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Three Lawsuits Against Elmo Puppeteer Dismissed

Three Lawsuits Against Elmo Puppeteer Dismissed

A federal judge in New York, saying the statute of limitations had run out, has dismissed three lawsuits by men who said that the former “Sesame Street” puppeteer Kevin Clash sexually abused them when they were underage.

In his 28-page ruling, dated June 28 and made public Monday, Judge John G. Koeltl said the plaintiffs â€" Cecil Singleton, Kevin Kiadii and an unnamed man with the initials S.M. â€" filed their claims “more than six years after each plaintiff reasonably should have become aware of the defendant’s alleged violations” and more than three years after each turned 18.

The plaintiffs had argued that the time limit should begin once they realized they had been harmed, not the date of the alleged abuse. But in his ruling, Judge Koeltl wrote, “The dates on which the plaintiffs connected their psychological injuries to their victimizations are irrelevant to the dates on which their claims accrued.” Even if the plaintiffs did not recognize the extent of their injuries, he wrote, “they were aware of the defendant’s conduct toward them and could have brought claims.”

Jeff Herman, a Miami lawyer who represented the plaintiffs, said they planned to appeal, adding in a statement that “we believe that the victims in this case are within the statute of limitations.”

Mr. Clash, who last month won three Daytime Emmy Awards for his “Sesame Street” work, resigned from the program in November when the allegations began surfacing. He was the voice of the character Elmo for nearly three decades.

In a statement, Mr. Clash’s lawyer, Michael G. Berger, said his client was pleased by the decision,” calling it a step toward putting “these spurious claims behind him, so that Kevin can go about the business of reclaiming his personal life and his professional standing.” He added that Mr. Clash “is looking forward to a time in the near future when he can tell his story free of innuendo and false claims.”

A spokesman for Mr. Clash, Nicholas F. Peters of the CommCore Consulting Group, said the puppeteer was not giving interviews.

Another lawsuit from a plaintiff identified as D.O. was voluntarily withdrawn in April, and a fifth lawsuit, filed in Pennsylvania by Mr. Clash’s original accuser, Sheldon Stephens, remains outstanding.

Sesame Workshop said it had no comment on Monday’s ruling.



Frequent Flier: The Drama of Travel, Made Into Television

The Drama of Travel, Made Into Television

MY very first international trip was on TWA back in 1990. I went to Madrid and went backpacking with my college roommate for about five weeks. I went with $1,000, and we lived on wine, cheese, bread and chocolate. That trip changed my life.

I met my husband, Bertram van Munster, about five years later, and we both loved travel. I remember talking about how travel always has a lot of drama and how you can build relationships. I still keep in touch with people I met on my first trip abroad. So long story short, “The Amazing Race” was born somewhat from our own real love of going places.

I do talk to seatmates on occasion during my trips for the show, but I don’t really tell them exactly what I do. All I will say is that I work in television and I’m traveling for business. Even that takes a while for me to admit. First, I’m very private and where we travel for the show is a secret until it airs. Even my parents have to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

Traveling for the show is a lot of fun. It’s also a lot of work since the logistics are crazy.

But I’m privileged in that my business trips are really out of the norm. My husband and I have a lot of maps of the world in the office, and we try to pick places to film that may not be travel destinations for most Americans.

I’ve had some amazing experiences.

I remember flying from Adelaide to Coober Pedy, Australia, which is the opal capital of the world. I was on this tiny Cessna with four other passengers and one pilot. I decided to take flying lessons when I got home because I couldn’t help thinking what would happen if this one pilot passed out. Fortunately, he didn’t and we wound up filming for one week in underground homes called dugouts, which really are a lot nicer than the name implies.

I was in Botswana in a plane called a Caravan. We were flying over the Okavango Delta while herds of elephants ran throughout the bush. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Flying into Reykjavik, Iceland, was like landing on the moon. Even though it’s only five hours from J.F.K., it’s like no other place on earth.

We took off at night and arrived in the morning to the most beautiful sunrise I’ve ever seen. I’ve also flown apparently to the end of the world when I flew to Punta Arenas, Chile and then onto Ushuaia, Argentina, where I had my passport stamped “The End of the World” on Isla Redonda Tierra del Fuego. That was very cool.

