Who says you can't make a good buck in the newspaper business these days?  Douglas H. McCorkindale, chairman of Gannett, the country's largest newspaper publisher, received $4.06 million last year, down from $4.23 million the year before.  Also, according to the Associated Press, McCorkindale received "other annual compensation" of $82,171 for 2005, compared with $82,497 for the prior year.  He received for 2005 "all other compensation" of $23,904, down from $93,076 for 2004. Gannett said President and Chief Executive Craig A. Dubow received a 2005 salary of $780,025 and a bonus worth $1.2 million, compared with a2004 salary of $550,000 …

Want a glimpse of what media executives of the future are studying today? A program that got underway at Oregon State University only three years ago offers a pretty clear picture. New media communications, as the program is called at Oregon State, focuses on storytelling through various media forms--video games, the Internet, television, newspapers, and movies. "New media specialists... anticipate new technology to stay ahead of the market," says a story in the Corvallis (Oregon) Gazette-Times. "Joel Thierstein, a former lawyer and director of OSU's new media communications program, [mentions] multi-sensory television and movie watching, where viewers experience sensations of …

It sounds improbable, but WWD.com's Jeff Bercovici is reporting that eponymous magazine editor Jane Pratt, ex of Jane, is in serious discussion with pop singer Gwen Stefani about launching an as-yet unspecified magazine title. Bercovici: "According to sources close to both parties, Pratt is in advanced talks with the No Doubt singer to start a women's lifestyle magazine. The title would be part of a bigger multimedia play by Stefani's label, Interscope Records, and would include book and online components. Stefani's lawyer confirmed Thursday that the singer and the former editor are in talks, but insisted there has been …

The bidding will continue until Sunday, but the McClatchy Company, based in Sacramento, Calif., has surprisingly turned up with the best offer to date, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere. The stock and cash offer comes as some other, larger players in the newspaper industry wait on the sidelines.  "A bid was expected from MediaNews, but whether it had submitted an offer by the end of [Thursday] and what form its offer would take, could not be determined," said Editor & Publisher.   "Earlier in the day, a source familiar with MediaNews said the situation was …

The conventional wisdom holds that one of the fastest growing niches in media is the Spanish-language sector. In recent years, the explosion of Spanish-language magazine titles, not to mention television and radio programs, has been mind-boggling. Now comes evidence that English-language media are performing especially well with Spanish-speaking audiences. The reason is not hard to fathom: Young Latinos especially are largely bilingual these days. Many, in fact, see Spanish as a second language, especially if they've been raised in the United States. The Associated Press: "'The real future of the Hispanic targeted media and advertising is in English,'" says David …

Gossip reporter Roger Friedman, writing at FoxNews.com, says "Good Morning America" co-anchor Diane Sawyer may finally have persuaded the suits at ABC that she's the right choice to occupy the anchor chair at "World News Tonight." Friedman points out that the estimable Sawyer clearly was not the network's first choice. When co-anchor Bob Woodruff was injured while reporting in Iraq, ABC News first asked Charles Gibson to assume fill-in duties. He didn't like the deal he was offered and so took a pass. With Elizabeth Vargas pregnant and assumed to be preparing to take an extended break from her "World …

You've loved him on "The Daily Show," you watched him (with some misgivings) as host of last Sunday's Academy Awards telecast--and now you can download him to your very own computer or iPod. Jon Stewart, podded, will come at a price, however. The subscription for "Daily Show" episodes will cost $9.99 a month, but for that you also get the recently launched "Colbert Report." Both are Comedy Central programs. The deal was announced this week by Apple, which owns iTunes and is just getting started with its monthly subscription business. Subscribers will be able to download the Stewart and Colbert …

A leisurely report on PR Week magazine awards gave New York Observer writer Jason Horowitz an opportunity to explore the changing dynamic between public-relations professionals and the press.  In the old days (meaning anything prior to, say, 2004) there was a symbiosis between the two; neither could do its job effectively without some cooperation from the other.  No longer true.  Today, paid flacks can easily skirt newspapers, TV, and radio when trying to get a message to the pubic. The Internet has made that possible, and the development of the blogosphere in particular has relegated old-line journalists to lesser …

The Financial Times has published an important commentary about the evolution of media. Its merit derives principally from its source--Tom Glocer, CEO of Reuters. Speaking about the production and dissemination of content, he traces the recent and dramatic shift in media from a monolithic structure to a decentralized model in which almost anyone with a laptop computer or low-cost digital video camera can influence audiences around the globe. We are into at least the second phase of media's bright new world, Glocer believes. All this has been occurring at a breakneck pace. He seems not just pleased but giddy about …

A Banc of America securities analyst reported this week that the enormous costs of signing A-list talent for on-air programs will delay Sirius and XM's plans for moving to profitability. Both sat-service companies have been signing subscribers at a brisk pace, but they also have been in a competition to do deals with popular personalities. For example, Sirius just signed Sex and the City author Candance Bushnell to her own show, and only weeks ago XM inked a deal with Oprah Winfrey. Banc of America's Jonathan Jacoby says that while he remains "positive" about the industry, it will take …