Will Barnes & Noble Say: 'Give Me Liberty (Media) & $1 Billion?

Image via WikipediaBillionaire John Malone's Liberty Media, whose holdings include the Atlanta Braves baseball team and interests in Sirius XM Radio, Inc. and the Starz Group media company, has offered $1 billion to acquire the Barnes & Noble bookstore chain, according to Bloomberg News and The Wall St. Journal.

A board committee of  B&N, which controls 28 percent of the e-book market with its Nook e-reader (see "TUOL" posts 4/25/11, 2/9/10), will review the proposal, which would require shareholder and regulatory acceptance. Credit Suisse gave its thumbs-up to the offering, saying that B&N would strongly compete with digital competitors Amazon (which makes the Kindle e-reader) and Apple with the financial backing of Liberty Media.

Liberty Media's $17 a share offer to B&N represents a 20 percent premium to shareholders based on the bookstore chain's closing stock price yesterday. The Englewood, Colo.-based Liberty would control 70 percent of B&N and current B&N chair Leonard Riggio would have a 30 percent equity stake in the enterprise under Liberty's proposed acquistion, according to Bloomberg News.

Federal Judge Throws the 'Book' at Facebook in Trademark Suit

Image via CrunchBaseU.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Judge Ronald M. Whyte has dismissed Palo Alto, Calif.-based social networking colossus Facebook's trademark infringement suit against Illinois company Teachbook for lack of personal jurisdiction.

The case, Facebook, Inc. v. Teachbook.com, LLC (Case No. 10-cv-03654-RMW) was brought Aug. 12, 2010, by Facebook, which alleged trademark infringment and trademark dilution by Teachbook, a social and professional networking site for teachers. Facebook claimed the use of the generic "BOOK" by a competitor social networking site would confuse consumers and dilute its brand. Facebook alleged jurisdiction and venue were proper because the defendant intentionally infringed on its trademark, causing it to suffer injury in its district.

The court noted that Teachbook's trademark clearance search produced 31 entities using "BOOK" formative marks for interactive computer services, including 10 companies that pre-dated Facebook. In concluding Teachbook neither permits California residents to register on its site nor competes with Facebook for the hearts and minds of Californians, Judge Whyte relied on the three-pronged "effects test" developed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783 (1984). Under Calder, the court gauges whether the defendant: 1)committed an intentional act, 2)expressly aimed at the forum state,  3)causing harm that the defendant knows is likely to be suffered in the forum state.

Judge Whyte ruled against Facebook because it failed to show Teachbook's conduct was "expressly aimed" at California. A tip of the hat to the always informative Internetcases.com Website for reporting on this case, which seems more about hubris than trademark.

Press Freedom Not 'Peachy' in Ga. as Gritty Guv Denies Access to TV Station

Image via WikipediaAtlanta Fox affiliate WAGA-TV became station non grata with Republican Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal after it aired a story on April 12 alleging the guv's daughter-in-law Denise Deal's fundraising company, which received hearty payments from the Deal campaign fund, may be a sham enterprise, according to Website www.stinkyjournalism.org.

State troopers barred access to a WAGA photographer and reporter during an April 13 bill-signing in the governor's office, and Gov. Deal's press secretary purportedly said the station is unwelcome until it retracts the story about Denise Deal's enterprise, the stinkyjournalism Website reports. The media ban prompted the Atlanta Press Club to fire off a letter of protest to the governor's office.

If only the First Amendment to the Constitution applied to the states; oh wait, in Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652 (1925), the U.S. Supreme Court said it did.

'Bunny-Surfing' for $60 a Year

Image by Getty Images via @daylifei.Playboy is not the title of Arnold Schwarzenegger's autobiography. Rather, it's the new Web-based subscription service that will enable readers to view 57 years or 682 issues worth of the men's magazine Playboy for $8 a month, or $60 a year, according to Associated Press.

Interviews with celebrities and politicians, fiction by authors the likes of Norman Mailer and John Updike, and pictorials of pneumatic nymphets who enjoy horseback riding and find rude people a "turn-off," will await online subscribers who no longer can access the dog-eared copies of  their Playboy stash in the back of their cluttered garages. The magazine, whose circulation has declined over the years from 3.1 million to 1.5 million in 2006, according to the AP article, has tried to reach out to  techno-savvy younger readers in recent years by, for example, selling a 250GB USB hard drive of every issue from 1953-2010 for $300 (see "TUOL" post 11/30/10).

