Marianne Paskowski

If we didn’t know for sure how bad things in the media economy are, the New York Times, the venerated gray lady of newspapers, sold its first front-page ad to CBS Television. The ad runs at the bottom of the page, spanning all six columns.

As a longtime editor and journalist, I’ve had a history of battles with publishers who wanted to cross what has become an ever-blurring line between church and state. Not that this example is a blur of that line, for the CBS ad is clearly marked as an ad.

I know a lot of journalists who are decrying the NYT’s decision, but I’m not one of them. Clearly media’s economics need tweaking during this pervasive recession, and if that ad keeps newspapers alive and prevents future job losses, I’m all for it.

I’m sure this was a difficult decision for the Times, which is already mortgaging its real estate in New York and selling its 17% ownership in the Boston Red Sox.

And for CBS, this was a coup. Am I wrong?

Good piece in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, which addressed, in part, why CNN’s Anderson Cooper doesn’t insert his opinion into his newscast, as so many of his cable news net cohorts do these days.

The L.A. Times wondered why Cooper doesn’t interject his opinions into the news as do, say, Rachel Maddow and Campbell Brown, who are not at all shy about throwing their own two cents into the news of the day.

Cooper’s answer was simple: “I’m just not interested as a viewer in listening to anchors’ opinions. It seems like there’s an awful lot of yelling, and this year yelling’s been replaced by sarcasm and snarkiness.”

Amen, I say. Cooper said Maddow and Brown are both very good and talented at what they do, but that it’s just not his thing.

Nor is blogging or Twittering. He admits to not being computer-savvy and prefers going to the frontline of a breaking news story in person.

Personally, I think cable news could benefit from anchors who don’t use their role as a bully pulpit. And that’s why I will make a point of watching Cooper’s New Year’s Eve special, as the year will go down in history as one of a global recession and ever-increasing geopolitical angst.

"Probably" is my answer, as I stopped watching the bloviating, biased anchor of MSNBC’s “Hardball” months ago.

For a while now, he’s been said to be privately discussing his plans to run for the Democratic seat in Pennsylvania against GOP Sen. Arlen Specter.

Privately? Hardly, if every media outlet seems to know about this stunt.

Various newsgathering outlets say he’s already shopping for a home in Philadelphia as he maps out his plans with MSNBC as his contract expires in June. Other reports say it’s just a ploy in his negotiations to renew his contract.

MSNBC President Phil Griffin is saber-rattling in the press, too. He recently told the Hollywood Reporter that he expected to see Matthews remain on board “for a long time.” Is that a nice way of saying he can’t wait to get rid of Matthews?

Matthews used to be a breath of fresh air. But unfortunately, as his popularity soared, he stopped listening, often not giving interview subjects time to answer his questions and putting words in their mouths.

I wish he would keep his political views to himself and let viewers hear what his guests have to say.

The decision on Matthews’ move going forward is expected soon, and I hope this Keystone Kop returns to the Keystone state to bully Specter instead of his viewers.

Have to admit I shook my head in disbelief when I read that the Walt Disney Co. is trying to launch a version of the Disney Channel in Russia, pending final regulatory approval.

Disney, working with Media-One Holdings Ltd., a Russian broadcaster that runs 30 TV stations, will create a separate joint-venture company. Disney will get a 49% stake in that new company and provide cash, programming and marketing.

The new Russian Disney Channel will run staples such as “Hannah Montana” and “The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” as well as programming created in Russia.

On the surface this all sounds dandy. Russia remains one of the world’s last untapped TV markets. But Russia is hardly a bastion of security. Since this past fall, the Russian stock market seemed closed every other day and the value of its stock market is down anywhere from 70% to 80%.

I can’t tell you the value of a ruble today, but I have seen plenty of coverage about how Russian citizens don’t trust their country’s government and refuse to keep money in Russian banks.

So what does Disney know about Russia that its own citizens don’t? I say nyet.

The National Federation of the Blind found nothing funny about Saturday’s “Weekend in Review” skit on “Saturday Night Live,” where show cast member Fred Armisen did his impression of New York Gov. David Paterson, who is blind and has admitted to doing drugs in his youth.

The Paterson parody was puerile. Even Paterson, who is known for his sense of humor, told the New York Daily News that he found it offensive.

He said only 37% of disabled people are working, and that he and the NFB fear the skit reinforces the stereotype that blind people are not capable of holding jobs.

“SNL’s” skit was off-putting to me. He sat at the desk appearing confused, not knowing where to look at the cameras, and held up a sign upside-down.

To make matters worse, later Armisen, still portraying Paterson, stumbled about looking lost when another “SNL” cast member, Amy Poehler, made an official announcement that she was leaving the show.

