"There is a myth that people are looking for sound-bites and celebrity and that this has led to a growing demand for and acceptance of commoditized news output that speaks to the lowest common denominator. The reality is that there is a growing demand among the educated for intelligent news, analysis and entertainment that challenges, amuses and informs." -- Alan Press, SVP of marketing for The Economist to foliomag.com, after being asked about the magazine's record year.

This is a surprise since he'd been at the trade for 9 1/2 years as a TV critic, columnist, blogger, feature writer and contract employee. His TV column and reviews and blog had disappeared a few months back at his own behest and he'd been recently writing special issue features. "My situation at THR had been deteriorating for some time," Ray just told me. "Mostly it stemmed from a personality clash and a difference in perception of what constitutes professional behavior with a certain editor. But I will cop to this being about me as much as them. I no longer saw an upside to riding the Hindenburg." Other sources tell me Richmond hated to leave but thought it was for the best. Some of the clashes were about Richmond's attempts to make his THR product more entertaining than the usual reporting wrapped in dry trade-speak. But his was not a popular position, nor his embrace of the web. Especially when The Powers That Be keep the THR print edition going at all cost.

Who is he fooling? The whole time Gerry Levin was chairman of Time Warner, and then AOL Time Warner, he kept complaining about how Warner Bros chairmen Bob Daly and Terry Semel were making more extravagant salary, bonuses, and other compensation than he was (thanks to their shrewd negotiating, their piece of Warner Bros licensing merchandise and retail stores, their division making wheelbarrows of cash, and their insistence on not going on Time Warner's board (so their gargantuan pay package wouldn't have to be disclosed in SEC filings). But listen to this clown who left Time Warner in shame for co-arranging that loser AOL deal. Suddenly he's Robin Hood and telling Fox Business Network today:

“It’s time, I think, not only to put some principles back in executive pay, but also try and get CEOs to be a part of society. Let’s shop at Costco, let’s fly coach for a while and let’s not have a class society where the disparity between what a CEO makes and what the people in the company make is so large as to be almost unfair and unjust.”

And on whether he personally should give back the millions he made: “Obviously, I gave back my hundreds of millions because I never sold one share of stock, which is where most of the compensation was. My stock went down just as it did for every shareholder, which I think we should impose on CEOs."

Oh, and in case you didn't know, this Man ... Read More »

UPDATE: I'm told there were 10 staffers sacked, including associate publisher Rose Einstein and art director Deeann Hoff and internatonal editor Chad Williams, and the two luxury brand reps in LA & in NY. As one of my tipsters explains: "Don't miss the significance of the layoff of Deann Hoff -- she is married to [with] Dave Morgan, deputy editor, so if she's out, that's very serious since Dave would not have let her go without a fight." The layoffs started early this morning and continued all day. How they're going to continue to put out a paper, I have no idea. Unless this will soon be an online-only publication.

Well, this is a surprise: The Hollywood Reporter announced today it has hired gossip columnist Roger Friedman as a senior correspondent "to beef up its coverage of the celebrity world and how it intersects with and influences the business of showbusiness," according to a statement by THR editor Elizabeth Guider. I find it mystifying that THR, which is slavishly dependent on studio goodwill and advertising, would deliberately provoke 20th Century Fox which was surprised by the news. The freelance writer was very publicly fired by parent company News Corp last month because of its "zero tolerance for any action that encourages and promotes piracy". Friedman got himself in trouble for what he wrote after a stolen, early and unfinished work print of the studio's big summer blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine was leaked onto the Internet illegally in a major scandal that the FBI continues investigating.

THR said that New York-based Friedman will replicate the Fox 411 column he wrote for Fox.com that broke news about Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith and the music scene, only now it will be called ShowBiz 411 and added to THR's roster of blogs. "In addition, he'll provide breaking news for THR.com and occasional longer pieces for the daily newspaper as well as appear in THR video products and at THR-branded events. He also will play a key role in THR's multiplatform coverage of the Oscars, the Emmys, the Tonys and the Grammys," the trade paper said. THR publisher ... Read More »

Deborah Paul, Emmis Publishing EVP/Editorial Director, appointed Los Angeles magazine's executive editor Mary Melton to replace Rachlis, who'd been in the top spot since June 2000. He said he was "restless" and his last day is June 26th.

UPDATE: Variety publisher Brian Gott just called me from Cannes and says there is no truth that Variety is very seriously contemplating any closure of the NY office. Variety sources were telling me that they were expecting the essential closure of the NY office except for Broadway coverage. (Michael Fleming works from home.) I've already reported how Variety Group prez/publisher Neil Stiles has already deeply cut back sales and editorial staff there. But Gott tells me there have been no discussions about further cutbacks to any staff in NY. This is good news for them.

I can't believe that Condé Nast's business mag Portfolio has shut down without even yanking editor-in-chief Joanne Lipman and trying a new topper. (Like Peter Kaplan.) That sadly leaves a lot of good writers jobless, but hopefully they'll snag contracts with other Condé Nast publications. (Like Amy Wallace.) I said from the beginning that the idea was good but its execution was awful. Take, for example, all those blowjob covers on the Big Media moguls: totally worthless CEO porn ignoring the new intolerance for corporate greed. File this under the subject of, "If Only..."

I first reported this on March 27th (Lionsgate About To Do Big Relativity Deal). It took Variety until April 13th to even confirm it. Here's today's announcement:

SANTA MONICA, CA (April 27, 2009) - LIONSGATE® (NYSE: LGF), a leading next generation filmed entertainment studio, and Relativity Media, a premier media and entertainment company, announced today that they have finalized a new multi-picture, multi-year deal under which Lionsgate will acquire U.S. distribution rights for up to five Relativity Media productions per year. The agreement builds upon the successful relationship established by the companies during the past two years, when they partnered on the critical and commercial hits THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, 3:10 TO YUMA and THE BANK JOB. The announcement was jointly made by Joe Drake, Lionsgate President, Motion Picture Group, and Co-Chief Operating Officer, and Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO of Relativity Media.

Said Drake, “Ryan Kavanaugh and his colleagues at Relativity Media have built an extraordinary company that is one of the industry's most prolific suppliers of broad-appeal, talent-driven motion pictures. This agreement solidifies the long-term relationship we built together through successful partnerships on 3:10 TO YUMA, THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM and THE BANK JOB. We are thrilled to bring these new movies into the Lionsgate family, adding to the tally of first-rate productions that will define the Lionsgate release slate going forward.”

Said Kavanaugh, “This deal represents a big step in the evolution of a partnership between two forward-thinking companies.

... Read More »