Mediagazer: Smartphones bring mixed blessings for papers (Mark Sweney/Guardian)

4:50 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.

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: Romenesko, Chickaboomer and The Huffington Post

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: New York Observer, Company Town, The Awl and CJR

Nicholas Carlson / The Wire:

Daily Beast-Newsweek Merger Talks Heat Up - Staffers Feel Like Its A “Done Deal” — The rumored merger of Newsweek and IAC's online pub The Daily Beast feels like “a done deal,” a source close to Newsweek tells us. — A source familiar with IAC's M&A strategy says that “sounds right.”

Discussion: Gawker, FishbowlNY and Mediaweek

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

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Wrap and New York Times

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: The Wrap, Romenesko, Gannett Blog and FishbowlNY

Steve Myers / Poynter Online:

How Disruptors with Nothing to Lose Paved the Way Online for Old Media Stars Like Howard Kurtz — Who should Howard Kurtz thank for his new job at The Daily Beast? Tina Brown, his new boss? Barry Diller, the head of the site's parent company? — How about Josh Marshall …

Discussion: Seattle PostGlobe, American Journalism Review and TBD All News

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

Discussion: Romenesko, Runnin' Scared, The Politico, New York Observer, The Wrap, Scocca, Yahoo! News and The Daily Beast

Newsosaur / Reflections of a Newsosaur:

‘Community news sites are not a business yet’ — Although Jan Schaffer just produced a masterful analysis of how to run a grassroots news site, she came up dry on the crucial question of how to turn those journalistic labors of love into sustainable businesses.

Discussion: Romenesko, WebNewser and The Wall Blog

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.

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: Poynter Online, MediaShift Idea Lab and Hacks/Hackers

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: New York Observer, Romenesko, Gawker, New York Times, Gothamist, New York Magazine, The Awl 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, Variety, New York Observer, Company Town, Online Video News and Hollywood Reporter

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

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 …

Emma Barnett / Telegraph:

Twitter is not for sale says new CEO Dick Costolo — Dick Costolo, the newly appointed chief executive of Twitter, has told The Telegraph that he has no plans to sell the site, despite his record of selling start-ups to big players. — Costolo, prior to joining Twitter …

Discussion: TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Laura Oliver / Journalism.co.uk:

Lincoln journalism graduates ‘nail down a gap in the market’ with new publication — Journalism courses across the UK are busy welcoming new and returning students for another year of training. Depending on what and where you study there will be a range of teaching on offer …

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:

Exclusive: New MSNBC.com-BermanBraun Online Political Site BLTWY Launches — While it seems to be a stealth launch, the new online political site for MSNBC.com, created by Hollywood production firm BermanBraun, is now up and running. — Called BLTWY-as in “Beltway,” presumably for the road …

Discussion: WebNewser, paidContent and The Wrap

Deadline.com:

CNN's Piers Morgan Vows Format And Other Changes To Beat Fox News Competition: Promises “I'm Going To Be There To Win” And “It's Time To Kick Some Ratings Butt” — EXCLUSIVE: Piers Morgan tells us that he's planning big changes to the Larry King Live interview slot he inherits in January.

Discussion: TVNewser, Inside Cable News, New York Observer and The Wire

Kim Zetter / Threat Level:

Secret-Spilling Sources at Risk Following Cryptome Breach — Secret-spilling site Cryptome was hacked over the weekend, possibly exposing the identities of whistleblowers and other confidential sources, according to a hacker who contacted Wired.com and claimed responsibility for the breach.

Discussion: Techworld.com and Boing Boing

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

New York Times Co. Could Wind Up With Share Of Liverpool Football Club — In the oddest of twists, the New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) is on the verge of being part owner of a major UK football club. The publisher still holds nearly 17 percent of New England Sports Ventures, LLC …

Discussion: liverpoolfc.tv, Guardian and Sky News

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Phone hacking: ex-News of the World journalist ‘tapped up’ by police — • Paul McMullan shown how to hack messages by teenage girl — • Believes police won't arrest him due to ‘worthy investigations’ — • 'I know lots of things about celebrities that their husbands don't'

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk and Guy Fawkes' blog

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: WebNewser and Lost Remote

Ann Reynolds / ABCNEWS:

‘Be the Change: Save a Life’ With ABC News — ABC News to Broadcast Yearlong Global Health Series ‘Be the Change: Save a Life’ — ABC News today announced a yearlong project to focus attention on the diseases and health conditions that disproportionately afflict the world's poorest people.

Discussion: Media Decoder, TVNewser, Romenesko, Mediaite, Variety and Lost Remote

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.

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

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