Press Turning on John McCain? (WaPo)
Howard Kurtz: As a cultural watershed, nothing compares with Jon Stewart asking McCain last week on The Daily Show: "Are you freaking out on us? ... You're killing me. I feel it's a condoning of Falwell's crazy-making."

Dateline Pedophile Sting Raises Eyebrows as Well as Awareness (WaPo)
Mainstream news organizations typically do not pay sources for their cooperation because such payments might unduly influence the source's actions or information. Dateline's tactics on other stories have been questioned recently.

Media Companies Resist SEC Rule Requiring Disclosure of Stars' Salaries (WSJ)
Katie Couric, for instance, could well rank among the top earners at CBS Corp. in her new role as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News. Also possibly subject to disclosure are the pay packages of NBC's Jay Leno, Larry King, and Bill O'Reilly. AP: Martha Stewart sees bonus soar in '05.

'Click Fraud' Is Here to Stay (CNET)
Google could soon settle a class-action lawsuit involving so-called click fraud. But the problem of bogus clicks on online ads — which advertisers have to pay for — is not going to disappear anytime soon. There are not clear standards.

Carr Rises to Challenge of Times Media Beat (Marketwatch)
"When I started out at the New York Times, I felt terrifically underqualified," said David Carr. "I figured some terrible mistake had been made ... I found the sense of 'power' to be paralyzing. I'd wake up at 3 in the morning, agonizing (about a story), whether I'd got it right, made enough calls and was fair."

Tom Brokaw to Get Award From ASU's Cronkite School of Journalism (Arizona Republic)
"Walter — certainly in my mind and in most peoples' minds — is the symbol of the great news anchor. Tom in his tenure has very much filled that same sort of role in the eyes of American viewers," said Christopher Callahan, dean of ASU's program.

ABC News Asks for Feedback on Iraq Coverage (NYT)
When President Bush sympathized with a supporter in West Virginia who complained that "our major media networks don't want to portray the good" developments in Iraq, he provoked a response from Good Morning America.

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