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NYT Op Ed Columnists Are Happy They Can't Endorse, WINK WINK (NYO)
Unlike the board that puts together the Times' endorsements, columnists can say whatever they want. They can even court an R rating. They cannot, however, endorse a candidate. They all agreed that the non-endorsing rule forces them to write about this election with a little more texture — more showing and less telling, perhaps. By the way, they are pretty much all for Barack Obama.

On the Web, Signs of a Click Recession (WSJ)
Internet advertising may be showing itself more vulnerable to a consumer slowdown than many in the industry had hoped. A report from research firm comScore Inc. showing a decline in the number of consumer clicks on Google Inc. search ads in January amplified existing concerns about the effect of a broader economic slowdown on the Internet.

Emmys May Add Reality Host Award (Variety)
Ryan Seacrest, Jeff Probst, and their brethren will soon have a shot at becoming individual Emmy winners as the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will reportedly add a category for reality TV host to its upcoming awards. The honor was introduced at the recent retreat of the TV Academy board of governors and, according to sources, has already been tentatively approved.

In the New-Media World, Everyone Is Sounding Like a Beltway Insider (WSJ)
As it does with so much else, the Web is democratizing the knowledge that in an earlier era had been possessed by a small group of political professionals. Riding around in a rowdy bus; knocking back bourbon in smoke-filled rooms. All that is so 1972. This year, anyone with the right browser bookmarks can be a political insider.

The Howard Beale Show, 2008 (NYO)
"CNN, by s**t-canning me, has done me the biggest favor on earth," Chez Pazienza said. "I'm free." Free, in the short term, to write whatever he wanted for his blog, Deus ex Malcontent, and on the Huffington Post. Last week, it was a detailed behind-the-scenes account of his dismissal from CNN that quoted Henry Rollins for inspiration and argued that the TV news profession has "lost its way."

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