FRIDAY'S LINKS: Chandlers' Move 'Tacky', Could Gannett Be Next?, 'NYT' Art Critic Resigns From Foundation Board

By: E&P Staff In today's edition Jon Fine wonders which media company will be the next to face shareholder revolt, Rem Rieder calls the Chandler family's move on Tribune "tacky", and Jeffrey Chester presents his "ten-point plan for media democracy."


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Chandlers' Ruckus 'Tacky'
"There's no doubt Trib's performance has been disappointing," writes Rem Rieder in the American Journalism Review. "All those dreams of riches beyond belief stemming from its ballyhooed synergy strategy have failed to materialize. The idea of owning newspapers and TV stations in the same market turned out to be not so much the magic bullet (and the FCC has yet to jettison regulations barring most such arrangements). But that being said, it's pretty tacky for these Chandlers to raise this kind of ruckus, and not just because it was their decision to cash out for $8 billion -- $8 billion. (And they, after all, picked Tribune as the lucky winner)."


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A Little 'Needling' From Bush, Then a Call of Regret
New York Times: "Every once in awhile, at a news briefing, President Bush will poke fun at the reporters who cover him. And, every once in awhile, he will cause a little heartburn for his staff, and the White House press corps, in the process. So it was during a Rose Garden press briefing Wednesday when Mr. Bush called upon a reporter for The Los Angeles Times, Peter Wallsten, and promptly commented on his inquisitor's sunglasses: "Are you going to ask that question with shades on?"


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The National Entertainment State
The Nation: The magazine's editors write that "if the promise of new media is to be fulfilled, progressives must chart a course of activism that confronts the increasing concentration of ownership among the big media powerhouses."


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A Ten-Point Plan for Media Democracy
"The next several years are critical to insure that the promise of what we now experience online--and its vast potential to help build a just civil society--is fulfilled," writes Jeffrey Chester. "With Congress poised to pass legislation that rewrites key parts of the Telecom Act, the following ten action items should be on any media reform agenda."


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JWT Puts a 'Roadblock' on Huffington Post
New York Times: "JWT, the oldest advertising agency in the United States, has purchased all the ad space on The Huffington Post home page for one week, starting tomorrow. The Web site will showcase nine of JWT's best television commercials with links, so that visitors can send the spots via e-mail or instant message. JWT is hoping that the year-old Huffington Post can deliver that elusive phenomenon: a viral marketing sensation, in which consumers spread marketing messages to each other over the Internet."


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Using Blogs to Make Reporters More Relevant
"I think a blog will expose a poor reporter more quickly, while allowing a good reporter to flourish more demonstrably." says award-winning blogger Mike Sando on the Online Journalism Review. "Also, the comments section of a blog will test a reporter's restraint. I've spent a fair amount of time maintaining the comments section by discouraging crassness, hot-temperedness and overall idiocy."


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Could Gannett Be Next for Shareholder Revolt?
"Who's next?" asks Jon Fine in BusinessWeek. "The short answer: maybe Gannett. To a lesser extent, possibly Journal Register. The realer answer: probably nobody, at least for now. Most of the publicly traded newspaper companies either have A/B stock structures that allow a family to retain control, or have family trusts that hold enough stock to achieve the same thing. In this camp: Dow Jones, Lee Enterprises, New York Times Co., Scripps, McClatchy, Washington Post Co., Media General, Belo."


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'NY Times' Art Critic Resigns From Clark Art Institute Board
The Transcript (Mass.): New York Times art critic Gloria Glueck resigned from the board of the Clark Art Institute last week after an Internet blogger questioned her relationship with the museum. "We feel unfortunate that this has happened. We knew of her relationship with The Times and The Times knew of her relationship with us. It was never an issue," said Lisa Green, Clark director of communications.


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End of an Era as Founder Quits French Paper 'Liberation'
Independent (U.K.): "After 33 years, revolution from an unlikely source has come to a newspaper born of revolution. Serge July, the founder-head of the center-left French daily, Liberation, has been asked to leave by its chief shareholder, Edouard de Rothschild, a son of one of the world's most prominent capitalist families."