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House Passes Resolution Assailing Media Report on Finances (NYT)
After days of harsh criticism by the Bush administration aimed at the New York Times and other newspapers, the House of Representatives yesterday condemned the recent disclosure of a classified program to track financial transactions and asked the media to cooperate in keeping such efforts secret. San Antonio Express-News: University cancels subscription to New York Times over bank records disclosure flap. WaPo: The GOP-crafted resolution, approved 227 to 183, also condemned the unidentified sources who leaked information of the program. The Nation: "Even if you accept at face value the polls on media credibility, I think Americans are proud of having a free press and would find an espionage prosecution to be a chilling governmental overreach," said Times executive editor Bill Keller. Marketwatch: "What could be more patriotic than a vigorous and independent American media doing its job? The New York Times is a highly patriotic newspaper," writes Jon Friedman. Huffington Post: A right-wing talk show host has just said that she would have "no problem" with it if Bill Keller were "sent to the gas chamber."

USA Today Can't Confirm Accuracy of NSA Article (USAT)
Editor's Note: "USA Today has now concluded that while the NSA has built a massive domestic calls record database involving the domestic call records of telecommunications companies, the newspaper cannot confirm that BellSouth or Verizon contracted with the NSA to provide bulk calling records to that database."

Fallen Star: ABC Told Me to 'Make Up a Story' (AP)
Appearing on CNN's Larry King Live, ousted cast member Star Jones Reynolds said she was told she could "make up a story" about why she was leaving The View and her colleagues would have gone along with it. LAT: "Everybody in TV lies, of course," writes Robin Abcarian. "But rarely do the lies come apart so publicly and — quite frankly — so deliciously." NYDN: Time is running out if Jones wants to maintain her high profile on TV. NYDN: Through a mixture of good and bad luck, ABC's morning lineup yesterday provided three straight hours of soap opera — before any of the network's actual soap operas began.

Cosby Show Off Cliff (Lowdown)
After a grueling nine-hour meeting involving news personality Rita Cosby, her agent and top NBC News and MSNBC execs, the third-rated cable news network announced that her weeknight show, Rita Cosby: Live & Direct, will be canceled in early July.

Time Inc. Gets Edge (NYP)
Time Inc., which has been quietly gearing up a new fitness magazine called Edge, has launched a direct mail campaign to find potential subscribers. The company is insisting it is all a test and is releasing few details, but the mailing that went out last week invites readers to send for a free preview issue.

Was Pemberton Sacked For Too Much Blenderizing? (WWD)
Wondering why Andy Pemberton was ousted as the editor of Spin after only two issues? Just take a side-by-side look at that magazine and Blender, where he was the founding editor.

NY Daily News Reality Show Set to Air (E&P)
On July 24, armchair media critics will finally get an inside look at newsgathering when the Bravo channel debuts Tabloid Wars, a six-week series of one-hour documentaries about the Daily News that shadow reporters around New York as they try to scoop the Post.

23 Years After Publication, Inky Libel Case Finally Ends (Inky)
Twenty-three years after the Philadelphia Inquirer published a series of articles about the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and 15 years after a jury awarded a $6 million verdict to one justice, the libel case has been dismissed.

Editor of Indonesian Playboy, Model Suspected of 'Indecency' (Guardian)
Playboy magazine's editor-in-chief and its first centrefold model in Indonesia were formally named by police yesterday as suspects in an indecency investigation. Erwin Arnada and Kartika Gunawan are being investigated for a "decency violation," breaking an article of Indonesia's criminal code.

Companies Aim to Tap Podcast Buzz (WSJ)
Initially the province of amateurs, podcasts have since been embraced by radio stations, newspaper publishers and others looking to distribute content. A number of large companies, including General Motors Corp., have seized on the popularity of the broadcasts to market to tech-savvy consumers.

Rense's AD Has Long Been One of Condé's Most Profitable Titles (Forbes)
James Brady: For more than three decades, Paige Rense has been editor in chief of Architectural Digest, a one-time trade publication she turned into arguably the most handsome magazine in the biz. It sells for six bucks a copy, and for the past 13 years, business has been good.

VQR's Surprising Splash Into the Mag World (Style Weekly)
Despite the glory of the Ellies, the public — even the reading public — is a long way from investing in literary quarterlies en masse. "It's hard to look at The Atlantic and not envy their half million readers," says editor Ted Genoways.

Bloggers Getting Paid to Push Products, Disclosure Optional (BusinessWeek)
Jon Fine: An undisclosed PayPerPost placement on a little-seen blog isn't the most egregious thing out there, but it's far from honest. Media may be more transparent, but the line between authentic editorial and paid placement is still often smeared.

Glam CEO Says Traffic Will Surpass All Fashion Sites In July (FBNY)
Glam.com CEO Samir Arora — whose network of women's lifestyle and fashion blogs is backed by over $11 million in private equity — says the site will become number one in the fashion category on the Web next month. Glam.com is already bigger than Style.com, he says. "We will be bigger than anyone in July."

Big Media's Brave New World (Forbes)
It's the Internet boom 2.0 article of faith: New technology has changed the media landscape. Nothing will be the same again. But many media players still make almost all of their money the same way they always have: offline. Asked to figure out how they'll make money online, they'll nod sagely, and shrug.

Gawker, Friedman Scuffle With Nikki Finke Over Profile (LA Observed)
Wednesday's almost entirely positive media story on Nikki Finke got another day in the news yesterday, thanks to her insistence that the piece was "misogynist" and "shameful." Gawker editor Jesse Oxfeld apologized on the blog for saying Finke is "at least a bit crazy" in the piece.