Michael Calderone

Rupert has seen the future: it’s insurgent Journal vs. ‘monolithic media.’  read more »

My old roommate Josh Drimmer was on the cover of The New York Post this morning—naked.

For about a year, starting around the fall of 2003, Josh was one of my roommates in a three-bedroom apartment in Williamsburg (which I’m sadly leaving very soon to move to Washington D.C.).  read more »

In the past two days, Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz has been getting a lot of attention for his “scoop” about Dan Rather.

But the anecdote, published today in his book Reality Show, is old news.

In Mr. Kurtz’s book, he writes that former CBS anchor threatened to release a document to The New York Times if his now-widely-discredited National Guard story did not run on 60 Minutes.  read more »

“Some of what I found out really works in the context of a larger narrative,” said Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz, “rather than wrenching it out and slamming it into a newspaper column.”

On Oct. 9, Mr. Kurtz was on the phone with The Observer, speaking about Reality Show, his 464-page tome chronicling the “last great television news war,” which hit bookstores that morning.  read more »

Dean Baquet, and several high-ranking Times editors, said they are watching closely to see if Mr. Murdoch puts News Corp.’s money where his mouth is.  read more »

John Burns isn't the only one making a big move these days: several New York Times reporters will be shifting around the world in the coming months, according to two internal announcements. Deputy foreign editor Ethan Bronner will become Jerusalem bureau chief, and there are new assignments for several others, including Edward Wong, Steve Erlanger, Elaine Sciolino, Craig Smith, Robert Worth, Barry Bearak, and Celia Dugger. And Hassan Fattah is leaving the paper altogether; he'll be managing editor of a new English-language, pan-Arab daily. Memos after the jump.  read more »

In the coming weeks, Mr. Burns, will start a new challenge as The Times’ London bureau chief.  read more »

This morning, News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch sat on a very distinguished panel at the third day of the Clinton Global Initiative: it included Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey; Jose Ramos Horta, President of Timor-Lest; Stepan Mesic, President of Croatia.

It was a very civil discussion, titled "Building a Global Multi-Ethnic Community." But Mr. Murdoch did face some tough questions from the moderator, former President of Ireland Mary Robinson.  read more »

Just days after Rupert Murdoch started hanging around the Wall Street Journal offices, the New York Post reported that assistant managing editor Tunku Varadarajan was leaving.

The Observer noted that the Murdoch-owned Post neglected to mention Mr. Varadarajan’s harsh criticism of the News Corp. chief while Mr. Varadarajan wrote for the editorial page. In addition to lashing out at Mr. Murdoch and his son James, Mr. Varadarajan had also taken The Post to task for their coverage of China.

At the time, Mr. Varadarajan was contacted by The Observer, and has now responded via email: “This is NOT—although people have jumped to the conclusion that it is—Murdoch-related.”

Mr. Varadarajan also wrote that he is excited to return to academia, and will be starting at NYU’s Stern School in mid-October. His last day at the Journal will be September 30th.

As for the impending Murdoch takeover?

“I'm inclined to believe that Rupert Murdoch will be a force for positive change and general non-pomposity at the Journal,” he wrote.

It’s still nearly two months until News Corp. officially closes on Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal’s parent. But there’s growing evidence that at The Journal, the Rupert Murdoch era has already begun.  read more »

Lefty bloggers sell the Democrat's Iraq policy—but not his candidacy—in a new web video.  read more »

With Time Inc. officially pulling the plug on Business 2.0 after the October issue, Erick Schonfeld, the magazine’s editor-at-large, had several options to consider. He could try another Time Inc. title, like Fortune—they’ve been accepting Business 2.0 refugees. And, of course, says Mr. Schonfeld, there were meetings with the “usual suspects,” in the magazine industry.

Instead, he’s leaving the print world altogether: yesterday, the New York Times reported that Mr. Schonfeld will become co-editor of TechCrunch, a popular technology blog that covers Silicon Valley.  Here's why...

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Blaise Zerega, Portfolio's managing editor will be taking over the job of deputy editor--a position left vacant since the firing of Jim Impoco last month. Also, New Yorker managing editor Jacob Lewis will be joining Portfolio.

After the jump is the staff memo, obtained by The Observer.  read more »

“If you mention the words ‘subscription’ and ‘Internet,’” said Andrew Rosenthal, “the bloggers come after you with pitchforks!”

