Morning Reading List, 01.09.08

Good morning Washington. Quickly navigate Morning Reading List: NEWSPAPERS | TV | ONLINE MEDIA | MAGAZINES | JOBS You think the Clinton campaign is the least journo-friendly. NEWSPAPERS The Chicago Sun-Times reports, "Sun-Times Media Group said Friday it is contemplating as many as 35 layoffs of Chicago Newspaper Guild newsroom staffers within the next four weeks. As many as 27 positions will be eliminated among the ranks of Guild copy editors, designers and reporters. No layoffs are contemplated of writers of major sports or photographers." Reuters reports, "A Sacred Heart University Poll found significantly declining percentages of Americans saying they believe all or most of media news reporting. In the current national poll, just 19.6% of those surveyed could say they believe all or most news media reporting. This is down from 27.4% in 2003. Just under one-quarter, 23.9%, in 2007 said they believe little or none of reporting while 55.3% suggested they believe some media news reporting." Howard Kurtz writes "Media Blow It Again" The Beachwood Reporter looks back at the Monday papers. The New York Observer reports, "After the crushing loss in the Iowa caucuses, the Clinton campaign has tried to improve relations with its discontented press corps by rationing out more access to the candidate. It's not clear that it's working." John Kass takes the fairy tale analogy to a new level. "Last Sunday, I dipped my fingertips into fairyland analogies, into C.S. Lewis' land of Narnia, describing Obama as a gentle forest faun, the Mr. Tumnus of the Democratic primaries, the one national political character who gets media hugs from almost everybody. I like Obama, but I won't apologize for comparing him to a kind and beloved faun. He is indeed the Mr. Tumnus of American politics, gently offering free tea and cakes to all Americans, all the free stuff that won't cost us anything (unless you're a taxpayer). ... But, blinded by Obama, I foolishly used the "white witch" analogy for Sen. Clinton. So I apologize to her, and not just because my wife told me to." Washington Post reports, "Snyder Faced With Another Loss" Top of post TV An NBC release announced, "According to Nielsen Media Research data, 'NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams' was the most-watched network evening newscast, winning the week of December 31, 2007-January 6, 2008. During the week that saw the Iowa caucus and the political race heat up, the Williams-led newscast averaged 9.813 million total viewers" An ABC release announced, "World News with Charles Gibson" averaged 9.00 million Total Viewers and a 2.2/8 among Adults 25-54 for the week of December 31, 2007-January 4, 200." Huffington Post's Marty Kaplan writes, "No matter what you think about Hillary Clinton, no matter how this campaign turns out, there is undeniable satisfaction in watching the pundit class being forced to eat the words of its premature obituaries." The Boston Globe reports, "Analysts and anchors struggle to reconcile predictions and results" The New York Times reports, "The late-night stars of the Comedy Central cable network, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, returned to their programs for the first time in nine weeks Monday night, ready to sling their satirical stones at a new target: the continuing strike by the Writers Guild of America, which is forcing the stars to find creative ways to perform without their writers." Forbes reports, "Thanks to the ongoing Hollywood writers strike, there has been little to celebrate in the media world. But a report released Monday had a bit of good news for the industry where it counts: ad spending. With the market buoyed by both the upcoming presidential election and the Beijing Olympics, overall ad spending in the U.S. is expected to rise 4.2% to approximately $156 billion in 2008, according to an annual report released by TNS, a division of Taylor Nelson Sofres that tracks ad spending across 20 media segments. The better part of that gain will come later in the year, with ad spending forecast to grow by 4.7% in the second half of 2008, compared to just 3.6% during the first half of the year." The Washington Times reports, "Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin says consumer-electronics companies are doing an adequate job of educating consumers about the upcoming transition to digital television in February 2009." Beet.TV reports, "Wednesday will mark a milestone in broadcast journalism and in video on the Web as msnbc.com will offer clips from NBC Nightly News and other NBC news programs as sharable embed codes, Beet.TV has learned." From last night's liveblogging, TVNewser reports, "McCain in, Clinton Ahead -- Will ... News Pundits and Pollsters Live Free or Die in N.H.?" More from TVNewser here, including "Where Did It All Go Wrong?" The Hollywood Reporter reports, "Comcast Corp. is looking to broadband site Fancast and a growing stable of high-definition VOD titles to headline the company's tech efforts, following months of turbulence on Wall Street." New York Magazine reports, "CNBC and the â€˜Timesâ€™: United Against Fox Business Network!" Top of post ONLINE MEDIA Salon's Glenn Greenwald writes, "The endless attempts to predict the future and thus determine the outcome of the elections -- to the exclusion of anything meaningful -- is a completely inappropriate role for journalists to play, independent of the fact that they are chronically wrong, ill-informed, and humiliated when they do it. The Los Angeles Times reports, "Wikia Inc., the Internet company started by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, opened its search engine to the public on Monday in a bid to challenge Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. Wikia Search, which lets users edit and fine-tune its results, is now seeking contributors to help expand the service, according to a statement from the San Mateo, Calif.-based company. The system is open-source, meaning its underlying programming code can be shared freely." The Guardian reports, "Facebook's tie-up with ABC News has helped fuel a massive surge in TV viewing of the pre-primary New Hampshire debates held at the weekend. ABC's coverage of Hillary Clinton attempting to salvage her campaign hopes in a debate against Barack Obama attracted 9.36 million viewers, while 7.35 million watched the Republican head-to-head, according to Variety." The Times Online reports, "Chris DeWolfe believes that high-quality content will keep Facebook at bay in the social networking wars" The New York Times reports, "Andrew Olmsted, a United States Army major who wrote an online blog for The Rocky Mountain News, prepared for the possibility of his death by writing a 3,000-word piece." CQ Politics sat down with New Hampshire's Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan on Monday, in the calm before the storm. The New Yorker reports, "Google squares off with its Capitol Hill critics." FT.com reports, "MySpace, the internet site specialising in social networking, claims to be drawing young people away from television and video games as they use its web pages to make friends and money. A group of 18- to 24-year-olds drawn from 1,000 people surveyed by Future Laboratory said it would rather spend 15 minutes visiting social networking sites than watching television, reading, playing video games or talking on mobile phones." IHT and Reuters debut the Business News Alliance. VNUNet.com reports, "2007 was widely touted as the year of social media, but analysts expect to see changes this year in the way social media is used and an increase in its effect on business. The advent of the social web has created such online interaction between consumers that traditional models to research a product or service will change fundamentally." Huffington Post reports, "Reporters wanting to interview campaign staffers are having a hard time trying to get through. That's because some campaigns are putting a tight lid on who gets to say what. The Deerfield Valley News, an independent weekly in southern Vermont, wanted to interview Brandon Riker, a former Deerfield Valley resident. Riker recently graduated from Twin Valley High School in Wilmington, VT and is taking a semester off from college to work for the (Barack) Obama campaign. The Deerfield Valley News wanted to recognize Riker and write a story on his efforts, but the Obama campaign is not permitting any interviews with full time staffers: no exceptions. Tim Foley, media liaison for Barack Obama's New Hampshire campaign, did not know why that policy is in place and also could not specify why it was in place to begin with." Top of post MAGAZINES Jack Germond takes "A Cold, Hard Look" at the New Hampshire primaries. Top of post JOBS The National Council on Teacher Quality is looking for a Issues Director. Population Reference Bureau is looking for a Multimedia Specialist. Gensler, a global design firm, is looking for a Marketing & Communications Writer. National Association of Home Builders is looking for a Communications Manager. The Carroll County Times is looking for a Westminster Reporter. Lucky magazine is searching for a Washington, DC-based reporter to cover local shopping and style news, emerging designers, stores, etc. for its monthly DC regional pages. Send resume and relevant clips to Marissa Patlingrao Cooley (marissa_cooley@condenast.com). Top of post Hat Tips: DCRTV, TVNewser, IWantMedia, Romenesko, MediaBistro, JournalismJobs, JournalismNext

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Morning Reading List, 01.09.08

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