Mediagazer: At Flagging Tribune, Tales of a Bankrupt Culture (David Carr/New York Times)

12:20 PM ET, October 6, 2010

Top News:

At Flagging Tribune, Tales of a Bankrupt Culture — In January 2008, soon after the venerable Tribune Company was sold for $8.2 billion, Randy Michaels, a new top executive, ran into several other senior colleagues at the InterContinental Hotel next to the Tribune Tower in Chicago.

Discussion: CJR, The Wire, Hollywood Reporter, New York Observer, Romenesko, The Wrap, Tower Ticker, The Awl, New York Magazine, eMedia Vitals, Gannett Blog, Jezebel, Free Press, Prof Chris Daly's Blog, blogs.vocalo.org, Gawker, Media Nation and The Other McCain

Kevin Roderick / LA Observed:

Tribune memo tries to kill NYT messenger on sex culture — Tribune Company chief Randy Michaels rushed out a memo to all the properties tonight trying to shoot down a long New York Times story posted tonight by David Carr. (See At Flagging Tribune, Tales of a Bankrupt Culture.)

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Chickaboomer

Tina Brown / The Daily Beast:

Howard Kurtz Joins The Daily Beast — Media and investigative reporter Howard Kurtz joins The Daily Beast as Washington Bureau Chief. The Daily Beast turns two tomorrow, and an early piece of birthday good news is that Howie Kurtz, who has won renown for his media and investigative reporting …

Howard Kurtz:
A personal note — I've just discovered what it is like to become a media metaphor.

Discussion: Romenesko and The Politico

Michael Liedtke / Associated Press:

USA Today's overhaul cuts 35 newsroom positions — SAN FRANCISCO - USA Today is eliminating 35 jobs from its newsroom as it de-emphasizes its print edition and feeds more content to mobile devices. — The cuts outlined in an internal memo Tuesday are part of a sweeping overhaul announced by USA Today Publisher Dave Hunke in August.

Discussion: Romenesko, The Wrap and FishbowlNY

Tina Brown / The Daily Beast:

The Daily Beast Turns 2! — To mark our site's second birthday, we sent some questions to Tina Brown about traffic, far-flung datelines, and those rumors out there. On October 6, 2008, The Daily Beast was born. We celebrated by getting the editor and founder, Tina Brown, to answer some impertinent questions.

Discussion: Gawker and The Awl

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Daily Beast's Tina Brown Brags About “Interesting Discussions” With Newsweek

Discussion: New York Times and The Daily Beast

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism:

Krishna Bharat named Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence — Krishna Bharat, the founder and engineering head of Google News and a Google Distinguished Research Scientist, has been named the Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Alex Weprin / mediabistro.com:

WebMediaBrands Acquires 10,000 Words Blog — WebMediaBrands, the parent company of mediabistro.com, has acquired the blog 10000Words.net from Mark S. Luckie. Luckie is the national Innovations Editor for The Washington Post. The terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

Discussion: Romenesko

the nytpicker:

It's True: Spaghetti Tacos “Expert,” Prof. Robert Thompson, Has Now Been Interviewed By 78 Different NYT Reporters. — In tomorrow's NYT, reporter Helene Stapinski performs what might appear to be a near-impossible feat of journalism dexterity — producing a college professor to support …

Discussion: Romenesko, New York Times, New York Magazine and Eater National

Jessica E. Vascellaro / Wall Street Journal:

Time Warner Sees Ally in Web — CEO Bewkes Backs Google TV, Sees ‘Massive’ Competition for Netflix, Hulu — The chief executive of Time Warner Inc. said he is turning to Google Inc. as an ally in his push to bring cable shows to users across various devices and that the Web giant's …

Discussion: NewTeeVee, New York Observer, Online Video News, Hollywood Reporter, Company Town and Variety

Lois Beckett / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Trust, mobile, and money: New focal points (and hints for applicants) for the new Knight News Challenge — For the first time, this year's Knight News Challenge will be requesting entries in three specific categories: mobile, revenue models, and reputation/credibility.

