Mediagazer: Gannett to sell $1B in bonds to fund $2.2B Belo acquisition (Lance Murray/Dallas Business Journal)

8:00 AM ET, September 27, 2013

Top News:

Tribune boss orders $100 million in cuts — It's not clear how they're supposed to do it, but Tribune Co. executives have been ordered to come up with $100 million in budget cuts, sources said, as the company prepares to spin off the publishing side of the business.

Discussion: bizjournals and @logandobson

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

Tribune prepares for cost-cutting, says no targets for expense reduction have been issued — Tribune newspapers, including L.A. Times, prepare for cost-cutting — Tribune newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, may be due for another round of cost-cuting. Above, at the Tribune Tower in Chicago.

Discussion: Robert Feder and @megjameslat

Mathew Ingram / paidContent:

Google's chief economist understands media better than some industry executives do — Hal Varian, Google's chief economist, talked about the challenges facing the newspaper business in a recent presentation in Italy, and showed that he understands those challenges better than most media executives.

Discussion: Inside, International Journalism …, JIMROMENESKO.COM and @flohmann

Lance Murray / Dallas Business Journal:

Gannett to sell $1B in bonds to fund $2.2B Belo acquisition — Gannett Co. will sell $1 billion in bonds to help pay for its planned acquisition of Belo Corp., the Dallas-based owner of television stations. — The Washington Business Journal reported that McLean, Va.-based Gannett (NYSE …

Discussion: bizjournals and Wall Street Journal

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Intel Looking for Help from Amazon or Samsung to Keep Its Web TV Project Alive — Intel executives, who have promised to launch a Web-based pay TV service by the end of 2013, are now looking for a strategic backer to help them fund and distribute the service. If they don't find one soon, it's possible the project will be scrapped.

Discussion: GigaOM, Softpedia News, Engadget, @pkafka, CNET, @counternotions, multichannel.com/rss, Digits, @stevecheney, The Verge and @tcarmody

Genevieve Belmaker / Poynter:

The Guardian's Rusbridger talks about his new book, which is ‘partly about having a crazy life’ — When you see Alan Rusbridger in person, there's almost an expectation that he will be 10 feet tall and able to breathe fire. After everything he and his media outlet, the Guardian …

Discussion: Capital New York and @arusbridger

Chris Rauber / San Francisco Business Times:

Former Bay Guardian editor Tim Redmond launching left-wing nonprofit news site — Tim Redmond, the longtime editor and “voice” of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, says he's launching a nonprofit news site with a distinctly left-wing perspective. — Redmond's plans for the new San Francisco …

Discussion: sfbg.com

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:

Senators Lash Out At The Media Over Public's NSA Opposition — Many members of the Senate Intelligence Committee who gathered on Thursday for a hearing on the National Security Agency had harsh words for a foe they thought had deceived the American public and spread mistrust about U.S. intelligence methods.

Discussion: Guardian, @wydenpress, Washington Post, @larryakey, @yancyfaith and @jeffjarvis

Sara Morrison / The Wrap:

BuzzFeed Dominates on Facebook, BBC Tops Twitter, Study Says — BuzzFeed, “the media company for the social age,” has mastered at least one social network. — A NewsWhip study released on Thursday showed that the social sharing-focused site had far and away the most engagement on Facebook …

Discussion: @tomgara

Todd Shields / Bloomberg:

FCC Tells Comcast to Put Bloomberg TV Among News Channels — Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) must carry Bloomberg Television, a competitor to the cable company's CNBC, near other news channels, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said. — Bloomberg TV must be placed in neighborhoods …

Discussion: Deadline.com, Broadcasting & Cable, @brianstelter and Variety

Erik Wemple:

Wall Street Journal attacks CNN's Rouhani translation; CNN fires back — First, the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars claimed that CNN had “fabricated” key parts of the translation of a news-making interview by Christiane Amanpour with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Politico, Fars News Agency, @camanpour, @saramorrison, Mediaite, CNN, Business Insider and @erikwemple

Samir Husni / Mr. Magazine:

Esquire At Its Best: David Granger, the Editor Behind the Magazine Talks About Print, Digital and the Future of Journalism. — With a tag line Man At His Best, Esquire magazine enters its 9th decade of life with much deserved fanfare. The printed magazine is having one of its best years …

Discussion: @janefriedman and @agilitycms