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Columnist Cathy Seipp Dies (LAT)
Catherine Seipp, a writer and media critic who became known in the 1990s for her pointed coverage of the Los Angeles Times in Buzz magazine, has died. She was 49. Seipp, a nonsmoker who was diagnosed with lung cancer five years ago, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. She wrote about such topics as gay marriage, Hollywood liberalism and — a recent favorite — healthcare costs. FishbowlLA: She was kind and cranky, silly and profound. She made Los Angeles seem a little bit like her own red living room — warm, cozy and full of interesting bits. National Review: Seipp was "an unorthodox talent."

News Corp., NBC Pull Together to Challenge YouTube (LAT)
News Corp. and NBC Universal plan to announce as soon as today that they are creating an online video site stocked with TV shows and movies, plus clips that users can modify and share with friends, according to people close to the negotiations. The two companies enlisted help from some of Google's biggest Internet rivals.

Creator of YouTube Anti-Clinton Ad Comes Forward (AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer)
The mystery creator of the Orwellian YouTube ad against Hillary Rodham Clinton is a Democratic operative who worked for a digital consulting firm with ties to rival Sen. Barack Obama. Philip de Vellis, a strategist with Blue State Digital, acknowledged in an interview with the Associated Press that he was the creator of the video, which portrayed Clinton as a Big Brother figure. Huffington Post: "Hi. I'm Phil. I did it. And I'm proud of it."

Possible Conflict May Sink Grazer's LA Times Guest Editor Stint (LAT)
The Los Angeles Times might scrap Sunday's Current section to avoid the appearance that a romantic relationship between the paper's editorial page editor and a publicist for Hollywood producer Brian Grazer might have led to Grazer's selection as a guest editor. Publisher David Hiller said late Wednesday that he was considering halting publication of this weekend's opinion section.

Globe Cuts 24 Newsroom Jobs in Buyouts (Boston Globe)
The paper reduced its newsroom staff by 24 people, or six percent, through a buyout that included several of its most prominent and longtime journalists, including two Pulitzer Prize winners, columnist Eileen McNamara and reporter Stephen Kurkjian. The program was an effort to cut costs but avoid layoffs in the face of some of the harshest conditions for newspapers and other mass media in years.

Black: 'I'm No Jay Gatsby' (NYP)
The dethroned newspaper baron fired off a letter to The Times of London to dispel the notion that he was like the antihero from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel. That idea was suggested in commentary by William Rees-Mogg, who wrote that Black and Gatsby have "the same energy, the same liking for hospitality, the same big romantic illusions, the same virtues and some of the same flaws."

Editor of Russian Edition of Forbes Guilty of Defamation (NYT)
The editor-in-chief of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine was found guilty of defamation Wednesday in a dispute over an article about a business run by the wife of the mayor of Moscow. A city court in Moscow ruled against the editor, Maksim V. Kashulinsky, not for the contents of the article, but for commenting publicly on the controversy surrounding its publication.

Churgin Named SVP for Condé Nast Media Group (WWD)
Though she was just moved over in February to Gourmet from Architectural Digest, vice president and publisher Amy Churgin will be moving offices once again to become senior vice president for Condé Nast Media Group, overseeing corporate sales. Churgin will replace Suzanne Grimes, who left the company last week to join Mary Berner at Reader's Digest Association.

After Sopranos, HBO Needs a Hit (NYT)
In its eight-year run on HBO, The Sopranos has set all sorts of new standards for cable television, collecting scores of awards, amassing record-setting audiences and providing perhaps the most precious commodity of all to HBO: cultural impact. But after the last nine episodes starting April 8, the premium cable network will have to carry on without its signature show.

Time Warner CEO Considering Mayoral Run? (Crain's New York Business)
Time Warner chief executive Richard Parsons continued to leave the door open to a possible mayoral run once his contract expires in 2008. "It's not smart to let people push you [into a decision]," he said, explaining why he planned to take time to "cool out" once he leaves the media giant. "It's much better to go off somewhere and clear your mind and figure out what to do next."

Marketers Have Eye on 'Third Screen' (NYT)
Old media lagged behind in the race to go online, in part because the prospects for advertising seemed unclear on the Internet. Then, online advertising took off, and the old media are still playing catch-up. Now, with the mobile Web spreading around the world, publishers and other content providers are trying to avoid coming in late on another advertising bonanza.

NBC on More Solid Groud as Reilly Prepares to Meet With Buyers (Variety)
As he meets with the nation's top media buyers this morning, NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly is in for a different reception than the one he got a year ago, when buyers were still questioning whether an NBC ratings recovery was possible. Reilly said the network was starting to feel a bit of "a perceptual turnaround."

In Demand Networks, MLB Continue Public Battle (B&C)
Major League Baseball and In Demand Networks traded public shots Wednesday after MLB on Wednesday said In Demand's offer for the out-of-market baseball package was insufficient. In Demand president & CEO Robert Jacobson fired the latest salvo after MLB let In Demand's latest offer sail by.

Bush Skips ASNE Again (E&P)
It's no surprise that President Bush would want to avoid a room full of newspaper editors these days. With various investigations into his administration, his decision to skip the annual American Society of Newspaper Editors conference next week is almost expected. But that won't stop the conference from looking at reporter subpoenas, Iraq, and medical treatment for military vets.