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LAT Columnist Slammed for Writing That He 'Doesn't Support Troops' (Reuters)
Joel Stein said he has been "bombarded" by hate mail over the incendiary article—which was headlined "Warriors and Wusses" and held that U.S. soldiers in Iraq were "ignoring their morality"—but does not regret writing it and stands by the premise.

All Quiet in Jill Carroll Abduction as U.S. Releases Female Prisoners (CSM)
Reuters reported that Iraqi officials have suggested the delay in releasing the women was linked to the demands of the kidnappers of the American freelance journalist, who threatened to kill her by last Friday unless all women prisoners were freed. The deadline passed with no word on Carroll's fate. LAT: Risks are a given in a war zone, where the odds of death are calculated daily. But the kidnapping of Jill Carroll compels reporter Alissa Rubin to reevaluate limits and responsibilities. WaPo: "That can't be Jill, I whispered to myself, over and over, even as her picture hung on the TV screen," writes Jackie Spinner.

Disney Shareholders Ask Judge for Review of Ovitz Ordeal (NYT)
A lawyer for Walt Disney shareholders told the Delaware Supreme Court that a lower court judge erred when he absolved Disney directors in the firing of Michael Ovitz as president, a dismissal that cost the company $130 million in severance pay. NYP: Disney Chairman George Mitchell quashed a negative evaluation of Bob Iger by the media giant's executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles last year. Slate: Steve Jobs should grab control of Disney, writes Daniel Gross. CSM: Some analysts say Pixar and Disney might not mesh well because of different traditions, styles, and motivations.

Rosie the Riveting Scribbler? (Fox 411)
Roger Friedman: Rosie O'Donnell is hard at work writing a sitcom pilot. She is partnering with famed novelist Alice Hoffman, a fellow Long Islander, to create a character for the former talk show host that will work as an Erma Bombeck-like columnist for Newsday.

Back in the Condé Fold (WWD)
After only a few months working in the outside world, running the furniture company BDDW, Chris Mitchell is returning to Condé Nast, and to his old job as vice president and publisher of Details magazine.

CNN Signs Conservative Pundit to Replace Bob Novak (WaPo)
William Bennett, a radio talk-show host and the author of the best-selling The Book of Virtues and The Children's Book of Virtues, will contribute to the multi-hour afternoon show The Situation Room and other CNN shows. TVNewser: The press release includes a curiously worded sentence: "Bennett will be one of CNN's political commentators as part of the network's continuing effort to bring a broad range of perspectives to its viewers."

Office Not Made Redundant (USAT)
After a slow ratings start, the offbeat comedy The Office has blossomed in its second season into a key player in NBC's efforts to rebuild its Thursday comedy franchise. The show also has earned a bonus: a 22-episode third season.

In Defense of the Post-Truth Memoir (LA Weekly)
Jerry Stahl: Far from diminishing his genius, the fact that pit-bull-head-size chunks of Frey's memoir are rank fabrications serves only to highlight it. Sure, James Frey could have stuck to the facts. It would have been easy. But an innovator doesn't take the easy way. Oprah: Frey to appear today on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss the controversy surrounding his book. GalleyCat: James Frey's going on Oprah to do a more extensive job of licking her boots in person than he did over the phone on Larry King's show when the scandal first broke. City Pages: The fact-fudging memoirist is being hung for the wrong crime, writes Emily Carter Roiphe.

Porn Story Scandal at SF Weekly (SFBG)
The alt-weekly knew that writer Harmon Leon based a column about "the AVN Awards" (otherwise known as the 'Porn Academy Awards') on old reporting, printed the column without clarifying that crucial fact, and then turned around and blamed Leon for the criticism directed its way.

Google Backlash Begins [FT]
Google is summoned to Washington for a human-rights hearing after agreeing to restrict its search capabilities in China.

SPJ Wants 'National Debate' on Knight Sale (E&P)
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) today will call for what it terms "an urgent national conversation about how to preserve public-service journalism in light of the likely sale of the Knight Ridder newspaper company."

Not-So-Hot Topic (Gawker)
David Haskell's magazine is desperately looking for funding to complete its most recent issue.

Promotions at the Times (NYT)
The three editors, whose names will now appear in the newspaper's masthead, are Glenn Kramon, an associate managing editor in charge of career development; Susan Edgerley, the metropolitan editor; and Richard L. Berke, an associate managing editor for news.

Cocaine Kate to Pen Memoir (Page Six)
Catwalker Kate Moss has agreed to pen her autobiography for Richard Branson's fledgling Virgin Books and tell her side of the scandal that erupted when Britain's Mirror printed photos of her inhaling multiple lines of disco dust last September.

AP Keeps Over 1000 Pre-Written Obits (E&P)
While pre-written obits of the rich and famous are standard, one that survives more than a decade is noticeable. The fact that Rosa Parks had lived to 92 partly explains the reason her obit had sat unused for 15 years.

Not Enough Good Entertainment? (LAT)
Michael Hiltzik: The UPN and WB, which will be folded into a single television network, foundered on the reality that, just as a sports league's aggressive expansion often dilutes the talent on its rosters, there simply isn't enough compelling entertainment material to go around. WSJ: UPN loss opens door for News Corp.

Discovery, BBC World News Ink Deal (Mediaweek)
Although no carriage deals have been brokered with cable or satellite operators, Discovery will offer BBC World News as a digital network, perhaps in the same markets that carry its Discovery Times Channel. BBC World will handle advertising sales for the news net.

Yahoo's One-Man News Army (Boston Phoenix)
In his new role, traversing the globe as a solo journalist equipped with his wits and a tech tool bag, Kevin Sites regularly files stories, photos, and video clips at hotzone.yahoo.com from inside international trouble spots such as Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, the Sudan, Uganda, the Congo, and Somalia.

Google Subpoena Fight All About PR? (Slate)
Adam Penenberg: Law enforcement doesn't really care about what you do online—unless you're a pedophile looking to make a date with a 14-year-old. Neither does Google. For both the government and the geek Goliath, this subpoena flap is simply a big public-relations stunt.

Journos' Baghdad Bunkers (CJR Daily)
Paul McLeary: It's difficult when writing about the lives of journalists in Baghdad to straddle the line between reporting what I've seen and not giving away details that might add to the danger reporters already face.

Citizen Journalists Nab Suspected Pedophile (Free Times)
An upstart community paper run by volunteers not only had the story first but led the police to it. Detective Phil Moran of Rocky River, Ohio says the alleged crimes would not have come to light—at least not so quickly—without the grassroots, ear-on-the-ground work of the Lakewood Observer.

The Web's Worst Instincts (AJR)
Rem Rieder: The hysteria triggered by Deborah Howell's column on the Post's investigation of Jack Abramoff was stunning—and disheartening. Much has been made of the web's contribution to instant and freewheeling political discourse. But this wasn't discourse, this was target practice.

China Ices Liberal Mag (Guardian)
China's propaganda authorities suspended a hard-hitting publication, Freezing Point, that was one of the country's most respected news sources and dared to print an alternative view of the opium wars and the Boxer rebellion yesterday.

Creating CUNY's J-School From Scratch (NY Sun)
The school will have a first-rate faculty. It will offer state-of-the-art facilities in the historic New York Herald-Tribune building (the paper was shuttered in 1966), and its three-semester curriculum will cover print, broadcast, and online journalism.

—David S. Hirschman