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Monitor Editor Hopeful Carroll Will Be Released (E&P)
"We certainly haven't given up on getting Jill back," Washington Bureau Chief David Cook said. "We were heartened by statements that came out today by the Sunni clerics and politicians." CSM: Wide call in Iraq to release kidnapped reporter. Reuters: Al-Jazeera airs new video footage of Carroll with captors. CNN: Mother appeals to Iraqis for Carroll's release as deadline looms. Reuters: U.S. confirms holding eight female captives in Iraq; six to be released ahead of Carroll deadline.

CBS News Boss Gives New Hints on Anchor Job (NYT)
Sean McManus, the new president of CBS News, said that he expected to name a new anchor for CBS Evening News within a year; that it would be a solo anchor, not a team; and that the person he selected would come from outside CBS News. Public Eye: Inside the CBS News morning editorial meeting. Page Six: Couric hires crisis manager. Philly Inky: CBS appears confident of snagging Couric, writes Gail Shister.

American Idol Opens to All-Time Ratings High (Variety)
The Fox hit kicked off its fifth season with its best-ever premiere numbers Tuesday night, rising nearly 10 percent ahead of last year's score, according to preliminary nationals from Nielsen. WaPo: Idol worship at Fox.

Time Warner and Comcast Team Up for All Exercise On-Demand Channel (NYDN)
The network, ExerciseTV, will feature more than 90 exercise programs ranging from pilates and Tai Chi to dancing and cardio workouts. The programs will be available only to Comcast and Time Warner customers with digital set-top boxes.

You Tan My Back, I'll Flack Yours (WWD)
While other celebrity weeklies officially bar their employees from going on all-expenses-paid junkets, OK! encourages the practice. Editor-in-chief Sarah Ivens recently arranged to take a free beach vacation for two at the end of April, promising a two-page feature on the resort in return.

Conflict of Interest in Times Real Estate Story? (NYP)
Steve Cuozzo: "Developers Can't Imagine a World Without Eminent Domain," said the headline. True enough. But it ought to have read, "Times Can't Imagine a World Without Eminent Domain."

Why Do Liberals Keep Facing Off Against Bill O'Reilly? (Boston Phoenix)
Mark Jurkowitz: There is, of course, plenty of debate about whether O'Reilly's arched eyebrows, wagging finger, and moral certitude are a shrewdly concocted act or the real deal. But maybe it doesn't even matter.

Amazon Adds Online Chat Show With Bill Maher (LAT)
With Amazon Fishbowl With Bill Maher, the company is trying to blend commerce with entertainment, much as Starbucks Corp. sells CDs and DVDs alongside coffee to position its brand as a lifestyle. Fishbowl? Sounds familiar...

Times Open to Indictment on Spygate? (Boston Phoenix)
Harvey Silverglate: President George W. Bush seems intent on prosecuting the sources who leaked to The New York Times the details of his administration's warrantless domestic spying. But does Bush have the chutzpah to go after the Times itself?

Taking on the Media Beat (Forbes)
Jim Brady: Through the prism of half a century, I'll be reporting what people in the business say, do, or even suspect—writing what Forbes.com editor Paul Maidment calls "off-the-beaten-track media stories."

Permission to Embed (CJR Daily)
Paul McLeary's notes from Iraq on his harried route into Baghdad, on preparing to embed with a squad in Fallujah, and the obstacles faced by reporters covering the ongoing conflict.

The Source of All Chaos (NYP)
In the latest tug of war for control of The Source Entertainment Inc., founder David Mays and the longtime president, rapper Ray "Benzino" Scott, were ordered out of their jobs by the newly constituted board of directors after a temporary restraining order blocking the move was lifted.

Satellite TV to Offer Family Packages (NYT)
DirecTV Group and EchoStar Communications, the nation's largest satellite television providers, said yesterday that they would offer packages of family-oriented channels, joining cable companies that took similar steps after pressure from regulators. LAT: Fox Sports executive places big DirecTV bet on music.

J-Students Not Daunted By Media's Struggles (Hartford Courant)
To hear the news industry report on itself, times are bleak for the ink-on-paper form of journalism. But while ink-stained veterans talk about newspapers' heyday having come and gone, journalism deans and professors say applications to their programs are steady, and in some cases climbing.

Hypocritical Times Writers Gather to Kick Frey (NY Press)
Russ Smith: Editorials in most daily newspapers still don't carry a byline, although that's bound to change sooner rather than later, so readers of The New York Times' flabbergasting Jan. 13 editorial, "Call It Fiction," can only guess which writer at the W. 43rd St. bunker has elephant-sized balls.

Belo Shuffles Top Execs (Mediaweek)
Belo announced several executive changes. Jack Sander was promoted to vice chairman of the company, reporting to Robert Decherd, chairman, president and CEO for Belo. Succeeding Sander as president of media operations is Dunia Shive.

Kellogg, Viacom Face Suit Over Ads (NYT)
A group of plaintiffs will argue that using cartoon characters like SpongeBob SquarePants to sell to children is deceptive and unfair.

'Message' Trumps Facts? (Raw Story)
Hannah Selinger: Writers are taught that storytelling involves more than plot or character. But applying this logic—what it takes to write, and write well—to the genre of non-fiction is a different story

Fading Time Inc. Unit Gets New President (NYP)
Time Inc. has tapped Tom Beusse, a one-time Rodale magazine boss, to be the president of its troubled men's magazine division known as Time4Media.

'Click Fraud' Threatening Web (Guardian)
The practice is acknowledged by Google as a problem: last year, Google chief financial officer George Reyes described it as "the biggest threat to the internet economy."

Ich Bin Ein Plagiarist? (Baltimore City Paper)
David Simon: Am I certain that in every instance I changed enough adjectives, flipped enough sentences, restructured enough paragraphs, and generally rewrote the background enough to avoid a charge of plagiarism? In the wake of charges leveled against a former colleague, I am no longer sure.

BBC Building Huge Stockpile of Web Addresses (Guardian)
The BBC is registering many internet domain names not related to bbc.co.uk, its principal website address. The corporation has registered hundreds of names as diverse as pcforpeanuts.co.uk, collinsshaw.co.uk and crucialradio.com, which are sitting unused on BBC servers.

Some Questions Over Oprah Book Pick (NYT)
The publisher and the translator of a new English-language edition of Night, Elie Wiesel's harrowing account of life in the Nazi death camps, said the new edition corrects several small factual errors in the previous translation.

Changes in 'News Consumption Culture' (Korea Times)
Kim Ki-tae: The new media, including satellite digital multimedia broadcasting, mobile Internet service and portable multimedia players, are now destroying longstanding barriers with the old paper-based media and reshaping traditional news consumption.

—David S. Hirschman