Gibbs to Reporter: You're Acting Like My Child

April Ryan of American Urban Radio asked White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Wednesday a legitimate question about White House social secretary Desiree Rogers' role at the recent state dinner, in which Gibbs not only laughed off the question but compared Ryan to a dealing with his son.

Gibbs' treatment of the reporter got some audible hisses in the press room.

Feinstein, Durbin Offer Amendment to Bill to Hinder Citizen Journalism

Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., have offered an amendment to a Press Shield Bill sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., that would eliminate protections from citizen journalists that are offered to paid journalists.

Their amendment to S. 448 would deny ordinary citizens doing vital investigations in the public interest the same legal protections as professional journalists.

By denying these protections, citizen investigations would be stifled. The most recent example of a citizen investigation would be the ACORN probe by an independent filmmaker.

The bill states that it will maintain the free flow of information to the public by providing conditions for the federally compelled disclosure of information by certain persons connected with the news media.

An amendment filed by Durbin and Feinstein would exclude an individual who gathers or disseminates the protected information sought to be compelled anonymously or under a pseudonym.

Feinstein Amendment to S 448 (12-09) (00131100)

The bill is in the first step in the legislative process. Introduced bills and resolutions first go to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee. Committee on the Judiciary is scheduled to consider the bill on Dec. 10.

The amendment is a very dangerous intrusion on everyone's First Amendment rights. Since Thomas Paine, Americans have always voiced their opinions, commentaries and investigations into what they see as injustices and corruption. The ACORN story was a national story, but across the country there are many individuals using the Internet and film to shine the light on their local governments. They deserve every protection that paid journalists enjoy under the law.

This couldn't be payback for the ACORN story, could it?

Investigation Into Philippine Massacre of Journalists Continues

Bob Dietz, Asia program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, takes a look this morning at the recent massacre of at least 30 journalists in the Philippines. He reports that:

Four groups in the Philippines released what appears to be the most authoritative account on the murder of 57 people on November 23 in Ampatuan, in Maguindanao province, in the Philippines’ southernmost main island, Mindanao. The report puts the death toll for journalists at 30, with a few others classified as media workers—drivers and other support staff. Some bodies are still unidentified. The nine-person investigative team spent November 25 to 30 in the nearest large city, General Santos City, and traveled to the site of the massacre in Ampatuan and to nearby towns interviewing relatives of those killed.

The organizations -- Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, MindaNews, and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism—felt they had to act quickly because the Philippines has a very poor record of carrying out investigations and bringing prosecutions in the deaths of journalists. CPJ ranks the country the sixth worst in terms of impunity for those who kill journalists. They were right to move quickly. When the investigative team went to Ampatuan they were accompanied by a forensics expert. They were horrified by the destruction of evidence by the police and army teams who were using excavators to search for and retrieve the victims’ bodies. The scene of the crime—actually there were a few killing areas—was ruined in a way that will make it very difficult if not impossible to reconstruct what happened.

The BBC reported today that 19 people being investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation for their involvement in the massacre have been placed on a security watch list. That means they can’t leave the country, but they haven’t been arrested. The BBC said 12 of the 19 are relatives of Andal Ampatuan Jr.—the only person in custody. Ampatuan is charged with multiple counts of murder, which he denies. He has applied for release on bail. He belongs to the powerful Ampatuan political clan. He is the son of Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., and brother of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan.

Tomorrow, representatives from about 10 international media support groups will start assembling in General Santos City, to support their Philippines colleagues. The idea is to carry their investigation forward and start assessing the needs of the victims’ families. But it is also to show solidarity with Philippine reporters in the entire nation. With the facts gathered, they will then focus on high-level advocacy and giving as much support as possible to the local media community, culminating in Global Day of Action on December 9, preceding International Human Rights Day.

U.S. Unemployment Drops to 10.0 Percent

The unemployment rate edged down to 10.0 percent in November, and nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged (-11,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

In the past 3 months, payroll job losses had averaged 135,000 a month, the government said. In November, employment fell in construction, manufacturing, and information, while temporary help services and health care added jobs.

In November, both the number of unemployed persons, at 15.4 million, and the unemployment rate, at 10.0 percent, edged down, the report said. At the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons was 7.5 million, and the jobless rate was 4.9 percent.

