Rumors are in the air this
morning of big job
cuts to the news divisions of NBC and MSNBC, as Jeff Zucker hacks up his old
colleagues and saves the company a sweet $20-40 million. In other well-timed
holiday media layoff news, The Wall
Street Journal is planning newsroom
buyouts, a Santa Barbara copy editor is
fired (way harsh!) for a harmless gag gone wrong, and Viacom tells
freelancers to take their “benefits” and go straight to hell.
Spotlight: Global media forecast
The sinister-sounding
Group M, which is in fact a sinister media and advertising conglomerate, has
released its global forecast for 2008, and it's not all that bad! Unless you're
in America.
Worldwide, they predict an ad spending increase of 7%, driven largely by growth
in China.
US
ad spending will be barely half that, they predict. TV continues to rule, but
the Internet will grow by up to 50%. Grab your laptops and catch the
next plane to Beijing,
ad execs!
Also:
Bush adviser
thinks Washington press did a good job before Iraq
war, but is too harsh now. Surprise.
“The View”'s Sherri Shepherd is
not the
sharpest tool in the shed.
Matt Drudge is in your
pocket.
