NYP: DING DONG, BONNIE'S GONE

Jezebel: Loose Lips

CJR: Who Will Tell Us? Journalism is losing its reporters

Don't panic quite yet, Broder isn't actually going anywhere but will continue as a contract worker. According to an email he sent out "the column...will not change at all," and he "will continue to write from the same office in the Post newsroom."
Phew, maybe the cast of "The Paper" can lend a hand over there.

— DIANE CLEHANE

We were hoping for a star-studded dining room since it's Upfront week when the networks trot out their overpaid and underfed stars to shill for their supper, but we had to settle for a smattering of television titans who toil behind the scenes. (Note to NBC: You might want to move your red carpet inside next year if the forecast calls for winter coats, pleez!). We heard Jimmy Buffet and John Mellencamp dined and dished at neighboring tables yesterday and Lance Armstrong is expected tomorrow, but today Michael's was jam packed with the usual suspects.

Here's the rundown on today's crowd:

1. Gerald Schoenfeld, Henry Sturz and Judge John Keating.

2. Today's executive producer Jim Bell with Dick Wolf. I congratulated Law & Order's main man on last night's devastating season finale of L&O: SVU, which wrote off the characters played by Diane Neal and Adam Beach in the show's signature jaw-dropping fashion. Beach, who scored a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in HBO's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, spent only one season with the franchise. Says Wolf: "Adam has all kinds of things going on..." Neal, who has played A.D.A Casey Novak for several years reportedly told several insiders she'd been fired. I asked Dick about L&O's inevitable "ripped from the headlines" treatment based on Eliot Spitzer's downfall. "It's the finale — you can watch it next week." We wouldn't miss it!

3. Terry Allen Kramer and, we're told, Howard Lauber.

4. Reality show guru Mark Burnett with Teddy Forstmann. Could it be that the formidable Mr. F is considering a foray into reality TV? Just imagine: Survivor: The Billionaire Edition or perhaps he could duel with the Donald on The Apprentice? The mind reels with the possibilities...

Over at HuffPo Rachel Sklar has a far different take, arguing that were one to look a little closer (and she does) the 7,600-word article doesn't actually make a viable case against the military analysts it name drops or, by extension, the networks:

They proved their case against the Pentagon, hands down. But they did not prove their case against the generals and other military men whom they name-dropped in that story. Which means they did not necessarily prove their case against the networks.

Congrats, Mike. Now please don't shoot us in the face for reprinting your missive.

But how's The Week doing? After the jump, Kotok discusses the efforts to break even and why he's not beholden to ad revenue.

The network will run 100 hours of content during its Idol Mania week starting on Saturday. This is the same American Idol whose Tuesday audience was the smallest in five years.

Admittedly, the Fox franchise is still America's No. 1 show but Dancing With The Stars is tiptoeing up behind.

The Observer is reporting that since acquiring the paper on Sunday the Dolan family is not playing so nice with the reporters they now employ. They apparently screamed at the Newsday business desk for sending a reporter to their house, and the proceeded to take the breaking story of the paper's sale to Cablevision owned News 12 Channel. Not the best way to make a good first impression, also, one might add, not the best way to make money.

For their part Cablevision says it's just following company policy in terms of the press. Though, as Koblin pointed out, this may have been as good a time as any for an exception; at least Rupe had the good sense to give the WSJ the inside line on his negotiations. Speaking of Rupe, says one staffer: "They're the only owners who could make you wish for Murdoch."

Hmm, perhaps the staff of the WSJ and Newsday may want to consider some group therapy.

One hopes this saga is over, but with the fate of Project Runway still up in the air, we doubt it is. FWD's source said Garcia's hire was "completely separate from Marie Claire's possible interest in Project Runway," but we doubt that as well. Women's magazines, all lies.

Kornheiser significantly raised his profile as the irascible co-host (along with fellow WaPo writer Michael Wilbon) of the exceedingly watchable Pardon The Interruption on ESPN. He parlayed that gig into a spot as irascible color man in the Monday Night Football booth and a host of other opportunities.

We could blame him — and the success of PTI — for the disaster that is Around the Horn and all the other unwatchable talking head sports programs, but we'll settle for saying that without Kornheiser (and Wilbon) breaking into the television world, Rick Reilly wouldn't have jumped to ESPN.

Kornheiser's dislike of blogs also led inexorably to the Buzz Bissinger/Will Leitch dust-up.

FishbowlDC, who's been doing a bang-up job covering the buyouts, has more.

Apparently Icahn likes to play the white knight with deep pockets and "has a history of accumulating stakes in companies that have let down their shareholders with poor performances or questionable strategies."

Over at Marketwatch Jon Friedman opines that

By hiring someone with such impeccable credentials and connections, the Bloomberg company is making a statement: It's poised to do something BIG.

She called the decision to leave "100 percent" hers, adding that she was "thinking about the next stage in life and the new, exciting adventure I'll pursue."

When we asked her if she would be doing something at an established company (a la Brandon Holley, who jumped to Yahoo) or start her own site (like Tina Brown and her news aggregator), Fuller told us those were "very good questions," but declined to say more. Judging by her tone, we expect she'll have some very good answers much sooner than anyone anticipates.