Among the major worker groups, the govenrment said that unemployment rates for adult men (10.5 percent), adult women (7.9 percent), teenagers (26.7 percent), whites (9.3 percent), blacks (15.6 percent), and Hispanics (12.7 percent) showed little change in November. The unemployment rate for Asians was 7.3 percent, not seasonally adjusted.

Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs fell by 463,000 in November, according to the report. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) rose by 293,000 to 5.9 million. The percentage of unemployed persons jobless for 27 weeks or more increased by 2.7 percentage points to 38.3 percent.

The civilian labor force participation rate was little changed in November at 65.0 percent. The employment-population ratio was unchanged at 58.5 percent.

The number of people working part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in November at 9.2 million, according to the federal government. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

Comcast Buys NBC From GE for $30 Billion

Comcast, America's largest cable operator, agreed on Thursday to acquire NBC Universal from the General Electric Co. for $30 billion. The move will most likely shake up the competition among television networks.

The New York Times speculated yesterday that the acquisition could be a threat to ESPN:

But Comcast’s impending acquisition of NBC Universal will certainly set off an effort to turn Versus into a viable alternative, if not a full-fledged competitor, to ESPN, The New York Times’s Richard Sandomir writes. Under Comcast’s ownership, Versus has transformed from the Outdoor Life Network to OLN, then, in 2006, into its current incarnation.

But Versus is a second-tier network whose highest-profile sports, the N.H.L. and the Tour de France, aren”t blockbusters. It lacks a studio show that would give it identity, like ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” or an announcer who is its defining personality.

Versus (and its sister network, the Golf Channel) will be turned over to NBC for an overhaul, assuming regulators approve the deal, a process that could take 12 to 18 months. Versus will probably be renamed something like NBC Sports Cable to reflect a more defined sports brand. On-air and production talent would migrate from NBC, to a certain extent, although Bob Costas would not be hosting IndyCar races.

Versus and Golf would certainly be overseen by Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports, who has never had a sports cable network to tinker with (the expanding Universal Sports channel is distributed through NBC stations and affiliates); he would no doubt quickly strip Versus of its current crop of late-night infomercials.

And, Bleacher Report says don't forget Norte Dame football ...

According to the Sports Business Journal, Comcast has its sights set on the Irish, in part because NBC's current contract with Notre Dame contains a clause that allows for a certain number of games to "mitigate to cable."

A quick glance at the 2010 schedule reveals a slate ripe with cable-caliber opponents: Western Michigan, Tulsa, Utah, and perhaps even a nostalgic neutral-site date with Army at Yankees Stadium.

Such reallocation to a cable channel would surely be perceived as a demotion and rankle a segment of the Notre Dame fan base, who are already disgruntled by ABC/ESPN's oxymoronic coverage-map approach to national broadcasts.

Fighting Irish faithful routinely combat the perception of entitlement, but the one arrogance we can't deny is the "right" to watch our team for free every Saturday during the fall.

Here is the top of today's press release announcing the acquisition. The link will take you to the full release:

Comcast and General Electric announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture that will be 51 percent owned by Comcast, 49 percent owned by GE and managed by Comcast. The joint venture, which will consist of the NBC Universal (NBCU) businesses and Comcast’s cable networks, regional sports networks and certain digital properties and certain unconsolidated investments, will be well positioned to compete in an increasingly dynamic and competitive media and digital environment.

The combination of assets creates a leading media and entertainment company with the proven capability to provide some of the world’s most popular entertainment, news and sports content, movies and film libraries to consumers anytime, anywhere. The joint venture will provide consumers the broadest possible access to content, and support high-quality, award-winning content development across all platforms including film, television, and online. It will be anchored by an outstanding portfolio of cable networks and regional sports networks that will account for about 80 percent of its cash flow, including USA, Bravo, Syfy, E!, Versus, CNBC and MSNBC. The joint venture will be financially strong with a robust cash-flow-generation capability.

