2010 was a tumultous year for media. Blame games, survival stories and key media figures under fire all made headlines during the year. Each of the top 10 stories made its mark on the media industry, and some of them will still be making news in the new year.
Photo © Xurble / FlickrDespite efforts of consumer groups and others to stop this proposed $28 billion deal, it appears NBC Universal and cable TV giant Comcast will be allowed to merge. The federal government has given no indication that it will intervene. That would give Comcast control over the NBC network, some major market TV stations, NBC's cable channels and Universal. Critics say that's too much power in the hands of one company.
Photo © Getty ImagesWhile some have predicted newspapers' demise for years, it's still a headline-grabber to hear The New York Times acknowledge that it will someday cease its print editions. In their place will be the paper's website. In another blow for traditional media, changing times and changing tastes are dictating the need to adapt or else face extinction. The paper plans to erect a paywall around its web content to generate money.
Photo © Getty ImagesYou may not know the name Antoine Dodson, but you probably know his story. A TV news reporter interviewed him after someone tried to rape his sister in a public housing community in Alabama. That news interview was put to music, posted on YouTube and watched 25 million times. The exposure was enough to give Dodson a spot singing on the BET Hip Hop Awards and earn enough from iTunes sales of the song to buy his family a new place to live.
Photo © Getty ImagesNews media outlets found themselves in a sticky situation after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Business owners who lost money when the tourist trade tanked said the endless news reports were the reason their profits had vanished. One business leader even wanted Congress to take action against the media for sensationalized reporting. At the same time, many local government leaders were complaining that BP and the federal government weren't paying enough attention to the crisis. So reporters were left wondering if they were covering the story too much or not enough.
Photo © Getty ImagesNewsweek magazine may be a media icon, but after losing nearly $30 million in 2009, it was put up for sale. Now it's being merged with The Daily Beast, a two-year-old website. The deal means the death of newsweek.com but the chance for a rebound of the print edition under new editor-in-chief Tina Brown, who once led Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. It's a victory for new media versus traditional media.
Photo © Getty ImagesIn case you need more evidence of the turmoil inside CNN, the cable channel will soon be without Larry King, its most recognizable star. King once ruled the primetime cable news universe. But with ratings slipping, CNN is turning to America's Got Talent panelist Piers Morgan. The question for Morgan and CNN is whether it can compete with non-partisan programming versus the opinion-oriented shows on Fox News Channel and MSNBC.
Photo © Getty ImagesForget the cry of "I want my MTV" from the 1980s. Three million cable TV subscribers in the New York City area were saying "I want my World Series" after Fox, which broadcast this year's series, pulled itself off the local Cablevision system. Fox wanted the cable TV company to pay more for the rights to carry Fox-owned channels in its lineup. The battle also showed the reluctance of the FCC to get involved to solve the dispute. In the end, Fox got more money and allowed Cablevision to put its channels back on, starting with game three of the series.
Photo © It's Our City / FlickrSomebody must believe that traditional newspapers can survive because the struggling Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News were purchased out of bankruptcy. But in the clearest indication yet of newspapers' declining value, the purchase price was $139 million. That's 75% less than what the previous owners paid in 2006. It's either the bargain of a lifetime or a high-priced media blunder.
Photo © Getty ImagesMSNBC's outspoken host Keith Olbermann is used to generating headlines, but not like this. He was briefly suspended for making political contributions to three Democratic Congressional candidates, an apparent violation of NBC News policy. MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was also suspended for making political contributions. He apologized to the network, which Olbermann didn't do. The question everyone's asking is whether a TV program host who's paid to offer his political opinions should be held to the same policy as traditional NBC News broadcasters.
Photo © Getty ImagesTwitter is not an idle plaything, at least not at the Washington Post. A sports columnist who posted a tweet with misinformation about Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger found himself suspended for a month. He says he wanted to see how far a tweet with false information would travel. What he learned is that his newspaper wants the same journalistic standards upheld on new media as in newsprint.
