A round up of interesting stories

I Want Media is a wonderful aggregator of news in this space. I thought today's dispatch was particularly interesting.

Diller vs. Time Warner in Online Satire

IAC/InterActiveCorp is developing a Jon Stewart-style satirical Web site with Huffington Post that may be a rival to Time Warner's forthcoming online comedy site. Also, IAC's next project could be a Web site that aggregates and edits the news. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/business/media/31jackson.html

Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post suggests that Microsoft should consider acquiring Yahoo. "A Microsoft-Yahoo combination would be in a better position to compete against Google," 

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=19466&hed=Analyst%3A+Microsoft+Should+Eat+Yahoo&sector=Industries&subsector=InternetAndServices

Google Buys JotSpot, Enters Wiki World
Google is acquiring JotSpot, a 3-year-old company that builds wikis. Google has a vision for how people can "create, manage and share information online," says JotSpot CEO Joe Kraus. Also: Google is starting to share advertising revenue with videographers.

http://news.com.com/Google+buys+JotSpot%2C+dips+into+wiki+world/2100-1032_3-6131024.html
http://news.com.com/Google+shares+ad+wealth+with+videographers/2100-1024_3-6130881.html

Viacom Asks YouTube to Purge Colbert, Stewart Video

Viacom is said to be requesting that YouTube take down video clips from some of its shows, as part of ongoing talks on how the two companies can work together. Also: Google is reportedly asking media companies to "look the other way" for a few months, to help build YouTube's value.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=comktNews&rpc=55&storyid=2006-10-31T014254Z_01_N30411858_RTRIDST_0_MEDIA-VIACOM-YOUTUBE.XML

http://www.blogmaverick.com/2006/10/30/some-intimate-details-on-the-google-youtube-deal/

Facebook to 'Share' NY Times Content

Facebook, the No. 2 U.S. social networking site, is entering deals with the New York Times, WashingtonPost.com and other media companies to support a new site feature that allows its users to collect photos, news and videos and paste them onto their profile pages.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=comktNews&rpc=55&storyid=2006-10-31T110453Z_01_N31457998_RTRIDST_0_MEDIA-FACEBOOK.XML

U.S. Newspapers Losing Readers at Accelerating Rate

Circulation at 770 U.S. daily newspapers declined 2.8% in the six months ended Sept. 30, says the Newspaper Association of America, citing data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Newspaper owners are turning to their Web sites to attract readers and advertisers, the association says.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSqc7C_qbkXQ&refer=home

Where Did the Craigslist Ads Go?

Craigslist this month began charging for employment ads in Seattle, San Diego, Boston and Washington D.C. Already, Seattle Craigslist is said to be seeing a "marked decrease" in job ads. In the software section, job listings dropped from 228 ads to 24 within a week of the new fee.

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/techtracks/index.html#012838