Newspapers Aggregated: Has young paperboy Jared Kushner joined the pack of vultures reportedly circling Long Island's Newsday?

By SDH The list of potential bidders for Tribune's Newsday is getting longer. Early out it was reported that Rupert Murdoch who seems to want to buy everything was interested in the paper, along with other prominent New York money bags like Cablevisions Chuck Dolan and New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman. Now comes word that New York Observer ruler Jared Kushner may have little tingle for the Newsday as well. Tribune is said to be looking for payout in the $500 million region for the paper but there is no word that the company has started to take bids. In other newspaper news, The Wall Street Journal recently swallowed by News Corp, will go on sale in London taking on other business papers like Pearson's Financial Times. The Journal, with an initial print run of around 3,500 copies, will cost 250 pence, well above the 150 pence Financial Times cover price, but not out of line with the price of other non-UK papers sold in Britain. Yeah, like we didn't see this one coming. How long until an Australian version is born?

Educating the "Boy Publisher"

-Shomari Hines When Jared Kushner first bought The Observer, Editor Peter Kaplan wasn't too much of a fan. But all it took was loads of beer and a rained out ball game for Mr. Kaplan to open his ears and listen to the NYU student who the New York Times's Allen Salkin creepily refers to as the boy publisher of The New York Observer. Apparently no one took Jared "The Kush" Kushner serious until they found out he actually worked, including on Sundays which according to former Observer Choire Sicha caught many seeking silence and alone time in the office, off guard. “They would come in to get stuff done in a quiet office and then Jared would be there — ‘Oh, big young daddy’s here!’ ” Well it looks like The Kush is getting a hang of things at the paper and has the full support of his editor Peter Kaplan. The education of the "Boy Publisher" seems to be paying off after all. The Education of a Publisher [NYT]

Media two for one: Diller Kushner edition

-Shomari Hines Barry Diller is thisclose to announcing his latest venture, an online social destination for money professionals. We don't know if this is how Wall Street insiders will share inside information or gay stock brokers will hook up with other gay stock brokers but it will be a joint effort with The Wall Street Journal's David Kansas who will risk it all to head up the new venture. Jared Kushner is really serious about the media business and is constantly looking at ways to expand beyond the Observer. One of the things we would advise Jared on is to go light on the print media and heavy on the digital media. Don't go against whats happening now, roll with it, just put your own smell on it. DOW JONES, HOME SHOPPING GURU TEAM UP ON WEB SITE [NYP]

NYO sold out at newsstands, well at least at the newsstand down the street from Gawker headquarters

Jared Kushner went out of his rich way to personally hand out copies of his newly chopped down Observer to strap hangers, and our friends in our heads at Gawker are reporting that the Observer was sold out when they went to their local newsstand guy for a copy. We just trudged to the newsstand at the corner of Spring and Lafayette secure in the knowledge that it's the newsstand that has everything. But not, alas, Jared Kushner's new New York Observer! For the first time in the history of ever, the NYO sold out at a newsstand. We did get to have, swear to God, the following exchange with the cashier: Gawker: Excuse me, do you have the Observer? Guy: No, we are sold out! Everyone is buying because of new tabloid format! 'NYO' Sold Out, Newsstand Owner Displays Curiously Detailed Knowlege of Redesign [Gawker]

The Post's review of the new Observer, not really a review, but a collection of what other people thinks of the new Observer

The New York Post attempts to disguise a collection of quotes from media insiders as their review of the new Observer. Sometimes the so called review seemed to have the same DNA as the New York Times' review of the new Observer. In the debut issue, they still have an obsession with the New York Times, and the front page piece on Hillary Rodham Clinton looked like one of those mid-level New Yorker pieces that you could take or leave. One thing that should go, however, is more bizarre and frightening artwork like Clinton's disembodied head on the cover. Veteran designer Roger Black noted, "They obviously clearly thought it through to make it appeal to people who like reading." Black does object to the four-page wrap cover. "It seems to dumb it down and make it look a lot like other alternative weeklies." We love the Observer artwork. That plays a roll in the paper standing out along with its salmon color. THE POST REVIEWS OBSERVER'S NEW LOOK, KINDA! [NYP]