Aside from finding places that are not usual destinations for many Americans, we try to keep things local or culturally significant regarding the challenges that our contestant teams have to perform.

People really seem to enjoy sky diving and bungee-jumping. I went bungee-jumping for the first time in New Zealand during season two. It’s called the Nevis Bungee Jump and you drop about 440 feet. I must have stood on the ledge over the gorge for about five minutes. I knew if I didn’t do it I would regret it. So I did it. I couldn’t even catch my breath to scream. I was out of my mind, but I would do it again.

Sky diving is another story. I told myself I would do it once, and now it’s off my to do list, but more power to our teams and every other person out there who thinks that it’s fun. Jumping out of a perfectly good plane makes absolutely no sense to me.

By Elise Doganieri, as told to Joan Raymond. E-mail: joan.raymond@nytimes.com.



Re-Election Is Likely for McConnell, but Not Guaranteed

Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky secretary of state and a Democrat, announced on Monday that she will challenge Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican, in 2014.

Mr. McConnell, the Senate minority leader, is likely to win re-election. Kentucky is a solidly Republican state, and President Obama received less than 40 percent of the vote there in 2012. Mr. McConnell has also amassed a massive war chest and hired Jesse Benton, who led Senator Rand Paul’s upset win in Kentucky in 2010, to run his campaign.

However, he is unlikely to sail to victory. Ms. Grimes was elected to statewide office in 2011 with 60 percent of the vote. She has deep ties to Democratic politics, both in Kentucky and nationwide, as the daughter of the state’s former Democratic Party chairmn, Jerry Lundergan. Those connections and the high-profile nature of the race should make it relatively easy for her to raise money.

While there have not yet been any nonpartisan surveys testing a potential contest between Mr. McConnell and Ms. Grimes, the four partisan polls that have been conducted so far (three by the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling and one by the Republican-leaning Wenzel Strategies) have shown a relatively tight race, with Mr. McConnell leading by an average of 4.5 percentage points.

A SurveyUSA poll conducted in June for The Courier-Journal found that 34 percent of registered voters would vote against Mr. McConnell no matter who his opponent was, double the 17 percent who said they would vote for him regardless.

Those numbers reflect the fact that Mr. McConnell is fairly unpopular in Kentucky. Public opinion surveys show that, on average, more Kentuckians disapprove than approve of the job he has done in the Senate. Roughly half of the respondents in the four recent partisan polls said they disapproved of Mr. McConnell’s performance.

On average, Mr. McConnell has a net job approval rating of minus 7 percent. Ms. Grimes is not as well known, but she has a net favorability ating of plus 11 percent. It is possible, though, that as Ms. Grimes gets drawn into what is likely to be a bitter, partisan campaign, her numbers will deteriorate.

If the 2014 race proves competitive, it will not be the first time Mr. McConnell has had to sweat a close election. He was first elected to the Senate in 1984 by 0.4 percentage points, and was re-elected in 1990 by four percentage points. The next two times he faced the voters, in 1996 and 2002, he had larger cushions. But in 2008, he defeated the Democratic nominee, Bruce Lunsford, by just six percentage points: 53 percent to 47 percent.

At the time, Mr. McConnell, while not widely popular, was more popular than he is now. And Mr. Lunsford’s favorability numbers were not as strong as Ms. Grimes’s currently are.

Still, the 2008 cycle featured a presidential election and large Democratic gains nationally. Midterm elections have historically favored the party that does not control the White House. In 2014, that will be the Republicans.

In many ways, Ms. Grimes faces a challenge similar to that faced earlier this year by Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the Democrat who challenged Representative Mark Sanford in a special election in South Carolina’s First Congressional District: to defeat a flawed Republican opponent on solidly Republican terrain.

Ms. Colbert Busch lost that race, and Ms. Grimes, too, will have a hard time overcoming Kentucky’s Republican gravity. The McConnell campaign will probably attempt to tie her to Mr. Obama, who remains highly unpopular inthe state.

That strategy was already on display in a statement Mr. McConnell released moments after Ms. Grimes announced her candidacy. It read in part, “Accepting the invitation from countless Washington liberals to become President Obama’s Kentucky candidate was a courageous decision by Alison Lundergan Grimes, and I look forward to a respectful exchange of ideas.”



