Gypsy Media Group

Television and Radio

Broadcasting and Cable:    AMC Gains Basic-Cable Rights To 'The Godfather' Franchise

Network holds exclusive on-air, on-demand rights from...

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   FCC Opens Door on Broadband Speed Tests, License Status

New online tools unveiled at Gov 2.0...

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   Stephanopoulos To Interview Obama

Segment will air Thurday on 'Good Morning...

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   CNN's 'Parker Spitzer' To Bow Oct. 4

Network also expected to announce new primetime hour hosted by Piers...

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   ABC Affiliates Surprised at Westin Departure

Many managers at ABC-affiliated stations, which of course rely on the network for Good Morning...

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Radio Inc:    Emmis Again Postpones Shareholder Vote

Emmis Communications on Friday postponed a special shareholder meeting without a vote. The next attempt is set for September 8. Emmis and Chairman/CEO Jeff Smulyan are continuing to negotiate with both the group of preferred shareholders that has been holding up Smulyan's bid to take the company private, and with Alden Global Capital, which last week backed away from its part in financing the transaction. The company said, "Although we believe that an agreement among the various parties remains unlikely, we believe the extension is warranted due to the continuing discussions."

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   Robinson Gets Official Bustos/SLC Nod

Bustos Media/Salt Lake City interim Market Manager Mary Lee Robinson drops the "interim" to take the title officially, overseeing Regional Mexicans KDUT-FM and KTUB-AM, Spanish Contemporary KBMG-FM, and a low-power TV station.

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   CCR/Atlanta's Groove -- Times Two

Clear Channel Radio gives Rhythmic WWVA-FM (Groove 105.7)/Atlanta a simulcast Monday, filling a signal hole for the Groove and blowing up Classic Country WWLG, licensed to nearby Peachtree City.

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   FCC Offers New Developer Tools

The FCC launches a new set of tools for developers designed to "maximize the value of government data for citizen shareholders," FCC Managing Director Steven VanRoekel said. The offerings include a new FCC License View API, providing "snapshot" views of license data.

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   Schonfeld Exits Westwood One

Westwood One realigns its management team, with network division president Gary Schonfeld exiting to return to AdLarge Media. Company President Rod Sherwood takes oversight of the network division. Schonfeld has been with Westwood One since October 2008 and before that headed Jones MediAmerica.

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Mediaweek:    Good Housekeeping Sets Up Shop in Mall of America

Good Housekeeping is taking its name to the mecca of all shopping centers, the Mall of America. The iconic women’s service monthly is transforming a 2,000 square-foot space into parts of rooms designed to represent an American home, complete with a fully equipped, working kitchen.

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   ABC News President to Step Down

David Westin will step down as president of ABC News after more than 13 years at the helm of the network news operation.

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   NCM Partners With Flixster, Rotten Tomatoes

Advancing National CineMedia's strategy to offer media opportunities beyond the box office, the cinema network announced Tuesday (Sept. 7) a strategic alliance with Flixster and Rotten Tomatoes, two online and mobile movie brands.

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   Nielsen's Boehme Joins Kantar Media

WPP's Kantar Media has appointed Jeffrey Boehme to the new post of chief research officer for the North American region of its audiences sector, the unit that develops TV, Internet and radio audience measurement services.

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Tribune Tower Ticker:    Bill Kurtis, Walter Jacobson get feet wet with WBBM 6 p.m. return

(POST UPDATED THURSDAY TO INCLUDE OVERNIGHT RATINGS) Bill Kurtis closed out his first broadcast back with his 1973 WBBM-Ch. 2 co-anchor, Walter Jacobson, on Wednesday's 6 p.m. Channel 2 news with a quote from an old Greek.Kurtis didn't identify Heraclitis...

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   Arndt named Crain's Chicago Business managing editor

Crain's Chicago Business has named Michael Arndt its new managing editor, replacing Brandon Copple, who left in June for a similar role at Groupon.com. Arndt most recently was Chicago-based editor for innovation and design coverage at Bloomberg Businessweek, a role...

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   The NFL's march to mid-February will claim casualties

The Chicago Bears' Brian Urlacher showed up in a cameo role on HBO's "Entourage" last week. The script called for him to sit at a bar and talk about tequila. Hard to say how the star linebacker compares with Hall...

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   Crain's Chicago Business names Snyder to replace Blake as publisher

David Blake is stepping down after 10 years as publisher of Crain's Chicago Business, which on Tuesday named Associate Publisher David Snyder his successor, effective Oct. 15. Through the end of the year, Blake, 56, will mentor Snyder, 48, and...

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   WFLD makes Canellis lead sportscaster; Urlacher joins 'Final Word'

Lou Canellis has been named WFLD-Ch. 32's new lead sportscaster, succeeding Corey McPherrin, who last month became co-host of the station's low-rated morning program, "Good Day, Chicago." Canellis, who had been working for Channel 32 on a per diem basis,...

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TV Week:    Conan's TBS Show Nears Leno and Letterman Pricing--A Conan O'Brien Spot Costs $30,000 to $40,000, but Package Deals Complicate Comparisons

By Brian Steinberg Advertising AgeDo advertisers consider Conan O'Brien's upcoming cable show equivalent to Jay Leno and David Letterman's programs on broadcast networks?Time Warner's Turner cable unit is securing $30,000 to $40,000 for 30-second berths in Mr. O'Brien's show on TBS starting this November -- an eyebrow-raising figure because it's close to the cost for commercials during NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," according to ad buyers. Cable shows typically draw smaller audiences than broadcast programming but in recent years that gap has begun to narrow."The value they are charging is in the ballpark" of the broadcast networks' late-night prices, said one buyer. The price of a 30-second ad on "Tonight" or "Late Show" can range from $30,000 to $45,000, buyers estimated.Turner has aggressively told marketers that commercials during Mr. O'Brien's much-anticipated show carries similar value to those during Mr. O'Brien's "Tonight Show" on NBC last year. "Overall the pricing we've achieved for Conan's new show is comparable to that of late-night programming on broadcast television," a Turner spokesman said, declining to comment on specific prices. "What we continue to do, whether it involves Conan or other original programming, is to offer premium content that creates a great environment for advertisers."There is enough complexity in the ad sales process that direct comparisons are difficult. But establishing the value of Mr. Conan's new program is crucial to Turner. The cable unit has forcefully been adding to its programming lineup, part of a broader effort to give advertisers "broadcast replacement" fare that attempts to mimic broadcast's reach at more attractive prices. Turner has added several dramas to its TNT network, snatching up cult-favorite cop show "Southland" after NBC dropped it last year, for instance. It also formed a joint effort with CBS to show a good chunk of the NCAA men's basketball championships across its many cable outlets.But Mr. O'Brien isn't a must-see sports event or a favorite drama. His cable debut will further fragment the late-night audience, and his show's 11 p.m. berth could also vie for young male viewers with Comedy Central's "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" or even the Adult Swim programming block on the Cartoon Network, a Turner sibling within Time Warner.There is a significant number of viewers, however, to fight over. "Daily Show" has captured a bigger average audience of people between the ages of 18 and 49 -- around 861,000 viewers -- this season to date as of Aug. 15 than ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live." But ABC's "Nightline," CBS's "Late Show"and NBC's "Tonight" bring in the lion's share of this demographic, the one that most advertisers covet. "Nightline" captured about 1.27 million viewers from 18 to 49 in the season to date through Aug. 15, while "Late Show" drew 1.21 million and "Tonight" averaged 1.41 million, according to Nielsen.In its outreach to ad buyers, Turner guaranteed that Mr. O'Brien's ratings among audiences aged 18 to 49 would match those of Mr. Letterman and run about 15% below those of Mr. Leno, according to a person familiar with the company's offer to advertisers. Turner now believes Mr. O'Brien's 18-to-49 ratings could be just 10% below those of Mr. Leno, this person said.Buyers expect robust ratings for the first few weeks of Mr. O'Brien's program, but also believe they'll have to wait until January to see if his ratings are sustainable. Indeed, according to two people familiar with the situation, some ad buyers have tried to see whether Turner would take lower ad rates for the first quarter of 2011 in case Mr. O'Brien's show cools over time. Turner refused to negotiate such deals, according to these people.Turner has been selling packages of ad inventory for Mr. O'Brien that could include a marketer's commercials showing up not only in the first-run broadcast of his new program but also in a repeat later the same night, according to several ad buyers and the person familiar with Turner's offer. A small number of packages aimed at keeping advertisers who bought time in lower-rated, lower-priced comedies last season but who could find the new prices prohibitive call for ads to run in Mr. O'Brien's show as well as in "George Lopez Tonight," the TBS companion comedy show that will also run two times in late night, these people said.Arranging such parcels of ad inventory prompts the question of whether it lowers the ultimate cost of a single ad unit. "I don't think anybody that I represent has bought a 'Conan-only' package," said one media-buying executive. "Most advertisers do business across multiple dayparts with the network, and actually with both of their entertainment networks, so it's hard to isolate [a single unit price]." Turner also owns TNT, as well as TruTV, Cartoon Network and TCM. Broadcast networks also make use of packages to sell late-night programs, ad buyers said.Advertisers are likely to structure their schedules so the majority of their commercials appear during the first run of Mr. O'Brien's show, another buyer said.Sales for Mr. O'Brien's show have been robust, according to buyers. Movie studios have shown strong interest in the first week of the program, and so-called "scatter" advertising, or commercials purchased closer to air date, for the show's run in the fourth quarter is close to being sold out, according to the person familiar with Turner's offer to advertisers.Buyers, however, will be making sure they get the ratings they've been promised. "There's a lot of speculation about how well he's actually going to do," said one buying executive.

