Mediagazer: NBC News Hires Newsweek's Michael Isikoff (Brian Stelter/Media Decoder)

3:10 PM ET, June 7, 2010

Top News:

Steve Krakauer / Mediaite:

Breaking: Helen Thomas Retires, Effective Immediately (Video) — While it may not be totally unexpected, the story appears to have developed extremely quickly. — Hearst Corporation has announced Helen Thomas will be retiring, effective immediately. — Here's the full announcement from Hearst:

Discussion: On Media's Blog, rbr.com, The Hill, Bloomberg, The Caucus, Gawker, Media Matters for America, LA Observed, Big Journalism, TPM LiveWire, The Wire, msnbc.com, USA Today, Gothamist, Media Decoder, Michelle Malkin and Top Digital Journal News

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Helen Thomas Dropped By Speaking Agency, Under Fire For Remarks On Middle East — Under fire for controversial remarks she made (and apologized for) about the status of Jews in Israel, longtime White House scribe Helen Thomas was dropped on Sunday by her speaking agency.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Media Decoder, Fox News, Romenesko, Poynter Online, The Daily Dish, Washington Post, Right Now, ABCNEWS, Yahoo! News, Guardian, Haaretz, Salon and The Politico

Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:

An End for Helen Thomas and the Helen Thomas Rules — To many in Washington, two sets of rules seemed to apply for journalists covering the president: those for regular White House correspondents, and those for Helen Thomas. — Ms. Thomas, 89, made a name for herself asking tough …

Discussion: On Media's Blog, Mediaite, International Media and blogs.tampabay.com

David Carr / New York Times:

The Media Equation: How to Save Newsweek — Sometime this summer, someone other than The Washington Post will probably own the renowned brand of Newsweek. When I wrote about the pending sale in this column last week, I waxed philosophical about the meaning of a newsweekly magazine in 2010 …

Discussion: Gawker, Washington Post, Media Gaggle, The Wire, Media Decoder, CJR and Romenesko

Matthew Flamm / Crain's New York Business:

Wired's iPad liftoff — Tech title sells 73,000 copies in nine days on Apple tablet; wave of future? — Two months after the iPad's much anticipated April 3 debut, one thing is clear about the impact of Apple's tablet computer on the magazine industry: It has been very good for Wired.

Discussion: Mobile Media

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

NBC News Hires Newsweek's Michael Isikoff — NBC News has hired Michael Isikoff away from Newsweek at a time when the newsweekly magazine is up for sale. — Mr. Isikoff will become the national investigative correspondent for NBC, a position similar to the one he has held at Newsweek since 1994, the network said.

Discussion: Romenesko and The Huffington Post

Jack Marshall / ClickZ:

Facebook Grows Video Presence — As traffic to Facebook continues to grow, the social network is beginning to emerge as an important stakeholder in the online video space. According to online measurement firm comScore, the number of users viewing video on the site has been growing consistently …

Discussion: TechCrunch

Joseph Plambeck / New York Times:

SB Nation Expands for Fans, by Fans Sports Sites — Last Thursday, Kobe Bryant tallied 30 points in Game 1 of the N.B.A. Finals. That night, Silver Screen and Roll, a blog dedicated to the Los Angeles Lakers, racked up more than 3,500 comments. — The popular site is just one of more …

Discussion: paidContent, Lost Remote, NetNewsCheck Latest, New York Observer, SB Nation Detroit, SB Nation Chicago, SB Nation DC, SB Nation Boston, SBNation.com and eMedia Vitals

Threat Level:

U.S. Intelligence Analyst Arrested in Wikileaks Video Probe — Federal officials have arrested an Army intelligence analyst who boasted of giving classified U.S. combat video and hundreds of thousands of classified State Department records to whistleblower site Wikileaks, Wired.com has learned.

Discussion: CJR, The Atlantic Online, NY Daily News, The New Yorker Blog, Washington Post, Mediaite, Hillicon Valley, msnbc.com, The First Post, The Lede and Gawker

Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:

Mediocrity is king — Last week, the Huffington Post reached a new apex. Viewed from France, where ads are localized, its home page carried a remarkably tasteful ad: a farting application for the iPhone (see below). As prudery still rules in American media, you'll notice that the farter's exhaust aperture has been blurred.

AdAge:

Does Who Creates Content Matter to Marketers in a ‘Pro-Am’ Media World? — Examiner Has 7.4 Million Readers, Local Ads and News — but Few Traditional Journalists — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — If you're trolling the web and hit upon an Examiner.com story, you might think you're reading the San Francisco Examiner.

Discussion: Romenesko, The New York Observer and eMedia Vitals

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

CNN Close to Dropping AP — CNN is close to dropping its subscription to the Associated Press, people familiar with the decision tell TVNewser. — A CNN spokesperson said that no decision has been made. — to news reports, photos and video from Reuters in 2007, and has been testing …

Tom Neumayr / Apple:

Apple to Debut iAds on July 1 — Over $60 Million in 2010 Commitments from Leading Global Brands — Apple® today announced it will debut its iAd mobile advertising network on July 1 on iPhone® and iPod touch® devices running its iOS 4 software platform. iAds combine the emotion …