Iger Gets Extension as Disney Chief Executive

Iger Gets Extension as Disney Chief Executive

Robert A. Iger will remain chief executive of the Walt Disney Company until July 2016, an extension of 15 months beyond his previously announced retirement date, the entertainment conglomerate said on Monday.

Under the terms of Mr. Iger’s contract, signed in 2011, he was to step down as chief executive in March 2015 and remain as executive chairman until the middle of the following year. But Disney’s board, which was eager to retain a leader with a highly successful track record for as long as possible, last week asked him to stay on as both chief executive and chairman until June 30, 2016.

Mr. Iger’s compensation will not change.

“Now Disney will continue to have the full benefit of Mr. Iger’s leadership,” Orin C. Smith, the independent lead director of Disney’s board, said in a statement. Mr. Smith cited Mr. Iger’s ability to “consistently deliver against a strategy of producing high-quality branded content, technology innovation and international expansion.”

Big media companies, notably News Corporation and Viacom, have a spotty track record when it comes to succession planning, and Mr. Iger himself took over Disney in 2005 after a period of turbulence following a bitter dispute between Michael Eisner and Roy E. Disney.

But keeping Mr. Iger in place does not signal that Disney needs more time to groom a successor. Disney has a deep bench of chief executive candidates, including James A. Rasulo, chief financial officer; Thomas O. Staggs, chairman of Disney’s theme park division; and Anne Sweeney, co-chairwoman of Disney Media Networks.

Rather, retaining Mr. Iger’s services reflects an if-it’s-not-broken-don’t-fix-it strategy. Disney has suffered the occasional setback â€" a movie flop, for instance, like “John Carter” last year â€" and has continued to struggle in video games, but over all the company has been soaring. Its shares were trading Monday at $63.87, a 31 percent increase compared with one year ago.

Disney reported profit of $5.68 billion last year, an 18 percent increase from a year earlier, on $42.28 billion in revenue.

By remaining at Disney’s helm, Mr. Iger will be able to see to fruition the high-stakes opening of Shanghai Disneyland, a sprawling resort on par with Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The Shanghai entertainment and vacation complex, Disney’s first major outpost in China, is expected to open in late 2015.

Disney is still working to integrate its latest acquisition, Lucasfilm, and restart the “Star Wars” franchise. ABC, now owned by Disney, also is under pressure to introduce a much-needed new hit this fall.

Mr. Iger, 62, started his entertainment career at ABC in 1974 and took over as chief executive of Disney in 2005. He will be 65 upon his departure; Disney’s mandatory retirement age for board members is 74.

Since chief executives typically leave their corner offices reluctantly, attention has focused on what Mr. Iger has planned for his long-term future. There has long been speculation that he has political ambitions. He has steadfastly declined to comment on his life beyond Disney.



Iger Gets Extension as Disney Chief Executive

Iger Gets Extension as Disney Chief Executive

Robert A. Iger will remain chief executive of the Walt Disney Company until July 2016, an extension of 15 months beyond his previously announced retirement date, the entertainment conglomerate said on Monday.

Under the terms of Mr. Iger’s contract, signed in 2011, he was to step down as chief executive in March 2015 and remain as executive chairman until the middle of the following year. But Disney’s board, which was eager to retain a leader with a highly successful track record for as long as possible, last week asked him to stay on as both chief executive and chairman until June 30, 2016.

Mr. Iger’s compensation will not change.

“Now Disney will continue to have the full benefit of Mr. Iger’s leadership,” Orin C. Smith, the independent lead director of Disney’s board, said in a statement. Mr. Smith cited Mr. Iger’s ability to “consistently deliver against a strategy of producing high-quality branded content, technology innovation and international expansion.”

Big media companies, notably News Corporation and Viacom, have a spotty track record when it comes to succession planning, and Mr. Iger himself took over Disney in 2005 after a period of turbulence following a bitter dispute between Michael Eisner and Roy E. Disney.

But keeping Mr. Iger in place does not signal that Disney needs more time to groom a successor. Disney has a deep bench of chief executive candidates, including James A. Rasulo, chief financial officer; Thomas O. Staggs, chairman of Disney’s theme park division; and Anne Sweeney, co-chairwoman of Disney Media Networks.

