its Pop? (NYP)
Peter Lauria: The biggest risk Viacom faces in its $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube isn't financial or legal — it's cultural. The lawsuit makes MTV parent Viacom appear more like a Luddite than a company that has its finger on the pulse of youth culture. And with YouTube, MySpace and others sites replacing MTV as the arbiters of cool, it can ill afford to further alienate its core audience. NYT: Viacom's full-court press for online ads. Mediaweek: Analysts say Viacom's $1 billion suit against Google is shortsighted.

The Future President, on Your MySpace Friends List (NYT)
This week, the site will introduce a section dedicated to politics, with an emphasis on the 2008 presidential election. Called the Impact channel, it will be an online version of a town square, a collection of links to political MySpace pages that will make it easier for the site's 60 million American users per month to peruse the personal MySpace pages of, so far, 10 presidential candidates.

Analyst: Time Warner Could Spin Off AOL This Year (Reuters)
Time Warner Inc. could spin off a stake in online division AOL or merge it with another Internet company as early as this year, a move that would boost the value of the world's largest media company. Time Warner said it had no such plans. "AOL is not for sale nor do we plan to spin any part of it off," Time Warner spokesman Ed Adler said.

Speculation Over Who Will Replace Steiger as WSJ Editor (TalkingBizNews)
Speculation in the Wall Street Journal's newsroom is building about who will replace managing editor Paul Steiger as the head of its editorial operations. A winner in the race is likely to be announced in the next couple of weeks. Who replaces Steiger is closely watched in business journalism because the position is considered to be the most powerful in the field.

Could There Be a Sopranos Spinoff? (New York Mag)
The Young Tony Soprano Chronicles? Janice Loves Bobby? Sopranos creator David Chase says he's thought about a spinoff of his soon-to-depart hit — but don't hold your breath for one. "The problem is that Jim Gandolfini is such a genius, frankly, that it would be a real challenge to find someone who would be believable as a young Tony," says Chase of the possibility of a prequel.

NBC Exec Aims to Keep 30 Rock Rolling (B&C)
Tina Fey got a prime indication late last week that NBC is expected to bring back 30 Rock for a second season: a vote of confidence from network entertainment president Kevin Reilly. "I literally just got off the phone with [Reilly], and he still tells me he will do everything in his power and feels strongly about it," says Fey, the show's star and creator.

Should U.S. News Ranking Be Linked to University President's Pay? (Inside Higher Ed)
In a move that concerns some experts on college admissions and executive compensation, the Arizona Board of Regents has approved contract changes for Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University, that link $60,000 in bonus pay to an improved rating from U.S. News & World Report.

For Former Press Baron Conrad Black, a Showdown in a City He Barely Knew (NYT)
Richard Siklos: There is so much incongruity in Black's presence in Chicago. Patrick Fitzgerald, the United States attorney, has accused Black of using the former Hollinger International, a publicly traded company based in Chicago, as a "personal piggy bank." But it was typical of how Black's former company was run that the magnate rarely set foot in Chicago. NYP: Prosecutor will focus on how Black funded his lavish lifestyle.

Carol Burnett Sues Family Guy (Reuters)
Comedian Carol Burnett has filed a copyright infringement suit against the makers of Fox TV's cartoon sitcom Family Guy over an episode poking fun at the performer and her variety show from the 1960s and '70s. The lawsuit claims the show violated Burnett's exclusive rights to her name and likeness by depicting her cleaning-woman character in a segment last April without her consent.

CNN's Larry King Undergoes Surgery, Will Be Back Today (AP via USAT)
King underwent vascular surgery Friday and was expected to return today to his talk show. He was admitted to Cedars Sinai Medical Center where doctors performed carotid endarterectomy surgery, which removes plaque from the carotid artery and can restore blood flow.

Different Morning Newscast for Public Radio Listeners (NYT)
The New York public radio station WNYC is teaming up with the distributor Public Radio International to produce a national morning radio program that will compete with National Public Radio's long-running and popular Morning Edition. Also participating in the not-yet-named program are the BBC World Service, New York Times Radio and WGBH, the Boston public radio station.

Creator of Hourlong TV Dramas Shifts Online With Brief Clips (LAT)
As creator of L.A. Law and Hill Street Blues, Steven Bochco packed lots of drama into 60 minutes. Now he's trying to entertain in closer to 60 seconds. Bochco is joining the masses of wannabe online video moguls with "Cafe Confidential," an Internet series that's all about brevity and punch. The 44-clip collection premieres today on video site Metacafe.

Assignment Zero: All the World's a Story (NYT)
David Carr: Journalism has always been a product of networks. A reporter receives an assignment, begins calling "sources." More calls follow and, with luck and a deadline looming, the reporter will gain enough mastery of the topic to sit down at a keyboard and tell the world a story. Jay Rosen's new experiment wants to broaden the network to include readers and their sources.

For Bookstores, a Real Page-Turner (WaPo)
With books increasingly available in multiple formats — among them digital "e-books" and audio versions downloadable to your iPod — what's to prevent people from bypassing brick-and-mortar bookstores entirely, further undercutting enterprises already under pressure from online competitors?