While there is no question that Tribune Co.'s recent performance has been disappointing, Rem Rieder writes in the American Journalism Review that it is "tacky" of the Chandler family to raise a fuss "and not just because it was their decision to cash out for $8 billion" when they sold Times Mirror to the Chicago-based media company in 2000. Not only are some of Tribune's woes the same that beset all newspaper companies--declining circulation, the rise of the Internet, etc.--"but more to the point, a lot of the company's big difficulties are due to Times Mirror, thank you very much." …

With nearly half of senior marketing executives 'fessing up to paying for editorial or broadcast brand placement, "something's rotten with the state of media," reports Ad Age. An industrywide survey by PRWeek and agency Manning Selvage & Lee uncovered that fact and more: The survey of 266 chief marketing officers, marketing vice presidents, and directors found that half of those who haven't yet paid for placement said they would if given the chance. "This type of behavior is as harmful to PR professionals as it is to consumers and the media," says Mark Hass, CEO of the MSL. And even …

Australia's media conglomerates are backing big changes to the country's restrictions on foreign and cross-media ownership, but their hoped-for overhaul could be halted by demands for more commercial TV, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. And one of the biggest of them all--Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd.--will not support the changes unless the government supports at least one free TV license. Under the "reform blueprint" released in March, cross-media ownership limits would be lifted, but existing limits on broadcast licenses would stay. But the government has thus far ruled out any more competition in the free TV sector, currently controlled by three …

The turmoil at Tribune Co.--coming as it does after the sell-off and break-up of Knight Ridder--could be a sign that private ownership is the way forward for big newspaper companies, Reuters reports. With the industry battered by declining circulation and ad revenue--and tanking stock prices--taking newspapers off the public markets could ease pressure from shareholders while also allowing companies to explore radical structural changes--going completely digital, for example. "The problem is investors," says Peter Appert, an analyst with Goldman Sachs. "There's this disconnect between private and public market values. Perhaps these companies would in fact be better off not as …

It's been a rough start for Charles Gibson at ABC as the networks' evening news program cratered to its lowest rating ever in his second week on the job, reports MediaLife. It averaged a tad over 7 million viewers--800,000 fewer than No. 1 "NBC Nightly News"--and an 11 percent slump from year-ago levels. And that bad news comes just a month after the broadcast finished behind CBS's "Evening News" for the first time in nearly five years. While his numbers will likely improve as he is given the chance to win over viewers, the real test will come in the …

Katie Couric has brought in $15 million to CBS without even getting behind the anchor desk, Ad Age reports. "Katie probably paid for herself in the first week of our upfront," says CEO Les Moonves. "We brought in about $15 million more for the 'Early Evening News' in the first week." Coincidentally, that is the annual salary Couric is set to receive. Ad Age notes that when it was announced that Couric was shifting to CBS, media-agency executives played down the significance of the move, and said they didn't expect an uptick in sales as a result. But a few …

Highlights is turning 60 the same month that the venerable children's magazine will print its one billionth copy, the Boston Globe reports--and the magazine has decided to turn the milestone into a teachable moment. "If Goofus stacked a billion children on his shoulders, they would reach the moon, wrap around the moon 11 times, stretch back to the earth, wrap around the earth five times, and there would be enough kids left over for 34,944 Little League teams," Editor Christine French Clark says--and that's how the magazine will explain the big number. But for CEO Kent Johnson, "when you think …

Time Warner needs Clark Kent to make a "super" return, reports CNNMoney, as analysts and investors have criticized the media giant for continued sales and profit declines at its AOL Internet unit, sluggish growth in magazine publishing, and ratings challenges at the company's CNN cable network. But "nobody can dispute the company's magic at the box office... until now.' The company is off to an abysmal start in 2006, with its two big studios accounting for less than 11 percent of the total domestic box office--down from 20 percent for all of last year. Two big movies--"V for Vendetta" and …

For the second time in less than a year, notes the Mercury News, a newspaper company is under pressure to break up into smaller pieces or sell itself off. It is Chicago-based Tribune Co. this time, but a few short months ago, it was Knight Ridder--parent of the Mercury News--which was forced by its three largest investors to pursue "strategic alternatives" that ended in a sale to McClatchy. Knight Ridder will be no more in less than two weeks if shareholders approve the deal as expected. And now the Chandler family--owners of 12 percent of Tribune--are screaming for changes at …

Barring a miracle, CBS will not renew Dan Rather's contract when it expires in late November, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. But don't expect him to leave first: "I don't quit. It's not in me," says the 74-year-old Rather. "As long as there's any chance I can stay and do meaningful work, that's what I want to do. Not every day can be bliss." Rather was pushed off his perch atop the "CBS Evening News" in March of last year after 24 years in the anchor slot. Some colleagues think he should have been fired because of his involvement in "Memo-Gate" …