Another New York Times profile on former Disney head Mike Eisner gives us the impression that he's been sitting on his hands for the past 8 months

BY THE SHOGUN There was a time when Mike Eisner was one of the most powerful men in media. He ruled with a rumored iron fist and made the final call on things across Disney and it's many subsidiaries. He was notorious for his micromanaging. However it was his micromanaging that kept Disney on top for many years. But as the saying goes nothing lasts forever. Now back as budding Internet mogul like his good buddy Barry Diller, and free of the hectic hanger-on, shareholder pleasing corporate media world, The New York Times does redundant profile of the man who once ran the mouse house, and if we read correctly, Mike Eisner is doing the same shit he was doing when The New York Times profiled him earlier this year in March.

And now some shitty newspaper news aggregated and remixed

BY SDH The Newspaper industry seems to be headed for shitsville, but people in the biz will tell you that, all the job cuts and write downs is due to the Bushed economy. This may be true but they also have to admit that the Internet is kicking their ass on some levels. Anyway, with all the shitty news coming out of that industry we raked some together for you here. OK! In totally newspaper related news, former newspaper king, Conrad Black is headed to prison on Monday for raping his company. We totally forgot about this scum bag. Harbinger Capital Partners and its affiliate Harbert Management are serious about taking the fight to the New York Times Co. They believe The New York Times Co needs fresh meet. But you better believe the Sulzberger family is preparing for it. They will lose that company at some point, but it will be at a time of their choosing. Newsday is axing bodies like a horror flick due to what they call an urgent need to focus on the things that drive audience and revenue growth, Translation: The Internet!!! McClatchy's value is half way down the shitter due to the value write down of its publications for the second time in four months. The company's market value has dropped 51% . WOW!!!! Another paper that's cutting jobs is The New York Times' Boston Globe but staffers of the paper's website Boston.com will be speared. Of course they will be because the money saved from the job cuts will probably be dumped into improving the website. Hopefully they spend some on the redesign of the logo. The current one looks like something someone did in Word Art. The San Jose Mercury News read and used to clean up coffee spills by the techies in Silicon Valley, is cutting back on news coverage because it's reporting staff is being chopped down to an anemic 200. So does this mean the paper will live with the possibility of missing out on some news?

New York Times and CNBC's bartering agreement makes sense for all involved

So the web is buzzing about CNBC and New York Times' Internet bartering agreement and now this is us adding to the buzz. The deal isn't anything earth shattering as far as scale, It's just two media companies swapping content. It goes back to our earlier post about CNN airing the ABC hosted New Hampshire debates. Is this another sign that big media is becoming more open to swapping content especially in this new digital era? Sure why not. One may have something that the other lacks which seems to be the case with this deal according to Larry Ingrassia, the Times's business news editor. -SDH "They have something we don't have enough of -- video -- and we bring in-depth business reporting," Larry Ingrassia, the Times's business news editor, told Reuters in an interview. You try to make alliances with partners who you think can add value to your report, and to whom you can add value," he said. New York Times and CNBC in Web deal [Reuters

If Hank Greenberg gets some money together, will he be able to pry the New York Times from the Sulzberger Family's Kung fu grip?

-MARTY It's bad enough that the Sulzberger family, rulers of the New York Times Company, won't bend over for their shareholders and change the dual-class structure, which they claim is to protect the editorial independence and integrity of The New York Times newspaper. So does former AIG chief Hank Greenberg think he has a shot at buying the company from under them? News broke that Greenberg was planning to buy up shares of the company in what many thought was an effort to become some kind of shareholder activist to pressure the Sulzberger’s into busting the company open and get the stock flowing. But it looks like the old man has balls as big as grapefruits. Hank Greenberg wants the whole cake and is said to have approached some investment bankers about loaning him the money, but those bankers know better because they aren't biting at all, at least not right now. We can't even come up with scenarios under which the Sulzberger family would even think about selling the company. Hank would have to come more correct than Rupert Murdoch did with the Bancroft family when he bought the Wall Street Journal. Maybe Hank still has some juice at AIG where he can work in lifetime insurance for the Sulzberger's and their shareholders. Hank may have some competition in his rumored efforts. As it turns out he isn’t the only one hoping to kick the tires on the gray lady. There is said to be a billionaire or someone close to being a billionaire interested as well. We don't see the New York Times changing hands anytime soon, but ya never know. CNBC Report: Greenberg Intent on Buying 'NY Times' [E&P]

