Fortune | The New York Times
"A serious buyer is in talks with" Time Warner about buying most of its magazine properties, James Bandler, Doris Burke and Jennifer Reingold report in Fortune. The deal is in "a formative stage and may never come to fruition," they write. Meredith Corporation is the potential buyer, Amy Chozick reports in The New York Times.

The deal being discussed would allow Time Warner to hang onto three flagship magazines, Time, Fortune and Sports Illustrated, while selling the majority of its portfolio, including magazines like Real Simple, Entertainment Weekly, Cooking Light and InStyle. The titles, which amount to essentially a women’s magazine company, make a good fit for Meredith Corporation, based in Des Moines, Iowa, and the publisher of such titles as Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies’ Home Journal.

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The Wall Street Journal | Ad Age
Time Warner has reportedly picked a digital advertising executive with no magazine experience, Laura Lang, to take over as CEO of Time Inc. She is the current CEO of Digitas, one of the largest digital agencies. Ad Age reports that Lang has "a more measured personality, and speaks very deliberately and diplomatically" -- in contrast with previous Time CEO Jack Griffin who was fired about nine months ago. The Wall Street Journal notes her advertising and marketing experience may be useful in helping the company "grapple with a murky print-advertising picture and the migration of consumers to digital devices." Poynter's media business analyst Rick Edmonds said: "It's a marker of a venerable legacy media organization giving the reins of the company to a digital person. She's got a lot of business experience." (more...)

Washington Post Company CEO Don Graham’s candid take on trends in the news business has been a staple of the 10 media conferences I’ve attended each December in New York City.

This year, though, Graham in brief prepared remarks said… Read more