Morning Reading List, 05.21.08

Good morning Washington. Do you know who that is above? Betcha don't (but crazy FishbowDC love to whomever guesses it correctly). It's Al Franken's birthday! (And Mr. T and Notorious B.I.G.) Playbook tells us that it's the Herman-ator's birthday today. BLIND ITEM! What Bloomberg reporter doesn't know what "Last Call"'s "swizzle" means?!? And Michael Savage? Classy guy. We've got your morning mix of media Meusli after the jump... Quickly navigate Morning Reading List: REVOLVING DOOR | NEWSPAPERS | TV | ONLINE MEDIA | MAGAZINES | NEWS NOTES | JOBS A little more than half of you think you would risk your life to save a stranger about to get hit by a passing train. Today's "Angry Journalist" rant of the day: "Sad, sad, sad. Can't afford rent. Can't afford food. Boss is going out this weekend on his new boat." REVOLVING DOOR A release announced, "The Bipartisan Policy Center today announced the hiring of Eileen McMenamin as their new Communications Director. Her appointment reflects the BPC's determination to play a significant role in advancing bipartisan solutions to the country's most pressing problems in this election season and beyond." Top of post NEWSPAPERS Were you one of the Washington Times' employees who recently received a flat screen TV for over 25 years of service? AP reports, "Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper publisher, said Monday its operating revenue fell 7.7 percent in April." "Bush White House battles the media" Reuters reports, "Today publisher Gannett Co Inc reported a drop of more than 10 percent in its publishing advertising revenue in April on Monday, with real estate classified sales dropping by nearly a quarter." Bloomberg reports, "New York Times Co., the third-largest U.S. newspaper publisher, reported a 2.2 percent drop in April revenue, led by advertising declines at its New England newspapers." Pajamas Media reports, "Lately, the Associated Press (AP) has been the elephant in the newsroom. At face value, the AP seems like a good thing, allowing newspapers to pool their resources to keep costs of reporting non-local news low. But it has always been of questionable value to news consumers, reducing competition among newspapers. And while in the past, membership had its privileges, these days the AP is looking more and more like a competitor that is putting its members out of business." "NPF is accepting applications for the 2008-2009 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowships. This free, monthly series of one-day seminars is a must for print, online and broadcast journalists who are or soon will be based in Washington, D.C." For more info and to learn how to apply, click here. "John Edwards' endorsement of Barack Obama helped the former Senator and ex-presidential hopeful generate one of his highest levels of coverage this year. It also helped make Obama the lead campaign newsmaker for the week of May 12-18, according to a Project for Excellence in Journalism study." CJR reports, "If there were an ashram for people who worship contemplative long-form journalism, it would be the Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism. This March, at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, hundreds of journalists, authors, students, and aspirants came for the weekend event. Seated on metal chairs in large conference rooms, we learned about muscular storytelling (the Q-shaped narrative structure -- who knew?). We sipped cups of coffee and ate bagels and heard about reporting history through letters and public documents and how to evoke empathy for our subjects, particularly our most marginal ones. As we listened to reporters discussing great feats -- exposing Walter Reed's fetid living quarters for wounded soldiers, for instance -- we also renewed our pride in our profession. In short, the conference exemplified the best of the older media models, the ones that have so recently fallen into economic turmoil." Politico reports, "Lloyd Grove returns to WaPo newsroom for Weymouth profile" Reflections of a Newsosaur reports, "Things were so tough last year that the top executives of eight of 12 publicly held newspaper companies suffered a pay cut. But things were even tougher for their stockholders. That's because the shares of the dozen newspapers dived an average of 35.7% in 2007 at the same time the average compensation of the chief executives fell by a more moderate -- but not insignificant -- 11.7%." Top of post TV Dan Froomkin: "The President vs. the Peacock" Brian Stelter (for whom we will all be working someday): "Is MSNBC a Political Liability to NBC?" A 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 May 12, 2008 in total viewers, the key demographic adults 25-54, and homes. For the week, 'Nightly News' attracted 8.156 million total viewers" An ABC release announced, "For the week of May 12-16, 'World News with Charles Gibson' averaged 7.92 million Total Viewers and a 2.0/8 among Adults 25-54, placing second. The ABC broadcast outperformed NBC Nightly News on Monday and Thursday evenings among key demo viewers and on Friday night among Total Viewers." Media Matter's Eric Boehlert writes, "If Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) holds true to his recent promise to slap Karl Rove with a contempt of Congress charge for refusing to answer questions about explosive abuse-of-power allegations and whether Rove unleashed the Justice Department on a prominent Alabama Democrat, it will be interesting to see how Rove's newfound media employers at Newsweek, Fox News, and The Wall Street Journal handle the story." A release announced, "An agreement has been reached between WGBH and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to produce Paralympics 2008, the Official Film of the 2008 Paralympic Games, to be held in Beijing, China from September 6-17, 2008. The documentary will focus on the events and experiences of the Paralympic Games, and is scheduled for a two-hour, primetime broadcast on PBS in Winter, 2009. Broadcast in the U.S. is presented under authorization