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Oscars Broadcast 'Alternately a Bore and a Horror' (WaPo)
Tom Shales: Virtually everything about the Oscarcast, except for a few mercifully brief features, was entirely, punishingly, too long. Next year: the 80th annual Academy Awards. Imagine how long that one will be. After this year's ratings come in, though, maybe it will move to cable. WaPo: Oscar.com missed its moment to strut its digital stuff, writes Lisa de Moraes.

The 51 Best Magazines Ever (GOOD)
Graydon Carter: Magazines — or, rather, certain magazines — aren't going away anytime soon. Magazines that tell stories in type and pictures will survive the coming electronic revolutions. Magazines that merely deliver information will have to either become stronger and more vital, or drown in the turbulent wakes of change. [Following Carter's introduction are profiles of the top mags chosen.]

Tribune Mulls Revamp as Auction Founders (WSJ)
Tribune's board is inching closer to a "self-help" restructuring it would implement itself, despite a late bid from Sam Zell. The board's preferred plan continues to be a recapitalization involving a spinoff of Tribune's TV stations and the payment of a big dividend to shareholders. NYP: Zell's proposal would involve buying the entire company with the participation of an employee stock ownership plan. NYT: Zell's bid for Tribune all but eliminates other offers — including one from the Los Angeles billionaires Ronald Burkle and Eli Broad — from consideration.

ASNE Announces 2007 Awards for Writing, Photography (E&P)
The 2007 winners for The American Society of Newspaper Editors' awards for distinguished writing and photography were announced Sunday honoring the very best newspaper journalism of the past year. Winners include C.J. Chivers, Anne Hull, Ana Menedez, Suzanne Kreiter and staffers at the Milwaukee Journal.

Google in Content Deal With Media Companies (NYT)
Google is working with Dow Jones & Company, Condé Nast, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and other large content companies to syndicate their video content on other Web sites. The videos appear inside Google ad boxes on sites that are relevant to the content of the videos, and advertisements run during or after the content.

Rodale to Acquire Running Mag (NYP)
Looking to extend its lead in the fast-growing media market for running enthusiasts, Runner's World publisher Rodale has agreed to buy smaller magazine Running Times from Fitness Publishing. Running Times, popular among competitive runners and race directors, will remain separate from Runner's World, which is the premier magazine for joggers and more serious road runners.

Facebook.com Faces Dilemma: Build or Sell (LAT)
The build-or-sell dilemma facing the company's 22-year-old chief Mark Zuckerberg is becoming more common among the precocious entrepreneurs immersed in what has been dubbed Web 2.0. These sites find themselves at the same crucial juncture reached several years ago by Friendster.com, which stayed independent instead of selling. That decision is now regarded as a major blunder. Mediaweek: Some buyers complain that Facebook's ad offerings have been limited since it entered into a sales partnership with Microsoft last year.

VF's Dunne on the Way Out? (WWD)
There's renewed speculation over Dominick Dunne's future as a special correspondent at Vanity Fair. Talk began last year that Dunne's time at the general interest magazine may be drawing to a close, but those rumors died by December. Now they're back — with some saying his contract won't be renewed, and others suggesting he will be asked to take a different, or lesser, role at the magazine.

Evicted From Wikipedia (Slate)
Timothy Noah: Pass me that whiskey bottle. My Wikipedia bio is about to disappear because I fail to satisfy the "notability guideline." The ongoing experiment in Web-based collaboration maintains volunteer gatekeepers, and one of them has whisked me (or, rather, the entry describing me) under the insulting rubric, "Wikipedia articles with topics of unclear importance." LAT: Wikipedia had the Anna Nicole story as it was happening.

An Ad Upstart Forces Google to Open Up a Little (NYT)
Google and Yahoo have been fighting it out over which company will dominate the online advertising business, with Google maintaining the upper hand so far. But in the competition for contextual text ads, both companies are facing a challenge from a tiny but growing adversary named Quigo Technologies, a New York-based ad service that bills itself as an alternative to the giants.

BBC to Be Booted From Cuba? (Guardian)
The British Broadcasting Corporation is facing expulsion from Cuba after the country's press authorities withdrew reporting rights from its correspondent there. Yesterday the corporation was unable to explain what had provoked the crackdown, or how long their correspondent, Stephen Gibbs, would be allowed to remain in the country.

I Don't Feel Like Writing. Does That Mean I'm Not a Writer? (Salon)
Cary Tennis: The idea that a writer works only from inner inspiration is, I think, a bit of a romantic myth, rooted in the idea of writer as solitary and mysterious hero. The writer may be that, but he is also a person in a web of community, and he is also fallible. He may be lazy and unable to meet deadlines; he may be, as I am, fearful of completion.

Teen Mags Look to the Web to Remain Relevant (Mediaweek)
Tony Case: Media fragmentation is hurting these titles, no matter how much they go after girls via their Web sites as well as branded products, events, contests and mobile tie-ins. But it's especially challenging for Hearst's general-interest players, said VP Dennis Santos of PGR Media. "The all-things-for-all-teens edit will not work and mass books need to understand that," he explained.

Tyndall Offers "NewsTube" (B&C)
As editor of the Tyndall Report, Andrew Tyndall has monitored and analyzed the way the newscasts cover various topics since 1987. Now, he is inviting viewers to join him. His Web site recently began offering an extensive searchable database of news stories complete with links to video clips of the segments.

Harper's Editor Slammed for Lack of Female Writers (CBC)
Heather Mallick: Women writers have for years been vanishing from American magazines (pleasingly, this is less true of Canadian magazines). It's odd to flip through a magazine passing itself off as general interest and see only male bylines. I don't like single-sex publications, especially when they pretend to be otherwise, as Harper's does.