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Meredith Closes Child; Cuts 60 Staffers Across All Titles (Mediaweek)
Meredith Corp. announced it would fold Child magazine after publishing the June/July issue, saying the title was not sustainable in the long term. The company also said it would eliminate 60 jobs throughout the company, including 30 at Child and another 30 throughout its publishing division. NYT: Meredith said Child's Web site would become part of a parenting portal that will have its debut in July and include Parents, American Baby and Family Circle, three of the company's other titles.

20 Axed at AMI (NYP)
The ax fell again at Star and slumping American Media. Twenty people were let go, including 12 at the celebrity magazine. Most of the cutbacks were said to have been orchestrated by Candace Trunzo, the new editor-in-chief of Star who has shoved the company's editorial director Bonnie Fuller into a reduced role. Those cuts included executive editor Jon Auerbach. NYO: Star alum to Post biz desk.

Tribune Debt May Sink Zell (NYP)
If he's successful in trumping a bid by fellow billionaires Ron Burkle and Eli Broad and a management-proposed restructuring, Sam Zell will become the owner of a deteriorating debt-laden business that's burdened by regulatory challenges, analysts say. Zell's bid could saddle Tribune, owner of the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and the Chicago Cubs, with a huge debt load.

The Worrying Case of an Ambitious Afghan Journalist (CJR Daily)
Afghan journalist Ajmal Naqshbandi's whereabouts remain unknown 22 days after he was kidnapped by the Taliban while working as a translator for a La Repubblica reporter in Afghanistan. The Taliban grabbed three men in the Helmand province on March 5. The driver, Sayed Agha, was beheaded. The Pakistani-born Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, was released. But Ajmal remains in limbo.

Study: Percentage of Minority Newspaper Journalists Down Slightly (E&P)
Minorities made up 13.62% of the journalists working in U.S. newsrooms last year, a small decrease from the 13.87% reported a year ago, according to the American Society of Newspaper Editors' annual survey, which included full-time online journalists for the first time. But while the percentage of minorities fell, the number of minority journalists actually increased.

NYT Will Have New Public Editor (WWD)
The Times will have a third public editor when Byron "Barney" Calame's term ends in May, a Times spokeswoman confirmed, despite executive editor Bill Keller's earlier acknowledgement that the future of the position was in question. The timing of the next appointment "has not yet been determined," said the spokeswoman, but Calame's term will not be extended.

FCC Testing Web-Over-Airwaves Device (AP)
The Federal Communications Commission is expected to release findings this summer on whether a new device can deliver high-speed Internet service over unused airwaves without disrupting television programming. Scott Blake Harris, the attorney for a coalition of technology companies that developed the device, said Tuesday the FCC is expected to issue its test results by July.

LA Times May Have Dumped Grazer, But It Could Have Been Rummy (NYO)
"One of my frustrations in all this is, they are leaving me out as the guy that sucks up to Hollywood," said former edit-page editor Andrés Martinez. "It's not like I had an opportunity as editorial-page editor to dive into Hollywood. I was busy with learning about local politics."

Heeb Magazine Serves As 'Quasi Ad Agency' (NYT)
Heeb magazine has served as a "quasi ad agency" for its clients. The staff conceives and executes ads that don't appear in other publications for several of the mag's advertisers. Although advertisers usually pay agencies to design ads, editor Joshua Neuman waives that fee, but requires that such advertisers buy full-page ads and sign multiple-issue contracts.

Court Rules In Favor Of Harper's In Dead Soldier Photo Case (FishbowlNY)
An appellate court in Denver has ruled in favor of Harper's magazine and photojournalist Peter Turnley in the magazine's publication of a photo of an open casket of deceased U.S. soldier that appeared in the August 2004 issue. The court affirmed the prior judgment of a district court, finding that the photo was newsworthy and a matter of public interest, and that the photograph published accurately reflected the image of Sgt. Kyle Brinlee's funeral and open casket.

Millions May Miss Digital TV Deadline (LAT)
For millions of Americans, the digital revolution might not be televised. One in five U.S. households depends on rabbit ears or a rooftop antenna to watch TV. Without converter boxes, most of their sets will go blank the day in 2009 that federal law requires broadcast stations to turn off analog signals and transmit only in digital.

How Listeners Will Fare in Sirius-XM Merger (WSJ)
Lee Gomes: If you fret about diminished choices with a joined Sirius and XM, think about commercial radio in the U.S. Its ownership is highly concentrated, its programming is most commonly described as "soulless" and it is missing most of the public-interest programming we used to take for granted.

Home Base for Laughs? Comedy Central Thinks So (NYT)
Nobody in broadcast television has been laughing much lately at the state of comedy. This season exactly one situation comedy is among the 20 most-watched shows on TV. But that doesn't mean people have stopped looking for laughs. In the midst of mostly grim days for comedy, Comedy Central has never been merrier.

Steamy Book Gets Buzz From Web (WSJ)
A video campaign created buzz for The Average American Male, showing how companies with tiny ad budgets can use the Web to reach a big audience quickly and cheaply. Harper Perennial spent $10,000 to produce three risqué videos promoting the book, which have become a Web sensation, with more than one million verified views in the past two weeks. But will it translate into higher sales?

Lies and Memories (Slate)
Jack Shafer: In telling stories of our lives, everybody embellishes and steals a little, and some of us do it a lot. But trouble starts when an enhanced story makes its way into print and collides with the value system known as journalism, as the New York Times and humorist David Sedaris learned this month.