Mediagazer: Silicon Valley at a Cross Roads: Entertainment or Science? (Sarah Lacy/TechCrunch)

7:30 AM 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: LA Observed, blogs.vocalo.org and The Other McCain

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 …

Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:

Washington Post's Howard Kurtz joins the Daily Beast — The Daily Beast stunned media insiders Tuesday by announcing that Howie Kurtz, the Washington Post's long-running media reporter, is joining the site as its new Washington bureau chief. — Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of the Daily Beast …

Discussion: Media Decoder, Romenesko, The Wrap and New York Observer

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

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

New Fuel for Local Papers: Medical Marijuana Ads — COLORADO SPRINGS — When it hit the streets here last week, the latest issue of ReLeaf, a pullout supplement to The Colorado Springs Independent devoted to medical marijuana, landed with a satisfying thud.

Discussion: Romenesko, The Rural Blog, The Latest Word, FishbowlNY, Media Research Center, The Wire, New York Observer and Gawker

John Carney / CNBC:

Blogonomics: The New York Observer's Bid For DealBreaker — The news that the New York Observer is close to a deal to acquire DealBreaker has already spurred lots of smart commentary, including pieces from Mike Merced, Felix Salmon and Robert Cyran. — For those of you who are new to the story …

Josh Tapper / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Doubling down on print: Canada's Globe and Mail unveils a new print edition to complement the web — The Globe and Mail, Canada's most-circulated national daily newspaper, revealed its much-ballyhooed redesign on Friday. The paper is calling it “the most significant redesign” …

Discussion: Latest Stories on RRJ.ca, Garcia Media and J-Source

Yahoo / Yodel Anecdotal:

Yahoo! to Acquire Dapper to Extend Our Lead in Display Advertising — Yahoo! has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Dapper, a technology platform providing dynamic display ad creation and optimization. — Yahoo! is already the largest and most successful force in display advertising …

Discussion: eran's posterous, BoomTown, FM Blog, AdExchanger.com, VentureBeat, SiliconANGLE, TechCrunch, paidContent and MediaNama, more at Techmeme »

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 Times

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.

Joe Pompeo / The Wire:

Bad Ratings Follow Bad Reviews For Eliot Spitzer's New Show — CNN's new 8 p.m. show, “Parker Spitzer,” which premiered last night, already got beat up today with some pretty bad reviews. Now the Nielsen ratings have come in, via MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, who also has a show at 8 p.m., and it ain't pretty!

Discussion: Mediaite, Reuters, Inside Cable News, Guardian, MediaPost, DailyFinance, Politics Daily and Variety

Sharon Waxman / The Wrap:

Exclusive: Sandy Climan Steps Down as CEO of 3ality Digital — Entertainment industry veteran Sandy Climan is stepping down as CEO of the 3D technnology company 3ality Digital, the company announced on Tuesday. — Climan, who has been CEO for the past four years, will be moving …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable and Variety

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: New York Magazine

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

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: Romenesko, Show Tracker, Poynter Online and New York Magazine

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: Variety

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

Sarah Lacy / TechCrunch:

Silicon Valley at a Cross Roads: Entertainment or Science? — I wrote a post Sunday about the difference between cultural waves in Silicon Valley and the individual companies that come out of them. Many of the individual companies survive but the wave itself always has to crash. That's the nature of waves.

Marc Graser / Variety:

Ford revs up Web series — Motor Co. teaming with ‘Amazing Race’ producers on net show — Ford Motor Co. is pairing up with “The Amazing Race” producers Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri to launch their own reality competition show “Focus Rally: America” that will bow as a Web series early next year.

Discussion: Speakeasy

Jim Fruchterman / The Huffington Post:

‘Science Friday’ Radio Program Faces Funding Crisis — I was just in touch with Ira Flatow of Science Friday, and heard that they were facing a funding crisis. According to Ira: … Ouch! I think Science Friday is one of the most outstanding radio programs I listen to …