Rather, retaining Mr. Iger’s services reflects an if-it’s-not-broken-don’t-fix-it strategy. Disney has suffered the occasional setback â€" a movie flop, for instance, like “John Carter” last year â€" and has continued to struggle in video games, but over all the company has been soaring. Its shares were trading Monday at $63.87, a 31 percent increase compared with one year ago.

Disney reported profit of $5.68 billion last year, an 18 percent increase from a year earlier, on $42.28 billion in revenue.

By remaining at Disney’s helm, Mr. Iger will be able to see to fruition the high-stakes opening of Shanghai Disneyland, a sprawling resort on par with Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The Shanghai entertainment and vacation complex, Disney’s first major outpost in China, is expected to open in late 2015.

Disney is still working to integrate its latest acquisition, Lucasfilm, and restart the “Star Wars” franchise. ABC, now owned by Disney, also is under pressure to introduce a much-needed new hit this fall.

Mr. Iger, 62, started his entertainment career at ABC in 1974 and took over as chief executive of Disney in 2005. He will be 65 upon his departure; Disney’s mandatory retirement age for board members is 74.

Since chief executives typically leave their corner offices reluctantly, attention has focused on what Mr. Iger has planned for his long-term future. There has long been speculation that he has political ambitions. He has steadfastly declined to comment on his life beyond Disney.



Time Warner Intends to Move to Planned West Side Tower

Time Warner Intends to Move to Planned West Side Tower

Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times

The Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle currently houses the company.

Time Warner Inc. has a tentative deal to move to new headquarters on Manhattan’s West Side, an 80-story skyscraper planned for the rail yards in a once-industrial neighborhood.

E-mail Mayoral Dispatches

‘The Bible,’ a Hit on Cable, Will Have Its Sequel on NBC

‘The Bible,’ a Hit on Cable, Will Have Its Sequel on NBC

Joe Albas/History

The producer Mark Burnett on the set of "The Bible," a hit mini-series on the History Channel. The sequel, "A.D.: Beyond the Bible," was picked up by NBC.

In an indication of the shifting center of power in television, a broadcast network, NBC, has stepped up to buy the sequel to a hit cable mini-series, “The Bible,” which appeared on the History Channel.

The follow-up series, “A.D.: Beyond the Bible,” will trace the early history of Christianity and again be supervised by the producer Mark Burnett, in partnership with his wife, the actress Roma Downey, NBC announced on Monday.

“The Bible” was the top-rated new series of the year on cable. Its premiere, in March, reached 13 million viewers and its finale attracted 11.7 million, both enormous totals for cable television â€" or broadcast television, for that matter. In addition, the DVD version of the 10-hour series, which went on sale three months ago, has topped one million in sales, the biggest result for a TV series in five years, NBC said in its announcement of the acquisition.

No financial terms were announced, but History Channel was also seeking to secure the new series, according to one executive familiar with the negotiations. That executive did not want to be identified discussing a private negotiation, but added that NBC is believed to have bid significantly more than History.

NBC’s studio, Universal Television, will now become one of the production partners for the sequel, along with Hearst Productions, which has an overall production deal with Mr. Burnett.

The new series will center on the work of the apostles and early Christians in trying to survive Roman oppression in the years after the crucifixion.

Mr. Burnett has been television’s most successful creator and producer of reality television shows, with current hits on three networks, “Survivor” on CBS, “Shark Tank” on ABC and the top-rated entry, “The Voice” on NBC.

“The Voice” has been critical to NBC in the last three years, and Bob Greenblatt, the chairman of NBC Entertainment, said in a statement that he had spoken to Mr. Burnett the day after the premiere of “The Bible” to express interest in a sequel.

“I followed the development process of ‘The Bible’ closely with Mark and knew that the story was far from over after Christ’s crucifixion,” Mr. Greeenblatt said in his statement. “In fact, what happened in the aftermath â€" which is essentially the beginning of Christianity â€" is utterly fascinating.”



Webdenda: Accounts and People of Note in the Ad Industry

Accounts and People of Note in the Ad Industry

Accounts and People of Note in the Advertising Industry

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Chad Ackley joined Doner, Southfield, Mich., part of MDC Partners, as executive vice president and executive creative director. He succeeds Murray White, who left, the agency said, to return to his hometown of Melbourne, Australia. Mr. Ackley had most recently been group creative director at the San Francisco office of DDB West, part of the DDB Worldwide division of the Omnicom Group. Also at Doner, Karen Cathel and Sam Sefton, creative directors, were promoted to senior vice presidents and group creative directors.

