media
New York Times Tells Employees Why They All Got Diarrhea
Hamilton Nolan · 01/21/10 01:05PMGood god. Remember that little outbreak of a mysterious intestinal illness at the New York Times that shut down the company cafeteria earlier this month? Well, they've run some tests, and...we don't know how to tell you this...it's... Norovirus. (*Checks Wikipedia.*) Dang that makes you throw up and poop!
Obama's Mea Culpas, Missteps and Future Failures
Ravi Somaiya · 01/21/10 08:25AMcityfile · 01/20/10 04:02PM
• As rumored, the New York Times plans to begin charging readers to access stories on the NYT website. It will be a metered system (so only "frequent readers" will be affected), and it doesn't start until 2011. And faithful subscribers to the print edition won't be forced to pay anything extra. [NYT]
• What are the chances Conan lands at Fox? It could happen, but there are plenty of reasons why Fox might decide to back away from a deal. [WSJ]
• The news biz: Talks to bring Ted Koppel back to ABC News appear to have fallen through; Megyn Kelly is getting her own show on Fox News; and CNN has announced it's partnering with hipster mag Vice, oddly enough. [NYO]
• Condé Nast's Fairchild unit has a new chief. Gina Sanders, Lucky's publisher (and Si Newhouse's niece) will now be running the show. [WWD]
• The Sundance Film Festival kicks off in Park City, Utah tomorrow. And it's shaping up to be fest's "most important" year ever, supposedly. [NYT, WSJ]
Limp-Wristed French Allow Woman to Run Newspaper
Hamilton Nolan · 01/20/10 01:56PMPalin vs. Beck in 2010
Hamilton Nolan · 01/20/10 10:21AMNew York Times to Start Charging for Website Next Year
Hamilton Nolan · 01/20/10 09:24AMSarah Palin's Magazine Cover a Big Failure
Hamilton Nolan · 01/20/10 09:14AMWhat's Black, and White and Brown All Over?
Ravi Somaiya · 01/20/10 08:34AMcityfile · 01/19/10 04:19PM
• Negotiations between Conan O'Brien and NBC didn't wrap up today, as expected. Conan is holding out for more severance for the employees who will lose their jobs. Or "posturing" as part of a "PR ploy," to use NBC's words. [NYT]
• Related: Conan has a big lineup planned for the rest of the week, which will be his last. And NBC's Jeff Zucker played defense with Charlie Rose last night.
• Larry King's celebrity telethon for Haiti last night raised $9 million. [Us]
• Speaking of Haiti, do there really need to be hundreds upon hundreds of reporters on the ground covering the disaster from every angle and also gobbling up very precious resources in the process? Good question. [TNR]
• Rumor has it the Times is going to begin charging for online content soon. The plan comes with some pros and cons, as you might expect. [AdAge, PC]
• Apple will probably unveil its tablet computer on Jan. 27. [WP, ZDNet]
• Related: HarperCollins is in talks to put its books on the tablet. [WSJ]
• It's been a full year since Glenn Beck started spewing on Fox News. [HP]
• Obits: Mystery writer Robert Parker died yesterday. Kate McGarrigle, the Canadian folk singer and mother of Rufus Wainwright, has died, too.
Politico Guy Totally Disses WaPo's Whole Existence on Earth
Hamilton Nolan · 01/19/10 02:30PMMatt Taibbi Translates David Brooks
Hamilton Nolan · 01/19/10 12:03PMMatt Taibbi translates David Brooks' "Why Haiti is Really Fucked up" column in the NYT last weekend: "Although it is true that Haiti was just like five minutes ago a victim of a random earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people, I'm going to skip right past the fake mourning period and point out that Haitians are a bunch of lazy niggers who can't keep their dongs in their pants and probably wouldn't be pancaked under fifty tons of rubble if they had spent a little more time over the years listening to the clarion call of white progress, and learning to use a freaking T-square, instead of singing and dancing and dabbling in not-entirely-Christian religions and making babies all the fucking time."
[True Slant]
Washington Post: 'It's Like, Oh My God, Who Are These People?'
Hamilton Nolan · 01/19/10 09:59AMGabriel Sherman has a long piece in TNR today about the Washington Post, the primary purpose of which is to allow Post staffers to vent—about 'Salongate,' inexperienced business executives, entrenched editorial leadership that stunted ambitions, and, most notably, the fact that two WaPo staffers left the paper to start Politico, which is now kicking the WaPo's ass regularly on...Drudgebait:
The Battle for Ted Kennedy's Senate Seat
Ravi Somaiya · 01/19/10 08:37AMWinkler's Weekly Notes: Telling Bloombergians What They Did Wrong
Hamilton Nolan · 01/18/10 03:28PMJames Dobson's Buttocks Show to Save Media From Sin
Hamilton Nolan · 01/18/10 03:12PMSubmit Your Questions For Our Journalism Ethics Columnist, Kate Major
Hamilton Nolan · 01/18/10 02:12PMJournalists in China Totally Switching Back to Yahoo
Hamilton Nolan · 01/18/10 09:24AMPictures Imply Affair Between Obama and Coakley
Ravi Somaiya · 01/18/10 08:32AMcityfile · 01/15/10 04:43PM
• Word has it Conan O'Brien and NBC have finally reached a deal. He'll leave with $25-30 million and could end up joining Fox eventually, although a deal is far from certain. As for NBC, fallout from the mess is expected to linger for a long time. And now Jimmy Fallon is the The Tonight Show's heir apparent.
• The networks are going to extraordinary lengths (and spending small fortunes) to cover the disaster in Haiti, not surprisingly. [THR]
• Things are looking up for financially challenged photog Annie Leibovitz. She's settled one of the lawsuits that was filed against her last year. [P6]
• The search is on for Simon Cowell's replacement on American Idol. [AP]
• Erica Hill is taking over for Russ Mitchell on CBS' Early Show. [NYT]
• A bunch of pink slips have landed at Universal Music. [LAT]
• These aren't fruitful times for aspiring novelists/screenwriters. [WSJ]
• Ricky Gervais hosts the Golden Globes on Sunday night. [MSNBC, NYM]