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   COMPLETE LIST OF PRIMETIME EMMYS AWARDED AUGUST 29, 2010

[Name of show followed by the network on which the show airs]●Drama Series: "Mad Men," AMC. ●Actor, Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad," AMC. ●Actress, Drama Series: Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer," TNT. ●Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Aaron Paul, "Breaking Bad," AMC. ●Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Archie Panjabi, "The Good Wife," CBS.●Comedy Series: "Modern Family," ABC. ●Actor, Comedy Series: Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory," CBS. ●Actress, Comedy Series: Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie," Showtime. ●Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Eric Stonestreet, "Modern Family," ABC. ●Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Jane Lynch, "Glee," Fox.●Made-for-TV Movie: "Temple Grandin," HBO. ●Miniseries: "The Pacific," HBO. ●Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Al Pacino, "You Don't Know Jack," HBO. ●Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Claire Danes, "Temple Grandin," HBO. ●Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Movie: David Strathairn, "Temple Grandin," HBO. ●Supporting Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Julia Ormond, "Temple Grandin," HBO.●Variety, Music or Comedy Series: "The Daily Show," Comedy Central. ●Reality Competition Program: "Top Chef," Bravo.●Writing for Comedy Series: Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, "Modern Family," ABC. ●Writing, Drama Series: Matthew Weiner and Erin Levy, "Mad Men," AMC. ●Writing, Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special: Adam Mazer, "You Don't Know Jack," HBO. ●Writing, Variety, Music or Comedy Special: 63rd Annual Tony Awards, CBS. ●Directing for a Comedy Series: Ryan Murphy, "Glee," Fox.●Directing, Drama Series: Steve Shill, "Dexter," Showtime. ●Directing, Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special: Mick Jackson, "Temple Grandin," HBO. ●Directing, Variety, Music or Comedy Special: Bucky Gunts, "Vancouver 2010 Winter Games Opening Ceremony," NBC.

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   Press Release From The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences About the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmys Awarded on Aug. 29, 2010

HBO, AMC Lead Winners at 62nd Primetime Emmys, ABC and CBS Top Broadcast NetworksModern Family takes top comedy, Mad Men repeat as top drama; Edie Falco, Jim Parsons, Kyra Sedgwick, Bryan Cranston, score lead acting honors; Temple Grandin grabs five. First-time host Jimmy Fallon brings music and high energy to the proceedings.August 29, 2010A mix of new comedies and veteran dramas dominated the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday night, while HBO monopolized the statuettes for movies and miniseries.ABC’s Modern Family led all series programs with three Emmy wins, including outstanding comedy. It also won for supporting actor Eric Stonestreet and writers Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd.“All I wanted to be was a clown in the circus when I was a kid growing up,” Stonestreet said. He vowed to ship the award to his the home of his parents, Vince and Jamey, in Kansas City, Missouri.Fox’s Glee, which led all series with 19 nominations, won Emmys for supporting actress Jane Lynch and director Ryan Murphy. Murphy dedicated his Emmy “to all my teachers who taught me to sing and fingerpaint.” Lynch praised fellow cast members: “You’re fresh-faced, and when I’m not seething with jealousy, I’m so proud of you.”On the drama side, AMC’s Mad Men won its third consecutive Emmy for outstanding series. It won a second Emmy for writing, which went to series creator Matthew Weiner and Erin Levy for the episode titled, “Shut the Door. Have a Seat.”AMC picked up two more Emmys with acting wins by Bryan Cranston (lead actor) and Aaron Paul (supporting actor) in Breaking Bad. With its four Emmys, AMC led all broadcasters in the series categories.Emmy prognosticators were caught off-stride by wins by Kyra Sedgwick of TNT’s The Closer and Bravo’s Top Chef.Top Chef won for outstanding reality, breaking the lock on the award by CBS’ The Amazing Race, which captured the Emmy in each of the last seven years. “This is something we never expected,” exulted executive producer Dan Cutforth. “I really have nothing prepared at all to say.”Sedgwick took home an Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a drama series after being nominated in the category the last five years.Other series winners for comedy were Jim Parsons for lead actor in CBS’ The Big Bang Theory and Edie Falco for lead actress in Showtime’s Nurse Jackie.In the drama category, Archie Panjabi was honored for supporting actress in CBS’ The Good Wife and Steve Shill took the directing Emmy for Showtime’s Dexter.HBO, which traditionally dominates Emmy awards for longform programs, this year won all eight Emmys in the genre.Temple Grandin, the story of a woman who overcame autism to pioneer humane treatment for cattle, received five Emmys, including best made-for-television movie. Claire Danes was selected for her performance as Grandin and Julia Ormond and David Strathairn won for their supporting roles. Mick Jackson received an Emmy for directing the film.Jackson hailed Grandin in the audience. “I tried to make your movie like you: spunky, smart, honest, vivid, sometimes crazily emotional, never sentimental.”You Don’t Know Jack, about Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a controversial proponent of assisted suicide for terminal patients, earned Emmys for lead actor Al Pacino and writer Adam Mazer. The Pacific, a 10-part opus about World War II combat in the Pacific theater, won for outstanding miniseries.The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, on Comedy Central, won for outstanding variety, music or comedy for the eighth consecutive year.Jimmy Fallon, host of the telecast, eschewed the usual opening monologue in favor of taped pieces that focused on several shows that led the list of Emmy nominations. In the opening piece, Fallon put together a 10-person singing group that included Betty White, Jon Hamm, Kate Gosselin, Tina Fey and several Glee cast members.In another taped piece, a network executive suggested alternative approaches to Modern Family, several of them including George Clooney, who was awarded the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his charitable efforts on behalf of natural disaster victims in Haiti, New Orleans and elsewhere.This year’s “In Memoriam” segment featured an original song by Jewel, “Shape of You.”

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   Ford Drives on 'Vampire Diaries' With Social-Media Twist--Use of Twitter Helps Reduce Distraction of Inevitable In-Show Appearance

By Brian Steinberg Advertising AgeA Ford Fiesta won't crop up in CW's "Vampire Diaries" until early October, a veritable eternity in terms of TV-show viewing, but the automaker is trying to get people to talk about it now, even though the fan-favorite show won't hit the screen until Sept. 9.The effort aims not only to boost Ford's presence in the minds of younger consumers who might be ready to make a first-car purchase, but also to get people talking about "Vampire Diaries" well before its second season starts. A new contest that started this week solicits essays via Facebook, Twitter and email, all the while suggesting to friends who read those web bursts that they ought to watch the program. The winner -- who will be announced during the season premiere -- gets one of the cars.The practice of weaving name-brand products into TV shows has risen over the last several years, as more advertisers struggle to get their wares in front of TV viewers more prone than ever to fast-forward past or otherwise skip expensive commercials. Yet to most couch potatoes, the result is the same: Someone jammed a car, soda can or hand-held gadget into a favorite program. By alerting fans to the placement weeks ahead of time and even rewarding them for showing interest in it, TV networks and marketers hope to avoid some of the distraction that often goes hand-in-hand with such promotions.In other words, the story is not so much told in the show but in the social media, where the placement doesn't risk causing the rolling of eyes."We don't just want it to be seen," said Jeff Eggen, Ford's car experiential marketing manager, speaking about the Fiesta's appearance in "Diaries." The idea is to "have a second element or a third element" rather than just a placement on a TV program, "where we can engage with the fans outside of the show with additional content," said Mr. Eggen, who oversees the automakers's product-placement projects.Ford's sponsorship of the program continues after the contest submission deadline. Following the premiere, fans get a chance to ask questions about the show, then have those queries answered via an online video series sponsored by Ford Fiesta. Questions will be collected between the Sept. 9 second-season debut and the Sept. 30 episode. After that date, viewers can check in online to watch "behind the scenes" videos that offer answers to their queries.The promotional effort shows CW reaching beyond its own air to please advertisers. "We recognize the audience is important and want to give them more of what they care about," said Alison Tarrant, senior VP-integrated sales and marketing at the CW network.The Detroit car maker has made extensive use of social media and experiential events to generate buzz and awareness for the Ford Fiesta, which rolled into showrooms in June. But Ford also is driving behind a trend that has gained traction over the last two years. TV networks have started to recognize that the fan base for each of its programs responds to different triggers. Simply running promos on air won't necessarily bring viewers in droves any longer. So more TV outlets are trying to use social media in an effort to catch the interest of hardcore fans of a specific piece of content in the hopes those die-hards will bring others in their sphere of influence to the screen.In late 2009, for example, fans of the syndicated "Ellen DeGeneres Show" were able to follow the program's Twitter feed for a chance to win a gas-card giveaway from General Motors -- and at the same time follow an "Ellen" intern as she drove a GMC 2010 Terrain that was featured on the program. Some ad wags have dubbed this joint use of TV and social-networking tools "social TV."

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   James Lee's Demands of Discovery

