Mediagazer: Journalists go to prison to highlight plight of jailed colleagues (Roy Greenslade/Guardian)

Daniel de Vise / Washington Post:

What if the rankers ranked newspapers? — Here we are in the middle of ranking season. The signature U.S. News & World Report rankings came out last month, and the Times Higher Education global university rankings are due later this week. — Lots of people rank colleges these days, and most of the rankers are in the news business.

Discussion: Poynter

Charles Riley / CNNMoney:

Buffett challenges Murdoch on tax returns — NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Warren Buffett has a message for Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal: Sure, I'll release my tax returns, if you do too. — Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an editorial that asked Buffett to disclose his tax returns.

Discussion: Fortune, Kempton, Business Insider, Mediaite, New York Magazine and Business Insider

Lynne Marek / Chicago Business:
Tribune bonus plan OKd by bankruptcy judge

Discussion: Poynter and FishbowlLA

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:

35 years ago today, Barbara Walters became highest paid journalist — On October 4, 1976, Barbara Walters became the first female co-anchor of an evening newscast. Walters started her career as a writer for CBS News and then joined NBC's “Today Show” in 1961.

Discussion: ABCNEWS and TVNewser

Ryan Tate / Gawker:

The iPhone 5 Failboard: How Everyone Got It Wrong — A great many Apple fans are hot and bothered that no iPhone 5 emerged today to fill the void in their souls. But you know who should really feel dejected? All the tech bloggers who wasted time typing bold proclamations about new features, designs and phones that never came.

Discussion: Crikey, ZDNet, International Business Times, Globe and Mail and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

The Daily scolds UK's Daily Mail for lifting its Scientology series — Staffers from the Daily iPad newspaper spent more than five weeks of reporting, writing, fact-checking and editing a two-part report on the most prestigious boarding school in the Scientology world.

Steve Myers / Poynter:

AP adds to its ‘Beat of the Week’ contest to recognize state-level news — The Associated Press told its employees Tuesday that it's adding to its “Beat of the Week” contest with a category specifically for state-level news. National or international stories usually win “Beat of the Week” …

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

BBC news chief seeks government action over Iranian ‘intimidation’ — Peter Horrocks says Tehran has intensified blocking of Persian TV channel, and arrested staff's relatives and friends — The BBC's head of global news has called on the UK government to rebuke Iran after relatives of 10 …

Discussion: BBC

Michael Malone / Broadcasting & Cable:

Local TV Go-To Information Source During Irene — Study says local broadcast news reigns when it rains — Local television was the go-to source for residents in specific markets affected by Hurricane Irene, with 39% of respondents learning the storm was approaching from local TV news.

Discussion: MediaPost and rbr.com

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

McCormick Foundation awards millions to journalism organizations — The Chicago-based Robert R. McCormick Foundation has approved $5 million in grants to 22 organizations, including Investigative News Network ($225,000 over two years); Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. ($90,000 over 18 months) …

Discussion: PR Newswire

Richard Sandomir / New York Times:

The NFL Network and Time Warner Continue to Spar — Karen Waldkirch, a freelance writer in Wauwatosa, Wis., owns shares in the Green Bay Packers and buys season tickets to their games at Lambeau Field. — Yet if she wants to satisfy her hunger for news about the Packers on the NFL Network, she cannot.

Jack Neff / AdAge:

As Devices and Distribution Compete, Content Enjoys Renaissance — With Challengers to Apple, Netflix and Hulu, Emerging Media Creators Are in the Catbird Seat — Anyone still doubt content is king? Take a look at the power content owners once again hold as Amazon introduces viable competition to Apple's walled fiefdom.

Sophie Schillaci / Hollywood Reporter:

Andy Rooney's Final Broadcast Draws Largest October Audience Since 2007 — “60 Minutes” ranked No. 4 for the week with 17.11 million viewers. — Andy Rooney left 60 Minutes with a bang on Sunday, drawing the largest October audience for the CBS newsmagazine in four years.

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:

Money Dispute May End ‘Simpsons’ — A money dispute between Fox and the actors who voice the characters on The Simpsons may force the long-running hit series to shut down next spring. Lloyd Grove reports exclusively. — As Homer Simpson would put it, “D'oh!”