Under the terms of the transaction, GE will contribute to the joint venture NBCU’s businesses valued at $30 billion, including its cable networks, filmed entertainment, televised entertainment, theme parks, and unconsolidated investments, subject to $9.1 billion in debt to third party lenders. Comcast will contribute its cable networks including E!, Versus and the Golf Channel, its ten regional sports networks, and certain digital media properties, collectively valued at $7.25 billion, and make a payment to GE of approximately $6.5 billion of cash subject to certain adjustments based on various events between signing and closing.

Comcast Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts said, “This deal is a perfect fit for Comcast and will allow us to become a leader in the development and distribution of multiplatform ‘anytime, anywhere’ media that American consumers are demanding. In particular, NBCU’s fast-growing, highly profitable cable networks are a great complement to our industry-leading distribution business. Today’s announced transaction will increase our capabilities in content and cable networks. At the same time, it will enhance consumer choice and accelerate the development of new digital products and services. GE has provided NBCU with a great home and has dramatically and positively transformed the business. We are honored that under this agreement Comcast would take over the stewardship of this important collection of assets and are absolutely committed to investing in NBCU and ensuring that it is a vibrant, financially strong company able to thrive in a rapidly evolving marketplace by delivering innovative programming. We are particularly pleased to be creating this new joint venture with GE and Jeff Immelt and to have their continued involvement.

“For Comcast, this transaction is strategically compelling and will generate attractive financial returns and build shareholder value,” continued Roberts. “It is also expected to be immediately accretive and will also allow us to maintain our strong commitment to returning capital to shareholders– all while increasing the scale, capabilities and value of our cable distribution, content and digital assets. Significantly, it is entirely consistent with our intense focus on value creation and our disciplined strategy of pursuing profitable growth in areas complementary to our distribution business.”

GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said, “The combination of Comcast’s cable and regional sports networks and digital media properties and NBCU will deliver strong returns for GE shareholders and business partners. NBCU has been a great business for GE over the past two decades. We have generated an average annual return of 11 percent, while expanding into cable, movies, parks and international media. We are reducing our ownership stake from 80 percent to 49 percent of a more valuable entity. By doing so, GE gets a good value for NBCU. This transaction will generate approximately $8 billion of cash at closing with an expected small after-tax gain. We have many opportunities to invest in our high-technology infrastructure businesses at attractive returns. I believe that the new NBCU will deliver value for both Comcast and GE in the future. We will give consumers and advertisers more choice and our cable and digital assets will be second to none. I am confident Brian Roberts and his team at Comcast will be great partners.”

Dallas Morning News Lifestyle and Sports Editors Now Answer to Business General Managers

The Dallas Morning News sports and entertainment journalists are being moved into business segments with its sales and business development personnel. The senior sports and lifestyle editors will report directly to the general managers "while retaining a strong reporting relationship to the editor and managing editor."

The move is counter the traditional newspaper model where the business side and the editorial side were separated by an invisible wall.

Here is the memo:

December 2, 2009

Colleagues:

Today we are launching a new business segment structure as the next step toward becoming the most comprehensive and trusted partner for local businesses in attracting and retaining customers and continuing to generate important, relevant content for our consumers.

To better align with our clients' needs, we will be organized around eleven business and content segments with similar marketing and consumer profiles including: sports, health/education, entertainment, travel/luxury, automotive, real estate, communications, preprints/grocery, recruitment, retail/finance, and SMB/Interactive.

Each segment will be led by a General Manager (GM), a newly-defined role, each reporting to Cyndy Carr, charged with analyzing and growing the business by developing solutions that meet consumer needs and maximize results for our clients. Their responsibilities will include sales and business development. They will also be working closely with news leadership in product and content development.

In the Sports and Entertainment segments, the senior news editors will report directly to the GM while retaining a strong reporting relationship to the editor and managing editor. These collaborations will bring new products that consumers want to the market more rapidly. We are proceeding knowing and trusting each other's distinct roles and responsibilities in the same way our News leadership and our Publisher have worked collaboratively for years.

This business/news integration is a progressive step and is strongly supported by the news leaders of both the Sports and Entertainment segments:

"As a segment, we have a lot of advantages usually associated with a start-up," said Bob Yates, deputy managing editor and Executive Sports Editor. "We should be able to move much more quickly to take advantage of opportunities. That comes from having greater autonomy that gives us the freedom to develop both advertising and content solutions."