Aggregated media news

-MEDIA WIRE DAILY Do you own a start up web venture that's doing respectable business or getting respectable traffic or both? Do you want to cash out and become an instant millionaire? Then get your shit together, because Disney is going on a shopping spree for a bunch of websites like yours and they want to do it over the next 24 months [TechCrunch] The New York Times can't afford to keep on staff and they can't afford to hire any either [NYO] LinkedIn and Wall Street Journal? Now that's more like it [VB] Ad revenue is down at Ebony magazine. Three ad execs got canned and one of them was shocked when the axe fell in the middle of his forehead. [Folio]

What else will fall at New York Times Co?

-LENN HINDSMANN New York Times’ numbers are in and shareholders can't be happy. Advertising continues to be the source of many revenue declines in the newspaper business as advertisers continue to spend more money online. ARTHUR "Pinch" Sulzberger and company may want to shore up the company's digital business even more by the time Q4 comes around to offset any print ad pot holes. That’s what saved the folks at Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones. First-quarter net income was $23.9 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with $32.4 million, or 22 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Excluding special items, profit from continuing operations was 25 cents a share, unchanged from a year earlier.Analysts, on average, had expected the company to earn 18 cents a share on revenue of $785.2 million, according to Reuters Estimates. New York Times Co. quarterly profit, revenue fall [Reuters]

Reed em and weep!

-Shomari Hines GateHouse Media Inc. CEO Michael E. Reed is showing other newspaper CEOs how it should be done. The man has only been at the helm of GateHouse Media for a year and already his finger prints are all over the company starting with the GateHouse name. Its as if his bosses gave him a deadline to rev things up at the company or he will only get like 40 % of his salary. The man has machine like abilities or something. It's a record that makes his six-year stint as CEO of the famously acquisitive CNHI look sleepy by comparison.But it wasn't until nearly Halloween that Mike Reed -- everyone calls him Mike -- really attracted attention outside newspaper industry circles. On Oct. 25, GateHouse pulled off the first successful IPO (initial public offering) of a significant newspaper company in more than two decades. Perhaps the folks at New York Times Company should call on Reed for some pointers on how to run a newspaper business more effectively, and roll out a successful IPO. Just One Year in, Gatehouse CEO Michael Reed Is Making Waves [E&P]

Morning Wire: Greedy NY Timers | Viacom | AOL's Bid, and more in this morning's worthy media news

-Shomari Hines New York Times CEO Janet Robinson and others still collected big pay checks even with no profits at the company. Corporate greed at its best. [NYP] AOL withdraws bid for Swedish online ad firm Tradedoubler causing a drop on that company's stock price. Wonder what AOL CEO Randy Falco has his eyes on now? [Reuters] If you're a parent and a group of people have to talk you out of taking your kids to "R" rated movies, chances are you suck as a parent [Reuters] ESPN has hired former New York Times sports editor Le Anne Schreiber as its ombudsman. OK so what the hell is a ombudsman? Oh wait that's like a mediator/investigator type right? [Reuters] Viacom has the support of it's bigger media rival Time Warner with its jihad against Youtube [Bloomberg] Steve Case fresh off the launch of his health website, is now planning to launch an online payment system called GratisCard. [Businessweek].

