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Boston Herald Columnist Employed by Massachusetts (Boston Globe)
Charles D. Chieppo, who started working yesterday with the state's Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, has received a $10,000 contract to promote the governor's environmental policies.

Times' Woman in Baghdad Wrote to Reporters' Wives? (NYDN)
Lloyd Grove: The paper's recently-fired former Baghdad bureau chief Susan Sachs tangled bitterly with ex-colleagues Dexter Filkins and John Burns over allegations that she sent anonymous letters and an email to their wives alleging bad behavior with women in the war zone.

GM Halts LAT Ads (LAT)
General Motors characterized the decision as the culmination of a long-running dispute over how the company is portrayed in the newspaper.

Peabody Award for 60 Minutes II (NYT)
The awards raised eyebrows by honoring a program that was later accused of basing a report on fake documents, as well as a fake news program, The Daily Show.

Web Blows Media Ban in Canadian Scandal Probe (Reuters)
The power of the Internet shook Canada's legal system on Thursday when the head of an inquiry probing a major government scandal was pushed to lift a publication ban on dramatic evidence after some of it appeared on a U.S. website.

CBS Cameraman Wounded by U.S. in Iraq (Guardian)
The journalist, an Iraqi national who has not been named, sustained a hip injury after he was shot near the northern city of Mosul.

Maxim Does Hollywood (Variety)
The lad mag, which boasts a paid circulation of more than two-and-a-half million, has in recent weeks hammered out deals with Dimension Films and NBC that go beyond the usual cover story horse-trading.

TV Producer Mandabach Inks Comedy Deal With Beeb (Reuters)
Veteran television producer Caryn Mandabach, who helped bring such sitcom classics as The Cosby Show and Roseanne to the small screen, is taking her talents to the other side of the pond.

Dwell's House in Order (Folio)
The 5-year-old shelter title has reached profitability with increased investment in newsstand, a marketing push that included a limited edition shoe and a carefully grown circulation the publisher calls "pristine."

Ailes Talks Business (Hollywood Reporter via Reuters)
Fox's plans for a financial channel are progressing, said News Corp. CEO Roger Ailes, who estimates the start-up costs for the network to be several hundred million dollars.

Blah, Blah, Blog (E&P)
Jesse Oxfeld: Reuters' panel on blogging and journalism was just more of the same. Yes, blogs are great. Now let's move on.

Race for the Sinecure (Washington City Paper)
Erik Wemple: The position of associate editor at the Washington Post could well be the cushiest title in all of journalism: no job description, nice office, good pay, and the resources of a rich corporation at your fingertips.

Partisan Bloggers Masquerade as Journos? (Salon)
Eric Boehlert: Right-wing bloggers shrieked that the GOP Schiavo memo was a "liberal media" fraud. Now that they've been proven wrong, they're still not apologizing.

Sepp Off Radar? (NYP)
Is the Maer Roshan-edited mag, reportedly getting up to $25 million in funding from Mort Zuckerman, going into the final weeks before its launch with publisher Linda Sepp absent?

Mag Sales Up on Pope Coverage (NYDN)
The three major newsweeklies (Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News & World Report), have printed thousands more copies than usual of their issues this week to meet expected demand for cover stories on the Pope.

Adrift Without Anchors (LAT)
Thomas Doherty: The departure of Peter Jennings would mark the end of a special kind of personality-driven news experience—the last unique legacy (reruns not included) of the classic age of broadcast television.

No News Is Good News? (WaPo)
A reporter escorted by the military to a "positive news event" in Iraq elected not to write about the event once it became evident that it would have reflected badly on the U.S.

Brenda Starr Creator Dale Messick Dies (NYT)
Messick was a pioneering cartoonist who fought her way to the top of a man's profession by creating the glamorous red-haired journalist.

Report: Bigger Media Deals on Horizon (Folio)
A forthcoming survey seems to echo the sentiments of two recent M&A reports, which tallied strong first quarter activity, and widespread industry speculation that a number of high-profile, high-value deals are on the horizon.

WMD Report Coverage Skewed? (The Nation)
Eric Alterman: Even in the most critical reports of this phony WMD whitewash ignored the media's willingness to publicize, vouch for and frequently hype the dishonest case the Administration put forth. Just about every bigfoot in the business signed on for this bad-acid trip across Bushland.

—David S. Hirschman