News

November 10, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- An independent Uzbek reporter who was released this week from custody stemming from what rights groups describe as dubious extortion charges told RFE/RL today that he will continue his work as a journalist. Ulugbek Khaidarov was set free on November 8, one day after an appellate court in his native Jizzakh ordered his release. He was sentenced to six years in jail in...

CHICAGO (AP) -- Sun-Times Media Group Inc. is considering a complete overhaul of the Chicago Sun-Times amid a continuing steep decline in advertising and circulation revenue at the city's second-largest newspaper, its chief executive said Thursday. Gordon Paris' comments on a conference call came a day after the company, which also publishes community newspapers around Chicago, reported a $34.9...

NEW DELHI: Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is expected to enter the print media scene in India some time around March-April, 2007. The focus will be on entertainment and not news and current affairs, it is learnt. While the group is likely to begin its print foray in India by publishing a magazine on the television industry and programming guide, it may look at launching a bouquet of magazines...

It is perhaps symptomatic of the times we live in that a 20-second noisy sound bite will echo far more than a 1,200-word reasoned argument. Which is why a Ram Jethmalani exploding on CNN-IBN while defending his right to represent the prime accused in the Jessica Lall case appears to have set off such an avalanche of comment in the blogosphere. Unfortunately, much of the debate has caught the wrong...

Two of the Southland's wealthiest residents made a bid for one of the nation's largest media companies Wednesday in an attempt to restore local ownership of the Los Angeles Times. Billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad and Ron Burkle, who made his fortune in the supermarket industry, submitted an offer for Chicago-based Tribune Co. In addition to The Times, Tribune owns KTLA Channel 5, three dozen...

It's that time of the year again. The National Readership Survey Council (NRSC) released its annual National Readership Survey (NRS) about a month ago. And in what has become a recurring theme, affected parties cried foul. But there's a crucial difference this time around. Admitting that it had bungled up on some of the figures in NRS 2006, the NRSC has sent out to its subscribers a new CD with...

Earlier this year a thick volume was published with the descriptive, if uninspiring, title Handbook of Media Management and Economics. The editors of the Journal of Media Economics asked me to use a review of the book to expand on the state of the new field of media economics and management. I have posted the complete review at my Web site. In brief, what I wrote was that it is difficult—maybe...

Rome - Exactly seven months after narrowly losing a general election, Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's media mogul and politico extraordinaire, is suffering a series of setbacks on the business front. On Thursday, his plans to create a European media empire appeared on the verge of collapse after his Mediaset Spa was tipped to have been ruled out of the race for ProSiebenSat.1 AG, Germany's largest...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The editor of Philadelphia's largest newspaper will step down at the end of the year as the company's new owners seek contract concessions, including deep newsroom cuts, in response to falling circulation and advertising revenue. Philadelphia Inquirer editor Amanda Bennett will be replaced by Bill Marimow, a former Baltimore Sun editor and Inquirer city editor who is now...

NEW YORK (AP) -- A dissident investor is escalating a showdown with the New York Times Co., seeking steps that would lessen the Sulzberger family's control over the storied newspaper company. Morgan Stanley Investment Management, which owns 7.6 percent of the company's stock and is unhappy with a long slide in its share price, submitted a proposal Wednesday aimed at giving other shareholders more...