New York Times pretended to care what their critics had to say last month

-Shomari Hines The board of the New York Times sent out an unusual invitation to some critics of the company to come make presentations to them back on February 22. Not sure what the presentations were on but it may have been related to improving the company's behavior on Wall Street. The board invited Morgan Stanley money manager Hassan Elmasry and another large shareholder, T. Rowe Price Group Inc., to make presentations to its board on February 22, the spokeswoman confirmed. The board extended the invitation even though the company and its controlling Ochs-Sulzberger family have repeatedly rebuffed Elmasry. Newspaper wars, gotta love em. If only they weren't so long though. NY Times invites critics to make presentations [Reuters]

Kurt Eichenwald fights back

Former New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald and the man who may have indirectly funded the relaunch of the porno website of the very child porn star he was trying to help, is fighting back to save his reputation, or something. Kurt Eichenwald plans to file a $10 million libel suit against a freelance reporter who implied he took part in an auction to win a night with the teenage hustler who was the focus of his explosive article on Internet child porn. Eichenwald said the reporter, Debbie Nathan, falsely accused him on Wednesday in a New York magazine article of bidding $2,000 for the teen, and also defamed him in an earlier Salon.com essay by claiming he trolled child porn sites. Guess we better get off this guys back before he takes us to court too. Sike! EX-TIMES SCRIBE TO SUE MAG WRITER FOR $10M [NYP] RELATED: An Anonymous commenter may bring even more controversy to the New York Times

An Anonymous commenter may bring even more controversy to the New York Times

-Shomari Hines Touching back on our post yesterday about New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald paying off teen porn star Justin Berry back in 2005 to spill the beans on the workings on his perv filled world, an anonymous commenter makes it clear the media has been asking the wrong question about this issue. However asking the right question and getting the answer could lead to more drama at the New York Times. Because based on what this commenter is claiming, the New York Times may have indirectly funded a gay teen porn site. Here is what our commenter had to say after the click CONTINUE... I am amazed that no one in the media is asking the right question. What did Justin Berry do with the $2000.00 that Eichenwald sent him?The answer appears to be: "He used the money to re-establish his porn site."A firm timeline has been established by the evidence produced in the US v. Richards and US v. Mitchel cases, and this timeline is very interesting.In May, 2005, when Eichenwald first contacted Berry, Berry had been out of the webcam porn business for about 6 months. He had lost his "mexicofriends.com" website when the registration expired in March, 2005. His "justinsfriends.com" website was dormant. Justin hadn't put on a "show" since November, 2004, when he had discovered religion and quit the business for the first time. On June 8, 2005 Eichenwald sent Berry a $2,000 cashier's check from Dallas, Texas. Berry received the check the following day in Bakersfield, California. According to Berry's home computer files, that very same day he began reworking the justinsfriends.com website in order to put it online again as an active website.The following week Berry traveled from Bakersfield to Dublin, Virginia, where his former business partner and lover, Greg Mitchel lived. Mitchel owned the name "justinsfriends.com" and Berry needed to make a deal with him in order to start the site up again. They made their deal. While he was in Virginia Berry participated in a masturbation session with an underage boy named Taylor which Mitchel filmed. Berry needed help setting up the site and on June 17, 2005, he hired Tim Richards to oversee the site. Richards was to receive a 25% cut of the income.Justinsfriends.com went back online over the weekend of June 18-19, 2005, Berry advertised justinsfriends.com as a legal adult webcam site on eb15.com (which is now defunct). Starting on June 19, 2005, Berry began putting on "shows" by masturbating in front of his webcam. This was legal since Berry was almost 19 years of age at that point. He also uploaded videos of other "performers". Almost all of the videos were legal. The FBI reports only identified 3 videos as having illegal content. They were 2 videos of Berry having sex with Mexican prostitutes when he was 17, and the video of Berry with Taylor. All of these videos were uploaded to the reactivated website after June 18th.Berry met with Eichenwald on June 30 - July 1, 2005, in Los Angeles. He then returned to Bakersfield put on a "show" on July 3, 2005, and hired two other young men to put on a show on July 4, 2005. A couple of days afterward, Berry abandoned the website and flew to Dallas where Eichenwald lives.In summary, New York Times reporter sends retired "camwhore" $2000.00. Retired camwhore then goes back into business, obtains subscribers, uploads illegal videos onto the internet, then after 2 weeks abandons the business and runs off to the reported with the subscriber list. The reporter then writes an awarding winning article that conveniently omits these facts. The shame is that this information (including the existence of the check) has been available on the internet for months, but no one in the media has picked it up.