The Discovery Channel MUST broadcast to the world their commitment to save the planet and to do the following IMMEDIATELY:1.. The Discovery Channel and it's affiliate channels MUST have daily television programs at prime time slots based on Daniel Quinn's "My Ishmael" pages 207-212 where solutions to save the planet would be done in the same way as the Industrial Revolution was done, by people building on each other's inventive ideas. Focus must be given on how people can live WITHOUT giving birth to more filthy human children since those new additions continue pollution and are pollution. A game show format contest would be in order. Perhaps also forums of leading scientists who understand and agree with the Malthus-Darwin science and the problem of human overpopulation. Do both. Do all until something WORKS and the natural world starts improving and human civilization building STOPS and is reversed! MAKE IT INTERESTING SO PEOPLE WATCH AND APPLY SOLUTIONS!!!!2. All programs on Discovery Health-TLC must stop encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants and the false heroics behind those actions. In those programs' places, programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility must be pushed. All former pro-birth programs must now push in the direction of stopping human birth, not encouraging it.3. All programs promoting War and the technology behind those must cease. There is no sense in advertising weapons of mass-destruction anymore. Instead, talk about ways to disassemble civilization and concentrate the message in finding SOLUTIONS to solving global military mechanized conflict. Again, solutions solutions instead of just repeating the same old wars with newer weapons. Also, keep out the fraudulent peace movements. They are liars and fakes and had no real intention of ending the wars. ALL OF THEM ARE FAKE! On one hand, they claim they want the wars to end, on the other, they are demanding the human population increase. World War II had 2 Billion humans and after that war, the people decided that tripling the population would assure peace. WTF??? STUPIDITY! MORE HUMANS EQUALS MORE WAR!4. Civilization must be exposed for the filth it is. That, and all its disgusting religious-cultural roots and greed. Broadcast this message until the pollution in the planet is reversed and the human population goes down! This is your obligation. If you think it isn't, then get hell off the planet! Breathe Oil! It is the moral obligation of everyone living otherwise what good are they??5. Immigration: Programs must be developed to find solutions to stopping ALL immigration pollution and the anchor baby filth that follows that. Find solutions to stopping it. Call for people in the world to develop solutions to stop it completely and permanently. Find solutions FOR these countries so they stop sending their breeding populations to the US and the world to seek jobs and therefore breed more unwanted pollution babies. FIND SOLUTIONS FOR THEM TO STOP THEIR HUMAN GROWTH AND THE EXPORTATION OF THAT DISGUSTING FILTH! (The first world is feeding the population growth of the Third World and those human families are going to where the food is! They must stop procreating new humans looking for nonexistant jobs!)6. Find solutions for Global Warming, Automotive pollution, International Trade, factory pollution, and the whole blasted human economy. Find ways so that people don't build more housing pollution which destroys the environment to make way for more human filth! Find solutions so that people stop breeding as well as stopping using Oil in order to REVERSE Global warming and the destruction of the planet!7. Develop shows that mention the Malthusian sciences about how food production leads to the overpopulation of the Human race. Talk about Evolution. Talk about Malthus and Darwin until it sinks into the stupid people's brains until they get it!!8. Saving the Planet means saving what's left of the non-human Wildlife by decreasing the Human population. That means stopping the human race from breeding any more disgusting human babies! You're the media, you can reach enough people. It's your resposibility because you reach so many minds!!!9. Develop shows that will correct and dismantle the dangerous US world economy. Find solutions for their disasterous Ponzi-Casino economy before they take the world to another nuclear war.10. Stop all shows glorifying human birthing on all your channels and on TLC. Stop Future Weapons shows or replace the dialogue condemning the people behind these developments so that the shows become exposes rather than advertisements of Arms sales and development!11. You're also going to find solutions for unemployment and housing. All these unemployed people makes me think the US is headed toward more war.Humans are the most destructive, filthy, pollutive creatures around and are wrecking what's left of the planet with their false morals and breeding culture.For every human born, ACRES of wildlife forests must be turned into farmland in order to feed that new addition over the course of 60 to 100 YEARS of that new human's lifespan! THIS IS AT THE EXPENSE OF THE FOREST CREATURES!!!! All human procreation and farming must cease!It is the responsiblity of everyone to preserve the planet they live on by not breeding any more children who will continue their filthy practices. Children represent FUTURE catastrophic pollution whereas their parents are current pollution. NO MORE BABIES! Population growth is a real crisis. Even one child born in the US will use 30 to a thousand times more resources than a Third World child. It's like a couple are having 30 babies even though it's just one! If the US goes in this direction maybe other countries will too!Also, war must be halted. Not because it's morally wrong, but because of the catastrophic environmental damage modern weapons cause to other creatures. FIND SOLUTIONS JUST LIKE THE BOOK SAYS! Humans are supposed to be inventive. INVENT, DAMN YOU!!The world needs TV shows that DEVELOP solutions to the problems that humans are causing, not stupify the people into destroying the world. Not encouraging them to breed more environmentally harmful humans.Saving the environment and the remaning species diversity of the planet is now your mindset. Nothing is more important than saving them. The Lions, Tigers, Giraffes, Elephants, Froggies, Turtles, Apes, Raccoons, Beetles, Ants, Sharks, Bears, and, of course, the Squirrels.The humans? The planet does not need humans.You MUST KNOW the human population is behind all the pollution and problems in the world, and YET you encourage the exact opposite instead of discouraging human growth and procreation. Surely you MUST ALREADY KNOW this!I want Discovery Communications to broadcast on their channels to the world their new program lineup and I want proof they are doing so. I want the new shows started by asking the public for inventive solution ideas to save the planet and the remaining wildlife on it.These are the demands and sayings of Lee.

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Magazines and Newspapers

Columbia Journalism Review

Reflections of an Iraqi Journalist

Congress and “Corporate-Financed Philanthropy”

Sham Candidate Story Misses a Key Voice

AP: Election 2010 is "Bursting With Money"

Parker Spitzer (Awkward Already)

Publishing Executive

Reed Data Product Announces New Online Format

Paste music magazine to stop print publication

The Atlantic Magazine Introduces iPad Edition

Beyond the Book Podcast Interview With Publishing Business Virtual Conference Director Noelle Skodzinski

'Branded App' Offers Way To Sell Subscriptions on iPad

Publishers Weekly

Taking the 'Book' Out of Bookstores

Decatur Book Festival: PWxyz Was There

B&N Reccomends Paperbacks

Reed in Talks with ALA About Running Trade Shows

Job Moves: September 7, 2010

Editor & Publisher

Muller Martini Users to Meet at Graph Expo

Duane Miles Calls it a Career at 'Sterling Journal-Advocate'

Newsprint Warehouse Goes Up for Casa Grande Valley Newspapers

McClatchy's Macon-Columbus Print Pact Ending

AbitibiBowater Names Nine to New Board of Directors

Current

Sesame Street characters help kids in Abu Dhabi "Reach for the Sky"

Exploring "murky moral landscapes"

A very merry Moyers

America Ferrera to host Independent Lens

Cest la vie in French public TV

Shutterbug

September Table Of Contents

Full HD Movie Print In New Canon PIXMA Printers

Manfrotto School of Xcellence Sports Photography

“Cash For Cameras” At Unique Photo, Sept. 10-12

Tamron’s Great 60th Anniversary 60-Day Lens Giveaway

MinOnline

EW and YouTube Launch Fall TV Preview Channel

GuestMatch Media Resource Launches

Financial Times Drills New Subscription Niche

People StyleWatch Hikes Rate Base, Frequency

IHS Acquires Access Intelligence's Chemical Week, SRIC, Energy Daily

Writers Weekly

Can Your Put My Ebook in the Apple iBookstore? Yes!

Tweet, Tweet: Using Social Media to Increase Sales By Lisa Tiffin

Whispers And Warnings For September 1st

Paying Markets And Jobs For September 1st

BookLocker - Your Book Deserves the Best

Poynter Online

Chat Replay: Why Do We Need Female Journalists with Technical Expertise?

When reading my list of 20 South by Southwest Interactive panels that journalists should vote for, some people wondered: Where are all the women? Only two of the 20 panelists I mentioned are women.

Jill Zimon asked in a comment, "Does that just reflect the ones you chose or did you find a paucity of panels in journalism overall being led by women?"

On Friday, Aug. 20, we held a related live chat with Cindy Royal, an assistant professor in Texas State University's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and Tiff Fehr, a user experience engineer at msnbc.com. You can replay the chat below.

It's an important question that prompted me to find some answers. So with the help of ProPublica's Amanda Michel, I looked through the proposals and tallied the total number of female and male panelists.

We found that of the 2,381 panels, only about 30 percent were proposed by women. This is reflective of the overall percentage of women who typically end up as panelists in the interactive portion of the festival.

It's important to note that while the majority of panels were proposed by men, the ones that are ultimately selected may end up including additional female speakers. (We didn't account for the panels that had speakers who were yet to be determined, and though we double-checked the numbers, some inaccuracies may have slipped through.)

"The percentage of female speakers has been about the same over the last three years -- about 30 percent," said SXSW staffer Melissa Smolensky. She noted that in 2010, 375 of the 1,362 speakers (30 percent) were women.

The number of female speakers depends, in part, on how many votes they get. Online voters account for 30 percent of the vote; the SXSW staff account for 30 percent; and the SXSW advisory board account for the remaining 40 percent.

Smolensky said the staff are responsible for factoring gender, as well as racial and geographic diversity, into the voting process. Each year, she said, SXSW sends a letter to confirmed participants, advising: "If you are organizing a panel session with at least three speakers, we feel very strongly that at least one of these speakers should be a female."

The panels span a wide array of topics, including programming, geolocation and social networking. Of the journalism-related panels, 70 percent were proposed by men.

"Ever since SXSW Interactive began in 1994, when the industry was mostly male-dominated," Smolensky said, "SXSW Interactive has made it a point to seek out innovative women in the space."

Many would argue that the field still is mostly male-dominated -- and the numbers from other tech-related conferences suggest as much.

Take, for instance, the Personal Democracy Forum, which focuses on the intersection of technology and politics. This year's PDF conference attracted 164 speakers, according to the forum's website. About 65 percent of those speakers were men.

The speakers at last year's Online News Association conference were more evenly split, but still male-dominated. Of the 88 speakers listed on ONA's site, about 63 percent were men. (The gender split among registrants was roughly 43/57, according to figures provided by ONA President Christine Montgomery.)

The numbers have led to the creation of groups such as Women Who Tech, which was created in part because "women are significantly underrepresented on panels at major technology conferences," the group's website says.

Social scientists have debated the gender gap in technology for years. In 2001, Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher conducted a four-year study and wrote a related book, "Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing." In the book they argue that the technology field will likely remain a "male clubhouse" until major social, cultural and educational changes are made to bridge the gap.

In 1998, Roberta Furger -- previously a senior editor/writer at PC World -- wrote a book called "Does Jane Compute?" in which she argues that the gender imbalance stems from an inequity in computer education.

So what does all of this mean for women who specialize in the technology side of journalism, from website developers to programmers to technology reporters?

I asked two female journalists, Cindy Royal and Tiff Fehr, to discuss this issue. Royal, an assistant professor at Texas State University's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, completed her dissertation on gender and technology. Fehr, a user experience "engineerette" at msnbc.com, has a particular interest in the subject.

During the chat, which took place on Friday, Aug. 20, Royal and Fehr responded to questions and feedback about why it matters that women take part in the technology-related fields of journalism and what can be done to increase their participation in it. The chat, which you can replay below, generated a lively discussion on these topics.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=5855ac0fbd" &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Why Do We Need Female Journalists with Technical Expertise?&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

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Live Coverage of Philippine Hostage Situation Sparks Criticism, Debate

When journalists in the Philippines heard that a man was holding tourists on a bus hostage on Monday, they were faced with a tough question: Should they broadcast live coverage of the situation?

Many broadcast news outlets decided to go live, giving viewers front-row access to a crisis that led to the death of eight tourists and hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza, a former police officer who was fired last year after being charged with extortion and robbery.

Journalists' live coverage and involvement in the crisis has sparked discussion about three key issues that Filipinos continue to debate:

The disagreement between journalists and the public over how the situation should have been covered
The need for greater communication between journalists and the police during hostage situations
The differences between how the Philippines and the U.S. have applied ethical guidelines to crisis situations

Why the media coverage sparked criticism

News consumers used Twitter to publicly blame the media for risking the lives of the tourists and for enabling Mendoza, who had access to a TV in the bus, to track how a police assault team was responding. Viewers were especially concerned that live footage of Mendoza's brother being arrested caused the hostage-taker to become more violent. Shortly after the arrest, shots were fired from inside the bus.

Many tweeted and posted to Facebook a link to an 11-year-old Poynter story in which ethics guru Bob Steele wrote about why journalists shouldn't provide live coverage of hostage situations. They faulted the media for not following the guidelines and for interviewing Mendoza during the standoff.

One local radio station did a live interview with him. ABS-CBN, one of the Philippines' major broadcast networks, also interviewed him but aired it later. And at Mendoza's request, one broadcast journalist showed up to help with the negotiations.

