Winners, Losers & Idiots This Week: Lite on the idiots and losers, heavy on the winners

WINNERS: Haim Saban & Friends: Finally things are getting done at the FCC. See what getting off your hands can do. FCC Chairboy Kevin Martin and company approved the sale of Univision to wealthy media investor Haim Saban and his equally wealthy friends David Zaslav: This former NBC Universal underling isn’t wasting any time molding Discovery Communications into his own. First he fired his President & COO, stole someone from his old boss Jeff Zucker, and now he is buying COX out of their 25% stake in Discovery. Peter Chernin & Jeff Zucker: We know last week we called them idiots for wanting to go up against Youtube, but as it turns out, they just may have something after all. Andre Agassi: The tennis legend landed a sweet $5 million deal for his life story. Wonder if it will all be worth it when the book drops? Because seriously, who gives a fuck. CONTINUED... Faye Turney: One of 15 British sailors being held by Iran, is getting all the shine. We so smell a book deal in the future, and tons of talk show appearances Mike Eisner: The former Disney dictator has entered a deal with Myspace for his “Prom Queen” webisodes. His really turning into a little web mogul isn’t he. Felix Salmon, Tim Swanson & Lauren Goldstein Crowe: All three were announced this week as bloggers for the soon to be launched Portfolio.com covering the usual from entertainment to well… business of course. Ann Moore: For closing down the struggling Life magazine with plans to launch a photo portal using the life brand Jeff Zucker: If this man even sneezes on a female she will get pregnant. LOSERS: David Pecker: This guy must be the Teflon don of the magazine industry. It seems like he can do no wrong. Not even slowly running American Media into the ground will do the trick. Kurt Eichenwald: At least this time he didn’t make the idiots list. But he is a loser this week because Conde Nast’s new business magazine Portfolio, pulled his piece in an effort to keep the attention on them when the mag debuts. Yeah because you know everyone wants to know about the alleged boy porn financier IDIOTS: Sam Zell: Not only did he bid on Tribune, the fucking thing could have sent him to the poor house AMI Board: We keep asking this question and we will continue to ask it. What will it take for the American Media board to fire David Pecker and his underlings? Perhaps pinning the anthrax thing on him.

Media Seen: Barry Diller must be one funny guy, or Les Moonves is the only one who finds his own jokes really hilarious

-NEIL YOSHIDA CBS boss Les Moonves recently attended the New York Premiere of "The Tudors" hosted by his Showtime network. Also in attendance were his wife Julie and pal Barry Diller. The photo below is proof that a good time was had by all, or at least Les and Barry. But what in the world is Les laughing about. Is Barry Diller one of those funny old guys who keep the tears coming? Or is Les one of those dudes who think he is funny and laugh the hardest at his own jokes? By the way the guy in the center (left) is looking at Les, we think Les may be laughing at a joke that really wasn't that funny. What do you think?

Will Google end up disappointing Microsoft?

-SHOMARI HINES Microsoft is reportedly in talks to buy online ad -server DoubleClick, stepping up it's efforts to cash in on the booming Internet ad market. However Microsoft may have some competition in that running from rival Google. John Battelle believes the guys at Google are up to something and could swoop in and do a Ross levinsohn on Microsoft. Could a battle between Google and Microsoft lead to DoubleClick upping their asking price or will one of them bow out quietly if they feel its not worth a fight? It's a strange fact of life that Web "frienemy" (yes, we love that word) Google, doesn't accept third-party ad tags. Given the news that competitor Microsoft is considering a bid for the ad-server DoubleClick, which serves graphical CPMs for a huge portion of the ad world, rumors have surfaced that Google is planning to build its own third-party ad server for graphical ads. GoogleClick [John Battelle's Searchblog]

Googlezon? What about GooHoo!, GooAOL, GooSpace.....

