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Libby Trial to Display Changed Reporter-Source Relations (NYT)
As the perjury and obstruction of justice trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr. unfolds over the next few weeks, the ways in which the case has vastly reshaped relations between reporters and high government officials will be on vivid display. Most striking, a handful of reporters for major news organizations will testify for the prosecution. NYT: A reporter and potential juror says she can be impartial, to a point.

Idol Gives Networks Fits (WSJ)
Fox's American Idol came roaring back to prime time for its sixth season. The massive audience — big enough to easily make it the No. 1 show on TV — instantly changed the network landscape. CBS executives refer to it as "the Death Star." At NBC, programmers call it "a nuclear bomb." Some ABC executives simply deem it "a nightmare." USAT: Though producers and judges deny that the show has been any more ill-spirited than in years past or is focusing longer on individual meltdowns, executive producer Ken Warwick acknowledges there has been a higher ratio of horrible performances presented so far.

Bauer Mixing Up New Cocktail (NYP)
Finally, a little good news for the embattled magazine industry. Bauer Publishing, home to InTouch Weekly and Life & Style Weekly, is getting ready to crank out a new weekly lifestyle magazine called Cocktail Weekly, aimed at women in their 20s. The magazine is slated to launch in September and will carry a $2.49 cover price. WWD: Maria Lissandrello will serve as Cocktail's editor-in-chief. She helms the magazine after serving as executive editor for sister title First for Women.

Bids Due Today for 18 Time4Media Mags (WWD)
Sources close to the deal expect Time Inc. to eventually narrow the field down to two to four serious bids of more than $200 million each. The sources also said Time Inc. is entertaining bids for only the Parenting Group — which David Liu, chief executive officer of The Knot, is said to be interested in — although most bids are expected to be for the whole group.

Fate of Tribune May Rest With TV Biz (WSJ)
Tribune Co. may be best known as a newspaper publisher, but its television business could hold the key to its future. All of the offers submitted for Tribune last week hinge on the value of the company's 23 TV stations, which account for about one-third of the company's profits. NYT: Outside offers were perceived as inadequate.

No Changes Planned at CBS Evening News with Katie Couric (B&C)
"There was talk in the beginning about the nature of the show and it being a little soft, and we may have started off a little soft," says CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus. "But if you look at the show now, the mix is where it should be and it is as hard as any other newscast at 6:30."

60 Minutes Alumni to Lead a CNBC Monthly Magazine Show (NYT)
As cable news becomes increasingly combative and opinionated, the financial news network CNBC is pushing in the other direction, introducing an hourlong monthly newsmagazine, Business Nation. "It really is a first in terms of a business-oriented newsmagazine," the network's vice president for special programming, Josh Howard, said. "No one has really done this."

Writers' Sources Sought in Pellicano Case (LAT)
In a motion filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, lawyers for entertainment attorney Terry Christensen call on the court to force New York Times reporters David Halbfinger and Allison Hope Weiner to reveal the names of their sources for a report published Jan. 11 in the newspaper.

Washington May Take Up TV Violence (LAT)
With a fresh Congress sworn in and a major federal report expected soon on TV gore, pressure is likely to mount to more aggressively stem graphic and gratuitous scenes in shows. One proposal would give regulators powers similar to those they have now to punish indecency and coarse language over the airwaves. B&C: The FCC is readying a report that could set the agenda for an effort to crack down on TV gore similar to the push to curb indecency.

Yahoo Set to Announce Instant Messaging Deal With Reuters (Guardian)
Reuters is poised to announce a partnership with Yahoo that will give the news provider's rumor-hungry customers millions of potential new contacts through instant messaging. Used globally by more than 90,000 brokers and analysts to trade tipoffs, gossip and strategies, Reuters Messaging will be revamped this week as the London-based news group ups its game against Bloomberg.

Obama Hit With Allegations in Thinly-Sourced Story (WaPo)
Howard Kurtz: Insight, a magazine owned by the Washington Times, cited unnamed sources in saying that young Barack attended a Muslim religious school in Indonesia. Fox News picked up the charge on two of its programs, and the New York Post also picked up the article. Thus the first media controversy of the 2008 campaign begins with allegations lacking a single named source.

Politicians Realize the Potential of Web Video (WaPo)
The already-underway 2008 presidential campaign is likely to be remembered as the point where Web video became central to the communications strategy of every serious presidential candidate. The candidates and their staffs see Web-based video as an inexpensive and potentially significant tool for telling their campaign story without the filters of the traditional media. WSJ: Hillary Clinton's embrace of the Internet shows how seriously candidates are taking the power of the online activist community.

World News Tonight Turns a Corner (USAT)
ABC's Charles Gibson inherited a World News Tonight staff last May that was reeling from the death of longtime anchor Peter Jennings and Bob Woodruff's brush with death in Iraq. "This news department was battered and stunned by two traumatic events," Gibson says. "I was worried. How would we turn people's attention away?" The solution came as it often does in the news business: a big story.

WHCA Dinner Host: No Insults for Bush This Year (New Yorker)
The correspondents' association has hired as entertainment the impressionist Rich Little, who calls himself "basically a Republican," and whose jokes are reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's, though without the edge. "Believe me, you won't hear the word 'Iraq' out of my mouth the whole evening. They know I'm a safe bet over there at the White House," he said.

The High Price of a Good Review (Slate)
Bonnie Goldstein: "Books-on-demand" or "print-on-demand," has proliferated in the digital era. Amazon.com's recently acquired print-on-demand division, BookSurge.com, offers several tiers of publishing programs with menus of services. The most interesting add-on BookSurge offers is, for $399, a personally crafted review written by "New York Times bestselling author, Ellen Tanner Marsh."