It's questionable whether this latest marketing move by Hef's staff will have any impact on the raunchy relic. Maybe if they offered free instruction in one-handed keyboarding?

Out-of-Control 'Situation' in Florida Court 'Confrontation'

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe "reality" facing U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Paul C. Huck is that he must preside over a trademark infringement case involving an awful "Situation" certain to lead to a horrible "Confrontation."

The case, MPS Entertainment, LLC v. Robert M. Fletcher & Frank Sorrentino (Case No. 1:11-cv-21765), was brought by 29-year-old Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino, a cast member of MTV's Jersey Shore reality series since 2009, against his dear old Dad, Frank "The Confrontation" Sorrentino, concerning TheConfrontationSite.com, poppa's Website. As dutifully reported by E!News and NBC, among other media outlets, the plaintiff  alleges the defendants are exploiting his fame, appropriating his image and likeness on their Website without his permission, and engaging in unfair competition, all of which is disparaging his reputation, if such a thing is possible.

The elder Sorrentino's Website is rife with rants about his son's alleged financial abandonment of his family and contains profanity-laced tirades against junior. Sorrentino senior is threatening to write a tell-all book about his son's behavior entitled Confrontation with Situation (don't look for it in the Great Books series).

The case is more likely grist for the publicity mill than bound for the legal annals.  The staff of "TUOL" is withholding judgment until it hears from the spouse/mother, Mrs. Frank "The Mortified" Sorrentino.

English Court Upholds Soccer Star's Goal of Anonymity in Press Coverage of Extramarital Affair

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeAn English judge has denied efforts by News Group Newspapers-owned The Sun to lift his injunction barring the release of the name of a married soccer star who allegedly engaged in an extramarital dalliance with former Miss Wales and Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas.

According to an article in The Guardian and posts by the www.stinkyjournalism.org and www.mediabistro.com/sportsnewser blogs, Mr. Justice (David) Eady issued a temporary injunction that barred The Sun and other U.K. press outlets from disclosing the name of the soccer player who purportedly was Ms. Thomas' lover during a six-month affair. The justice found the soccer player had a reasonable expectation of privacy and that there was "no legitimate public interest" in allowing him to be identified in press accounts.  Thomas said she had no intent to divulge his name, nor did she seek notoriety, but lacked 50,000 pounds ($80,718) to pursue an injunction against her name being used.

Mr. Justice Eady's decision has no bearing on foreign press coverage of the scandal, as the Spanish daily Sport and Argentina's La Republica newspapers and www.mediabistro.com/sportsnewer blog used to their advantage. Less in the interest of journalism than out of fairness to Ms. Thomas, "TUOL" notes that Manchester United's left winger, Ryan Giggs, of Wales, is the married footballer who allegedly went beyond on-field scoring.

Fifth Circuit Holds Press Entitled Access to Sentencing Hearings

Image via WikipediaThe United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit this week in Oziel Cardenas-Guillen v. Hearst Newspapers LLC (Case No. 10-40221) held that the press and public have a First Amendment right to attend criminal sentencing hearings.

Former Mexican drug cartel head Oziel Cardenas-Guillen was arrested by Mexican police in 2003 and U.S. authorities took custody of him in 2007. Security concerns prompted a change of venue from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Brownsville, near the Mexican border, to federal court in Houston. (See "TUOL" post 12/13/10.)

The defendant pleaded guilty to drug, conspiracy and threat charges in February 2010, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison and forfeiture of $50 million. Citing public safety issues, the prosecution successfully moved to close the sentencing hearing to the press and public, with the presiding judge sealing both the government's petition for closure and his order granting the motion.

The Houston Chronicle, by its owner, Hearst Newspapers, LLC, appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, specifically, the trial court's  post-hearing rulings that the news organization's challenge of the closure of the courtroom during the sentencing hearing and its request to be heard on the issue before the closure were moot and its denial of the newspaper's request for public notice of all future hearings and a chance to be heard if the court decided to exclude the press and public from further hearings.