Mr. Rosenthal, the New York Times editorial page editor, of course won’t have to deal with pitchfork-wielding bloggers, now that TimesSelect, the newspaper’s paid subscription service—complete with a op-ed columnist-shielding pay wall—has officially been killed off.

Nor will Mr. Rosenthal have to fend off the 22 opinion columnists who had been behind the paywall.  read more »

Clinton waters netroots, while Obama is slightly clueless.  read more »

While at the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, Tunku Varadarajan was one of Rupert Murdoch's toughest critics—especially regarding News Corp.'s relationship with the Chinese government.

Here's how one anti-Murdoch screed began: "Rupert Murdoch, a master practitioner of the corporate kowtow, has instructed his son James perfectly in the craft of craven submission to the communist regime in China."

So it's strange that when the New York Post reported today that Mr. Varadarajan is leaving the Journal for academia, his criticism of Mr. Murdoch—who also happens to own the Post—wasn’t mentioned.  read more »

Today, Portfolio announced the hiring of Hilary Stout, editor of the Wall Street Journal's Personal Journal. Ms. Lipman, while at the Journal, oversaw the section's creation, and has now added to her roster of ex-Journal staffers: Jesse Eisinger, Scot Paltrow, Ken Wells, Amy Stevens, and Peter Waldman.

Release after the jump.  read more »

When Rupert Murdoch’s visited the Wall Street Journal’s headquarters on Tuesday, not only were union flyers torn down in his honor, but there was another welcome surprise.

The flat-panel televisions on the 11th floor, where executives (and perhaps soon Mr. Murdoch) have offices, were tuned to Fox News.

“I had this sickening in my stomach,” said the staffer, “that the work we do would be attached to the work that they do.”

Typically, a Journal staffer said, the screens display either rotating shots from WSJ.com or the type of info-network (with news, weather, etc.) found in many Manhattan office buildings.

And while the televisions in the newsroom may still be airing CNBC, the launch of the Fox Business Channel is just over a month away.

The roof of the Daily News remains intact. But, according to several News staffers, if it’s not the roof, it’s the floorboards.  read more »

With Portfolio now shifting to a monthly schedule, will Elizabeth Spiers keep churning out takedowns after each issue?  read more »

In the opinion of Tyler Brûlé, the ever-stylish Wallpaper* founder, the suits are looking at today’s media landscape completely backwards.  read more »

Leaner, better magazine—but firings, resignations and charges of indecision at the top have some staffers sounding mutinous.  read more »

The Observer reported yesterday on editorial page editor Paul Gigot's scoop about Karl Rove’s resignation, buried on page A15.

Since The Journal did not run a reported story at the time, there is a piece today out of the Washington D.C. bureau, co-written by John D. McKinnon and Jackie Calmes. (Oddly, it doesn't jump off Page 1).

When reached by phone, Ms. Calme said that she was given no forewarning from Journal higher-ups about the contents of Mr. Gigot’s interview, and discovered the news the same time as the competition—in the early morning hours on August 13. Of course, Mr. Rove spread the news to Mr. Gigot two days earlier.

So did Mr. Rove give the scoop to The Journal’s editorial page with an embargo not to leak it to the other side of the editorial/ news divide?

Managing editor Marcus Brauchli has not returned emails or calls seeking comment. Mr. Gigot has declined to comment.

But Peter Baker, the Washington Post’s White House correspondent, expressed his theory in an online Q&A. (Thanks FishbowlDC).

“Rove obviously crafted his own departure strategy, starting with a mostly sympathetic ear in Paul Gigot, the editorial page editor of the Journal,” Mr. Baker wrote. “Gigot got the scoop and wrote a piece that let Rove largely frame his decision on his terms. It's a little unusual to do it that way, but I suppose not entirely surprising. It certainly made for an early morning since the Journal email came out around 4:45 a.m."

Quite early for the Journal’s own reporters, too.

The new issue of Portfolio is out today, and it's worth taking a look at diction in the magazine's glossy pages.

To counter the some of the "wealth porn" criticism that the first issue received, several Portfolio staffers told The Observer that editors were instructed to think twice about certain lofty words: "chauffeur," "mansion," "titan," "millionaire," and "billionaire." This wasn't compulsory and there was no memo, staffers said. Just an effort to cut down.

