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Disney Shareholder Suit Dismissed as 'Long Shot' (Marketwatch)
Reaction to Roy Disney and Stanley Gold's planned lawsuit against the company was mixed yesterday, with analysts expressing scepticism and even "confusion."

Wall Street Unimpressed by Warner Music Flotation (NYT)
The music giant's IPO came in around $17 a share, well short of the $22 to $24 hoped for by the company.

AOL to Offer Free Email (WaPo)
America Online plans to begin offering free email accounts today to about 20 million users of its popular AIM instant messaging service as part of a bid to build a bigger audience and then profit by selling more advertising.

Yahoo! Enters Online Music Scene (AP via Yahoo!)
The internet portal is coming out with a download service aimed at undercutting Napster and Real Networks.

Norman to Head MTV (B&C)
VH1 president Christina Norman's promotion will make her one of the highest-ranking black executives in television. World Screen: MTV to rebrand in Canada.

FX Names In-House Candidate to Top Job (LAT)
The network has picked entertainment president John Landgraf to be president and general manager, replacing Peter Liguori, who moved to sister company Fox Broadcasting Co. in March.

Mouse Static (NYP)
Considering the future of ABC Radio tops the to-do list of incoming-CEO Bob Iger. A sale could be worth well over a billion dollars.

The NYT Bares Its Soul—Again (Marketwatch)
It's commendable for a paper as powerful as the New York Times to seek constantly to improve its ethics and performance, but shouldn't this always be a newspaper's unspoken core mission? asks Jon Friedman.

Simon Says: I Was Pushed (Crain's)
New York mag's John Simon, who has reviewed theater for the magazine for 37 years, says his departure was not his choice. He will be replaced by 28-year-old Jeremy McCarter of The New York Sun. Page Six: Did Simon's animosity with playwright Wendy Wasserstein play a role in his firing?

CSM Axes Editor, Cuts Jobs (E&P)
The Christian Science Monitor has announced that Paul van Slambrouck, a 29-year veteran of the paper, will be replaced as editor by Richard Bergenheim. The move comes in a reshuffle that will also eliminate 10-15 editorial jobs at the Boston-based paper.

Mass Media in 'Meltdown' (NYP)
Everything from talk radio ratings to newspaper circ figures seems to suggest that the American media are failing to keep us interested, according to John Podhoretz.

No Noose is Good News (VV)
The Washington press corps is taking steps to loosen the Bush Administration's grip on background briefings and other confidential information, writes Sydney Schanberg.

Emmis in Retreat (AP via Yahoo!)
The company plans to buy back 40 percent of its stock and sell off some or all of its TV stations, in a move welcomed by investors.

Michael Coady Rides Again (NYP)
The one-time Fairchild boss has joined Santa Barbara Magazine owner Jennifer Smith Hale to launch a new California-wide women's luxe lifestyle mag to be known simply as C. LAT: Tu Ciudad, a Los Angeles city magazine aimed at upscale Latinos, is ready to launch.

Frank-ly Speaking (NYO)
Times food writers of recent vintage have hardly hesitated to share their personal lives with readers—from Ruth Reichl's pioneering first-person work to Amanda Hesser's frothy accounts of romancing Tad "Mr. Latte" Friend. But Mr. Bruni swiftly established his own writerly persona, flourishing a combination of rococo prose and personal revelations in his reviews and essays.

Tensions Rise in Univision-Televisa Spat (Ad Age)
Two Televisa execs have 'stormed off' Univision's board of directors, in a sign of escalating tensions between the Spanish language media giants following disagreement over an executive appointment.

Knight Ridder Launches East Bay Freep (E&P)
Five thousand copies of the East Bay Daily News were delivered yesterday, as the company continued to put its faith in the free paper model.

The Plastic Wars (NYT)
Visa and MasterCard get aggressive in their advertising, as the industry goes in search of the "new affluents."

—John Ghazvinian