The appellate court reiterated its support of the collateral order doctrine that permits the news media to intervene, though not parties to a litigation, and seek appellate review when confidentiality or closure orders are involved. The court cited the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Press-Enterprise v. Superior Court, 478 U.S. 1, 8-9 (1986) that articulated the two-pronged test for whether the First Amendment mandated access to a particular criminal proceeding: 1)whether such proceedings historically have been open to the press and public; and 2)whether public access to the proceeding in question plays a significant positive role in the functioning of that proceeding. The standard is often referred to as the "experience & logic test" because of the High Court's reference to the institutional value of an open criminal trial being recognized in both experience and logic.

The 5th Circuit decision stated: "We also conclude that the press and the public, including the Chronicle, have a First Amendment right of access to sentencing proceedings,..[and] the district court deprived the Chronicle of its First Amendment right of access, without due process, in refusing to give the press and  public notice and an opportunity to be heard before sealing the sentencing proceeding."

Although the Supreme Court has yet to weigh in on the issue of press access to sentencing hearings, by its ruling in this case, the 5th Circuit joins the 2d, 4th, 7th and 9th Circuits in recognizing such a right.

Winklevoss Twins: You Call $65m Losing?

Image via WikipediaFrustrated by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit's refusal to grant them an en banc rehearing challenging the appellate court's order to accept a cash and stock settlement of their lawsuit on which they signed off in 2008, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss will look to the U.S. Supreme Court for a bigger piece of the Facebook pie.

According to reports today in The Los Angeles Times and the Mogulite blog, the brothers Winklevoss (translated from the Dutch: "pampered gastropods") are not about to settle for the $20 million plus $40 million in stock options that courts have told them to accept. The Winklevoss duo insist they were misled about the social media platform's stock value.

So for now, the battle continues between the Winklevii and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, whom the twins claim filched their Facebook idea while the three were classmates at Harvard. After all, the twins are turning 30 this year and can't go on rowing forever, and apparently, $65 million doesn't go as far as it used to, with the price of gasoline and all.

Hard-boiled Author's Widow Sues to Avert Film Version of Long-Neglected Work

Image via WikipediaIn Loretta Cubberley v. Jan Egleson, Fund for Theater & Film, Inc. et al. (Case No. 1:11-cv-10844-GAO), a copyright infringement suit filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the widow of attorney/journalist/author George V. Higgins is seeking to put the kibosh on the film adaptation of one of her husband's long-neglected works, The Rat on Fire.

The suit reads like one of the gritty novels by the hard-boiled Higgins, best-known for The Friends of Eddie Coyle, which was made into a film starring Robert Mitchum in 1973. Cubberley claims Higgins produced The Rat on Fire manuscript in 1979 at the behest of  the Fund for Theater & Film, Inc. ("FTF"), with an eye toward creating a dramatic series for WGBH-TV, the local PBS station, about arsonists who torch structures by dousing rats in gasoline and turning them loose in targeted buildings.

The station balked at producing the controversial series, in part, because of its portrayal of minorities, so the manuscript languished on the shelf for a couple of years and was published as a novel in 1981, according to the complaint. A film version of the novel, Cogan's Trade, published by Higgins in 1974, starring Brad Pitt, is scheduled to premiere next year, which prompted FTF to dust-off  Rat on Fire to capitalize on a Higgins revival.

Not so fast, says Cubberley, in her lawsuit that alleges FTF's film rights to the flammable rodents tale have expired. The complaint alleges Egleson, a film professor at Boston University (where "TUOL" also teaches), FTF, along with defendants Robert Patton-Spruill, Patricia Moreno and Film Shack, Inc., have violated copyright and trademark rights of the Estate of George V. Higgins by establishing a Website and pursuing a film adaptation of Rat on Fire.

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts Jude George A. O'Toole, Jr. has been assigned to the case.

FCC Cmr. Baker Takes the Cake in New Role as Comcast Veep

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeMeredith Atwell Baker, one of two Republican commissioners on the FCC who voted in the 4-1 majority to allow Comcast to purchase NBC Universal (see "TUOL" post 1/18/11), is leaving the regulatory agency at the end of June to become senior vice president for government affairs for Comcast, The Washington Post reported today.