So how did it work out?

Chauffeur: 0

Mansion: 7

Titan: 2

Millionaire: 2

Billionaire: 6

Not bad, but we'll see how it goes with issue 3, which closes in just a few weeks.

--Additional reporting by Julia Heming

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Karl Rove’s resignation is easily the biggest news story today, and it broke first in the pages of the Wall Street Journal.

Typically, such news might appear on A1, in the right hand column. Instead, Mr. Rove’s anticipated date of departure—by the end of August—was reported on A15, in the sixth paragraph of an interview with editorial page editor Paul Gigot.

On the Journal’s front page, there is only a stock photograph of Mr. Rove waving and smiling, with the following teaser: “Why Karl Rove Plans to Leave The White House.”

At 6:46 a.m., The Journal published a news story that essentially reiterated what Mr. Gigot discovered in his exclusive interview, with the byline, “Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter.”

It wasn’t until the next hour that The Journal’s White House correspondent John D. McKinnon filed a news story. (Now, that piece includes a video interview with Mr. Gigot discussing his scoop).

So where was the Washington bureau on this story?

“We don’t talk about our internal news decisions,” said David Wessel, the Journal’s deputy Washington bureau chief.

He added: “As you know, the editorial page and the news department are separate.”

Of course, the Chinese Wall between editorial and news is a vital part of The Journal’s legacy.

But does that preclude Mr. Gigot from informing the news side of a huge breaking story, which he learned two days earlier?

Mr. Wessel declined to answer whether he was aware of Mr. Rove’s resignation before today.

Regardless, this scoop allowed Mr. Gigot the prime opportunity to show off the editorial page’s Washington clout to his future boss, Rupert Murdoch, said one Journal staffer. Mr. Murdoch, in recent interviews, has made no secret his intention to beef up the paper’s political coverage in the nation’s capital.

That said, would the New York Post’s editorial page hold such nugget—or, more likely, would the White House news be splashed across the tabloid’s wood?

A Journal spokesperson declined to comment on internal news decisions. Managing editor Marcus Brauchli is away, and could not be reached for comment. Page One editor Mike Williams could not be reached for comment. Mr. Gigot declined to comment.

Portfolio’s second issue hits newsstands on August 15, and there have now been two high-profile departures in the past four days alone.

Kurt Eichenwald, a senior writer and investigative reporter, has resigned, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

For two decades, Mr. Eichenwald worked as an investigative reporter at the New York Times before joining the Conde Nast start-up in September 2006.

It was in Dec. 2005, while at The Times, that Mr. Eichenwald wrote an award-winning investigative piece on online child-pornography that continues to generate controversy. This past March, The Times revealed that Mr. Eichenwald paid $2,000 to the story’s subject Justin Berry—which although repaid, violated the paper’s ethics guidelines, according to executive editor Bill Keller. And two days ago, The Times reported that Mr. Eichenwald made additional payments totaling $1,100 to Mr. Berry via PayPal, under pseudonyms.

Back in February 2007, Mr. Eichenwald was very excited about his new position at Portfolio, telling The Observer that “very few startups have the kind of bankroll behind it that this one does."

Regarding the simultaneous print and online launch, he added: “Portfolio is a magazine being born in the 21st century. Any magazine coming out now cannot look at the Web as just something to put an article on; it has to be viewed as part of the whole.”

When contacted by The Observer today, Mr. Eichenwald declined to comment.

It’s been a tumultuous week over at 4 Times Square

On Tuesday, The Observer first reported on the firing of deputy editor Jim Impoco—regarded among staffers at the magazine’s number two, next to editor Joanne Lipman. The widely-admired Mr. Impoco brought in many of the magazine’s top staffers, and his firing occurred at a difficult moment, right as the magazine shifts to a monthly schedule.

Mr. Impoco was an advocate of an investigative piece on terrorism that Mr. Eichenwald wrote for the first issue, but which was held by Ms. Lipman.

Although Mr. Eichenwald wrote another piece for the forthcoming September issue, the terrorism story remains held. Several Portfolio staffers, who read the terrorism piece, praised it, and told The Observer that they did not know a specific reason why Ms. Lipman would not run it.

