By: E&P Staff
In today's edition, Tribune's stock buyback appears to be on target, the FBI is questioning Page Six editor Richard Johnson, and Internet advertising continues to grow.***
Tribune Stock Buyback Appears Likely to Reach TargetLos Angeles Times: Tribune Co. is likely to succeed today in its effort to buy back as much as 25% of its stock, gaining an interim victory over boardroom critics who recently called for a breakup of the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Times, KTLA-TV Channel 5, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Cubs baseball team and other properties. Yet the dissident Chandler family of California, Tribune's second-largest shareholder, is not expected to give up its fight.
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'NY Post' Gossips GrilledNew York Daily News: The New York Post's embattled Page Six editor Richard Johnson and two underlings have agreed to undergo questioning this week by prosecutors probing disgraced gossip reporter Jared Paul Stern, sources close to the case said yesterday.
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As Online Ads Grow, Eyeballs Are Valuable Again on the WebNew York Times: The great eyeball chase is back in full swing. And it does not matter that the eyeballs may not be buying anything. With online advertising revenues growing quickly, new information-rich sites of all kinds are mushrooming across the Web. Sites devoted to big-ticket purchases ? particularly cars, real estate and travel ? are feverishly refining features and marketing strategies in an effort to attract the growing number of consumers searching the Web for buying advice. Unlike sites like Amazon.com, they do not actually sell any products, but they make a good living selling ads to deep-pocketed companies that do. And a growing lineup of deep-pocketed advertisers are looking for those consumers.
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Bloggers Find Financial Backers for Independent News SitesWall Street Journal: As the print media ponder the possibilities presented by blogs, some journalists are raising money to turn their own independent blogs into businesses. In the latest example, Rafat Ali, the 31-year-old editor and publisher of PaidContent.org and two other news and analysis sites focused on digital media and other high-tech trends, has raised money to expand his Web-publishing business from venture capitalist Alan Patricof.
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Heffernan Launches 'NY Times' Media BlogNew York Times: With television and the Internet converging at last, who's going to watch all this here-goes-nothing online video? Everything from political propaganda videos to nip slips (the popular video of, yup, celebrities revealing their breasts) seems to expect an audience. Virginia Heffernan's blog "Screens" will find, review and make sense of all those senseless new images: web video, viral video, user-driven video, custom interactive video, embedded video ads, web-based VOD, broadband television, diavlogs, vcasts, vlogs, video podcasts, mobisodes, webisodes, mashups and more.
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The Incredible Shrinking NewspaperSlate: "Nothing will bring the traditional newspaper back to its post-WWII position of media dominance -- not color printing, not kids' pages, not expanded high-school sports coverage, not service journalism, nor bingo games on Page One," writes Jack Shafer. "The newspaper habit -- which nearly every American had when it was the only mass media -- must be learned. But given today's many alternatives, younger potential customers have skipped the lesson and migrated to other media forms for edification and amusement. Newspapers attract fewer eyeballs today and will attract fewer tomorrow. But the bad news is only relative."
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The British (Media) Are Coming! But... Why?Reuters: In the last month, several venerated British news operations, including the British Broadcasting Corp., The Times of London, the Guardian newspaper and the Economist magazine unveiled plans to expand in the United States. The strategy, they say, is to offer an international viewpoint the U.S. media does not provide and capture a new source of advertising focused on affluent, well-educated young professionals with a cosmopolitan take on the world.
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Should Reporters Be Jailed for Doing Their Job?ESPN: "The policy that makes grand jury proceedings secret is designed to protect witnesses," writes Roger Cossack. "But it is perfectly legal to reveal grand jury testimony to the media or anyone else if the revelation comes from the witness who gave it. It seems to me that before the government tries to force Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada to reveal their sources, it should ask Conte whether he is the leak. At the least, it should try to avoid the ugly specter of sending reporters to jail for simply doing their jobs."
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After the Berlin Wall Fell, They Led the Rise in JournalismNew York Sun: J"ames Greenfield and Nancy Ward set up shops around the world to help people better tell and sell their stories," writes Pranay Gupte. "They do not necessarily start newspapers, magazines, and broadcasting centers. Instead, they work with local enterprises to broaden the reach of existing news organizations. In a world of galloping globalization where critics of America sometimes rail against perceived neocolonialism, Mr. Greenfield and Ms. Ward are careful not to be seen as exporters of American notions of good journalism. Instead, they emphasize professionalism, transparency, and fairness - values that can strengthen communications institutions anywhere, regardless of the nature of local governance."
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