The New York Times is out this afternoon with its October 2008 advertising figures and the numbers are anything but pretty. Advertising in their news media group plunged 17.2% over the same month last year. Internet revenues rose 5.3% but were tempered by "continued weakness in online recruitment advertising." (continue reading)

Another popular title will soon be absent from newsstands and mailboxes. PC Magazine, a pioneer in the technology magazine space, announced it will cease publishing a print edition. (continue reading)

News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch believes that journalists themselves are to blame for the media's current woes. He cited new technology and bloggers as pieces to the puzzle that will lead the industry back to a successful path, as long as they re-establish a bond of trust with their readers. (continue reading)

Is the downturn in the fortunes of the newspaper business in America a result of their very design? While many suggest that the quality or nature of the content may be the biggest challenge, others point to the attack on the classified advertising business model. But blogger Mark Cahill suggests it may be the newspaper's clumsy "user interface" that is to blame. (continue reading)

As a huge fan of what Rafat Ali has done with PaidContent.org over the years, I was dismayed to read Lauren Rich Fine's commentary today that exhorted newspapers to tell consumers how to consume content. (continue reading)

With the Christian Science Monitor and US News & World Report curbing print production in favor of online publishing, some media powerhouses may be misunderstanding the nature of the current problem. (continue reading)

New York City's Economic Development Corporation stands poised to hire a consulting firm to recommend ways to help the media industry grow in coming years. The government will seek to succeed where much of private media appears to be failing at the moment. (continue reading)

We've all seen movie trailers, and most of us have seen promotional TV spots for books, particularly from high-profile authors (John Grisham comes to mind, as does James Patterson). But a new marketing technique in the literary world takes the ideas and combines them, in hopes of reaching audiences traditional spots might not. (continue reading)

This week the Associated Press made a huge splash in the blogosphere by filing seven takedown notices against the Digg-like social news community the Drudge Retort. According to an article in Monday's New York Times, the AP will "define clear standards as to how much of its articles and broadcasts bloggers and Web sites can excerpt without infringing on The A.P.'s copyright." Christopher Lynn explores the conflict's historical roots, and the reaction of the blogosphere thus far. (continue reading)

The traditional newsroom has been getting a lot of bad press lately. Layoffs and other issues have been linked to the expansion of new media and the decrease in the power of print. Jason Falls has some ideas to save the newsroom before it dies off completely. He advises an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach. Also: PR for PR, social media for a good cause, and the best tools for your brand. (continue reading)

Vanity Fair shoots a revealing photo of teen star Miley Cyrus, and the media loses its mind. Am I the only one who thinks this entire scandal and the ensuing media circus was completely coordinated by a PR machine? Whether it was the publication, photographer, Disney or Miley herself, everything about this story seems calculated. Was this reaction truly not anticipated? (continue reading)

Weekday newspaper circulation has continued to drop this year, as every major daily except USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, who both reported modest gains, reported declines, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation. (continue reading)

Reading about the forthcoming book version of Wikipedia got me to wondering: does everything we do online eventually come full circle into the mainstream media? It seems that more and more, successful online ventures eventually winds up as a part of the mainstream; whether as a book or a new job or other endeavors. (continue reading)

Wikipedia, the collaborative online reference source that allows users to create or modify information pages about a multitude of subjects, will soon be printed as a book set for publication in Germany. (continue reading)

I have been delighted to see so many female-centric social media projects launching this year, from Yahoo's Shine to Women on the Web. Toby Bloomberg highlights some of the best of these. Also: the Wall Street Journal is now available in print form in the United Kingdom, is this a sign print is still alive and kicking? And a journo ends up at a supporter-only Obama event; was his campaign truly surprised at the result? (continue reading)

A quarterly report released this week by the Publishers Information Bureau notes that "Of the 231 magazines that reported advertising figures in both 2007 and 2008, 153 reported a decrease in advertising pages--80 by 10 percent or more. And only 54 magazines reported ad page gains of more than 10 percent." (continue reading)

Sure, newspapers are allegedly a dying breed. But there is much to learn from traditional journalism that just might give your blog a boost. My favorite tip? Learn to edit yourself. Also in today's Jots: what would you give up to get something back? And how to get over blogophobia. (continue reading)

Starbucks launched a platform for customer feedback online this week, and many a blogger is thrilled with the news, as the coffee giant had long held back in social media endeavors. Also: Which social aggregator is best, 12 ways to preach to the non-converted, and a warning about loss of traditional print journalism. (continue reading)

In today's jots: Jeff Jarvis asks for help in determining a new business model for journalism; a discussion about Oovoo day; a question of social media's exclusivity; and the unsavory flacks of Hollywood's least savory characters. (continue reading)

With all the sites and tools that Twitter has spawned, one of the more interesting (and useful to newbies) is the wiki for "Twitter packs." But Dave Fleet worries that the idea, while good, isn't fool proof, and may cause problems. Also: Interactive content, and print media still alive and kicking. (continue reading)

In a continuing look at new media, dubbed "The Fifth Estate," Geoff Livingston praises the evolution of newspapers and other forms of print media as winning the race to adapt to the changing landscape. Also: Bloggers aren't journalists, and PR for PR. (continue reading)

Our guest for this week's Media Bullseye Radio Roundtable was Doug Haslam of Topaz Partners PR. He joined regular participants Jen Zingsheim and Sarah Wurrey from CustomScoop, and we discussed a variety of topics, with a real focus this week on the intersection of traditional and new media. (continue reading)

Renowned journalist, pundit, and college professor Steve Roberts shares his views on the changing nature of journalism and new media. He offers thoughts on citizen journalists, the obliteration of the news cycle, the evolving business model of print media, and more. (continue reading)

Why can't new PR people write? This question has been tackled by plenty of PR bloggers, all bemoaning the lack of fundamental writing skills in new recruits. PR professional and writer Steve Kayser turns to Hemmingway for help. (continue reading)

In a close and controversial 3-2 decision, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to relax media ownership rules, making it permissible for newspapers to own television or radio stations within the same media market. (continue reading)