Times reporter brings unwanted scandal to Pinch and company

-Shomari Hines New York Times investigative reporter Kurt Eichenwald is creating a load of drama for the newspaper because he paid a former teen porn star to spill the beans. We only hope that's all he paid him for (kidding). Anyway the Times issued a editor's note yesterday saying that the editors and readers should have known about the money, but to be honest, as readers of the New York Times we could care less how you get your information. Eichenwald, now in the employ of soon-to-launch Portfolio magazine, told The Post he and his wife sent the check to Berry to help rescue the boy and that he had no plans to write an article at that time. "I said to my wife, this is the way we can find him," Eichenwald said. He added that he didn't mention the check to his editors or in his articles because "in my mind it was a resolved issue" after Berry paid him back. "I'm not going to defend that I failed to mention it, but it wasn't out of malice," he said. "It was just out of being overwhelmed . . . The reality is, I ended up in counseling. The experience was exceptionally traumatic." TIMES SCRIBE SENT 'NET PORN SUBJECT $ [NYP]

New York Times Families to Morgan Stanley: This is your punishment for saying those bad things about us

The Ochs and Sulzberger families who control The New York Times company, has pulled a truck load of their assets from Morgan Stanley to be dumped at another institution due to the fact that they were not pleased with what Morgan Stanley had to say about the ownership structure. God these media people are like big babies. Bite it and swallow it Ochs' and Sulzbergers. New York Times Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. is retaliating against Morgan Stanley Investment Management's public criticism of the share structure that gives the Ochs and Sulzberger families control of the third-largest U.S. publisher. Jim Wiggins, a spokesman for Morgan Stanley, wasn't immediately available to comment. Hassan Elmasry, a managing director at Morgan Stanley's investment arm, took his campaign public in April, releasing a letter to the New York Times that said its reliance on two classes of stock means executives don't have to answer to investors. New York Times Families Withdraw Morgan Stanley Funds [Bloomberg]

And in Closing: 125 to die at New York Times Company

We guess not even the $ 575 Million the made from the sale of their broadcasting operations could have saved the 125 people scheduled to be executed at The New York Times Company. The New York Times Co. said on Thursday it aims to cut about 125 jobs at its New England Media Group, including 19 editorial staff at the Boston Globe, through voluntary buyouts and outsourcing. The Globe's publisher Steve Ainsley said in a letter to employees that the buyouts would be offered in the first quarter to employees with at least 10 or more years at the Globe and at Worcester Telegram and Gazette, both of which are New England Media Group properties. NY Times Co to cut 125 jobs [Reuters

And In Closing: There is some good news in the magazine world

We are pleased to see some good news coming out of the magazine publishing biz, with all the closings and job cuts going on. “2006 was clearly an outstanding year for The New York Times Magazine and we are thrilled to be ranked first among all PIB measured publications,” said Alexis Buryk, senior vice president, advertising, The New York Times. “This is a reflection of the strength and outstanding quality of The Magazine's news content which attracts advertisers who want to reach an affluent, engaged and responsive consumer with interests in business, travel, politics, fashion, popular culture, sports, lifestyle and more.” Continued>> THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE RANKS FIRST IN ADVERTISING PAGES AMONG ALL MAGAZINES MEASURED BY THE PUBLISHERS INFORMATION BUREAU The Magazine Adds 181 New Advertising Pages in 2006 NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2007 – The New York Times Magazine is the number one publication in advertising pages for 2006, according to The Publishers Information Bureau (PIB). For the year 2006, The Magazine had a total of 3,965 ad pages – a gain of 181 pages over the previous year. This is the fifth consecutive year that The Magazine has ranked in the top five among all national magazines measured by PIB. “2006 was clearly an outstanding year for The New York Times Magazine and we are thrilled to be ranked first among all PIB measured publications,” said Alexis Buryk, senior vice president, advertising, The New York Times. “This is a reflection of the strength and outstanding quality of The Magazine's news content which attracts advertisers who want to reach an affluent, engaged and responsive consumer with interests in business, travel, politics, fashion, popular culture, sports, lifestyle and more.” PIB 2006 Ranking For 2006, The Magazine is ranked first by PIB among the approximately 250 national magazines it measures. The Magazine is distributed through The Sunday New York Times which reaches 5.1 million readers every Sunday in hundreds of markets across the nation (source: 2006 Fall MRI). For the period Jan. 1, 2006 through Dec. 31, 2006, PIB ranked the top national magazines according to total ad pages: The New York Times Magazine People Weekly InStyle Forbes Publishers Information Bureau (PIB), founded in 1947, is the premier source of consumer magazine advertising spending and related data. TNS Media Intelligence, the leading provider of strategic advertising and marketing information, collects and monitors this data and supplies it to PIB. PIB is a membership organization, administered by Magazine Publishers of America, consisting of approximately 250 different magazine titles and newspaper-distributed magazines. About The New York Times Company The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2005 revenues of $3.4 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers, nine network-affiliated television stations, two New York City radio stations and 35 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment. # # #

