John Koblin

Rupert Murdoch was standing in a deep corner of the Rose Hall at about 7:30 p.m. last night to toast his fellow influencers: It was the Time 100 celebration, an event that drums up publicity for the magazine's decreasingly influential list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

The day before, Mr. Murdoch had promised investors and reporters listening in on a News Corp. investors' call that he'd prevail in his purchase of Newsday over rival bidders Mort Zuckerman and the Dolans.  read more »

A day after the Times announced that there will be layoffs--perhaps around 15--the paper has picked up a star: Charlie Savage, a Pulitzer-winner on his coverage of Bush-Cheney White House, is moving to Dean Baquet's Washington bureau.

Rupert Murdoch said he "absolutely" trusts Sam Zell to sell him Newsday—after all, Mr. Zell is a man of his word, right?

"We're hoping to wrap it up within the next week, and I don't mean the end of next week, I mean within the next seven days. It takes two to agree, but we're at a pretty advanced stage. I trust Mr. Zell absolutely. He's famous for being a man of his word. We think everything's in hand."  read more »

The Dolans bought the Sundance Channel today for $496 million. And what of Newsday? They still have the leading bid.

There will be layoffs at The Times. In an emotionally charged memo, Bill Keller writes that the vast majority of the 100 newsroom job cuts he announced back in February will come through buyouts, but the paper is "forced to resort" to laying the rest off. He said the paper will not disclose numbers or names in this "usettling and dispiriting time."

In the memo, he vehemently thanks reporters and editors at the paper for their service, as well as the Sulzbergers, and then says, "it is time to regroup."

He writes:

Most important, we retain the strongest team of talented journalists in the business, and they—you—remain the key to all of our ambitions.

Now it is time to regroup and move forward. In the coming weeks we will be working with department heads to reorganize and reimagine our coverage to ensure the quality journalism that is our standard. When we met in the Times Center in February, I told you that we were facing two seemingly contradictory challenges in the coming year. On the one hand, we must reduce our staffing and costs. On the other hand, we must do whatever we can to strengthen our competitive position. As I said then, that will mean our staff cuts will be offset a little by some investments to ensure, among other things, that we are well equipped to navigate the passage to our digital future.

Entire memo after the jump ...  read more »

For the past two weeks, Robert Thomson, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, has been busy not being the paper’s editor.

It hasn’t been easy. Since April 22, when Marcus Brauchli resigned as the newspaper’s managing editor, Mr. Thomson, who was forced to describe himself in an interview with The New York Times as the interim “head of content” for the paper, has had nine meetings (in person and on conference calls) to soothe the fraying nerves of his orphaned editorial staff.

“There was a real panic here for a few days when Marcus left,” said one reporter.  read more »

“Any premise that the magazine is in trouble is an incorrect premise,” said Aaron Hicklin, the editor in chief of Out magazine.

And yet one could be forgiven for making it. Back in April, the gay-targeted monthly and its older-sister biweekly, The Advocate, were sold in a veritable fire sale by PlanetOut to Regent Releasing (who also run the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender-geared here!  read more »

When Robert Thomson met with the reporters and editors of the Wall Street Journal's Money & Investing desk last week, he wasn't shy about at least one thing he planned to tear up from the old regime.

Namely, the plot to institute "Journal 3.0" that was put forward by former publisher Gordon Crovitz.

The initiative was meant to populate the front page with more "what-it-means" stories, on the assumption that like The New Yorker, the Journal would not become a first-read for straight national news.  read more »

And, finally, Newsweek has a home.

After months of hemming-and-hawing with a move to the Financial District, Newsweek is offically moving a little farther north to 395 Hudson Street in Hudson Square. They'll be packing into an increasingly crowded media neighborhood, moving alongside New York Magazine, Clear Channel, Viacom, Miramax, NPR and CBS Radio.  read more »

Tom Florio, the publisher of the Vogue titles at Conde Nast, has picked up a new hobby. Today's Intelligencer in New York reports that Mr. Florio has a thing for ... gondola racing!  read more »

The Times and MSNBC are joining forces for a new cable show. Today is the debut of The New York Times Special Primary Edition, a new political show hosted by John Harwood where Times-journos will handicap the election. From a Times memo, it appers these shows will appear as specials--that is, they won't run every week, but whenever MSNBC and the paper choose to do it.

