Morning Reading List 03.20.09

Good Morning FishbowlDC! Got a blind item, interesting link, funny note, comment, birthday, anniversary or anything of the sort for Morning Reading List? Drop us a line. Its day 60 covering the Obama administration and week seven for us. What we know and what we're reading this Friday morning... NEWSPAPERS | TV | RADIO | ONLINE | NEWS NOTES | REVOLVING DOOR | JOBS NEWPAPERS The Graham family that owns WaPo has been selling shares in the parent company in recent months. Chairman and CEO Donald Graham has sold tens of millions of dollars worth of stock in the past year. Microsoft says it had no interest in acquiring NYT or other leading print brands. "No," CEO Steve Ballmer said outside the McGraw-Hill Building in yesterday morning. "Not 'no comment.' No." BusinessWeek reports Ballmer says Microsoft is still interested in acquiring Yahoo. One banker's plan to save the newspaper industry: "Despite that gloom and doom, the reality is that, within the pantheon of media sectors, the newspaper business is actually still one of the better ones," says Jonathan Knee, an investment banker who advised on the San Diego Union-Tribune deal and who has covered the media industry for over 15 years. WSJ managing editor Robert Thomson sent a memo to all Journal and Dow Jones Newswire reporters yesterday signaling that Dow Jones plans to compete more aggressively against Reuters, Bloomberg and AP. TV From WSJ: "President Obama Makes History by Appearing on 'Tonight Show'" Why President Obama skipped 'Meet the Press': "The new moderator often seems like he's wearing a suit made for someone else - Russert - and as a result has yet to clearly establish why he got this gig instead of anyone else in the conga line of potential successors. David Gregory is terrifically polished, well-informed, a good listener and has the talking points of both sides down cold. But he also seems more intent on covering the waterfront than digging for news, or in pushing the talking heads off their talking points." From TVNewser: CNN's Fareed Zakaria lands first tv interview with former NY Gov. Elliot Spitzer since the scandal that forced him out office a year ago (you all remember that). Fox News' Greta Van Susteren responded on her blog yesterday to the WaPo report that her husband John Coale was advising Sarah Palin. "No, he is not a paid adviser to Governor Palin and never has been," she writes. "And no, he does not want a job with her or with the other women he has helped." More here. RADIO Will NPR Save the News? "In one of the great under-told media success stories of the past decade, NPR has emerged not as the bespectacled schoolmarm of our imagination but as a massive news machine poised for what Dick Meyer, editorial director for digital media, half-jokingly calls 'world domination.'" ONLINE Check out TVNewser's Bracket Challenge '09. NEWS NOTES From Politico: Is Washington ready for Wanda? This year's entertainment at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner: "'I'm sick of politicians across the board, Republicans and Democrats,' Sykes says on 'Sick & Tired.' 'Theyâ€™re all shady. I'm sick of them. To me, political office should be like jury duty. You should just get a notice in the mail one day and say, 'Aw, sh-, I'm secretary of state next month. Ain't this a b--?'" Stealing President George Bush's thunder, from AP: Obama signs deal for post-presidency book. Where are they now? Former President Bush Deputy Assistant Press Secretary Pete Seat has a biweekly column in The Times of Northwest Indiana. This week's: Obama offers too much material for critics. HAT TIPS: Mediabistro; Romenesko REVOLVING DOOR and JOBS after the jump. REVOLVING DOOR From DCRTV: "The Washington Times has canned Randall Brant, its VP of sales and marketing. Brant, who came to DC via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was shown the door after just one year in DC. He had a hefty salary and a guaranteed contract for the next several years. A source tells us that Times management was unsatisfied because the marketing department had "no message or standing" in the DC marketplace. The Times is expected to name a well-regarded consultant to take over sales and marketing next week. Needless to say, the ad and marketing staff is waiting on "pins and needles" to see who will be let go next, we're told." JOBS The Association of American Medical Colleges is looking for a Managing Editor The Chronicle of Higher Education is looking for a Director of Editorial Research

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Morning Reading List 03.20.09

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