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

Economist Wins Ad Age Magazine of the Year (FishbowlNY)
Advertising Age's editor-in-chief Jonah Bloom announced his publication's "A-List" awards and The Economist won Magazine of the Year, beating out No. 2 Women's Health and No. 3 Elle. The latter book didn't go home empty-handed, however, as Carol Smith won Ad Age's Publisher of the Year. Chris Johns, editor of National Geographic (No. 5), was awarded Editor of the Year. AdAge: The 2008 A-List includes three magazines whose newsstand sales fell; together the 10 honorees averaged a meager 5.3% increase.

Bleeding Times Blood (New York Mag)
Joe Hagan: It's fair to wonder, as the Times' own public editor, Clark Hoyt, did last year, "How united are the Sulzbergers, and what holds them together? Who is the next generation, and how committed are they to the family's long practice of investing heavily in quality journalism, even in rocky financial times?"

CNN's Campbell Brown Tacks Toward Commentary (NYT)
Just as her earlier, on-camera grilling of Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for Senator John McCain, prompted McCain to cancel an appearance on Larry King Live, Campbell Brown's plea to "Free Sarah Palin" has appeared to have had journalistic repercussions for CNN. Unlike ABC, CBS, and Fox News, CNN has yet to be granted an interview with Palin.

The Many Lives of Arianna Huffington (New Yorker)
Perhaps the unifying strain of Arianna Huffington's thought, through the years, is anti-relativism. She is a joiner and a believer, never apathetic or a cynic. In her world view, agnosticism may be the greatest sin. Through all her incarnations, Huffington's interest in mass movements, human potential, and the improvability of man has been as consistent as her suspicion of pharmacology, utilitarianism, and Skinner boxes.

Another Scoop for Tina Brown as She Swaps Print for Web (FT)
The struggling U.S. magazine industry is losing one of its biggest cheerleaders to the Web as Tina Brown trades the glossy pages and lengthy essays of her past career for the hyperlinks and blog entries of a new site called The Daily Beast. The former editor of Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and the short-lived Talk launched a trial version of the site, funded by Barry Diller's IAC new media empire today.

Google and Yahoo Delay Ad Deal for Antitrust Review (NYT)
Google and Yahoo said Friday that they had agreed to delay the start of their search advertising partnership to give the Justice Department more time to investigate its antitrust implications. The deal calls for Google to place ads alongside some search results on Yahoo. AP: Google has launched an enhanced blog tracking service that helps people mine a growing mountain of online commentary for gems worth reading. NYT: The Justice Department's antitrust investigation of the advertising partnership between Google and Yahoo has revealed the growing resentment and fear of Google's power among some of the biggest players in the advertising industry -- the very customers that Google needs to keep expanding its business.

Gawker Lays Off 19 Editorial Staff Including Moe Tkacik (FishbowlNY)
Gawker had their own black Friday newsdump. In a move that may soon become known as the Denton doctrine, Gawker head Nick Denton announced that he was preemptively laying off 19 members of the editorial staff, including recently hired Moe Tkacik, and suspending page view bonuses for the first quarter of next year due to the upcoming fiscal crisis.

'Citizen Journalist' Could Get Jail for Fake Steve jobs Story (Wired/Epicenter)
The gutsy (and stupid) "citizen journalist" who posted an erroneous story that said CEO Steve Jobs had a heart attack has the hallmarks of a short seller, and it's likely that he (or she) could face criminal charges and possibly prison time, according to one attorney. "It's unlikely that anybody does this for kicks," says Scott Vernick, a partner at Fox Rothschild in Philadelphia. TechCrunch: This incident shows even the an unvetted report carries more weight than if it had appeared on Twitter or a random blog because it is on a CNN site, writes Erick Schonfeld. Marketwatch: A new and successful stock-manipulation model.

Wall Street Journal Lays Off More Online Staffers (BusinessWeek/Fine on Media)
News Corp's Wall Street Journal today let go of at least two online staffers, insiders report. They are Cybele Weisser, the personal finance editor, and Laura Lorber, its small business editor. It's not clear whether these cuts are isolated, or whether something larger is brewing at the Journal or even throughout Dow Jones.

Little, Brown Will Publish Tina Fey Book (NYO)
According to a source with firsthand knowledge of the deal, Tina Fey has finalized an agreement with Little, Brown & Co. The book -- which was reportedly pitched as a book of humorous essays in the style of Nora Ephron -- will be edited by executive editor Reagan Arthur. Part of Fey's deal with the publishing house involves a gift to the foundation Books for Kids.

Did Toby Young Plagiarize Passages From the Times For How to Lose Friends & Alienate People? (New York Mag/Daily Intel)
The movie How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, which opened in theaters on Friday, is based on Toby Young's lively memoir about a British journalist's cringingly disastrous stint at Vanity Fair. In a recent look back at the 2001 book, Justin Shubow noticed some passages that were strikingly similar to a June 16, 1996, New York Times story by John Tierney.

SNL Rides High on Campaign Satire (WSJ)
NBC's Saturday Night Live drew another crush of viewers this weekend, with approximately 10 million tuning in to watch comedian Tina Fey's latest sendup of GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. That rating, based on preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research, is 42% higher than the same show last year and 23% higher than last week's episode. Hollywood Reporter: "Clearly, Saturday Night Live and Tina Fey's spot-on creation of Sarah Palin is now a part of this election season," said ABC News political director David Chalian.

The American Magazine Vanguard Awards (AdAge)
Simon Dumenco: This spring I announced the rather informal launch of the American Magazine Vanguard Awards (AMVA's). The idea was to recognize both big and small innovators: Magazines that are taking new, smart, necessary risks in extending their franchises off the page. And the five winners of the inaugural 2008 AMVA's are ...

Press May Own a Share in Financial Mess (WaPo)
Howard Kurtz: The stakes are enormous in a fast-moving crisis where the traditional concern about journalists causing a run on the bank is hardly a theoretical danger. But as news organizations chase exclusives about the Wall Street meltdown, they also are grappling with a troubling question: Why didn't they see this coming?

Revolving Door Newsletter: Alpha Media Cuts 50 Jobs (mediabistro.com)
Alpha Media is cutting more than 50 jobs as it relocates its operations base to Franklin, Tennessee; editorial will remain in New York. ... Meredith Corp. is expanding its reach overseas with five new licensing deals. ... After two years as senior editor at Texas Monthly, Jake Silverstein takes over for Evan Smith atop the masthead.