A Portfolio spokesperson had no comment.

UPDATE: Portfolio staffers now tell The Observer that was Mr. Eichenwald was on leave at the time of his resignation. A Portfolio spokesperson declined to comment on personnel matters. 

On Aug. 5, the New York Post editorial page opined about George Steinbrenner’s contributions to the city these past three decades, a response to increasing questions raised during the week about the Yankees boss’ health.  read more »

Right wing pounces on Beltway bible’s Baghdad diarist; but who’s telling the truth about Iraq?  read more »

This morning, Portfolio editor Joanne Lipman fired deputy editor Jim Impoco, according to a staffer.  read more »

The New York Post reports today that TimesSelect will be killed--but not exactly when. This piece follows up on rumors being floated the past couple weeks.  read more »

Today, the New York Times unveiled it’s narrower format—as reported here. But there’s more: Foreign correspondents are being asked not to be so wordy, according to new guidelines obtained by The Observer.  read more »

“Other than if you put a ruler on the paper and measure it, I’m kind of hoping it will not be that noticeable,” said Tom Bodkin, design director for The New York Times.  read more »

Franklin Foer spoke to The Observer shortly after posting a statement on the disputed New Republic column written by Scott Thomas Beauchamp.   read more »

Yesterday, the weekly New York Press was sold to Manhattan Media. The new owner spoke today with The Observer about layoffs, a sizeable drop in circulation, a forthcoming Brooklyn edition, and the decision to cut out adult advertisements.  read more »

Recalcitrant Bancrofts fold, Wall Street paper goes for $5 Billion.  read more »

Jeannette Walls was a bit reticent describing the state of contemporary gossip when The Observer caught up with her.  read more »

Earlier this month, both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal raised their cover prices up from a buck—to $1.25 and $1.50, respectively. Now, The New York Sun is getting in on the action. On Aug. 6—the same day the Times gets 1.5 inches narrower—the Sun will double their newsstand price to $1 an issue, according to an internal memo.
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Earlier this week, both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times dubbed the Bancroft family’s upcoming decision whether or not to accept a $5 billion bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. for Dow Jones as “too close to call.”  read more »

Earlier this week, both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times dubbed the Bancroft family’s upcoming decision whether or not to accept a $5 billion bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. for Dow Jones as “too close to call.”  read more »

Earlier this week, both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times dubbed the Bancroft family’s upcoming decision whether or not to accept a $5 billion bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. for Dow Jones as “too close to call.”  read more »

Paul Steiger could pocket millions of dollars, and a seat on the board of News Corp., if Rupert Murdoch buys Dow Jones. So why is he directing The Wall Street Journal's coverage of the deal?  read more »

Now that Mr. Hoyt is on board as the paper’s third public editor, it seems as though the business of covering Iraq is the top priority of the bureau.  read more »

News Corp. chief must pry the keys to Dow Jones from sprawling brood.  read more »

After yesterday’s big meeting between News Corp. chair Rupert Murdoch and Dow Jones C.E.O. Richard Zannino, the Journal reported that Rupert Murdoch “suggested the possibility of nominating [Mr. Steiger] to the board of News Corp., according to a person who was there.”

But the last we heard, Mr. Steiger’s special assignment was to oversee the paper’s coverage of the Dow Jones deal.  read more »

A Chicago jury has found Conrad Black guilty on four of thirteen chages, three days after a judge ordered them back into deliberation. The jury had said it could not reach a consensus on all of the 16 charges being brought against four executives of Hollinger, Inc.

However, in the mixed jury verdict, Black was acquitted of nine counts that included wire fraud and racketeering.

The former Hollinger chief once presided over an empire that included the Chicago Sun-Times, Toronto’s National Post, London’s Daily Telegraph, and Israel's Jerusalem Post.  read more »

‘The New York Times always maintains a strict separation between its news report and its business interests,’ Gray Lady asserts.  read more »

“I've written a piece on Murdoch in China that should appear shortly,” Mr. Kahn told The Observer, via email.“I've written a piece on Murdoch in China that should appear shortly,” Mr. Kahn told The Observer, via email.  read more »

According to a source with knowledge of the project, it will be led by managing editor Jill Abramson.  read more »

They’ve got a lot to say about Rupert Murdoch’s idea of editorial independence.  read more »