Purcell Not Planning to Sell Herald (Boston Globe)
The publisher met with the paper's labor unions yesterday afternoon and said that he is looking to find savings of $7 million, that he would provide details in future meetings on ways to make cuts. Boston Herald: Purcell noted the significant pressures facing the industry, including soft ad revenue, changing reader habits, and escalating operating costs.

Journo Shot By U. S. Leaves Rome Hospital (AP via Boston Globe)
Giuliana Sgrena, who was held hostage in Iraq for a month and later shot by U.S. troops as she was being driven to freedom, was released Thursday from the hospital, where she was treated for a wound to her shoulder.

G+J Prez Hints at 'Scary' Step of Rolling Back Circ (Folio)
In the wake of two circulation scandals, Gruner + Jahr president and CEO Russell Denson says the company will move away from distribution as a measurement of circulation and even roll it back, in an effort to shore up circulation for its advertisers. Newsday: G+J mulls entry into lower-priced mag niche.

Time Inc. Looking Into New Titles (NYP)
The company may be having a tough time with some of its new launches, but CEO Ann Moore is said to be still keen to develop more. [Third item.]

Memoir Overload (NYT)
William Grimes: Readers have gotten used to the idea that you do not have to be a statesman or a military commander to commit your life to print. But the genre has become so inclusive that it's almost impossible to imagine which life experiences do not qualify as memoir material.

Imus Slams Report on His Charity (NYT)
Combative radio talk-show host Don Imus, who relishes skewering his enemies, used his program yesterday to take on The Wall Street Journal, which has raised questions about financial controls and the personal use of a charity ranch he established in New Mexico for critically ill children.

Feds to Probe HHS Gallagher Payment (WaPo)
Federal auditors said yesterday that they will investigate whether the Department of Health and Human Services violated the law by awarding a $21,500 contract to commentator and marriage advocate Maggie Gallagher.

Three Fired in TV News Sex Scandal (Page Six)
The firing of a reporter and two producers has created a mess at NBC's owned-and-operated Los Angeles TV station, KNBC-TV, especially since the fired reporter, Kyung Lah, was covering the Michael Jackson case.

Atlantic to Cut Fiction (Folio)
Beginning in August, the Atlantic Monthly, the legacy ship seeing an advertising turnaround of late, will no longer run fiction. Instead, the magazine plans to offer a newsstand-only fiction issue. [Third item.]

Issues, Not Images, Drive Schiavo Coverage (St. Petersburg Times)
Charles Squires: The Terri Schiavo saga, with its lack of dramatic video, wouldn't seem to lend itself to television. But TV news producers say that in a case this big, it has been issues, not images, driving viewer interest.

Farewell to Newspapers? (ABC News)
Michael Malone: I can't precisely place the moment when I stopped reading newspapers, but it was sometime during the dot-com boom. I've been involved with newspapers, in some form or another, for a quarter century, and I don't see a compelling reason to read them.

News Orgs Support Miller and Cooper (E&P)
Thirty-six news organizations joined in a court filing Wednesday in support of The New York Times' Judith Miller and Time magazine's Matthew Cooper, who have been held in contempt and face jail time for refusing to reveal sources in the Valerie Plame case.

CBS Considers Special 'Brand Integration' Fees (Ad Age)
CBS is considering charging brand integration fees as demand for branded entertainment platforms continues to increase, according to chairman Leslie Moonves.

New Columbia J-Degree Unveiled (NYT)
There will be two compulsory courses, a history of journalism and another, taught by the dean, on evidence and inference, in which students will learn to find and interpret statistics, archives, and legal documents.

The Billionaire Newsboy (Slate)
Jack Shafer: Nobody thinks Philip Anschutz is a fool, but nobody dumps hundreds of millions of dollars into the movie and exhibition businessor newspapers to uplift the masses. There's got to be an angle.

Brit Police Chief Condemns Journos' Security Tests (Guardian)
A senior police officer accused journalists of "making life easier for terrorists" after a News of the World reporter was arrested trying to infiltrate Edinburgh airport.

Media Owe Bonds No Apology (Marketwatch)
Jon Friedman: On Tuesday, Bonds responded to his (self-created) problems in the easiest and most time-honored way possible: he blamed the big bad press. Bonds might as well be teaching a course for his fellow celebrities called Anti-Media Relations 101. The Black Table: A.J. Daulerio interviews Jon Friedman.

Journalism the Real Target in Rather Flap? (The Nation)
Eric Alterman: The premise that Rather is a liberal and is therefore representative of the dread disease of liberal bias rests entirely on complaints not about liberalism but about journalism.

—David S. Hirschman