Tony Velasquez, a senior news correspondent for ABS-CBN and an anchor for ANC, its English-language news channel, said the station considered the implications of its decision to broadcast the hostage situation live. He pointed out that the decision would have been easier to make if there had been better communication between police and journalists.

"Most of our colleagues agree that our overriding goal of delivering information justified keeping the live broadcast on air," Velasquez said via e-mail. "But in retrospect, some have also acknowledged that the authorities could, and should, have put their foot down when the situation was getting critical, and directed that live coverage be cut before any provocative action against the hostage-taker would be taken."

Maria Ressa, head of ABS-CBN News & Current Affairs and managing director of ANC, talked in an e-mail interview about the uncertainty and chaos surrounding the hostage situation. Police provided little guidance, she said, and they brought family members to the scene and allowed them to speak freely with the media.

Maria Ressa

"In my view, covering these situations is always a struggle between journalists, whose goal is to tell the story, and authorities, who must resolve the situation," Ressa said. "Controlling the information is part of resolving that. If authorities are in control, they lay ground rules. It makes journalists' jobs easier."

Police, who were widely criticized for botching the rescue attempt, have since admitted that the assault team that tried to rescue the hostages was inadequately trained.

In an effort to help both police and the media, President Benigno Aquino III has assigned government officials to meet with various media groups to set up parameters for covering future hostage situations.

Addressing cultural differences in coverage

Ressa and others from ABS-CBN said that journalistic practices widely accepted in the U.S. are not as relevant halfway across the world.

"Every country has its own tradition of journalism and culture, which can change the way journalists operate," Ressa said.

She was one of the first people to tweet a link to Steele's guidelines on Monday, but by Tuesday she was defending why journalists acted otherwise. In response to criticism of the media, Ressa tweeted: "In phil, where some officials even turn to journalists to negotiate, the rules are very different. Hostage sitns vary with culture & context."

This isn't the first time that the media in the Philippines have provided live coverage of a hostage situation or tried to interview a hostage-taker. During a similar bus-hijacking incident in the Philippines three years ago, most local radio stations interviewed the hostage-taker live from the scene, Ressa said.

ANC's "Media in Focus" cable TV program addressed the differences in how the American and Filipino media cover hostage situations. The program tweeted highlights from a "Media in Focus" interview between Ressa and Vergel Santos of the Philippine Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility. One tweet read: "Ressa: In this country, have journalists ever NOT interviewed a hostage-taker? Vergel Santos: It's the least you could do."

Jojo Malig

Jojo Malig, a copy editor/writer for ABS-CBN, talked to me via e-mail about the differences in coverage.

"Reporting live from hostage scenes is standard in the Philippine media setting," Malig said. "Viewers/listeners/readers expect media interviews with hostage-takers, kidnappers, and terrorist-groups. You cannot say that the way the coverage was handled was wrong, because it was expected to be that way."

But was it?

Many in the Philippines, Ressa explained, have expectations of the media that may differ from those in other nations. And they rely on the media differently.

"People do expect live coverage, and we're criticized if we don't give it," Ressa said. "We have weak institutions and endemic corruption, and focus group discussions show media is one of the few institutions Filipinos trust. When they have problems, they run to us. Part of the reason is because when we deploy news teams to disaster areas, we automatically deploy a public service team as well."

Reassessing the decision to go live

Though the hostage crisis has ended, the conversation about how it was covered has in many ways just begun. Journalists and news consumers are now assessing the media's coverage and how it could have been handled differently.

Paul Pajo, a lecturer for applied mathematics at De La Salle -- College of Saint Benilde, created a survey for anyone interested in the media coverage. Pajo said in an e-mail interview that he's hoping to use the survey results (which he is still collecting) to gauge how media coverage aligned with Steele's guidelines.

At ABS-CBN, Ressa has been having ongoing conversations with her colleagues about other ways the station -- and the media in general -- could have approached the story.

There are alternatives to live coverage, Poynter's Steele told me in a phone interview. Echoing much of the advice he offered more than a decade ago, Steele pointed out that journalists could have reported from the scene but not gone live. By not airing live footage of crisis situations, he said, journalists can omit details that could potentially harm the individuals involved.

He suggested that journalists covering hostage situations ask themselves: What do the viewers need to know, and when do they need to know it?

"Clearly, people needed to know a lot about this very volatile situation in the streets of Manila, and they needed to know it quickly," Steele said. "But did they need to know it instantaneously? That would be hard to justify."

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Why News Startups Should Think Collaboration, not Competition, with Big Media

How will new media replace old media? The rise of independent journalism startups, combined with the shrinking of mainstream news organizations, provokes the question. And for some media pundits, the question is when - not if.

While that's a sexy topic in media circles, more attention should be given to the concept of collaboration -- not competition -- between new and old.

As part of the Ford Foundation-funded program in entrepreneurial journalism at the Poynter Institute, we're focused on helping journalists start new media operations. But we will also explore how news startups and traditional news companies can work together to the mutual benefit of both. It's a new area for journalists thinking entrepreneurially, both at startups and at news companies.

Some entrepreneurs are hesitant to hook up, but there are several potential advantages. The big media partner can jump start your startup with instant traffic referrals. The news organization might share advertising revenues in exchange for placement on your site. If you don't have a sales staff (or sales experience), this is huge. The exposure and credibility you can gain from working with a big media company is probably worth a lot to your startup, if the focus of your business fits a need the big company can't fill on its own.

To get a sense of what this looks like in real life, I posed a few questions to Ana Acle-Menendez, one of the aspiring and impressive entrepreneurs I met at a Poynter seminar in July. She has partnered with The Miami Herald, her former employer, to develop West Kendall Today, a hyperlocal site focusing on one of the most populous sections of the Miami area.

The Herald approached her in the fall of 2009 with the idea, and the site launched in February 2010. Acle-Menendez was the West Kendall editor when she worked at the newspaper full-time and increased readership in that area. (She left the paper in 2006 to take a magazine editing job, which she later left for personal reasons.)

West Kendall Today

A former Miami Herald staffer has partnered with the newspaper on West Kendall Today, a hyperlocal site focusing on one of the most populous sections of the Miami area.

The West Kendall alliance is part of a larger initiative to partner with independent news publishers that is sponsored by J-Lab. Dubbed the Networked Journalism Project, it includes five newspapers: The Miami Herald, The Seattle Times, The Charlotte Observer, Asheville Citizen-Times and Tuscon Citizen (now online-only).

The one-year project was funded with a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the funds have supported a liaison at the newspaper and provided small stipends to local partners. (The project has just received funding for a second year.)

Miami appears to have the most aggressive approach, due to the fact that Miami is hosting content and providing sales consulting and materials. The Herald's corporate parent, McClatchy Co., tweaked its content management system to allow the partners to publish directly into the Herald's CMS.

Rick Hirsch, managing editor for multimedia at the Herald, said the company has also paid to train the local partners on selling advertising and has hired a consultant to help develop a cookbook for selling hyperlocal advertising.

Ana Acle-Menendez

Acle-Menendez says the newspaper executives ran the numbers in West Kendall and decided they wanted this to be one of the first communities to launch. Since she has lived in the area and covered it for more than a decade, it made sense for her to do it. "The only catch was that I didn't already have an area newspaper or website, like the other original partners," she said.

"On a personal level, I want my community covered and I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur," she said. "I had tried another venture on my own when I left the Herald, which is now on hold for West Kendall Today. Success for me would mean putting journalists in the area back to work, in addition to making a comfortable living."

After informal conversations at Poynter, Acle-Menendez answered some questions via e-mail; below is our exchange.

Mark Briggs: What has the response been like so far?

Ana Acle-Menendez: Our readership is growing and I get a kick out of readers' comments on a story. Sometimes I'm surprised at which story receives the most comments. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me to get it to the level that I would be proud of.

We launched in February and in July we had 16,000 unique visitors (in June we had 11,000 so at least we're going up). We get 24,000 to 30,000 page views steadily. I'm told that my community channel is the second highest (in the Miami network), with the first being an organization that got a very large grant and has a staff. I'm solo. I am intentionally growing s-l-o-w-l-y and not racking up expenses because I want to be in this for the long haul.

With business owners, I've had a positive response going door to door. When they see how affordable the advertising is, they usually raise their eyebrows and want more information. I'm realizing that many businesses don't yet know about us, despite our marketing efforts.

I think I've received more critical looks from fellow journalists, who haven't yet accepted the fact that the industry has changed. They want exhaustive coverage, which may not be possible now, or think hyperlocal news is boring, which I disagree with. I think we have enough competition with TV and the Internet on national, state and metro news.

What market are you trying to serve? Why do see this as a good opportunity?

Acle-Menendez: There is currently very little news coverage in West Kendall and it's a strong market for readers. West Kendall has a lot of people (250,000) and businesses to support it. Many are small business owners, just like me. And I really like what I do.

What is the best part of your partnership with the Herald?

Acle-Menendez: There are many advantages. One, I don't deal with any technological blunders. They've set up a system that makes it easy and fast to post a story and photos. If something isn't working, I send them an e-mail and they handle it. Two, we share content. If I'm busy selling one day or don't have new content to post, I will look for a story the Herald has written, assuming it is timely and about something in my area or near it. Three, I don't have to worry about posting ads I sell. I send the ad department the order, complete with logo, and they post. Last, they drive traffic to the site, especially when they mention it on their main page.

The best part of the partnership for me is that it is nice to have a big brother to turn to for help and information. Having said that, this is still tough to do solo and make sustainable. There are disadvantages, of course, but in my opinion the advantages outnumber those.

What are some disadvantages of your partnership with the Herald?

Acle-Menendez: All the community channels on The Miami Herald's website look the same, except for the colors at the top and the logos. I can't design it differently or add a bell/whistle that the others won't have. But, in terms of creativity, I only have input.

I could, if I wanted, separate my website (which currently points to the Herald's) and just link to the Herald's website and customize mine, but that would double my work right now (I'd have to manage the content of two sites) and I'd rather spend my time on the other 1,000 things I need to do (marketing, selling, tracking, etc.).

What advice would you give to other independent news startups considering partnering with a big media brand?

Acle-Menendez: In my case, I trust the two executives who approached me because I had worked with them for years. I knew their character. They also didn't sugarcoat it, described it as "jumping off the cliff." I appreciated that honesty.

My advice would be: "Why not?" Give it a go and make your mistakes on the back of a big partner. Just make sure that if the partnership dissolves, you can take what you built and continue -- if that's what you want.

