Mediagazer: Spiegel & Grau Look to Indies to Boost Martel (Judith Rosen/Publishers Weekly)

3:35 AM ET, May 7, 2010

Top News:

Stephanie Clifford / New York Times:

Newsweek on Block as Era of the Newsweekly Fades — The Washington Post Company announced Wednesday it would try to sell Newsweek magazine, raising questions about the future of the iconic newsweekly — and whether a fragmented nation still looked to mass magazines to define the weekly conversation.

Discussion: Folio, The New Yorker Blog, The Big Money, FishbowlNY, Media Research Center, The Wire, Free Press, eMedia Vitals, The Future of Capitalism, AdAge, Newsonomics and Dorian Benkoil

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Newsweek's hazy future — Can Newsweek magazine survive? — The answer is that no one, including the people who work there, knows for sure. — With yesterday's bombshell announcement that The Washington Post Co. is putting the magazine up for sale, Time remains the last newsmagazine standing.

Discussion: Newser, Most Recent Home Page Posts …, New York Observer, Mediaite, The Daily Beast and Politics Daily

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

On a Dramatic Afternoon for Dow, a Scramble to Cover the Story — Cable news anchors and financial Web sites struggled to keep up as the Dow fell nearly 1,000 points and then mostly rebounded in a matter of minutes Thursday afternoon. — As my colleague David Carr put it just now …

Discussion: CNBC, TechCrunch, Felix Salmon, The Money Game, TVNewser, VentureBeat, Wonkette, Newsbroke and Talking Biz News

Ian Shapira / Story Lab:

Should journalists out each other's sources? — On Wednesday morning, I read a piece on the Politico web site speculating about the identity of confidential sources who helped me break a story about negotiations to sell The Washington Times. Initially, the Politico headline …

Discussion: Gawker

Patrick Gavin / The Politico:
What's next for the Washington Times

Discussion: FishbowlDC and Romenesko

Andrew Romano / Newsweek Blogs:

Why the Media Ignored the Nashville Flood — As you may have heard, torrential downpours in the southeast flooded the Tennessee capital of Nashville over the weekend, lifting the Cumberland River 13 feet above flood stage, causing an estimated $1 billion in damage, and killing more than 30 people.

Discussion: Romenesko, Big Journalism, Hot Air, Random Mumblings and Mediaite

Emily Bryson York / AdAge:

McDonald's to Use Facebook's Upcoming Location Feature — Brands Eager to Build Apps Once Massive Social Network Launches Its Own Foursquare Competitor — CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — Facebook is preparing to launch location-based status updates for its users.

Discussion: Mashable!, MediaMemo, GigaOM, Inside Facebook and the Econsultancy blog

Alexei Oreskovic / MediaFile:

Actually, Yahoo is not spending another $85 million on ads — The news that Yahoo is spending $75 million to $85 million on an ad blitz has provoked a wave of disparagement in the blogosphere, with many critics slamming Yahoo for throwing more money away on an ineffective marketing strategy.

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider

Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:
Yahoo Launches New Ad Blitz

Discussion: Search Engine Land, BoomTown, Silicon Alley Insider, paidContent and Mashable!

Maureen O'Connor / Gawker:

Guy Who Sent Us Washington Post's Malcolm X-Obama Mix-Up Denies Hoax — The Washington Post claims a much blogged-about photo caption blooper was a “hoax.” But the guy who sent the screencap to us stands by it: “I don't even have Photoshop on my computer! Also two co-workers saw my screen.”

Andy Alexander / Ombudsman Blog:
Hoax suspected in Obama-Malcolm X photo mix-up

Discussion: Romenesko and New York Magazine

Michael Miner / Chicago Reader:

The Sun-Times Preserves its Photo Archive by Selling It — Is the Sun-Times selling off its heritage at garage sale prices? The other day eBay put up for auction an item from the paper's archives described as “Original Photo 1913 Thomas Edison Family NICE!!!” Bidding started at $10 and ended four days later at $27.

Discussion: Romenesko and Fitz & Jen

Judith Rosen / Publishers Weekly:

Spiegel & Grau Look to Indies to Boost Martel — When The New York Times and The Washington Post slammed Canadian author Yann Martel's new novel, Beatrice and Virgil, publisher Spiegel & Grau called on independents for help. Not that the book has been doing bad, USA Today called it …

Discussion: GalleyCat and Bookninja

John Koblin / New York Observer:

Depatures: Business Editor Jay Sherman Leaving the New York Post for Moody's — The Post's business desk is under some serious change. — Sources tell us that business editor Jay Sherman is leaving the Post to work at Moody's. It is not clear what he'll be doing there.

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Today's Zaman Mobile Edition:

Al-Jazeera considering Turkish broadcast — Given the importance of Turkey for the Arab world, Al-Jazeera is giving serious thought to beginning Turkish-language broadcasts, Qatari Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Hamad Bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari has said.

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

HBO on Your iPad? There Won't Be an App for That (For a While). — Wouldn't it be awesome if you could buy a subscription to HBO without having to pay for cable? You could just beam the shows straight to your laptop or iPad or whatever. — Not going to happen. At least not anytime soon, says Jeff Bewkes.

Discussion: Electronista and Seeking Alpha

Dylan Stableford / The Wrap:

Comedy Central's Head of Programming: Grilled — Kent Alterman talks “SNL,” Conan and his network's wildly diverse 2010-2011 development slate — Comedy Central announced its 2010-2011 development slate on Thursday, a wildly diverse lineup that includes “Saturday Night Live” alums …

Joshua Benton / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Hummel Report: Another nonprofit news org with an anti-govt.-waste message and conservative funding — Sheila Conlin is a veteran television journalist who currently works at NBC News Channel and is finishing up a master's degree in journalism. As part of her degree, she put together …