Caption: 
Star Editor Janice Min Stepping Down from Us Weekly
"Janice Min, the editor who turned Us Weekly into one of magazine publishing’s major success stories, will step down next week after seven years there, in what she and her boss, Jann S. Wenner, described Monday as an amicable parting," Richard Perez-Pena wrote¬†Monday in the New York Times.
"Ms. Min said she did not have her next move planned, though she talked about online ventures and television as fields that would appeal to her. But after publicized contract haggling in 2005 and 2007, with speculation each time that one of the field’s biggest stars might just walk away, Ms. Min said that this time she had decided not to renew her contract, which expires Aug. 1.
”As long as I’m here, I can’t really even begin to think about what I’m going to do next,’ she said. ‘But I’m 39 and I’d like to have another career. I felt like I’d done every possible thing at Us Weekly to make it successful.”
"Ultimately, it was all about the money," Amy Wicks wrote¬†Wednesday for Women’s Wear Daily.
"A few years ago, Us Weekly editor in chief Janice Min signed a contract worth approximately $2 million, but that deal is about to expire, and given the state of the publishing world, that kind of money wasn’t on the table this time around. While Us owner Jann Wenner asked Min to stay, in the end they couldn’t agree on a new salary number."
U.S. Holding Iraqi Journalist 10th Month Without Charge
"American forces arrested Iraqi journalist Ibrahim Jassam last year and continue to hold him without charge in a U.S. military prison camp — even as the United States transfers jurisdiction to Iraqi authorities," Quil Lawrence reported Monday for National Public Radio.
"Jassam, a cameraman, shot footage of Iraq’s violence during times when it was impossible for Western reporters to move safely around Iraq.
"He was 29 years old in 2006 when he began working for Reuters news agency. At the time, the towns southwest of Baghdad had earned the nickname the ‘Triangle of Death’ because of the violence between Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents. His brother, Walid, says Jassam took his work very seriously.
". . . But as with many cases in the past, the U.S. military apparently thought Jassam’s photos looked a little too close to the action, suggesting a connection to insurgents.
". . . Iraqi journalists have been regularly detained by U.S. forces through the course of the American occupation; several have been killed when mistaken for insurgents. According to Mohamed Abdel Dayem, of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Jassam is the only one still in U.S. custody.
"No charges have been brought against any of the journalists … If and when they are detained, [journalists’] cases should be reviewed in a quick and timely way, and they should either be charged with a recognizable crime or they should be released,’ Dayem says.
". . . Jassam’s sister says he isn’t eating enough and looks thin. She says her brother knows that the Iraqi court cleared him in November, and that he can’t understand why the Americans keep holding him, for 10 months now and counting."
Jose Antonio Vargas Jumps to Huffington Post
Jose Antonio Vargas a rising star at the Washington Post, who has covered what he called "the marriage of the Internet and politics," "is moving to a Web site that operates at that intersection: The Huffington Post," Brian Stelter reported Tuesday for the New York Times.
"Mr. Vargas will join the Arianna Huffington outfit next month as the technology and innovations editor. He will oversee a new section about tech (coming this fall) and encourage sitewide innovation.
"The Huffington Post has been on something like a hiring tear in recent months. After Dan Froomkin, the Washington Post columnist, was dismissed last month, Ms. Huffington happily scooped him up."
"Mr. Vargas said he had respect and admiration for The Washington Post, where he has worked since 2004, and that his move to Ms. Huffington’s Post was a personal decision."
Vargas, 28, told Facebook friends he seemed "2 have stunned some peeps with this move: to me, there is no new media v old media. only good journalism."
The hiring of Vargas brings Huffington’s total to seven paid reporters, with Vargas, who is of Filipino background, its first paid reporter of color. Spokesman Mario Ruiz said the operation had 38 editorial staffers.
Short Takes
- The Michael Jackson story kept television newsmagazines, especially CBS Television Distribution’s "Entertainment Tonight," at high rating levels for a third straight week amid widespread coverage of Jackson’s funeral and memorial service, TV Newsday reported¬†on Tuesday.
- TV One announced that "Beginning Sunday July 26 at 8 PM ET, TV One presents ‘Forever Michael Week,’ a week-long tribute to the international superstar, including: a new documentary entitled The Michael Jackson Story; The Jacksons: An American Dream miniseries; and Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration, the concert that commemorates his 30 years as a solo performer. Originally scheduled to celebrate the kickoff of Michael Jackson‚Äôs highly anticipated London concerts, the special programming will now serve as a tribute to the King of Pop and his unprecedented musical career."
- "The dual assault from government and media is also wearing on the community fabric" of Somali Americans, according to Michelle Chen, writing for Colorlines magazine. "’Young Somali men are being portrayed as terrorists right now. All the media love to have a story that is going to sell,’ said Nimco Ahmed, a youth organizer in the Twin Cities. ‘But that is going to hurt those who live in this country, who actually want to contribute to this country, like me and many others.’‚Äù
- "The BBC’s latest annual report admits that the corpration continues to miss its targets on diversity. It has an internal target of having at least 12.5% of staff from an ethnic minority background," Asians in Media magazine reported on Tuesday. "It also has internal targets to have at least 7% of senior managers from an ethnic minority background. But both targets have been missed third year in a row since they were first mooted."
"An unusual $10 million defamation suit against an attorney brought by a Brooklyn, N.Y., judge for allegedly telling a New York Daily News columnist the judge improperly presided over a case involving a lawyer who represented the judge before the judicial conduct commission has been dismissed," Vesselin Mitev wrote Friday for the New York Law Journal. "However, while Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Martin Shulman dismissed all claims against attorney Ravi Batra, he allowed a defamation claim to proceed against the Daily News and columnist Errol Louis, finding that "the average reader might have concluded from one of Mr. Louis’ columns that Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Larry D. Martin is a corrupt jurist" under investigation."
- JazzTimes Editor in Chief Lee Mergner and Managing Editor Evan Haga will remain with the publication, under its new ownership, Jason Fell reported for Folio magazine, quoting Boston-based Madavor Media..
- Tom Joyner, host of radio’s syndicated ‚ÄúTom Joyner Morning Show‚Äù, is scheduled to testify on the success of the success of the 1 866 MYVOTE1 hotline before the Committee on House Administration on Thursday. Joyner will discuss and make several recommendations on what needs to be improved, according to a news release from Joyner’s Reach Media.
- Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy has created a new program for writers, named in honor of A.M. Rosenthal, former executive editor of the New York Times, the center announced on Monday "The Rosenthal Writer-in-Residence Program will bring professional nonfiction writers to the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and provide an opportunity for them to conduct research and work on a specific project, as well as interact with a community of scholars and students. The Rosenthal Writer will receive a stipend of $30,000, and will have an office at the Shorenstein Center and a student research assistant. In addition to the writing project, the Writer will teach student workshops and participate in Shorenstein Center events. Candidates for the program should be writers with an established project and a solid history of published books or essays in the area of press, policy or public affairs."
