Mediagazer: Twitter is not for sale says new CEO Dick Costolo (Emma Barnett/Telegraph)

1:45 AM ET, October 7, 2010

Top News:

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Memo Hints at Name Change for MSNBC.com — NBC Universal and Microsoft, the parents of MSNBC.com, are holding high-level talks about a name change, something that could be a risky endeavor for the second most popular news Web site in the United States. — The two parents have determined …

Discussion: Mediaite, Inside Cable News, The Huffington Post, paidContent, The Wrap, New York Magazine, WebNewser and Collective Talent

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: MediaPost, New York Observer, The Awl and TBD All News

Nicholas Carlson / The Wire:
Daily Beast - Newsweek Merger Talks Heat Up - Staffers Feel Like It's A “Done Deal”

Discussion: Folio, FishbowlNY and Gawker

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

Discussion: Adweek, New York Times and The Wrap

Lucia Moses / Mediaweek:

Next Issue Media CEO Guenther Short on Details — Next Issue Media, a publisher-founded e-reader consortium, has been quiet about its activities since it got off the ground almost a year ago, prompting some industry head-scratching about what exactly it's doing.

Jason Fell / Folio:
Next Issue Media Names Tech Team, Hints at Digital Newsstand Plans

Discussion: paidContent and eMedia Vitals

New York Post:

Richard Johnson LA-bound — Tweet — It's the end of an era — Richard Johnson is leaving Page Six after nearly 25 years as editor of the world's most famous gossip column. — Emily Smith, who cut her teeth on Fleet Street before coming to New York five years ago …

Discussion: Gawker, The Politico, Runnin' Scared, New York Magazine and CNET News

Gillian Reagan / Capital New York:

Taking time to read on the web: Instapaper gets ready for the big show — Photo via davidville's flickr stream. — A couple of years ago, Marco Arment, who was then the lead technologist of the social-blog platform Tumblr, became frustrated with the way the web made his ideal reading diet difficult.

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, ReadWriteWeb, Mashable! and VentureBeat

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, The Wall Blog and WebNewser

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, Guardian and American Journalism Review

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, CJR and The Daily Beast

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: Hollywood Reporter, Hit & Run, Beachwood Reporter, blogs.vocalo.org, Chicago Reader, Umair Haque, The New Yorker Blog, J-Source, rbr.com, National Media, Chickaboomer, The Wrap and Tower Ticker

Deggans / blogs.tampabay.com:

EX-CNN anchor Rick Sanchez releases statement, says comments “never intended to suggest any sort of narrow mindedness.” — Former CNN anchor Rick Sanchez just released a statement saying his comments from last week were not intended to be “narrow-minded” and “should not have been made.”

Discussion: The Wrap, Mediaite, Romenesko, New York Magazine, Riptide 2.0, PopEater, The Moderate Voice, Hit & Run, TVWeek.com and The Wire

Andy Plesser / Beet.TV:

News Video on Twitter to Expand as Brightcove Completes Implementation — NEW YORK — With last month's launch of the new Twitter Web page, selected beta users have been able to embed videos from YouTube and Vimeo. — Now, Brightcove has been authorized by Twitter to have its videos embedded.

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

BW Digital Alum Neal Joins NYC Media Lab As First Executive Director — We've peeked in from time to time at the New York City Economic Development Corp.'s efforts to jump start the city's struggling media industry by encouraging innovation and creating new jobs.

Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent:

Newsweek's Final Price: $1 In Cash And $47 Million In Liabilities — Confirming what was widely reported but never publicly acknowledged, a Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) SEC filing shows that billionaire Sidney Harman paid $1 in cash for Newsweek and also assumed about $47 million in liabilities.

Discussion: Media Decoder and Mashable!

Joy Mayer / RJI:

What “engagement” means to Tracy Record and West Seattle Blog — Lately, I've been immersed In a sea of motivated, passionate, scrappy people making a go of it in community news, trying a bunch of techniques and wondering what will work. It was therefore a yank into another world …

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, Gannett Blog and FishbowlNY

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 and MediaShift Idea Lab

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: MediaPost, FM Blog and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

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

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, The Wire and New York Magazine