BBDO New York, part of the BBDO Worldwide division of the Omnicom Group, was awarded two creative accounts. One, to serve as agency of record in North America for Emirates Airlines, will be handled with a sibling, Atmosphere Proximity, which already handles global duties for Emirates in digital and social media. The previous North American creative agency for Emirates was ISM, Boston, and spending was estimated at more than $30 million. The other creative account awarded to BBDO New York was a new assignment from the New York Road Runners, to help generate awareness of and participation in the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 3; the marathon last year was called off after Hurricane Sandy.

David Berkowitz joined MRY, New York, part of the Publicis Groupe, in a new post, chief marketing officer. He had been vice president for emerging media at 360i, New York, part of Dentsu.

Richard Bertodatti Jr. joined Condé Nast Entertainment, New York, part of the Condé Nast unit of Advance Publications, in a new post, senior executive director for digital video ad sales. He had been a YouTube video specialist at Google.

Brand Activation Assocation, New York, formerly the Promotion Marketing Association, has formed a Licensing Council, to be led by Russ Brown as chairman.

Sara Fahim joined the Los Angeles office of SelectNY in a new post, director for strategy. She had most recently been a strategist at Phenomenon Inc.

Richard Ferguson joined Engajer, Mountain View, Calif., in a new post, director for sales. He had been senior manager for the Midwest region and the Europe/Middle East/Africa region at YouSendIt, Campbell, Calif.

Group SJR, New York and Los Angeles, was acquired by Hill & Knowlton Strategies, New York, part of WPP. Financial terms were not disclosed. Alexander Jutkowitz, managing partner at Group SJR, will also be vice chairman and chief global strategist at Hill & Knowlton Strategies.

Suzan Gursoy, who had been serving since February as acting publisher at Adweek, New York, part of Guggenheim Digital Media, was named publisher. Ms. Gursoy had been director for integrated advertising before being named acting publisher upon the departure of the publisher, Erica Bartman, as part of a reorganization.

Jim Jackson joined Periscope, Minneapolis, in a new post, vice president and design director for retail and packaging. He had been a managing partner and creative director at BoomIsland, Minneapolis.

Jonathan Kreissman joined Robin Leedy & Associates, Mount Kisco, in a new post, vice president for client services. He had most recently been vice president and head of consumer products and lifestyle at Bullfrog & Baum, New York.

Luxury Retreats, Montreal, which rents villas, hired Sid Lee, Montreal, as its first global marketing agency to handle duties that had been handled internally and by various agencies on a project basis. Billings were not disclosed.

Patrick Moore joined YP, Atlanta, part of Cerberus Capital Management, in a new post, chief strategy and corporate development officer. He had been a partner in the consumer practice at McKinsey & Company.

Courtney Pascual joined MeringCarson, Sacramento, Calif., as a senior project manager. She had been an account supervisor at Runyon Saltzman & Einhorn, Sacramento.

Marci Piasecki, chief executive at the McCann Torre Lazur Group, part of the McCann Health North America unit of McCann Health, was promoted to handle new responsibilities as regional director of McCann Health North America, overseeing the McCann Torre Lazur Group and other units that include McCann Regan Campbell. Bill McEllen, who had been president at McCann Echo Torre Lazur, becomes president at the McCann Torre Lazur Group. Sonja Foster-Storch, managing director at CMD Princeton, succeeds Mr. McEllen as president at McCann Echo Torre Lazur.

Morgan Rosin joined ID Media, New York, part of the Mediabrands division of the Interpublic Group of Companies, as senior vice president and director for marketing. She succeeds Diana Bald, who joined TargetCast TCM, New York, part of the Maxxcom Global Media division of MDC Partners, as executive vice president and director for marketing and business development. Ms. Rosin had most recently been an associate in the corporate strategy and development department at Time Inc., New York, part of Time Warner.

San Francisco 49ers chose Hub Strategy, San Francisco, as advertising agency of record, handling duties that include brand strategy; creating television, print and outdoor advertising; Web development and design; and social media. Spending was not disclosed. The team had previously worked with Engine Company One, San Francisco.

