Media Roundup: Obama Names CTO, San Fran Paper Agrees to Cuts and More

Obama names CTO — During his weekly address, President Barack Obama has named Aneesh Chopra the country’s first chief technology officer. Previously, Chopra worked in the health care industry and is currently Virginia’s CTO. While CTO, Chopra led several initiatives, such as creating a contest encouraging developers to create an iPhone application targeted to middle school math students. Obama will likely task his new appointee with the deployment of high bandwidth Internet and the digitization of health care records. The appointment comes as a bit of a surprise, as many had anticipated the position going to someone with roots in Silicon Valley. [Source: Wall Street Journal]

San Fran paper agrees to cuts — The delivery driver union has approved the San Fransisco Chronicle to cut up to 100 positions. The agreement will save the paper $5 to $6 million a year. The union also agreed to allow the paper to hire subcontractors for all deliveries outside of the city. Hearst, the paper’s publisher, has threatened to close or sell the paper unless it reduces overhead. [Source: Editor & Publisher]

TV news holding steady — Despite the current market, stations are continuing to bank on local news. According to a survey by the Radio Television News Directors Association and Hofstra University, the number of stations currently offering news has remained unchanged at 770. However, the television industry has cut 1,200 jobs this year, which has outpaced national employment. Radio jobs have remained steady, while salaries have taken a hit and news content has dropped. [Source: MediaWeek]

Online news sites hold post election bump — According to numbers from Nielsen Online, the three major cable news networks have only seen only a slight drop in traffic after the 2008 Presidential Election between Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain. While general news sites have increased traffic, politically focused sites have seen a drop in numbers. The Huffington Post and Politco both have experienced substantial decreases in traffic since November. The interest in the election has not translated to the current financial crises, however, as CNNmoney.com and Forbes.com have seen their numbers vary from month to month. [Source: MediaWeek]

Metacafe joins race for premium content — Video site Metacafe has redesigned its homepage to feature professional videos. The site has partnered with Universal Studios and Fox to offer movie trailers, music videos, and sports highlights. Metacafe joins YouTube in its desire to emulate Hulu by offering professional content from big media studios. While Hulu only offers content from television and movies, both YouTube and Metacafe allow users to submit video to their sites. Metacafe has stated that content providers get a slice of the advertising collected on each provider’s “hub.” [Source: paidContent]

McClatchy may be delisted — Newspaper publisher McClatchy may be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. The company’s market cap has fallen below the minimum $75 million and its share price has fallen below $1. Last month the company announced it would cut 1,600 jobs.  The Sacramento-based company and third-largest newspaper company has 45 days to submit a plan for how it plans to redeem its financials. McClatchy reports its first quarter earnings on Thursday. [Source: paidContent]