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Prominent Sunni Politician in Iraq Pleads for Kidnapped Reporter's Release (WaPo)
Adnan Dulaimi's appeal for the release of American journalist Jill Carroll on Friday was carried live on the al-Arabiya satellite television channel. Al-Arabiya and al-Jazeera satellite television aired repeated requests from Carroll's parents to her captors. Salon: For the few Western reporters left in Iraq, Jill Carroll's kidnapping is their worst nightmare. E&P: On deadline day, no progress in contacting Carroll's captors. CSM: Appeals for Carroll's release intensify.

Feds Want Google Records in Porn Probe (AP)
The Bush administration, seeking to revive an online pornography law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, has subpoenaed Google Inc. for details on what its users have been looking for through its popular search engine. NYT: Google resisting federal subpoena. LAT: Yahoo and others reveal queries from millions of people. Identities aren't included, but the data trove stirs privacy fears.

Writer Accepted Money to Write Favorable Articles (NYT)
Audrey Lewis said yesterday that Richard M. Scrushy, the former chief executive of HealthSouth, paid her through a public relations firm during his fraud trial last year to produce several favorable articles for an Alabama newspaper that he reviewed before publication. NYP: Scrushy owes us $150K, says payoff pair.

WaPo Blog Comments Turned Off After Flames Fly (AP)
The Washington Post disabled comments on one of its blogs Thursday after the newspaper's ombudsman raised the ire of readers by writing that lobbyist Jack Abramoff gave money to the Democrats as well as to Republicans. NYT: This is the second time in recent months a major newspaper has limited its reader feedback online. An experiment in allowing the public to edit editorials in The Los Angeles Times lasted just two days in June before it was shut because pornographic material was being posted on the site. E&P: Post web editor explains decision to remove comments.

Hollinger to Reorganize Sun-Times, Cut 300 Jobs (Chicago Tribune)
Newspaper publisher Hollinger International plans to reorganize its Sun-Times News Group by splitting it into two groups and cutting staff by 300 to reverse its disappointing 2005 financial performance. Hollinger expects the staff cuts to be largely voluntary.

MySpace Invader (BusinessWeek)
Jon Fine: AOL is readying its bid for the MySpace.com, um, space. It won't be a site per se. Rather, the online giant is building a platform off its massively popular AOL Instant Messenger service to better enable its users to share and create content.

Ratings Slip With New ABC Anchor Pair (Variety)
The new ABC News anchor duo of Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff have lost ratings ground to NBC's Brian Williams and CBS' Bob Schieffer in their first full week on the air.

Disney to Formally Weigh Pixar Buy (LAT)
Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs have been talking for months about extending their long-term distribution pact, which is due to end when Disney releases the computer animation studio's Cars in June. Marketwatch: Pivotal role may await Jobs at Disney. Forbes: Disney-Pixar deal could drive positive returns. NYT: The move is also potentially risky for Jobs, because it ties his fortunes to an old media company that, like other entertainment giants, is trying to navigate a difficult course these days.

MSO CEO: We Have Survived M.Diddy's Fall (Folio:)
After a year that began with her company's namesake in jail and its flagship magazine's print advertising in a dramatic freefall—and ended with an equally dramatic turnaround—Susan Lyne says that she can finally put to rest the question of the company's survival.

TV News Stars Go to NPR to Sound Off (WSJ)
While some of the NPR recruits, like Ted Koppel and CBS newsmen Walter Cronkite and Daniel Schorr, have joined the organization at the end of their long broadcast TV runs, other television news talent is defecting to NPR mid-career.

King Content (Economist)
Media companies are suffering intense pain—and it is starting to seem worryingly permanent. Yet, if Hollywood teaches one thing, it is that stories can be re-made and dreams can come true. Rather as big retailers have discovered advantages online, so too will big media companies. Economist: Can Murdoch adapt his empire to the digital age? Guardian: Podcasting has taken the Internet by storm. Mother Jones: Will great newspapers survive? Hard to say. But there will always be a place, indeed a need, for great journalism, writes Peter Osnos.

