So it’s happening, finally. Village Voice Media (which owns the LA Weekly) will be acquired by New Times Media, pending Justice Department review of the transaction. (And remember, it’s the DOJ that blocked the two companies’ attempt at market collusion in 2002 and forced New Times Media to sell off the assets of its LA paper, thus paving the way for Los Angeles Citybeat.)

What does this mean for the Southland consumer of alternative weekly newspapers? Well, in the short term, mediabistro.com predicts a rash of self-righteous pontificating in Thursday’s Citybeat. In the long term, well, our guess is more pontification. But as to the effect the merger will have on the content of the LA Weekly, who knows?

I’m not saying you shouldn’t read the whole paper every day. You should. The whole thing. Twice. But if you only have 90 seconds, here’s a quick highlights reel:

- Ramen in Mexico: Hot seller! Ah, syncretism.

- It turns out insincere flattery is rampant in Hollywood. By the way, I love all of you!

- The most-emailed-stories list lends credence to my new Big Theory: Real estate has replaced show business as the center of the Los Angeles psyche.

- Lakers blog. Off to a strong start. I still don’t understand a word of it. And the Supreme Court blog got Cass Sunstein! Way to go!

Hey, President Bush is in town. So if you see a giant motorcade, it’s probably him. Unless it’s on Robertson, in which case it’s probably Sam Nazarian. Supposedly the California chapter of the GOP is steamed that he’s visiting so close to the special election, what with his rising negatives and all, but it doesn’t seem like anyone’s paying that much attention. He’s mostly here to dedicate an exhibit at the Reagan Library about Air Force One (the plane, not the movie about the plane, or the novelization of the movie about the plane, which I actually read, for reasons not of interest to the general mediabistro.com visitor). Anyway, here’s how he opened his remarks:

PRESIDENT BUSH: (Applause.) Thank you all.

Fred, you forgot to say Air Force One brought me out here to California. (Laughter.)

Wow. Miers is right. He is cool.

- Weird things happen backstage at fashion shows.

- TV reporters are often dumber than professional athletes.

- Tommy Lee: not a reliable source on matters of culture.

- Journalists: don’t throw away your goodie bags or leave them in the trunk of your car for eight months. But if Mercedez-Benz had any guts, they’d put the ring directly in the bag. If anyone finds this thing, let us know.

Like you, FishbowlLA has heard the news today that Michael Jackson won’t be serving jury duty in Santa Barbara County because the “Neverland” ranch isn’t his primary residence anymore.

Ok. Deep breath. Let’s leave aside the panting, inevitible Larry King-izing of where he’ll eventually settle, can we?

(Ok. One quick guess. Ours? Bahrain, where curiously, a Spandex-for-Less franchise in Manama has just opned and on the same day received an order for 400 white, Lycra jumpsuits)

Imagine, for a moment: The process by which a work-a-day trial attorney might seek to have Jackson disqualified from the jury pool?

“Mr. Jackson…It is Mr., isn’t it? As you know, this is a slip-and-fall case. Have you had any experiences with personal liability cases that might bias you?”

No further questions, Bobo.

From Andrés Martinez’s last regular op-ed column:

Escapist television is back, in a big way, fueled by last season’s success of “Lost,” probably the best TV drama ever.

But seriously, folks, Martinez makes an important point (well, I don’t know if it’s ‘important’ outside of Burbank, but it is interesting and true): Audiences are drawn to politically-themed shows not by the politics, but because characters with power are inherently dramatically compelling. But mostly I’m just writing this post to justify the silly joke in the header, so I’ll stop now.

Today the LAT visits Festac, a neighborhood in Lagos which apparently is the Medelin of the Nigerian email-financial-scam industry, complete with violent-ish kingpins, ambitious up-and-comers, and a popular song glorifying crime (‘I Go Chop Your Dollars’). I’m sure the mediabistro.com demographic is far too savvy for anyone who’s visiting this page to ever have fallen for one of these things, but it’s worth reading nonetheless.

Someone just sent us this:

Dear Media Bistro,

I am participating in a panel on the Hollywood blacklist at the conservative Liberty Film Festival, and the panel and audience will be predominantly rightwing.

Can you please e-mail the below out on your list server and/or post it on your blog, and send it to any other blogs and journalists you’re in touch with who may be interested? With your help, we may be able have more progressives in the audience, get some fair media coverage and expand the viewership on C-SPAN when the panel discussion airs.

Thanks a lot,

[redacted]

Okay! But remember, you’re only allowed to come if you’re progressive. Info after the jump.

Read more

Steve Lopez’s series about life on downtown LA’s skid row (should ‘skid row’ be capitalized? My feeling is ‘no’) is, rightfully, getting a lot of attention and praise even from the paper’s more vocal critics. Today, Mayor Villaraigosa makes a cameo. Meanwhile, latimes.com senior editor Richard Rushfield blogs from the Hollywood Film Festival, at which he consorts with tourists in from Winetka, IL, and ventures to the after-party at the Tropicana. The tourists are underwhelmed, even by Vincent Gallo, who apparently isn’t famous in Winetka. Maybe I’ll move there. In fact the tourists aren’t even impressed by the Tropicana– they act like it’s a typical poolside hotel bar. Hmmm.

Oh, and the LA Times has launched a blog about the Lakers. I don’t understand a word of it, but maybe you will.

The NYT looks at the Anthony Pellicano case, reporting that all sorts of agent and lawyer types have been called before the grand jury and/or questioned by prosecutors investigating Pellicano’s illegal wiretapping activities:

Those questioned include, to name a few, Kevin Huvane and Brian Lourd, two top partners at Creative Artists Agency, the dominant Hollywood talent agency; Michael S. Ovitz, the onetime president of the Walt Disney Company who previously headed Creative Artists; Ron Meyer, the president of Universal Studios and a former partner at Creative Artists, who was called before the grand jury to discuss his friendship with Mr. Pellicano; Brad Grey, the chairman of the Paramount Motion Pictures Group, who formerly headed Brillstein-Grey Entertainment; and Bert Fields, the entertainment lawyer, who has said he employed Mr. Pellicano countless times as an investigator but was not aware of any wiretapping.

Mr. Ovitz has told investigators that he never hired Mr. Pellicano to conduct wiretaps, and, in fact, was unknowingly recorded by him, his lawyer said. Mr. Grey has been assured by the government that he is only a witness in the investigation, according to his spokesman. Spokesmen for Mr. Meyer at Universal and for Mr. Lourd and Mr. Huvane at Creative Artists declined to comment, as did Mr. Fields’s lawyer.

It’s expected that Pellicano will be indicted on racketeering charges (he’s currently serving a prison term for illegal firearms possession); what isn’t clear is if any of his former clients will be named along with him.

Meanwhile, I wonder how Anita Busch’s novel is coming along.