-SHOMARI HINES Businessweek asks the question traditional media companies would probably skip around answering. The cover story takes a look at Google's growing influence and how it is leading the new media revolution. The article also touches back on a faux documentary posted to the Web in late 2004 by young journalists Matt Thompson and Robin Sloan. It's the year 2014, and Googlezon, a fearsomely powerful combination of search engine Google Inc. and online store Amazon.com Inc., has crushed traditional media to bits. Taking its place is the computer-generated Evolving Personalized Information Construct—an online package of news, entertainment, blogs, and services drawn from all the world's up-to-the-minute knowledge and customized to match your preferences. And it's all collected, packaged, and controlled by Googlezon. Is Google Too Powerful? [Businessweek]

Time Magazine doesn't want the South Pacific to survive Global Warming

Last week the rest of the world got a different issue of Time magazine than us. Now this week everyone gets the same issue except for the South Pacific? Do they not care about Global Warming too? Time.com

Morning Wire: Broad & Burkle dives back into the cesspool sludge that is the Tribune indecision, and more in this morning's worthy media news....

-SHOMARI HINES One of the first teams to take a run at Tribune, only to kinda drop out, is now back again for real. [NYT] Is it just us, or did Rudy Giuliani shoot himself in the foot by saying his wife would sit in on some cabinet meetings? [NYP] Conrad Black and his wife partied their worries away at a Toronto literary event. [NYP] Mike Eisner pimps his prom queen to Myspace [NYP] AOL wants to manager your online video ads [Reuters] Who will land Primedia's magazines? We hope this goes off without a hitch, because the last thing we need is another Tribune-esque auction [Media Ink]

Barry Diller tells it like he sees it

-SHOMARI HINES Internet mogul Barry Diller took time out of gawking over his company's new stylish headquarters to sit with the Financial Times' Chrystia Freeland, and Josh Chaffin. They double teamed Barry peppering him with questions on the Youtube Google deal, user generated content and the recent NBC News Corp announcement about their plans to shake up the online video world. Barry also weighed in on the current state of traditional news sources like newspapers, and we have to think that some publishers are not too pleased with some of what he said. FT: What do you think the future of newspapers is? MR DILLER: Its popularity is clearly eroding. Transcript: Barry Diller on the media [FT]

What's up with body parts washing up on Cablevision boss James Dolan's waterfront estate?

-SHOMARI HINES Talk about close to home. You would think working around the estate of a wealthy media exec the only things you would fine are $100 bills blowing in the wind, jewelry or even the keys to the Enzo, you know shit rich people lose around the yard. Not so for a landscaper who was probably prepping the grounds for the summer season at Cablevision CEO James Dolan's estate. "It does appear to be a lower extremity of a human body," said Nassau Homicide Squad Detective Sgt. Richard Laursen. The leg, which was in a dark plastic bag and tied up with green gardeners' twine, appeared to be female and had pink toenail polish, sources said. Green gardeners twine huh? Cops are said to be looking into whether or not the leg belongs to the torso of a woman found in Mamaroneck. We bet this will make an episode of Law & Order? LADY'S LEG WASHES UP AT DOLAN'S L.I. HOME [NYP]

Viacom's sneaky little bastards?

Over at Valley Wag Nick Denton posts what he calls an exclusive which attempts to uncover the sneaky doings of Viacom bloggers who allegedly try to cover their tracks when using Youtube video clips. The bloggers at Comedy Central, one of several cable networks owned by Viacom, exploit a service called Scenemaker, which lets users tag and cut online video; once copied over, the video shows up as hosted at scenemaker.com, rather than youtube.com; and the Youtube logo is stripped off. (Thanks to Valleywag commenter, kavalier, for spotting this.) The Comedy Central Insider site started using Scenemaker immediately after the parent company accused Google of building a video business on copyright piracy, suggesting a deliberate effort to cover up the conglomerate's hypocrisy How Viacom's video pirates cover their tracks [VW]

