Media News

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

MSNBC Drops Olbermann, Matthews as News Anchors (WaPo)
MSNBC is removing Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as the anchors of live political events, bowing to growing criticism that they are too opinionated to be seen as neutral. David Gregory, the NBC newsman and White House correspondent who also hosts a program on MSNBC, will take over during such events as this fall's presidential and vice presidential debates and election night. NYT: The change -- which comes in the home stretch of the long election cycle -- is a direct result of tensions associated with the channel's perceived shift to the political left. P6: NBC news legend Tom Brokaw recently said, "I think Keith has gone too far. I think Chris has gone too far."

ABC News' Gibson lands first Sarah Palin interview (AP via USAT)
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has agreed to sit down with ABC's Charles Gibson later this week for her first television interview since John McCain chose her as his running mate more than a week ago. Palin will sit down for multiple interviews with Gibson in Alaska over two days, most likely Thursday and Friday, said McCain adviser Mark Salter.

Robert Giroux, Editor, Publisher and Nurturer of Literary Giants, Is Dead (NYT)
If the flamboyant Roger Straus presented the public face of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, presiding over the business end, Robert Giroux made his mark on the inside, as editor in chief, shaping the house's book list and establishing himself as the gold standard of literary taste. The publisher Charles Scribner Jr., in his memoir wrote, "Giroux is a great man of letters, a great editor, and a great publisher."

Times Plans to Combine Sections of the Paper (NYT)
The New York Times will reduce the number of sections printed in the New York metropolitan area, in a move to save money on production. The Metro report will become part of the newspaper's A section, which also contains the International and National reports, and the editorial and Op-Ed pages, on Mondays through Saturdays, and possibly on Sundays, as well. NYO: Bill Keller follows up to staff: "The aim, of course, is to save money."

Looking at the Scrutiny of Sarah Palin (NYT)
Public Editor Clark Hoyt: Palin went from Sarah Who to conservative rock star in less than a week. In less than two months, she could be elected vice president to serve under the oldest president, at 72, ever elected to a first term. Intense, independent scrutiny by the Times and the rest of the news media of Palin's background, character and record was inevitable and right. NYT: Readers see bias in Us Weekly's take on Sarah Palin.

Big Marketers Challenge Google-Yahoo Deal (WSJ)
The Association of National Advertisers, a trade group that represents major companies like Procter & Gamble Co. and General Motors Corp., sent a letter to the Justice Department Thursday calling an advertising deal between Google and Yahoo bad for advertisers and recommending that it be blocked.

Zillow Forms Online Real Estate Ad Network With Nearly 300 Newspapers (E&P)
The newspapers involved in the partnership with Zillow.com have formed a national online real estate advertising network. Eleven companies representing 282 newspapers and the real estate Web site will sell each other's advertising inventory beyond classified real estate ads. Newspaper sales people will be able to offer advertisers additional reach on Zillow, while Zillow's sales team will be able to tap into the newspapers' audience.

Italian PM Berlusconi Loses Suit Againt The Economist (Reuters)
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi lost a defamation suit he brought against The Economist over a 2001 cover story that accused him of being "unfit to lead Italy," the British news magazine said on Friday. Berlusconi, one of Italy's richest men, was ordered to pay The Economist's legal costs of 25,000 euros ($35,760) after a Milan court rejected his libel claims.

Stephen Colbert to Have His DNA Sent Into Space (AP via Newsweek)
Should this world ever cease to exist, Stephen Colbert will live on. The comedian's DNA will be digitized and sent to the International Space Station, Comedy Central was to announce Monday. In October, video game designer Richard Garriott will travel to the station and deposit Colbert's genes for an "Immortality Drive."

Print Journalism Squeeze Hits Campuses (Inside Higher Ed)
Students working at college newspapers are getting a true -- and bitter -- taste of the "real world." Late last month, two student newspapers announced plans to curtail print publications, citing the same drain in advertising revenues that has prompted layoffs at commercial newspapers across the country.

Portfolio, New York Preparing Write-Around Profiles on Arthur Sulzberger Jr. (NYO)
Two magazines are preparing profiles of The New York Times' Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. New York magazine has assigned Joe Hagan to write a profile, and David Margolick is preparing a piece for Portfolio. Both articles are write-arounds, and neither author has scored an on-the-record interview with Sulzberger.

How the Music Business Spent the Summer Killing Itself (AdAge)
Simon Dumenco: All in all, it's been a depressing summer for the delusional record industry. We're seeing a total disconnect between labels' unrealistic, old-school revenue expectations and what the market can bear. On the streaming-music front in particular, the sad reality is that advertising revenue isn't, and may never be, there to fully support the music industry's wishful-thinking profit margins.

Revolving Door Newsletter: New York Sun, TONY Face Money Troubles (mediabistro.com)
Both Time Out New York and the New York Sun are facing money troubles. TONY president Alison Tocci says the mag will pay all its bills in the next three months, but unless the Sun finds more investors willing to hemorrhage cash, darkness may soon befall the right-leaning pub.

Per Esquire, Rupert Murdoch Is 21st-Century Influential (MIN)
Esquire editor-in-chief David Granger, who "looks ahead" with October's 75th-anniversary issue after "looking back" in celebrating the monthly's 70th in October 2003, says Rupert Murdoch is among the 75 that he and his staff believe "are foundational to the creation of the new century." The 21st century "will be built on their efforts and influence."

CNN's Campbell Brown Sparks a Firestorm (Marketwatch)
Jon Friedman: "It's surprising," Campbell Brown said of the controversy she triggered at the GOP convention by directing pointed questions about Sarah Palin's experience to Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for the McCain camp. "It's what we do. I'm a journalist. My role and responsibility go beyond a job. It's a duty, an obligation. We're here to ask tough questions in a responsible way."