So let’s give “SNL” some fodder for future parodies. Here’s my vote: How about a skit on former financier Bernie Madoff, who was arrested last Friday for allegedly stealing $50 billion from his clients.

Any other ideas for the SNL writers?

I don’t know why some people are so upset that NBC is keeping Jay Leno but moving his new talk show to 10 p.m., where it will serve as a lead-in to Conan O’Brien, who takes over “The Tonight Show” this fall.

These are tough economic times, and according to CNBC the move will save NBC $13 million a week because it won’t have to invest in a scripted show for that time period. Generally, the going tab for a scripted episode is $3 million per episode.

Things would have been far worse for NBC had Leno bolted for ABC or Fox. And maybe he’ll attract more eyeballs in his new time period.

What I want to know is what Leno’s new format actually will look like, as few details seem to be available for now. It’s not a variety show, but Leno will do an opening monologue and man-on-the-street spiel.

At a press conference Tuesday, Leno was short on the details, but said he’ll be taking the show outside of the studio more often.

If this is a talk show, Leno obviously will need guests, which raises an interesting question: If you were a celeb or newsmaker, which show would you rather appear on, Leno’s or O’Brien’s?

That’s a no-brainer for me, given that I find O’Brien a snore.

As the heads of the U.S.’ carmakers are begging again at the Fed window for a “bridge loan,” Scrooge arrived at Viacom, announcing that the company was laying off 7% of its workforce, eliminating 850 jobs.

On top of that, Viacom, parent company of MTV Networks, is suspending senior-level managers’ raises for next year and is looking to write down certain programming assets that the company would not identify.

Although Viacom was the first cable programming company to announce large layoffs, it won’t be the last, said the president of an executive search firm. Layoffs are everywhere, she said, with “many under the radar.”

But Viacom has been hit particularly hard, falling behind its cable competitors in ad sales, which in part led to a huge drop in its stock price, a whopping 62% this year.

Maybe it’s time for Viacom chieftain Sumner Redstone to line up at the Fed discount window. After all, this is the second wave of widespread layoffs for the media titan in two years, and some industry observers say the company is still bloated.

And maybe it’s time for Redstone’s salary to be capped at $1 a year, like executives at ailing financial companies are doing during this prolonged depression.

Sound like a plan?

I’m not one of those maniacs who get up early the Friday after Thanksgiving to jump-start my holiday shopping spree.

With all the bad economic barometers out there, Black Friday sales will provide another yardstick about the state of television advertising. And for now we know it doesn’t look great.

But maybe it won’t be all gloom and doom. While the three domestic auto companies have noticeably slashed their ad budgets, ads for imported cars seem to be on the rise.

And Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, which has absolutely no need to advertise its value proposition, is laying it on thick this season, with TV spots running in all dayparts.

So yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, even though we’ve seen all those surveys that predict consumers are tapped, and are capping their holiday spending budgets.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Sears can thank me later for creating its new ad jingle. Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, announced it is teaming with the retailer to promote the MSO’s digital video, cable modem and cable phone services in 400 Sears stores around the country.

What incredibly odd bedfellows they make. Comcast will train Sears’ employees to sell its bundled triple-play offering. Also in 100 of those stores, Comcast will have interactive HDTV display units set up.

I’m assuming Comcast is setting up in Sears’ consumer electronic departments, next to television sets and other gizmos.

But who on this planet would ever buy a TV set at Sears? Sure, I would buy a Craftsman screwdriver set there, if I were inclined to buy that kind of thing. But a TV set, let alone a cable package of services?

Wouldn’t it have been smarter for Comcast to team up with Best Buy, where people actually buy consumer electronic products?

I don’t like anything about this idea. New customers, and only new customers, who sign up for Comcast at Sears get a $100 mail-in rebate coupon for one product purchase, like a cable modem, or a $250 rebate for the triple bundled package.

So once again, Comcast is ignoring existing customers by not offering them the same rebate.

So much for crashing through glass ceilings is what I conclude from reading highlights of the 2008 Women in Cable Telecommunications’ PAR Initiative Survey that tracks female employment trends at both cable programming and distribution companies.

The biggest shocker was the glaring fact that top female executives at cable programming companies dropped significantly from 32.5% two years ago to 26.1% this year.

So how to explain this glaring ebb of top female talent at the cable programming nets? Consolidation is the culprit, say the survey’s analysts.

They point to the departures of leaders like Oxygen Media founder and CEO Gerry Laybourne, who sold her company to NBC Universal.

OK, that’s one person. Who else, I ask? I can’t think of one.

The study’s analysts also say women who run cable networks might be counted as middle management now that their companies are part of larger organizations.

Might? Don’t we know?

No matter how you slice it, most top-level jobs at the cable programmers are going to men, the survey concludes.

And that’s the real answer, I say, not this mumbo-jumbo about consolidation.