Mediagazer: Memo Hints at Name Change for MSNBC.com (Brian Stelter/Media Decoder)

10:50 PM ET, October 6, 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: paidContent, The Wrap, Inside Cable News, The Huffington Post, WebNewser, New York Magazine, Collective Talent and Think Progress

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: Folio, New York Observer, The Daily Beast, Runnin' Scared, Gawker, FishbowlNY, The Awl, Company Town and Scocca

Nicholas Carlson / The Wire:

Daily Beast - Newsweek Merger Talks Heat Up - Staffers Feel Like It's 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

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

Discussion: New York Times, The Wrap and Guardian

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: Chicago Reader, The Huffington Post and Chickaboomer

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

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, American Journalism Review and Romenesko

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

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

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.

Discussion: Folio

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.

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.

Discussion: NYCEDC

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 …

Deggans / St. Petersburg Times:

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, The Wire, TVWeek.com and TPM LiveWire

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!

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 …

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

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

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

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

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, Online Video News, Company Town, New York Observer and Hollywood Reporter

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

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.