Today's program will preview the Indiana and North Carolina primaries and Adam Nagourney, Pat Healy and Gail Collins are included guests.

Here's the memo:  read more »

Yes, he might be the editor of Runner's World, but David Willey is having quite a moment this week. On Wednesday he was enshrined as the new president of ASME, last night he won an Ellie for runnersworld.com, and Rachel Sklar thinks he's a major league hottie.  read more »

A little after 6 p.m. at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, Condé Nast president Richard Beckman was sharing a drink—vodka, olives—with Condé Nast CEO Chuck Townsend. The two were discussing the same thing everyone in the lobby of Jazz at Lincoln Center at the Time Warner Center was talking about: What the National Magazine Awards can do, or not do, for a magazine.  read more »

Michael Barbaro, the budding star of the Times' business desk, is headed to City Hall. Mr. Barbaro, a transplant from The Washington Post, has been handling the paper's retail beat and its coverage of Wal-Mart (and, according several well-placed sources, was in conversations with the Wall Street Journal, but decided to stay at the Times). The opening in City Hall comes open after Diane Cardwell makes her move to Stanford to study for a year.

Thanks, Azi.

It's officially a horse-race for the tabloid in a tutu.  read more »

Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the original CNBC report that Rupert Murdoch was interested in buying Dow Jones at $60 per share. And one year later, nothing seems to have calmed down at the Wall Street Journal.  read more »

One year after the New York Times moved into its shimmering new tower, the paper is ready for a dramatic software upgrade. Welcome to Microsoft Office 2003! The brand newish software was installed in the third-floor newsroom last night, and the culture department on the fourth floor is on-deck for tonight. The Times is also finally abandoning the old Eudora e-mail system for the mysterious but apparently very reliable "Outlook" e-mail. Memo, sent last night, after the jump:  read more »

Given more time, Thomas Bray, one of the members of the special committee to oversee editorial independence at the Journal, would have liked to question Marcus Brauchli. There are two stories today: one in the Journal, and the other in the Times, airing the committee's grievances, but those complaints amount to little.  read more »

“It’s not the best time in the world to be a White House correspondent,” said Bill Plante on the sultry afternoon of Saturday, April 26. This was at Tammy Haddad’s annual pre-White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner lawn party. The blooming wisteria was strangling the woods that surround her house.

These nearly-over final four years of George W. Bush are Mr. Plante’s third second-term presidency in his years as CBS White House correspondent. “I guess he could still drop a bomb somewhere—there are people who think he means to do it,” Mr. Plante said.  read more »

There's some movement on the local political beat!  read more »

The Times has a mini-profile of Journal publisher Robert Thomson this morning. Here's what we learned:  read more »

The Post's Keith Kelly hears that 70 Times staffers are going to take buyouts, which means that about 30 are on the chopping block and it'll be Joe Sexton's Metro team that'll take the brunt of the hit.  read more »

Times metro-staffers were sent a sorta friendly-not friendly reminder this week that they work at a newspaper, and as such, shouldn't be spending too much money on lunch. Apparently, lunches with sources lately "have gotten stuck on posh." So there are new spending restrictions and a suggestion of also eating in their "zippy new cafeteria!"

Other problems: some metro staffers appear to be guilty of filing expenses for things like water and Cheez-its while they're still in the city (that reminds us of Jayson Blair!) Also some of them are filing expenses without receipts! Also, they should take the subway.

Full memo after the jump.  read more »

So while the city's biggest media moguls—and the FCC and Congress—start to sort out who can buy Newsday, some curious analysis of the newspaper's Web site is going around.

Yesterday, Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said at the Times Center that newsday.com was its top competition for grown-ups.

"NYTimes.com also ranks No. 1 in coverage of the greater New York market, reaching 28 percent of adults," he said. "Our closest competitor, Newsday.com, reaches 16 percent."  read more »

Marcus Brauchli’s last supper with The Wall Street Journal had been a good one.

