Mediagazer: IAC Seeking Buyers for Newsweek (EXCLUSIVE) (Variety)

6:50 PM ET, May 29, 2013

Top News:

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

NYT Not Attending Holder's Off-The-Record Meeting — NEW YORK — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to meet this week with the Washington bureau chiefs of several major media outlets to discuss the Justice Department's guidelines for dealing with journalists in leak investigations.

Discussion: Mediaite, @woodhouseb, @jackshafer, Guardian and TVNewser

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

‘Thousands And Thousands’ Of Calls Seized By DOJ — NEW YORK — Associated Press president and chief executive Gary Pruitt told staff at a Wednesday town hall meeting that the phone records obtained by the government included “thousands and thousands” of calls in and out of the news organization, according to a staffer who attended.

Discussion: Mediaite

Mark Hosenball / Reuters:
Attorney general signed off on Fox phone records subpoena

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Newsweek confirms it is eyeing sale — Newsweek CEO Baba Shetty and editor-in-chief Tina Brown have just sent the following memo to staff, confirming earlier reports that parent-company IAC is exploring a sale of the now online-only magazine: … Developing.

Discussion: Gawker, New York Times and Mashable

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Barry Diller Is Shopping Newsweek. Here's Why. [Updated] — Most rational business people wouldn't go out of their way to deprecate the value of an asset a few weeks before they try to sell it. As he has made abundantly clear throughout his career, however, Barry Diller is not most people.

Discussion: paidContent, AdAge, AllThingsD and Daily Mail

Variety:
IAC Seeking Buyers for Newsweek (EXCLUSIVE)

Discussion: Politico, AllThingsD, The Wrap, paidContent, FishbowlNY, Reuters, The Huffington Post, Adweek, Capital New York, @tunkuv, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, @grahamdavida, @qhardy, @mattyglesias and @jayrosen_nyu

RT:

Larry King joins RT with brand new politics show — Award-winning interviewer Larry King will host a mold-breaking political talk show on RT from next month, speaking to both leading establishment figures, and those who are not afraid to go against the grain.

BuzzFeed:

The Social Media Editor is Dead — By April 19, the manhunt for two brothers suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon had been ongoing for four days, and the Twitterati were growing weary. — Brian Ries, of The Daily Beast, confessed he was “so tired.” Huffington Post's Craig Kanalley saw …

Discussion: Nieman Reports, @ivanlajara, @fieldproducer, @boyreporter, @lheron, @lheron, @fieldproducer, The Atlantic Wire, paidContent and Fast Co.Labs

Matthew Cooper / NationalJournal.com:

Why a Media Shield Law Isn't Enough to Save Journalists — The only way journalists will be protected is if prosecutors stop being so quick to go after them. — I'm all for a shield law to protect journalists and their sources from government prosecutors. I hope Congress passes one.

Discussion: Politico, Mother Jones and Kirk LaPointe's …

Peter Sterne / The New York Observer:
Shield Law More Like a Cheap Umbrella

Discussion: Hit & Run, Mediaite, Broadcasting & Cable and New Yorker

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Thomson Reuters hires Economist Group chief to head news agency arm — Andrew Rashbass to leave publisher after 15 years, having led digital transformation from print to digital business — Andrew Rashbass, the chief executive of the Economist Group, is to join Thomson Reuters …

Discussion: Ad Week, New York Times and Globe and Mail

Thomson Reuters:
Thomson Reuters Announces Andrew Rashbass to Join in New Role Leading News and Media Business

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Joshua Benton / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Twitter's Dick Costolo: We're a complement to news orgs, not a replacement — Also at D11, Twitter's Dick Costolo talked about the state of the company and platform. That included a bit about the news business. This is from All Things D's Mike Isaac's live paraphrasing of Costolo's on-stage conversation with Kara Swisher:

Discussion: AllThingsD, TechCrunch, Forbes and @pakman

PR Newswire:

Marco Arment Sells “The Magazine” to Its Editor, Glenn Fleishman — Instapaper founder and Tumblr's first employee sells popular electronic magazine — SEATTLE and HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON, N.Y., May 29, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — The Magazine, a popular electronic magazine …

Discussion: Marco.org, @jswatz, Valleywag, The Next Web and Boing Boing

Mike Isaac / AllThingsD:

Apple's Tim Cook Has a “Grand Vision” for Television — And Still Won't Talk About It — No surprises here — at our 11th D: All Things Digital technology conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook is still staying mum on the company's plans for a proper TV set. — However!

Discussion: VentureBeat, Forbes, NYT Bits, CNET, The Week, GigaOM, The Mac Observer, Softpedia News, AdAge and The Wrap

Dara Kerr / CNET:
Apple CEO: We rejected DOJ settlement in e-book suit

Discussion: VentureBeat, GigaOM, AllThingsD and Softpedia News

John Eggerton / Broadcasting & Cable:

CBS' Marty Franks Retiring — Sept. 30 will be end date following quarter century at company — Martin Franks, executive VP of planning, policy and government affairs for CBS, is retiring effective Sept. 30. — Franks has been instrumental in CBS' retrans negotiations and has been a top exec …

Discussion: The Wrap, Radio & Television …, Variety and Los Angeles Times

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Meeker says print advertising is down, but should publishers still be terrified? — Print media captures 6 percent of consumers' time but 23 percent of ad spending in 2012, venture capitalist Mary Meeker said in her much-anticipated 2013 Internet Trends report:

Discussion: kpcb.com, AllThingsD, Nieman Journalism Lab and Forbes

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Roku Raises a $60 Million Round, Led by Fidelity, to Fight for the Living Room — Tim Cook said Apple TV is still a side project. But bringing digital entertainment to your TV is all Roku does, and they're raising more money to do it. — Roku has raised a massive $60 million round …

Discussion: VentureBeat, Home Media Magazine, TechCrunch, GigaOM, Broadcasting & Cable, Variety, The Verge and Mashable

Peter Lauria / BuzzFeed:

Deep Inside NBC Universal's Corporate Culture Makeover — Chief Executive Steve Burke has methodically dispatched with nearly every high level executive from the Jeff Zucker regime. Now it's “all business” — for better or for worse. — Roughly three years into Comcast's ownership of NBC Universal …

Discussion: The Corsair and Los Angeles Times