Top News:
Peter Lauria / The Daily Beast:
Sumner's Witch Hunt — Viacom's billionaire owner wants to know who's badmouthing his girl-band pet project to The Daily Beast. And he offered to make Peter Lauria “well-rewarded” if he fessed up. HEAR THE TAPE. — Viacom employees be warned: Sumner Redstone is on a witch hunt.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Wrap, MediaMemo, Romenesko, TVNewser, Media Decoder, Gawker, Company Town, Movieline and mediabistro.com
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Joe Pompeo / The Wire:
Sumner Redstone Tries To Bribe Reporter To Reveal Sources Who Embarrassed Him — Remember the sex war that was brewing at MTV last month? The one where MTV CEO Judy McGrath was on the verge of leaving the company because 87-year-old Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone was forcing the network …
Romenesko:
Read Steve Forbes' statement about Baldwin's move — This morning Bill Baldwin told his editorial colleagues that he was stepping down as Editor of Forbes magazine, a post that he has held since 1999. In his new role, effective September 1, Bill will be a contributor, columnist and blogger …
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Joe Pompeo / The Wire:
Longtime Top Forbes Editor William Baldwin Is Changing Roles To Become A Writer — William Baldwin, one of the highest-ranking editorial staffers on the Forbes masthead, who's basically been editing the magazine since 1999 (Steve Forbes has the title of editor-in-chief), announced today that he's, well, transitioning to a new role.
Discussion:
Romenesko, paidContent, New York Observer, BusinessJournalism.org … and Talking Biz News
Josh Halliday / Guardian:
Times loses nearly 90% of online readers — Less than three weeks after the Times paywall went up, data shows a massive decline in web traffic — The Times has lost almost 90% of its online readership compared to February since making registration mandatory in June, calculations by the Guardian show.
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Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:
Editor Martin Dunn Out at New York Daily News (Updated) — Multiple sources tell us that New York Daily News editor Martin Dunn is stepping down. The newsroom was just notified. He's citing “family reasons” for his departure. Dunn's departure memo, after the jump. [Updated below].
Discussion:
Romenesko, Crain's New York Business, Media Decoder, New York Observer, Runnin' Scared and New York Post
DAN FIERMAN / GQ:
Bill Murray Is Ready To See You Now — He is one of the greatest comic actors alive. A man who's navigated his career with a peerless instinct for quality and self-respect. The man behind movies—from Caddyshack to Stripes, from Rushmore to Lost in Translation—that seem to have defined …
Shira Ovide / Wall Street Journal:
Magazines on Mend — A recovery in advertising spending and excitement around Apple Inc.'s iPad have helped perk up the magazine industry this year. — In the latest sign of a rebound, 12 out of 15 major fashion and beauty magazines sold more pages of ads in their closely watched September issues than they did a year ago.
Discussion:
5 Blogs Before Lunch
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David Folkenflik / NPR:
NBC's Guthrie: A Case Study In New News Norms — The story of NBC's Savannah Guthrie illustrates the new complexities that surround the modern network TV-news journalist. After a relatively short stint as a correspondent, Guthrie has emerged as a rising star.
Glen Dickson / Broadcasting & Cable:
Starz, Penguin Collaborate on “Amplified” E-Book for iPad — ‘Pillars of the Earth’ title will feature video, music from TV miniseries — Premium cable network Starz is bringing video to Apple's iPad in an unexpected way, by teaming with book publisher Penguin Group to create …
Globe and Mail:
Conrad Black granted bail — Conrad Black could be out of jail this week after scoring a major legal victory in his ongoing battle to overturn convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice. — A federal appeal court granted Lord Black bail on Monday while it re-considers his convictions …
Reyhan Harmanci / Bay Citizen:
From Ashes of 48 Hour Magazine Rises Longshot Media — This morning, J-Lab announced the recipients of the Knight-Batten Innovation Award, and SF-based experimental 48 Hour Magazine got recognized with a $1,000 prize. It's perhaps more accurate to refer to it as the magazine formerly known as 48 Hour.
Discussion:
The Wire
Dave Itzkoff / New York Times:
Banned ‘Family Guy’ Episode Gets New Life on DVD — In many ways, the “Family Guy” episode “Partial Terms of Endearment” is typical of that audacious Fox animated comedy, teeming with rapid-fire jokes and willfully offensive non sequiturs about disabled animals, God, Nazis …
Discussion:
ArtsBeat
Joseph Plambeck / New York Times:
Advertising: ESPN to Integrate Magazine More Closely With TV Operations — SINCE its first issue in 1998, ESPN The Magazine has played dual roles — part brand extension and part independent publication. — With the success of the ESPN television networks, the magazine could largely stay …
Greg Beato / THE SMART SET FROM DREXEL UNIVERSITY:
Printing Money — As the 50¢ newspaper fades, the $16 version blooms. — Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The newspaper, Information Age dinosaur, superannuated leftover from the glory days of mass culture, cheap and disposable booster of middlebrow department stores and network TV shows …
Discussion:
Romenesko
Neda Ulaby / NPR:
Introducing UltraViolet: Buy Your Digital Movie Once, Play It Anywhere? — Last week, I sat through an UltraViolet demo. It's a new video technology, intended to help frustrated 21st-century movie fans who'd like to be able to buy digital movies, play them on any device interchangeably …
Jonathan Fildes / BBC News:
Data torrents — SwiftRiver attempts to siphon off useful information from the web — In 2009, a series of deadly riots swept through the Ugandan capital of Kampala. — At least 10 people were killed during clashes between police and rioting supporters of a traditional king.
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
PopScreen Aims To Surface Viral Videos Before They Go Viral — Viral video monitoring startup PopScreen aims to save you from the disgrace you deserve when you email all your friends and relatives a link to that super funny video on YouTube only to find out they've all seen it a couple of times yesterday.
Foster Kamer / Runnin' Scared:
Gawker Currently Under Successful Attack by 4chan — After yesterday's 4chan attack on Gawker didn't prove to do too much damage (following a memo sent out to the company regarding it), It looks like the scorecard for Round 2 of the — A speed test clocks Gawker's current loading …
Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:
CNNMoney.com's brand of business journalism — TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE — Chris Peacock is vice president and executive editor at CNNMoney.com, where he oversees the site's content strategy. — Since Peacock joined CNNMoney.com in 2004, traffic has more than doubled …
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