Cox no longer wants to Discover

-SHOMARI HINES Cox Communications plans to hand back its 25% stake in Discovery when Discovery boss and former Jeff Zucker minion David Zaslav cuts them a check for $1.28 billion. The deal is part of Zaslav's effort to build what he calls a strong, aggressive organization, you know the same kind of company all the other media suits are always trying to build. “This proposed transaction will simplify Discovery’s ownership structure, further streamline our operations and give the company more strategic flexibility,” said David Zaslav, DCI president and CEO, in a prepared statement. “With the structural changes we are putting in place, Discovery is creating a more efficient decision-making process and building a strong, aggressive organization poised for continued growth.” Cox to Give Up 25% Stake in Discovery for $1.28 Bil., Travel Channel [Mediaweek]

Entertainment CEOs believe that 3D movies are about to take on a new life, if you're willing to pay for it

-NEIL YOSHIDA Michael Campbell, chairman and CEO of Regal Entertainment Group, said box office results from the handful of 3D films released so far convinced him of the "potential advantages for theaters, not just studios" in switching to digital projection systems that support modern 3D technology. Campbell told analysts at a Bank of America conference that audiences were willing to pay premium ticket prices for 3D films, and said they preferred them by a 2-to-1 margin. Could you imagine if porn film studios started releasing all their movies in 3D? Regal, DreamWorks CEOs see 3D transforming movies [Reuters]

Poll: Naming names

At this point we guess the big question is what will the name of the new site be? Do they even have a name already or are they still throwing out names. Being our usual generous and caring selves we wanted to throw some ideas out there to the NBC and New Corp team and have you our readers vote on which name you think is best for the new venture. So make sure you vote for the one you like if any, and we will publish the results a week from today, even though they will probably announce the name by then. So without further adieu, possible names for NBC & News Corp’s new online video venture. WHICH IS THE COOLEST NAME FOR THE NEW VENTURE ZUCKED CHERNIN DOUBLE N THE RUPE VAD 2N DREAMSTREAM FLIKT UNIFOX NBSEE

Morning Wire: Tribune Tribune go away please come back another day.......err.......never again, and more in this morning's worthy media news....

-SHOMARI HINES Oh God, this Tribune thing just even more complicated [NYT] Tennis legend Andre Agassi 's life is worthy $5 Million [NYP] Hey Donald Trump, it pays to advertise in Golf Digest when you own golf courses [NYP] Google's fight to be relevant in traditional media, works for some [NYT] Who will grab Sears' $780 million media-buying and -planning account [AdAge] Yeah, is Is BitTorrent the next big IPO? [CNNmoney]

Media Brief: America's most trustworthy companies doesn't include any of the big four in media

-SHOMARI HINES Apparently the folks at Forbes didn't think America's leading media companies like Time Warner, Disney, News Corp and Viacom were trustworthy enough to make their list. Instead the list is saturated with companies we've never heard of and some that were some how placed under the wrong industry category. We kinda understand why Newscorp wouldn't make the list but Playboy over Disney? We're sure there are reasons though. Entercom, Hearst-Argyle, Playboy and Washington Post are on the list of the 100 American companies that show the highest degree of "fair dealing to stakeholders," according to Audit Integrity, an independent Los Angeles firm that does research on corporate governance best practice. America's Most Trustworthy Companies [Forbes]

Get ready for the Faye Turney media tour

-SHOMARI HINES So right now the at the moment news story being covered by all the major cable news nets is about the 15 sailors being held captive by the Iranian government. However one out of the 15 is getting heavy media attention from every news network you can think of due to her immanent release. Faye Turney, the only woman among 14 men is now the face of this crisis and will reportedly be released before the end of the week. But Ms.Turney hasn't made her last camera appearance. This is just the beginning of what will be a media blitz when she is released. We expect to see her via satellite talking to Matt and Meredith, and a slew of others in the coming weeks. Perhaps a tell all book on being the only female capture?

Video Wire: When you think about it, Mike Eisner's talk show is really a platform for him to talk about his time at Disney

He just always manages to get "I" in there some how some way.

