NY Observer > Media

At Big Time 100 Bash, Rupert Murdoch Plays it Cool

John Koblin — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:08:48 -0400

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 »

Simon & Schuster Acquires Facebook Book

Leon Neyfakh — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:29:26 -0400

Media Mob got an e-mail a few minutes ago from a publicist at Simon & Schuster informing us, in the subject line, that "Facebook is subject of new S&S acquisition." Holy cow, we thought! Mark Zuckerburg finally agreed to sell? To Simon & Schuster? They've had a pretty good year, sure, but what would a publishing house want with Facebook? Maybe someone up high thought they were really buying a book?

Times Picks Up Pulitzer-Winner Charlie Savage

John Koblin — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:02:59 -0400

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.

Congressional Democrats Calling For Investigation into 'Pentagon's Propaganda Program'

Felix Gillette — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:20:44 -0400

Several weeks ago, David Barstow wrote an investigative piece for The New York Times taking a hard look at a group of ex-military pundits and their relationships with the Pentagon during the run-up to and early stages of the war in Iraq. Today, in the Politico, former Media Mobster Michael Calderone and his colleague Avi Zenilman report that while the television networks have mostly ignored the unflattering revelations in the Times story, various Democratic Congressional leaders are now calling for investigations "that could provoke the networks to finally cover the Times story—and, in effect, themselves." read more »

Murdoch: If Zell is 'A Man of His Word' He'll Sell Newsday to News Corp.

John Koblin — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:07:22 -0400

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 »

Dolans Buy The Sundance Channel for $496 Million; Newsday Next?

John Koblin — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:01:48 -0400

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

New MSNBC-New York Times Show Limps Out of the Gate

Felix Gillette — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:29:23 -0400

On Monday, MSNBC kicked off The New York Times Special Primary Edition, a new irregularly recurring daytime political show hosted by John Harwood in which Times scribes chew over news from the campaign trail.

So how did the show's premier do?

Not great!

According to Nielsen data, "The New York Times Special Primary Edition," finished fourth among cable news networks in the 2 P.M. time slot. read more »

Layoffs at the Times; Keller Says 'We Hope the Worst is Behind Us'

John Koblin — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:36:09 -0400

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 »

Trash Me, Baby!

Doree Shafrir — Tue, 06 May 2008 20:02:59 -0400

Buzz Bissinger is the author of the Texas high-school football book Friday Night Lights and Prayer for the City, which is about Philadelphia under former Mayor Ed Rendell. Mr. Bissinger also wrote the Vanity Fair article on which the movie Shattered Glass was based. He is 53 years old, with a wide, almost froglike face and glasses, and on the night of Tuesday, April 29, he participated in a panel discussion on HBO’s Costas Now, hosted by NBC sportscaster Bob Costas, on the subject of sports and the Internet. read more »

Out and Proud: Post-Sale, Editor Insists Everything's Dandy

John Koblin — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:53:23 -0400

“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 »