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GE Calls Bill O'Reilly Report 'Maliciously False' (AP)
The General Electric Co. called a Fox News Channel report about the company supplying terrorists with material used in bombs "irresponsible and maliciously false" on Wednesday. It was the first time that GE had publicly responded to accusations made by O'Reilly on his Fox show.

Ex-FishbowlDC Blogger Garrett Graff Named Top Editor at Washingtonian (FishbowlDC)
Jack Limpert has decided to step down as editor of Washingtonian after editing the magazine for more than 40 years. Founding editor of FishbowlDC and Washingtonian's current executive editor, Garrett Graff will become the mag's third editor in the 44-year history of the magazine.

Mass Firings at AOL Next Week? (Silicon Alley Insider)
There's chatter in Dulles that 2000 people will be sacked at AOL next week. The magnitude and timing of such cuts make sense -- AOL's cost structure is still too big for the strategy it is now pursuing, and Tim Armstrong foreshadowed layoffs at the pep rally last month.

Facebook Grew Twice As Fast As Twitter In July (TechCrunch)
Facebook is growing faster than Twitter in the U.S., even though it is more than four times larger. In the month of July, Facebook attracted 87.7 million unique visitors in the U.S., which was 14 percent higher than in June 2009. Twitter, in contrast, only saw 21.2 million unique U.S. visitors, a six percent rise.

Why The Associated Press Plans to Hold Some Web Content Off the Wire (Nieman Lab)
The Associated Press plans to prevent members and customers from publishing some AP content on their Web sites. Instead, those news organizations would link to the content on a central AP Web site -- a move that could upend the consortium's traditional notions of syndication.

Gannett Cuts 70 More Jobs at Westchester Newspaper (NYT)
The Journal News, a Westchester area newspaper owned by Gannett, told all 288 of its news and advertising sales employees that their jobs were being eliminated and they would need to apply for redefined positions. After the redefined jobs are filled, there will be 20 fewer positions in advertising and 50 fewer positions in news.

Tribune Co. Consolidates National Beats (Crain's Chicago Business)
Ed Sherman: Tribune Co. is consolidating the national beats among its newspapers. The idea is to share more content through Tribune's newspapers. But does it make sense for an LA Times person to do the national NFL beat when Los Angeles doesn't have a football team?

Judge Okays Suit Against Rita Cosby Over Anna Nicole Smith Book (Reuters)
Howard K. Stern, a companion of late Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith, can sue author and TV personality Rita Cosby for defamation, but not over gay sex claims, because homosexuality is no longer viewed as contemptible, a U.S. judge said on Wednesday.

Jay Leno Cleared of Strike Violations (Variety)
The WGA West has cleared Jay Leno of violating the guild's strike rules during the 100-day work stoppage in late 2007-early 2008. Leno was accused of violating guild rules against writing for struck companies when he returned as host of NBC's The Tonight Show in early January 2008.

Web Sites Debate Best Values for Advertising Dollars (WSJ)
The fight over shrinking Internet ad dollars pits online publishers that offer premium content against major Web portals such as AOL, MSN and Yahoo. Portals and publishers, meanwhile, also have to compete with the ad brokers that sell often cut-rate leftover ad space on Web pages with less visibility.

Afar Publisher John Sheehy: 'Downturn Is Actually Helping' Travel Mag Launch (FishbowlNY)
Filling an opulent townhouse with Moroccan fare, Basque wine and didgeridoo and capoeira performances, niche travel mag Afar introduced itself and its mission to deliver international editorial content for the "experiential traveler" Tuesday night.

L.A. Times Web Site Gets Slick Overhaul (The Wrap)
Some of its top editors may be getting poached by Web-only players, but the Los Angeles Times finally has a flashy site. LATimes.com unveiled the redesigned site Wednesday with a sleek, clean new design and simpler navigation that includes links to news stories above the fold.

Who Is Philip Anschutz? (And Why Is He in Business with Michael Jackson and The Weekly Standard?) (Portfolio.com)
Phillip Anschutz cultivates a deeply contradictory image. He's a man who owns several media outlets, and yet he refuses to speak to journalists. When writing about him, reporters frequently mention his fondness for Timex watches and a profile so low that he can browse unmolested at his local Barnes & Noble.

The First Rule of J-School Is You Don't Talk About J-School Debt (Gawker)
Hunter Walker: Everyone I know in media keeps telling me I'm crazy for going to J-school. According to Dean Nick Lemann, the "case" for the program is "the strongest it's been in the history of the school" because they have made many changes designed to help students prepare to report news online.

NBC Streams Pilot of New Show Community on Facebook (B&C)
The series premiere of NBC comedy Community is more than one month away, but that isn't stopping the broadcast network from trying to build buzz around the series by streaming the pilot episode on Facebook, commercial-free through Friday, August 14.

Five Key Reasons Why Newspapers Are Failing (SpliceToday)
Bill Wyman: If we're talking about the state of the industry, and we're not acknowledging these issues, we're not fully looking at the roots of the problem. And if the media doesn't understand the issues that have actually put it into the precarious position it's in, how can it survive?