More sunny news in newspaperland today, as McClatchy announces that its minority stake in the Seattle Times is worth $19.1 million—an 80% decline in less than a year. Yeesh! Elsewhere, the Minnesota Department of Transportation cries foul over mean reporters, a Guardian editor frets over the media micro-revolution, and Tim Rutten warns that an ongoing court case could have major repercussions for national security reporters.
Spotlight: Barry Diller
Bald-headed bad boy Barry's been busy. His many-headed media company IAC announced last week that it will break itself up into five separate parts to better reflect its varied business lines. That hasn't kept Diller from declaring his intention to buy the floundering AOL, or from launching a not-quite-Onionesque humor site to terrible reviews. Keep in mind this classic assessment from an interview a couple years ago with entertainment journalist Nikki Finke:
PRWeek
: Who is the biggest jerk in Hollywood?
Finke: Barry Diller. And the reason I say that is this: By jerk I don't mean stupid. Barry Diller can be somebody's absolute best friend. On the other hand, there are few people in the infotainment world who…treat so many people as if they're the stupidest person in the world.
Also:
Gerald Boyd, considered.
Norman Mailer, eulogized.
TV writers' kids, pimped.