Chip Scovic joined TubeMogul, Emeryville, Calif., as chief revenue officer. He succeeds Paul Joachim, who was promoted to chief operating officer and chief financial officer. Mr. Scovic had been head of the media platform business at Google.

Larry Strumwasser joined the New York office of WorldLink in a new post, executive vice president for broadcast sales and business development. He had previously worked for companies that included MediaFactor, Pollcast, MMT Sales and TeleRep.

Valley Honda Dealers Association, which is composed of eight Honda dealers in the Phoenix area, chose two agencies to handle the duties on its account, which had been handled by Real World Marketing, Scottsdale, Ariz. Spending last year was estimated at $3.5 million. The creative part of the account will be handled by Secret Weapon Marketing, Santa Monica, Calif., which already creates campaigns for the Southern California Honda Dealers Association, known as SoCal Honda Dealers. And the media part of the account will be handled by the Los Angeles office of Horizon Media, which also handles media duties for the SoCal Honda Dealers.

Correction: An item here on June 10 rendered incorrectly part of the name of the executive who joined GetGlue as executive vice president for sales. She is Shelby Huston Haro, not Shelby Houston Haro.



Q. and A. With Stuart Elliott

Q. and A. With Stuart Elliott

Stuart Elliott, the advertising columnist, answers questions from readers each week. Questions can be sent to stuarte@nytimes.com.

Q. This is in reference to the episode of “Mad Men” in which the Hershey’s chocolate bar was represented by a huge blowup of the classic label, a rhapsodic description â€" and then Don Draper’s sordid reminiscences of a boyhood in which he received Hershey bars from a prostitute in return for his rifling her pimp’s pockets.

It crosses my mind to wonder what the current Hershey Company thinks about that. Or, whatever were they thinking when they agreed to it?

A. Thanks, dear reader, for your question about the “Mad Men” episode on June 23, which was the finale of the sixth season of the AMC series. As has been common on “Mad Men,” the inclusion of Hershey in the episode was not an arranged product placement or an example of an advertiser paying for a branded entertainment project.

Rather, Hershey joins a lengthy list of brands like Heinz, Hilton and Jaguar that have been part of “Mad Men” plot lines for dramatic purposes or for reasons of verisimilitude, to feature products that actually existed during the era in which the series takes place.

The Hollywood blog for Vanity Fair magazine reported last week that Hershey had provided the producers of “Mad Men” with products for the episode but was unaware the brand would play such a major role in the plot.

According to a post on latimes.com, Matthew Weiner, the creator of “Mad Men,” chose to have Don Draper make his confession in front of executives from Hershey because the character is from Pennsylvania, where the Hershey Company was (and still is) based. It also afforded a nifty moment where Don the orphan could refer to the efforts by Milton S. Hershey to help orphans.

A post on adage.com noted that the premise for the visit of the Hershey executives to Sterling Cooper & Partners was factually accurate. In November 1968, Hershey began talking to various Madison Avenue agencies; until then there had not been national advertising for the Hershey bar, making the company what Philip H. Dougherty, the advertising columnist for The New York Times, called “the country’s most famous advertising holdout.” (In February 1969, Hershey awarded the assignment to Ogilvy & Mather.)

Q. I read your recent list of chief executives and founders who appear in advertising for their own companies. l Don’t forget Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines. He’s ubiquitous, and both charming and slightly annoying - to me, anyway. : )

A. Thanks, dear reader. My list of examples of “spokes-C.E.O.'s” was meant to be illustrative, not exhaustive, but Mr. Branson is an excellent example of the tactic. In fact, he also recently appeared in a humorous spot for Virgin Mobile U.S.A. that cheekily recreated his early life as an entrepreneur.



Crusading Spanish Broadcaster Gives Voice to Ordinary Citizens

Crusading Spanish Broadcaster Gives Voice to Ordinary Citizens

In early May, thousands of protesters gathered in Valencia, Spain’s third-largest city, to demand a new investigation into a subway crash that killed 43 people in 2006.

The demonstration was inspired by an episode of the investigative television program “Salvados,” or “Saved,” in which the anchor Jordi Évole suggested that the authorities in Valencia had manipulated witness accounts in order to exonerate senior officials from any responsibility for the crash.