At the recent seminar for new news entrepreneurs at Poynter, one of the recurring questions was whether it was a good idea to partner with big media or better to go it alone. In several cases, "big media" was also the place of former employment for the entrepreneur -- so a certain, shall we say, bias was involved. It's understandable, of course. If you were laid off or forced to take a buyout from a newspaper, the last thing you want to add to your new business plan is a "win-win partnership" with the very people who spurned you.

It's important to remember: This is business, not personal. The people who laid you off probably didn't want to, but had no choice because of a corporate mandate. And all personal feelings aside, when you are starting a business, you need to focus on what's best for that business, regardless of past personal issues.

"Networked Journalism: How Old and New Media are Collaborating," AEJMC convention session

"Knight Foundation's new biz consultant thinks news startups can learn from outside of journalism," by Laura McGann, Nieman Journalism Lab

It's still too early to tell if West Kendall Today, partnership with The Miami Herald, will work for both parties. It's also too early to tell if the other partnerships the Herald has launched, or the other newspapers that J-Lab has helped, will flourish. In all cases, though, it appears to be a smart experiment.

"I've been in this community long enough to know that, when The Herald pulls out of a community, there is room for another news business to grow there; I've seen the economic cycles over the years, Acle-Menendez says. "With this partnership, the Herald is a collaborator, not a competitor."

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Dan Rather on Political Coverage, Blogosphere, Killian Documents

Dan Rather came to The Poynter Institute this week to speak to members of the public about his years as a broadcast journalist. Before Rather's talk, I interviewed him about the state of today's news industry and what can be done to improve it. You can read a full transcript of the interview below.

"Rather: 'The Public is Not Well-Served by Political Coverage as it is Today' " by Mallary Jean Tenore

Mallary Tenore: In a Washington Post column last year, you wrote that newspapers are the foundation on which hard news rests. More specifically, you said: "The old news model is crumbling, while the Internet, for all its immense promise, is not yet ready to rise in its place and won't be until it can provide the nuts and bolts reporting that most people so take for granted that it escapes their notice." I'm going to violate journalism rules and ask you a three-pronged question: Can you say more about why you think the Internet isn't ready to rise up to the old news model? What will it take for it to rise up, and do you think it ever will?

Dan Rather: Well I did write the story in The Washington Post and I believe it to be true that with journalism, the old order is gone and the new order is not yet in place. ... We have to deal with the here and now. It's all good to talk about the future of journalism and the Internet, which I'm optimistic about and I think there's a great future for journalism and a lot of added value to be had on the Internet, but we're still in the first, early stages of the Internet's potential. ... I think American journalism is in crisis. The crisis has to do with part of the old model falling. The old business model is gone and no viable business model has yet emerged.

There are very few journalism enterprises on the Internet, keeping in mind that the Internet does a lot more than journalism. (It does information, education, marketing and a lot of other things.) But on the journalism side of the Internet, most of what's on the Internet is gathered from other original sources.

In other words, there are not enough boots on the ground, there are not enough working reporters making calls, wearing that shoe leather, doing original reporting. There's a word for it that escapes me at the moment. What is it when they gather information from other places and they sort of accumulate stuff from newspapers, magazines, radio, television and other places on the Internet?

Tenore: Aggregating?

Rather: Yes.

The point is, they don't have what Alex Jones at Harvard has called the iron core of journalism, which is to stay staffs of reporters, including my own preference, particularly on international reporting or investigative reporting. This is labor-intensive work. I do think the Internet has added some value with bloggers sort of gathering up information for other people, but they don't have original reporting. By and large, it doesn't exist on the Internet. It feeds on itself, and on other established -- shrinking, but established -- news enterprises.

So we come back to the question of what do we do with this interim period? Now when I wrote the piece in The Washington Post, I admitted and acknowledged that I don't have the answer. I don't know of anybody who does have the answer. Some very good minds and a lot of bright people have tried to find the answer. So what I had is an idea. It was almost immediately rejected and it didn't go anywhere.

We have a crisis in one of our most important crafts -- businesses if you want to call it that. And in the past when we've had these crises, for the automobile business, for the early stages of the microchip business, for the steel business and what have you, it's not that unusual for the president to call together the best minds and say we may or may not have the government intervene.

I thought it would be a good idea for him to call together some of the brightest people in the country, including those in journalism but not confined to that, and say, let's see what we can do. An independent, -- a truly independent and truly free press, a fiercely independent but necessary press -- is the red beating heart of freedom and democracy, and it's absolutely essential to our system.

Now I did not call for the president to give government help and I did not want any laws passed. I don't want the government in newsrooms. It was immediately attacked as a move in that direction. I didn't intend it to be, and I think any reasonable person trying to be objective when they read what I proposed would come to that conclusion.

How do we preserve this vital business, this vital industry, this vital craft of the country, since it's absolutely essential? Whether it is, as Dan Rather thinks, in a crisis or not, it's clearly in serious trouble with newspapers closing, staffs cut. But the idea didn't go anywhere and I don't think it is going anywhere. So now I'm at the point where, OK that was my idea, now what's your idea? We're floundering at the moment and we're floundering in the midst of crisis.

Tenore: At the Democratic National Convention in 2008, you said the news is now filled with "so-called political debates, where the one thing assured not to happen is genuine debates and where the questions the public really cares about seldom seem to get asked." What do you think needs to be done to improve political coverage?

Rather: Well the first thing is that those of us who are in journalism, and I do not exclude myself from this criticism, need a spine transplant. I said it before and I'll say it again here. We need to suck it up and get back to delivering to the American people quality, integrity-filled journalism, in this case, applied specifically to political coverage. So much of political coverage is about the horse race -- who's up and who's down -- and that's generally based on polling.

You never me anybody who believes less in public opinion polls. They're valuable in that they can be a snapshot of a given moment, but the moment changes. But so much of the new coverage is, well, there's a new poll by Joe Blow and the poll shows so and so, and that passes for coverage. What's needed is deep digging, reporting of this sort that, for example, follows the money.

It's an old axiom in journalism, and a valid one: If you want to know what's really going on, as opposed to what others want you to believe is going on, then follow the dollar and the kind of political coverage that asks and seeks an answer to questions such as the following: Who is giving what to whom, expecting to get what? And that's just one example of where I think political coverage, including my own, needs drastic overhaul and improvement.

So number one is journalists need to get back to their business of being patriotic journalists in a free and democratic country and perform their function as watchdogs, as part of the system of checks and balances. We all know that huge sums of money are corrupting the whole political process, beginning with elections.

For example, the last presidential election in this country, when all was said and done and you put everything together, costs more than $2 billion. That's what was spent through the primaries, through the general election, all told. That money, not all of it came from special interests, but the bulk of it came from special interests -- big pharmaceutical companies, big broadcasting networks, television, radio, electronic, big labor -- and that's a very short list. But you have a more recent example here in Florida where just to win a primary, at least two candidates spend what, more than $50 million or $60 million of their own money. This has reached the serious out-of-whack stage.

So you say how can we improve coverage? Getting serious about where the money comes from, who gives it to whom, for what purpose -- and most of it is given for a purpose. The case can be made -- and I'm here to make it -- that very large, international corporations, conglomerates control the government, and I would include some elements of big labor in that.

The public is not well-served by political coverage as it is today. And I think it has to be noted, and there's no joy in noting this, that in many important ways, very big business is in bed with big government and whoever's in power in Washington, whether it be Republicans or Democrats -- not in the public interest, but in the business interest of the huge corporations and in the staying in power business of those in Washington. And this seriously affects news coverage.

Someone might say, well what is he talking about? Well let me give you an example. As recently as the 1950s, mid 1950s, there were more than 50 news enterprises, which is to say businesses, in the country that could accurately be described as having national distribution or large regional distribution.

Now, there are no more than six, and I would argue only four, very large conglomerate, international corporations who control more than 80 percent of the national distribution of news. This is out of whack. Let me pause and say I've never worked for anybody in the enterprise other than a profit-making enterprise. I believe in the capital system, but as applied to media, we have in no small degree monopolies now.

Now a great Republican president, Theodore Roosevelt did his party great service, and more importantly his country a great service, by breaking up the trust, which is to say the monopolies at the turn of the 20th century. ... I'm not a business person, but in the end I think they're not in the best interest of American business. I recognize that one gets criticized very heavily when get into this area, but I'm at the age and stage in my own career where I try to draw from my experience.

I love this country, I want the country to be better for my children and grandchildren as most Americans do. And when and if the public finally get focused on this -- that too few big international companies control too much of the national news distribution -- then I think it may change. But until the public really understands what is happening with this, and understands that it is not a special pleading of journalists such as myself, can we come back to a really vibrant, truly independent, fiercely independent press that is important to the survival of freedom and representing government as we know it.

Tenore: Along the lines of educating people on political matters, how effective do you think PolitiFact, and other efforts to fact-check political news, are?

Rather: Well, I applaud those efforts, and I certainly think they're worthwhile. You can put this under my opinion, but I think the facts in the ground bear it out, that up to and including now, their impact has been too minimal and too small. But God bless them for trying and may their tribe increase.

Tenore: So you don't think enough people know about them, then?

Rather: No, I don't think enough people know about them. I think their distribution and their readership is too small, and too diffused to make much of an impact, but I want to emphasize I admire what they do. This is what every good newspaper, every television station, every network ought to be doing. But in so many cases -- it's not unanimous, there are some exceptions -- but by and large, this is not what they do.

So often, particularly covering politics, enterprises describing themselves as journalistic enterprises, and journalists who describe themselves as journalists, have in fact become just transmission belts. The reporters are transcribers who transcribe what is said and just put it out there. And this is important to recognize. Let me back up again and say I include myself in this criticism, that we now know that in the run-up to the Iraq war, that not enough tough questions were asked, not nearly enough tough questions were asked.

Very few tough questions were asked, not enough facts were checked, not enough of the attitude that says, ok, this is what the government says is the situation, this is what the president says is the situation, now listen, let's put that against the known facts, let's try to find out some facts. I am not saying we wouldn't have gone to war with Iraq anyway. We might or we might not have. The point is, we never had a real national debate about it.

We accepted the government's view, and blindly accepting the government's, any government's view, leaves you open to propaganda. And what happened in the run-up to the Iraq war is that the administration of that time commanded the narrative, and the press bought that narrative. Anybody who didn't buy that narrative was sort of shunned off to the periphery. And this led, by any reasonable objective analysis, to a strategic blunder of historic proportions.

