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High Cover Charge (NYP)
Saturation coverage of the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie romantic beach getaway didn't exactly ignite a newsstand stampede for celebrity magazines this week after US Weekly paid $500,000 for the package of photos that included a cover pic and a 13-page story.

New Offensive in Indecency Fight (Hollywood Reporter)
A coalition backed by three of the Big Four broadcast networks launched a PR counterattack Wednesday in the battle over television content and the push on Capitol Hill to strengthen indecency laws. NYDN: New poll finds Americans do not want the government to censor what they watch.

Murdoch Expects to Trim Liberty's Stake (NYT)
News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch told securities analysts that he expected to resolve a dispute over an 18 percent stake held by Liberty Media within the next three months. LAT: News Corp. profits down on higher costs, restructuring.

British Papers Square Off on Election (NYT)
Not particularly unbiased even in normal times, the country's 11 daily papers, from the sex-obsessed Daily Star to the staid Daily Telegraph, traditionally toss impartiality out the window during election season.

NYP's Online Registation Woes (NYDN)
Lloyd Grove: The Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid had demanded on Tuesday that anyone trying to read its online edition must first provide a mother lode of highly personal information, including name, age, home address, home telephone number and even income.

More Than a Notch Above Child Molesters (AP via Kansas City Star)
According to two professors at Louisiana State University, journalists are significantly more ethical than the average adult and eclipsed only by seminarians, doctors, and medical students.

Chappelle's Show on Hold (Hollywood Reporter via Reuters)
Comedy Central gave no reason why it has postponed the premiere of Dave Chappelle's hit series less than a month before it was scheduled to return for a third season.

Editor of Gay Newspaper Chain Beaten in Hate Crime (E&P)
Chris Crain, editorial director of the gay newspaper chain Windows Media, was beaten by seven men in Amsterdam, Holland, as he was walking hand-in-hand with his boyfriend early Saturday morning.

Radio 'Invades' Journalism (The Nation via Yahoo!)
Thanks in part to the skill with which members of the American Newspaper Publishers' Association keep their right hands from knowing what their left hands do, the American people will get more news by radio in the future than heretofore.

Huffington, Plugged (OJR)
Mark Glaser: Gadfly Arianna Huffington will launch her own version of Drudge Report with a group blog of intellectuals and Hollywood types who skew left. Will it be the start of something big or "Who Wants to Be a Blog Millionaire?"

Cronkite: Media Failing on Nukes (AP via Guardian)
Celebrated CBS retiree Walter Cronkite, joining in a panel discussion at a U.N. conference on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, said narrow reporting means the U.S. public is "largely unaware" that the 1970 treaty obliges their government to move toward full nuclear disarmament.

'Darth Vega' and the Chron (SF Weekly)
New San Francisco Chronicle publisher Frank Vega has been cast as a villain, but he may be just what the Hearst empire needs to defeat the dark forces of the new economy.

D.C. Society Chronicler Miller Dies (Washington Post)
Hope Ridings Miller, who observed life in the capital for more than 70 years as society editor of The Washington Post and as a magazine editor and author, died April 29. Her age, long a well-guarded secret, was 99.

Franken's Fine (Seattle Weekly)
Comedian, author, and talk-show host Al Franken discusses Rush Limbaugh's butt, and explains how Seattle money saved Air America.

Vital Idol? (USAT)
Ann Oldenburg: The question now is how will pop-culture darling American Idol weather this latest scandal?

WaPo Photog Returns to Shooting (PDN)
After spending most of the last 17 years behind a desk, Washington Post photo editor Michel duCille is returning to his first love: taking pictures.

Nerve a Dull Moment (Work)
Jim Jazwiecki: Working at Nerve.com was not at all sexy. Sometimes it was cool, and once in a while it was smart, but it was not sexy.

How the Paper-Chase Wins Awards (E&P)
"The best stories always start with a tip," says NYT reporter Diana Henriques, who has won multiple awards and became a Pulitzer finalist for her investigative series on insurance companies selling misleading policies to the military.

To Victor Goes the Spoils (Forward)
In the 27 years that Victor Navasky has overseen the magazine The Nation, the scrappy journal of leftist thought has seen its circulation skyrocket to more than 184,000 from a modest 20,000, and has even started turning a profit during the past three years.

Blogosphere Clogging Minds (NY Press)
Russ Smith: Let a billion blogs flourish and bring financial rewards to those hosting them, but the political climate of self-congratulation, added to the ceaseless stream of bile, is getting too rich for my blood.

—David S. Hirschman