Mediagazer: Of 16 ‘Observer’ Departures in the Last Year, 12 Were Women or Gay Men (Choire/The Awl)

7:25 PM ET, October 8, 2010

Top News:

News Outlets Circle Tablet — Several major news organizations are lining up behind a new tablet device from Samsung Electronics Co. built on Google Inc. software, in order to broaden mobile readership beyond owners of Apple Inc. popular iPad. — New York Times Co. and News Corp.'s Wall Street Journal …

Discussion: Romenesko, Gadget Lab, VentureBeat, FishbowlNY, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Engadget, Digits and Most Recent Home Page Posts …, more at Techmeme »

Hollywood Reporter:

Ryan Seacrest in talks to launch cable network — EXCLUSIVE: Teaming with CAA, AEG on joint venture — The reality producer, radio personality and “American Idol” host is in early talks with talent agency CAA and entertainment company AEG about jointly launching a new cable network.

Discussion: Media Decoder, Southwest Bureau, Fancast News, The Wrap, Gawker and New York Magazine

Reuters:

Hulu prepares IPO amid battle with Netflix — * Morgan Stanley likely to lead underwriters -sources — * Hulu could file IPO plan with SEC this year -source — * IPO could come in first half of 2011 -sources — Popular U.S. Web video service Hulu is prepared to raise as much as $300 million …

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The Changing Newsroom:

Newsroom Innovation Leaders: The Sports Department — Groves presenting research at AEJMC in Denver — This post is co-authored with Dr. Jonathan Groves, an assistant professor of journalism at Drury University. Both of us have spent several months in newspaper newsrooms …

Discussion: Mark Coddington, Romenesko and JSOnline

Michael Shain / New York Post:

CNN courts Couric — Tweet — Friends of Katie Couric are saying the chances of her remaining at CBS are getting slimmer. — CNN appears especially eager to sign Couric now that the new show starring ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer is off to a stumbling start. — Jeff Bewkes, the CEO …

Discussion: TVNewser, Gawker, Inside Cable News, The Wire, NewscastStudio Blog and The X Factor

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Journalists as entrepreneurs? That's fine, but not if they have to sell advertising — It is time to talk of heresy. The former Birmingham Post editor Marc Reeves has said once again that the editorial-advertising divide was the industry's biggest mistake.

Discussion: BuzzMachine and Holdthefrontpage.co.uk

Claire Atkinson / New York Post:

Apple is changing its tune on music subs — Tweet — Apple is talking with the major record labels about a subscription music service that would give customers unlimited access to songs for a monthly fee, sources told The Post. — Apple iTunes boss Eddy Cue was on the phone with music honchos …

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Steve Krakauer / Mediaite:

Rick Sanchez Tells Mediaite: “I Got Greedy And I Got Mad And I Got In Trouble” — Rick Sanchez came to New York City today for a live interview on Good Morning America and a radio interview on WABC. Before he left for Atlanta, I talked to Sanchez at his hotel, overlooking his former employer, CNN.

Discussion: Media Decoder, Moraes on TV and Riptide 2.0

Laura Oliver / Journalism.co.uk:

WEFHamburg: Invest in a more human side, Zeit online editor tells Google — Google needs to invest in a more human side to its business to work with news providers and publishers, a leading German newspaper website editor said today. — Speaking at the World Editors' Forum in Hamburg …

Choire / The Awl:

Of 16 ‘Observer’ Departures in the Last Year, 12 Were Women or Gay Men — 75% of the editorial staffers whose careers at the New York Observer predate the current editor that have since departed the paper are women or gay men. The current editor, Kyle Pope, was hired eleven months ago.

Discussion: New York Magazine

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Twitter data lets NPR glimpse a future of app-loving news junkies — Conventional wisdom tells us that if you hook up your website to Twitter and/or Facebook you should see some increase in online traffic. — But beyond more eyeballs and pageviews, what's the value of all those followers and “likes” to a media organization?

Discussion: WebNewser

Robert Fortner / CJR:

The Web Grows Wider — Gates Foundation partnerships with the Guardian and ABC News further complicate global health coverage … The independence of the Guardian's global health journalism has a new guarantor: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Manchester, U.K.-based paper recently announced …

Discussion: Seattle PostGlobe and rbr.com

Laura Oliver / Journalism.co.uk:

WEFHamburg: Crowd-funded news site Spot.us is sticking to startup roots, says founder — “I still consider us a start-up. Some people say 'you're a year-and-a-half old now so forget it.'” — But with a full-time team of never more than three people and a founder who is part customer service …

Lauren Indvik / Mashable!:

Esquire for the iPad: Not Just Another Magazine Under Glass — “Hello, I am Javier Bardem. Welcome to Esquire magazine.” — So opens the October edition of Esquire for the iPad, the first issue the Hearst-owned title has created for the device. The walking and talking video …

Discussion: MediaMemo, Folio, New York Observer and Poynter Online