Let the debates begin. The New York Times is planning to have its Web site post immediate expert viewpoints on breaking news, starting next month. Former editorial writers and other editors are teaming up with a Web producer to oversee the initiative. The team is rounding up a stable of experts on a variety of issues to provide quick comments, essays and columns on breaking news topics in a dedicated Web space. "One expert could write a piece arguing that something is a terrible idea, then another could argue that it is a great idea and a third …

Some 30 American newspapers are up for sale including the 149-year-old Rocky Mountain News, owned by EW Scripps, and the San Diego Union Tribune. But in spite of rock bottom prices, few buyers have emerged. Sale valuations for papers, once in the lofty eight to 10-times operating cash flow, now yield no more than a four-to-six-multiple, according to Ed Atorino, Benchmark analyst. The most high-profile candidate under review is The Boston Globe, owned by the New York Times Co. Just two years ago, it was valued at $650 million by Jack Welch, former General Electric CEO, and a …

Ad market forecasters have been scaling back their outlooks for months, but media economist Jack Myers has upped the ante with his prediction of an advertising depression. His forecast, which aggregates industry estimates with his own analysis, examines 18 media categories, including new media. Myers sees an unprecedented three straight years of declines in advertising and marketing spending in the U.S., starting in 2008. To put that in perspective, the industry hasn't suffered even a two-year spending decline in advertising since the 1930s. The pullback in ad dollars will weigh heavily on the media sector, he says, …

As the first African-American president is about to take office, a new NCAAP report is zeroing in on the shortage of minority faces on network prime-time television. Study authors fear that networks are backsliding on progress made earlier this decade and that the economic downturn will only make it worse. The study showed that the number of minorities in regular or recurring roles on scripted series decreased on CBS, Fox and NBC in the 2006-07 season. Only ABC showed gains. Although there has been slight progress for blacks and Hispanics, there has been essentially no progress for …

Nielsen is hitting the pause button on the rollout of its local people meters, citing the poor economy. Of a total of 56 markets, Nielsen has rolled out LPMs in 18 markets so far. In 2009, six additional markets will make the transition to the LPM service: Orlando, Sacramento, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Portland. In a letter to clients Dec. 16, Nielsen says it will slow down its plans to replace its meter/diary methodology with LPMs in the rest of the markets. TV stations, facing double-digit revenue drops in 2009, are looking to find cost savings …

The Web may be the future for magazine publishers, but for now their focus is on steady, reliable revenue. With cuts going down all over the industry, it appears much of the magazine world is responding by shoving their online people off the boat first. For instance, when Fortune's parent company Time Inc. mandated layoffs, Fortune execs decided the bulk of its editorial cuts would come from the Internet. At Forbes, there have also been massive layoffs from the Web side, including Forbes Auto and Forbes Traveler, with a full integration of the print and Web coming in …

CBS and Time Warner executives have discussed joining forces to bid on rights to televise the Olympics in 2014 and 2016. Such an alliance would make the competition for Olympic TV rights a clash of media titans. TV empires headed by NBC, Fox and ABC Sports-ESPN are already expected to bid on the U.S. rights. The bidding has been put off until after the International Olympic Committee selects the 2016 host city in October. Chicago is in the running. The CBS and Time Warner discussions could mean an Olympics shown by CBS, TBS, TNT and even CNN.

To raise some much-needed cash, the New York Times Co. could sell its 17% stake in the Boston Red Sox baseball team for at least $200 million, say analysts and sports bankers. The Red Sox stake is a noncore asset and would be attractive to many buyers, despite the recession, because of the team's success and popularity. The Times got its stake in the Red Sox in 2002 as part of a $700 million acquisition by a hedge fund that included Fenway Park and the New England Sports Network, a regional cable company. Given the Red Sox …