Tenore: You said in a UC Berkeley interview that you didn't realize the power of bloggers until a group of conservative bloggers questioned whether the documents were falsified and spread the news on the Web. I'm curious about what role you think bloggers, (or the so-called "Fifth Estate,") play in today's news media industry. Would you say their relationship with the mainstream media is symbiotic, or would you characterize it as being more adversarial?

Rather: Well, this may surprise some people, but I think on the whole and in general, the development of blogging has been a good development, that's number one. Number two, I think it's easy, perhaps a little too easy, to over estimate it and to over dramatize it.

After all, a blog is only one part of the huge Internet. The Internet does a lot of other things. I'd be happy at another time to discuss my own case, but this was an example of how a carefully orchestrated for partisan political and partisan ideological purposes can distort the facts and distort the truth.

I am not saying everybody who didn't like our report fits that category. But in discovery and deposition of the lawsuit that I filed, in the end, the appeals court in New York didn't let us go to trial. I wish we had. But it was clear to demonstrate in what discovery and in what depositions we did get, that the corporate entity, which is to say Viacom and CBS, did not handle this story and this case as CBS News had historically handled controversy and attacks from partisan, political operations.

But, whatever one thinks of my case and our story, your question has to do with the larger "blogosphere" as it's called. And put me down as saying, I think it has its problems. The biggest problem is accountability. That you can put anything on the Internet, and pretty much be assured of anonymity, or something close to anonymity, no matter what you say.

Let me say in an asterisk spot on the page, and with our story about George Bush's military record, the story was true. It was true then, it's true now, and evidence of that is neither the president nor anyone close around him, so far as I know, (and I think I would know if they had), has ever denied the narrative of the story, which led to such things as the then-president had defied a direct order to have a physical examination. He did not meet his requirements for the National Guard, he got an honorable discharge under circumstances which others without his name or influence would not have gotten.

I don't seek to go over this ground all over again, but I do think it's important to point out that the story was true, and for those who didn't like the story, for their partisan, political, or ideological reasons, that's the reason they had to attack it so fiercely and, as it turned out, yes so effectively, I'm sorry to say. But even with the documents, up to and including this time, no one has ever proven that the documents were not what they were purported to be. Could I be wrong about that? Yes, but nobody has ever proven it.

Again, I want to say I'm not here to retry the case. We took a big pounding, and some very good journalists who worked with me lost their careers over it. But having said all that, and pointing it out as an example of how the blogosphere and how the Internet can be used, for highly partisan, political and ideological purposes, most of it is not useful. But it comes back to the core problem, which is accountability. If you can manage your neighbor, you can say something really awful about them, that they molested children or something like that, and it spreads worldwide. It's not a fact and it has no basis in fact. But it's frequently impossible, if not always impossible, to prove what the source is.

Now, I think this problem, this weakness of the Internet and the blogosphere will eventually be addressed. I don't have the answer to it now. I'm not in favor of government control of it. I'm not in favor of censoring it. I think it needs to be free and open. I don't know how to deal with this problem.

And let's note that when you're in the newspaper, if you make that kind of accusation, either your name is on a story or it's easy to ascertain. It's public knowledge who wrote the story. And even with the letters to the editor, responsible newspapers require verification of who wrote the letter. So how to get this kind of accountability with the blogosphere and the Internet, I do see as a big problem. And I'm not in favor of government interference to solve it.

Tenore: In a Huffington Post story, you said that until recently, you had no idea what Twitter was. "Much of what we tweet, or post, or chat away at under the guise of news, are distractions," you wrote. Lots of journalists nowadays, though, use Twitter to report and disseminate stories. How important do you think social media is to today's journalism?

Rather: Well, it plays a very big role. But the term "social media" encompasses so much. It encompasses Facebook, Twitter, iTunes -- we can go down the list. Again, I think overall and in the main, that it's good. I don't twitter a lot, but I've become convinced by the people I work with that when one does what I do, you need to twitter. And we do have Facebook for the program for "Dan Rather Reports."

Do I have a personal Facebook? I don't think so. But that's not because I'm opposed. It's just there's so many hours in the day, and my desire and my destiny is to spend my time reporting, so for every minute I spend on Twitter or Facebook or some social media, it takes away from how I want to spend my life.

But I think it's increasingly important in politics and in business and in personal relationships to have these so-called social media. And I think there'll be more of them, not fewer. Some of them will go by the wayside. Twitter is the big thing now. Who knows what's going to be post-Twitter.

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Rather: 'The Public is Not Well-Served by Political Coverage as it is Today'

Longtime CBS News broadcaster Dan Rather came to The Poynter Institute this week to talk about what it was like to cover some of the world's biggest stories throughout the past half-century.

I sat down with him to hear his thoughts on the state of the news industry and how to improve it. Rather shared his take on the untold stories in politics; the effectiveness of sites that fact-check the news; and the ways in which his experience with bloggers during the Killian documents controversy still shapes his view of them today.

Big businesses' negative impact on political news coverage

You can read a full transcript of the interview here.

Rather: 'If we'd had spell check back then I'd still be in the newspaper business'

Rather, who is now anchor and managing editor of HDNet's "Dan Rather Reports," said too much of today's political coverage is reduced to horse-race reporting and public opinion polling. Such polls are valuable to the extent that they can provide a snapshot of a given moment, he said, but that moment changes.

The 78-year-old advocated for deeper investigative reporting that looks at the money involved in politics, and he suggested that journalists ask: "Who is giving what to whom, expecting to get what?"

'"The public is not well-served by political coverage as it is today," said Rather, who did not exclude himself from this criticism. "In many important ways, very big business is in bed with big government and whoever's in power in Washington, whether it be Republicans or Democrats ... and this seriously affects news coverage."

Too often, he said, political coverage is governed by the large corporate entities that own news organizations and that don't always have the public's best interest in mind.

"An independent, a truly independent and truly free press, a fiercely independent but necessary press," Rather said, "is the red beating heart of freedom and democracy, and it's absolutely essential to our system."

Political fact-checking sites need to expand reach

Rather said he doesn't think PolitiFact and other efforts to fact-check political news reach a wide enough audience, despite efforts to expand. Still, he applauds them.

"This is what every good newspaper, every television station, every network ought to be doing. But in so many cases -- it's not unanimous, there are some exceptions -- but by and large, this is not what they do," Rather said. "So often, particularly covering politics, enterprises that describe themselves as journalistic enterprises, and journalists who describe themselves as journalists, in fact just become transmission belts."

He said journalists can quickly become transcribers who simply write down what they hear without asking tough questions, partly out of fear that they'll seem unpatriotic.

Leading up to the Iraq war, most journalists blindly accepted the government's statements without checking to see if the information matched up with the facts, he said. (There were some exceptions, Rather said, such as McClatchy's Washington bureau, which didn't accept the Bush administration's claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.)

"What happened in the run-up to the Iraq war is that the administration of that time commanded the narrative, and the press bought that narrative," Rather said. "And this led to, by any reasonable objective analysis, a strategic blunder of historic proportions."

"Highly partisan, political" nature of the blogosphere

Rather has acknowledged that he never realized the power of bloggers until after he reported the infamous story about the Jerry B. Killian documents that criticized Bush's service in the Army National Guard. At the time, conservative bloggers questioned whether the documents were falsified and began a debate about it online. No one has yet to prove the authenticity of the documents.

Rather said the Killian controversy shows how the blogosphere lacks accountability and can be used for "highly partisan, political and ideological purposes." He stood by his belief that, despite what all the bloggers said at the time, the Killian story was true.

"It was true then, it's true now, and evidence of that is neither the president nor anyone close around him, so far as I know, (and I think I would know if they had), has ever denied the narrative of the story," Rather said. "I don't seek to go over this ground all over again, but I do think it's important to point out that the story was true, and for those who didn't like the story, for their partisan, political, or ideological reasons, that's the reason they had to attack it so fiercely and, as it turned out, so effectively, I'm sorry to say."

Need for new business models to replace old one

Despite the growing influence of online news, Rather said he still thinks we're in the early stages of the Internet's potential. He called for more original, shoe-leather reporting on the Internet and less aggregated content, particularly when it comes to international and investigative coverage.

The old business model for news is crumbling, he said, and the Internet has not yet risen in its place. He's said before that he wishes President Barack Obama would form a commission to help save journalism jobs and establish new business models.

"In the past when we've had these crises, for the automobile business, for the early stages of the microchip business, for the steel business and what have you, it's not that unusual for the president to call together the best minds and say we may or may not have the government intervene," Rather said. "I thought it would be a good idea for him to call together some of the brightest people in the country, including those in journalism but not confined to that, and say, let's see what we can do."

The idea has not gone anywhere, and Rather said he doesn't think it will anytime soon.

Social media is "increasingly important" in politics

Twitterers criticized Rather earlier this year for making what some believed to be a racially-charged comment about Obama's efforts to get health care legislation passed. Rather later responded to the buzz on Twitter, saying, "Much of what we tweet, or post, or chat away at under the guise of news, are distractions."

Rather told me he's since found that, in general, social networking sites can be an important tool for journalists.

"I think it's increasingly important in politics and in business and in personal relationships to have these so-called social media. And I think there'll be more of them, not fewer," he said. "Some of them will go by the wayside. Twitter is the big thing now. Who knows what's going to be post-Twitter."

Though Rather has both a Twitter and Facebook account for "Dan Rather Reports," he said he doesn't spend much time updating them because he'd rather be doing what he likes best -- being out in the field reporting.

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Advertising and Marketing

Advertising Age:    What You Missed on 'Mad Men'

In Victorian fiction there were marriage plots that were all about getting the heroine to the altar. In "Mad Men" episodes featuring Peggy Olsen there are work plots wherein it is predetermined that the the young copywriter will, often at some boy's expense, end up slaving away at some tagline or another.

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   Long Slogans Are Absolutely, Positively More Effective Than Short Ones

In spite of the success of long-form slogans, the marketing industry seems fixated on the idea that when it comes to slogans, the shorter the better.

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   Dentsu Design Ninjas Specialize in Wacky Ads for Japan

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   Uniqlo's U.K. Twitter Campaign Looks to Be a Perfect Fit for Retailer

LONDON (Adage.com) -- Japanese clothes retailer Uniqlo has found a novel way of encouraging U.K. shoppers give the brand a big presence on Twitter -- by reducing the price of clothing pieces every time someone sends a tweet about an item.

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   Eric Silver Becomes Majority Owner of Amalgamated, New York

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Eric Silver is trading in big-agency life to run a small, indie shop. The former top creative at Omnicom Group's DDB is taking a majority ownership stake in 34-person Amalgamated, New York, and will serve as its chief creative officer.

