House Votes to Raise Indecency Fines (LAT)
The vote allows the Federal Communications Commission to sharply raise television and radio station penalties. The action still needs approval from the Senate.

Papers Stand Firm Behind Miller, Cooper (WaPo)
Howard Kurtz: Judith Miller has her share of detractors in the news business, but almost everyone who takes notes for a living is rooting for her now. NYT Editorial: As a matter of self-interest, Americans need to appreciate the rising threat to the news media's ability to provide a free flow of information about their government. LAT Editorial: Sending these two dedicated journalists—who weren't even involved in the actual CIA leak—to jail would be utterly unfair and preposterous.

Mainstream Media's 'Freedom Envy' (WSJ)
Peggy Noonan: When you hear name-calling like what we've been hearing from the elite media this week about bloggers, you know someone must be doing something right. Business Week: Don't fear the blog and fury. Arab News: Blogs as self-appointed judge and jury deliver verdicts with a vengeance. Jerusalem Post: Eason Jordan's resignation from the top ranks of CNN is another sign of the positive changes being experienced by the international media, writes Uri Dan. Hartford Courant: Bloggers become modern vigilantes.

Midnight Cowboy in the Garden of Bush and Evil (Salon)
Sidney Blumenthal: The phony journalist in the White House is the most bizarre example yet of the administration's efforts to thwart an independent press. NYT: The Bush administration is waging a jihad against journalists, writes Maureen Dowd.

PBS Struggling (NYT)
PBS is suffering from an identity crisis, and it goes deeper than the announcement by Pat Mitchell that she would step down as the network's president. WaPo: Buster didn't boot PBS chief, writes Lisa de Moraes.

Dean Seeks Media Blackout, Changes Mind (Newsday)
The DNC's new chairman Howard Dean requested a media blackout of a debate with top Pentagon adviser Richard Perle yesterday, then quickly changed his mind after news agencies complained.

Guild Blasts Reuters' Profits (E&P)
As Reuters Group PLC announced an operating profit increase of 52 percent during 2004 today, the head of the Newspaper Guild of New York blasted the company for a "short-sighted strategy of attacking its workers."

Atoosa Gone Wild? (Page Six)
Did saucy Seventeen editrix Atoosa Rubenstein misbehave at an Armani event just a few months after she fired a staffer for acting inappropriately at a different Armani bash?

Talbot Signs Off (Salon)
David Talbot: Salon's staff has been blessed all these years. Like the inmates in Marat/Sade, we took over the asylum and we have not relinquished control in 10 years.

An Intellectual History of SI's Swimsuit Issue (Slate)
Bryan Curtis: Perhaps the greatest beneficiary of wholesome-but-smutty aesthetic in the annual issue is the Sports Illustrated writer. The presence of the swimsuit issue has bestowed upon him a kind of macho glory.

The Bigger the Print... (Guardian)
Some publishers are attempting to arrest falling readership by making books bigger.

'Payola Pundit' Tries to Move On (NYT)
Armstrong Williams's career as a conservative commentator has been tainted by the disclosure that he was paid to promote government policy.

The Ken Aulatte (Slate)
Jack Shafer: The media reporter's words now come to you on a Starbucks cup.

No Protection for Bloggers (Wired)
Adam Penenberg: Do bloggers, the self-described citizen journalists, deserve the same protections under the law that other reporters do? The question is probably moot, but it's not because blogging is relatively new.

Carter Calling Names? (LA Weekly)
Nikki Finke: Graydon Carter, who famously used his show-biz friendships to benefit himself financially, has been calling his Hollywood pals "scumbags" behind their backs in these weeks leading up to his magazine's annual Oscar night party.

Lefty Gets His 15 Minutes (SFBG)
Tim Redmond: Last week, I suddenly became the darling of right-wing media. It's an odd story that says something about how incredibly derivative all the national news shows are—and maybe just a little about what it means to be a liberal in the United States today.

New Anna Bio Deep Dish (USAT)
Deirdre Donohue: One senses that Jerry Oppenheimer adores the subject of his new biography, Anna Wintour. But he does not whitewash Wintour's faults.

Radio Changes Its Tune (CSM)
These days Radio and Records, a trade publication, doesn't just list what's hot on America's AM and FM stations. It also lists the Top 10 songs playing on Sirius satellite radio and the Top 10 downloads from the Internet music service iTunes.

'Deep' Kissinger? (E&P)
Former top Nixon aide John Ehrlichman, who went to prison for his role in Watergate, felt strongly that the famed anonymous source "Deep Throat" was none other than Henry Kissinger.

—David S. Hirschman