Mediagazer: Bombastic Beck busts out (Howard Kurtz/Washington Post)

1:35 PM ET, August 31, 2010

Top News:

Steve Krakauer / Mediaite:

Exclusive: Glenn Beck Launches “News And Opinion” Website, The Blaze — Having conquered TV, radio, book publishing and now live events, Glenn Beck is looking to expand his media empire into a new arena - the web (obviously GlennBeck.com is thriving too). — Mediaite has the exclusive details …

Discussion: National Media, The Wire, eMedia Vitals, The Blaze, Hollywood Reporter, Moneywood, Runnin' Scared, On Media's Blog, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine, The New Yorker Blog and The Wrap

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Bombastic Beck busts out — When I interviewed Glenn Beck two years ago, I told him that I found his remarks about the first Muslim member of Congress “horribly offensive.” — He had informed Minnesota's Keith Ellison during an interview that “what I feel like saying is, sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.”

Discussion: On Media's Blog, MarketWatch, Slate, Yahoo! News and main page collection

Nate Freeman / New York Observer:
Huffington Post and the Would-Be Glenn Beck Sex Tape

Discussion: The Wire, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, The Blaze, Gawker, Media Matters for America, The Daily Caller and Skybarn

Mike Florio / NBCSports.com:

Washington Post suspends Mike Wise for a month — At the outset of his daily radio show on 106.7 the Fan in D.C., Mike Wise announced that the Washington Post has imposed a one-month suspension on him for his ill-advised Tuesday Twitter hoax regarding, ironically, the suspension of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Romenesko, The Wrap, Press Coverage, SportsGrid, TBD All News and Deadspin

Erik Wemple / TBD:

Colleague defends Washington Post's Mike Wise — The Washington Post leadership isn't talking about the Mike Wise situation. — Here's spokesperson Kris Coratti: “Mike did not follow our guidelines and has since apologized for it. We take these matters very seriously; however, we do not discuss personnel issues.”

Discussion: Deadspin and Romenesko

Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:
Sports Columnist Cunningly Uses Twitter to Prove That He's Dumb

Discussion: D.C. Sports Bog, Press Coverage, Romenesko, Deadspin and Back Porch FanHouse

Barb Palser / American Journalism Review:

The Hazards of Hyperlocal — Why neighborhood news online is a dicey proposition A hallmark of a successful product is that it addresses an unmet consumer need or want, either conscious or latent. Like DVRs, Facebook and aerosol pancake batter. At this moment, news organizations …

Discussion: Lost Remote, HyperlocalBlogger and Romenesko

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

NYTimes.com Connects With Facebook; Users Must Opt In — We're not tracking every site that adds log ins using Facebook or Twitter but when the site is a few months away from putting up a paywall—and it's one of the top news sites— it's worth a little attention.

Discussion: Romenesko, Business Wire, eMedia Vitals, New York Times, The Wrap, The Wire, All Facebook and WebNewser, more at Techmeme »

Los Angeles Times:

Murdoch may be key to Apple's plan to offer 99-cent digital rentals of TV shows — Executives of the media baron's News Corp. are said to be split over whether to go along with the plan. NBC, CBS and Time Warner are opposed, while Disney is in favor. — The price that people pay to watch …

Discussion: MediaMemo, TVWeek.com and Company Town, more at Techmeme »

Jack Lail / Knoxville News-Sentinel:

Q&A with Elizabeth Spiers: Media insider offers insight on changing landscape — Elizabeth Spiers says it's a great time to start a digital content business. As part of the Future of News project, e-mail Q&A's were done with digital media industry insiders for their observations …

Discussion: Random Mumblings

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

Two Can Play That Game, Rupert — The Times has the smarter strategy in the head-to-head with The Wall Street Journal — Rupert Murdoch has de-emphasized business coverage in The Wall Street Journal since buying the paper in 2007, something that The Audit, focused as we are on the business press, has criticized quite a bit.