"As a journalist who has participated in many new product launches, I'm excited about the idea of working with a business partner on an arts and entertainment segment," added Lisa Kresl, deputy managing editor for Lifestyles. "Our high quality, credible content will reach new audiences in a variety of formats."
-
The new segment leadership team is comprised of a very talented and accomplished group of business professionals:

Entertainment and Travel/Luxury Segments: Tracy Martin Taylor is the GM for the Entertainment and Travel/Luxury segments. As part of the new GM role, Tracy will be responsible for overseeing content. Tracy will continue her role as Quick Publisher and assume the role of FD Luxe Publisher. Prior to joining The News in July, she was in sales management at Clear Channel Radio and marketing at Wherehouse Music.

Sports and Health/Education Segments: Rich Alfano is the newest member of our management team. Rich worked for Times Mirror Magazines and served as President of Yachting, Saltwater Sportsman and Golf Magazine. He has most recently served as Senior Vice President/General Manager and SVP/Strategic Marketing for Practitioner's Publishing Co./Thomson Reuters. His professional success and experience in several industries makes him ideally suited to lead two of our high-growth segments.

Automotive Segment: Bill Bradley is the Automotive GM. Bill has over ten years of experience in sales management and has been a leader in solution-based selling. His in-depth knowledge of the auto industry combined with his strong local dealer relationships make him ideal for the role. Bill has held sales management positions on the News classified and local teams as well as sales and training roles in the newspaper industry prior to joining the company.

Real Estate Segment: Bill Bradley will assume the role of acting GM for Real Estate until the permanent position is hired.

Communications Segment: Alejandro "Alex" Sanchez is the Communications GM and Publisher of Al Día. He's been the Publisher of Al Dia the past two years and is responsible for achieving profitability earlier this year. Prior to The News, Alex spent 10 years as vice president and general manager for various television and radio stations in Texas, New York and California.

Pre-prints/Grocery Segment: Dan Phelan is the GM for the Pre-Print/Grocery Segment. Since becoming pre-print sales director in 2003, Dan has excelled in delivering creative solutions for our clients and has ranked at the top of our peer group in revenue performance. Prior to The News, Dan spent 18 years with Advo/Valassis in customer service and sales management roles.

Recruitment Segment: Michael Mayer is GM for Recruitment Advertising segment. He is a seasoned sales leader and has held various sales management positions in the newspaper industry including Recruitment Director at The Denver Newspaper Agency.

Retail/Financial Segment: Grant Moise is GM for the Retail/Financial segment. Grant has also been named Publisher of Briefing after leading it to profitability since joining The News in December. Grant was previously the Regional Sales Director for Tribune Media Net and the National Advertising Director at The News.

SMB/Retail Interactive Segment: As the GM of SMB/Retail Interactive, Robert Jehling will focus our existing local teams on sales opportunities in the small and medium business (SMB) segments. SMB is composed of the General Classifieds organizations, SMB sales teams, and the Self Serve Portal. Robert will also continue to lead the Local and National Retail Interactive teams which have achieved revenue growth under his leadership. In addition, Robert will serve as Publisher for NeighborsGo andNeighborsGo.com . Prior to joining The News last November, Robert was a Senior Sales Director at AT&T. Robert has over 15 years in leading consultative sales and marketing teams, with a proven track record of success in merging sales organizations and driving increased productivity.

The segment restructure is one of several key strategies we have implemented this year to better serve our advertising clients, including the following:

· Every member of the sales staff has completed a solutions-based training and evaluation program to increase their ability to better understand our clients' marketing objectives and recommend solutions that deliver results. Training is an ongoing priority. Future training topics will include digital, product and segment training in addition to a learning management system to facilitate continuous education and assist in certification.

· Implemented a new Integrated Advertising System (IAS) in July, which consolidated over five disparate operating systems enabling us to more efficiently manage our clients' accounts.

· Restructured the marketing organization to better support the sales staff in the development of media solutions for our clients. Market, audience and segment analysts provide valuable insights while marketing strategists, media planners and the agency help create campaigns that deliver results.

· Created an agency liaison team to better serve our advertising agency clients through a more singular focus on account management. After the first 90 days, our satisfaction ratings have increased significantly.

