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MSNBC Meltdown (Politico)
Amid a spate of awkward on-air conflicts among MNSBC anchors at this week's Democratic convention, some staff members say there are sharp internal disputes at the cable network over whether its opinion and personality-driven political coverage has crossed the line. "The situation at our channel is about to blow up," a high-ranking MSNBC journalist said. Jossip: Nobody can believe how much Keith Olbermann is getting away with, even if he does draw ratings. Variety: Media speculation was rife Wednesday that Joe Scarborough's patience with MSNBC's lefty tilt in primetime coverage has grown thin. WSJ: "My reaction to that is: 'Grow up!' They have to just grow up," said Connie Chung, a former MSNBC host and former co-anchor of CBS Evening News. HuffPo: In what may have been a moment of an unknown open microphone during Wednesday night's DNC coverage on MSNBC, anchor Keith Olbermann vocally asked to wrap NBC News and MSNBC ontributor Mike Murphy. TPM/Election Central: Howard Wolfson goes to war with MSNBC, hammers Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann. Politico: Fox's John Moody, executive VP for news editorial, defends Wolfson. TVNewser: Olbermann responds: "John Moody is a hysterical, doctrinaire, Right Wing hack propagandist, who conveniently forgets that when he thought I shared his allegiance to his dark view of the world, tried to hire me for Fox News. As for Mr. Wolfson, I feel very sorry for the choices he made that led him to his sad state."

Controversial Columnist Jay Mariotti Resigns From Chicago Sun-Times (Chicago Tribune)
Jay Mariotti, the opinionated and polarizing sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, has resigned after 17 years with the paper. Just back from Beijing, where he covered the Olympics, Mariotti said in a phone interview that he decided to quit after it became clear while in China that sports journalism had become "entirely a Web site business. There were not many newspapers there." CBS2 Chicago: Mariotti said, "I don't think either paper [Sun-Times or Chicago Tribune] is going to survive." E&P: Mark Fitzgerald on why he'll miss Mariotti.

Aaron Sorkin to Write Facebook Movie (Guardian)
Hollywood writer-producer Aaron Sorkin, co-creator of The West Wing, is to write a film about the creation of Facebook -- and has entered into the social networking spirit of the website by setting up a group page to find out "how this works." "I figured a good first step in my preparation would be finding out what Facebook is, so I've started this page." New York/Daily Intel: In an e-mail, producer Scott Rudin has confirmed that this is indeed Sorkin, and that Sorkin is indeed writing a Facebook movie for Sony.

ABC Producer Arrested in Denver for Taking Pictures of Senators, Big Donors (ABC News)
Police in Denver arrested ABC News reporter Asa Eslocker as he and a camera crew were on a public sidewalk attempting to film Democratic senators and high-profile donors as they were leaving a private meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel. Police on the scene refused to tell ABC lawyers what the charges were against Eslocker.

Wenner 'Rolling' With New Mag Publisher (NYP)
Rolling Stone owner Jann Wenner yesterday tapped William Schenck to be the magazine's fourth publisher in 2 1/2 years just as the title prepares to shrink from its oversize format to a standard magazine size. Schenck had been publisher of Men's Journal, another magazine published by Wenner Media. He replaces Ray Chelstowski. WWD: Aside from the overall economy crippling advertising across most of print, the music industry's consolidation and declining album sales also have negatively affected music magazines.

Behind the Convention's Daily Grind With Jon Stewart (USAT)
Inside the Pepsi Center this week, the true rock stars are the correspondents of The Daily Show, besieged by politicos and press, posing for pictures and being filmed by fans as they film their fake news reports. "If ever you're going to get recognized and adulation, it's going to be at the Democratic National Convention," says Larry Wilmore, the "senior black correspondent" of the satirical news team. Forbes: James Brady laments that political conventions "aren't what they used to be." NYO: Clinton supporter smears Obama on MSNBC and Daily Show in same day.

Media Folk Among Those on Forbes 'Powerful Women' List (Forbes)
Oprah Winfrey is ranked 36th on the list of world's 100 most powerful women, behind Nancy Pelosi, but ahead of Laura Bush. Yahoo president Susan Decker comes in at number 50; MTV CEO judy McGrath takes 60; NBC's Meredith Vieira is 61 -- just ahead of number 62, Katie Couric, Barbara Walters at 63, and Diane Sawyer's 65; NYT Co. CEO Janet Robinson is at 83; and CNN's Christiane Amanpour is #91.

Journalism Jobs Out There, Even With Industry Upheavals (Providence Phoenix)
The news about the news business is bleak, but young news hopefuls nonetheless continue to pursue degrees, report for student newspapers, snag internships, and pursue freelance opportunities. But with newspapers and even some TV stations cutting jobs, how is the outlook for these rookies to score a paying gig after graduation? And what opportunities actually exist?

Retooled Trib Debuts in Sept.: Analysts Remain Glum (Crain's Chicago Business)
Chicago Tribune readers will get their first look at the paper's redesign on Sept. 29, according to Tribune Co. Chief Operating Officer Randy Michaels. But on Wednesday, an analyst who follows Tribune's debt noted that recent efforts to polish the paper or slim down its staff haven't done anything to buff up the media company's financial outlook.

CBS Gives CNET Site a Makeover (WSJ)
CBS Corp. is launching a new version of its CNET.com Web site this week -- providing one of the first glimpses at how the New York media giant hopes to integrate CNET Networks, the suite of web properties it purchased for $1.8 billion in June. CBS is hoping the new face of CNET's flagship site will help it turn back investor concerns that it overpaid for a troubled property.

Facing Cuts, Editors 'Relax the Rules' to Make Swift Changes (E&P)
One change several newsrooms are making -- many of them reluctantly -- is sharing content. Among the first were a handful of Ohio papers, which began sharing stories earlier this year in large part to oppose new Associated Press rates. Since then, however, more papers are sharing in reaction to reduced staffing or cutbacks in statewide coverage or travel.

The WB Looks to the Web (NYP)
Warner Bros. Television Group yesterday moved to cash in on audiences and ad dollars gathering around shows streaming on the web with the launch of its new teen TV-themed web hub, TheWB.com. The new site is a mix of original programming for the Web from the likes of big-name producers such as McG and Josh Schwartz, coupled with Warner Bros.' back catalog of youth-oriented TV hits.

Lifetime Acquires ParentsClick (Variety)
Buoyed by a digital sales upfront that saw its broadband revenues double, Lifetime has made a significant expansion to its digital media operations with the acquisition of social networking and online media technology company ParentsClick Network and the hiring of Jen Duddy to the newly created position of VP, digital ad sales.

Major League Baseball Is Blogging Its Way Through the Playoffs (NYT)
When Major League Baseball was looking for a pitchman last year for the postseason, it turned to the social networking site MySpace and found that Dane Cook, the comedian and actor, had a lot of friends. This year M.L.B. and its playoff and World Series broadcast partners, Fox and TBS, decided to showcase a different aspect of life on the Internet: blogging.

What 1500 Reporters Are Doing at the DNC (CJR)
Justin Peters: 14,000 are wearing terrible suits. 7,500 aren't doing much at all. 4,021 are smugly bad-mouthing the convention and its participants in their story ledes. 2,294 are bitching about only having perimeter press passes. 1,026 are drunk. 500 don't have credentials. 340 are confused about how to find the proper press office inside the Pepsi Center. 150 are in the CNN Grill.