Baker, who served in the Commerce Dept. during the Bush Administration, will be barred forever from lobbying any executive agency, including the FCC, which was one of the conditions for approval of the Comcast/NBC union. Likewise, having signed the Obama Administration's ethics pledge in 2009, she had already agreed not to lobby any FCC personnel for two years after she left the agency.

She can, however, immediately on assuming her new position, focus her efforts on lobbying members of Congress--the best and the brightest public officials money can buy--on the cable giant's behalf. The rules permit regulatory federal government agency members to go to work for companies in industries in which their former agencies are supposed to serve as watchdogs, which is why true reform in Washington, D.C., like the reception Comcast subscribers in certain parts of the country experience, is hard to come by.

E.W. Scripps Co.'s 1Q Results Follow Media Conglomerate Script: Print Performs Poorly

Image by SeeMidTN.com (aka Brent) via FlickrCincinnati-based media conglomerate E.W. Scripps Co., whose nationwide holdings include 14 newspapers and 10 television stations, released 2011 First Quarter earnings that show a 6 percent drop in newspaper revenues and losses of nearly $9 million, according to an Associated Press story.

Scripps, which among other newspapers, owns the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Ventura (Calif.) County Star and Naples (Fla.) Daily News, reported 1Q newspaper revenues of  $106.2 million. Meanwhile, its television holdings experienced revenue growth of 3 percent during the same period, the AP article noted. The company lost $8.9 million in the First Quarter of 2011, compared to $880,000 during the first three months last year.

Nationally, print ad sales plunged 28 percent compared to the First Quarter a year ago, local ads declined 10 percent, and classified ad revenues were off 4 percent. The company blamed the poor showing, in part, on Easter occurring in April this year. An odd explanation, but don't expect any resurrection of newspaper advertising revenues anytime soon.

SJC Allows Press Access to Civil Commitment Hearings

Image by Mr. Ducke via FlickrIn Kirk v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 459 Mass. 67 (2011), the Supreme Judicial Court this week said civil recommitment hearings are presumptively open to the public.

The case involves Helen Kirk, a Carver, Mass., woman who in 2007 was found not guilty by reason of insanity of strangling her three-year-old son in March 2005, and committed to a state hospital. Two years later, state hospital officials believed Kirk could be released to a residential facility, but the Plymouth County District Attorney sought a civil recommitment hearing to keep her hospitalized.

Kirk requested that the recommitment hearing at Taunton District Court be closed to the public, which the court denied. More than three decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court in Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v.  Virginia, 448 U.S. 555 (1980), held that the First Amendment entitles the public to attend criminal trials. SJC Justice Judith Cowin noted that although neither the federal nor Commonwealth High Courts has ever ruled that a corresponding right exists to attend civil trials, Massachusetts common law nonetheless presumes the public has such a right.

"Public access to the commitment proceedings underscores the seriousness of a potential deprivation of liberty and combats tendencies toward informality that may threaten an individual's due process rights," Justice Cowin wrote. The SJC concluded "both the legal evolution of civil commitment proceedings and the likely beneficial effects of public access to such proceedings support a conclusion that civil commitment hearings held pursuant to G.L. c. 123, sec. 16(c) are presumptively open to the public."

Kirk had argued that the release of  personal information in open court was violative of her privacy and could have a detrimental effect on her treatment. The Court said Kirk's contention was unsupported by expert testimony or other evidence. The SJC noted that although commitment hearings were presumptively open, a court could order closure of the proceedings if:  (1) the petitioner demonstrates an overriding interest that is likely to be prejudiced by an open hearing, (2) closure is no broader than necessary to protect that interest, (3) the trial court weighs reasonable alternatives to closure, and (4) the court makes written findings adequate to support the closure.

Utah Federal Judge Tosses Corp.'s Trademark Suit on 1st Amendment Grounds

Image via WikipediaThe U.S. District Court for the District of Utah this week in Koch Industries, Inc. v. John Does 1-25 (Case No. 2:10-cv-1275-DAK) cited First Amendment safeguards for unidentified environmental advocates who used the Internet to perpetrate a media hoax on plaintiff Koch Industries, Inc., as the basis for dismissing the company's lawsuit against the anonymous jokesters.