FRESH NEWS: Maybe now they can afford to move everyone to the new digs

The New York Times Company said that it has sold it's broadcasting group for a sweet $575 Million. New York Times Co. Chief Executive Janet Robinson said in a statement that the sale would allow the media company to focus on the "development of our newspapers and our rapidly growing digital businesses." That digital word again. We thought she was going to say they were going to trim their size like the Wall Street Journal. New York Times sells broadcast group for $575 million [Reuters]

Morning Wire: And now the morning's worthy media news

MTV's Left Overs Sling Media has announced that they have hired two of Judy McGrath's used and disposed executives from MTV to head a new interactive programming unit.The maker of Slingbox, a set-top box that lets viewers watch cable television on laptops and advanced cellphones, has hired former chief digital officer at MTV Networks Jason Hirschhorn, and former vice president of MTV digital media Ben White, the company said. Hank Plan a no go for Mack Former AIG boss Maurice "Hank" Greenberg has a hard on for the New York Times Co. However he can't seem to find someone else who shares his hard on for the company. But for now at least the Times' stock is responding. Conde Nast's annual ass kissing luncheon.... Yawn!! We don't know if the media over plays this event or if this is really how it goes down in the Conde Nast camp where underlings fight to be seen sitting next to Si Newhouse smelling his old spice. Cindi Leive, the serial "Today" show guest who also doubles as the editor-in-chief of Glamour in her day job, grabbed the most coveted spot, seated at the right hand of Condé Nast Chairman S.I. (Si) Newhouse Jr.

Two days left, so get your FREE Times Select on

Hey! Freeloaders, only two days left to get get your Times Select on. Sure you enjoyed all that this special paid only section had to offer like access to The Times's Op-Ed columnists - David Brooks, Maureen Dowd, Thomas L. Friedman, Bob Herbert, Nicholas D. Kristof, Paul Krugman, Frank Rich and John Tierney. Sure you Read features and analysis by select columnists from Business, New York/Region, Sports and the International Herald Tribune. but we also know that there is no way in hell you would pay the Annual subscription fee of, $49.95, then again we speak for ourselves. Two days left people, get your Times Select on!

Morning Wire: And now the morning's worthy media news

Will Nancy Pelosi be nicer to Hollywood than her predecessor Incoming house speaker Nancy Pelosi has some ties with the entertainment industry; counted among her friends in Hollywood are News Corp. president and chief operating officer Peter Chernin. While News Corp. is viewed as a Republican stronghold, Chernin is a long-term Democrat who helped Pelosi raise campaign funds. Sulzberger family could lose hold of grey lady A leading New York Times Co. shareholder submitted a proposal to the company on Wednesday that would cut the Sulzberger family's longstanding control of the company by changing its voting structure. Sounds like mor headaches for Pinch and family. New Corp earns News Corp., which owns the Twentieth Century Fox studio, Fox News Channel, the New York Post and MySpace, earned $843 million in the three months ended in September, versus a net loss of $433 million a year ago. -Shomari Hines

Morning Wire: Job cuts, Playboy reports, Paramount, Vivendi misses....