Morning Wire:The New York Times' David Carr is not too pleased with the new Observer

We don't think Jared "The Kush" Kushner and company will lose any sleep over David Carr's article in this morning's New York Times at all but Carr gets into why the paper may have lost its New Yorkness among other things. He also seems to accuse the publishers of getting too tabloidy. So when will a revamped website go live? Looks like The Kush didn't quite coordinate on this one. Perhaps a new site should have launched with the new print format! The trademark cover still exists inside a tabloid wrapper, but it is hidden and diminished now. The new wrap is short on words and seems to exist primarily to create a front-page ad space (all the rage now) and to tie the mediacentric front of the newspaper to its back, where real estate is now treated as other tabloids treat sports. But The Observer’s first whack at tabloid headline writing is something less than successful. “Hil Drill: It Takes a Chill” is buttressed by “Location, Location, Location!,” an unpardonable lapse into cliché from the best-headlined paper on the planet. Carving out the “wood” for a tabloid — the large, main headline that is supposed to make a newspaper jump from the rack — looks easy, but it is not. The Observer will need a new lexicon to compete in this dark, arcane art. A Cheeky Broadsheet’s Tabloid Makeover [NYT]

The Kush to debut new print and online Observer this week

A looooooooong overdue revamp of the Observer website and print edition will reportedly be revealed on Wednesday. The most sweeping redesign in the New York Observer's 20-year history will hit newsstands Wednesday, transforming the salmon-colored broadsheet weekly into an extralong tabloid.The 45,000-circulation paper that has carved a unique niche by chronicling Manhattan's power elite in politics, real estate and the media, will keep its salmon color but is going with a new logo, a different typeface and shorter stories. CHANGE COMES TO THE OBSERVER [NYP]

Times Co to Jack Welch and friends: Hell No!

These days even being associated with Jack Welch doesn't get you the deal. The former GE boss and some money men buddies put in a bid for The Boston Globe but was rejected by the board of parent company Times Co. Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson wrote in a November 17 letter to the investor group that she took the group's proposal to the company's board but that Times. Co. was not interested in pursuing a sale, the Globe reported, citing two executives who had seen the letter. Hey Jack, Jared Kushner got his paper, so we know you can..........we think! New York Times rejects Welch bid for Globe: report [Reuters]

The Kush actually has a plan after all

Newly minted media mogul Jared Kushner seems to have all the tools in the shed when it comes to his plans for The New York Observer, the paper he bought for about $10 Million. The 25 yr old media Barron in the making sat with of all papers the Metro where he laid out his plans and vision for the paper Robert Deniro came thisclose to buying. "Well, I didn't wake up one morning and say that. I've always been entrepreneurial and interested in various businesses. The newspaper business is one of many that I've followed. When I heard that [founder Arthur] Carter was thinking of selling it, I figured a phone call is 25 cents, more expensive than a Metro. We engaged in serious discussions and we were able to make it happen. The reason why I think the New York Observer is such a phenomenal place to start in the media industry is because the brand is incredible. It stands for all the things about New York that are great. It's got a tremendously loyal readership and it's just a phenomenal paper. [Metro]

So, you bought the Observer. What now?

So by now media circles are saturated with the news of a 25 year old NYU student snatching up the New York Observer for a little under $10 Million of his own money, not his jailed daddy's. But the question that follows such news is what now? The paper has been losing about $2 Million a year and its circulation is an anorexic 50,000. Jared Kushner after buying the paper said that he won't dip his fingers into the editorial affairs of the paper, but he may have to dip his hands into how the paper spends money which may at some point lead to a few job cuts. Mr. Kushner may also have to look at circulation and how to grow it, but then again he probably doesn't know where to start. Our opinion right now, Peter W. Kaplan, the editor of The Observer was never really interested in the paper being sold to a major media firm or even Bobby Deniro and his deep pocket buddies. Why you ask? Well he along with the rest of the Observers top brass wanted someone with a lot of money that they would be able to control. In this they found Jared Kushner. He is young rich not dumb but naive. read>>