Mediagazer: Netflix Sharpens Focus On DVDs With DVD.com, But Don't Cry Qwikster. (It's Staying) (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)

8:20 PM ET, March 30, 2012

Top News:

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Current TV Dismisses Keith Olbermann — 5:13 p.m. | Updated Current TV said Friday afternoon that it had terminated the contract of its lead anchor, Keith Olbermann, scarcely a year after he was hired to reboot the fledgling channel in his progressive political image.

Keith Olbermann / TwitLonger:

My full statement: — I'd like to apologize to my viewers and my staff for the failure of Current TV. Editorially, Countdown had never been better. But for more than a year I have been imploring Al Gore and Joel Hyatt to resolve our issues internally, while I've been not publicizing my complaints …

Discussion: TVNewser, Mediaite, Adweek, TVbytheNumbers and National Review

Current TV:

Open letter to the viewers of Current — To the Viewers of Current: — We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet. We are more committed to those goals today than ever before.

Discussion: Gawker, Forbes, paidContent, Guardian, The Wrap, AdAge, Show Tracker, Mediaite, Gothamist, The Daily Caller, New York Times and ThinkProgress

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:
Keith Olbermann Out At Current TV, Replaced By Eliot Spitzer

Discussion: Mixed Media and msnbc.com

Jeane MacIntosh / New York Post:

Soccer Mom madam and The Post — Anna Gristina, the notorious soccer mom madam, does have a relationship with someone at the New York Post. It's me. — Gristina has been a source on several stories I've written at the paper, most notably on Page Six. — This week, the New York Observer published …

Discussion: The New York Observer, Gawker, Politico, @mlcalderone and @dylanbyers

Martin Dunn / Guardian:

New York's uneasy tabloid truce — When I edited the Daily News, a day hardly passed without a gloves-off scrap with our rival, the Post. So what changed? — In the sad, cost-cutting world of New York City newspapers, the “war of words” has become the “bore of words”.

Discussion: Politico, The New York Observer, Gawker, The New York Observer and @megan

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:
Tale of the tape: ‘Observer’ won't retract story about ‘Post’ editor Col Allan and soccer-mom madam Anna Gristina

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, Capital New York, New York Magazine and The Huffington Post

Jonathan Stempel / Thomson Reuters News …:

Unpaid bloggers' lawsuit vs Huffington Post tossed — AOL Inc on Friday won the dismissal of a lawsuit by unpaid bloggers who complained they were deprived of their fair share of the roughly $315 million that the company paid last March to buy The Huffington Post website.

Discussion: Associated Press, Forbes, Bloomberg and @dangillmor

Jim Romenesko:

Huffington Post reacts to judge's ruling — The Huffington Post has reacted to a judge's ruling against unpaid bloggers who sued Arianna & Co. Here's the statement that HuffPo sent to media reporters:

Robert Mackey / The Lede:

Bloggers Cherry-Pick From Social Media to Cast Trayvon Martin as a Menace — For the second time in a week, a conservative blog has published excerpts from what it described as a Twitter feed maintained by Trayvon Martin, the Florida teenager who was shot and killed last month …

Discussion: Journalism.org, New York Times, The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress, Christian Science Monitor, Mediaite, BAGnewsNotes and Poynter

Alicia Shepard / Poynter:
The iconic photos of Trayvon Martin & George Zimmerman & why you may not see the others

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, Mediaite, FishbowlDC, MarketWatch and Orlando Sentinel

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Maxim Minimized. Big Layoffs Hit Men's Mag Web and Editorial Staff — The Internet killed the magazine star. There's been a major round of layoffs at Maxim magazine. Senior Editor Seth Porges is at least one employee who got the axe, according to our sources and confirmed by a recent update …

Discussion: Adweek, FishbowlNY, AdAge, Media Buyer Planner, MediaPost and The Verge, Thanks:@joshconstine

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Netflix Sharpens Focus On DVDs With DVD.com, But Don't Cry Qwikster. (It's Staying) — Netflix has been making a few moves to separate its DVD business more from its streaming operation, and today brings news of the latest move in that direction: the company has bought the domain name DVD.com, the company has confirmed to us.

Discussion: Home Media Magazine, Domain Name Wire, Multichannel, The Atlantic Wire, GigaOM, The Next Web, The Verge, Engadget and AllThingsD

Alexa Kravitz / American Journalism Review:

Many political talk shows are hosted by non-journalists. Is there a problem with that? — Should journalism experience be a requirement for hosting a political talk show? MSNBC President Phil Griffin certainly doesn't think so. His hires on the liberal-leaning network include non …

Discussion: The FJP

Maryclaire Dale / Associated Press:

Philly newspapers may trade hands Monday — PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia's two largest newspapers could trade hands Monday for the fifth time in six years. — A group of powerful local businessmen is trying to close a deal to buy The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News.

Discussion: Philly.com

Media Decoder:
Philadelphia Newspapers Set to Be Sold to Local Leaders

Discussion: The FJP, mediabistro.com and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Jason Del Rey / AdAge:

March Madness Digital Viewing Generates $60 Million in Ad Sales for Turner, CBS — Total Doesn't Include Subscriptions for Mobile Access — It's not a revenue number that's going to convince many that a long-awaited reallocation of TV dollars to digital has arrived.

Discussion: Adweek and eMedia Vitals, Thanks:@delrey

Jim Romenesko:

City of Sanford backs off on threat to arrest reporters — On Wednesday, the City of Sanford issued a press release asking the media to “refrain from approaching, phoning or emailing city employees when they are in their roles as private citizens” and warning that “law enforcement officials …

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, Orlando Sentinel, TVSpy and The Raw Story

Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:

Ex Goldman Sachs Exec Greg Smith Gets $1.5 Million Book Deal — Sorry to start your Friday out like this, but we've got to tell you: The rich do, in fact, get richer. Greg Smith, the former Goldman Sachs executive who quit with a hilarious New York Times Op-Ed, is getting $1.5 million to write a memoir.