By using the hourlong Sunday news program to denounce political, financial and even legal abuses of power, the charismatic Mr. Évole has become a prominent Spanish voice at a time of economic crisis, a kind of answer to the muckraking American filmmaker Michael Moore, who has tackled topics like the U.S. gun lobby and the effects of General Motors’ cutbacks on cities.

The media, Mr. Évole argues, must do a better job of exposing cover-ups than it did during Spain’s boom years, when journalists tended to look the other way.

“We have to be very critical,” he said. “We should not have had to wait six or seven years to know what went wrong in our savings banks and in building our infrastructure.”

At a time of record 27 percent unemployment, and as nearly every Spanish institution has found itself entangled in corruption cases, Mr. Évole has had plenty of low-hanging fruit to pluck. But for other stories, he has dug deeper, examining precrisis events like the Valencia crash.

In doing so, he has earned the accolades of his peers. At the Spanish television academy awards in April, Mr. Évole was named best reporter, and “Salvados” the best news program.

And as the recession has lengthened in Spain, Mr. Évole and his program have widened their appeal by aiming to resolve the grievances of ordinary citizens and taking on powerful corporations like the banks and utilities. With a sixth season set to start in October, the “Salvados” host has managed to nearly double his audience over the past year to an average of 2.9 million viewers.

“The small guy deserves more defending than the big guy,” Mr. Évole said during a recent interview. “And on top of that, I’m also small,” he added with a wry smile, referring to his own height of 1.67 meters, or a little less than 5 feet 6 inches.

Mr. Évole, 38, is left-leaning but says he has never been a member of a political party. Still, his growing legions of fans have been urging him to follow the example of Beppe Grillo, the Italian comedian turned politician, whose Five Star Movement made significant gains in Italian general elections this year.

Entering politics, Mr. Évole insists, is not in the cards, because “my thing is to ask rather than to judge. I just don’t see myself as the Spanish Beppe Grillo.”

“Salvados” is produced by El Terrat, a company based in Barcelona owned by one of Spain’s most famous television personalities, Andreu Buenafuente. Before “Salvados,” Mr. Évole had appeared on television as Mr. Buenafuente’s sidekick on a late-night talk show, playing the humorous role of a troublesome and sarcastic member of the audience.

Mr. Évole also sought, initially, to bring some humor to “Salvados,” notably by making fun of politicians. But as Spain sank further into crisis, Mr. Évole switched to a more serious and investigative approach. “If we had remained largely humorous, people would have started to see us as just frivolous,” he said, “because a country in such a terrible situation needs to be provided with serious information rather than just humor and sarcasm.”

Like the Oscar-winning Mr. Moore, Mr. Évole favors a laid-back style, snooping around corporate or government buildings wearing a checkered shirt, jeans and sneakers. “We don’t have the budget to buy suits anymore,” he joked.

And like Mr. Moore, who has been accused of ambushing people he wants to interview, Mr. Évole has been criticized.

A version of this article appeared in print on July 1, 2013, in The International Herald Tribune.

Crusading Spanish Broadcaster Gives Voice to Ordinary Citizens

Crusading Spanish Broadcaster Gives Voice to Ordinary Citizens

In early May, thousands of protesters gathered in Valencia, Spain’s third-largest city, to demand a new investigation into a subway crash that killed 43 people in 2006.

The demonstration was inspired by an episode of the investigative television program “Salvados,” or “Saved,” in which the anchor Jordi Évole suggested that the authorities in Valencia had manipulated witness accounts in order to exonerate senior officials from any responsibility for the crash.

By using the hourlong Sunday news program to denounce political, financial and even legal abuses of power, the charismatic Mr. Évole has become a prominent Spanish voice at a time of economic crisis, a kind of answer to the muckraking American filmmaker Michael Moore, who has tackled topics like the U.S. gun lobby and the effects of General Motors’ cutbacks on cities.

The media, Mr. Évole argues, must do a better job of exposing cover-ups than it did during Spain’s boom years, when journalists tended to look the other way.

“We have to be very critical,” he said. “We should not have had to wait six or seven years to know what went wrong in our savings banks and in building our infrastructure.”

At a time of record 27 percent unemployment, and as nearly every Spanish institution has found itself entangled in corruption cases, Mr. Évole has had plenty of low-hanging fruit to pluck. But for other stories, he has dug deeper, examining precrisis events like the Valencia crash.

