The head of Fox TV entertainment wonders if time-shifting, short-attention-span audiences will commit to a crop of new serialized dramas on network TV. Peter Liguori, Fox's president-entertainment, says the abundance of such shows on fall schedules could tax TV watchers and challenge him and his competitors. But as audiences flocked to Fox's "24" and "Prison Break" and ABC's "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," networks took the hint. They aim to launch more serials during the fall TV season. In defense of ABC's decision to add to the serial pool with "Vanished," Liguori says it will be a telling season for all …

The New York Times has weathered the storm of criticism following its coverage of a secret executive branch program to troll through private financial transactions, reports the Los Angeles Times. Following publication, the White House called the article "offensive" and "disgraceful"--and a setback to a program to catch terrorists. At the same time, some Republican lawmakers and right-wing commentators squawked that the newspaper's investigative reporters should be banned from the White House--or worse. But even as the recriminations reached maximum volume, "business between the Bush administration and the nation's putative newspaper of record remained on a remarkably even keel," the …

One theory holds that if "newspapers are dinosaurs doomed to extinction, then the nightly newscasts are wooly mammoths lumbering toward oblivion," writes Rachel Smolkin in the American Journalism Review. But she claims that the equivalent of a tectonic plate shift has "disrupted, slowed and perhaps even reversed this natural order." Within the last two years, anchor chairs at all three top nets have changed the "grossly exaggerated" story line of their demise. "The conventional wisdom of television was the morning shows were king, and the evening news shows were a dying breed," says Jon Banner, executive producer of "World News …

A study shows that teenagers who read the newspaper continue the habit as they get older--sort of, reports Editor & Publisher. According to the Newspaper Association of America Foundation, three quarters of the 18-to-24s surveyed who said they read a newspaper when they were younger--ages 13 to 17--now read their local paper at least once a week. And 81 percent said they read the local Sunday paper in the past four weeks. The research supports the idea that newspapers should have content aimed at teenagers. But the foundation estimates that only 220 newspapers across the country have special teen sections, …

"I have had the bizarre--and frustrating--experience of watching the current [Middle East] conflict play out on U.S. cable television," writes Lawrence Pintak in the Columbia Journalism Review. Pintak, who runs a media center at the American University in Cairo, says the often simple-minded coverage reminds him "why many Americans have such a limited--and distorted--view of the world." He would normally monitor the events through "voracious consumption of Arab and U.S. media," but was on vacation in California during the first week of this violent go-round. That meant catching "glimpses of the conflict in bite-sized snatches" on cable news. "At times, …

Simon Dumenco trashes a marketing effort from the Magazine Publishers of America marketing campaign in Ad Age. At issue is a "dork-ass faux comic-book character" called "Captain Read," who went around to media-buying agencies to hand out fact sheets for "Magazine Accountability Week." Dumenco remembers living in Baltimore when activists "tried to counter the city's (deserved) reputation for illiteracy by slapping the slogan 'BALTIMORE READS!' on bus shelters next to a pictogram stick figure shown reading a book." Thankfully, "quick-thinking graffiti artists sprayed 'BREEDS' over 'READS' on the signs all over town and drew huge bellies on the stick figures …

As chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is pushing legislation that could give the satellite company "a huge advantage over the cable TV industry," according to Alaska Report. Which is why the publication asks: Does Rupert Murdoch's DirecTV own Senator Ted Stevens? Stevens has not explained why he supports the legislation, but reporter Phillip Swann notes that "nearly 10 percent of the senator's 2005-2006 individual campaign contributions have come from employees of companies owned by Murdoch." In return for the largesse, Stevens is the sponsor of a telecommunications bill that would require cable TV operators to …

T-Mobile has yanked its ads from cable channel FX after the cell phone company's president said he watched some of its programs and decided they were too edgy, reports TV Week. The company was also the target of a pressure campaign by a right-wing fringe group. In a letter to the American Family Association, which has targeted advertisers on FX, T-Mobile's Robert Dotson says he found "some of the [media] choices we have made are clearly inconsistent with who we are and what we stand for." The AFA and T-Mobile are especially incensed at a July 11 episode of "Rescue …

Forbes.com's video operation already produces a lot of original material from its TV studio. It chief is now predicting that viewership of its Web TV segments will soon surpass CNBC, reports Beet.TV. Forbes CEO Jim Spanfeller made the boast in an interview, adding that the Internet provides opportunity for other publishers to pass established broadcast operations in reach and scope. "One of our bull's eyes out there is the fine people at CNBC," he says. "I think if you look at their numbers they might get about 300,000 viewers in a day. There will be a lot more than 300,000 …

Advertising to children is again in political play. Links between food commercials and obesity are being scrutinized, while policymakers consider limits on interactive advertising, reports Mediaweek. The topic was front and center at a forum last week in Washington that featured U.S. senators, three members of the Federal Communications Commission, and a mix of academics and executives. "Aside from the execs, few had kind words for a media environment that, according to Dale Kunkel, a communications professor at the University of Arizona, bombards kids with ads for junk food--at a time when childhood obesity rates are soaring," the trade magazine …