FIRST CUTS: MSNBC prez confident about competition; behind the New Yorker’s bin Laden story

Joe Pompeo
·Media Reporter

Our list of stories that should be on your morning media menu:

• Mark Halperin's MSNBC suspension has come to an end. (Broadcasting & Cable)

• MSNBC prez Phil Griffin: "For the first time we're beginning to chip away at Fox News Channel." (Hollywood Reporter)

• Meanwhile, the July cable news ratings are in: Fox News continued to dominate while the Casey Anthony-fueled HLN edged out both MSNBC and its sister network, CNN. (TV by the Numbers)

• A New Yorker freelancer's 'remarkable' Osama bin Laden coup. (Washington Post)

• Hollywood Reporter/Adweek/Billboard CEO Richard Beckman is pushing back on rumors of financial troubles and potential layoffs at the company. (WWD)

• John Koblin rates the new crop of magazine editors. (WWD)

• The Economist has rolled out tablet subscriptions. (Mashable)