Mediagazer: Lancaster Newspapers Shuts Down ‘TalkBack’ Online Forum (Editor and Publisher)

12:05 PM ET, April 30, 2010

Top News:

Michael Liedtke / Associated Press:

Associated Press profit and revenue slide in 2009 — The Associated Press said Thursday its net income plunged as revenue fell nearly 10 percent last year. The news cooperative also expects a decline in revenue this year, which would be its first back-to-back drop since the Great Depression.

Discussion: Romenesko

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

AP Wants To Negotiate Mobile, Wireless Deals for Members, News Industry — During its annual meeting today, the Associated Press board conducted the usual business—adding Washington Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth and New York Times Co. Vice Chairman Michael Golden to the board …

ap.org:
AP Directors vote to launch wide range of collaborative new digital initiatives

Discussion: The Wire, Editors Weblog, Strupp, Romenesko and Media Decoder

Editor and Publisher: Michael Golden, Katharine Weymouth Join AP Board

Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:

Apple To Shut Down Lala On May 31, iTunes.com Launch Impending? — Lala - where music will stop playing ... In a brief message that was just posted on the Lala.com website, Apple has announced that the service will be shut down on May 31st, 2010. Apple will not be accepting new users …

Discussion: paidContent, Ars Technica, PC World, Agence France Presse, Boy Genius Report, GigaOM, TUAW, eMedia Vitals and MacRumors

John Cook / Yahoo! News:

Times-Union case puts newspaper in awkward position of blocking reach of state ‘sunshine’ law — Newspapers are supposed to support sunshine laws, right? That's how they pry crucial documents from the hands of secrecy-obsessed government bureaucrats. — That's also why states such as New York …

Discussion: Romenesko and New York Observer

Clint Hendler / CJR: An Attempted FOIL — NY governor's office denies CJR's records request

Kurt Soller / New York Magazine:

So, What Really Happens After You Assist a Top Condé Nast Editor? — This week, Jonathan Kelly, the former assistant to Vanity Fair's editor (since 2004), can officially stop answering the phone with “Graydon Carter's office.” He's joined up with the new Bloomberg BusinessWeek, as “Senior Editor of Etc.”

Eric Zhang / Google News Blog:

Bringing Living Stories to WordPress — For the last few months we've been talking with publishers about ways to make it easier for them to use Living Stories, our experimental format for displaying news coverage, on their own websites. Today we're releasing a Living Stories plugin and theme for WordPress.

Discussion: HyperlocalBlogger, WebNewser, AndyDickinson.net and ReadWriteWeb

Mark Fitzgerald / Editor and Publisher:

What Does Philadelphia Newspaper Auction Say About the Value of Newspapers? — CHICAGO The furious last-minute bidding for Philadelphia Newspapers — which saw the price bumping up $10 million in cash each round, according to participants — thrilled some newspaper brokers as much as losing bidder Brian Tierney.

Discussion: eMedia Vitals, The Biz Blog, Fitz & Jen, BrauBlog and Reflections of a Newsosaur

Twitter Media:

The four elements of @anywhere — The four elements of hip-hop are MCing, DJing, break-dancing, and graffiti. — The four elements of @anywhere are hovercards, follow buttons, tweet boxes, and login/signup. — If you don't see the relationship yet—you will.

Economist:

Emperors and beggars — Can technology help make online content pay? — From The Economist print edition — Our ceramic-mugs correspondent writes — THIS week the Wall Street Journal, the pride of News Corporation's stable of newspapers, launched a 12-page daily section of local news in New York …

Discussion: Romenesko

Claire Atkinson / Broadcasting & Cable:

Andrea Wong Swaps Lifetime for Liberty — Former Women's Executive Joins Liberty Media Board — Liberty Media Corp. announced Thursday April 29 that former Lifetime chief, Andrea Wong, has joined its board. — The former president and chief executive of the women's channel will sit alongside other …

Discussion: Company Town and MediaPost

Richard Prince's Journal-isms:

Fox News Skips Height Service for “Hoax” — MSNBC, CNN, TV One, C-Span Carry President's Eulogy — MSNBC, CNN, TV One, C-Span Carry President's Eulogy — Fox News Channel was the only cable news channel not to carry the funeral service for Dr. Dorothy Height Thursday morning …

Discussion: Media Matters for America

Charlie Gasparino / FOXBusiness.com:

NBC Universal Lost $223 Million on Olympics, Leno — Jeff Zucker, who will be president and chief executive of NBC Universal following its sale of a majority interest to Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), will make a base salary of $6.3 million in 2010, though his total compensation could be $20 million or more.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Huffington Post, The Wire and Chickaboomer

Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:

Location-Based Ads a Goldmine, Says Survey - 50% of Users Take Action — Although the privacy issues surrounding Facebook's new, opt-out only data sharing policies are making people uncomfortable, one area where folks are apparently happy to have their private data shared is on their mobile phones.

Jason Boog / GalleyCat:

Major Restructuring at Crown Publishing Group; Shaye Areheart Books Closed — Today Crown Publishing Group detailed a major reorganization at the Random House division, changes helmed by publisher Maya Mavjee since her December appointment. The division will be divided into three editorial units …

Discussion: Publishers Weekly

Jeremy Egner / Media Decoder:

Bits: Buying Serena's Handbag — Delivery Agent, which runs runs e-commerce sites for networks and studios like ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and HBO, will begin working with TV and movie companies to sell clothes and other items that appear in shows and movies. Entertainment companies hope the sales …

Discussion: Bits and paidContent

Editor and Publisher:

Lancaster Newspapers Shuts Down ‘TalkBack’ Online Forum — CHICAGO Lancaster (Pa.) Newspapers pulled the plug on its online TalkBack Thursday morning, blaming the “blatant misuse” of the public forum by anonymous posters of racist material. — President and CEO Harold E. Miller Jr …

Discussion: Guardian

Dylan Stableford / TheWrap.com:

Newspapering as Blood Sport: WSJ vs. NYT — It's Rupert V. Pinch, fighting a 20th century war in the 21st century — For months, New York Times executives have been downplaying the brewing rivalry with the Wall Street Journal — while simultaneously digging in for a fight. — Well, it's on now.

INMA:

From music to newspapers to magazines: Creating unique value from content — : INMA World Congress : New York, United States — The CEO of Playboy Enterprises can't speak to a room of newspaper people without at least a couple of jokes. Yes, INMA members might enjoy a private tour of Hugh Hefner's mansion.

The Live Feed | THR:

Conan: I would not have done the same to Leno — CBS has released an excerpt from Sunday night's highly anticipated “60 Minutes” interview with Conan O'Brien: — “He went and took that show back and I think in a similar situation, if roles had been reversed, I know— I know me, I wouldn't have done that,” O'Brien says.

Discussion: Mediaite, Tuned In, New York Observer, blogs.tampabay.com, Gawker, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wire and New York Magazine

Jim Romenesko / Romenesko:

Firestone replaces Cohen on NYT's editorial board — New York Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal's memo to staff — Carla Robbins and I are delighted to announce (or for some of you confirm) that David Firestone will be joining the editorial board. — David's experience will make a great addition to our team.