Discussion: MediaShift Idea Lab

James Hibberd / The Hollywood Reporter:

ABC developing ‘Awkward Family Photos’ into series — ABC is developing some Awkward Family Photos. — In the latest viral online sensation to land a broadcast comedy deal, the concept behind the popular blog and book has been picked up at the network. — Sony Pictures TV is producing …

Discussion: TVWeek.com and New York Magazine

John Koblin / New York Observer:

A Print Dream Dies — During those dark days for media in 2008 and 2009, when the freelance well all but dried up, a little savior sprung out of Abu Dhabi. — In 2008, a weekly section dedicated to reportage and art and book reviews began as an insert called The Review in an English-language newspaper, The National.

Discussion: Variety

Katherine Spiers / The Wrap:

Lionsgate's Feltheimer: People Want Their Content When, Where They Want It — Lionsgate Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer spoke about the need for new economic models in the entertainment industry at the annual MIPCOM industry conference at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France Tuesday.

Discussion: Poynter Online and Variety

The Wall Blog:

NY Times boss says staying open to web crucial to paywall; details due in December — by @gordonmacmillan, posted on 6 October, 2010 at 8:50 am, filed under Media Owners, Paywall, Search Engines, Social Media, paid content and tagged Arthur Sulzberger Jr, Janet Robinson, Les Echo, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Times.

David Kaplan / paidContent:

PBS.org Revamp Aims To Make Local Content More ‘National’ — For the past few years, national media outlets from the NYT to AOL (NYSE: AOL) have been trying to build greater hyperlocal presences. PBS is trying to go in a different direction as it prepares to unveil a site redesign and new iPad app this month.

Discussion: Lost Remote and WebNewser

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Smartphones bring mixed blessings for papers — Orange report shows consumers are reading more content online but buying fewer print products — The growing popularity of smartphones is proving a double-edged sword for newspaper publishers, with the number of consumers reading …

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

On the Media: Onetime TV consumer watchdogs now ply their trade elsewhere — David Horowitz, Alan Mendelson and Judd McIlvain fight to build even modest audiences nowadays. — David Horowitz was so big in the 1970s and '80s that he appeared regularly on the “Today” show and “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.

Discussion: Romenesko and Talking Biz News

Cory Bergman / Lost Remote:

NBC Local praises social media for traffic jump — NBC Local Media, which runs ten large-market sites including NBCNewYork.com and NBCChicago.com, said today it's seen steady audience growth over the last year — up 32% in page views and up 20% in unique visitors.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest and MediaPost

Mark Coddington:

CBS' Les Moonves: You may have the flashy devices, but we still have the content — Les Moonves, president of CBS Corp., was in Austin on Monday to receive an award from the University of Texas and give a lecture called “The Networks Strike Back: How Old Media Has Adapted to the New World.”

Discussion: Daily Texan, TVNewser, Romenesko, Show Tracker, Poynter Online and New York Magazine

Michael H. Miller / New York Observer:

The Book Industry's New Danger Brigade — “I thought this was supposed to be a book party,” The Observer overheard a guest say at last week's launch for Mischief & Mayhem, a publishing imprint founded by Lisa Dierbeck, Joshua Furst, D. W. Gibson, Dale Peck and Choire Sicha in collaboration with OR Books.

Stuart Dredge / paidContent:

Facebook's Shields: ‘Share Is More Important Than Search’ — Facebook is a genuine 900lb gorilla in the social networking world now, with more than 500 million users. It is also an increasingly important platform for entertainment marketing. — Its VP EMEA Joanna Shields …

Discussion: MIPBlog

Ryan Tate / Gawker:

Bar Spy: Apple Trying To Hire a Blogger? — Apple's PR staff would be well advised to reach out more to bloggers, or even blog on their own. So the mysterious overture Apple made to a TechCrunch editor at a Cupertino, California brewhouse could be a big positive step.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice