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The Unraveling of Paula Zahn at CNN (NYT)
The unraveling of Paula Zahn Now, which made its debut at 8 p.m. in 2003, was ultimately a function of ratings. Though CNN took pains recently to note that the number of viewers for the show had ticked upward earlier this year, Zahn's task remained a Herculean one. The estimated 558,000 viewers her program has been drawing, on average, each weeknight this year, according to Nielsen Media Research, represents less than a quarter of the nearly 2.3 million who watch The O'Reilly Factor. FishbowlNY: Zahn's memo. B&C: Zahn said discussions with Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S., about her future at the network began "months ago." AJ-C: "As time has gone on, it has become increasingly clear that the eight o'clock audience is drawn to opinion, and that's not what I do," Zahn said. "The cold, hard reality is that there is no tougher time slot in all of cable news."

Murdoch's Big Teeth (NYO)
To hear staffers at the Wall Street Journal tell it, the newspaper right now is thick with patriots and traitors, collaborationists and insurrectionists, appeasers, double agents and profiteers, all gearing up for the moment when the great old institution of the Journal becomes a subject of the Australian-American media empire that brought us Page Six. CJR: Dean Starkman on what the Bancrofts owe Dow Jones. AP via E&P: Key Dow Jones trustee now opposes sale to Murdoch. NYDN: Dow Jones stock slips as investors see Murdoch bid failing.

Ivanka Trump May Host MySpace Town Hall (WWD)
The Rupert Murdoch-owned MySpace may choose unconventional hosts to lead its Town Hall discussions with 2008 candidates. Sources say Ivanka Trump is being courted to serve as one of the moderators for the dozen or so upcoming MySpace discussions to be held at college campuses across the country. Wendi Deng, wife of Murdoch, the founder and chief executive of News Corp., suggested the idea to Trump, believing the real estate mogul and occasional columnist for lad mag Stuff would be a great representative of the young, educated and upwardly mobile voting population.

New Managing Editors Named at LA Times (AP via Forbes)
John Arthur and John Montorio, two top editors at the Los Angeles Times, have been named managing editors of the newspaper. Arthur, currently an assistant managing editor who oversees the front page, will head the news department, the Times said. Montorio, the newspaper's associate editor, will oversee the features department. LA Observed: Several inside editors being considered as candidates had been invited to submit essays to editor Jim O'Shea and publisher David Hiller. LA Observed: LAT kills column suggesting the paper give away music.

Creative Loafing To Buy Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper (E&P)
The alternative weekly landscape contracted again yesterday as the Tampa, Fla.-based Creative Loafing agreed to acquire the Chicago Reader and the Washington City Paper. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. BIA Digital Partners in Chantilly, Va., invested in the deal and Gregg Johnson of BIA will serve on Creative Loafing's board. The two papers join Creative Loafing's stable of weeklies in Atlanta, Tampa, Sarasota, and Charlotte.

MySpace Finds Profiles of 29,000 Sex Offenders (AP via Yahoo)
MySpace.com has found more than 29,000 registered sex offenders with profiles on the popular social networking Web site — more than four times the number cited by the company two months ago, officials in two states said Tuesday. North Carolina's Roy Cooper is one of several attorneys general who recently demanded the News Corp.-owned Web site provide data on how many registered sex offenders were using the popular social networking site, along with information about where they live.

Auction for Keith Richards Book Tops $7M (Crain's New York Business)
The battle for Keith Richards' autobiography has turned into the hottest auction of the summer. Bidding for a book by the Rolling Stones' famed founding member, co-song writer and rhythm guitarist has reached $7.1 million, according to publishing industry sources. London-based literary agent Ed Victor has been conducting the auction in New York this week, inviting just three houses to offer bids, according to one insider. HarperCollins and Little, Brown, a division of the Hachette Book Group USA, are the ones left vying for the title.

Britney's OK! Meltdown (NYDN)
Just when you thought you've heard it all about Britney Spears, the troubled pop star ruined a fashion shoot at OK! magazine and — in a stunning reversal — the celeb-friendly glossy is dishing the whole shocking story. The publication pulls no punches as it chronicles Spears' bizarre behavior, including the fact that she let her puppy poop on a $6,700 Zac Posen gown.

BET Retitles Hot Ghetto Mess Before Debut (WaPo)
Faced with a public relations mess over its new reality show Hot Ghetto Mess, Black Entertainment Television yesterday changed the show's name to We Got to Do Better less than 48 hours before the series was set to debut. The program and Web site are the creation of Jam Donaldson, 34, a lifelong D.C. resident who in 2004 began posting photos primarily of young African Americans who are engaged in unflattering and unsavory behavior.

Rodale Looks to Bulk Up (NYP)
The publisher of the South Beach Diet books and magazines such as Men's Health, Prevention, and Runner's World, is looking for a war chest for an expansion, and industry sources say it has retained JPMorgan to help it explore its strategic options. Normally, that implies the entire company may be put on the block, but a source said the closely held company is not there yet.

61 Liberal Arts Colleges to Boycott U.S. News Ratings (Bloomberg)
The presidents of Holy Cross, Lafayette, Trinity and 58 other liberal arts schools have pledged in the past 10 weeks to withhold cooperation from Washington-based U.S. News on the most controversial element of its 24-year-old survey: a questionnaire asking colleges to assess competing schools. Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore and 23 other schools at the top of the magazine's list have rebuffed requests to participate from organizers of the revolt.

Preacher Sues 20/20 for Alleged Defamation (LAT)
The Rev. Frederick K.C. Price may have two Bentleys, but a spokesman for his 22,000-member church says his Palos Verdes house doesn't boast 25 rooms and he definitely doesn't own a helicopter. A lawsuit Price filed Tuesday claims that ABC's 20/20 defamed him when it suggested otherwise, portraying him as a "hypocrite and thief" who financed an extravagant lifestyle with church funds.

Humor Is Family Value No. 1 for Simpsons Creators (WaPo)
Though younger fans may not recall the distant past of the 1990s, there was a time when the antics of Bart ("Eat my shorts") were considered controversial — the 10-year-old as social outlaw. Today's parents might beg for children as relatively restrained as Bart. "We've gone from counterculture to mainstream culture in this 20 years," says James L. Brooks, who developed the show, which is successful beyond his wildest dreams, now the longest running sitcom in television history. LAT: Business is booming at Simpsons 7-Elevens.

Time to Say Goodbye to PostRadio? (Washingtonian)
Harry Jaffe: As Washington Post Radio often says: "There's always more to the story." What it won't say is why the Post's attempt to expand its brand to the airwaves seems to be failing. Word around the Post newsroom is that listener ratings are so low that the newspaper will close down its radio operation this fall at the end of the Washington Nationals baseball season.

How Fresh Is Your Cable News? Check the Label (WaPo)
Paul Farhi: The dizzying world of news labels raises many questions. Is it possible for a "Developing Story" to become "Developed," like a Polaroid picture or a post-adolescent woman? Does "Breaking News" ever become "Broken" (and if so, can it be "fixed")? And can a "Developing Story" ever morph into a "Breaking Story" and vice versa? Or are they like oil and water, matter and antimatter, Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger? Perhaps the biggest question is why the news needs such quickened-breath labels at all.

—David S. Hirschman