Mediagazer: Variety up for sale — Reed Business Information ("RBI") … (Variety)

5:40 PM ET, March 23, 2012

Top News:

Variety up for sale — Reed Business Information ("RBI") today announced it is beginning a process to sell Variety, the leading title for the entertainment industry. This follows the divestment by RBI of its other US business magazines over the past three years.

Discussion: AdAge, FOLIO, New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Wrap, MediaPost, Radio & Television …, Company Town, The Atlantic Wire, FishbowlLA, Deadline.com, @tcarmody, LA Observed and @learmonth

Erik Wemple:

Geraldo on Trayvon Martin's hoodie: It's got to be a hoax — The video above appears to feature Geraldo Rivera on Fox News attributing Trayvon Martin's killing to his wearing a hoodie. Here's the apparent comment: … No way, I told myself. This has to be another Internet hoax.

Discussion: TVNewser, Media & Entertainment, Reuters, Multichannel, The Huffington Post, The Wrap, The Atlantic Wire, FishbowlLA, RapFix, Chickaboomer, Politico, @justinnxt, @cchristinefair, @tcarmody, @robcrilly, @geraldorivera, Mediaite and Slate

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Geraldo's hoodie comments: Definitely not a hoax — Despite my hopes, the Fox News segment this morning in which Geraldo Rivera blamed the hoodie for the death of Trayvon Martin is no hoax. Here's the stuff that I figured was phony: … Convinced that Geraldo hadn't actually said that …

Discussion: Poynter and TVNewser

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Looking for answers for nypost.com, Rupert Murdoch and Col Allan rely on a standby general: Jesse Angelo — It's been a few weeks since The New York Post lost the editor of its website, Erle Norton, to Reuters, where he is now working for fellow ex-Post editor Dan Colarusso.

Discussion: New York Magazine and NetNewsCheck Latest

Matt DeRienzo / NewspaperTurnaround.Com:

Patch ignored early advice about one journalist-per-town model — Before Tim Armstrong launched Patch, jumped from Google to AOL, bought it from his own investment group and expanded it across the nation, he ignored early advice suggesting that the hyperlocal's one-journalist-per-town model would not work.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

The AP's Weak Coverage of Its New Boss — The Associated Press has a new CEO. So how does the AP cover it? Not very well. — AP hired McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt to be its new CEO, which raises a couple of obvious questions. First: The AP hired an old-line newspaper executive to be their digital-age CEO?

Adrienne LaFrance / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Embracing the stream: ITV's new Twitter-inspired news site breaks the day's news into pieces — British network ITV unveiled a bold new look for its news site Monday — one that favors newness over editorial control, rethinks what a “story” is, and takes inspiration from the Twitter …

Greg Sandoval / CNET:

Google Play mulls movie sales — Google Play is on the march. Execs there have spoken to some of the film studios about offering Android users the option to buy titles. The formerly named Android Market currently offers rentals. — Follow @sandoCNET — When you rent a movie on Play Movies …

Discussion: The Verge, Google Operating System, Digital Spy and Softpedia News

Daniel Frankel / paidContent:

OWN's Lesson For Yahoo: Big Names Don't Necessarily Equal Hit Channels — As companies like Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) make big investments into video content channels with name-brand film and television talent, they might want to consider the plight of basic cable's Oprah Winfrey Network.

Discussion: the Econsultancy blog and 24/7 Wall St.

Amanda Kaiser / WWD:

Lagerfeld Fires Back at Tina Brown — TOKYO — Never one to hold back on his opinions, Karl Lagerfeld stayed true to form at a press conference here on Friday, where he spoke at length on a wide range of subjects, from his love of architect Tadao Ando and stationary to his inability to get tired …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Capital New York, Mediaite and The New York Observer

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Reporter Murray Weiss sticks by his story about John Edwards and the soccer-mom madam as former senator's attorneys threaten — John Edwards' attorneys have threatened litigation against local news website DNAinfo after the site published a report Thursday about the former senator and presidential candidate …

Discussion: Politico, Gawker, msnbc.com and DNAinfo.com

Robert McCartney / Washington Post:

Wise up, Gridiron Club, or lose your cachet — I once enjoyed quite a perk as the son of a successful Washington newspaper correspondent. On several occasions, I attended the most exclusive and silliest event in Washington journalism: the spring dinner of the 127-year-old Gridiron Club.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, JIMROMENESKO.COM and Gawker