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'Deep Throat' Sells Book Rights (NYT)
Universal Pictures and PublicAffairs have agreed to pay close to $1 million to buy the film and book rights to the life story of W. Mark Felt. WaPo: Tom Hanks to develop movie about Watergate source. New York Press: I've seen some horseshit in my time, but I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like last week's Newsweek cover story on "Deep Throat," writes Matt Taibbi.

Circ Jerks Arrested (NYP)
In an ongoing federal investigation, three former executives at Newsday and its sister paper Hoy were arrested yesterday for scheming to inflate circulation figures and defraud advertisers. NYP: Industry watchdog tightens standards.

Newsmedia Give Downing St. Memo a Second Glance (WaPo)
Howard Kurtz: Journalists offered various explanations for the scant attention paid to the July 2002 British memo, but now activists have pushed it into the media. Slate: What's really in the Downing Street memo. E&P: A survey of editorial pages of American newspapers produced a mixed picture of their treatment of the memo. Salon: AP dropped the ball on the memo, writes Eric Boehlert.

Church Big Blasts Web Media (The Times)
The Archbishop of Canterbury criticized the new web-based media for "paranoid fantasy, self-indulgent nonsense and dangerous bigotry." Newsweek: The line between Internet fame and real-world celebrity is blurring, and not everyone in the blogosphere is happy about it. AlterNet: Jerome Armstrong of the political blog MyDD discusses how the Internet has changed—and how it's changing Democratic politics. Seattle Weekly: Arts journalism isn't dead, it's just got a serious case of the blogs, writes Tim Appelo.

Role of Lobbyists in Public TV Investigated (NYT)
Investigators at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are examining payments to two Republican lobbyists that were not disclosed to the corporation's board.

Rupe Gives Last Rites as Brit Journos Abandon Fleet St. (Reuters)
The media mogul blamed for sweeping British newspapers off Fleet Street returned to the London site to read the last rites at a ceremony tinged with nostalgia and irony. Guardian: The transition from one kind of journalism to another was marked by an event with no obvious ecclesiastical precedent.

Reporter Defends Jacko Coverage (NYT)
Diane Dimond, the veteran television reporter, is well aware of what her tombstone will read: "Here lies Diane 'You Know, the One Who Covered Michael Jackson' Dimond." AlterNet: The barrage of nauseating particulars by day, coupled with the merciless jokes by night, served to desensitize Americans to the seriousness of the allegations in the Jackson case, writes Monica Mehta. Reuters: Jackson family shops TV series.

Half-Mil for Runaway Bride (WaPo)
Superagent Judith Regan has bought rights to the life stories of runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks and her fiance, offering them $500,000 for a package that including the first news interview.

Fortune Photo Editor Out (PDN)
William Nabers, a 14-year veteran at the magazine who rose to the top photo editing position last July, was let go earlier this week by newly appointed managing editor Eric Pooley.

Herald Newsroom Hot Over Book Hype (Miami New Times)
When the first excerpt of a book appeared, the paper's internal bulletin board lit up with grousing from incensed editorial staffers. "Why are we publishing this absolute drivel?" wrote one reporter.

Ex-Editorial Writers Charging Discrimination (E&P)
Two former editorial writers at the Indianapolis Star charge that top newsroom managers "consistently and repeatedly demonstrated ... a negative hostility toward Christianity."

Walking a Klein Line (NYO)
Sheelah Kolhatkar: Edward Klein has become the pariah of the world that made him in an era when media villains aren't hard to find.

Another Missing Hottie, Film at 11 (Chicago Sun-Times)
Watchdogs are taking the news industry to task for what they see as a disproportionate emphasis on cases where white girls and women, overwhelmingly upper-middle class and attractive, disappear.

What IS a Journalist? (Huffington Post)
Harry Shearer: For Miss NPR, and Scott McLellan, and 40 percent of the respondents to that poll, some guidance to who is a journalist and what is journalism.

Zahn Can't Escape What Ailes Her (NYDN)
Lloyd Grove: CNN anchor Paula Zahn had a close encounter with Pale Male at Michael's restaurant yesterday. Make that Pale Stout Male.

Lovey-Dovey Cruise Creates New Genre of Reality TV (LAT)
Patrick Goldstein: Somewhere at the intersection between aberrant star behavior and insatiable audience voyeurism, we've created a new entertainment form: celebrity reality TV.

Managing the News Media (Indianapolis Star)
Sheila Suess Kennedy: Despite efforts by Karl Rove and the Bush Administration to portray public broadcasting as elitist and unbalanced, polls continue to show PBS with 80 percent approval ratings.

Mania for Big-Screen TVs Affects Energy Bills (CSM)
With sales of big-screen televisions expected to skyrocket, and only outmoded testing and efficiency standards available, the technology is poised to generate big hikes in home energy use and pollution.

Writer Henry Flesh Dies (New York Press)
The longtime New York Press contributor had non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He wrote his last articles for the paper chronicling his illness, from diagnosis to relapse.

Former Editor and Publisher J.D Alexander Dies (Seattle P-I)
An old-school news executive who liked hard news, fine writing, and blunt talk, Alexander set the bar high over a long, distinguished career in journalism.

—David S. Hirschman