Afternoon Wire: GodTube | Blogging is dangerous, and more in this afternoon's worthy media news...

-SHOMARI HINES Broadcast him. Say hello to GodTube [Godtube] International News from McClatchy's many news properties and blogs written by Iraqi staffers will be featured on Yahoo. is it us, or are Iraqi bloggers gaining on U.S. bloggers? [Reuters] Any and everyone who had dealings with Hollinger could be sucked into the circus that is the Conrad Black trial. [BlogCentral] NYPD officials will pull a rabbit out of their ass if they could, to justify the killing of Sean Bell and the media will eat it. [NYPress] Seriously, who hacked John McCain’s MySpace page [TheBrowser] Wow this blog thing could really put us in danger. Kathy Sierra should probably hire bodyguards or something. [Businessweek] Bob Andelman kinda likes the new Onion News Network...we think, kinda [Mr. Media]

Alpha MILFs setting trends

-SHOMARI HINES Her name is not Susan, and she's not your super woman, she is "Alpha Mom". Over at USAtoday.com Bruce Horovitz, takes a look at the woman who created the label, Constance Van Flandern's and how she manages motherhood and a demanding career. When she came up with the whole Alpha Mom thing we bet she didn't know it would take on a life of its own. As bad as some of them are forced to be, we're sure the media industry is flooded with Alpha Moms MILFs. Then again some probably leave everything up to the nanny anyway. Van Flandern came up with the Alpha Mom label while working on a graphics assignment several years ago. She was designing a logo for a new video-on-demand cable TV service that wanted to attract information-hungry, multitasking moms. Names being considered: Mommy TV, Mommy Channel, even Mommy Says. The name she came up with was embraced by her client, Isabel Kallman, CEO and "founding mother" of Alpha Mom TV. She was a new mom herself and a former Wall Street executive, and her husband, Craig, is co-chairman of Atlantic Records. She was living that complex life, too. But with some frustration. Alpha Moms leap to top of trendsetters [USAtoday]

Maybe their new news channel won't suck as much as their wireless service

-SHOMARI HINES The DC area will be the first set of lucky bastards to get Verizon Communications' new news channel called FiOS1. The company even hired a real TV news exec, Michelle Webb to oversee the new venture and plans to bless its other markets with the new channel soon. Whooohooo! Viewers will see "original features shot and produced by citizen journalists using high-definition camcorders and provide a platform for local user-generated content," the company said in January. The Associated Press reported today that programming will include traffic, weather, local news and coverage from the Capitol's CBS affiliate, WUSA-TV. FiOS1 may also carry local high school and college sports. Ya know more of the same. Wait a minute, what if you don't have a hi def camcorder? Does that mean you're assed out on being a part of this refreshing new platform for citizens to share their work? Verizon to launch DC TV news channel [FBMB]

Viacom blogs still use video clips on Youtube

-SHOMARI HINES Viacom may be suing Youtube for copyright infringement but that doesn't mean Viacom owned websites were issued a memo to stay away from the site. Then again the whole lawsuit thing is designed to drive publicity for Viacom and its revised digital push. Could Sumner Redstone's Viacom, the media giant that's suing Google for facilitating piracy of shows such as the Colbert Report, please get its act together? It's bad enough that the 83-year-old billionaire's other company, CBS, is still flirting with the Mountain View search engine. Or that one of Viacom's own subsidiaries, a video sharing site called iFilm, allows snatched videos to be uploaded without vetting -- the same offense of which Google is accused. Viacom blogs still using Youtube [Valleywag]