As The Dallas Morning News approaches its 125th anniversary in 2010, our business stands at a critical crossroads. Our success depends on employing bold strategies to evolve our organization: our home delivery pricing strategy (on which Jim and John updated us on Monday), our continued dedication and investment in important and relevant journalism that makes a difference in our community and the ongoing development of our product portfolio have all played a role in changing our approach to how we do business.

This restructure and strategic integration with news, along with the many other strategies we've put into place this year to better serve our clients and consumers, position us for significant growth and stability as we head into the new year.

Cyndy Carr Bob Mong
SVP/Sales Editor

Newspaper Layoffs in November Show Spike From Previous Months

Newspaper layoffs in the United States picked up steam just in time for the holidays as 623 people were dismissed or offered buyouts in November, News Cycle's list shows. This is about a 50 percent increase over the layoffs reported in both October and September. But three major announcements in the month did not add to News Cycle's running total.

The Associated Press reported that it was dismissing 190 people from its staff either through accepting a buyout plan or a layoff. In May, it was estimated that 400 AP staffers would lose their jobs this year. News Cycle subtracted 210 from its grand total figure to compensate.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, offered buyouts to 140 managers on Nov. 6. Block Communications would not say what its target was, nor would it release its deadline. This number is not included in News Cycle's 2009 total.

Finally, The East Valley Tribune in Arizona announced on Nov. 3 that it would cease publication on Dec. 31, putting 140 out of work. But on Nov. 25, Randy Miller's Thirteenth Street Media, which owns the Tucson Explorer, signed a letter of intent to purchase the newspaper and keep a "substantial" number of employees on the job.

Here are November's other confirmed layoffs:

Nov. 13: Colorado Springs Gazette, 11 people.
Nov. 12: New York Times News Service, at least 25 people. Union sources say that up to 28 people may be cut.
Nov. 10: The Arizona Daily Star, 15 people.
Nov. 9: Minneapolis Star Tribune, 100 people.
Nov. 7: The Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer, two people. Three other unfilled positions will remain vacant.
Nov. 6: The Post and Courier of Charleston, S.C., 16 people plus seven unfilled positions cut.
Nov. 5: Huron (Mich.) Daily Tribune, 30 people.
Nov. 4:The Fresno (Calif.) Bee, 51 people in the circulation department. Dismissals will happen in phases and be completed by Jan. 31.
Nov. 4: Staten Island (N.Y.) Advance, 40 people.

Here are News Cycle's month-by-month lists of newspaper job cuts this year:

December -- 752 people.
November -- 293 people.
October -- 375 people.
September -- 347 people.
August -- 425 people.
July -- 2,505 people.
June -- 318 people.
May -- 1,084 people.
April -- 1,350 people.
March -- 3,943 people.
February -- 1,492 people.
January -- 2,256 people.

Email me to report any job cuts in the newspaper industry.

Waxman: U.S. Government Must Help Resolve Journalism Issues

A top Democratic lawmaker predicted today that the federal government will soon be involved in shaping the future for struggling U.S. media organizations, according to reporting by John Poirier of Reuters.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman of California said that quality journalism was essential to U.S. democracy and that eventually government would have to help resolve the problems caused by a failing business model, according to the report.

Waxman, other U.S. lawmakers and regulators are looking into various options to help a newspaper industry hurt by the shift in advertising revenues to online platforms.

Tweaks to the tax code to allow newspapers to spread losses over a greater number of years, providing a nonprofit structure to allow for public and foundation funding, and changes to antitrust laws are being considered by lawmakers and policymakers.

"Eventually government is going to have to be responsible to help and resolve these issues," Waxman told a conference hosted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on the future of journalism.

Free Press, a public interest group, said the search for solutions to the crisis in journalism should be premised on the idea that news-gathering is a public service, not a commodity.

Waxman's "indication that government has a role to play is both bold and soberly sensible," said Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott on the sidelines of the FTC conference.

At the Federal Communications Commission, officials are embarking on a quadrennial review of the state of U.S. media. The study, which is mandated by Congress, seeks to determine whether current rules should be changed to allow for a more vibrant media industry serving a diverse audience.

Colleagues Celebrate Jimmy Breslin's 60 Years in Journalism

A Who's Who of New York journalists and writers convened by Pete Hamill will discuss the career of Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper columnist, non-fiction author and novelist Jimmy Breslin at New York University on Monday.

