The Media Mob

Times vs. Journal Digital Battle Royale! Landman Says WSJ Has Done 'Nothing' With Its Web Site

John Koblin — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:43:43 -0400

It's a late, sleepy summer Friday, but New York Times online editor Jon Landman has some choice words for Rupert Murdoch, Robert Thomson and The Wall Street Journal's online editor, Alan Murray, this afternoon.

Well, technically speaking, he doesn't name any of those people in his weekly memo, or the paper itself, but in his weekly briefing designed to discuss accomplishments for nytimes.com, he comes out swinging! Namely, he says wsj.com has accomplished nothing!

As Mr.Landman writes:

There's some financial newspaper out there, on Wall Street or maybe in midtown, we aren't sure. There's new ownership, it seems, some rich guy who says he wants his paper to be more like ours. read more »

Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Is Back; If You Decide to Buy This Trend, Turn to Page 18

Leon Neyfakh — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:21:57 -0400

Writing on the Guardian's books blog, David Barnett reports that a couple of publishers are getting back to basics and doing choose-your-own-adventure books again. He notes a few symptoms of the apparent resurgence. read more »

First, the Fighting Fantasy series, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2007, has been reissued in full.
Second, there's a book called You Are a Miserable Excuse for a Hero, which takes mundane contemporary life as its subject and forces the reader to make decisions like, "If you want to have sex with your ex-girlfriend, consider getting back together with her, then think better of it, go to page 183.

Editorial Shuffle at Manhattan Media; New Editors for New York Press and 02138

Matt Haber — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:24:46 -0400

In May, Manhattan Media, publishers of the New York Press, City Hall, and other local New York papers, acquired 02138 and announced plans to reposition the Harvard lifestyle magazine.

Today, another release touts several hires at the magazine. George Lois, creator of Esquire's most iconic magazine covers of the 1960s and Pentagram's Luke Hayman have been tapped to redesign the magazine. Jamie Hooper, who launched Giant magazine in 2004, will be 02138's new publisher. And David Blum, the editorial director of Manhattan Media and the editor in chief of the New York Press, will become editor-in-chief of 02138 when it resumes printing with its December/January issue. read more »

L.A. Times U.N. Reporter, Brauchli's Wife, Resigned to Help 'Save a Body'

John Koblin — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:34:45 -0400

Newly named Washington Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli's wife, Maggie Farley, the United Nations reporter for the L.A. Times, says she quit right before the paper announced layoffs in order to "save a body." And, not surprisingly, she doesn't care much for what's happening to the paper. She tells L.A. Observed's Kevin Roderick:

"I resigned last week in the hopes that it would save a body, and with all the changes in our family and at the paper, it felt like a good time to leave and try something new. I am proud to have been part of one of the largest and strongest foreign staffs in the country, and am disheartened by what has been done to our great newspaper. read more »

Netroots to Fox: You're Not News

Matt Haber — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:05:19 -0400

Michael Falcone of The New York Times' The Caucus blog is reporting that organizers of the liberal blogger conference Netroots Nation are insisting that if Fox News wants credentials to the event, currently being held in Austin, Texas, they need special tags designating them "opinion media."

"Fox News calls itself fair and balanced, but it’s not," Mr. Falcone quotes Josh Orton, the political director for Netroots.

Fox News' response? According to The Times, the network isn't sending anyone to the event. Take that!

Former NBC Nightly News Weekend Anchor John Seigenthaler Joins His Family's PR Firm

Felix Gillette — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:03:42 -0400

"I had a great run on NBC News for a number of years," said John Seigenthaler. "I covered some of the biggest stories in the world. But I was ready for a change."

It was Thursday afternoon, and Mr. Seigenthaler—who was the anchor of NBC Nightly News Weekend from 1999 to 2007 as well as a contributor to MSNBC, Dateline NBC, Today, and Meet the Press—was on the phone with the Media Mob. It was his first day at his new job.

Earlier in the day, he had announced in a press release that he was joining Seigenthaler Public Relations (SPR)—a Nashville-based company started by his uncle in 1972 and currently run by one of his cousins. read more »

Times Magazine Excerpts Media Writer's Addiction Memoir

Matt Haber — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:00:38 -0400

The New York Times website has just posted a preview of this week's Times Magazine featuring an excerpt from media columnist David Carr's forthcoming book, The Night of the Gun.

The story, like the book, tells of Mr. Carr's years of drug and alcohol abuse and his various scrapes with the law as he somehow managed to rise in journalism and raise his twin daughters. There's also a video in which Mr. Carr explains the book's title and how his attempt to remember "the night of the gun" set the tone for his investigative approach to his own experiences.

Not included in the extract? Tom Arnold, who plays a special role in Mr. Carr's book and in his life.

'Like Fortune or Newsweek'; Readers Uneasy About Proposed Rolling Stone Redesign

Sam Jewler — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:36:28 -0400

Yesterday, we told you that Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner was considering a major redesign of his magazine. He sent out a test copy to subscribers and asked them to participate in a survey to tell him what they thought.

Media Mob hit the streets of Manhattan to do a survey of its own. Judging by the responses of eight people, Mr. Wenner’s proposed change might be akin to passing a kidney stone in the minds of Rolling Stone's old-school fan base.

"You cannot go—you can’t—you cannot move away from this format," said David Peebler, a 46-year-old options strategist and trader at Park Ave and 22nd Street. read more »

Rachel Donadio Leaving Times Book Review to Become Rome Bureau Chief

Leon Neyfakh — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:44:14 -0400

Back in early June, Rachel Donadio wrote an item for The New York Times' Papercuts blog about a vacation she'd taken in Rome. The long-planned trip meant that Ms. Donadio, an editor at the Times Book Review who regularly contributes essays on various literary topics to the section's back page, could not attend Book Expo America, the publishing industry's annual trade show that was happening at the same time.

You might say Ms. Donadio had chosen Rome over books that week!

Now she's doing it again, this time for keeps. According to an e-mail she sent to friends this morning, Ms. Donadio (a former Observer reporter) is leaving the Book Review and relocating around Labor Day to Italy full time to serve as The Times' Rome Bureau Chief. read more »

Better Luck Next Year, HBO

Matt Haber — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:14:23 -0400

The 60th Annual Emmy Awards nominations have been announced, and as Gillian Reagan points out on our sister blog, Culture Czar, quality television purveyor HBO was shut out of the Best Drama category. There wasn't even a spot for The Wire, which finished its final season beneath an avalanche of critical praise. read more »

That may not be such a shame according to Time's James Poniewozik, who writes, "Maybe it's more fitting that The Wire can go out with its purity of outrage and injustice intact. And at least an HBO-less drama category may be a little more interesting." HBO might've had a nomination in Mad Men had they not