Mediagazer: The Future of the Book — Writers, artists, and public intellectuals … (Sam Harris)

10:10 PM ET, October 2, 2011

Top News:

Mark Memmott / NPR:

NPR Names Sesame Workshop's Gary Knell As New CEO/President — Gary Knell, president and CEO of Sesame Workshop - producers of the Sesame Street educational children's TV show — has been named the new CEO and president of NPR. The news was broken this hour on Weekend All Things Considered.

Discussion: Media Decoder, Deadline.com, The Wrap, AllThingsD, Associated Press and The Politico

Gary Knell / @nprgaryknell:

I'm thrilled to join NPR. This is media with a deeply held mission, compelling history and boundless future.

Sam Harris:

The Future of the Book — Writers, artists, and public intellectuals are nearing some sort of precipice: Their audiences increasingly expect digital content to be free. Jaron Lanier has written and spoken about this issue with great sagacity. You can purchase his book here …

Discussion: TeleRead and Future of Journalism

CNN:

‘Grouch-in-chief’ Andy Rooney, 92, signs off from ‘60 Minutes’ — Andy Rooney's commentaries have been featured on “60 Minutes” since 1978. He joined CBS in 1949. — New York (CNN) — Legendary and curmudgeonly TV commentator Andy Rooney offered his final remarks Sunday on the news show …

Discussion: TVNewser, EW.com, The TV Guy and CBS News

Nick Greene / Runnin' Scared:

Why Did the New York Times Change Their Brooklyn Bridge Arrests Story? — The above photo of juxtaposed screenshots from the New York Times website has been making the rounds on Facebook, and it shows two very different takes for the same story on yesterday's Brooklyn Bridge arrests.

Discussion: New York Times, Gawker, City Room and Boing Boing

Scott Timberg / Salon:

The creative class is a lie — The dream of a laptop-powered “knowledge class” is dead. The media is melting. Blame the economy — and the Web — Someday, there will be a snappy acronym for the period we're living though, but right now — three years after the crash of 2008 …

Michael Arrington / UNCRUNCHED:

Nick Bilton Turns Down $1.5 Million+ From CBS/CNET, Stays At NY Times — Nick Bilton, the NY Times lead technology writer, may be one of the most heavily recruited tech writers around. He was our number one most desired hire while I was at TechCrunch. And apparently at CNET, too.

Discussion: @robcurley, @sdkstl and Talking Biz News, more at Techmeme »

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

He's Back: Bob Pittman Named CEO of Clear Channel — Longtime media and Internet exec Bob Pittman has been named CEO of radio broadcast and outdoor advertising giant Clear Channel, the company announced today. — Pittman — who has been chairman of Clear Channel's media and entertainment platforms …

Discussion: Forbes

Sharon Waxman / The Wrap:

Nikki Finke Exposed, Part 1: Desperate, and Out of Control — Here at WaxWord we've decided that it's time to expose Nikki Finke's backroom maneuvers. — Because she was beat Friday on a major insider story - that Michael Ovitz had failed in an attempt to take over IMG - she sent an email to Reuters …

Discussion: @rafat

Matthew Campbell / Bloomberg:

Global Ad Spending Slowed in Second Quarter — Advertising spending declined in almost half of the world's most important media markets in the second quarter, deflating global growth, as economic concerns crimped sales, according to Nielsen Holdings NV. — Sixteen of 36 major markets …

Michele McLellan / rjionline.org:

Five stages of grief: A cautionary (and optimistic) tale for online community news startups — The emerging local news ecosystem looks as choatic as ever. But a few patterns are emerging in the way online community news start ups develop or stall out. Here's my latest attempt to make some sense of what I am seeing.

Discussion: Future of Journalism and Poynter

David Kaplan / paidContent:

Adweek Struggles With Identity Crisis: Is Wolff In Or Out? — Less than a year since Michael Wolff took over as editorial director of Adweek, tension is rising over the course of the revamped magazine amid speculation over Wolff's own future with the company.