exclusive Sometimes the best laid plans get undone in the most pedestrian way. Tonight news broke of Harold Ford's decision not to run for New York Senate office currently held by Kristen Gillibrand. The once rising star in the Democratic party had a rough number of weeks in the NY press and blogs, and even his announcement not to run somehow, and fittingly, didn't work out quite like it was supposed to - with a Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez spilling the beans to the NY Post. (more...)

In case you haven't heard, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is in the process of creating a New York City edition of the Wall Street Journal, a project he planned to go "all in" on not a mere two months ago. Now, it looks like "all in" means "turn to your biggest competitors for help." (more...)

Throughout the recent sturm and drang surrounding the NBC late night drama, the one consistent takeaway is that this is all the fault of NBC Chief Jeff Zucker. And while that may or may not be true, the idea of moving Jay Leno to the 10pm time slot wasn't always seen as the disastrous move that is now. In fact, many television critics hailed Zucker for "the coup" of keeping Leno when this move was announced. Let's take a look at what critics said at the time, and compare it to their thoughts now. Fun! Right? (more...)

As Reuters reported from the trench coat Motherland on Monday, Burberry has dug into the social networking mine with the launch of its new website artofthetrench.com. Burberry's Facebook page calls it "a living celebration of the trench coat and the people who wear it." While many designers (@DVFNewYork) and retailers (@Bloomingdales) have taken their businesses to Twitter, Burberry is the first major fashion titan to actually create a social media labyrinth of its own. (more...)

exclusive The New York Times is reporting that Comcast Corp and General Electric Co are closer to a deal to give Comcast a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal and that a formal announcement may be made in the coming week. Mediaite has learned from an industry source familiar with the negotiations that Comcast will in fact be formally announcing its acquisition of NBC Universal this week. (more...)

video The Nieman Journalism Lab is a Harvard University project that describes itself as "an attempt to help journalism figure out its future in an Internet age." Well apparently the future of journalism now includes the publishing of self-described "off-the-record" speeches, since that's exactly what they did recently by posting video of New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller during an "internal chat" with his staffers. Keller's speech reveals a fair amount of the Times' digital strategy, and now, thanks to Nieman Labs, now the world can hear what was meant only for his staff to hear. (more...)

If you're a frequent MSNBC viewer, you have no doubt sat through that mopey-faced lecture on how a tax on "sodas and juice drinks" will cause foreclosures and business closings. It's the kind of whiny appeal that I hate no matter who makes it, but I decided to get to the bottom of this one anyway, and maybe take a stand. If you missed it, here's the ad:
It's annoying because it makes an empty, stupid argument. Pennies add up. Genius, you saw Superman 3. My knee-jerk response to the chilly mom's declaration that "Pennies add up when you're trying to feed a family," was "Well, don't feed your family crap, then." The heart of this issue is that (non-diet) sodas and "juice drinks" are really, really bad for us, and a tax would rein in consumption while funding health care programs. So, what the frak is a "juice drink?" For purposes of this kind of tax, it's any beverage that contains added high fructose corn syrup, and less than 70% fruit juice. The ad makes it sound like congress is attacking all fruity goodness. The New York Times gives the issue the famously useless "balanced" treatment by presenting, equally, both the New England Journal of Medicine's finding that HFCS drinks contribute greatly to obesity and related illnesses, plus the American Beverage Association's finding that "all calories count." Who can say which is true? The tax proposed is a 1-cent-per-ounce levy on the targeted drinks, with the goal of reducing consumption and funding health care programs. So far, I'm sold. I love the refreshing 1 calorie goodness of Pepsi One, and my 4 year-old makes up for his narrow diet by drinking loads of V8 Fusion. The tax also excludes milk, water, and lots of other healthier alternatives. Why doesn't commercial mommy love her family that much? The problem is, V8 Fusion, for example, costs $4.39 for a 2 quart bottle that lasts 2 or 3 days. $4.39 will buy you a kiddie-pool full of juice "drink." Just ask Dave Chappelle about that difference. So, while this tax removes the option of serving your kids cheap crap, it does nothing to help them afford good, healthy alternatives. If you grant that the government should be doing something about this, maybe they should also create incentives for real juice and dairy producers to make their products more affordable. That would go a long way toward bolstering their motives beyond raising money to plug budget holes by saying "Eff the fatties!"

Google has just announced new efforts to help magazine and newspaper publishers with a new search service that displays results in the style of a “virtual magazine”. The program is called "Fast Flip" and will launch with featured content from The New York Times, The Washington Post and the BBC. The concept aims to replicate the experience of browsing a printed publication, with readers pressing next page to be instantly “flipped” on to the next item of content, with revenue share built into the experience. (more...)

The NY Times reported on Sunday afternoon that an unauthorized advertisement on their site was malware. Readers of their website had seen a pop-up box warning them about a virus with then directed them to a site claiming offers of an antivirus software. The infection notice, and the resulting fake scans reporting dozens of infections, is a common ploy used by rogue anti-Virus software, and put NY Times web editors in the unenviable position of reporting on their own troubles. (more...)

For many, September 11th has come to represent a host of complicated ideas. The violent attacks bring up memories of the incredible sense of national unity and the outpouring of global support that immediately followed them. Then, in what seemed like a blink of an eye, it became a political football, used to exemplify a preexisting bias, or as a test to sniff out a lack of patriotism. But judging by the anniversary coverage in newspapers eight years later, we seem to have moved on, or have at least started the process. Following is a roundup of how different news outlets are featuring -- or burying -- what's still a complex story: (more...)

In hopes to win new readers and advertisers and start a new regional market by offering more local news, both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times are planning San Francisco Bay Area editions. The NY Times reports that the new strategy could be the first glimpse at a new strategy by national newspapers to capitalize on the contraction of regional papers. (more...)

This week reports surfaced that Bob Dylan was considering lending his voice to a GPS navigation system - providing directions to lost drivers who seek the raspy tones of the folk legend. Numerous mainstream media sources picked up the story and ran it as hard news -- BBC, NY Times, and the Washington Post all published stories about the convergence of 60's folk rock and the latest in automotive technology. But as Gossip Cop reported today, this story doesn't exactly check out. (more...)

Pretty much everyone - from Politics Daily to BusinessWeek to the LA Times to textbook companies and every techie publication known to man - is anticipating the release of a Kindle-esque Apple tablet, or at least an announcement of it. Perhaps Steve Jobs spoke too soon last year when he told the New York Times that the Kindle would inevitably fail because Americans just don't read anymore. (more...)