The event will take place at 7 p.m. at the Kimmel Center for University Life, 60 Washington Sq. S., fourth floor in Manhattan, a press release says. It is co-sponsored by Glucksman Ireland House — the Center for Irish and Irish-American Studies at New York University — and the NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.

Among the participants: Dan Barry, columnist, The New York Times; Gail Collins, columnist, The Times; Jim Dwyer, columnist, The Times; Mary Ann Giordano, editor, The Times; Carl Hiassen, novelist, columnist, The Miami Herald; Mike Lupica, novelist, columnist, N.Y. Daily News; Stephen G. Murphy, defense attorney; Mike O’Neill, former editor, Daily News; Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent, The Times and former city editor, Daily News.

A matchless New York voice, the city’s “steadiest and most accurate chronicler” (Tom Robbins, The Village Voice, March 19, 2002), Breslin was born in Queens, N.Y., in 1929. He started as a copy boy at 15 at the Long Island Press and worked there as a reporter covering fires, crime and sports. In the late 1950s he became a sports columnist at the New York Journal-American and in 1963 he published his first book, Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game? The Improbable Saga of the New York Mets’ First Year. Breslin wrote his first city-side column for the New York Herald-Tribune from 1963 to 1966. He was at The Daily News from 1976 to 1988 and received the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary at the paper in 1986. He then joined Newsday and stayed from 1988 until his retirement as a columnist in 2004. Pioneering in style and in focus, his columns were peopled with the prominent, the shady, and those struggling with poverty and crime. He also reported from Northern Ireland, Vietnam, and other places well beyond New York. His first novel, The Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight, was published in 1970 and was made into a successful film. His most recent book The Good Rat: A True Story, was published in 2008. In all, he has published seven novels and 10 works of non-fiction.

Journos and Rock Stars "Unite" for Newseum Panel

Journos and Rock Stars "Unite" for Newseum Panel

Reaction to Obama's Afghan Troop Plan

Here is POLITICO's video composite of reactions to President Barack Obama's announcement that the United States will send about 30,000 additional troops to fight in Afghanistan.

Google Modifies First Click Free Program

Google announced that it is changing its First Click Free program to allow newspaper publishers to limit users to no more than five pages per day without registering or subscribing.

"If you're a Google user, this means that you may start to see a registration page after you've clicked through to more than five articles on the website of a publisher using First Click Free in a day. We think this approach still protects the typical user from cloaking, while allowing publishers to focus on potential subscribers who are accessing a lot of their content on a regular basis," wrote Josh Cohen, Senior Business Product Manager of Google on a blog posting yesterday.

Cohen went on to write: We will crawl, index and treat as "free" any preview pages - generally the headline and first few paragraphs of a story - that they make available to us. This means that our crawlers see the exact same content that will be shown for free to a user. Because the preview page is identical for both users and the crawlers, it's not cloaking. We will then label such stories as "subscription" in Google News. The ranking of these articles will be subject to the same criteria as all sites in Google, whether paid or free. Paid content may not do as well as free options, but that is not a decision we make based on whether or not it's free. It's simply based on the popularity of the content with users and other sites that link to it."

News Corp. chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch has lead the charge against Google, including saying on Tuesday that media companies should charge for content and stop news aggregators like Google from "feeding off the hard-earned efforts and investments of others."

News Corp. charges for online access to The Wall Street Journal and it plans to expand that to other publications, including British newspapers The Sun and The Times. Newsday now charges for access to its site as well if you are not a print subscriber or a customer of Optimum Online.

The Associated Press reported that Murdoch told the U.S. Federal Trade Commission conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday that a fundamental problem facing the media industry is that "technology makes it cheap and easy to distribute news for anyone with Internet access, but producing journalism is expensive."

"Right now there is a huge gap in costs," he added, referring to news compilation sites like Google.

Washington Times Announces Significant Staff Reductions

The Washington Times today announced what it called "significant staff reduction of its 370 personnel."

Michael Calderone of POLITICO says his sources put the number at about 40 percent, which would represent roughly 148 people.

