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Start of Conrad Black Trial Put Off to Today (NYT)
The criminal trial of the former media baron Conrad M. Black and three associates ran into some delays on Monday after lawyers for Mr. Black raised concerns about the timing of two large settlements by a chief witness in the case. NYP: Apparently stressed out by a surprise delay and by the intense media scrutiny, the glamorous Barbara Amiel Black lashed out at a group of reporters, uttering a profanity at one and calling the others "vermin." Guardian: Black's wife calls a Canadian journalist a "slut." E&P: On the eve of Black's trial, star witness Radler settles with Sun-Times Media Group for $63.4 million.

Best- and Worst-Selling Covers for Monthlies: Scarlett Is 'Sexiest' and Best (MIN)
Clearly, in Esquire's cover "race," sexiest woman alive Scarlett Johansson (November) wins easily. Lindsay Lohan was sexy and selling for Elle's September "Fall Preview," but adding kid-sister Ali to the mix proved to be a worst for CosmoGirl!.

Online Video Project Shows Life Through the Eyes of Young Iraqis (Salon)
What is absorbing in "Hometown Baghdad" is not the fear, confusion or carnage we've grown to expect from documentary reports out of Iraq. It's the three men central to this series whose lives unfold in short, telling vignettes. We see them eat dinner and go to school, watch them go swimming and practice in their rock band. But in Baghdad, even these simple actions are fraught.

Kidnapped Reporter Freed by Taliban Saw Beheading (AP via Guardian)
An Italian journalist held for two weeks in Afghanistan said after his release Monday that he saw his captors cut off the head of one of the two Afghans kidnapped with him and thought he would be next to die. Daniele Mastrogiacomo described how the kidnappers threw the Afghan to his knees and suffocated him in the sand as they cut his head off.

Nielsen: 4.6% Increase in Ad Spending Last Year (Mediaweek)
Nielsen Monitor-Plus reported a 4.6 percent increase in advertising spending to $139.07 billion, compared to 2005. Most of the 17 media categories experienced growth, led by the Internet with a 35 percent gain to $6.7 billion, followed by a 9.1 percent gain in Spot TV in the top 100 markets to $25.6 billion.

Viewers Spending More Time Than Ever Watching Comedies on Ad-Supported TV (WaPo)
Viewership of broadcast network sitcoms has dropped, but more people are watching comedy in syndication and on ad-supported cable, according to a new study by the media ad-buy firm Magna Global. More people are watching Seinfeld, Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond this season than when the shows were at the height of their popularity on their respective broadcast networks.

Broadcasters Challenge New Streaming Rules (AP)
Broadcasters and online companies yesterday challenged a ruling from a panel of copyright judges that they say could cripple the emerging business of offering online music broadcasts. Clear Channel Communications Inc., National Public Radio and groups representing both large and small companies providing music broadcasts online asked the Copyright Royalty Board to reconsider parts of its ruling. LAT: It may be a lonely effort, but amateur deejaying is a popular pastime. That could change if online royalty fees rise.

Beyond the News, Reminders of the War (NYT)
Alessandra Stanley: The war has changed dramatically since the early, heady days of shock and awe. Television over the past four years has changed with it, not always for better but not necessarily for worse. Most Americans, spared tax increases, rationing or a draft, still have no direct sense of the war beyond the television set.

Did Jim Cramer Reveal Too Much? (NYP)
Flamboyant Wall Street trader turned TV host Jim Cramer, not known for being the shy, retiring type, might have said too much in a video interview he did for a financial Web site. The host of CNBC's daily program Mad Money had hedge fund-trading desks buzzing yesterday after he bragged about manipulating stock prices during his days as a trader.

Baltimore Sun Publisher Quits Abruptly After 6 Months (Baltimore Sun)
Rondra Matthews resigned yesterday as publisher and chief executive officer of the paper. She will be replaced by Timothy Ryan, a Chicago Tribune vice president who was formerly an executive at the Sun for five years. Matthews pointed to the twin demands of caring for her 77-year-old mother who lives in Williamsburg, Virginia — 200 miles south of Baltimore — and simultaneously running the paper.

AMI Sets Date to Report Fiscal '06 (NYP)
American Media Inc.'s long overdue report for fiscal 2006 may now be only days away, according to the company's latest SEC filing. Technically, the publisher of Star, the National Enquirer and Shape blew another deadline for reporting its fiscal results for the one-year period ending March 31, 2006, when it did not report on March 15.

Journalism and Politics Makes for Some Uncomfortable Pillow Talk (CJR Daily)
Paul McLeary: James Rainey has an interesting piece in the Los Angeles Times that runs through a partial list of big-name journalists who are married to advisers to 2008 presidential candidates. ... We are in no way suggesting that they are going to consciously take it easy on their wives' bosses, but the issue will be lurking somewhere in their minds as they write their stories.

Media Guy: Some 'Newpeats' For the Media World (AdAge)
Simon Dumenco: Last week, NBC successfully rebranded the rerun. The network broadcast an hour-long "newpeat" of The Office that was basically a re-edited set of reruns in which some scenes were deleted and other scenes, which had previously been left on the cutting-room floor, were included. Now I wish someone would create newpeats for the other parts of my life. Particularly my media life.

Is There a Role for Newsweeklies in a 24-7 News Environment? (AJR)
"I worry about the future of newsweeklies," says Michael Nathanson, a media analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. "I don't know what their relevance is in the world today. The model has changed so much; the world has moved to a 24-7 pace. I don't know how they fit it anymore."

Page Six To Perez: Deb Schoeneman Uses Playboy For Gossip Atonement (FBNY)
Ex-New York magazine gossip columnist and author Deborah Schoeneman contributed a 5,058-word piece to the April issue of Playboy that's part "blogs have changed the Hollywood gossip game" and part public apology to Paula Froelich, the Page Six reporter whom Schoeneman feuded with last summer. Radar: Gossip gals' feud flares.