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Ad Week:    Arby's Adjusts Media Recipe

The review of creative duties on Arby's' account comes as the chain seeks to raise its national profile, partly through a shift in TV buying patterns.

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   Initiative Taps Kendra Hatcher King for Global Post

She joins the IPG shop from Starcom MediaVest as director of insight and innovation.

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   Wieden CDs Write Their Own Future

The team behind Nike's "Write the Future" campaign will now lead creative at Wieden + Kennedy in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

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   Lexus' Precision Instrument

Our ad critic, Barbara Lippert, digs the beat of Team One's tricky new music-minded effort for Lexus.

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   U.S. Ad Market Forecast to Grow 3%

A new forecast from media and marketing research firm SNL Kagan predicts the U.S. ad market will rebound with nearly 3 percent growth this year to $210 billion after two years of declines. The firm is forecasting growth in the sector for the foreseeable future, predicting ad spend of $214.3 billion in 2011 and reaching $275.8 billion by 2019. The firm's near-term forecast is in-line with other recent predictions. In July, Zenith Optimedia upped its 2010 North America forecast by almost 3 percentage points.

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PR Week:    Tony Cervone to leave United

CHICAGO: United SVP and CCO Tony Cervone confirmed that he will leave the company upon close of the Continental-United merger, slated for early October.

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   Rbb makes second acquisition of 2010

MIAMI: Rbb PR acquired Thorp & Company effective September 1, four months after finalizing its acquisition of Haber & Quinn in May.

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   Cision offers free software to PR students

CHICAGO: Public relations software and tools company Cision enhanced its on-demand College and University Program and made it free to students.

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   Former press secretary Myers joins Glover Park Group

WASHINGTON: Dee Dee Myers, former White House Press Secretary and current political analyst and author, has joined Glover Park Group as a managing director in its public affairs practice.

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   Business Wire expands its stake in Texas

AUSTIN, TX: Press release wire service Business Wire is opening an office in Austin this month.

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WSJ Media & Marketing:    French Comic Takes Jokes Too Far

Through the ages, French comics have struggled to be interestingly provocative without risking their livelihoods. Sharp-tongued Stéphane Guillon went a bit too far.

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   Billboards That Can See You

Japan is pioneering the use of cameras and sensors to glean more information about who is looking at signs and electronic public displays, and is incorporating cellphone technology to make them more interactive.

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   Baidu Unveils App Store

Baidu unveiled a platform that lets users run applications through the company's website, beating Google to the punch. Users of the service can run applications similar to those found on Facebook or Apple's App Store.

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   Samsung Unveils iPad Rival

Samsung introduced its Galaxy Tab to rival Apple's iPad tablet. The device could help the company make up for lost ground in its smartphone business.

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   Estée Lauder Touches Up Makeup Push

To lure shoppers to its department-store counters, Estée Lauder CEO Fabrizio Freda is tossing aside old traditions like hidden price tags, nagging consultants and glass cases that keep makeup out of reach.

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Brandweek:    Brand Icons 'Guest Star' in Xerox Campaign

Following recent acquisition, the company is launching its largest effort in decades.

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   Apple Goes Social With Ping

New social network serves as a promo platform for artists and a music discovery vehicle.

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   Pharma (Slowly) Goes Digital

Online spending is expected to increase 10 percent this year.

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   Timberland Offers 3D View of Earthkeepers

Global effort employs 3D technology, social media to tout the brand's eco-friendly apparel.

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   Disney Plugs In With Camp Rock 2 Sponsors

Cross-platform deals include Honda, Verizon FiOS, Best Western and Sara Lee.

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New Media and Internet

Wired:    Sound of Justin Bieber's Data, and Other 'Hack Day' Mashups

LONDON — Every so often, in cities across the world, a group of digital music professionals get together for a Hack Day, where they'll cobble together hardware, software and anything else they can get their hands on into innovative musical mashups. London's event took place last weekend, and it was an orgy of creativity. Here are 10 of our favorites.

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   Read an Excerpt From William Gibson's New Novel, Zero History

Get a look at the sci-fi writer's latest future-present story, in which a detail-obsessed Russian translator named Milgrim, a postmodern marketing mogul known as Hubertus Bigend and a taste-making detective called Hollis Henry tussle with technology and its far-reaching tentacles.

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   William Gibson Talks Up Twitter, Zero History

The Neuromancer author digs deep into the vertigo-inducing machinations of modern life to spin a story about militarism, marketing and "gear queers." He also calls Twitter "the most powerful novelty aggregator that has ever existed."

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   Why Everything Wireless Is 2.4 GHz

You live your life at 2.4 GHz. Your router, your cordless phone, your Bluetooth earpiece, your baby monitor and your garage opener all love and live on this radio frequency, and no others. Why? The answer is in your kitchen.

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   Eerie Ukrainian Salt Mines House Convalescing Asthmatics

The Eastern European practice of speleotherapy claims salt air helps breathing issues, which leads to patients lining the halls of subterranean caves.

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TechCrunch:    As Digg Struggles, VP Of Engineering Is Shown The Door

Ever since Digg launched its new site design, it's been plagued with all kinds of trouble, not least of which is that it keeps going down. The problems with the new architecture are so bad that VP of Engineering John Quinn is now gone, we've confirmed with sources close to Digg. In a Diggnation video today, CEO Kevin Rose explained some of the technical issues the site is dealing with and why it can't simply roll back to the previous architecture. The new version of Digg, v4, is based on a distributed database called Cassandra, which replaced the MySQL database the site ran on before. Cassandra is very advanced—it is supposed to be faster and scale better—but perhaps it is still too experimental. Or maybe it's just the way Digg implemented it (Twitter uses Cassandra, although not for its main data store, as does Facebook in places, but it obviously is not as battle-tested as it needs to be). Every engineer at Digg is currently just trying to keep the site up and running.

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   We Make Our Turkish Celebrity Gossip TV Show Debut Thanks To The Facebook Song

At TechCrunch, we're obviously no strangers to having our reports cited in the mainstream media from time to time. But one latest example is particularly awesome. A couple weeks ago, we mentioned the excellent Facebook music video by Turkish pop star Ismail YK. Apparently, that story led to an entire segment on a Turkish celebrity gossip show, as Turkish TechCrunch reader Arda Kutsal (and editor of Turkish Web 2.0 site Webrazzi) pointed out. Kutsal was even able to find the clip of the segment on YouTube. If you cut to about 1:40 in you'll see and hear a massive amount about TechCrunch and myself. Though, if you're like me and can't understand Turkish, you'll probably understand little else. Still, very cool.

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   HP Confirms It Is Suing Mark Hurd For Potential Leakage Of Trade Secrets To Oracle

It seems like only yesterday that Oracle announced it was hiring former HP CEO Mark Hurd to be a Co-President and member of the Board -- that's because it was just yesterday. And now just one day later, we have a lawsuit filed by HP to block such a maneuver by Oracle. In confirming the lawsuit in a brief blog post today, HP's official corporate blog highlights what they see as the key issue here: trade secrets and confidential information. HP even included a link to the full complaint that they've posted on Scribd (embed below). Here's the key nugget:

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   Michelle Obama Program Blames Sony PlayStation For Making America’s Children Fat

Consuming more calories than you use makes you fat. That's a fact, Jack. Figuring out where these calories come from, OK, that's a noble endeavor, but let's not pretend there's anything secret going on here. Like, you see this graphic here? It's the winner of some Michelle Obama-headed design contest to help folks figure out how to best fight childhood obesity. And you'll see the PlayStation completely demonized, as if Sony itself is somehow responsible for little kids packing on the pounds.

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   Eric Schmidt: “We Know Where You Are, We Know What You Like”

During a keynote at the IFA in Berlin, Eric Schmidt topped off presentations on Voice Powered Search, Street View Search and Google TV by emphasizing how much Google values being fast and that current technological advancements are nearing the realm of science fiction, or what he called, "The age of augmented humanity." The IFA stands for International Funkausstellung, which roughly translates to International Radio Exhibition. In a press release, IFA Director Jens Heithecker explained the interesting choice of keynote speaker.

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CNET:    Coming Wednesday: Live at Google's search event

Google plans to host a search event featuring top executives and engineers Wednesday, and we'll provide live coverage in this post.

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   Why iTunes song samples are still only 30 seconds

Apple in "active negotiations" for song samples with rights holders, but some music publishers want Apple to pay. How the negotiations fare could set the mood for negotiations over cloud music.

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   Android app is like Foursquare meets Pirate Bay

Created as part of The Guardian's Music Hack Day, Piracy app lets users "drop" songs from their music collection in physical locations for other users to pick up later.

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   Court allows warrantless cell location tracking

Court rules no search warrant is needed for police to track Americans' cell phone whereabouts, but says individual judges can "sparingly" require one.

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   Microelectrodes help brain signals 'speak'

Using two grids of 16 microelectrodes implanted atop the brain, Utah researchers are one step closer to enabling paralyzed people to speak via their thoughts.

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InternetNews:    Microsoft IE Browser Slips in Share After Gains

Microsoft has been hyping the recent gains in market share Internet Explorer has enjoyed in recapturing some of its eroding market share, but the latest figures suggest that it could be slipping again.

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   Oracle's Surprise, Mark Hurd Named President

How will the high profile signing of HP's ex-CEO Mark Hurd help Oracle in its quest to take on IBM and other systems providers?

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   Cybersecurity Czar: Privacy Won't Be a Casualty

NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander reaffirmed his view that protecting U.S. government, military and civilian data networks doesn't mean sacrificing citizens' right to privacy.

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   Microsoft Boosts IT Certification Effort

The company's Elevate America initiative aims to get IT education and certifications in the hands of more potential workers.

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   Google Faces Heat Over Privacy Tweaks

A move to reduce legalese has one privacy advocacy group up in arms.

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Entertainment and Talent

Deadline:    UTA Signs Wyatt Cenac

Wyatt Cenac, correspondent and writer on Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart, has signed with UTA. Cenac joined The Daily Show in June 2008. Before that, he spent 3 years as a writer on the Fox animated comedy King of the Hill. Cenac is managed by Generate.

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   Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Jerry Herman Head Kennedy Center Honorees

The Kennedy Center Honors this year will fete Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Bill T. Jones, Merle Haggard and Jerry Herman. The ceremony will be held December 5 and will be turned into a two-hour CBS special to be broadcast December 28. The honorees were selected for their American cultural contributions.

