Lead panelist and co-author of the book, investment banker Jonathan Knee, kicked it off by saying that media executives have essentially tried to merge their way to excellence by “convincing the world there is something special and magical about media.” To hear more from Knee, click here Here are a few more highlights from the panel, moderated by New York Times media columnist David Carr, who described The Curse of the Mogul “an intellectually honest book” but then drew laughs when he said he worried that its title is “vaguely satanic.” Former cable executive and now partner of investment firm InterMedia Partners, Leo Hindery Jr. slammed Barry Diller’s dealmaking record. "Do you think (Time Warner CEO) Jeff Bewkes and (News Corp. Chairman) Rupert (Murdoch) go to sleep at night worrying about what Barry did today? They could care less." Hindery said he admired Murdoch for his vision and said today’s media executives are “mushy” and have “no soul, no vision….Can anybody tell me what the vision at Viacom is today?” Time Warner CFO John Martin, who spent a lot of night distancing himself from the disastrous AOL-Time Warner deal that happened when he wasn’t in his current job, said his company is now moving toward becoming a more focused company. Full Article at Business Week