From here:

The New York Times' Sunday Magazine is available online and it features a piece adopted from David Carr's forthcoming book, "The Night of the Gun."

Here is what I deserved: hepatitis C, federal prison time, H.I.V., a cold park bench, an early, addled death. Here is what I got: the smart, pretty wife, the three lovely children, the job that impresses. ... Today I am a genuine, often pleasant person, I do solid work for a reputable organization and have, over the breadth of time, proved to be an attentive father and husband. But drugs, it seems to me, do not conjure demons; they reveal them. So how to reconcile my past with my current circumstance? Which, you might ask, of my two selves did I make up? As a veteran journalist, I decided to report the story. For two years on and off, I pulled medical and legal documents and engaged in a series of interviews with people I used to run with. By turns, it became a kind of journalistic ghost dancing, trying to conjure spirits past, including mine.

...and, yet, somehow the cover still manages to include a story about Best Hospitals, so I guess some things never change:

U.S. News' Brian Kelly welcomes readers to the new format and design.

Vanity Fair scribe Christopher Hitchens -- continuing his trend of being the magazine's guinea pig -- gets tortured, just so he can write about it. His conclusion? "Believe Me, It's Torture."

A little self-promotion about...self-promotion! It's the Washington circle of life...

I've penned the cover story in Campaign & Elections' Politics magazine (July issue), entitled "Get On-Air, All the Time."

In a world where communication avenues and opportunities are simultaneously more available and more clogged than ever, busting through the chattering masses in order to make your work rise to the top is almost as important as the quality of your work itself. In other words: Should your tree fall in the woods, you had better make sure that someone hears it. But how exactly does that happen? Although there are plenty of people in Washington who gain radio, television and print exposure thanks almost entirely to the credibility afforded them by their day jobs (say, the Washington Post, MoveOn.org, Republican National Committee, AARP, Heritage Foundation, Georgetown University, National Rifle Association, etc.), D.C. is also packed with people who achieve similar publicity without such supporting institutions, resources and PR assistance. Instead, they've made these opportunities happen for themselves. Making a name for yourself, however, is hardly a simple recipe. In fact, the practice of pitching yourself-and succeeding when opportunity knocks-is a fine art indeed, one with ever-changing rules and practices that can mean the difference between promise and peril.

The money quote, however, comes courtesy of Hotline's Nora McAlvanah:

"You definitely don't want to be considered a media whore," says Nora McAlvanah, a senior editor at National Journal's Hotline. "Like any industry, this field has its fair share of pimps and whores. It's okay to be a pimp: You're just getting your best product out there in the hands of people who want it. A whore, however, is un-picky and doesn't discriminate. And when you're on the receiving end of someone like that, who isn't a bit more selective in their pitches, it can come off as pushy and unwanted."

Read the full thing here.

How marketing dollars get spent: The Legal Times is sponsoring a polo team.

If you ever get the feeling that you can't tell one Washington glossy magazine from the other (C-List stars have to appear somewhere after all...), the dilemma is going to get even worse: Thanks to the Washington Post, it looks like we'll have more pictures of Rima al-Sabah, Ashley Taylor, Jim Kimsey, Carlos Gutierrez and Joe Roberts to stare at:

And this fall, in a move that echoes competitors such as The Wall Street Journal, the Post will introduce a glossy called Fashion Washington in a bid for luxury ad spending. "There's a huge market for that and there's a lot of our readers that I think would love it," Ms. Weymouth said. "It's just never been our forte."

The magazine recently held an event honoring some of the individuals included in its "Rising Stars" issue.

Louis Levine

Steve Marchand

Robert Bluey

Mike Bober

Meredith Chaikey

Justine Lam

Says Maureen Orth: "I had no idea Tim meant so much to so many people he didn't even know. ... Tim was a happy man. ... He realized all of his dreams."

And a classic Russert photo:

The issue goes on sale tomorrow.

Washington Life Editorial Director Katie Tarbox is leaving the glossy magazine. She has not determined what's next for her professionally.

The departure hurts the magazine in one key respect: Tarbox was Washington Life's key conduit to many in D.C.'s young and preppy set (the magazine's "Young and the Guest" list was largely her pet project).

No replacement has been named.