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   Liam Neeson Joins 'Battleship'

Liam Neeson has joined the cast of Battleship, the Universal Pictures action adventure which just began filming today under director Peter Berg. Neeson plays Admiral Shane, the Naval officer whose daughter (played by Brooklyn Decker) is engaged to a young naval officer played by Taylor Kitsch. The pics shoots in Hawaii. Alexander Skarsgaard plays Kitsch's older brother, and Rihanna plays Kitsch's crew mate and a weapons specialist. Pic's produced by Scott Stuber, Berg and Sarah Aubrey, Hasbro's Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir, and Duncan Henderson.

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   Amy Poehler to Host 'SNL' Season Premiere; 4 Join The NBC Show As Featured Players

NBC just announced that Saturday Night Live alum Amy Poehler will host the 36th season premiere of the latenight sketch show on September 25 with musical guest Katy Perry. The network also confirmed that Vanessa Bayer, Paul Brittain, Taran Killam, and Jay Pharoah will join the cast of SNL as featured players. Poehler, who spent 8 years on SNL before segueing to primetime as the star of NBC's Parks and Recreation, follows in the footsteps of fellow recent SNL alum and current NBC series star, Poehler's former Weekend Update co-anchor Tina Fey, who also returned to SNL as host. Here is more background on SNL's new featured players: Vanessa Bayer joins the cast of SNL from iO Chicago, The Annoyance, and The Second City. Paul Brittain is a veteran of the iO Theater in Chicago where he performed as a member with numerous improv and sketch groups. Taran Killam hails from Los Angeles, where he established his comedy career as a main company member of The Groundlings, performing with numerous improv and sketch groups, and also appearing in The Groundlings’ Sunday company. Originally from Virginia, Jay Pharoah honed his performing skills in community theater and at local comedy clubs. No official word yet on who besides Will Forte would be leaving SNL, with last year's addition Jenny Slate rumored as a possibility.

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   Sony, Disney Step Into 3D TV Rabbit Hole

DISNEY AND SONY DRIVE BLU-RAY 3D™ THROUGH U.S. MARKETING INITIATIVE ‘ALICE IN WONDERLAND’ To Make Its 3D Debut In The Home With Select Sony 3D Products Burbank, Calif., September 7, 2010 -- The Walt Disney Studios and Sony Electronics have joined forces in the United States to provide both consumer and retail education, promotion and marketing support for in-home 3D devices and content. The collaboration includes advertising and retail execution, as well as product bundling, including the Blu-ray 3D debut of one of 2010’s most successful films, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. Launching during the high-traffic holiday retail season, this innovative campaign, running nationwide in the U.S., incorporates 10 different Sony 3D BRAVIA HDTVs and includes one of the most successful 3D films in history, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. “We are excited to partner with Sony on 3D offerings and to offer consumers their first chance to experience one of 2010’s top 3D films and the amazing spectacle of Wonderland in their very own homes,” said Lori MacPherson, General Manager of Home Entertainment for The Walt Disney Studios. “We recognize Sony is a leader in HD hardware and we know movie lovers will enjoy the immersive content that is a part of Disney’s 3D titles.” The marketing campaign features multiple consumer incentives as well as a comprehensive television, on-line, social media and print campaign. With the purchase of select Sony’s 3D BRAVIA HDTVs, consumers will have a choice between Alice in Wonderland or the family favorite Bolt on Blu-ray 3D. In many markets outside ... Read More »

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Variety:    Lionsgate works out deal with Fonda

Top News: Duo pact on new line of workout videos -- Lionsgate has struck a home entertainment distribution deal with Jane Fonda and her new line of workouts geared to baby boomers.

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   Neeson gears up for 'Battleship'

Film News: Actor joins cast of Universal pic -- Liam Neeson is joining the cast of Universal's "Battleship" alongside Alexander Skarsgard, Taylor Kitsch, Brooklyn Decker and Rihanna.

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   Pieces of Vincent

Legit Reviews: Script and experimental staging are only partially successful in Watson's low-key mood piece.

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   Candide

Music Reviews: A bountiful flowering of Bernstein's underrated melodic gift.

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   Godard to skip honorary Oscars

Film News: Maestro is too old to fly for 'a bit of metal,' girlfriend says -- French film maestro Jean-Luc Godard won't attend the Nov. 13 ceremony to collect his honorary Oscar.

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Billboard:    DMX Calls Plies 'One of the Worst' Rappers Out

DMX dropped by St. Louis radio station Hot 104.1 to talk about his new album but ended up dissing Plies in the process.

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   Tupac 'Wanted Me to Smoke Weed' With Him: Mike Tyson

When Mike Tyson looks back on his friendship with Tupac Shakur, he thinks about the rapper's big heart, explosive anger - and the one regret he has about their relationship.

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   Smash Mouth, Tears for Fears Soundtrack 'Rock Band 3' Trailers

A new trailer for Harmonix's "Rock Band 3" has arrived and breaks down the innovative addition of keyboards to the game, due out Oct. 26.

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   Update: John Lennon's Killer Denied Parole Again

John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman is scheduled to be interviewed at the Attica Correctional Facility this week.

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   Wyclef Accuses Sean Penn of Cocaine Use; Actor Responds

Wyclef Jean's claws came out at a New York concert Friday night (Sept. 4), when he used his music to accuse Sean Penn of using cocaine.

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Backstage:    Comedian Robert Schimmel Killed In Car Crash

Standup comic Robert Schimmel, a frequent guest on Howard Stern's radio show, has died after suffering serious injuries in a car accident. He was 60.

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   Aussie Teen War Drama Set to Explode Worldwide

Australia may finally have a homegrown blockbuster on its hands with the terrifically engaging "Tomorrow, When the War Began," an action-packed war film for and about teenagers.

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   Angelina Jolie Meets Flood Victims in Pakistan

American movie star Angelina Jolie met flood victims in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday and appealed to the international community to provide aid needed to help the country recover from its worst natural disaster.

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   Scorsese Film Defends Anti-Communist Informer Kazan

Martin Scorsese's latest film pays a personal tribute to Elia Kazan, one of Hollywood's and Broadway's most influential directors but also a controversial figure who turned anti-communist informant in the McCarthy era.

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The Art Newspaper:    Museums will take their share of the pain

LONDON. Ed Vaizey, who under Jeremy Hunt took over as culture minister following the UKs May ...

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   UK braces itself for swingeing cuts across the board

LONDON. The Treasury has warned of cuts of around 25% to 30% for nearly all departments, with the ...

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   Is art a hedge against inflation?

london. A recent swathe of auction records has led, as in 2004, to speculation that the rich may ...

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   The highs and lows of art at auction

We have taken a selection of works that have appeared at auction more than once to appraise ...

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   UK museum chief makes a splash

A UK museum director has decided to don her bathing costume, pop on the goggles and swim across the ...

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L.A. Times E News:    Kanye West apologizes to Taylor Swift, releases new song, 'Devil in a New Dress'

West has finally taken to his latest favorite medium, Twitter, to apologize to the 20-year-old country music star.

West has finally taken to his latest favorite medium, Twitter, to apologize to the 20-year-old country music star.

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   James Franco gives (perhaps inevitable) quotes about masturbation

The actor relates to his "127 Hours" character in many ways. Viva la method acting.

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   Billy Crudup, Kathleen Turner, Matthew Rhys set for 2010-11 L.A. Theatre Works season

Ron Rifkin, Jane Kaczmarek, Steven Weber in "Enron," and more gear up for the new season.

Ron Rifkin, Jane Kaczmarek, Steven Weber in "Enron," and more gear up for the new season.

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   On-location filming slows to a crawl in L.A.

In the last 10 weeks, combined production days for the major categories was virtually flat compared to the same time a year ago.

In the last 10 weeks, combined production days for the major categories was virtually flat compared to the same time a year ago.

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   Angelina Jolie visits Pakistan flood victims

The "Salt" star sat with Afghan refugees and aid workers in her role as a U.N. goodwill ambassador, the Voice of America reports.

The "Salt" star sat with Afghan refugees and aid workers in her role as a U.N. goodwill ambassador, the Voice of America reports.

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The New Yorker:    Goings on About Town: Art

PageBreak --> MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES METROPOLITAN MUSEUM Fifth Ave. at 82nd St. (212-535-7710)—“Doug + Mike Starn on the Roof: Big Bambú.” Through Oct. 31. | “Hipsters, Hustlers, and Handball Players: Leon Levinstein’s New York Photographs, 1950-1980.” The title of this knockout exhibition doesn . . .

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   Tad Friend: Walking from the Empire State Building to Rockefeller Center, without using avenues.

The goal: to walk from the Empire State Building, on West Thirty-third Street, to Rockefeller Center, on West Forty-eighth, without ever setting foot on Fifth or Sixth Avenue—to knife through tall buildings in a single bound, or at least in stepwise forays. A writer for this . . .

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   Goings on About Town: Night Life

PageBreak --> ROCK AND POP Musicians and night-club proprietors live complicated lives; it’s advisable to check in advance to confirm engagements. B. B. KING BLUES CLUB & GRILL 237 W. 42nd St. (212-997-4144)—Sept. 9: The bantam guitarist and singer Nils Lofgren was a member of . . .

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   Robert Sullivan: An ancient piece of cheese from Lithuania.

This is the story of a hundred-and-seventeen-year-old piece of cheese. The cheese has lived in an apartment in Brooklyn for the past year. Prior to that, it travelled the world, or more of the world than the average piece of cheese has travelled. The cheese is . . .

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   Wells Tower: “The Landlord.”

At ten-thirty, Armando Colón comes to my office. It lifts my mood to see him. Armando lives in one of the worst properties I own, an apartment complex so rife with mold and vermin that, when I sent a man to clean a vacant unit there, he . . .

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Entertainment Weekly:    'SNL': Amy Poehler to host

Lynette Rice confirms exclusively ''Parks and Rec'' star will return to kick off new season on Sept. 25

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   15 fresh faces of fall TV

Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Boris Kodjoe, Maggie Q, more who aren't household names now -- but may be by 2011

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   TV recaps: 'Pad,' 'N.J. 'wives'

Kristen Baldwin on ''ladies'' and ''gentlemen'' hooking up or going home; Emily Exton on reunion, part 2

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   David Letterman on 'The View'

Ken Tucker on late-night host's visit to daytime, where he talks Leno, hearts with returning Barbara Walters

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   'Grey's: Pick season 7 poster!

Michael Ausiello's got two of six images series may use in promos; see how you can vote for your fave