Discussion: Talking Biz News, The Big Picture and News On News

Dean Starkman / CJR:
Susanne Craig leaving WSJ for the NYT

Discussion: New York Times, The Atlantic Online, Felix Salmon, DealBook, Talking Biz News, Guardian, New York Observer, Runnin' Scared, New York Magazine and Romenesko

Jeff Bercovici / DailyFinance:

As Newsweek Staff Dwindles, Still No Savior In Sight — Turnover is probably a good thing for a magazine as sclerotic and outmoded as Newsweek, and there's been turnover aplenty in the weeks since audio equipment mogul Sidney Harman bought the failing title from the Washington Post Co. (WPO).

Discussion: mediabistro.com

Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:
Another Departure From Newsweek

Discussion: On Media's Blog

Patrick Smith / psmith, journalist:

It's not about selling news, it's about keeping customers — The paywall debate has focused on how consumers might consume the news industry's end product: news. “Will readers pay for news online?” “Will the industry survive this change?” “Won't people just get it for free someplace else?”

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

Roku Tries A Price Reset With Google TV, Apple Whatever In The Wings — Video service Roku cut prices by 23 to 30 percent across its WiFi set tops today, taking its most expensive device below $100 in the hopes of being perceived as the best value heading into the fall sales season.

Discussion: NewTeeVee, more at Techmeme »

Jason Fell / Folio:

Modern Luxury Sold — Regional magazine publisher to be bought by Atlanta-based Dickey Publishing. — After going on the block this spring, regional magazine publisher Modern Luxury Media has agreed to be sold to Atlanta-based Dickey Publishing. Under terms of the deal …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Scott Rosenberg / Scott Rosenberg's Wordyard:

In Defense of Links, Part Two: Money changes everything … The Web is deep in many directions, yet it is also, undeniably, full of distractions. These distractions do not lie at the root of the Web's nature. They're out on its branches, where we find desperate businesses perched …

Discussion: Washington Post

Scott Rosenberg / Scott Rosenberg's Wordyard:
In Defense of Links, Part One: Nick Carr, hypertext and delinkification

Discussion: TeleRead

Megan Garber / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The AP and Google reach a licensing renewal agreement — here's what it might mean for their relationship — Earlier today, Google and The Associated Press announced that they've struck a new licensing deal that will allow Google to continue posting content from the news cooperative.

Discussion: International Media, Editors Weblog, Associated Press, Media News International, Romenesko, paidContent and PC Magazine

WWD:

French Vogue Celebrates 90... A Bigger Niche?... Cindy Sherman Wears Chanel... WWD.com is the authority for news and trends in the worlds of fashion, beauty and retail. Featuring daily headlines and breaking news from all Women's Wear Daily publications, WWD.com provides …

Julie Bosman / ArtsBeat:

Esteemed Literary Journal Closes Offices After Suicide — The award-winning literary journal The Virginia Quarterly Review has canceled its winter issue and closed its offices in the aftermath of the suicide last month of its managing editor and a subsequent investigation by the University of Virginia, which operates the journal.

Discussion: New York Observer

Sarah Rabil / Bloomberg:

Former HP CEO Mark Hurd Will Not Be Re-Nominated to News Corp.'s Board — News Corp. said Mark Hurd, who stepped down as the chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard Co., has not been nominated for re-election to the media company's board of directors. — Hurd won't serve as a director …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, New York Observer, Digital Daily and Tech Trader Daily, more at Techmeme »

Ryan Lawler / NewTeeVee:

Cable iPad Apps at the Forefront of TV Everywhere — After years of dragging their feet with online video, cable companies are now cautiously making their videos available on the Internet and on mobile devices. Consumers, after all, have a near-infinite number of entertainment choices …

Bloomberg:

News Corp.'s MySpace Said to Extend Google Ad Deal by One Month — Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) — MySpace.com extended a search advertising contract with Google Inc. by one month as the News Corp.-owned social-networking website tries to secure a new agreement, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.

Jon Lafayette / Broadcasting & Cable:

ESPN Teaming With YouTube for ‘SportsCenter’ Stunt — Social media blitz by sports network — Who doesn't want to appear in a highlight on SportsCenter? Now you might get your chance. — ESPN is getting ready to launch a tie-in between SportsCenter and YouTube in which fans will be able …

Discussion: TVWeek.com