Media News

Rupert's Way Forbes.com
So if you work for Newsday or the Tribune in Chicago or the Los Angeles Times and you hear that Murdoch is coming, stand by. The man isn't a packaged goods CEO from the "B" School whose first priority is the bottom line and staff cuts. Murdoch will make changes, drive people nuts, start rewriting heads, work 19-hour days and put his brand on the damned paper. You may dislike his politics, love him or hate him, but you'll be working for a professional newspaperman whose veins run with printer's ink.

Times, Paramount face suit over news rack promotion Los Angeles Times/LAObserved
Before Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible III" exploded last May across movie screens, its promotional campaign bombed on Los Angeles newsstands.That's the view of federal officials who say they intend to sue the Los Angeles Times and Paramount Pictures Corp. over the April 28 placement in news racks of digital devices that played the familiar "Mission: Impossible" theme song when the racks' doors were opened.Several newspaper buyers thought the music players were bombs and reported them to law enforcement. The Los Angeles County sheriff's arson squad blew up one Times news rack near the intersection of Sand Canyon and Soledad Canyon roads in Santa Clarita as a precaution.

Chandler family delays expiration of its bid indefinitely Newsday
Tribune Co.'s largest shareholder, the Chandler family of Los Angeles, yesterday extended the deadline on its buyout offer, though more time may not improve the chances of success, according to sources.The family delayed the bid's expiration indefinitely because "there's ongoing dialogue with the special committee," said a source close to the Chandlers, referring to a panel of Tribune directors. It has been reviewing, since mid-January, two proposals for the entire company and one for its 23 television stations. The committee is to make a recommendation to the full Tribune board, which is expected to announce future actions by March 31.

LA Times O'Shea Hits Back at NYT Deadline Hollywood
Besides focused on fixing the LAT's state-of-disaster website and increasing its near nonexistent local coverage, O'Shea wants to do something about the paper's coma-inducing reporting and writing. “There’s some pretty well-written stuff in the paper. But my emphasis is on shorter articles. People don’t have a lot of time.