In an 18-page memorandum of decision and order, U.S. District Court Judge Dale A. Kimball dismissed the plaintiff's claims, including trademark infringement, cybersquatting and unfair competition, against the anonymous defendants who constructed a false Website and issued a phony press release last December alleging that Koch was going to fund environmental groups and had shifted its corporate position on climate change.

Judge Kimball also ordered the plaintiff not to use any of the information it already had obtained via subpoena to the company that unknowingly hosted the pseudo-Website to identify the defendants, holding that allowing Koch to do so would violate the First Amendment political speech and anonymity rights of the defendants.

The unidentified members of Youth for Climate Change were represented in the lawsuit by the nonprofit Public Citizen Litigation Group.

WaPo 1Q Revenues Sag Like Staff Morale as Publisher's Earnings Soar

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeDragged down by a combination of declining enrollment in its Kaplan Higher Education unit and dwindling advertising revenues, The Washington Post Co. reported a 7 percent decline in First Quarter 2011 revenues compared to a year ago while corporate profits were two-thirds lower than during the corresponding period in 2010.

First quarter profits were $15.2 million or $1.87 a share compared to $45.4 million or $4.91 a share last year, the Post reported, while print advertising fell 8 percent and daily circulation shrunk just under 3 percent.  The Post endured a $30.7 million write-down on its poor-performing investment in the Corinthian Colleges post-secondary education firm and witnessed a 23 percent dropoff in the number of students enrolled in Kaplan's online and on-campus communities.

In the face of such grim news, Post staffers were none too pleased to learn that Publisher Katherine Weymouth received a 16.4 percent pay raise, boosting her base salary to $625,000. The Newspaper Guild's contract with the Post expires in June 2011, and already, staffers, who have seen the newsroom rocked by layoffs, are making noises about a pay increase to match the publisher's.

Pol Gets Irish Up After Radio Station Defames Her as 'Alco'

Image by Irish Typepad via FlickrIndependent Irish talk radio program, "Newstalk," got socked with a defamation judgment of 450,000 euros ($647,721), Website stinkyjournalism.org reports, from accounts in The Phoenix and The Journal, after commentator Nell McCafferty said on The Tom Dunne Show last year that former politico Mary Harney was an "alco."

McCafferty was unaware her conversation was picked up on a live mic when she said Harney, a former Minister for Health and Children and Tanaiste, had allegedly received treatment for alcohol addiction. Harney purportedly sued for 1 million euros ($1,439,381). An on-air apology by the station and an attempt by station owner Denis O'Brien to apologize to the plaintiff did not derail Harney's lawsuit.

A Non-Public Mugging

Image via WikipediaPolice do not have to release "mug shots" of criminal defendants under the Massachusetts Public Records Law [G.L. c. 66, sec. 1 et seq; G.L. c. 4, sec. 7(26)], the Secretary of State's office has ruled.

As first reported by attorney Bob Ambrogi's Media Law blog (http:// medialaw.legaline.com), the decision by Secretary of State William Galvin's office reverses its previous position on the issue.  The most recent ruling involved a request by The Daily Hampshire Gazette for photos taken of  one-time Judge W. Michael Ryan, who was arrested and later acquitted of charges of disorderly conduct and assault and battery of a police officer.

Secretary Galvin's office backed authorities' refusal to turn over the former judge's mug shots, ruling police had discretion to withhold the record under the Commonwealth's Criminal Offender Records Information Law ("CORI") [G.L. c. 6, secs. 167-178B].

Well, doggies!: Elly May Clampett Is A-Suin' Dollmaker

Image by trainman74 via FlickrThe U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana is a long way from Beverly Hills, but this week, actress Donna Douglas, who starred as sexy, but naive Elly May Clampett for 274 episodes of CBS' cornpone comedy classic The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971), filed suit against El Segundo, Calif.-based Mattel for marketing an "Elly May Barbie" doll without her permission.

The case before U.S. District Court Judge Frank J. Polozola, Douglas v. Mattel (Case No. 3:11-cv-00297) includes claims alleging trademark infringement, violation of the Lanham Act [15 U.S.C. sec. 1051 et seq], violation of right to publicity and appropriation against the toymaker for including a photo of Douglas in character in its packaging. Her suit alleges the defendant made unauthorized use of her name, image and likeness of a "character closely identified with her."

