Mediagazer: Went to a Literary Gala, Interviewed Jann Wenner, Jann Wenner's Son … (David Shapiro/The Awl)

4:00 AM ET, October 21, 2010

Top News:

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

NPR Ends Analyst's Contract After Comments on Muslims — NPR has terminated its contract with Juan Williams, one of its senior news analysts, after he made comments about Muslims on the Fox News Channel. — NPR said in a statement that it gave Mr. Williams notice of his termination on Wednesday night.

Discussion: NPR, The Atlantic Online, Mediaite, The Wrap, tony of all media, Big Journalism, Inside Cable News and The Huffington Post

Keith J. Kelly / NY Post:

Editor McDonell stays put at Sports Illustrated — Terry McDonell, the editor of Sports Illustrated Group, who was flagged as a potential candidate for the top job at Newsweek, has shot down speculation that he is in the running to be the newsweekly's editor-in-chief.

Discussion: The Wrap

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media: Tina Brown on Newsweek Talks and Jack Welch's Role

Zeke Turner / New York Observer:
The Media Deal That Wasn't — Around lunchtime on Monday …

Discussion: The Corsair and The Wire

Robert Gavin / Boston Globe:

Local group says it wants to buy The Boston Globe — A group of more than a dozen investors and management specialists will offer to buy The Boston Globe from its long-time owner, The New York Times Co., the leader of the group said. — Aaron Kushner, an entrepreneur who owns Marian Heath …

Discussion: Media Decoder, New York Magazine, paidContent, MediaPost, Hubbub and DealBook

Chicago Tribune:

Tribune's top exec poised to resign — Sources: Michaels to exit amid claims of crass behavior — Randy Michaels, Tribune Co.'s embattled chief executive, has decided to resign his post at the Chicago-based media company and intends to leave the company before the end of the week, sources close to the situation said.

Discussion: Romenesko, The Wrap, blogs.vocalo.org, Tower Ticker, New York Observer, Gawker, The Wire, Los Angeles Times, LA Observed and Mixed Media

David Kaplan / paidContent:
Tribune CEO Michaels Plans To Step Down; Replaced By Four-Member Council

Discussion: MediaFile, FishbowlNY and Mixed Media

Mark Suster / Both Sides of the Table:

The Future of Television & The Digital Living Room — Dana Settle & I are hosting a dinner tonight (10/20/10) with some of the biggest companies in entertainment to talk about the future of television, film & digital media. Michael Ovitz, the co-founder of CAA will be the keynote speaker.

Discussion: A VC, The Wire and NewTeeVee

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

On the Media: Public radio is enjoying boom times — (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times / October 20, 2010) — While its TV counterpart struggles, National Public Radio listenership is up and there are plans to greatly expand its reporting. — Southern California's biggest public television …

Discussion: Romenesko and MarketWatch

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

Washington Post Tells Reporters To Stop Engaging Readers On Twitter — I've occasionally gotten into debates with Techdirt critics on Twitter, and I'll admit the medium is not all that well-suited for thoughtful debate. But, I have found that it is often a good way to, at least …

Discussion: GigaOM, Rebooting The News, Guardian, Lost Remote, The Huffington Post and Editors Weblog

Danny Sullivan / Daggle:

Fast Company's “Influence Project” - So Lame, Fast Company Ignored Its Own Results — Cast your mind back to July. Fast Company launched its “Influence Project,” a scheme supposedly designed to see who has the most influence online. The results are in! And the winners aren't anyone …

Discussion: Fast Company and TechCrunch

Jennifer Saba / Reuters:

Analysis: AOL lurches for a content strategy — (Reuters) - Just three weeks ago, AOL Inc (AOL.N) Chief Executive Tim Armstrong promised no more “hail Mary passes” like its deal to buy Time Warner, now considered the worst merger in history. — Instead, it looks like AOL, which Time Warner Inc …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Constance Boozer / Columbia Daily Spectator:

J-School launches Tow Center for Digital Journalism — With the launch of Columbia Journalism School's Tow Center for Digital Journalism, the J-School is ready to make its mark on new media. — At an evening peppered with Columbia Journalism School faculty and press stalwarts …

Discussion: mediabistro.com and Romenesko

Columbia News:
Emily Bell, Director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism …

Discussion: blogs.journalism.co.uk and Emily Bell

Los Angeles Times:

News Corp.'s hit and run — By discriminating against Internet users based on the identity of their broadband provider, News Corp. added a troubling element to the debate over Net neutrality. — A rancorous dispute between News Corp. and Cablevision has baseball fans in Long Island missing more playoff pitches than Alex Rodriguez.

Discussion: The Wrap, Stop Big Media News and CNBC

Carolyn Kellogg / Jacket Copy:

UVA issues Virginia Quarterly Review audit: No bullying on record — The University of Virginia issued its audit of the Virginia Quarterly Review on Wednesday. The audit, which focused on finances and management issues at the award-winning magazine, was spurred by the suicide of Managing Editor Kevin Morrissey on July 30.

Discussion: Washington Post

David Shapiro / The Awl:

Went to a Literary Gala, Interviewed Jann Wenner, Jann Wenner's Son and Tom Wolfe Sang to Me — right now i am inside the restaurant Cipriani on 42nd St. in Manhattan for a gala celebrating the Norman Mailer Writers Colony and honoring some literary figures and young writers …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, New York Observer and Pitchfork Reviews Reviews

Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent:

Netflix: Instant-Streaming Only Option May Debut In U.S. Later This Quarter — Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) may begin to offer an instant-streaming only option in the U.S. as soon as later this quarter. The company debuted an instant-streaming only option in Canada last month …