Declining friendly offer from KKR played a roll French media giant Vivendi posted ass flat third-quarter sales growth, blames it's mobile and music divisions. The company declined to elaborate on a failed friendly takeover approach by the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, and stopped short of updating its full-year outlook. Last weekend, Vivendi confirmed reports of the K.K.R. approach, but noted then that talks had not led to an offer. Playboy beats Wall Street's meat We always thought a company like Hef's would always report stellar earnings but that isn't the case. Lower revenue at the adult entertainment company's namesake magazine and higher expenses in other divisions contributed to the fall in net income. We can bet the more raunchy content men can access on the web has something to do with this. Note to Play Boy CEO Christie Hefner: Invest more money in the web and nasty up your content a little more. Paramount announces Tom Cruises replacement It looks like Brad Grey found someone to fill the space left vacant when Viacom grand daddy Sumner Redstone shit canned Tom Cruise. Paramount Pictures announced an alliance with the director Martin Scorsese on Tuesday, in which he will seek to produce and direct films, television and other content for the studio.Mr. Scorsese, who is based in New York, has not had an official working alliance with a studio in several years. LA Times blood bath on the horizon LA Times' former editor Dean Baquet didn't have the balls to axe staff members so he left. But that isn't stopping the paper's publisher David Hiller who seems to have balls from moving forward with the planned blood bath. Speaking to employees at the paper's newsroom, the ballsy Hiller said there will be reductions, but not this year. He said cuts would come next year, and did not know if they would be made through attrition or layoffs. Well at least they're giving the poor bastards time to look for another job. -Shomari Hines

It could have been the cover image associated with her cover story

The New York Times is serious when they say if you appear on the view or write cover stories on ignorant rap stars we will suspend that ass. From the NY Post: The New York Times is playing favorites. Last week, it was reported that talented culture writer Lola Ogunnaike was suspended after appearing on "The View" even though other Times reporters appear regularly on television. But now we hear Ogunnaike was warned several months ago for another perceived infraction - when she wrote the cover story for the February issue of Rolling Stone on Kanye West. TIMES HAS TWO SETS OF RULES [P6]

New York Times isn't the only one in a giving mood this week

This week seems to be free week for major news organizations. First we find out the New York Times will let us access their Times Select section all this week for free and now we find out that CNN.com will let us access their CNN pipeline for free as well but they are on the cheap side only letting us in for a day. [CNN]

Morning Wire: Vivendi's $50 Million secret, Times lets us in.......

And now the morning's worthy media news: Even on Sundays the Post learns, but still comes up with shitty headlines Following up the recent Tom Cruise United Artists news, the New York Post kept the momentum going with yet another headline, "Tommy's Gun" referencing the actor's old ass movie "Top Gun". Rupe's tabloid gets word that Tom and company may be getting some financial love from Washington Redskins owner and Cruise friend Dan Snyder to help revive the dusty United Artists. This Snyder guy seems like he will do anything to get his hands in the movie business, and Tom Cruise seems willing to hold them and walk him right through the door. $50 Billion offered for Vivendi stealth mode style The old boys at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company secretly made a $50 billion bid last month for Vivendi, the French entertainment and telecommunications company and it looks like Vivendi secretly turned them down. Private equity has a sack full of cash ($2 Trillion) and ready to drop some of it where it sees fit. Yeeeah! It's Times Select free week! No thanks to the folks at Phillips for paying The New York Times a shit a load of money for them to open up their "Times Select" section to us free all this week. The Times said that this is an effort to get more people to shell out cash every month to read the opinions of columnists and other stuff we could care less about. Note to The Times, if you give away free shit, of course we will take it. But that doesn't mean when you take back the free shit we will then turn around and pay for it. It's just not that serious. At least we don't think so. Should we though? -Shomari Hines

