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U.S. Condemns 'Tyrant in His Pants' Pics (Guardian)
The administration blasted a front-page picture in the British tabloid Sun showing former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein clad only in white briefs, folding a pair of trousers. The New York Post also fronted the sagging undies shot.

Fox Holds Steady (NYT)
Fox announced a prime-time lineup for the 2005-6 television season that its president said underscored the success and stability of the network's schedule. WaPo: One way or the other, Les Moonves is going to wipe out NBC's Thursday night, writes Lisa de Moraes. LAT: Dispatches from the upfronts parties.

Laura Bush 'Glad' Newsweek Retracted Story (Fox News)
As she prepared to leave Thursday night for Jordan, Israel, and Egypt, first lady Laura Bush said the recent news article on U.S. troops desecrating the Koran does not accurately reflect the beliefs and behaviors of Americans. NYT: Instead of sending Scott McClellan out to flog Newsweek, President Bush should have talked straight with the Muslim world, writes Thomas Friedman.

Strike to Cause Beeb News Blackout (Guardian)
Monday's BBC strike threatens to take huge swaths of the corporation's TV and radio news output off air.

NYT Names Top Culture Vulture (LA Weekly)
Nikki Finke: After a long deliberation process that pitted two popular editors—Sam Sifton and Jim Schachter—against one another, The New York Times finally named Sifton as its new Culture editor.

More on Radar Party Follies (NYP)
"What baffles me is why they would want their launch event hijacked by that kind of publicity?" asked pie-pelted Nick Denton. "I heard Mort Zuckerman slipped in the goo." Gawker: Full report and pictures of the launch party and the infamous Pie-gate. Radar: With pie still trickling down his face, Denton was overheard on his cell phone furiously screaming instructions to a lackey on how to spin the situation.

Sole Man? (Page Six)
The Post keeps up its assault on Daily News editor-in-chief Michael Cooke, saying that he brazenly indulged an alleged fetish for female feet in yesterday's paper. Cooke has denied having such a predilection.

Newspapers Harder to Reach With a Hot Tip (Chicago Reader)
Michael Miner: Contact information is rarely easy to find on newspaper websites. Operators knock off at 5 or 5:30, and they're not around on weekends. Yet there was a time not many years ago when an operator was always on duty at a serious newspaper and the newsroom was always easy to reach.

Agency Chair Tries to 'Fix' Public TV (WaPo)
Paul Farhi: Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, has begun an effort that in recent weeks has begun to tear like a knife through the insular world of public television and radio.

Awe-letta (Marketwatch)
Jon Friedman: Chances are, the Walter Mitty in media reporters dreams of being Ken Auletta of the New Yorker. Well, they might fantasize about having Auletta's journalistic gifts, anyway. And why not?

Boston Mag Suit Finds Niche (Boston Herald)
"I can assure you that our team has done nothing wrong," said Jason Binn, "and any claims to the contrary will be vigorously opposed. It is my opinion Boston magazine is concerned with our entry into the local market based on our continued successes with all of our other magazines.''

Local Reporter Fired After F-Bomb (NYDN)
TV reporter Arthur Chi'en was canned by WCBS yesterday after he shouted the F-word at two meddlers who horned in on his live shot. Page Six: Chi'en was standing in front of a subway station delivering a live intro to a segment about a MetroCard scam when two men walked up behind him, held up a sign and began chanting, "Opie and Anthony."

Our Man Anonymous (E&P)
Greg Mitchell: In a week when the use of anonymous sources is drawing unprecedented scrutiny and criticism, a front-page story in The New York Times on Thursday was based mainly on just those kinds of sources.

Afghan Veejay Slain for Playing Pop Music (The Times)
Shaima Rezayee was the face of a new generation of young Afghan women: She discarded her shalwar kameez and burkha for Western clothes and a glamorous job as a television presenter on Kabul's answer to MTV. This week she paid for her unconventional choices with her life.

Parsons Parses TW Prospects (Huffington Post)
Cable Neuhaus: To those who follow the ups and downs of media behemoth Time Warner, some comments made yesterday by CEO Dick Parsons will probably be of interest. Some may even be surprising.

Newspaper Guild Chief Blasted for Iraq Comments (E&P)
Linda Foley, national president of The Newspaper Guild, drew strong criticism today from some conservative groups for comments she made last Friday about the killing of journalists in Iraq.

WaPo: We Like Tykes (Washington City Paper)
Erik Wemple: KidsPost editor Tracy Grant, convened a skull session last week to address a generation gap in Post readership, and is working on the paper's teen appeal. "This is not a groundswell, not an initiative, not anything except a vague itch that I'm pursuing and scratching," she says.

GA Principal Moves to Eliminate High-School Journalism (AP via Tallahassee Democrat)
This school year's final edition of a high school student newspaper was killed and the school's journalism class was eliminated after the principal said the paper highlighted negative stories and a lack of thorough reporting.

—David S. Hirschman