Media News

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Random House Chief Unexpectedly Quits (NYT)
Jonathan Karp, the editor-in-chief of the flagship imprint of Random House Inc., resigned yesterday, saying he wanted to seek new opportunities, possibly outside publishing.

The Man Who Would Be King (NYDN)
Bob Costas, a 25-year veteran of NBC, has been hired as a substitute while CNN's Larry King is away, and will sit in upward of 20 times a year. Newsday: The question on everyone's mind in TV news is obvious: Is Bob the future Larry?

ABC to Broadcast From North Korea (AP via USAT)
Months of cajoling by the network resulted in an exclusive series of reports from North Korea, the first extensive reporting by an American network inside the country since October, 2000.

Magazine Ad Pages, Revenue Up (Mediaweek)
Magazine advertising revenue soared 12.4 percent to $2.2 billion and ad pages saw gains up 3.9 percent in May compared to May 2004, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

Former GOP Chair Considered for Top CPB Spot (WaPo)
A former co-chairman of the Republican National Committee is the leading candidate to take over the agency that funds public broadcasting, sparking new concerns among broadcasters.

Diller Selling Back Stake in NBC Unit (LAT)
IAC/InteractiveCorp, controlled by Barry Diller, has agreed to sell its 5.4 percent stake in Vivendi Universal Entertainment for about $3.4 billion.

Anonymice Prohibited at Many Papers (AP via WaPo)
Editors at about one in four newspapers who responded to a survey say they never allow reporters to quote anonymous sources, and most others have policies designed to limit the practice.

China's Jailed Journos (WaPo)
Editorial: China has been the world champion in jailing reporters for the past six years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. At the end of 2004 its count of imprisoned professionals was 42.

Posties Keep Heat on Cooke (NYP)
Daily News' rank-and-file were roiled by the disclosure that editor Michael Cooke accepted trips to a resort and then recycled a story first printed nearly a year ago to run in last Sunday's paper. E&P: Cooke doesn't apologize for republished story.

Monitor in Death Spiral? (Boston Globe)
The Christian Science Monitor's daily print circulation, which hit 150,000 in the early 1980s, is down to 59,000 copies. The small-format tabloid, which used to run 28 pages, is now only 20.

Stars Fight Back Against Paparazzi (NYT)
Spurred by over-photographed celebs, the Los Angeles police and prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into paparazzi.

Press Ignored Downing St. Memo? (Salon)
Eric Boehlert: Why did it take more than a month for the U.S. press to report on Tony Blair's impression that, pre-Iraq, Washington seemed more concerned with justifying a war than preventing one? Seattle Weekly: It's hard not to contrast the frenzy that greeted the revelation of "Deep Throat" with the indifference U.S. media have given the memo, writes Geov Parrish.

Reader's Digest Sells Soul to Scientology? (Radar)
The magazine landed a rare sit-down with Scientology's top celebrity spokesman, Tom Cruise, by caving in to a long list of bizarre demands from his church.

Laws of Plug (Slate)
Jack Shafer: My First Law of Journalistic Self-Promotion allows a reporter to do anything to publicize a new book. But the first corollary prohibits columnists from hyping it in more than three columns.

Sirius About Oldies (NYP)
Satellite radio services have launched ad campaigns targeting WCBS-FM listeners still steamed by Infinity Broadcasting's decision to dump its oldies format for the more contemporary "Jack." CSM: A long list of radio stations from coast to coast that have abandoned '60s and '70s "feel-good" music over the past six months, updating playlists for the iPod generation.

Lunch at Michael's (FishbowlNY)
Because you absolutely need to know when, where and with whom your media people are having lunch so that you can recklessly speculate about what that might possibly mean.

Laddies in the Sack (Nerve)
Four men's magazine editors on how to satisfy a woman, carnal proclivities of different kinds of writers, and whether writing or editing is sexier.

Denton, Web Eds at Blog Panel (E&P)
"The media needs to be more aggressive, because bloggers are coming at us," FoxNews.com's Josh Moss said. SFBG: Freeway blogger plants brain-mines on billboards along California's freeways.

To the Victor Belongs The Nation (Salon)
The magazine's publisher Victor Navasky discusses his misadventures in publishing, squabbling with Christopher Hitchens, and what he learned at Harvard Business School.

Oprah Whistlin' Dixie (CSM)
Since Oprah Winfrey revved up her literary tour bus, Americans are turning the 2,400 fictional square miles created by one William Faulkner into the No. 2 bookish destination of the season. CSM: Winfrey's picks for her readers' club are the literary equivalent of a starter's gun.

Picking Press's Preferred Prez (NY Press)
Russ Smith: Should a Hillary Clinton vs. John McCain race emerge, what side will the media elite line up on? This is the sort of decision that can't be made lightly by journalistic sycophants.

Dial L for Lefties (The Stranger)
Emily White: Air America is a real alternative for liberals and other losers to either the bullies of right-wing radio or the wimps of NPR.

—David S. Hirschman