Big Bird's Big Sigh of Relief

PBS and NPR won a reprieve Thursday when the $100 million that was slated to be cut from the budget was restored by the House.

Of course, the reprieve is only temporary as future attempts to cut out Public Broadcasting funding are already planned.

More info here.

CNN Backs Down

Another media giant has taken its web content from "pay for play" to free. CNN.com is now offerring free video content. Of course, you have to sit through a commercial before every segment, but it is as close to direct access as you are going to get.

WSJ Saturday "Dress Down" Edition

The Wall Street Journal has announced plans to begin a Saturday edition in September. The publication, which is mainstay in boardrooms and high-rise offices throughout this country is designing the Saturday edition to be more casual and less serious.

The Saturday paper, which will be delivered free - for the time being - to subscribers, will have an airier, more casual feel than its daily counterpart, but will still be instantly recognizable as The Wall Street Journal. It will come in three sections: news, Money and Investing and a third called Pursuits, devoted to leisure activities. It is this section, which will feature articles about the "business of life," with more white space and more color, that is designed to draw in new readers and advertisers.

"The idea is to allow people to relax with The Wall Street Journal," said Karen Elliott House, publisher of The Journal and senior vice president of Dow Jones, which owns the Journal.

Yes, because we don't have enough places to go for entertainment, travel, sports and other "fluff".

Source: New York Times, Via International Herald Tribune