Mediagazer: Kitty Kelley takes on Oprah Winfrey. (Lauren Collins/New Yorker)

1:55 PM ET, April 12, 2010

Top News:

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

Conan O'Brien Will Do a Late-Night Show on TBS — In a move that qualifies as a shocker, Conan O'Brien has made a deal to return to television in a new late-night show on cable—not network—television. — The former “Tonight Show” host has agreed to start up a new show on TBS …

Discussion: TVNewser, The Wire, CNN, Variety, Mediaite, Gawker, Tower Ticker, Associated Press, mediaelites, Lost Remote, Company Town, Hollywood Insider, The Live Feed | THR, PopEater, TVWeek.com, The Wrap and Oh No They Didn't!

Josef Adalian / The Wrap:

Shocker: Conan Headed Back to TV— On TBS, Not Fox — You snooze, you lose: Conan O'Brien is bringing his late-night act to Time Warner-owned cable network TBS, breaking off talks with Fox and making plans to move to cable in November. — O'Brien and Fox had been enaged in serious discussions …

Discussion: Speakeasy and TVbytheNumbers

Megan Garber / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The future is mobile, and other thoughts from Google CEO Eric Schmidt's speech at ASNE — Yes, he got the inevitable “shouldn't you pay content providers?” question from an audience member. And, yes, he gave the inevitable “most news organizations actually want the traffic we provide” answer.

Discussion: Romenesko, NetNewsCheck Latest and Editors Weblog

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

@ ASNE: Google's Schmidt: ‘We Have A Business Model Problem, Not A News Problem’ — Eric Schmidt came to DC Sunday night to praise, not to bury newspapers, deftly massaging egos about the value of journalism while sliding in all the reasons they should still be concerned about the future …

Discussion: Lost Remote, Newspaper Death Watch, Free Lance-Star, Associated Press, Bloomberg and Kirk LaPointe's …

Lauren Collins / New Yorker:

Kitty Kelley takes on Oprah Winfrey. — In February of 1988, Oprah Winfrey, the host of a year-and-a-half-old, already extremely popular talk show, landed her first big celebrity guest and flew to Los Angeles for what she has called “the worst interview of my life.”

Discussion: USA Today, Speakeasy, Mediaite, New York Times, Multichannel, Media Life Magazine and Washington Post

Guy Adams / The Independent:

The power of Oprah — Virtually no television network has shown interest in Kitty Kelley's new biography of the chat-show host — She has built her fame and considerable fortune by baring her soul to a nation of telly addicts on an almost daily basis. But despite her carefully cultivated …

Discussion: CNN and Inside Cable News

Richard Pérez-Peña / New York Times:

Pew Poll Finds Pessimism Among Journalists — Most newspaper and broadcast news editors think American journalism is in decline, and about half believe that their employers will go out of business if they do not find new sources of revenue, according to a survey to be released on Monday.

Discussion: Strupp, Gawker, The Now/ledge and Kirk LaPointe's …

Journalism.org:
NEWS LEADERS AND THE FUTURE

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, Romenesko, BusinessJournalism.org …, ASNE and blogs.tampabay.com

Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:

Twitter Launches A New Guide For Media Organizations — Twitter has just launched a new site called Twitter Media, where it's offering media organizations and journalists some case studies and guidelines to better connect with their Twitter fans. Alongside the new portal, Twitter has also launched an official Twitter Media account.

Discussion: New York Observer, Mobile Entertainment, Twitter Media and SocialTimes.com

Richard Pérez-Peña / New York Times:

News Sites Rethink Anonymous Online Comments — From the start, Internet users have taken for granted that the territory was both a free-for-all and a digital disguise, allowing them to revel in their power to address the world while keeping their identities concealed.

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, Gretawire, Media Decoder, RJI, The Copy Box and ResourceShelf

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Media Notes: Are newspaper critics old hat amid the flood of online critics? — In the broad sweep of media history, the cancellation of “At the Movies” may simply mark the end of a program that had passed its sell-by date. — Or the demise of the old Siskel & Ebert vehicle may …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Romenesko, mediabistro.com, TVNewser and Inside Cable News

New York Times:

After iPad, Rivals Offer Hybrid Variations — Just as Apple's iPhone shook up a complacent cellphone industry, the company's iPad is provoking PC makers — and non-PC makers — to fight back with new devices. — Google — a search and advertising company — is soon expected to begin selling …

Discussion: Mashable!, Screenwerk, TeleRead, Gadget Lab, TiPb, Garcia Media, Stephen Baker, Engadget and Gizmodo

Bill Carter / New York Times:

Leno at Top of Late Night TV, With Older Viewers — EUGENE, Ore. — As Conan O'Brien starts his post-NBC career on a stage here Monday night with the kickoff of his Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour, his former employer, NBC, finds itself reliving the good old days …

Discussion: The Wire, TVWeek.com, Company Town, Chickaboomer, New York Magazine, PopWatch and Movieline

David Carr / New York Times:

The Media Equation: Brian Tierney's Odd Role Defending Philadelphia Newspapers — This is the kind of shape the newspaper business is in: Brian Tierney, a former public relations executive with a reputation for going after reporters, has become the last man standing in a fight …

Discussion: Media Decoder, Romenesko and Fitz & Jen

Steve Krakauer / Mediaite:

Michael Wolff To Sharon Waxman: “Man Up And Sue Us, Any Time” — The growing battle over content aggregation, web ethics and linking legality between TheWrap's Sharon Waxman and Newser's Michael Wolff continued this morning on CNN's Reliable Sources. — Howard Kurtz served as “referee,” …

Discussion: ScribeMedia.org, The Wrap and CNN

Sara Libby / Salon:

What about the next great female pundit? — Respected Op-Ed pages may be getting young new blood, but they're still mostly made up of white men — Late last week, Politico's Michael Calderone fretted over the fact that so many young, wonder-boy pundits were climbing to the top …

Discussion: CJR

Mark Walsh / MediaPost:

Yahoo Strikes Content Deal With Reveille, Debuts Toyota-Backed Show — Yahoo Monday announced a new content production deal with Reveille—the studio behind TV hits including “The Office” and Showtime's “The Tudors”—and the launch of its first original daily news show, “Who Knew?” with Reveille and sponsor Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.

Discussion: Mediaweek and MarketWatch

Richard Prince's Journal-isms:

Blacks Hardest Hit in Newsroom Cuts — Only 25% of Online News Outlets Disclose Figures — . . . Which Online News Sites Responded and Which Didn't — Only 25% of Online News Outlets Disclose Figures — Only 25 percent of online-only news organizations responded to a request …

Paul Carr / TechCrunch:

NSFW: I Admit It, The iPad Is A Kindle Killer. I Just Wish It Weren't Going To Kill Reading Too — For one reason or another, I've spent the past few weeks down at the TechCrunch offices. As a result, it's proved almost impossible to avoid iPad fanboy hysteria.

Discussion: broadstuff, Kindle Review, Soup and Crikey