Mediagazer: Daily Beast-Newsweek Merger Talks Heat Up - Staffers Feel Like Its A “Done Deal” (Nicholas Carlson/The Wire)

3:30 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

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: Mediaweek

Tina Brown / The Daily Beast:

The Daily Beast Turns 2! — trending topics - INNOVATORS SUMMIT - GET AMERICA BACK TO WORK - ELECTION ORACLE - THE SOCIAL NETWORK - FASHION WEEK — To mark our site's second birthday, we sent some questions to Tina Brown about traffic, far-flung datelines, and those rumors out there.

Discussion: New York Observer, FishbowlNY, Gawker, The Awl and The Daily Beast

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, FishbowlNY and Gannett Blog

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, Romenesko and Media Decoder

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

Discussion: Romenesko and The Politico

Tina Brown / The Daily Beast:
Howard Kurtz Joins 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.

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, Gawker, Romenesko, New York Times, Gothamist, The Awl, New York Magazine and Eater National

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

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

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, Variety, Online Video News, Company Town 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

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

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 »

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.

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: Guardian, liverpoolfc.tv 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: Lost Remote and WebNewser

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

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 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

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

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

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