What's the Future of Brand Journalism? Collision Content: There is no denying the radical shift from companies and brands controlling their messages to consumers controlling them. From blogs to YouTube to social networking, consumers have a bigger, louder voice than ever. And they're being heard, Advertising Age

Pay for Play: Examiner Newspapers to Reward Bloggers -- Clarity Media is adopting a pay-per-page view strategy for Examiner newspaper blogs, Editor And Publisher 

Reaching Baby Boomers Online, MediaPost

Woman to Woman, Online: The rapid growth in advertising and traffic to Web sites aimed primarily at women has attracted the attention of major media companies and venture capitalists, New York Times

Exxon requests control of fake Twitter account: Exxon Mobil media adviser Alan Jeffries told PRWeek that the company asked Twitter to give it control over accounts associated with its brand, after a person calling herself “Janet” created an account in the oil company's name and gained hundreds of followers, PR Week US 

After a weeklong family reunion, it's great to get back refreshed and renewed. That doesn't mean the world has stopped evolving though...I hope you were able to keep up with what's news in advertising/PR without me.

Here's what's new and interesting today...

Marketers Love Conversation, Unless the Consumer Starts It: Listening Gets You More Than Complaints -- You Get Positive Brand Association and Word of Mouth, Advertising Age

Magazine Sales Fall 6.3% at Newsstands: Newsstand sales of magazines fell 6.3 percent in the first half of 2008, an industry group said Monday, as rising gas and food costs led consumers to cut back on nonessential spending, Associated Press

Yes, Companies Are Responsible for Charity: It's Wrongheaded to Think Businesses' Social Awareness Doesn't Matter to Employees, Consumers, Investors, Advertising Age

It's Not the Ad; It's Getting the Bill: A majority of people say they are averse to having advertisements sent to their cellphones. But nearly a quarter of people say they have responded to such ads, New York Times

Killing the cash cow and other acts of media indecency: You can find any number of similar stories about how the Internet forced media to fragment and change. So why does The Philadelphia Inquirer think it can defy history?, CNet.com