Growing Pains Bring Layoffs at Bauer (NYP)
The sleepy company in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., has been amazing the publishing world with its rollout of newsstand-oriented celebrity weeklies. So it was probably only a matter of time before it started firing people the way the big boys do.

Journalism's Plame Problem (CJR)
Timothy Phelps: Robert Novak's column unveiling the secret agent Valerie Plame has helped destroy any pretense of a reporter's privilege in federal cases, and obliged Washington journos to confront a new, insidious tactic that has altered the balance of power between journalist and leak investigator.

'Liberal Media Monopoly' in Decline (WSJ)
Peggy Noonan: Eleven years ago the Democrats lost control of Congress. Then they lost the presidency. But just as important, maybe more enduringly important, they lost their monopoly on the means of information in America. They lost control of the pipeline. The Nation: Media skewed right in covering Alito hearings, writes Eric Alterman.

Keeping Numbers in the News Honest (WSJ)
Carl Bialik: For 10 years, Richard Holden has been monitoring bungled numbers in news reports and teaching journalists to be more vigilant. In the past decade he has given seminars at newspapers and media conventions around the country.

Mags Build Cred With Film Fest Shindigs (Folio:)
Dylan Stableford: Film and music festivals—like this week's Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and SXSW in Austin in March—present a myriad of opportunities for magazines to promote their brands. But does hosting a party for celebrities have any real impact in the bigger picture?

Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away Now (Economist)
British newspapers are frenziedly giving things away in promos, and in Germany, France, Italy, Poland, and throughout Latin America papers are also increasingly relying on freebies to try to attract new readers. Ideally, a giveaway attracts brand-new readers who keep on buying the paper.

Gender Defender (Marketwatch)
Jon Friedman: Rebecca Traister works one of the most unique and potentially important beats in journalism today: gender politics. "This turn in our attitudes about the U.S. having a female president is fascinating to me," says the Salon writer.

Congress Vet Watts Joins CNN as Contributor (Mediaweek)
CNN has tapped Republican operative and former U.S. Congressman J.C. Watts Jr. to join the news network as a regular contributor. Watts, who served four terms in the House, will appear on a number of CNN programs, providing political and policy analysis from a conservative perspective.

Attracting Luxe Ads With Science Blogs (NYT)
Stuart Elliott: A new blog network from the science publisher Seed Media Group is a sign of growing interest in using new media for an old purpose: selling.

Running Hot and Cold (Grade the News)
John McManus: Did Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger get a "chilly reception" at a breakfast honoring Martin Luther King Jr. as the Oakland Tribune reported? Or was it a "surprisingly warm welcome," as the Chronicle reported? Or was it "hostile," as the San Jose Mercury News reported?

Bonnie Fuller Herself (WWD)
To get a sense of Bonnie Fuller's impact on the current state of American journalism, all you need to do is visit a newsstand and glance around at the ever-growing ranks of celebrity tabloids. Now, Fuller, the AMI editorial director has a chance to influence future generations of magazine makers, as well.

Broadcasters Pledge to Publicize V-Chip (Mediaweek)
Broadcasters, pay TV providers, and others used a Senate hearing to announce a campaign to publicize program controls such as the V-chip and blocking and filtering technologies offered by cable and satellite providers.

The 'Real Story' Behind TSG (Chicago Tribune)
Steve Johnson: The Smoking Gun may have started life plucky and independent. But those qualities earned it the attention of a big, mainstream media company. In this case, the free agent is not the lone blogger ferreting out truth, but the aspiring writer willing to warp it.

Hamas Has Image Problem; Who Knew? (Guardian)
"We don't need the international community to accept Hamas ideology, we need it to accept the facts on the ground," says said media consultant, Nashat Aqtash, who was hired by the Palestinian terror group for $180K to remake its image. "We are not killing people because we love to kill."

China Puts Journo on Trial for Exposing Cover-Up (WaPo)
A veteran Fuzhou journalist stood trial Thursday in the final step in a retaliation campaign launched after a Communist Party official gained national fame by publicly denouncing his superiors for condoning and covering up corruption.

—David S. Hirschman