Thats right Viacom, show em you're keen on this digital media shit

-SHOMARI HINES Viacom has been on a digital deal blitz since, well, since................Ross Levinsohn stole myspace from under Tom Freston's nose causing him his job. But they seemed to have stepped up the campaign a bit since getting dissed by every teenager in America for their Jihad against Youtube. First they signed a deal with Youtube rival Joost, then they announced that they will slap Youtube-esque features on their websites, and now the media giant has announced that its MTV Networks has signed on Intel Corp and Pepsi-Cola North America as the first advertising sponsors for its programs delivered over cell phones. Yeah our cell spam has sponsors now. Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman announced the deals at the CTIA wireless showcase in Orlando, Florida. "We believe advertising can work on the wireless platform. Indeed we view it as a critical medium," Dauman said during a keynote speech at the conference. OK Phil. We just hope you will take blame for the car accidents that may happen while an 18 year old watches a Pepsi commercial on the highway. Viacom signs on Intel, Pepsi as mobile advertisers [Reuters]

Looks like FCC Chairboy Kevin Martin really got up off his hands

-SHOMARI HINES Haim Saban and his buddies are some happy campers today now that the FCC has officially approved the sale of Univision. With a new CEO already in place, we can't wait to see how long until Haim and company look to sell it off. The recent pressure on FCC Chairboy Kevin Martin is paying off huh? More work less bullshitting. The Federal Communications Commission Tuesday officially approved the sale of Univision Communications to Broadcasting Media Partners, a group of private equity companies, with certain conditions. Under a consent decree, Univision has agreed to pay a $24 million fine for violating children's programming regulations. Univision has also agreed to a detailed plan that will ensure its future compliance with the Children's Television Act and other rules. FCC Officially Approves Sale of Univision [MediaWeek]

Print to web, not too much of a gamble for mags that already carry the online DNA, even if the publisher is blind to the fact

-SHOMARI HINES More and more magazines are killing their print editions to focus on and further develop their accompanying websites into full blown portals. But a big question mark still hangs over each, as to whether or not keeping an internet presence will pay off. It is surely cheaper than the rising costs of printing and distribution but how will they push their print subscribers to the web permanently. Child for example was mostly read by parents perhaps visiting their kid's doctor's office. What will a magazine like Child now offer online to make it worth a potential visitor's while? To date, of all the magazines that announced that they were killing print to focus on web, only the announcement about Life sounds the most promising. Time Inc says that it will keep the brand alive via an online photo portal which will house the classic photos featured in the magazine. The photos will be available for download by users. However we do expect certain sections of the site to be gated perhaps requiring a small membership fee. If Time Inc is smart they would continue to build the collection which we're sure will happen. Time Inc tried the opposite when it launched an online men’s zine called OfficePirates.com which tanked right out the gate. Why you ask? Well it was offering more of the same and faced an uphill battle against sites like College Humor, Askmen.com, ESPN and other male trafficked websites. CONTINUE... Elle Girl Magazine also killed print for the web, but to date we haven't heard or seen anything regarding traffic and/or ad performance. Then again maybe we missed it. The messy disaster that was Shock Magazine should have never been available in print. A brand like shock is more perfectly tailored for online. But they did try their hands at print only to pack it in a few issues later. Entertainment magazine Premiere is also retreating to the web where it hopes to maintain relevancy. However with blogs basically corning this area of news, we’re not sure how long Premiere on the web will last. Another magazine that has a bunch of eyeballs glued to it is Radar Magazine which is on its third and probably last ride in print. Our take on the whole thing is that they came back with snazzy new website which seems to be getting good monthly traffic as a prelude to the third launch of the print edition. We think the website should have been a prelude to what will eventually be a bigger and even better website. In other words, maybe Radar is just another one of those mags that just works better online that in print. We've looked through and read Radar in print and we came to the conclusion that, we don't expect it to last. Online is where Radar belongs and should focus their time, money & resources there.

Morning Wire: Jane Radio | Urban Jews | Poor Sam Zell, and more in this morning's worthy media news...

