Morning Reading List, 11.28.07

Good morning Washington. You think the White House Christmas party for journalists is actually kinda fun. RADIO Reuters reports, "XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc expects car radio sales to remain solid even if the most dire projections of slowing U.S. auto sales come true, Chairman Gary Parsons said on Monday." The AP reports, "Arbitron Inc. is delaying the rollout of a new ratings system for radio stations in nine markets following complaints from broadcasters that the system's samples were too small to provide reliable data." An NPR release announced, "NPR News, which is producing a live audio-only national Democratic candidates' debate on Tuesday, December 4 in Des Moines in association with Iowa Public Radio, is expanding its election-related programming with a special Iowa Caucus edition of the daily afternoon talk show, Talk of the Nation, to air live on Monday, December 3, also from Des Moines." TELEVISION An NBC release announced, "According to Nielsen Media Research data, 'Meet the Press with Tim Russert' was the most-watched Sunday morning public affairs program, winning the week ending Sunday, November 18, 2007." A CNN release announced, "CNN, YouTube and the Republican Party of Florida on Wednesday, Nov. 28, will offer the second of two unprecedented debates that will feature the presidential candidates responding to video questions submitted on YouTube directly from people across the country and around the world. Anderson Cooper will moderate the two-hour Republican presidential candidate debate live on CNN/U.S., CNN International and CNN.com from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. (ET) Headline News will also broadcast the debate live with a real-time analysis of the reaction of a focus group of undecided voters displayed on the screen. The debate will be held at the Mahaffey Theater at the Progress Energy Center for the Arts in St. Petersburg, Fla. The eight major Republican presidential candidates are confirmed to attend." The New York Observer reports, "Rumors have been flying recently that Tucker Carlson could soon be on the way out at MSNBC. In a report that aired this morning on NPR, Phil Griffin, a senior vice president at the cable network, described Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as part of the MSNBC 'brand'. Asked whether Mr. Carlson was also part of that brand, Mr. Griffin replied: 'He is right now.'" "TVNewser has learned Fox News Channel will ring in the New Year with a special called "U Party With Fox News 2008." Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly will host the live two-hour special from Times Square beginning at 11pmET New Year's Eve." Inside Cable News reports, "There was a change made to the MSNBC crawl this morning. The time bug was moved from the right side by the Live bug down to the left corner on the crawl. Unfortunately that change may have contributed to a problem around 11am where the crawl would not refresh data. It's been off the air ever since." A tipster writes in, "The real reason Thompson is mad at Fox is because Carl Cameron focused on Thompson's gucci loafers on his first day in Iowa. Thompson has never forgiven Cameron or Fox... and hearing criticism from Barnes and Krauthammer was more fuel on the fire" TVNewser reports, "CNN has announced the names of 18 finalists for the first CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute. The project is the culmination of a five-month audience nomination process through which 'ordinary people will be recognized for accomplishing extraordinary things.' CNN's Anderson Cooper and Christiane Amanpour, host the event which will air live on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Espanol next Thursday at 9pmET." The Washington Post reports, "Discovery Communications abandoned plans to sell or seek an equity partner for its Discovery Times channel and will rebrand it as Investigation Discovery, focusing on crime and forensics programming." The AP reports, "Howard Stern finds himself listening to something different these days: 'The Howard Stern Show,' on satellite radio. Unlike his last years on terrestrial radio, where Stern felt his voice was neutered and his program sterilized, the still undisputed king of the shock jocks loves what he's hearing now." Why they gotta hate on tucker? "Web Videos Aim Questions At GOP Field" NewTeeVee reports, "TV Guide, which canceled its online video awards ceremony and television special out of respect for the Writers Guild of America strike ... has named its award winners in a fanfare-free press release. And there's not a little guy in sight." From The Hollywood Reporter, "The writers strike is threatening to put on ice the December 10 Democratic presidential debate hosted by CBS News as the party's front-runners say that they won't cross a picket line." MAGAZINES Confederate Yankee reports, "1/18 Infantry, Second Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division, rotated out of Iraqi several weeks ago to their home base in Schweinfurt, Germany. This included noted fabulist Scott Thomas Beauchamp. Whether Beauchamp is still in Germany or has been allowed home on leave is rather irrelevant; he matters quite little now that he has established that he will not support his dark fantasies on the record. What does matter is that Franklin Foer and The New Republic have lost yet another excuse in their continued failure to account for the actions of the magazine's editors since 'Shock Troops' was first questioned. July 18, over four months ago. Now that Beauchamp is out of the war zone and back in western civilization, Foer is unable to claim that he military