Mediagazer: Propaganda firm owner admits attacks on journalists (Gregory Korte/USA Today)

9:55 PM ET, May 24, 2012

Top News:

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Times-Picayune to publish three days a week, cut staff — A memo from Times-Picayune publisher Ashton Phelps Jr. confirms that the newspaper will cease daily publication, moving to three days a week in the fall: Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The memo also confirms staff cuts, though it doesn't say how large they will be.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, Forbes, Blog of New Orleans, Gambit, CJR, Erik Wemple, Media Decoder, American Journalism Review, Newsonomics, Newspaper Death Watch, Charles Apple, TheLensNola.org, Save the News, NetNewsCheck Latest, The Rural Blog, The Awl, Yahoo! News, Guardian and The Newspaper Guild

John McQuaid / Forbes:

The Digital Future of The Times-Picayune — I spent most of my journalism career at The Times-Picayune and have many friends there, so the news that its owners are slashing the staff, dismissing top editors, and cutting back publication days is very difficult to process.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Huffington Post, @ryanchittum, Blog of New Orleans, Gambit, CJR, Poynter and The FJP

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
Advance cuts daily publication of its three Alabama papers

Discussion: Inside Alabama and The Huffington Post

Jed Horne / The Lens: Opinion: Changes at TP were necessary, but are they the right ones?

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:
New Orleans Times-Picayunes Faces Deep Cuts, Will End Daily Publication

Discussion: Poynter, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Forbes, @davidfolkenflik, Baton Rouge news …, JIMROMENESKO.COM, The Gambit, @the_gambit, @the_gambit, @the_gambit, @toffleresque, @lizzieohreally, Media Decoder, @elgray, @ryanchittum and @bmccarthytp

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Dish Seeks Ruling on Feature That Skips All Commercials — 6:50 p.m. | Updated | The Dish Network and three television networks filed opposing lawsuits on Thursday over Auto Hop, a feature that allows Dish subscribers to automatically skip all the advertising during most prime time shows.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, Adweek, Reuters, Home Media Magazine, AdAge, CNET, Mashable!, The Wrap and MediaFile

Matthew Belloni / Hollywood Reporter:

Fox Sues Dish Network Over Auto Hop Ad-Skipper — Fox has sued Dish Network over its new Auto Hop service, which allows consumers to skip television ads. Fox issued the following statement on Thursday: … The suit, filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday on behalf of Fox Broadcasting …

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Mike Shields / Adweek:

NBCU Exploring Buyback of MSNBC.com — Chris Matthews must be getting that tingling feeling down his leg again. He and his colleagues may soon have a giant news site to call their own. — That's because NBCUniversal is in serious negotiations with Microsoft to buy back MSNBC.com.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Forbes, Inside Cable News and GeekWire

Gregory Korte / USA Today:

Propaganda firm owner admits attacks on journalists — WASHINGTON - The co-owner of a major Pentagon propaganda contractor publicly admitted Thursday that he was behind a series of websites used to discredit two USA TODAY journalists who had reported on the contractor.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Gawker, ThinkProgress, The Raw Story and Poynter

Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:

Warren Buffett Won't Stop Buying Newspapers Until He's Dead — Warren Buffett is going to buy more newspapers. Yes, in addition to the 63 his Berkshire Hathaway Media Group scooped up last week. In a letter sent to the editors and publishers of those publications, Buffett says he …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, Forbes, Lists, Poynter and FishbowlLA

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
Why rich people are investing in newspapers, again

Discussion: Forbes and Capital New York

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

The Case Against AOL, In Numbers — Starboard Value, the activist hedge fund that seeks to replace three of AOL's directors with its own nominees next month, has laid out its disagreements with the internet giant's current management in a 96-page presentation to investors.

Discussion: VentureBeat and CNET

Gordon Rayner / Telegraph:

Leveson Inquiry: Jeremy Hunt memo shows he backed News Corp bid for BSkyB before taking charge of decision — The Culture Secretary told the Prime Minister it would be “totally wrong” for the Government to “cave in” to News Corp's opponents and instead allow it to help the UK “lead the way” in the media industry.

Discussion: @jamesro47, @skynewsbreak, @arusbridger, @tomjharper, @rosschawkins, Guido Fawkes and London Evening Standard

Reuters:
UK minister leaked information in Sky deal - News Corp

Discussion: Telegraph

Bobbie Johnson / paidContent:

New ‘radically simplified’ WordPress is on the way — Matt Mullenweg, the founder of WordPress and Automattic (see disclosure) says that the service is preparing for a significant change of direction — by releasing a much simpler version designed to work on mobile.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and The Next Web

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Press scrambles to cover new Etan Patz developments — The news that a New Jersey man has claimed to have murdered Etan Patz on May 25, 1979, a date that became known as National Missing Children's Day in his memory, came too late for today's newspapers. The question is whether the story will remain big enough for tomorrow's.

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Forbes

Zach Dionne / Vulture:

Jennifer Egan's New Yorker Story Will Be Serialized on Twitter Over Ten Nights — News many will be quickly thrilled by: Brooklyn author Jennifer Egan has composed a short story revolving around a character from her 2011 Pulitzer winner A Visit From the Goon Squad.

Discussion: 10,000 Words, Media Decoder, The New York Observer, newsfeed.time.com, Gizmodo, GalleyCat and @jeffjohnroberts

Associated Press:

Gunmen kill Somali journalist, bringing toll to 6 this year; ties Syria for deadliest in world — MOGADISHU, Somalia — A radio station producer says that gunmen in Somalia have killed a Somali journalist, the sixth to be slain in the country this year. — The death highlights …

Discussion: Committee to Protect … and Reuters

Katherine Fung / The Huffington Post:

Sean Hannity Signs New Deal At Fox News — Sean Hannity isn't going anywhere. — The Fox News host just signed a new multi-year contract with the network, it was announced Thursday. He will continue his current role for at least four more years. — Hannity, who joined the network in 1996 …

Discussion: Multichannel and Mediaite