-SHOMARI HINES Jane magazine's founder and former editrix Jane Pratt didn't get burned by Mary Berner and did have sex with a woman. Oh yeah she also has her own talk radio show now [MediaInk] urban Jews and a magazine called Heeb? Who knew? We sure didn't [NYT] Online ad house DoubleClick pimping itself to Microsoft and others [Reuters] Sam Zell may not know what he is getting himself into putting up his money for Tribune. He could go broke, or so say some analysts [NYP] Warner Music Group U.S. CEO Lyor Cohen had better stop partying with his artists and start cracking the whips on his label heads [NYP] Note: Is it just us or is media news slow this week?

Afternoon Wire: Reported AMI firings does not include Dave Pecker, and more in this afternoon's worthy media news...

AMI is reportedly dropping the ax Ann Moore style on 10 staffers signaling more cuts will follow to offset the company's $160 million loss. All the little people have to pay because of an incompetent management team. [Gawker] WebProNews tells us something we already knew [WPN] Mark Glaser of Mediashift explains how the Online Newspaper Can Become a Community Hub [Mediashift] If architect Frank Gehry held back on the new IAC building, we would love to see a structure he didn't hold back on [FBNY] The Onion plans to launch newsish network [Jossip]

Variety & Zelnick Media brought out the media suits last week for a little chit chat

Variety and Zelnick Media hosted Time Warner's Jeff Bewkes and Viacom's Philippe Dauman Thursday for a conversation in Gotham about the digital media age. On hand were Variety president-publisher Charlie Koones, Strauss Zelnick and editor-in-chief and moderator Peter Bart . Also on hand was former Fox Interactive Chieftain Ross Levinsohn. Was he shopping something or just their for the hell of it?

Media Brief: No more guest editing at LAT

-NEIL YOSHIDA LAT no longer needs the opinion of prominent people. Publisher David D. Hiller said the guest editor project is a distraction and will instead deliver more of the same form within the LAT volt. Was the whole Brian Grazer thing that huge? Hiller also announced he was appointing the Times' reader representative, Jamie Gold, to review past opinion-editorial decisions to determine whether content was improperly influenced by personal or professional connections. LA Times cancels guest editor program [AP]

Readables this week: Yawnish!

-SHOMARI HINES Information Week: Like some CFOs it looks like CIOs need to be freshening up their resumes. However they need to not mention that they were the CIO of the company they are leaving because well, who needs a CIO these days right? The Economist: For you hardliner business suits. Have your money tied up In the real estate market but its just not moving the way you hoped? Well the folks at the Economist are shining some light on that for you. Newsweek: Voices of the fallen. Need we say more on this one? Businessweek: We've yet to get the cover we desire. Instead we get another doozy taking us beyond virtual reality, as if. New York Magazine: A look at young people and their health coverages. We would have settled for another New York's best of list or something like that. But whatever. RedHerring: Whatever happened to good old fashioned exercises? Does our great country have a short cut for everything?

Question: Jeff Zucker's super sperm?

-NEIL YOSHIDA We thought Kevin Federline held the title, but if all the kids in this picture with Jeff Zucker and his wife are from the Zuck, we take our hats off to the man and say, sperm on Mr. Zucker, sperm on. Jeff and family attended The Associates Committee of The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's 16th Annual Bunny Hop, and they came out in full force.

Morning Wire: And now this morning's worthy media news... we avoided Tribune

-SHOMARI HINES For Les Moonves and his radio unit, its out with the old and in with the old. After putting in a call and perhaps a fat salary offer to former CBS radio boss Dan Mason, Les Moonves lands someone really familiar with things at CBS Radio. [NYP] Terry Semel is trying to get his footing on something. Yahoo is already auditioning for a permanent roll on the mobile web search and advertising stage. [NYT] We can't stress anymore, how we think Time Inc is doing the right thing with turning the Life brand into an online photo portal. [NYT] EMI and Bertie settle some Napster related crap. [Reuters] Will selling AOL be Dick Parsons' last major deal before he leaves the Time Warner Center? [NYP]