NY Times wants to tell us what to do via email

Fresh in our inbox we get word that the New York Times has launched Urbanite, a free daily-mail offering the latest information on what to do, see, eat, drink and buy in New York City - from art exhibits and shopping - to dining out and nightlife. Urbanite will be sent to subscribers Monday through Friday by 8:15 a.m., in time to get a jump on planning the day. We like to think we plan our days just fine. Anyway the full press release follows the click below Continued>> NYTIMES.COM ANNOUNCES URBANITE A NEW E-MAIL ABOUT CULTURE AND STYLE IN NEW YORK CITY Melena Ryzik to Write the Newsletter NEW YORK, Nov. 2, 2006 - NYTimes.com announced today the November 3 launchof Urbanite, a free daily e-mail offering the latest information on what todo, see, eat, drink and buy in New York City - from art exhibits and shopping - to dining out and nightlife. Urbanite will be sent to subscribers Monday through Friday by 8:15 a.m., in time to get a jump onplanning the day. Subscribers may register for the newsletter at www.nytimes.com/urbanite . Melena Ryzik, a Brooklyn journalist who has covered culture and style in thecity since 2001, will write Urbanite, infusing the newsletter with her distinctive voice and editorial viewpoint. Ariel Kaminer, editor of Arts &Leisure, will oversee the issue. Urbanite will bring The Times's rich mix of consumer journalism to the foreground, highlighting critics picks, notable products and hip venues identified byhundreds of New York-based journalists at The Times and NYTimes.com. Thee-mail also will call attention to Times blogs, podcasts and multimedia thatcan help readers experience life in the city to the fullest. Urbanite is a new tool for New Yorkers who want to make the most of thecity, said Vivian Schiller, senior vice president, general manager, NYTimes.com. The newsletter will deliver a daily fix on what to do andwhat to see, where to eat and where to shop with the depth and acuity thatreaders have come to depend on from The Times's cultural coverage. We are thrilled to add Urbanite to The Times's offerings online, said Alyse Myers, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, The New YorkTimes Media Group. This innovative e-mail newsletter is a great new opportunity foradvertisers to reach a targeted audience each morning. Ms. Ryzik chronicled the New York social scene as a freelance writer beforejoining The Times on October 20th. She was previously on staff at The Timesin 2001 writing for Metro and Investigative News. She was a contributingwriter on Portraits of Grief and, later, covered the red carpet beat forthe Boldface Names column. She has reported on the latest nightlife trends for the Style section andprofiled cultural mavens for Arts & Leisure. Her work has also appeared inNew York Magazine, the Daily News, Salon.com and Time Out New York, and onher own site. The Friday edition of the newsletter, Urbanite Weekend, replaces the NewYork Style weekly e-mail from NYTimes.com. Subscribers to New York Stylemay opt in to receive Urbanite daily; otherwise they will automatically receive Urbanite Weekend on Fridays. The Times will promote Urbanite withbanner ads online. About The New York Times Company The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2005revenues of $3.4 billion, includes The New York Times, the InternationalHerald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers, nine network-affiliated television stations, two New York City radio stations and35 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment. # # #

Afternoon Wire: Les makes loot outside, French media wants to take on the mighty U.S. media and more....

And now the afternoon's worthy media news: Chirac's Media They didn't stand with us on Iraq but the French wants to take on our mighty media offerings by launching a challenger for CNN outside of the U.S. French President Jacques Chirac's vision of a Gallic rival to CNN is approaching reality, pledging a pluralist and distinctively French world view to offset the "unified, Anglo-Saxon" outlook of the U.S. giant.Chirac promised a "CNN a la francaise" in 2002 and the idea gained impetus amid the controversy over his opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and his determination to defend a "multipolar" world from U.S. cultural dominance. Nothing Les than more at CBS CBS ruler Les Moonves continues to show us why he still has a job. CBS reported higher quarterly profit on growth from its outdoor advertising unit and said it was selling 29 radio stations for $570 million as it focuses on faster-growing markets. Revenue at CBS's key television and radio divisions fell during the quarter, hurt by weaker advertising and DVD revenue, but were partly offset by lower TV programming costs. Les continues to master the game of uPOD If you can't sell it whole, sell it piece by piece Tribune's planned wholesale may not be. The company has been having trouble finding a high bidder to take it all but none came there way. So now they are planning to sell the company off garage sale style in hopes of bringing in even more green. The company, whose current market value is $8.4 billion, publishes the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday in New York and the Hartford, Conn., Courant among its 11 daily newspapers. Three Los Angeles-area billionaires, Ron Burkle, Eli Broad and David Geffen, already have expressed an interest in buying the Times, according to media reports. Other private groups were said to be interested in Newsday and the Courant. Guess they were kinda forced to go this route -Shomari Hines

