Mediagazer: Keith Olbermann Finalizes Deal With ESPN (Marisa Guthrie/Hollywood Reporter)

12:40 PM ET, July 17, 2013

Top News:

From Tom Paine to Glenn Greenwald, we need partisan journalism — I would sooner engage you in a week-long debate over which taxonomical subdivision the duck-billed platypus belongs to then spend a moment arguing whether Glenn Greenwald is a journalist or not, or whether an activist can be a journalist …

Discussion: @ericuman, @johnmcquaid, @palafo, @froomkin, @mccanner and @clarajeffery

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Turner Shuffle: John Martin to Succeed Phil Kent as CEO in January — After a dozen years at the helm, Phil Kent will step down from his post as CEO of Turner Broadcasting in January and will be succeeded by Time Warner chief financial officer John Martin. — Kent will remain chairman of TBS for a period in 2014.

Discussion: Business Wire, New York Times, Home Media Magazine, TVNewser, Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed and FTVLive

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:

Keith Olbermann Finalizes Deal With ESPN — The former MSNBC host will lead a New York-based late-night show on ESPN2. — Keith Olbermann will return to TV sooner than expected. The former MSNBC and Current anchor has finalized a deal with ESPN for a late-night show to air on ESPN2 later this year …

Discussion: New York Times, Variety, Politico, LA Observed, FishbowlNY, ESPN MediaZone, BuzzFeed, Hot Air, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Wire, The Week, ParisLemon, New York Magazine, Gawker, @brianstelter and @antderosa

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Keith Olbermann Is Returning To ESPN. Can He Help Himself? — The television career of Keith Olbermann can be understood as a an endless cycle of network executives first deciding his prodigious talent outweighs his considerable red flags, then coming to think otherwise. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Broadcasting & Cable and TVNewser

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Daily Beast to launch a new weekend title, ‘Beast Weekend’ — The Daily Beast is launching a weekend title to debut this fall along with a homepage makeover, editor-in-chief Tina Brown told staff today. — “Beast Weekend will refresh and refocus our weekend content towards culture as well as longer reads …

Discussion: eMedia Vitals and FishbowlNY

Bronwen Clune / Guardian:

Are fact-checking sites a symptom of the media not doing its job? — ‘Fact-checking’ sites are on the rise in Australia. Are those new ventures suggesting that journalism is failing to adequately perform its functions? — The Guardian's data journalism workflow. Illustration: Mark McCormick for the Guardian

Bloomberg:

Malone Yields to Vodafone in German Cable Race — John Malone, the billionaire who controls Liberty Global Plc (LBTYA), said he's out of the race for Kabel Deutschland Holding AG (KD8) and will look to southern Europe for opportunities when the economy there starts improving.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter

Bill Carter / New York Times:

Netflix Dominates Speculation Over Emmy Awards — The nominations for the Emmy Awards will be announced on Thursday in Los Angeles, and it is widely expected that, for the first time, the headlines will be all about Netflix. — Two programs created for that Internet streaming service …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Wall Street Journal:

Yahoo's Marissa Mayer Hits One-Year Mark — Shares Have Soared More Than 70%, but Little Evidence Yet of a Real Turnaround — Yahoo Inc.'s share price has soared more than 70% since the arrival of Chief Executive Marissa Mayer one year ago, but there isn't much evidence yet of a fundamental turnaround at the veteran Web company.

Discussion: TIME, Businessweek, NetNewsCheck Latest and TechCrunch

Douglas MacMillan / Bloomberg:
Yahoo Misses Estimates as CEO Fails to Woo Advertisers

Discussion: New York Times, Yahoo! Inc., Business Insider, Quartz, AllThingsD, Wall Street Journal, Talking Biz News, AdAge, @cnet, @tcarmody, @karaswisher, @dscheinm, @amir_efrati, @ryantate and Business Insider

Lindsey Clay / Guardian:

There's no battle between TV and YouTube. Fact. — Thinkbox's Lindsey Clay says that the emotional connection people enjoy with TV makes the so-called battle between TV and YouTube a false one — Here's a fact: in the UK, for every minute spent with YouTube, the average person spends nearly an hour watching terrestrial TV.

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

Sports Illustrated NFL writer Peter King ready to QB new Web team — Peter King's TheMMQB.com (Sports Illustrated) — “I'm 56 years old, I don't want to be a dinosaur.” — So said Peter King, the dean of NFL beat writers and Sports Illustrated Monday Morning Quarterback columnist …

Discussion: AllThingsD

Helienne Lindvall / Guardian:

Can PledgeMusic's direct-to-fan approach unlock untapped revenue? — The platform is attracting interest from labels, and stars such as Amanda Palmer, by involving fans in the making of albums — Record labels are leaving billions of pounds in revenue on the table every year by only offering music fans …

Discussion: PledgeMusic for brand …

Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:

Uncommon Content out to make Web shows that click on TV — New York filmmaker Uncommon Content is producing half-hour Web shows that it's betting will get picked up by networks and become mainstream fare. — Uncommon Content has so far produced seven Web series, one of which features musician …

Anna Clark / Columbia Journalism Review:

Michigan's ‘free-market’ media machine — The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is a major player in state media. What to make of it? — DETROIT, MI — In a time of upheaval for both politics and media, state-level think tanks sit at a peculiar nexus of influence: they both shape the news and report it.

Nathan Ingraham / The Verge:

Dish opens up the Hopper DVR to help developers build smarter, more useful TV apps — Smartphones and tablets have endlessly customizable interfaces, but sadly we're usually stuck at the mercy of remote controls that have no awareness of context when we watch TV.

Discussion: bizjournals, PC Advisor, DailyFinance, TechSpot and CNET

Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:

Going a la carte would destroy pay-TV industry, analyst says — The logo of Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal is seen on the exhibit floor during the National Cable and Telecommunications Assn. Cable Show in Washington. (Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg / June 11, 2013)

Wall Street Journal:

Google Pitches Online TV Service to Media Companies — Streaming of Traditional TV Programming Is Also Planned by Others — Google Inc. has approached media companies about licensing their content for an Internet TV service that would stream traditional TV programming, people familiar with the matter say.

Lauren Ingeno / Inside Higher Ed:

USC announces changes to its journalism master's degree program — Shelling out thousands of dollars for a master's degree in journalism may seem illogical in 2013, as newsrooms continue to shrink at alarming rates. There are now less than 40,000 full-time professional employees working …

Discussion: Gawker

Gina Damron / Detroit Free Press:

National Press Photographers Association expresses concern over arrest of Free Press photographer — The National Press Photographers Association says it appears police violated the First Amendment rights of a Detroit Free Press photographer when she was arrested after trying to get her iPhone …