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A Name to Herald Its Merger: Thomson Reuters (NYT)
Today Thomson Corporation, a leading provider of electronic financial, medical, and legal data, officially completes its takeover of Reuters, the venerable British financial information provider and news agency. Entire subway stations in New York, Toronto, and London will be decorated with the company's new name, Thomson Reuters, and its new logo, a series of encircling dots.

Potter Lexicon Trial Comes to an End (AP via USAT)
A three-day trial over an unauthorized Harry Potter encyclopedia ended Wednesday with a flash of anger from J.K. Rowling. The best-selling British author returned to the witness stand and told a judge that if he allows the fan-written lexicon to be published, it will clear the way for countless rip-offs of her books, as well as the work of other popular authors.

Publisher David Hiller: Zell Won't Sell LA Times (Forbes)
David Hiller has been in the hot seat ever since he was appointed publisher, president, and chief executive of Tribune Co.'s Los Angeles Times in October 2006. Here he talks about challenges facing the Times and the newspaper industry, saying the company's priority is to continue aggressively building out its online business. He also says that owner Sam Zell has indicated he won't sell the paper.

In Democrats' Debate, the Clear Loser Is ABC (WaPo)
Tom Shales: When Barack Obama met Hillary Clinton for another televised Democratic candidates' debate last night, it was more than a step forward in the 2008 presidential election. It was another step downward for network news — in particular ABC News, which hosted the debate from Philadelphia and whose usually dependable anchors, Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, turned in shoddy, despicable performances.

Lawyer: Only Two Witnesses Testified Against Bilal Hussein (PDN)
The U.S. military produced only two witnesses to testify at AP photographer Bilal Hussein's investigative hearing. Hussein's lawyer, Paul Gardephe, says two Marines who arrested Hussein in 2006 testified against him by videoconference. "There were no surprises," Gardephe says. "There was never any evidence that suggested to me that he was performing in any other role than a photographer covering a conflict."

Editors at ASNE Confab Explode at AP's Curley Over Rates (E&P)
A recent dispute between numerous newspaper editors and the Associated Press over rate structures and other practices erupted again Wednesday. Following an appearance by AP president and CEO Tom Curley, who discussed the controversial new rate structure, several editors spoke up in opposition to the plan, claiming it unfairly charges member papers and includes too many services they do not want.

Kurt Andersen: Magazines Becoming 'Like Sailboats in the 19th and 20th Century' (FishbowlNY)
At last night's "Night With WNYC" event celebrating the new public radio show The Takeaway with John Hockenberry and Adaora Udoji, Kurt Andersen sounded off on the future of print magazines. "They will be beautiful luxuries, like sailboats in the 19th and 20th centuries," the Spy founder said. He later called Time under founder Henry Luce "a rabidly Republican magazine, even the Fox News of its day."

Studios Turn to Books and Mags in Pursuit of New Scripts (Variety)
Feature development execs were bracing for a deluge of feature spec scripts to flood the market after the 100-day writers strike wrapped in mid-February. But the storm, if it's brewing at all, has yet to hit, so the majors are chasing after books and magazine articles harder than they have in years.

Squeaky Wheel Gets the Boot at Gawker Media (Portfolio)
Jeff Bercovici: At the risk of being overly obvious — Airing your boss' dirty laundry in public is not a recipe for long-term job security. At least it's not at Gawker Media, where Jordan Golson, the Valleywag writer who complained on his own site about the company's quarterly adjustment in its pay rates, has gotten the hook.

The Unsung Hero of the Washington Post (Washington City Paper)
When Julie Tate's name appears in the Washington Post, it's generally surrounded by predictable text. The predictable text sits at the footer of the story, always in italics, and reads like this: Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report. The formulation is simple and brief, in the best of newspaper traditions. And in light of recent events, it may be one of the grandest understatements in journalism.

RTNDA Panel: 'We're Going to Play a Vital Role, or Become Obsolete' (TVNewser)
The closing session of this year's RTNDA conference pondered "What Would Murrow Do?" The panel did as little "hand wringing" as possible about the current state of the industry but instead wondered what Edward R. Murrow would think of the news media today. "He would have his own show on the History Channel, or Discovery or PBS and a Web site for investigations," said Shurz Communications senior VP Marci Burdick. B&C: At another RTNDA panel, digital-media directors Cory Bergman (Belo's KING5.com and NWCN.com) and Jacques Natz (Hearst-Argyle Television) stressed that retrofitting the newsroom to tackle Web and mobile challenges does not cut it anymore.

Cindy McCain Will Take a Seat at The View Table (AP)
Cindy McCain is joining the ladies on The View — at least for a day. Republican candidate John McCain's wife will be a co-host on the ABC daytime chat show next Monday. She'll give conservative host Elisabeth Hasselbeck a rare ally in the show's political conversations. McCain's husband has been on The View four times, most recently last week.

Open Letter to CBS's Moonves: Don't Pay Katie's Successor Big Bucks (CJR)
Dean Starkman: If nothing else, Katie Couric's earlier-than-expected departure from the CBS Evening News should call into question the superstar anchor system for television news. And if CBS executives can't see the end of her $15-million-a-year contract as an opportunity to add to its news-reporting staff, I feel sorry for those geniuses.

Brijit Adds Reviews for Digg, Techmeme, and YouTube (ReadWriteWeb)
Marshall Kirkpatrick: Brijit, the magazine and newspaper review site, yesterday expanded its platform to include very short user reviews of top articles in Digg, Techmeme, and videos on YouTube. The company pays users $5 for each 100-word review of a magazine article, news story, or TV show.

Publishers, Ad Agencies Talk 'Magazines 3.0' (Folio:)
With dwindling newsstand and advertising revenue, slashed marketing budgets, skyrocketing postal, and production costs — and, oh yeah, that recession thing — consumer magazine publishers need be innovative, perhaps more than ever before, to survive. And they're probably going to have to blow up the church-state boundary between advertising and editorial, too. FishbowlNY: The Magazine Day Twitter files. FishbowlNY: Magazine Day keynote: 'We need revolution, not evolution.'