In doing so, he has earned the accolades of his peers. At the Spanish television academy awards in April, Mr. Évole was named best reporter, and “Salvados” the best news program.

And as the recession has lengthened in Spain, Mr. Évole and his program have widened their appeal by aiming to resolve the grievances of ordinary citizens and taking on powerful corporations like the banks and utilities. With a sixth season set to start in October, the “Salvados” host has managed to nearly double his audience over the past year to an average of 2.9 million viewers.

“The small guy deserves more defending than the big guy,” Mr. Évole said during a recent interview. “And on top of that, I’m also small,” he added with a wry smile, referring to his own height of 1.67 meters, or a little less than 5 feet 6 inches.

Mr. Évole, 38, is left-leaning but says he has never been a member of a political party. Still, his growing legions of fans have been urging him to follow the example of Beppe Grillo, the Italian comedian turned politician, whose Five Star Movement made significant gains in Italian general elections this year.

Entering politics, Mr. Évole insists, is not in the cards, because “my thing is to ask rather than to judge. I just don’t see myself as the Spanish Beppe Grillo.”

“Salvados” is produced by El Terrat, a company based in Barcelona owned by one of Spain’s most famous television personalities, Andreu Buenafuente. Before “Salvados,” Mr. Évole had appeared on television as Mr. Buenafuente’s sidekick on a late-night talk show, playing the humorous role of a troublesome and sarcastic member of the audience.

Mr. Évole also sought, initially, to bring some humor to “Salvados,” notably by making fun of politicians. But as Spain sank further into crisis, Mr. Évole switched to a more serious and investigative approach. “If we had remained largely humorous, people would have started to see us as just frivolous,” he said, “because a country in such a terrible situation needs to be provided with serious information rather than just humor and sarcasm.”

Like the Oscar-winning Mr. Moore, Mr. Évole favors a laid-back style, snooping around corporate or government buildings wearing a checkered shirt, jeans and sneakers. “We don’t have the budget to buy suits anymore,” he joked.

And like Mr. Moore, who has been accused of ambushing people he wants to interview, Mr. Évole has been criticized.

A version of this article appeared in print on July 1, 2013, in The International Herald Tribune.

Merger of Penguin and Random House Is Completed

Merger of Penguin and Random House Is Completed

Random House and Penguin completed their planned merger Monday morning, creating the biggest and most powerful book publisher in the world.

The new company, called Penguin Random House, will control more than 25 percent of the trade book market in the United States, giving it unmatched leverage against Amazon.com, a growing force in the industry.

Bertelsmann and Pearson, the European owners of Random House and Penguin, respectively, announced the merger in October, saying that Bertelsmann would control 53 percent of the company and Penguin 47 percent. Since then, the merger has sailed through regulatory approvals in the United States and Europe, as well as China, Canada and other countries.

The new company would have more than 10,000 employees, 250 independent publishing imprints and about $3.9 billion in annual revenues.

Markus Dohle, the chairman and chief executive of Random House who will take on the role of chief executive of the new company, announced the finalization of the merger in an e-mail to employees Monday.

“Today, we are Penguin Random House,” he wrote. “You should be proud of what you’ve accomplished and what we are all now a part of: the first truly global trade book publishing company. Together, we are even better positioned to fulfill our core purpose: to bridge authors and readers by publishing the very best books.”

Bertelsmann acquired Random House in 1998 for more than $1 billion.

David Shanks, the chief executive of Penguin Group USA, has stepped down and will be a senior adviser to Mr. Dohle and the executive team, Mr. Dohle said in his letter to employees. John Makinson, the head of Penguin Group since 2002, will be the chairman of Penguin Random House.

“Penguin Random House starts life today as a freshly minted company, but also as a creative enterprise that will draw on the greatest legacies in the history of book publishing,” Mr. Makinson said in a statement.

Over the last several months, executives at both companies have sought to assure employees on the publishing side that it will be business as usual.

There are no immediate plans for laying off employees or shuttering imprints.

Executives at Penguin and Random House said the initial focus would be on unifying the infrastructure of the companies, including establishing pay scales, health benefits and new e-mail addresses.

There will also be an effort to sort out redundancies. As physical book sales decrease, so does the need for gigantic warehouses to store and ship books; the newly combined company is likely to find ways to trim printing, distribution and storage costs.