Discussion: Guardian, B&C, Deadline.com, Company Town, Company Town, FishbowlLA, The Wrap, rbr.com, Washington Post, NME News, Gawker, Digital Spy, ArtsBeat, newsfeed.time.com, Mediaite, TVLine, Splitsider, AOL TV, The Awl, The Huffington Post, TVbytheNumbers and Gothamist

Bradley Johnson / AdAge:

Digital Takes the Jobs Lead in New Mainstream Media — Staffing at Internet-Media Businesses and Web-Search Portals Soars — When it comes to jobs, digital is the new mainstream media. Consider this: U.S. employment at digital-media ventures is on track to pass employment in broadcast TV and in magazines by early 2012.

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Journalists go to prison to highlight plight of jailed colleagues — Two Swedish journalists have volunteered to go to jail as a way of drawing attention to the plight of three colleagues held in Eritrea and Ethiopia. — Johan Wirfält and Sara Murillo Cortes plan to be locked …

David Goetzl / MediaPost:

Mag Execs Jazzed By Tablets, Claim Print's Longevity — Top magazine executives expressed bullishness about the industry's digital opportunities Tuesday, but made clear they feel the traditional printed page has a lot of runway left. Much of the digital optimism conveyed …

Burgess Everett / On Media's Blog:

Rumsfeld's second Al Jazeera interview less cordial — Just a few days after Donald Rumsfeld praised Al Jazeera English in an interview with David Frost, the network released an interview in which D.C. bureau chief Abderrahim Foukara had an entirely less-pleasant exchange with the former defense secretary.

Discussion: Mediaite, Gawker, Erik Wemple and The Huffington Post

TVNewsCheck:

Scripps Buys McGraw-Hill Station Group — The four ABC affiliates in Denver, San Diego, Bakersfield, Calif., and Indianapolis and five low-power Azteca affiliates go for $212 million in cash. “We are energized by the addition of good people at good stations in good markets,” says Scripps SVP Brian Lawlor.

Discussion: BtoB Magazine, Broadcasting & Cable, MinOnline, rbr.com, Poynter, MediaPost and RBR

RBR:

Brian Williams newsmagazine replaces Playboy Club — NBC has been staffing up for a challenger to CBS' “60 Minutes.” The nation will get its first look at the primetime newsmagazine “Rock Center with Brian Williams” on Halloween, Monday, October 31st. It will take the 10 pm …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, TVNewser, Mediaite, Media Decoder, Media & Entertainment, AdAge, rbr.com and TVSpy

Discussion: Chickaboomer

Joe Coscarelli / New York Magazine:

Rupert Murdoch Funds Daily Reporter's Hunter S. Thompson-Inspired Vegas Vacation — Journalism. — News Corp.'s iPad-only newspaper experiment isn't exactly a runaway success so far, but it's being praised as an interesting research and development project.

Discussion: The Daily

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Twitter Now Has 1,600 Advertisers — Twitter's Chief Revenue Officer Adam Bain took the stage at IAB's Mixx Conference today and revealed a few milestones for the communications platform, specifically in the advertising area. Bain said that Twitter now has 1,600 advertisers using the platform …

Discussion: FM Blog

Martin Bryant / The Next Web:

Apple announces NewsStand partners: New York Times, Wired, National Geographic and more — At its Let's Talk iPhone event in Cupertino, Apple has just announced the launch partners for its NewsStand service, the ‘iBooks for Magazines’ announced at WWDC. — As this image from The Verge confirms …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Gizmodo and Poynter, more at Techmeme »

Steven Jacobs / Street Fight:

Philly.com Launches Hyperlocal Site for Main Line — Philly.com, the digital face for the Philadelphia Media Network's traditional news subsidies, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News, launched a small hyperlocal site yesterday. Taking on the brand of a once-successful community …

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest and mediabistro.com

Guardian:

Amanda Knox ‘could make millions from TV and press deals’ — American acquitted of Meredith Kercher's murder planning book, but must be wary of over-exposure, say PR experts — Amanda Knox can look forward to making as much as £10m from her story, with potential for a string …

Discussion: NY Daily News, The Huffington Post, Forbes, msnbc.com and paidContent

Robert J. Rosenthal / California Watch:

Part 1: Sustaining investigative journalism means finding a new model — I'm not sure I would have become the executive director of the Center for Investigative Reporting in January 2008 if I had really understood the challenges ahead of me and had thought them out carefully; I had no idea what I was getting into.