is muzzling his communication or that of his fellow soldiers." NEWSPAPERS AJR reports, "Even the most committed newspaper industry pessimist might begin to see a little sunshine after talking to Randy Bennett. Yes, the print business is 'stagnant,' acknowledges the Newspaper Association of America's new-media guru. And yes, he says, newsrooms are under pressure. But -- and here comes the sun -- newspapers have staked out a solid position on the Internet, he says." Newsosaur reports, "The decline in newspaper print advertising -- now tracking to a 10-year low -- is actually far steeper when you factor out the inflation that masks the severity of the deterioration. Minus inflation, sales are about 20% lower than they were in 1997." On Ben Bradlee, Radar reports, "The Grumpy Legend of American Journalism sounds off on JFK, Watergate, Iraq, Hillary Clinton, and Carl Bernstein's strange choice in women" A tipster tells us, "Check out new website by Capitol News Connection, Ask Your Lawmaker" PaidContent.org reports, "Are new online business models just substituting "pennies for dollars" for media owners? That was the woeful conclusion of Mort Zuckerman, publisher of the New York Daily News and US News and World Report, according to the detailed minutes of a recent inquiry into media ownership by the UK House of Lord's Communications Committee released Friday." Miami Herald reports, "I'm sure that since Tim Page is a music critic for The Washington Post and won a Pulitzer Prize, he's a fine journalist. But he did something stupid recently when he sent an aide to Washington's ex-mayor, Marion Barry, an angry e-mail demanding to be taken off the solicitation list for some cultural initiative that Barry was pitching. 'Must we hear about it every time this crack addict attempts to rehabilitate himself with some new -- and typically half-witted -- political grandstanding?' Page asked. (Barry, you'll recall, served six months after he was videotaped in an FBI drug sting in 1990.) The Post was embarrassed when Page's e-mail came to light and apologized profusely to Barry. Then the paper's executives did something astonishing: They did not fire Page." The Center for Citizen Media reports, "One of the most amazing episodes in modern American journalism has emerged from a flagrantly inaccurate and misguided Time magazine column by Joe Klein. He's a political writer whose work in this case may become Exhibit A for what's wrong with the craft today." Washington Post reports, "Randel G. 'Randy' Barnett, 56, a freelance writer whose work appeared in Baltimore Magazine, the Washingtonian and Baltimore Business Monthly, died of an aneurysm Oct. 27 at his home in Falmouth, Mass." AJR reports, "News organizations are embracing video on their Web sites in a big way. The quality ranges from bad to basic to superb. And for some journalists, the advent of video is a terrific new career opportunity." Washington Times reports, "Gannett Co. this month started an approach for its newspapers that targets advertising to specific ZIP codes." Bloomberg reports, "Washington Post Co.'s Kaplan education division, expanding in Asia, plans to buy a majority stake in a Chinese business that prepares students to enter U.K. Universities." The New York Observer reports, "Oops! Former Observer reporter Ben Smith, who now has a blog for The Politico that's a favorite of campaign junkies, wrote a post earlier today about this 'independent pro-Hillary site,' which offers to pay people $1 for every pro-Hillary comment they post online. He declared the site 'the worst idea of the cycle.' Problem is, the site's a parody -- as posts like this one, on the benefits of dictatorship, or this one, which urges supporters to put Hillary bumper stickers on strangers' cars, make clear." ONLINE MEDIA Wall Street Journal reports, "Google Inc. wants to offer consumers a new way to store their files on its hard drives, in a strategy that could accelerate a shift to Web-based computing and intensify the Internet company's competition with Microsoft Corp." "Fiona Spruill, editor of the Web newsroom, is answering reader questions Nov. 26-30. Questions may be e-mailed to asktheeditors@nytimes.com " WEST WING Monday, the Huffington Post reported, "White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said she has discussed Scott McClellan's forthcoming book with the president, and Perino said President Bush 'has not and would not knowingly pass false information.'" Washington Whispers reports, "Giddins, spokesperson for the Iowa Democratic Party, and her counterpart, Mary Tiffany, at the Iowa Republican Party, are throwing a New Year's Eve party for the swarms of media folk who will be spending the bulk of the holiday season in the Hawkeye State reporting in the days leading up to the all-important January 3 caucuses." JOBS US News & World Report is looking for a SEO/SEM Specialist, a Manager, Audience & Business Development: Money and a Manager, Audience and Business Development: Health. The Dana Foundation is looking for a Web Journalist, Dana Press Dept. The Advisory Board Company is looking for a Staff Writer: Health Care Monthly and a Health Care Editor. Arcom Publishing, Inc is looking for a Reporter, a Copy Editor and an Ad Layout Coordinator. Jane's seeks a Maritime Reporter. Teachermagazine.org is looking for a Web Intern. Southern Maryland Newspapers is looking for a regional sports reporter. MCT is seeking a Creative Features Editor. Hat Tips: DCRTV, TVNewser, IWantMedia, Romenesko, MediaBistro, JournalismJobs, JournalismNext

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Morning Reading List, 11.28.07

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