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Simpsons Extends Record Run (NY Sun)
The Fox Network has commissioned two more seasons of The Simpsons cartoon series, the longest running prime time entertainment series on American television.

Verizon Will Pay to Run CBS Shows on Phones (WSJ)
The telephone company will pay CBS about 50 cents per subscriber for the right to carry its television stations on Verizon's new TV service. "Verizon is stuck," said Josh Bernoff, a media analyst at Forrester Research. "They need content, and they don't have much of a negotiating position."

Furor Over Times Sudan Ad (Lowdown)
Lloyd Grove: Human-rights activists are scorching The New York Times for taking almost a million dollars in advertising from the blood-soaked country of Sudan, whose leaders promote slavery and genocide on a grand scale.

Could Hayes Have Quit South Park After a Stroke? (Fox411)
Roger Friedman: Isaac Hayes is in no position to have quit anything. Contrary to news reports, the great writer, singer and musician suffered a stroke on Jan. 17. Reuters: South Park chef character to live on.

Former Public Radio Employees Charged With Taking Payola (Billboard)
Three former employees of public radio station WUOM Ann Arbor, Mich., have been charged with accepting golf club memberships, Persian rugs, airline tickets and massages in exchange for programming.

Cable TV Producers, Union Spar (LAT)
The chief negotiator for Hollywood studios blasted a decision by Screen Actors Guild leaders to solicit a strike authorization vote in their contract talks with producers of several basic cable TV programs. SAG officials say they aren't looking to strike but want to secure a fair deal.

Art Spiegelman to Judge Anti-Semitic Cartoon Contest in Israel (Comicon)
An Israeli comics cooperative is sponsoring an anti-Semitic cartoon contest, spoofing a similar one in Iran. Spiegelman has agreed to be one of the judges. GC: Spiegelman drew three illustrations for the New Yorker on the theme of the anti-Semitic cartoon contest an Iranian newspaper is sponsoring in retaliation for the Muhammed caricatures.

Lapham, Leaving Harper's, Keeps Moving (WaPo)
"The term most people use to describe Lewis is patrician, and he does have that air," says Tom Wolfe to Peter Carlson. "He's very much part of a social network. He does know a wide range of people in the upper orders. That's why I think he has a lot of fun with his left-leaning views."

Bradlee: Newspapers Not Dying (E&P)
Bradlee contends there are eight to 10 "really good papers" and says the Washington Post and The New York Times are "the two that aspire to be great." In this era of major cost cutting and downsizing, he says newspapers can still be good and make a difference.

New Owner of Times HQ to Turn Truck Bays Into Stores (NYT)
The truck bays of the New York Times headquarters — once the maws of a roaring, round-the-clock factory in the middle of the theater district, consuming tons of newsprint rolls and disgorging tens of thousands of newspapers an hour — will be turned into storefronts by new owners.

Dissing Jon Friedman (CJR Daily)
Paul McLeary: Friedman is a puzzling case. He occupies the odd cultural space of both upholding conventional wisdom while struggling mightily to understand it himself.

More Cuts Coming at Globe? (Boston Phoenix)
Mark Jurkowitz: Word is that additional budget-cutting measures are under consideration as economic and circulation problems continue to plague the Boston Globe.

Jon Stewart To Host Peabody Awards (FBNY)
The increasingly ubiquitous awards-show stand-in will host the Peabody Awards in June. Now, would this be considered a step-up or step-down from the Oscars?

—David S. Hirschman