of the United States Olympic Committee. WGBH will also distribute the Official Film of the Games internationally via broadcast and DVD distribution." Washington Post reports, "Digital TV Transition Not as Easy as Advertised" Salon reports, "Karl Rove's sly deal with Fox -- The GOP mastermind is billed as a top campaign analyst for the cable news network. But he has his fingerprints all over John McCain's White House bid." Today, "Media Matters Action Network is releasing a new report entitled 'Fear and Loathing in Prime Time: Immigration Myths and Cable News,' which documents the troubling ways in which immigration is discussed and debated almost daily on influential cable news channels. We focus our analysis on a trio of cable commentators: Lou Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly, and Glenn Beck because of their steady diet of fear, anger, and resentment on the topic of illegal immigration." Top of post ONLINE MEDIA The Washington Blogger May Meet-up is tonight at Regional Food and Drink at 7:00 p.m. To RSVP, click here. Poynter Online asks, "As Poynter prepares to release results from a Zogby survey on Iraq War coverage, we're interested in your sense of what readers want. Participate in the poll below, then return to Poynter Online Wednesday to learn how attuned journalists are to what readers say they want" The AP reports, "Comcast Corp., which is under federal investigation for blocking some file-sharing traffic, is investing in a startup that delivers high-definition video using file-sharing techniques. Seattle-based GridNetworks on Monday said that Comcast would make an unspecified investment in the company and collaborate on developing so-called peer-to-peer file-sharing techniques that are 'friendly' to Internet service providers." Politico reports, "A reader points out that this morning's news roundup on National Review Online's 'The Corner' placed Mike Allen's story about McCain adviser Charlie Black under news about Obama, even though the Democratic frontrunner appears nowhere in the article. But the headline did start with the word 'Black'." A Reporters Without Borders release announced, "Reporters Without Borders welcomed a new opportunity to work with US lawmakers to look into the crucial issue of US companies collaboration with Web censors. We regret, however, that the companies singled out today, Cisco, Google and Yahoo!, didnt take advantage of this hearing to announce concrete steps to improve the free flow of information online in Internet-restricted countries such as China stated the international press freedom organization. The same arguments were again heard, from statements of support for human rights to the belief their presence in those countries is having a positive effect. It can exist fairly only if these companies raise the bar higher than their local competitors regarding the flow of information and the respect of their users privacy. Their call for the government to intervene confirms the urgent need for the House to pass the Global Online Freedom Act, introduced by Representative Chris Smith (R NJ), as well as a similar piece of legislation in the Senate" A media advisory announced, "Critically acclaimed journalist and author Jeff Chang is set to host a new political blog on VIBE.com entitled Zentronix D&H. The twice-weekly blog will critique the 2008 Presidential candidates -- analyzing their policies, speeches, and debates -- while discussing the events throughout this year's historical race to the White House." Crain's New York Business reports, "SEC sues ex-AOL execs over inflated revenue" Online Media Daily reports, "CNBC will provide programming to the newly launched AOL Money & Finance video site. Users will also be able to access CNBC content through AOL Video and its video search property Truveo.com." Huffington Post's John Farr asks, "Where Have Balance and Civility in the Media Gone?" Variety reports, "The answer to digital piracy isn't simply fighting it -- find new business models or prepare to die. Such was the refrain of News Corp. prexy Peter Chernin in remarks made during the opening-panel discussion at National Cable and Telecommunications Assn.'s annual confab, which opened Sunday." Top of post MAGAZINES Today from 6-8:30pm AFF will be celebrating the launch of the Spring issue of Doublethink Magazine, as well as the new website Doublethink Online on the roof deck of Local 16 (1602 U St. NW). Top of post RADIO Top of post NEWS NOTES Jack Myers writes, "'Traditional media are managing from fear,' warns David Rubin, who is retiring this month as dean of the Syracuse University S.I Newhouse School of Public Communications after 18 years. 'Media consolidation,' he comments in an exclusive interview with JackMyers Media Business Report 'was done with so much debt it has allowed bankers and Wall Street into the tent, resulting in too much of the profits being required to pay off debt. Public ownership of media has not been good for media quality or for the ability of media owners to manage for the future,' he argues. What worries Rubin most is 'local news and public affairs are under siege. How to make money with news on a local level is among our most important issues,' he says, explaining the exploration and creation of new economic models to support local news and public affairs will be a primary research focus in the future." The Deal reports, "Campaigning in Pendleton, Ore., Sunday, Barack Obama said Big Media would be a target of his administration's antitrust enforcers if he is elected." Top of post JOBS Suffolk News-Herald is looking for a Managing Editor Politico is looking for a News Designer. The Advisory Board Company is looking for an Associate Editor for Global Health Coverage and a Health Care Writer. FierceMarkets, Inc. is looking for an Editor, Wireless/Telecom Industry. Top of post Hat Tips: DCRTV, TVNewser, IWantMedia, Romenesko, MediaBistro, JournalismJobs, JournalismNext

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Morning Reading List, 05.21.08

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