China Defends Latest Restrictions on Media Freedom (Reuters via WaPo)
China defended its latest rules controlling foreign access to domestic media and television on Tuesday, saying the government was simply protecting intellectual property rights. Senior officials also said Chinese people preferred reading foreign magazines on science and technology.

Walter Kirn Takes on Technology in Online Novel (LAT)
"The old school part of me was brainwashed into thinking that writing on the Internet was a form of slumming or self-cheapening, kind of like publishing your own book at Kinko's," said Kirn, who published the first serialized part of his book online in March.

Bush Press Whiteout Waning? (Baltimore Sun)
With plummeting poll numbers, an unraveling war and ethics probes in the top ranks of his party, President Bush's almost-legendary sway over much of the White House press corps seems to be fraying. No longer can he invoke the specter of the war on terror to fend off tricky questions.

Better Homes and Gardens Editor's Surprising Departure (MIN)
There is no on-the-record reason for Karol DeWulf Nickell's departure (ending a 27-year career at Meredith) other than the perfunctory "we wish her well" from corporate president Steve Lacy and Publishing Group president Jack Griffin. Mediaweek: Nickell's second-in-command, executive editor John Riha, and Mike LaFavore, Meredith's magazine group editorial director, will oversee Better Homes until a new editor is named.

Differing Views on Schieffer Commentary Plan (Inky)
NBC Nightly News chief John Reiss is not a fan of commentary, particularly in a volatile political climate. "I'm uncomfortable with airing one person's opinion. We want to play it straight down the middle. Our time is better spent reporting. As far as I'm concerned, the broadcast should be sacrosanct."

Dow Jones Profit Rises on WSJ Ad Increase (Reuters)
Dow Jones & Co. Inc. said its first quarter earnings rose, helped by stronger advertising at its flagship Wall Street Journal. Net profit totaled $61.5 million, or 74 cents a share, compared with $8.2 million, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 9.7 percent to $452.2 million.

A Media Junkie's Wide, 'Shallow' Knowledge (E&P)
David Hirschman: These days I feel responsible to know (at least on a very cursory level) a larger and larger chunk of what is going on everywhere. News is all a click away, and it's possible to sift among hundreds of newspapers and magazines around the world, parsing and digesting snippets of information. But I realize more and more that my up-to-date knowledge of events has actually become shallower, and that the information doesn't affect me all that much.