McGlone Exits The Pilot for Wisconsin PR Post

meredith mcgloneMeredith McGlone, senior editor for The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, is heading to PR and the Midwest to direct news and media relations for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dennis Chaptman, another former journalist, retired from the university communications post in July after 11 years.

McGlone, who will be assistant director, makes the move starting Dec. 1. She spent 16 years at The Pilot, including as reporter, city editor and military editor before taking on the senior role.

The Illinois native said in a news release that she is the daughter and granddaughter of UW grads.

John Lucas took the communications reins at UW in June, when he was promoted to executive director.

Times Columnist Sorry for Attending Fundraiser

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat apologized Oct. 22 for appearing at a fundraiser for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal activist group critical of homosexuality.

Douthat told Media Matters he did not know the event was a fundraiser and that he was invited by an events organizing group, not ADF itself. The columnist said he understood the event to be a "public conversation about religious liberty," adding: "This is my fault for not doing my due diligence, and I will declining the honorarium."

Media Matters called ADF "one of the most extreme anti-gay legal groups in the country."

NBC Launches Long-Form Sports Portal

nbcNBC has launched a long-form sports news site, NBCSportsWorld.com, featuring the world of veteran Sports Illustrated columnist Joe Posnanski and others in the vein of ESPN's Grantland.com.

The portal, named after an NBC Sports TV show from the 1980s, went live on Oct. 16 with features on golf legend Payne Stewart, the 23-year-old world long-jump record, and a Bob Costas interview with Peyton Manning.

Other contributors include Joe Prince-Wright of ProSoccerTalk.com and Nick Zaccardi of OlympicTalk.com.

In addition to long-form writer pieces and interviews, the microsite will host documentaries and other video features produced by NBC Sports Group.

Yahoo Posts Revenue Gain

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer reported a one percent increase in Q3 revenues to $1.1B, which is only the second gain in sales for the last six periods.

She called the performance a "good, solid third quarter."

Mayer cited robust advances in mobile, social, native and video, offset somewhat by "industry headwinds in some or our large, legacy businesses."

She singled out the more than $200M in mobile revenues, calling it "now material."

Mobile products are "attracting praise and engagement from users and industry awards, they are generating meaningful revenue for Yahoo.

Yahoo's net income soared to $6.8B from $296M due to the $10.4B gain from the sales of shares in Alibaba.

That windfall drove Yahoo's tax tab to $4B from $31.9M.

Yahoo has cash and marketable securities of $12B, up from $5B a year ago.

Bloomberg Snatches Business Insider Pro

Joe Weisenthal, executive editor of Business Insider, will join Bloomberg Nov. 10, to spearhead development of a financial and money markets site. He'll also host a TV show.

The former analyst joined Henry Blodgett's Business Insider in 2008 and he was upped to executive editor last year.