FOX News.com ran a story about the late Cathy Seipp’s feud with Eliot Stein, the guy who bought her domain name and posted what he called a satire and her friends called an outrage. The story got over 500,000 hits on the first day. Journalist Michael Parks asked us about Cathy for the story, and then answered our questions here:

FBLA: As a journalist, how do you pick your way through such a minefield of a story–emotional friends, teenage daughter, aggrieved Stein?

Parks: Actually, my major concern was the timing–I got the story late on a Friday afternoon when I was out in the field till late, so I really only had a couple hours on one weekday to scare up the legal experts who were willing to comment on that particular case. That turned out to be harder than I expected because I needed an expert on California law but was working on an East Coast deadline. I was pretty much on the phone constantly on Monday between noon and 6 p.m. and while I was typing out the story.

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It’s fitting that in an e-mail describing the continuing selling-out of the LAT, ed David Hiller invokes an old hair color ad:

Folks,

The Los Angeles Times is making an appearance on this
Sunday’s episode of The Apprentice Los Angeles (10
p.m. on NBC).

In the show, the contestant teams compete to create
the best advertising preprint insert for distribution
in our Sunday paper (the winner will be in this
Sunday). I’m told there’s a scene with Donald Trump
and his daughter at our Olympic Plant as they’re
launching the competition.

Nice, and natural, that when people think of reaching
consumers in Southern California, they turn to only
one place — to us. Btw, if you’re curious, the Trump
people approached us and we get this nice TV exposure
for free.

Also, this is a good reminder to all the viewers,
including our current and potential advertisers, about
the great preprints they can find in the paper. As
you know, that’s a big and growing part of our
business.

If you watch, I hope you enjoy it.

David

Earlier: Trump Wannabes To Create LA Times Supplement

Grindhouse Hits The Screen: Be sure to stick around
for the commercials.

Slow News Day: A lame anonymous e-mail
makes the news.

Correction: John McCain does NOT support
hot girl-on-girl action.

Jack Shafer presents his short list for the NY Times Public Editor as does Gawker, and FBLA is a little dismayed. Some of the choices are predictable, like Joshua Michah Marshall and some are insane, like Rachel Marsden. Shafer wants someone under 40, Gawker wants someone to mock.

FBLA thinks that the NYT needs to look further afield, like out here. Our choices are:

Daniel Hernandez — big-paper experience and indie cred. And then there’s the fear factor–the rest of the NYT would think he’s a gangbanger.

Ken Layne and Matt Welch– tag-teamed the LAT, then infilitrated from within. Their band is the only downside.

Nikki Finke–she’s ageless, timeless, and knows where all the bodies are buried. And since she doesn’t need sleep, the barrage of email need never stop.

Jason Blair –you know what they say about reformed sinners.

Tom O’Neil has lost his mind, or he will tonight when he defends Sanjaya on Keith Olbermann’s Countdown show.

O’Neil’s photo selection on his Gold Derby site makes his case for him, but over at MSNBC, he writes:

But it ain’t about the singing. It’s about putting on a show! And that spunky, little 17-year-old Liberace wannabe knows what he’s doing and is doing it with shrewd surrender and abandon.

And who doesn’t want to be a spunky little Liberace?

The real, is so much less interesting than the imagined.

Richard Miller, the managing editor of Sacred History magazine, has resigned, citing ethical lapses and unkept promises. Miller wrote:

The cronyism, a mucky obligation to the Evangelical community, and lack of business transparency have on many levels eroded the integrity, ethical constitution, and trustworthiness of the corporation.

(Full email below)

Sacred History was started by James D. Griffith and James D. Rietveld in 2005, to explore historical information about all religions. Mr. Magazine, (Dr. Samir Husni) called it one of the 30 most notable magazine launches of 2005.

But the mag had trouble rendering unto Caesar, as Poppy Brite found out when she couldn’t get paid.

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Giuliana DePandi seen milling about outside the Wilshire Blvd. E! building in a trench coat. This and more exciting news as it develops. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: LAPD told FBLA that security guards at the 5750 Wilshire Blvd. building received two separate calls before 10 a.m. today from someone claiming that an explosive was in the building. The police sent about six units the scene, though a police source told us, “It’s probably a prank.” As of 12 p.m. the building was still evacuated.

Indigenous Or Disingenuous? An actor accused of pretending to be something he’s not? Say it isn’t so.

Blades of Glory Creators Using ‘The Secret’? Consider this quote from director Josh Gordon: “How do we even move a camera along a wet surface while two grown men lift each other in an impossible position? What you start to realize is you have to just imagine what it is you want and somehow solutions present themselves.”

OK’d. Now … Que? The feds approved the $12.3-billion sale of Univision to Haim Saban and four other investors. Now the real work begins.

Claire Zulkey, a mediabistro.com alum, writes Show Tracker columns in the LA Times on Dancing with the Stars. In turn, the publicist for Heather Mills wrote an email taking Zulkey to the woodshed for being mean to Mills. Michele Elyzabeth isn’t the most effective flack on the planet, as no one has replied on the LA Times website. And she tries to make it personal for Zulkey:

Your sense of humor is very disturbing. I hope for your sake that you never have to be judged by your peers.

Gee, we like that Claire’s a little twisted. And what writer isn’t judged, day in and day out? FBLA invites all readers to click on over and judge Zulkey.

Zulkey wants Joey Fatone to email her.