Mattel created a series of "nostalgia dolls" from beloved tv series besides Elly May Clampett, including the late Elizabeth Montgomery's Samantha from Bewitched and Barbara Eden's Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie. What, no Alice Kramden?

If the 77-year-old Douglas ultimately prevails, she should be able to purchase a lot of vittles.

Miffed by Restrictions, Wire Services Boycott GOP Candidate Debate in South Carolina

Image via WikipediaThe Politico website reports that restrictions on photo-taking at tomorrow night's South Carolina debate of  GOP presidential hopefuls sponsored by Fox News Channel and the state's Republican Party has sparked a boycott of the event by wire services Associated Press and Reuters.

AP is neither sending photographers nor reporters to the event, while Reuters has thus far only confirmed it will not be photographically covering the debate. Debate sponsors are allowing photos during warm-ups, but banning photos once the debate gets underway.

AP claims that the constrained media access differs from the 2008 debate during which AP snapped 80 shots of White House hopefuls, including shots of the candidates behind podiums, suggesting they were answering questions during the debate. The wire services bristled at the notion of a pool photographer only being able to snap grip-n-grin photos before the back-and-forth among the candidates began.

Many of the marquis GOP figures/White House dreamers also are taking a pass on tomorrow's debate, including Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Mitch Daniels and Newt Gingrich, which diminishes the news value. Still, it's a bold move, given that the event is happening in South Carolina, so the wire services risk missing an impromptu attack on Ft. Sumter, an elected official calling the President a liar, or a spontaneous illicit affair by a chief executive.

Live-Streaming Justice in Quincy--OpenCourt Opens for Business

Image via WikipediaBuoyed by a "Knight News Challenge" $250,000 grant won from the James L. Knight Foundation, Boston public radio station WBUR-FM is overseeing the OpenCourt experimental project that began this week at Quincy District Court with the live-streaming of judicial proceedings.

According to accounts by the websites, Above the Law and Govtech.com, heretofore unwelcome bloggers, Tweeters, Facebookers, and other social media types equipped with iPads, smartphones and laptops are going to find a little love in the district trial court.  Judge Mark S. Coven retains discretion to shut off the live stream broadcast for certain proceedings, such as sexual assault hearings, to spare the victim embarrassment, and "dead spots" are built in to allow for attorneys and their clients to confer without sacrificing the privileged nature of their tete-a-tete.

There will be no mistaking the court goings-on for a sporting event as live commenting is not permitted during live streaming of video.  Transparency in judicial proceedings is the underlying goal of the open arms approach to social media.

Freedom's Just Another Word Press Is Losing Worldwide

Image via WikipediaFreedom of the Press 2011: A Global Survey of Media Independence, the annual report by the Freedom House watchdog group released this week, rates only 68 countries of 196 nations and territories evaluated as "free," according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (www.rferl.org).

The Top 10 List that David Letterman wants nothing to do with--the nations most oppressive toward the news media--include Belarus, Turkmenistan, Ukbekistan, Iran, Myanmar, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya and North Korea. Freedom House said governments in the countries on the list interfere with the press, stifle dissent or employ the news media as a mouthpiece to espouse government positions.

Overall, the report found 63 nations "not free," and noted a decline in press freedom in nations such as Hungary, Turkey and Mexico.  The watchdog group also voiced concern about a trend of authoritarian entities misusing "licensing and regulatory frameworks" to control the press.

A 'Tempting' Press Release for Cash-Strapped Newspapers?

Image via WikipediaThis blog often chronicles print journalism's grappling with shrinking circulation and plunging ad revenues, but leave it to Poynter.org's Romanesko media gossip blog to uncover a drug company's offer of an "Eden apple" to the newspaper industry "Eve."

In a letter addressed to editors and health editors, the American Institute of Advanced Medicine touts its press release announcing its acquisition of the patents and licensing rights of Medisys Research Group, which battles skin diseases with an array of medications and treatments.  The puffery soon takes a running leap over the journalistic conflict-of-interest line by offering newspapers $100 whenever someone spots the skin care company's press release within the pages of the publication and signs up for treatment.

