Click here to receive mb's Newsfeed by email.

Burkle Planning Bid for Knight Papers (LAT)
The investment firm controlled by Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle is planning to bid for all 12 of the Knight Ridder Inc. newspapers that were put on the auction block last week after the San Jose-based chain agreed to be acquired by McClatchy. E&P: Gary Pruitt, McClatchy's CEO, confirmed that several bidders have come forward for individual papers and groups of papers. Sacramento Business Journal: McClatchy will likely sell Knight Ridder papers to multiple buyers.

Times Co. Stung By Globe Ad Skid (NYP)
The newspaper publisher warned of a first-quarter slump, pinning the blame on weak advertising at the Boston Globe. The warning was a "disaster," according to an analyst. "The Boston Globe seems to be having some major problems in help wanted, retail, across the board."

Tennis Week Publisher Gene Scott Dies (NYT)
Scott served tennis for a half-century as a world-ranked player, tournament director, player agent, author and, perhaps most significant, the founder, publisher, editor and iconoclastic columnist of Tennis Week magazine.

Bias Questions Over AP's 'Straw Man' Story (E&P)
Joe Strupp: Did a recent Associated Press story examining President George Bush's alleged tendency to use a "straw man" approach in his speeches cross the line from news to biased opinion? Or was it just a long-overdue, in-depth review of the president's public speaking approach?

New Conservative WaPo Blogger Called Coretta Scott King a Communist (Media Matters)
In a February 7 post, Republican activist Ben Domenech — recently hired by The Washington Post to launch the Red America blog — called the late Coretta Scott King a communist. CJR Daily: All of a sudden, it's a great job market for wingnuts, writes Paul McLeary.

Correspondents Between Iraq and a Hard Place (USAT)
As they begin a fourth year covering the war in Iraq, journalists there face increasing threats to their safety and increasing criticism of their work. The war in Iraq started as arguably the best-covered war in history, but today, it has become for some journalists the least-covered war. Newshour: Analysis of the press coverage of the Iraq War.

Did The Oregonian Conjure a Meth 'Epidemic' (Willamette Week)
Angela Valdez: Over the past year and a half, the paper has dedicated itself to exposing the rise of methamphetamine addiction, devoting at least 261 stories to the subject. But in its effort to convince the world of the threats posed by meth, The Oregonian has sacrificed accuracy. Slate: The Washington Post shows how not to report about meth, writes Jack Shafer.

5 Ways to Fix Time Warner (Business 2.0 via CNN)
Erick Schonfeld: Here's what I have to say to media big cheeses about the state of their industry: It's breaking down. All the major media companies depend on their ability to attract a mass audience, but the mass audience is being replaced by niches.

MySpace Becomes a 'Virtual Graveyard' (Boston Phoenix)
Camille Dodero: While the recent MySpace media frenzy has over and above shown that the "place for friends" can also be a purlieu for juvenile officers, nosey teachers, procrastinating desk-jobbers, and jailbait fishers, the site has also evolved into both ongoing eulogy and virtual graveyard.

Plagiarism in the Blogosphere (ASAP/AP)
Derrick J. Lang: What do you call this new form of alleged digital thievery? It's not quite spam blogging, the act hoisting quickie phony blogs on Google to drive traffic to a commission-paying site. Is it misappropriation? Copyright infringement? Plagiarism? Maybe it's time for a new word.

Study: High Times Not a Gateway Magazine to Harder Reading (The Onion)
Satire: Casual readers of the marijuana-enthusiast magazine High Times are no more likely than non-readers to develop a habit for harder forms of reading, according to a study released Monday by the National Institutes of Health. FBNY: Study: The Onion not a gateway to actual news.

Secrets of Pulp Fiction (Slate)
Bryan Curtis: Dan Brown, author of the mega-selling The Da Vinci Code, has brought forth his most thrilling piece of writing to date: a court document. Like the hidden ciphers the heroes of his book pursue, this is the Dan Brown Code — the key to understanding the secrets of a pulp novelist.