Inspection of Times Reporters' Phone Records Blocked (NYT)
A federal prosecutor may not inspect the phone records in an effort to learn their confidential sources.

New Post Ombud Named (WaPo)
Deborah Howell, the Washington bureau chief and editor of Newhouse News Service, was named ombudsman of The Washington Post yesterday. She will take over the job later this year from Michael Getler, who became ombudsman in November 2000.

Music Exec to Run Air America (LAT)
The nation's most prominent liberal talk radio network has tapped one of the music business' most prominent liberal activists, Danny Goldberg, to be its new boss.

In Russian Media, Free Speech for Select Few (WaPo)
The Kremlin press pool is a handpicked group of reporters, most of whom work for the state and the rest selected for their fidelity to the Kremlin's rules of the game.

Viacom Takes Big Write-Down (NYT)
Viacom Inc. took an $18 billion write-down for its radio station and outdoor advertising businesses, which led to a fourth-quarter loss of $18.44 billion.

'Gannon' Issue Ignored? (Salon)
Eric Boehlert: Why has the mainstream media ignored the White House media access scandal? Boston Phoenix: The Gannon flap is exactly the sort of story that makes the mainstream media intensely uncomfortable, writes Dan Kennedy. E&P: The infamous ex-White House reporter James Guckert (a.k.a. Jeff Gannon) fights fire with fire, reactivating his website and starting a blog.

Clean Sweep for Fox (Variety)
The Feb. 6 Super Bowl had long ago made it a foregone conclusion that Fox would win the February ratings book, but ABC is set to claim the silver in the key adults 18-49 race. USAT: At NBC, it's all Law & Order, all the time.

Fear and Earning (NYT)
Lucian K. Trucott IV: It's hard today to think of a figure like Hunter Thompson as a struggling writer, but Hunter was always short of money. The Economist: Editors tried to control Thompson, but failed. Journalistic objectivity was a nonsense to him. Washington Times: The response to Hunter Thompson's death may actually say more about us than it does about Thompson's place in the last century's pantheon of writers. Peoria Journal-Star: Thompson's death reminds us that today's newspapers have become boring, writes Phil Luciano.

1006 New Mags in '04 (NYP)
Samir Husni, the foremost tracker of magazine launches in the country, bestowed start-up of the year honors on Life & Style Weekly, the celebrity-obsessed title from Bauer Publications.

Plots Thicken Online (LAT)
Producers of TV dramas are creating Web-only content that adds story elements and interactivity to keep viewers engaged.

War is Heck (WSJ)
Editorial: PBS caused a stir last week when it told the producers of the Frontline series to bleep a handful of expletives in a documentary about U.S. troops in Iraq, but cussing by soldiers is far from the most shocking thing on television.

Tarantino to Direct Season Finale of CSI (WaPo)
The director, who has reportedly long been a fan of the procedural crime drama, also came up with an original story for the episode.

The Hollywood Snake Pit (Marketwatch)
Jon Friedman: Hollywood is treacherous for journalists, who gossip freely about one another. Sooner or later, everyone seems to be dismissed as a hack or a shill or a fool (off the record, of course). And mind you, that's how friends talk about one another.

NYPD Blue Through (CSM)
With just one episode left after 12 seasons, the NYC police drama is going gently into broadcast history.

Hell 'n' Keller (Slate)
Jack Shafer: While the Times' Bill Keller has yet to park his desk next to the tkts booth in Times Square, he's become the most accessible executive editor in the newspaper's history.

The Pajama Game (The Nation)
Eric Alterman: While it's impossible to generalize about the global blog phenomenon, one thing you can say about bloggers is that they are not professional journalists—unless, of course, they also happen to be professional journalists.

Windy City Writer's Manhattan Transfer (Chicago Reader)
Michael Miner: Reading Neil Steinberg's first couple columns for the NYDN last week, you'd swear he already had moved to New York.

Man Buys 600 Copies of Paper to Suppress News of His Drug Bust (Merced Sun-Star)
35-year-old Chowchilla resident Jack William Pacheco went around town Wednesday morning and purchased every copy of The Chowchilla News he could in an attempt to suppress news of his arrest for alleged methamphetamine possession.

—David S. Hirschman