Media Roundup: Newspapers Have Worst Quarter Ever, Bing Officially Launches and More

(MoneyWatch)  Newspapers have worst quarter ever -- According to statistics posted by the Newspaper Association of America, the industry had its worst quarter in modern history during the first three months of the year. Advertising sales fell 28.3 percent or $2.6 billion in the first quarter. The numbers were published with no publicity, and are the worst since the NAA began publishing the report since 1950. Categorically, classified ads fell 42.3 percent, job ads fell 67.4 percent and automotive ads plummited 43.4 percent. [Source: Reflections of a Newsosaur]

Bing officially launches -- After weeks of fanfair, Microsoft has officially relaunched its Live search as "Bing." The search engine aims to compete with Google, and has been met with relatively positive reviews. Bing was available to the select members of the press last week. The success of Bing would put a proposed Yahoo/Microsoft merger in further doubt, as Microsoft was said to be primarily seeking Yahoo's search audience. Currently Microsoft is a distant third in the search engine wars, with Google holding a dominant lead. [Source: TechCrunch]

Newsprint industry trims inventory -- For the fifth consecutive month, American newspapers have reduced newsprint consumption by at least 20 percent. The sharp plummeting of newsprint use has led many newsprint companies to reduce inventory. Exports to developing countries have not offset the losses, and Canadian print makers are fairing slightly better than their U.S. counterparts. Many papers are trimming sections and editions to cut costs. In April, the world's largest newsprint maker, AbitibiBowater, filed for bankruptcy. [Source: Editor & Publisher]

Tucker Carlson to launch right-leaning Huffington Post-like site -- Television pundit Tucker Carlson has announced that he will be launching a right-leaning news site in a few weeks. The conservative CNN personality said the site, named The Daily Caller, will be like a general interest newspaper focusing on the Obama administration. The site will share profits with writers based on traffic, and will not contain any opinion pieces. Carlson said the site will aim to "add facts to the conversation." [Source: The Hill]

eMusic lands its first major label -- Online music retailer eMusic has received its first support amongst the major record labels. Sony has agreed to make its "classic" (recordings older than two years) catalog available on the service. An exact time line of the deal was not provided. The service makes music available for a monthly subscription and was one of the first to offer DRM-free music files. Lagging behind industry leaders Amazon and Apple, the site aims to sift out "quality music" for those over the age of 25 using editorial teams and user reviews. [Source: CNET]