Seated at a table in the ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on 22nd Street NW in Washington, D.C., on the evening of April 21, he’d been offered a roasted red apple stuffed with bleu-cheese mousse; a Vidalia onion-crusted petite filet mignon with baby turnips; a chocolate mousse bombe with a dark chocolate crème brûlée center; and two wines, a 2006 California Chardonnay and a 2006 Pinot Noir.  read more »

Media Mob has learned that Washington lawyer and champion Beltway book broker Robert Barnett is representing soon-to-be-former Wall Street Journal managing editor Marcus Brauchli in his severance-package negotiations with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Mr. Barnett has, in the last year, brokered massive book deals for political heavyweights Karl Rove, Ted Kennedy, and Tony Blair.

They're working fast: the terms of Mr. Brauchli's departure from the Journal, which presumably depend upon his agreement, could be announced formally by News Corp. as soon as this afternoon, according to our sources at the paper.

Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., who is speaking right now at the Times Building for the paper's annual shareholders meeting, declared the newspaper is not for sale. Choire Sicha sends in this dispatch, via text:

Sulzberger: "This company is not for sale." Media reports are "ill-informed."

Newsday, which is close to being sold to Rupert Murdoch, is "our closest competitor" on the web.

So how's that editorial independence board for The Wall Street Journal doing? And will they do anything about Marcus Brauchli's departure?

"I'm really not going to comment on any of it," said Tom Bray, one of the five members of the committee and the de facto spokesman.

When asked if the board has met, he said that it has, but refused to speak about whether they had any say--or any knowledge--about Marcus Brauchli's departure.  read more »

The Wall Street Journal reports today that after Marcus Brauchli formally announces his resignation—which could happen later today—he'll be replaced on an interim basis by publisher Robert Thomson. Thereafter, a search for a full-time replacement "would begin shortly, with candidates coming from both inside and outside the paper." The Journal also reports that Mr. Brauchli would stay on with Dow Jones either as a "consultant or an executive."  read more »

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sam Zell's Newsday is close to being sold to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. for $580 million. The story is sourced to people familiar with the situation, and that both parties "have informally agreed on key aspects, including the price, structure and governance."  read more »

Marcus Brauchli, the managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, is out, Time magazine is reporting. The departure is expected to be announced tomorrow. A spokesman for the paper declined to comment to Media Mob tonight. We'll have plenty more tomorrow.

The Times copy chief Merrill Perlman is on the buyout list, said a newsroom source. Apparently, she's making her way around the newsroom today to announce her departure. Ms. Perlman has been an institution at the paper for nearly 25 years, and was one of the biggest voices in helping finish up the most recent version of New York Times Manual of Style and Usage. Why doesn't the paper use the serial comma? She explains here.  read more »

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Newsweek gives big play this week to Rupert Murdoch's early maneuvers at The Wall Street Journal. Point: He's the general who has declared war on The New York Times.

This is something we've been talking about around here for a while now, and rumors of war aside, we haven't quite heard the first shot around here.

That doesn't change much with this week's story, but there's still lots of juice here.

Here are the highlights:  read more »

Isiah Thomas, who coached the Knicks to one of their worst seasons in franchise history this year, has been fired, the AP reports.

Sam Zell sent out a company-wide email last night, and reemphasized, in slightly different words, that there are people interested in Newsday. While speaking about the "disposition front," he says there have been "specific inquiries" about Newsday. Here's the entire memo:

Lender Call Recap  read more »

Since Sam Zell acknowledged for the first time today that there are outside parties asking about Newsday, the paper's publisher, Tim Knight, was forced to acknowledge it as well. He has just sent a memo out to his staff, explaining that he knows "this creates uncertainty." The memo is revealing since it seems to show that Mr. Knight knows as much as we know: not much.  read more »

Sam Zell was asked about the potential sale of Newsday in a conference call with investors, and said there's an interest among outsiders but no decision has been made yet.

"As we previously acknowledged, we have been approached by a number of parties that have a keen interest," he said, when in fact it's the first time he's acknowledged this publicly. "We have reached no conclusions with anybody at this juncture. And we’re discussing if that does or does not make sense for us and the Tribune Company going forward."  read more »

The Tribune Company conference call is still going on. In introductory remarks, Sam Zell told investors that when he bought Tribune there was originally a “goal to preserve everything together.” Presumably he means all the newspapers, Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs, and the broadcasting properties. But the “significant erosion” of advertising money and revenue drops in the newspaper industry, he said, has “certainly put that plan into some question. And we’re forced to consider the divestiture of some of our assets.”