Life magazine brought back to Life only to be killed by Ann Moore and company

-SHOMARI HINES Time Inc CEO Ann Moore sent out an email to whats left of her troops to inform them that Life aint what it used to be that the magazine will be put to rest with the April 20th 2007. However they plan to keep the brand alive via a potential online photo portal perhaps like corbis or, gettyimages which we think is a great idea. Yeah we actually do. after the click is the email sent out by Moore obtained by our friends in our heads at Gawker. CONTINUE... To: Time Inc. Staff From: Ann Moore Re: LIFE I regret to inform you that we will no longer be producing LIFE magazine, effective with the April 20th 2007 issue. We remain committed to the LIFE brand, and will be concentrating on expanding the title's other businesses, including a new photographic portal making millions of LIFE photos available to the public. LIFE Magazine was a truly innovative publishing venture. It was developed, edited and published by some of the best talent in the business and we can remain proud of its many achievements. LIFE enjoyed strong consumer support. Research showed readers consistently placed it above its competitors in terms of quality edit and photography. In addition, consumers couldn't get enough of the LIFE picture puzzles, with the Picture Puzzle book quickly becoming a New York Times Best Seller.

Did you think Portfolio wouldn't have blogs? Shame on you

This just hit our inbox. The soon to be launched Portfolio.com will not surprisingly include three blogs covering the usual. Entertainment, Fashion & Finance CONTINUE... FELIX SALMON TO WRITE FINANCE NEWS BLOG TIM SWANSON TO WRITE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS BLOG LAUREN GOLDSTEIN CROWE TO WRITE FASHION NEWS BLOGFOR PORTFOLIO.COM Felix Salmon will join Portfolio.com as finance news blogger, Tim Swanson as entertainment news blogger, and Lauren Goldstein Crowe as fashion news blogger, it was announced today by Joanne Lipman, Editor-in-Chief of Condé Nast Portfolio magazine. Their appointments are effective April 2007. As the finance news blogger for Portfolio.com, Felix Salmon will examine the personalities behind the big business deals and the power struggles that collectively drive the market. Prior to joining Portfolio.com, Mr. Salmon was a content strategist at Roubini Global Economics, where he wrote the popular finance blog, Economonitor, and was a member of the team responsible for redesigning and rebranding the rgemonitor.com website. Mr. Salmon also writes his own blog at felixsalmon.com. Previously, Mr. Salmon was a freelance journalist contributing to a variety of publications. He arrived in the United States in 1997 from England, where he worked at Euromoney magazine. He holds a master’s degree in the History of Art and Philosophy from Glasgow University and undergraduate degrees in the History of Art, Physics, and Mathematics from Dulwich College. Tim Swanson will take a look at the worlds of film, music, television, and the digital industry as the entertainment news blogger. Prior to joining Portfolio.com, Mr. Swanson worked as a staff reporter at Daily Variety and Variety before going to Premiere magazine, where he spent five years chronicling the collision of art and commerce, as well as writing and editing production stories, profiles, and business features. As chief of the West Coast bureau, he edited Premiere’s annual “Power List,” which ranks Hollywood’s most elite and influential players. In 2005, Mr. Swanson’s magazine article about the Oscar-nominated documentary Murderball led to his co-authoring Gimp, the critically-acclaimed memoir of quadriplegic rugby player Mark Zupan. Swanson’s next book, A Lifestyle Is a Terrible Thing to Waste, about HBO’s Entourage, will be published in the fall of 2007. Mr. Swanson holds a B.A. in English and Spanish literature from Willamette University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California at Berkeley. As the fashion news blogger for Portfolio.com, Lauren Goldstein Crowe will write a mix of commentary on breaking news, analysis of the industry, and profiles of behind-the-scenes fashion influencers. Previously, Ms. Crowe was a senior writer at TIME magazine in London, where she covered fashion. Ms. Crowe also worked on the launch of TIME’s first-ever fashion supplement, TIME Style + Design. Prior to TIME, Ms. Crowe was a writer at Fortune magazine in New York, where she covered fashion and luxury goods. Ms. Crowe has a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and undergraduate degrees in English and History from the Uni