The newspaper, which is owned by News World Communications, a division of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church, has seen unprecedented upheaval over the past few months. Earlier in November, executive editor John Solomon resigned amid rampant rumors of the newspaper's demise. In addition, there have been reports of security guards monitoring staff activity, as well as a discrimination complaint from the former editorial page editor, who said he had been “coerced” into attending a church event. Church and newspaper officials have long denied any influence by the Unificiation Church over the newspaper's policies, practices and editorial content.

Here is the newspaper's press release about the staff reductions:

The Washington Times LLC today announced changes to refocus its position as a provider of vital information and insight to readers in the nation's capital, across the country and around the world. As with other news organizations in the United States, the company continues to reshape operations to keep pace with the dynamically changing economics of the news business.

"These changes will continue The Washington Times' transformation into a 21st century media company and reinforces its mission to provide an independent, alternative voice in the nation's capital," said President and Publisher Jonathan Slevin. "We have developed plans to secure our position and advance our vital role in an evolving media marketplace and through challenging economic times. A new Washington Times will continue to reach readers and more effectively earn new audiences via digital, broadcast, print and wireless media.

"Changes at the Times are rooted in a rigorous business analysis, applying sound and tested financial principles, and shaping plans informed by current marketplace realities," continued Slevin. "In this regard, the company is aggressively working to achieve efficiencies of scale that must include significant staff reduction of its 370 personnel."

Scheduled for incremental implementation between now and the first half of 2010, the changes announced include:

• News focused on strengths. The Washington Times news operation will operate in a highly focused manner, investing in Washington Times' well-established core strengths that include exclusive reporting and in-depth national political coverage, enterprise and investigative reporting, geo-strategic and national security news, and cultural coverage based on traditional values.

• Controlled-market local circulation. In the first quarter of 2010, the local print edition will be distributed at no cost in select areas, and home/office delivery will be offered at a premium price. No-cost distribution will focus on targeted audiences in branches of the federal government as well as at other key institutions. Single copy sales will continue through newspaper boxes and retailers at select locations. Current subscribers will also be offered a choice of subscriptions to Washington Times digital editions and The Washington Times National Weekly.

• Digital news resources: The company will expand the recently-launched theconservatives.com, subscription-based e-briefings and other new digital information resources as part of its online strategy.

• Radio programming. The newspaper's 3-hour-a-day morning radio program, "America's Morning News," will continue to grow through syndication by Talk Radio Network. The program currently airs in more than 70 markets nationwide.

• Partnerships. The Washington Times will work closely with its affiliate company, United Press International (UPI), to mutually benefit both organizations through collaboration in areas such as photography and online sales, as well as leveraging UPI's multi-lingual and international presence.

"The new Washington Times will continue to report Washington-focused news that other journalistic enterprises often overlook," said Slevin. "Fearless reporting, respect for American values, and crisply written editorials and columns will remain the centerpieces of our new strategy, and our content will continue to engage readers and viewers through a wide range of 21st century media."

Chris Matthews: Obama Spoke at the 'Enemy Camp' at West Point

Chris Matthews of MSNBC yesterday described the cadets and soldiers listening to President Barack Obama at West Point as "the enemy camp." It's a stunning description of volunteers willing to put their lives on the line in defense of our country.

Michael Moore to Obama: Say It Ain't So!

Filmmaker and progressive standard bearer Michael Moore does not take too kindly to President Barack Obama's plan to send 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan.

All of us that voted and prayed for you and cried the night of your victory have endured an Orwellian hell of eight years of crimes committed in our name: torture, rendition, suspension of the bill of rights, invading nations who had not attacked us, blowing up neighborhoods that Saddam "might" be in (but never was), slaughtering wedding parties in Afghanistan. We watched as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were slaughtered and tens of thousands of our brave young men and women were killed, maimed, or endured mental anguish -- the full terror of which we scarcely know.

When we elected you we didn't expect miracles. We didn't even expect much change. But we expected some. We thought you would stop the madness. Stop the killing. Stop the insane idea that men with guns can reorganize a nation that doesn't even function as a nation and never, ever has.

Stop, stop, stop! For the sake of the lives of young Americans and Afghan civilians, stop. For the sake of your presidency, hope, and the future of our nation, stop. For God's sake, stop.