NBC
Gets Portion of Book Sales under Amazon.com Deal
After a "Today" host interviews an author, a promo tells viewers
where to find the book link on Amazon.com's site. NBC doesn't
disclose that it gets 10 percent of the sales, says J. Max
Robins. NewsLab's Deborah Potter tells him: "An author interview
juxtaposed with a commercial selling the book can make the
audience wonder if there's someone else in the newsroom --
an advertiser -- making editorial decisions, especially if
the network is making money from it."
Andersen:
Blame Risk-averse Corporate Mag Culture for Print's Decline
Kurt Andersen on what magazines should do to recover: "Behave
more like Martha Stewart Living and Maxim, I guess -- take
chances and put passionate, damn-the-torpedoes visionary geniuses
in charge who are obsessed with giving readers what they want."
Report:
Conrad Black to Back Lipsky and Stoll's New York Sun
The New York Observer reports a group of "nine or 10" investors
including newspaper
shopaholic Conrad Black intends to spend up to $15 million
to launch the New York Sun, a conservative daily to be edited
by former Forward editor in chief Seth Lipsky and SmarterTimes.com
founder Ira Stoll.
> Colford:
Black's wife said to have strong interest in NYC cultural
scene
Talk
Looks for New Investors as Hearst Reevaluates Mag Relationship
At a company meeting, Talk Media president Ron Galotti and
editor Tina Brown told their staff that Hearst is "reevaluating
its relationship" with the magazine and that they've been
chatting with new money people. > Earlier:
Hearst looking to unload its 50 percent stake in Talk mag
Personal
Finance Mags See Ad, Newsstand Sales Declines
The Sept. 11 attacks on the symbols of American finance only
deepened the recession among personal finance magazines.
Consultant
claims online users will shrug at a penny per page
Digital Deliverance's Vin Crosbie says online publishers should
explore the micro-payment model. "If you make the price so
low to be imperceptible -- 1 cent per page -- they'll pay,"
he claims.
"What's
Good for Bottom Line May Not Be Good for Society," Columnist
Says
The FCC may revoke a 1974 rule
banning cross ownership of newspapers and television stations
in the same city, but deregulation could lead to an erosion
of diversity, writes Robert Scheer. "Most often media
mergers are examined for their impact on corporate profits
and stock values, and rarely as a possible threat to free
access to diverse points of view, a requirement for a representative
democracy," he writes.
CanWest
Global to Move Call Center Operations in Winnipeg
Circulation and telemarketing calls for six major
Western newspapers -- including The Vancouver Sun and
Edmonton Journal -- will be consolidated into one call
center in Winnipeg. Eighty-six call center jobs will be affected
in Vancouver and 22 in Victoria. The city of Winnipeg and
Manitoba government have provided incentives for CanWest to
move, banking on CanWest's prediction that the center will
eventually bring up to 1,500 jobs.
Newsprint
Costs: Why So High?
Felicity Barringer, media reporter
for The New York Times, writes about the simmering
battle between newsprint producers and newspaper executives.
Are
Guild Members Safe from Layoffs?
Frank Lewis of the Philadelphia City Paper writes:
"There seems to be widespread consensus that the Guild
contract makes laying off Guild members almost impossible.
The company would have to open the books, and that’s the last
thing it wants to do when trying to downsize during a period
in which profits remain relatively high. Or so the story goes.
But management sources have said privately that this is not
the case."
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