The Daily Loper – July 18, 2008

Too Big to Fail Edition

Todays links of interest:

• I Read the News Today… Oh Boy
  Everyone’s worrying about the future of newspapers, yet there is very little forward-thinking thought on how to save them. To wit, Sam Zell’s plan: "To advise him on long-term strategy, he has appointed as "chief innovation officer" Lee Abrams, a man who was apparently surprised to learn that reports datelined "Baghdad" are actually produced by reporters in Baghdad. His suggestion: "photos of the reporter with Iraqi kids" to advertise this fact."
• Hulu Users Happy With Site and Tech-Savvy but Not Numerous
  Hulu does get a lot right and will probably find an audience…if it can address the stuff it gets wrong (like, oh, week-long delays for content to comply with some dumb notion of who-knows-what).
• Movie Bloggers Call for Boycott of Variety, Hollywood Reporter
  Turns out that the established media can be very bad about stuff like attribution. It’s so hard to hold moral authority when, well, you don’t have moral authority.
• Veteran rockers set for windfall
  The EU looks to extend royalties paid to musicians beyond the current 50 year statute.
• Lions Gate to share ad revenue on movie clips on YouTube
  See, you can try to make money without resorting to lawsuits.
• Britney Spears gives sole custody to Kevin Federline. For now.
  You know what that means? It’s party time!!!
• AT&T mistakenly announces free Wi-Fi for iPhone users…again
  Nice one! I think that if they do it one more time, they should be forced to honor it.
• Most Say Ads a ‘Reasonable’ Cost of Free Online Video
  Thereby proving that free is just another word for paying in another way.
• Rhino Reissues, Expands Replacements’ Sire Albums
  Glory, halleujah! Finally, decent-sounding versions of "Tim" and "Pleased to Meet Me." Next up, gods willing, should be Husker Du.
• Radomski finds shipping slips under TV
  Sure. We’ve all used that type of filing system to track our drug shipments. Also, if you were a big-time steroid dealer, wouldn’t you at least to be able to afford a nice flat-panel TV?
• What Mainstream Publishers Don’t Want You to Know About Door-to-Door Magazine Sales
  Number 1,111,999 in a series about how bad these door-to-door sales teams have it, yet the magazine industry continues to participate in this exploitative practice.
• Sharpton ‘very disappointed’ in Jackson’s use of the ‘N-word’
  Ye gods! Whatever happened to the strategy of robbing it of its power?! Richard Pryor must rolling over in his ever-loving grave. Also: Sharpton is "shocked, shocked" to find out that there is gambling going on in Rick’s Cafe.
• What Else Jesse Jackson Said on That FNC Tape
  Omigod. People talk like real people when they don’t think they’re being recorded. Also, so black people use the N-word when talking about other black people. We’re shocked. Not.
• NBCU Invests in BlogHer for iVillage; Sets Up Ad Network
  NBC discovers women. Again.
• ‘Mad Men,’ ‘Damages’ make Emmy noms history
  Just when you thought all hope was lost…