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Dean Baquet Named Top Editor at LAT (LAT)
The paper's editor John Carroll, whose five-year tenure was marked by numerous journalism awards and a struggle with declining readership and flat revenue, will retire next month. LAT: Baquet driven by "passion for journalism. LA Weekly: There was never any doubt that Dean Baquet would lead the Los Angeles Times. The only question was the timing, writes Nikki Finke. E&P: The company announced that, as part of the leadership transition, the editorial and opinion page editors will now report directly to the publisher. NYT: Carroll said he was leaving the paper "for professional and personal reasons." WaPo: Baquet said it was "humbling" for a black journalist who began as a police reporter on the old New Orleans States-Item to take over the country's second-largest metropolitan daily. USAT: Carroll's departure is all the more significant, reporter Tom Rosenstiel says, because he "had the respect of the hard-boiled editors and investigative reporters, but he managed to thrive and triumph in the more corporate environment of today." AJR: Carroll says no single incident led to his decision to step down, which he had been mulling for quite some time.

Shield Law Gets Senate Hearing (NYT)
The Senate Judiciary Committee gave a generally positive reception on Wednesday to proposed legislation that would protect journalists from having to divulge confidential sources in most cases. WaPo: Time Inc.'s editor in chief said the lack of a federal shield law has led to "chaos." Rush&Molloy: Time Inc.'s editor couldn't make it to a screening of All the President's Men, where the Watergate sleuths said they don't think he has the cojones of late Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham. Hartford Courant: Pearlstine was right to give the prosecutor relevant documents, writes Paul Janensch.

Online Pirates Jump on New Harry Potter (Reuters via Yahoo!)
The sixth book in the Harry Potter series, the fastest-selling book of all time, has become among the quickest to fall prey to Internet piracy, with illicit copies available online within hours of its release. Slate: In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Voldemort takes up terrorism. Wired: Potter fans coordinated a worldwide effort to turn the book's 672 pages into a home-brew digital copy—now available on file-sharing networks and by using BitTorrent.

Bloggers Swarm Over Court Nominee (WaPo)
Howard Kurtz: The lightning-quick attacks on President Bush's Supreme Court nominee John Roberts came after 50 top liberal bloggers held a 45-minute conference call Tuesday night. CJR Daily: Some reporters Tuesday tried to disassociate themselves from their hours-long speculation that Bush's Supreme Court nominee would be Judge Edith Brown Clement.

'(S)' Is for Secret (WaPo)
A State Department memo contained information about CIA officer Valerie Plame in a paragraph cleary marked "secret," indicating that officials likely were aware it was classified.

Harper's Editor Lapham Takes Stand at Polanski Trial (NYT)
Lewis Lapham told a British court about an encounter he says he saw in Elaine's restaurant in August 1969, between the filmmaker Roman Polanski and a Scandinavian model named Beatte Telle. Page Six: Lawyers for Polanski tried to brand Lapham as a libel-loving loose cannon. Guardian: Roman Polanski's reputation has been damaged "beyond repair" by admissions that he himself has made, the high court was told.

Scientology Paranoia (Page Six)
When the church learned that Glamour was working on an exposé about a former member it immediately sent two emissaries to Conde Nast headquarters demanding to see the story.

Reality Series Gets Political (WaPo)
A proposed eight-part series titled Red/Blue places 12 or 14 aspiring political consultants—divided into two teams of liberals and conservatives—inside a Georgetown townhouse.

Cellphones Becoming 'Third Screen' for TV (CSM)
By delivering a variety of viewing options—video games, music videos, clever ads, news, weather, and sports—the littlest screen may have the biggest future.

Binn Panned (Boston Globe)
Steve Bailey: It's a sign of the times that celebrated 148-year-old magazine of ideas The Atlantic Monthly, is moving out as Boston Common, a luxury ad catalog, is moving in.

Plain Dealer Ed Defends Holding Stories (Cleveland Scene)
Editor Doug Clifton—known for his staunch views on the public's right to know—found himself defending his decision to withhold "two stories of profound importance" from readers.

Web Publishers Eye Your Wallet (Wired)
Adam Penenberg: Just like we got used to paying extra for cable to receive better reception, movies on demand and far more choices and channels, we will get used to paying for web content.

Bloggers Become Martyrs (Seattle Weekly)
Knute Berger: The Internet has a dark side. For every well-meaning citizen journalist fighting his way to the truth, there's a sniper eager to shoot him down, or a lynch mob waiting in the wings.

Democrats Move to Reregulate Media (Media Channel)
Two liberal House members have introduced a sweeping bill that would reregulate radio and TV back to the days before the 1996 Telecommunications Act.

Dow Jones to Exit CNBC Int'l TV Deal (AP via Business Week)
Dow Jones & Co. will end the company's international partnership with financial news channel CNBC, and transfer its 50 percent stakes in both CNBC Europe and CNBC Asia to NBC Universal.

Demise of 'New Journalism' Embodied by Chuck Klosterman? (The L Magazine)
Michael Lindgren: The New Journalism was the engine of some genuinely great writing. Fast-forward to Chuck Klosterman 2005, however, and the whole idea is hopelessly out of whack.

'Scotty' Beamed Up (WaPo)
Star Trek staple James Doohan, 39 light-years after he first saved the USS Enterprise's heinie (and did it many times over), died yesterday at 85 from pneumonia-related causes. LAT: For Doohan, the enduring popularity of Star Trek meant reprising his Scotty role in seven movies featuring original cast members.

Hidden Sex Scenes Spark Video Games Furor (LAT)
The oversight board that puts parental ratings on video games slapped its strongest warning on a bestselling title as the game maker admitted putting explicit, interactive sex scenes on the disc. CNN/Money: Wal-Mart, Target pull Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Bay City Alt-Freebies Keep Sniping (SF Weekly)
SF Weekly runs a full page graphic this week charging it's competitor The San Francisco Bay Guardian with running "laughable conspiracy theories and acres of bad writing."

—David S. Hirschman

IN YESTERDAY'S MB BLOGS:

Aaron Brown Covers Up Bill Hemmer [TVNewser]
Aaron Brown covered Bill Hemmer's picture with his thumb during Morning Papers last night, several e-mailers say.

Cooper the Funny Man [FishbowlDC]
You might not have noticed it from the dour face outside the D.C. courthouse, but Time's no-longer-embattled Matthew Cooper is actually quite the comedian.

Jon Stewart on Karl Rove: That Dude is Dirty and I Love Him [FishbowlNY]
I am addicted to your addiction to my addiction to "The Daily Show." The liveblogging continues, though today it's more round-up/recap style, with a shout-out to yesterday's "Telephone Hour" song, which was brilliant.

Carroll Retires; Baquet to Succeed [FishbowlLA]
Transition date: August 15. Read about it at latimes.com. No reason is given for Carroll's retirement. Also, no word on who will replace Baquet as managing editor.

We'll Have that Redesign Chicken-Fried To Go, Please [UnBeige]
We've always been card-carrying, flag-waving Texas Monthly fans (which is, in our esteem, currently a better magazine than New York, though that bias could stem from our hometown's proximity to the Mason-Dixon line) but we've been immersing ourselves in past issues lately for reasons that will become apparent on the mothership tomorrow.

The Goodbye Guys [Galleycat]
Lulu.com's gambit for publicity pays off: The Book Standard turns its attention to Lulu's "new study" predicting the upcoming extinction of male-written bestsellers.

The Zoo: Week Three [mbToolbox]
Today is the third in a series of posts by San-Diego-based writer named Thomas Shess who has decided to keep a journal on his journey to find a publisher for his novel.