New York Times CEO Janet Robinson in today's conference call:

From a standpoint of coverage, I think it's clear The Wall Street Journal is positioning quite differently in terms of overall coverage, broadening very much in the international and political arena, and, with the launch of their magazine, entering into broader lifestyle coverage.  read more »

Last night, in in a townhouse near the Flatiron building, the very young editors of Lapham's Quarterly were embarrassed. They were aged 23, 24 and 28, and, by coincidence, they all wore the same H&M suit: dark, pinstriped and under $200. Each wore a red tie.

"We did it and didn't realize it," said Elias Altman, the 23-year-old, who is the back-page editor and has the baby face of a choir boy. "We thought maybe we should do a song and dance."

To diffuse the situation, there was a suggestion Media Mob talk to Lewis Lapham, the quarterly's editor. Mr. Lapham, what do you think of the crowd?  read more »

Barry Bearak is on his way home. Here's the statement from Bill Keller, sent to us through the Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis:

Barry's family, friends and colleagues are overjoyed that the court threw out the preposterous charges against him, and that he is on his way home. His only offense was honest journalism, telling Zimbabwe's story at a time of tormented transition. He had no intention of becoming part of that story.  read more »

When The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on April 9 that “barring a change” Katie Couric and CBS News were “likely” to part ways and that it “could” happen after the election (those are just the qualifiers from its headline and subhead), Matthew Drudge picked it up quick as lightning on the Drudge Report.

After a few hours, the story, sourced to “people close to Couric” and executives, was taken out from behind a paid firewall, and WSJ.com watched the traffic—“definitely” one of its biggest hits of the month—roll in.  read more »

The New York Times announced that it's all but a done deal that the paper will have to layoff staffers in the newsroom.

The drop-dead deadline is fast approaching for the staffers in The New York Times newsroom to raise their hand and volunteer for a buyout. An internal memo from the paper's assistant managing editor, Bill Schmidt, just went out and said that "we expect" that the buyout numbers aren't looking good and that for the first time the paper will be forced to cut the newsroom through layoffs.

"While layoffs have become all too common across our industry, this is the first time the newsroom as a whole has confronted that blunt reality, and we approach it with a heavy heart," he said in the e-mail.

The entire memo is below:  read more »

The old online editor at Portfolio, Chris Jones, is joining the digital side of nytimes.com. The last time we heard from Mr. Jones, he was fleeing the increasingly encroaching presence of the business side at portfolio.com.  read more »

Word was spreading last week that Sam Zell was in deep danger of credit default, but there might be an out (in fact, it's an out that Mr. Zell seems to already have begun working on). Reuters is reporting:  read more »

Is David Geffen going to buy the L.A. Times? The news comes from two blogs: Nikki Finke's and LA Observed.

LA Observed has it from a source who has it from three sources that Geffen is interested in buying it and was close to a deal last week. Nikki Finke has it from a source who says they are in "serious discussions."

It's on the record now.

Condé Nast editorial director Tom Wallace gave the company's loudest and most forceful public support for Joanne Lipman, the editor of Portfolio. In a story in today's Women's Wear Daily written by Stephanie Smith, Wallace says the following: that the company "love[s]" Joanne Lipman; that she's an "ingenious" editor; that she's absolutely safe in her job; that the company is "extremely pleased" with the magazine.  read more »

Andy Jacobs, the Times reporter who covered Cory Booker and Manhattan night clubs, is in Beijing. Today, his China-based dateline is his first. "I’m going to be in the bureau there," said Mr. Jacobs to Media Mob, shortly before he left.  read more »

Jane Gross, a Times-lifer, is taking a buyout. And per her brother's blog (the writer Michael Gross), she's a pioneer! He writes:

She was the first woman reporter ever in an NBA locker room while she was at Newsday; broke the story of the existence of crack; was one of the earliest reporters on the AIDS beat, and in that capacity was the first person to use the term anal sex in the Times (now there’s something to be be proud of).  read more »