Double Wire: Viacom may soon be homeless, Martha takes care of her own

Will the mighty Viacom end up on the streets when the lease is up on their Times Square HQ? Well the owners of 1515 Broadway don't seem too interested in renewing a lease with the media giant and has already start looking into ways to attract a higher paying tenant. Hey maybe Dick can make some room in the hotter than ever Time Warner Towers as we like to call it. [Exploring options] It looks like working for Martha Stewart Omni Media (MSO) isn't a bad gig. Martha Stewart Living agreed to cover as much as $50,000 of the annual costs of a New York apartment for merchandising president Robin Marino. Wonder if this person gets a grocery allowance too? [Martha exec gets big perks ]

Weekend Wire: Because media news happens on the weekends too

We felt like we've been missing out on some real interesting items during the weekends and so beginning today, we will post this, our "Weekend Wire" to round up all the latest media news that the weekend may spit at us. And we thought we would never see another article about the whole Google Youtube thing again. The New York Times attempts to explain how this loopy deal makes sense [NYT] Meet the man who keeps greedy executives wanting more and getting more [NYT] North Korean's ambassador to the U.N Council: "That's Gangsta" [CNN] Movie studio bosses getting cut out by the people actually putting up the green for the movies [NYT] This didn't develop over the weekend but former New York Daily News gossip columnist, Lloyd Grove stupidly took a guess editing offer from Nick Denton to Gawk for a day [Daily Intel] Madonna reportedly chose her new kid in the same manner in which she chooses a new hand bag, but just a second or two longer [Sunday Times] Sure! Now is the best time for the big media companies to go after Youtube over copyright issues because their new daddies have loads of cash [Bloggingstocks/Google] Whatever happened to the whole thing with Time Warner CFO Wayne Pace and that high priced slut? Time Warner must have paid someone off to make this one go away [Here] Corporate thug Carl Icahn made some extra green from of all things Time Warner stock. You think the man would be happy, but he still says he expects the media giant to break itself up into four companies. [NYP]

NY Times stock spike on speculations

Now a days in order for media a stocks to shift just a tad, Wall Street likes to hear about possible takeovers or acquisitions. In this case the New York Times whose stock has been frozen in time much like media giant Time Warner saw a jump yesterday fueled by speculations that cash heavy vultures were circling the paper for a possible take over. Shares of The Times jumped 96 cents yesterday to close at $23.86 after the Web site Theflyonthe- wall.com reported that there was increased chatter in the market about a possible LBO of the media giant. Options activity also shot up, with 8,394 call options on the Times traded yesterday alone, which was more than the entire amount traded over the last several months, according to Jon Najarian of Insideoptions.com. PAPER CLIPPED [NYP]

Wire Catchup: Rupert, John, Jeff and more in our effort to catch up with the day's worthy media news

A Hollywood Reporter article says that the "Murdoch-Malone deal is glimpse at the future". If Rupe in an effort to get John Malone's hands out of his pot trades his Direct TV for the stake Malone holds in Newscorp, Rupe will sleep better at nights knowing that Malone can't and won't try to take over his company. But the deal could also see John Malone's re-arrival in a major way. [THR] Is it just us or was Jeff Bewkes's profile turned up a notch? The Time Warner number two exec and heir apparent has been turning up at every media function talking up his company and laying the ground work for the Bewkes doctrine on the horizon. In his latest campaigning, Jeff tells a crowd at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia XV conference in New York that Time Warner will be a leader in online media. You know what though Jeff, we have to see this one.