Mediagazer: Josh Newton: Tim Gray is ‘Lying Through His Nose’ (Sharon Waxman/The Wrap)

Jennifer Saba / Editor and Publisher:

The State of Newspapers? Think of Sand Falling in an Hourglass, Pew Report Says — NEW YORK Newspaper advertising revenue plunged an astounding 45% over the last three years forcing publishers to make drastic reductions to the actual size of the print edition, to the space devoted to news to the ranks of employees.

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, Guardian, Newspay, Media News, New York Times, Journalistopia, Broadcasting & Cable, Editors Weblog, Kirk LaPointe's … and Download Squad

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

Pew: Online News Users Don't Want To Pay—Or Look At Ads — The latest report on online news economics from Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism is one of those studies that will bolster just about any view people have about paying for news online. Want to show that news consumers are unwilling to pay?

Discussion: BuzzMachine, Lost Remote, Journalism.co.uk, Ars Technica, The Wire, Joho the Blog and Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim

Alexandra Fenwick / CJR:
State of the Media, By the Numbers

Discussion: Mediaite, Journalism.org and blogs.tampabay.com

Sharon Waxman / The Wrap:

Josh Newton: Tim Gray is ‘Lying Through His Nose’ — Joshua Newton, the producer and director of “Iron Cross,” has sued Variety for fraud and breach of contract over a negative review of his film that he claims undermined a $400,000 advertising campaign orchestrated by the trade.

Discussion: Hollywood Elsewhere and New York Magazine

New York Times:

Papers Like Variety Fight to Survive — LOS ANGELES — Variety, the show business bible, was born nearly 105 years ago when young Sime Silverman, by his own account, was fired by The Morning Telegraph for a review in which he declared a new theatrical sketch by a performer who happened to be one of the paper's advertisers “N. G.

Discussion: Romenesko, Company Town, AdPulp, Media Decoder and LA Observed

David Carr / New York Times:

The Media Equation: Talking Back to Your TV Set, Endlessly — Back in 1988, Joel Hodgson, a funny guy in Minneapolis, came up with a local television show called “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” In the goofy plot, a janitor was launched into space by a couple of evil scientists and marooned there …

Crikey:

Over half your news is spin — Today Crikey launches an investigation six months in the making. Spinning the Media is an investigation in conjunction with the University of Technology (UTS) Sydney into the role PR plays in making the media. — Under UTS' Australian Centre for Independent Journalism …

Discussion: acij.uts.edu.au

Liz Gannes / GigaOM:

SXSW: Shirky's New Opportunities in Public Sharing — Today social technology theorist Clay Shirky delivered a fitting counterpoint to Danah Boyd's keynote on privacy at SXSW the day before. Where Boyd spoke of the danger of making information more public than users intended it …

Discussion: Snarkmarket, The Social, Kirk LaPointe's … and Gizmodo Australia

Discussion: Bits

Robert Feder / blogs.vocalo.org:

Behind closed doors, angry Tribune CEO confronts staff — Robservations on the media beat: — Some who were there said it was an attempt to intimidate employees and identify a scapegoat. Others described it as an effort to assert authority and move beyond an embarrassing episode.

Discussion: Romenesko

Magda Abu-Fadil / The Huffington Post:

Murdoch Targets Abu Dhabi as International Media Hub — Abu Dhabi is slated to become the hottest new international media hub, if Rupert Murdoch and like-minded moguls have their druthers, but the region's leaders should loosen press restrictions and open up to foreign competitors to thrive.

Discussion: paidContent

Gillian Reagan / The Wire:

Arthur Sulzberger Jr.'s Nephew David Perpich Joins New York Times To Prepare For Paywall (NYT) — We heard whisperings back in early February that David Perpich, the nephew of New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., was leaving his post at consulting firm Booz & Co. and joining the Times to help build its paywall.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

The New York Times Company:

The New York Times Launches New Trade Campaign, ‘Numbers’ — Campaign Emphasizes an Engaged Audience — The New York Times announced today a new trade campaign, “Numbers,” to launch on March 15. The campaign is designed to emphasize The Times's loyal and engaged audience in print …