Mediagazer: Helpful Explanations: Understanding the Gawker v. 4chan Thing (Ryan Broderick/The Awl)

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: New York Observer, MediaMemo, Romenesko, Mediaite, The Wrap, Jezebel, Media Decoder, TVNewser, Company Town, Movieline, Gawker and mediabistro.com

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 …

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: Media Decoder, Crain's New York Business, New York Observer, Romenesko, Gothamist, Runnin' Scared and New York Post

Boston Herald's Convey named NYDN editor — MARTIN DUNN TO LEAVE DAILY NEWS; VETERAN JOURNALIST KEVIN CONVEY APPOINTED NEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF — NEW YORK (July 20, 2010) Daily News Chairman and Publisher, Mort Zuckerman, and Editor-in-Chief Martin Dunn, announced that Dunn is leaving the Daily News to deal with a family medical issue.

Discussion: New York Magazine

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.

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, BusinessJournalism.org …, New York Observer, paidContent 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.

Discussion: malcolm coles, Online Journalism Blog, State of the Fourth Estate, The Staggers, New York Magazine, MediaPost, TeleRead, Techdirt and Editors Weblog

Henry Blodget / The Wire:

On Our Third Birthday, Some Thoughts On Digital Media And The Future Of The Newspaper Business — Yesterday, we poked fun at the New York Times's latest discussion of how hard people in successful online media companies work. — We poked fun because the New York Times never seems to portray the energy …

Discussion: Romenesko and Gannett Blog

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 …

Discussion: The Awl, New York Observer, Gawker, The Big Lead, /Film and Reliable Source

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.

Discussion: TVNewser and Inside Cable News

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: AdAge and 5 Blogs Before Lunch

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 …

Discussion: The Awl and New York Observer

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 …

Discussion: theBookseller.com, Multichannel and TVWeek.com

Marion Maneker / The Big Money:

Is the Wall Street Journal the Future of News Video? — Why TV news in 2015 could look a lot like the outlet's video today. — It's not hard to mock the Wall Street Journal's online video operation. The outlet's daily broadcasts can feel a bit like the A.V. club at a tony school aping the nightly news.

Discussion: Romenesko

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 …

Discussion: Financial Post, The First Post, Press Gazette and Top Digital Journal News

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

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

Ryan Broderick / The Awl:

Helpful Explanations: Understanding the Gawker v. 4chan Thing — Now, I don't want to beat a dead horse, but this is the internet, and beating a dead horse is an Olympic sport around here. So for those of you seemingly out of the loop about this Gawker v 4chan nonsense, here's a bit of context.

Discussion: Gawker, Techdirt and New York Magazine

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 …

Discussion: TechCrunch, paidContent, Guardian and WatchingTV Online, more at Techmeme »

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.

MediaShift:

AOL Patch and MainStreetConnect Expand Hyper-Local News — It's difficult for media people to search any job site these days without running into an ad for AOL's Patch. It seems equally difficult to read media news sites without finding a feature story about Connecticut's MainStreetConnect.

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 …

Discussion: The Wire and Romenesko