Media Bubble: Gabriel Snyder to Newsweek Digital
Media news! Former Gawker editor Gabriel Snyder is now the Executive Editor of Newsweek Digital. First they join Tumblr, then they hire a Gawker editor—Newsweek is the hip newsweekly!
WWD Gossip Re-Emerges As Jeopardy! Contestant
Greg Lindsay comes across as an uptight guy. But that doesn't stop him from appearing on television again and again. Indeed, he's the poster boy for go-getters who try on every form of media until they find one that fits best. The former
WWD gossip columnist and author of a book about landed a "memorable" appearance…
You Run Down Jill Abramson, You Pay The Price
- New York Times managing editor Jill Abramson is suing the driver that ran her down and his employers too. [P6]
- According to the ad department, the New York Observer is "New York City's newest real estate read." How thrilling. [WWD]
- The Boston Herald, which now owes $2 million in libel damages, asks court to reconsider…
Conrad Black Even Swears Like Nixon
- In an interview with the Guardian, Conrad Black calls his fraud trial "bullshit" and announces that he's at war with the U.S. government. The paper also has an excerpt from Black's forthcoming biography of Richard Nixon, which praises the former president's "surpassing dignity." Read into that what you will. [Guardian
Tiny Dynamine
- Lockhart Steele: Elizabeth Spiers invented the Internet. [MarketWatch]
- British magazine publisher Emap in play? [WSJ]
- It's Ron Burkle vs. Kent Brownridge in the battle for Dennis Publishing's titty mags. [AdAge]
- Is Village Voice Media slowly selling itself off? [SF Gate]
- CollegeHumor's Ricky Van Veen: Sophomoric, rich,…
Will You Buy Tunes From Amazon?
- Amazon to open digital music store that will only sell DRM-free music—so copy away, as often as you like! Our heroes! Suck it, iTunes. [LAT]
- Should Conrad Black get off at his fraud trial, expect his "hellish vengeance." [The First Post]
- Charlie Gibson to stick around at ABC News for a while; new "NBC Nightly News"…
Is Ron Burkle Playing Supermarket Sweep?
- Will Ron Burkle make a play for AMI? Will he bid on Dennis Publishing? And would he merge his recently-acquired Primedia Enthusiast titles with those companies, particularly for AMI's distribution arm? And will he admit to (allegedly!) owning Radar? [WWD]
- Forbes.com staffers leaving "page-view sweatshop" in droves. …
Ron Burkle Into Rough Trade Mags
- Ron Burkle buys the Primedia Enthusiast Group (Hot Rod, Practical Horseman, Motorcycle Cruiser, Dressage Today, Lowrider Arte) for a staggering $1.18 billion. [NYP]
- Thomson buys Reuters for $17.2 billion. [Reuters]
- Richard Branson's Virgin Media losing long fight against Murdochian U.K. cable market ownership. [Guardian]
Matt Drudge Was Poked By Mitt Romney
- We are all tools of the 2008 campaigns' opposition research punks. (Yay! Gawker will so do your laundry, bring it on!) Also, Matt Drudge Hearts Mitt Romney. (Mini-Mitt Guide: Likes abortions, loves death penalties, no longer supports the gay marriages.) [Salon]
- More shock jocks fired! CBS radio just won't stand for any…
Ari Emanuel And Chris Albrecht Are Now Friends.
- Google will only buy your company if it hosts "user-generated" content—so newspapers are out, as Google could only buy their "tool-generated content" (we made that phrase up! Oh har!) and then only "own" it. Funny company plan, to only buy amateurism and ephemera. [Reuters]
- Umm, apparently there is "controversy" over…
Everybody Talks About The Weather, But CNN Covers The Hell Out Of It
- Harry McCracken, who resigned as EIC of PC World in a dispute with the mag's CEO, has been reinstated. The CEO has been reassigned. [Wired]
- The prosecution's key witness in Conrad Black fraud trial? Somewhat duplicitous. [NYP]
- CNN is giving Matt Drudge a run for his money in the area of obsessive weather coverage. […
The Big Con
- Conrad Black's second-in-command turned star government witness serves up Lord Black on a platter. [WSJ]
- Katie Couric rapidly approaching total viewership comprised solely of her own family; maybe she should cover Paris Hilton. [AP]
- Time Warner chief Dick Parsons to Google: Bring it on, bitches, we will kick your ass. [
$2 Mil Journo Libel Verdict Upheld
- Supreme Judicial Court in Mass. upholds $2 mil guilty verdict against Boston Herald and its reporter David Wedge in lawsuit brought by judge. [NYT]
- Tranny sportswriter Christine Daniels not sure about surgery, sexual orientation. [SPORTSbyBROOKS]
- Former right-hand man: "I did not make a major financial decision without…
Oprah Cancels Presidential Election
- Oprah Winfrey endorses Barack Obama. Hell, if she can move copies of The Road she can probably sell anything. [NYT]
- Both the News and the Post have padded their circulation numbers. [AdAge]
- Jeff Bewkes, likely successor to Time Warner's Dick Parsons, sees a bright future for HBO, noting popularity of OnDemand. [B&C]
- HBO…
Merger Fever And Rampant Speculation
- Thomson Corp. has made an overture to take over Reuters. Will they? Is good for stock price so far! [Globe & Mail]
- Microsoft wants to take over Yahoo! But will they? [NYP]
- Did the NYPD leak documents concerning the city's surveillance of protesters at the Republican national convention to Judy Miller? Could be! [VV]
- It's…
The $40 Million Question: Define "Nappy"
- Don Imus' contract with CBS said: "Services to be rendered are of a unique, extraordinary, irreverent, intellectual, topical, controversial, and personal character." Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin thinks that makes Imus's $40 million lawsuit against CBS a bit more plausible. [CNN]
- Grocery store magnate/alleged Radar…
Lindsay Lohan Live On 'Radar'
- Post calls out News' circulation figures: The "paper's overreliance on bulk sales is propping up a single-copy sales disaster." Expect some lame News response involving the phrase "New York area" tomorrow. [NYP]
- The Dolan family may finally be able to take Cablevision private. [NYT]
- Former Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker…
The Circulation Game
- Newspaper circulation falls pretty much everywhere. Here on the home front, though, both the Post and the News saw increases. Other (slight) success stories: USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. [WSJ]
- Those numbers would be better if the Audit Bureau of Circulation included website visits. [E&P]
- Conrad Black trial…
Guns & Blammo
- Garden & Gun has less than auspicious debut, arriving as it did just a few days before decidedly unpicturesque massive gun violence at Virginia Tech. [NYT]
- Big media looking to buy the shit out of keywords for internet search terms in an attempt to drive traffic. [WSJ]
- Radar feels ripped off, as Chilean mag runs with…
Loose Balls: The First Tranny Sportswriter
- LA Times sportswriter Mike Penner to become LAT lady sportswriter Christine Daniels. Expect plenty of stupid headlines like the one above. [LAT]
- Those missing Observers? Printing press problems, says Keith Kelly, who works for the New York Post, PR-managed by the Rubensteins, who also represent Jared Kushner. [NYP]
