Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, the online bane of all newspaper classified sections, sees a promising new phase for news media. He believes that people want a few sources of national news overall and then a lot of sources for very local information and assistance.

"Now and then we do care about really big issues, but we also need to see the hyper-local stuff, and I think that's the way many newspapers are going to survive," he says. Readers care about what's happening around them because they all live in communities, and "in our culture now, we feel frequently isolated from those around us."

He says that local papers in the future may also serve as a home for community organizers, a new and evolving role for newspaper staffers who blog, host discussions and are engaged with people in the community. Advertising and sponsorships would come from ma and pa shops. "They need to get readers' attention, and that's a matter for display ads, not classifieds. Craigslist is classifieds." Read the whole story...

Stephen Allan, worldwide CEO of WPP's MediaCom, is rapidly assembling his management team. Key appointments are David Kyffin, who has been promoted to global chief ROI and direct marketing officer, and Mick Mernagh, who has been named global chief insight officer.

Kyffin had been managing director of direct and digital for WWP's GroupM. He will now focus on planning for direct-response efforts in both online and offline media. Prior to his GroupM role, Kyffin led MediaCom U.K.'s DM department.

Mernagh was director of consumer insight at MediaCom U.K. In his new post, he is tasked with maintaining consumer insight as the central focus of MediaCom's communications planning. "That these appointments are [from] existing MediaCom staff underlines the depth of talent we have," says Allan, who was named global CEO in August. The promotions follow the elevation last month of Doug Cherkeris to North American CEO. Read the whole story...

In a bid to connect more closely with the young, politically-minded audience, MTV is throwing an inaugural bash for President-elect Barack Obama. The network will televise the event across its various channels and platforms, including MTV and MTV.com. MTV's "Be the Change Inaugural Ball" will be held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington on Jan. 20.

The Viacom Inc.-owned network said the event is designed to celebrate the large youth voter turnout in the election. Organizers will choose hundreds of young people to attend based on their volunteerism. The ball will also feature leading artists, celebrities and government officials.

A host of organizations are planning inaugural balls in Washington, where more than 1 million people are expected to descend on the nation's capital for the occasion. Read the whole story...

Sumner Redstone may sell the theater chain owned by his National Amusements Inc. holding company to keep control of CBS and Viacom. Redstone, 85, told bankers he is willing to part with the 1,500- screen cinema chain as a possible step to raise money and meet his debt obligations.

National Amusements sold $233 million in non-voting shares of the New York-based media companies on Oct. 10 to meet debt covenants. The company is seeking to refinance $800 million in bank loans that come due next month.

But it is possible that selling the theaters won't be enough. It's unclear how much debt the theater chain has and how much its real estate is currently worth, says Chris Marangi, an analyst at Gabelli & Co. Attracting a top price for the chain also may be difficult because Redstone is a distressed seller. Marangi's firm is the second biggest holder of voting shares in CBS and Viacom after Redstone. Read the whole story...

Former "Nightline" anchor Ted Koppel and Discovery Communications are parting ways about six months ahead of Koppel's May 2009 contract end date. Koppel joined Discovery Channel in January 2006 as managing editor.

Discovery, under CEO David Zaslav and Discovery Networks chief John Ford, has lately taken a new direction, away from news. Koppel's critically-acclaimed documentaries were not in line with that direction. "It was like oil and water, it didn't mix particularly well," Koppel says.

As for his plans, Koppel still does commentaries for National Public Radio and also works for BBC World News from Washington. He says he won't be working for NBC's "Meet the Press," as some observers speculated. That program is rumored to be close to making a decision on a permanent moderator. Read the whole story...