Norman Pearlstine, former editor in chief of Time Inc., told a media-industry group in India this week that old media and new media are tap dancing as fast as they can in an effort to establish beachheads and, in some cases, survive, in the rapidly morphing media jungle.  "If you look at the development of the Internet it is clear that the best of times for newspapers have gone--business models are changing fast, and individual voices through channels such as blogs are rising and this is affecting advertising revenues," Pearlstine said.  He was also critical of the role of some …

Molly Ivins, the plain-speaking syndicated columnist, has written an acerbic piece about the state of her beloved newspaper industry.  First of all, she abhors all the hype and misinformation about the decline of papers.  Sure, she acknowledges, they're losing readers and advertisers. But slowly, not overnight.  Most papers still make money.  You wouldn't necessarily know that, she writes, if you simply read the recent headlines, especially those about the sale of Knight Ridder to McClatchy. Even if they eventually die altogether and all news shifts to the Internet, the newsgathering business would still have its challenges, Ivins says. In …

Fans of Comedy Central's "South Park" are threatening to boycott feature-film blockbuster "Mission: Impossible III," starring Tom Cruise, if the cable channel refuses to air a Scientology spoof that it recently dropped when one of its voiceover artists, Isaac Hayes, refused to participate in the episode, saying that, as a Scientologist, he thought it was offensive. "M:I III," which will be released in May, is from Comedy Central parent Viacom. When Hayes backed out of the "South Park" Scientology spoof, the show's creators quickly slapped together another episode, which aired this week. Writes Washington Post TV columnist Lisa de Moraes: …

Of the 73 magazines that are competing this year for National City and Regional Magazine Association awards, most of the finalists have been there before. Topping the 2006 list is Texas Monthly, a finalist with 16 nominations, the most in the recent history of this competition," writes Jim Romenesko of the Poynter Institute. Texas Monthly has long been regarded as an outstanding example of regional magazine journalism, and over the years it has won countless prizes on both the local and national levels. "Los Angeles magazine received 13 nominations. Atlanta magazine is a finalist in five categories, Chicago and Philadelphia …

MTV Networks is a big believer in the power and future potential of broadband channels. It already offers Overdrive, VSpot, and, through its Nicekodeon brand, TurboNick, all of which have begun to establish traction among their targeted audiences. Next comes Loaded, the broadband channel of MTV's CMT cable unit. Loaded, to launch sometime this summer, will feature country music videos, clips from popular CMT series, and original content. CMT is a available in 80 million homes. It scored its highest ratings ever last fall when, for the first time, it aired the Miss America Pageant.

Despite all the hoopla among TV, cable, and newspaper executives about extending their brands to multiple platforms, including the emerging mobile platform, magazine executives are not all that keen to do the same thing. According to a survey conducted jointly by Media Industry Newsletter and I Want Media, the magazine world is skeptical of going mobile at this point in time. Maybe sometime down the road. Maybe not at all. But right now--no, thanks. Where's the business model? ask industry reps. "The few magazine brands that already see demand for mobile extensions of their content are very enthusiastic about the …

Bad news for those who sell television advertising. A study released yesterday at the Association of National Advertisers TV Ad Forum revealed a significant loss of faith in TV ads among those who buy them. Three out of four markets say they believe TV advertising is less effective today than it was three years ago. Ad Age: "Almost 70 percent of advertisers believe DVRs and VOD will reduce or destroy the effectiveness of traditional 30-second commercials. Instead, they are looking at alternatives such as branded entertainment within TV programs (61 percent), TV program sponsorships (55 percent), interactive advertising during TV …

When he writes about fixing Time Warner, it's hard to know if Erick Schonfeld is serious or just doing what lots of writers do--trying to be provocative, essentially as an exercise in audience-grabbing. In either case, he's succeeded in producing a piece that will be much discussed for its boldness and sweep, if not necessarily its sound business logic. Noting as millions of others have noted (depressingly) that Time Warner's stock has long been stuck in neutral, he proposes a five-point plan for fixing the company. Here are the fixes he imagines: 1. Dump distribution (including TW Cable and AOL …

Although Verizon's flegling television service, called Fios TV, is available in barely more than a million U.S. homes, it is badly in need of content. It will now have more, thanks to CBS. The two companies have agreed to a deal in which Verizon will pay the network for the right to deliver certain CBS shows to its customers. Reports the Journal: "CBS's strategy is to capitalize on the increasingly brutal competition between cable operators and telecommunications companies to deliver TV to people's homes. To compete with cable companies treading on their turf by offering phone service, Verizon and AT&T …

So many issues confront the production of the proposed reality show about American Media that it may never get off the ground, let alone pitched to a network or TV syndicator.  The program--tentatively titled OnePark, for the address of AMI's Manhattan offices--has company CEO David Pecker worried.  "A major sticking point," writes Jeff Bercovici at WWD.com, "is ... Pecker's concern that the presence of candid cameras could further mar the company's already battered image.He is particularly concerned, say sources, that employees will be shown disparaging the company or engaging in suspect journalistic practices. To prevent that, Pecker is insisting …