Arab Media Focus on Voting, Not Violence in Iraq (NYT)
Overwhelmingly, Arab channels and newspapers greeted the elections as a critical event with major implications for the region, and many put significant resources into reporting on the voting. USAT: For a day at least, the news out of Iraq changes tone.

Pulitzer Inc. Sells Its Newspapers (AP via Chicago Sun-Times)
Lee Enterprises Inc. has bought Pulitzer Inc.'s newspaper holdings, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in a $1.46 billion deal that creates the nation's fourth-largest newspaper publisher.

Media Debate as Jacko Trial Opens (USAT)
Peter Johnson: As the Michael Jackson trial begins, editors and producers are divided over whether the case will become as big as those of O.J. Simpson and Scott Peterson. AP (via Indianapolis Star): Jackson blasts media leaks on the eve of jury selection. Seattle Times: Media unhappy with Jackson trial fees.

Road Trips Now the Norm for Anchors (AP via USAT)
Taking the broadcasts to where news is happening is getting cheaper and easier with new technology, and experts say it's happening more frequently than at any time since the fall of communism.

Much Ado Over Disney Book (NYT)
A new book written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author James B. Stewart is said to have sections highly critical of Disney's departing chief, Michael D. Eisner.

Mapes to Dish on CBS Upheaval? (NYP)
Sources say that Mary Mapes, the only CBS News staffer fired in the wake of Memogate, has been wooed by rival ABC stars Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters. New York: Inside CBS News, the rage over the handling of the National Guard fiasco only deepens.

Court Channel (NYP)
EchoStar has refused to carry Universal Music's new 24-hour music channel, putting the music giant's plans of launching a major competitor to MTV on hold as the two companies battle it out in court.

Goodnight Johnny (The New Yorker)
Nancy Franklin: How strange it was to learn, on a Sunday, that Johnny Carson had died. Strange that it was a Sunday—one of only two nights of the week that he had not owned. National Journal: Jon Stewart's influence has exploded over the past two years, but it doesn't make him Carson's heir, writes Vaughn Ververs.

Money Drops Seven (NYP)
New managing editor Eric Schurenberg continues to shed many of the staffers who joined when former boss Bob Safian was running the show.

Big Names Join WaPo Board (Washingtonian)
Harry Jaffe: Melinda French Gates, wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, has joined the Post Company board after investment giant Warren Buffett helped arrange the corporate relationship.

Playbook Pundits (WaPo)
Charles Krauthammer and Bill Kristol were unapologetic about having privately offered advice to top White House aides, saying that is perfectly proper for commentators.

Texas Paper Bets on Español Over Assimilation (NYT)
Four new Spanish-language daily papers have launched in Texas, catering to the ethnic group predicted to be a majority in 20 years.

New Mag for Plastic Surgery Set (NYT)
NewBeauty, a glossy magazine billing itself as "the ultimate cosmetic enhancement guide," went on sale on newsstands across the country on Jan. 17.

Poets in Wartime (LAT)
David Shaw: Having watched an advance copy of a new documentary film, Voices in Wartime, I suspect that President Bush, like Plato, would like to ban poets from his less-than-ideal republic.

Buster Dustup (USAT)
A lesbian storyline in PBS cartoon Postcards From Buster may cause the show to lose federal funding.

Kaplan Quietly improving MSNBC (WaPo)
Howard Kurtz: Colleagues say Rick Kaplan's main achievement as president of MSNBC has been in boosting morale and forging a tighter partnership with NBC News.

UPI Legend and Beat Model Lucian Carr Dies (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
Journalist Carr brought together, befriended, and served as muse for novelists Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs and poet Allen Ginsberg, the core of literature's "Beat Generation."

Writer's Hollywood Ending (NYT)
Bernard Weinraub: On retiring after 14 years as the New York Times's Hollywood writer, it seems best to sort through this tour of duty.

—David S. Hirschman