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In Buzz Industries, Page Six Has Profound Impact (NYT)
David Carr: Beneath its gossamer skin of celebrity sightings and innuendo, Page Six occupies a significant coordinate in the business cosmology of New York City. Scores are kept and settled on the page, deals are floated and brands, both personal and corporate, are forged and melted down. WaPo: Seedy gossips pages may not be too far from Washington press corps, writes Howard Kurtz. New Yorker: Steve Martin parodies what a tamer Page Six will look like. New York Mag: A random survey of 100 pedestrians in Union Square on news, celebrities, and (allegedly) crooked gossip columnists. Guardian: The statement Rupe should have issued? Gawker: Guest editor Jared Paul Stern: WHICH malicious magnate has a room full of secret files stuffed with dirt on scores of journalists and politicians?

Schieffer Offered Evening News Commentary Role (Inky)
For the first time in 20 years, since Bill Moyers left the set, CBS wants commentary on the Evening News — and it wants Bob Schieffer to do it. Twice a week, beginning with Katie Couric's debut in September. "My answer is, 'I don't know,'" Schieffer tells Gail Shister. USAT: Couric's online duties for CBS have yet to be determined.

McClatchy Reportedly in Late-Stage Talks on Four Papers (Reuters)
MediaNews is the lead candidate to buy the San Jose Mercury News, the Contra Costa Times and The Monterey County Herald in Northern California, and is also in late-stage talks to buy Minnesota's St. Paul Pioneer Press. BoGlo: Interest in McClatchy papers reportedly high.

TV Networks and Stations Challenge FCC Ruling (NYT)
Four TV broadcast networks and their affiliates have filed court challenges to a March 15 Federal Communications Commission ruling that found several programs "indecent" because of language.

Newspapers Selling Out Front Pages to Ads (NYT)
For years, many newspapers have been running what the industry calls wrap-arounds, full-page ads that are wrapped around the actual paper. Last week, the Daily News in New York ran full-page ads in some copies that were, in effect, the front page.

ABC Online Deal Stuns Affiliates (B&C)
Six months after ABC shocked its affiliates by cutting a deal with Apple to sell some of its shows on iTunes, the network last week unveiled an online-distribution deal that once again bypasses ABC stations, raising new concerns for local broadcasters. CSM: Rise of on-demand programming may mean a wider audience, but radio and TV affiliates worry about losing ad dollars.

TBS to Develop Original Comedy Series (Mediaweek)
At its upfront presentation in New York last week, the Turner network said it has greenlighted My Boys and 10 Items or Less, two half-hour series from Sony Pictures Television due to launch in the fourth-quarter 2006.

Where Were You When You Won a Pulitzer? (E&P)
Today, winners of the 90th annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Letters, Drama and Music will be announced. Some former recipients share their thoughts.

With Explosion of New Ad Media, Actors' Royalties on the Rise (WSJ)
Continuing under the current model would "end up making commercials prohibitively expensive," and marketers might do production "outside the code," says Douglas Wood, head negotiator for the Joint Policy Committee on Broadcast Talent Union Relations.

Teen Titles Cool Off (Mediaweek)
Ad business for teen magazines, driven by the core beauty and fashion categories, is on the upswing, experiencing 6.2 percent year-over-year growth in ad pages through May. On the circ side, however, the field is seeing some softness, especially among subscriptions.

Shows About Shows (New Yorker)
At SNL, when two writers come up with the same sketch idea, the sketches are said to be "bumping" to get on the air: usually, only one succeeds. Now two promising TV pilots loosely inspired by the backstage goings on at the show are themselves bumping to get on NBC's fall schedule.

Two Top Posts Vacate at Real Simple (WWD)
Special projects editor Jenny Rosenstrach, who had been working on the magazine's PBS show and special issues, starts a new full-time job today as a features editor at Cookie. Her departure nearly coincided with that of Elizabeth Mayhew, Real Simple's former director of editorial development.

Paper Tries to Cut Costs By Charging Staff for Print Newspapers (NYT)
About a month ago, The Star Tribune in Minneapolis let it be known that, as a cost-cutting effort, free copies of the newspaper would no longer be broadly available around the newsroom. Instead, the staff was offered an electronic edition of the paper that they could access online.

New Novel Dishes on Gulf War Reporters (Rush and Molloy)
The newsfolk who inhabit Neil MacFarquhar's novel, "The Sand Cafe," are supposed to be made up. But they sure look familiar. As U.S. troops gather on the border of Iraq in 1991, reporters camped at the Dhahran Palace Hotel in Saudi Arabia are desperate for something to report.