Mediagazer: Editor McDonell stays put at Sports Illustrated (Keith J. Kelly/NY Post)

5:30 PM ET, October 20, 2010

Top News:

The Media Deal That Wasn't — Around lunchtime on Monday, staffers heard Danny Klaidman, one of two acting editors at Newsweek since the end of August, cursing in his office on Hudson Street ("F**k! S**t!"). Mr. Klaidman had just read the news online from The Wall Street Journal …

Discussion: The Corsair, MinOnline, New York Post and The Wire

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 Wire and The Wrap

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

Discussion: Romenesko

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, New York Observer, Tower Ticker, Gawker, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, The Wire, LA Observed, CNBC and New York Times

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

Discussion: MediaFile, FishbowlNY and Mixed Media

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: Romenesko, mediabistro.com and Rebooting The News

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

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk and Emily Bell

Julie Bosman / Media Decoder:

Ex-Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham Heads to Random House — Jon Meacham, the longtime Newsweek editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, has accepted a high-ranking editorial position at Random House, the publisher said on Wednesday. — In January, Mr. Meacham, 41, will become an executive vice president …

Discussion: Crain's New York Business, Romenesko, The Wrap, Gawker, The Wire, New York Observer and DailyFinance

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, NewTeeVee and The Wire

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Internet Is a Weapon in Cable Fight — In disputes between television programmers and distributors, the new battleground is the Internet. — In its continuing contract showdown with Cablevision, the News Corporation tried to extend its blackout of the Fox Broadcasting network to Fox.com and to Hulu …

Discussion: AdAge, mediabistro.com, The Consumerist, Media Money … and Soup

Farhad Manjoo / Slate:
No Hulu For You! — Once or twice a year, a cable company …

Discussion: Free Press, Technology Liberation Front and BBC

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

WWD:

A More Frequent WSJ... Seeing Demarchelier... Digital Ads Up at New York Times.. — A MORE FREQUENT WSJ.: So much for that speculation that Rupert Murdoch wasn't a fan of The Wall Street Journal's glossy magazine WSJ. The supplement will increase its frequency to nine issues next year and 10 issues in 2012.

Discussion: Romenesko

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: Pitchfork Reviews Reviews

Megan Garber / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Meet “The Hub,” a virtual clubhouse for community nonprofit news sites — At the Block by Block community news conference last month, an irony emerged: Local site publishers, who spend their days cultivating community, hadn't enjoyed much community amongst themselves.

Dana Lacey / J-Source:

Why journalism needs a saviour: Fortune's Andy Serwer — Andy Serwer, Fortune magazine's managing editor, explains the economic crisis, Apple's iron grip on news subscriptions and why journalism needs a saviour. — Warren Buffett used to boast two facts: Newspapers will always be around and the whole world will drink Coca Cola.

Discussion: Poynter Online and SABEW

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:

Soros Donates $1 Million to Media Matters — Media Matters, the liberal activist group that wages a rhetorical war against Fox News Channel and others in the conservative press, will announce on Wednesday the receipt of a $1 million donation from the philanthropist George Soros.

Discussion: The Politico, New York Observer, Romenesko, Mediaite, New York Magazine and Hot Air

Jason Fell / Folio:

Allure Floods Issue with 2-D Barcodes, Sees Subscription Bump — Readers scan tag in August issue more than 440,000 times. — In the past, Allure magazine has turned to its Web site as the entry point for readers to participate in its annual advertiser-sponsored giveaway …

Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:

Bartz On Blogging: “An Extremely Hard Engineering Feat” — Carol Bartz was almost subdued on today's earnings call. Missing were the salty outbursts of previous conference calls, but she did manage one zinger. Apparently, one of Yahoo's problems before was an inflexible content management system …