Mediagazer: CNN to Promote Nonfiction TV, not Reality TV, Network Says (Bill Carter/Media Decoder)

7:25 PM ET, August 13, 2012

Top News:

Michael Shain / New York Post:

Saving CNN — Suffering its worst ratings in 20 years, CNN is going Hollywood. In the past few weeks, the No. 3 cable news channel has started seeking out reality-show ideas and big-name stars not afraid to talk politics. They have even begun working on a late-night talk show, The Post has learned.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Business Insider, Vanity Fair, Daily Mail, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Mediaite, @brianstelter, Top Digital Journal News, TVNewser, Deadline.com, TVWeek.com and Capital New York

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

CNN to Promote Nonfiction TV, not Reality TV, Network Says — CNN says it is not getting into the reality television business, though it is considering adding weekend programs that are similar to a documentary-style travel show hosted by Anthony Bourdain that it will begin showing next year.

Discussion: AdAge, The Atlantic Wire and New York Magazine

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Google Buys Frommer's. Can We All Just Agree It's A Media Company Now? — Every few months, some Google watcher pens a chin-stroker asking whether it's fair to call the Mountain View, Calif.-based internet giant a media company. See, for instance: — GigaOm, 2007: “Is Google A Media Company?”

Discussion: MediaPost, Wall Street Journal, Media & Entertainment, AllThingsD, TechCrunch, Skift, VentureBeat, Deal Journal and Business Insider

Rafat Ali / Skift:
Post-Google acquisition, Frommer's keeping book editors and laying off online staff

Discussion: Wiley, Media Decoder, ReadWriteWeb and paidContent

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

NBC Says Nearly 220 Million Watched the Olympics — The Spice Girls were part of the closing ceremony of the London Games on Sunday night. — NBC announced on Monday that its coverage of the London Olympics was the most watched entertainment or sporting event ever on American television.

Discussion: The Wrap and Forbes

John Clarke / Forbes:
Despite Criticism, NBC Scores Big Ratings With London Olympics Closing Ceremonies

Discussion: AllThingsD, Multichannel, The Wrap, Speakeasy, Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, Deadline.com, NPR, Digiday, Radio & Television … and Home Media Magazine

Chelsea J. Carter / CNN:
Viewers outraged after NBC cuts away from closing ceremonies

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, Bleacher Report, Poynter and Seattle Times

Matt Viser / Boston Globe:

Fox News gets first solo interview with Paul Ryan — WASHINGTON - Fox News has secured the first solo interview with newly-named Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. — The interview, which will be taped on Monday in Denver, will be conducted by Brit Hume and will air in segments throughout the day on Tuesday.

Erik Wemple:

Paul Ryan bio: New Yorker piece underscores pol's openness — Now that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has been selected as Mitt Romney's running mate, news outlets across the land will be putting together long-form profiles of the budget cutter. Preferably ones that draw on extensive interviews with Ryan.

Discussion: The New Yorker Blog and CBS News

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Yale reviewing relationship with Fareed Zakaria after plagiarism — Yale may review its relationship with university trustee and alumnus Fareed Zakaria, the Yale Daily News reports, after Zakaria was suspended from Time and CNN Friday for plagiarism.

Discussion: artsblog.dallasnews.com, The Huffington Post and Poynter

Mark Leccese / Gatekeeper:
Fareed Zakaria: Another plagiarism scandal, another wrist slap

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Beast and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

AOL Bets Big on Web Video News With HuffPost Live (And on Tape) — After a very long drum roll, the Huffington Post launches HuffPost Live, its streaming Web video news operation, this morning. — If you've watched the streaming video that other newspapers and Web sites have put out …

Albany Times Union:

Legendary editor Helen Gurley Brown dies — Helen Gurley Brown, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazines' 64 international editions and one of the world's most popular and influential editors, died today at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. She was 90.

Discussion: AdAge, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Speakeasy, The Huffington Post, Associated Press, Capital New York, Poynter, Back Issues, Media Decoder, Bloomberg, The Awl, FishbowlNY and Forbes

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Science writers: Jonah Lehrer's scientific errors worse than fabricated quotes — Jonah Lehrer's fake Bob Dylan quotations detract from a more serious problem flagged by scientists while he was a rising star: his habit of misstating and mischaracterizing scientific facts.

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Candy Crowley will be the first woman to moderate a presidential debate in 20 years — CNN's Candy Crowley will moderate one of this fall's presidential debates. The three New Jersey teens who've been campaigning for the Commission on Presidential Debates to name a woman moderator …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Wrap, The Huffington Post, Hot Air, www.wnyc.org and Inside TV

Jim Romenesko:

Times-Picayune reporter jumps off the ‘sinking ship’ — The Times-Picayune reporter who shared with Romenesko readers the letter she wrote to her bosses in early July ("I can't just keep my mouth shut and pretend everything is okay or that it doesn't matter") has left the paper.

Discussion: Erik Wemple

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Not All Yahoos Headed Out Door: Mayer Makes Filo a Direct Report and Bell Permanent GC — While new Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has ushered some longtime employees out the door of late — most recently, HR head David Windley last week, with more to come — that does not mean she is not keeping some longtime Yahoos around.

Discussion: Forbes