Regulatory restrictions on bloggers and journalists accepting compensation and gifts for products they endorse aside, the mildly tempted devoted staff of "TUOL" hopes the skin medications in question are less oily than the company officials and editors who join hands in this unholy marriage.

McClatchy McCutting Jobs Again

Image via WikipediaMedia monolith McClatchy Co., which boasts 30 daily newspapers among its communications companies, is cutting 50 editorial positions in the wake of its recently announced poor First Quarter performance that saw a near 10 percent decline in revenues (see "TUOL" post 4/26/11).

The Kansas City Star is dumping 24 jobs and dropping vacant positions, The Raleigh News & Observer is eliminating 20 slots through buyouts and layoffs and The Miami Herald is eliminating 35 vacant positions and slashing 15 jobs, according to Mediabistro.com's "mediajobsdaily" blog. Earlier this year, The Sacramento Bee and The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, also McClatchy dailies, completed a round of staff cutbacks (see "TUOL" posts 2/9/11 & 2/1/11).

N.Y. Minor Wants to Take Facebook to 'Class'

Image via WikipediaNastro v. Facebook, Inc. (Case No. 11-cv-2128), filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York this week, seeks class action status against social media deep-pocket Facebook, Inc., for allegedly using the images of minors for a commercial purpose without parental consent, in violation of N.Y. Civil Rights Law.

As first reported by Bloomberg News, the suit concerns the thumbs-up "Like" icon. Facebook's use of social ads, dating back to 2007, purportedly displays the images and names of minors who click their support of products and events, and is also displayed when a user RSVPs for an advertised event, and on friends' home-page feeds.  The suit seeks damages for alleged revenues derived from the purported unauthorized commercial use of the minors' names and images.

In August 2010, suit was filed in a Los Angeles County Superior Court against Facebook for alleged violation of California law that prohibits using minors to endorse products and services, again, hinging on the users clicking the "Like" icon. (See "TUOL" post 8/30/10.)

CBS News Opts for a Pelley Over a Katie

Image via WikipediaSan Antonio native Scott Pelley has been named successor to Katie Couric as anchor of The CBS Evening News.

Pelley, who will continue correspondent duties for 60 Minutes, assumes the anchor chair on June 6. A former White House correspondent, Pelley joined CBS News in 1989. The Peabody and Emmy award winner launched his broadcast journalism career in Texas in the mid-'70s.

Va. High Court Reinstates Defamation Claim Against Police Officer

Image via WikipediaIn its 15-page decision Michael A. Lewis, Jr. v. Brian A. Kei et al (Record No. 100338), the Virginia Supreme Court last week ruled that a contractor who sued a Prince George County police officer was wrongly denied the opportunity to present his defamation claim to a jury.

The Virginia High Court ruled that Prince George County Circuit Court Judge James F. Dalton erred in sustaining the defendant's demurrer concerning Lewis's defamation claim. In November 2009, Judge Dalton dismissed the plaintiff's claims of defamation, malicious prosecution and false imprisonment.

Lewis spent 41 days in jail after he was wrongly accused in 2008 of attempted kidnapping of a 10-year-old boy. He sued Lt. Kei for purportedly making false statements that he approached the youth and ordered the boy to get into his truck.  The allegedly defamatory statements that appeared in The Petersburg Progress-Index quoted Lt. Kei as saying: "I think it's a good day since we got this guy in custody and hopefully everyone can rest a little bit easier." The article also quotes  the defendant as saying Lewis became angry and yelled at the youth for not getting into Lewis's truck.

The defense argued that the statements at issue were not susceptible to a defamatory meaning in that the statements at issue attributed to Lt. Kei were not verbatim and in any case, either were objectively true or statements of opinion. The Virginia Supreme Court, however, remanded the defamation claim back to the lower court, finding: "[T]he issue is not whether Lewis will be able to establish to the satisfaction of the jury that these statements defamed him, but whether the circuit court should have afforded him the opportunity to do so. Because the amended complaint was adequate to state a basis upon which, if proven to the satisfaction of the jury, Lewis could assert a claim for defamation against Kei, we hold that the circuit erred in sustaining Kei's demurrer as to that claim."