Click here to receive mb's Newsfeed by email.

ABC Anchor Peter Jennings Dead at 67 (AP via Yahoo!)
The boy wonder from Canada who transformed himself into one of the most urbane, well-traveled and recognizable journalists on American television, died yesterday at home. NYT: Along with Tom Brokaw of NBC and Dan Rather of CBS, Mr. Jennings ushered in the era of the television news anchor as lavishly compensated, globe-trotting superstar. AP via Yahoo!: Reaction. NYDN: "Peter died with his family around him, without pain and in peace," his family said in a statement released last night. "He knew he had lived a good life." WaPo: Jennings' well-rounded tones, world-savvy air and matter-of-fact delivery led World News Tonight to the top of the ratings for 11 of the past 20 years. USAT: Jennings was "most natural" of Big Three. LAT: "No one could ad-lib like Peter," said ABC colleague Barbara Walters.

Diamond Leaves Omnimedia (Ad Age)
Heidi Diamond, president of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, is leaving the company on Aug. 12. Stewart's prison term spawned an executive shuffle at her company—Diamond is the third exec to leave since November 2004. An outside search for Diamond's replacement begins immediately.

Suspicious Judy/Scooter Rendezvous (The American Prospect)
White house aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby has told federal investigators that he met with New York Times reporter Judith Miller on July 8, 2003, and discussed CIA operative Valerie Plame. NYT: Rove has long been Novak's source. NYT: Time hires new White House correspondent.

Peacock Preens for Comeback (NYT)
Can a media giant can be built from a suddenly diminished prime-time television powerhouse and a solid, but middling, movie studio? NYP: NBC czar-search targets top execs at rivals.

Independent Iraqi News Agency Launches (Guardian)
The agency aims to provide breaking news to local, regional and international media and is expected to help strengthen journalism, facilitate dialogue and promote democracy in the war-torn country.

Why Novak Stormed Off (PressThink)
Jay Rosen: The legitimacy of Novak's exemption from questioning had collapsed earlier in the week. Ed Henry was ready with that news. Novak was not ready to receive it. TPM Cafe: Josh Marshall talks to James Carville and gets his side of the story.

WaPo Apology for Book Review (AP via USAT)
A month after running a negative review of John Irving's new novel, the newspaper has run a negative review of that review.

Thanksgiving at the Murdoch House (Ad Age)
Simon Dumenco imagines a strained Thanksgiving dinner at Ruper Murdoch's Fifth Ave. penthouse. Will Lachlan make it through to dessert? Has he been banished to the kids' table?

FCC Hires Conservative Indecency Critic (Mediaweek)
The Federal Communications Commission has hired Penny Nance, an anti-pornography activist and former lobbyist for groups that push for Christian precepts in public policy, as an advisor.

Journos Protest DeFede Firing (NYT)
Executives at The Miami Herald, which fired columnist Jim DeFede for tape-recording a former official who subsequently killed himself, said the columnist seemed to be changing his story.

Star Killed Fake Demi Miscarriage Story (Radar)
Back in May, a source joked that the only way Star could abort their bogus Demi Moore pregnancy crusade would be to concoct a fake miscarriage story. Turns out they were right.

New Audit Rules Pound BusinessWeek (NYP)
The magazine was found to have missed its rate base in 12-month period an average of 4.5 percent a week in a revised audit issued quietly last week by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Ex-Postie Headed to New Yorker? (Washingtonian)
Harry Jaffe: The Washington Post newsroom was heating up last week with talk that former managing editor Steve Coll is packing up his files and moving to 4 Times Square.

Greta Cleans Up in Aruba (AP via Yahoo!)
Greta Van Susteren's On the Record has relentlessly followed the disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway of Alabama in Aruba. Critics find it an obsession bordering on the bizarre.

New Device Brings TV to PCs (Time)
The Slingbox takes video sources like cable TV, TiVo, and DVD, and sends the signal to your PC. It doesn't matter if your PC is in the next room or in Singapore—you'll get your video.

Nielsen Struggles to Remain Relevant (NYT)
The television ratings arbiter is trying to remake its image after an industry dispute turned into a public contretemps with racial overtones.

Readers Lose Credibility? (Slate)
Jack Shafer: The average American's dislike for the institution of journalism but satisfaction with its product is not unlike their hatred of Washington but love for their individual members of Congress.

Newsweek Takes Care of Business (Marketwatch)
Jon Friedman: During the crisis, the pressures on Newsweek publisher Greg Osberg were as profound as they were on the editorial side of the magazine.

'Boomlet' for Baby Mags (Mediaweek)
Publishers' new litter of parenting launches include Harris Publications' Bundle, Fairchild Publications' Cookie and Disney Publishing Worldwide's Wondertime.

Critics Cringe at Nets' Youth Stalkers (Variety)
Brian Lowry: Even laissez-faire baby boomers cringed when the executive producer of ABC's The Night Stalker told TV critics he viewed the revival as a vehicle to "bring families together."

Radio Stations Late to Download Dance (BusinessWeek)
Jon Fine: Broadcast radio stations are turning their websites into music stores via paid download services. This is such a neat and intuitive idea that you have to wonder what took them so long.

Martha on Borrowed Time (NYP)
Christopher Byron: Martha Stewart isn't simply engaged in a performance she can switch on and off at will. In reality, she is reading lines that are imprinted in her DNA.

Papers Finally Log On (Guardian)
Jeff Jarvis: After scandals, declining credibility, shrinking audience, disappearing ad dollars, exploding online competition, and bloggers, newsrooms are finally getting serious about the Internet.

Detective Novels Go Global (CSM)
Randa Dotinga: Why the new interest in worldly detectives? Some observers say readers are tired of poor products by assembly-line American writers. And perhaps foreign writers have also improved.

—David S. Hirschman

IN FRIDAY'S MB BLOGS:

Remembering Peter Jennings (1938-2005) [TVNewser]
"It is with a profound sadness and true sorrow that I report to you Peter Jennings has died, tonight, of lung cancer," Charlie Gibson said on ABC News.

Rumor: Steve Coll To Leave WP? [FishbowlDC]
When we wrote earlier today "August is sure to have some big moves ahead this month," we had this big one in mind: Harry Jaffe reported a rumor that we've been chasing for two days to no avail: Steve Coll, one of the icons of the Washington Post, might be leaving to go to work for the New Yorker. The move would be a blow to the paper, and will likely be the paper's second high-profile departure announced next week—if the Mike Allen rumors prove true.

Media Minutiae: Strawberry Sushi Edition [FishbowlNY]
Oh, the sleepy, languid days of August. Everyone's on vacation and yet column inches need to be filled, especially when there is a global family drama to monitor and expletives to be broadcast.

Freakonomics Comes to LA [FishbowlLA]
Apparently Freakonomics, the smash non-fiction hit of the season, is less of a smash hit in California than the rest of the country. Which is weird, because I saw two people reading it at The Coffee Table in Silver Lake the other week, and I always assumed whither the Coffee Table goes, there goes LA.

I Can Do It Myself [UnBeige]
We discovered recently that the interest in keeping architecture generally environmentally above board is probably salient more in theory and less in reality, but we've been given new hope by discovering the Self-Sufficient Housing competition, sponsored by the Advanced Architecture Institute of Catalonia

Pop Quiz: A.J. Jacobs [mbToolbox]
Today I chat with AJ Jacobs, editor-at-large at Esquire and the author of The Know-it-All, who graciously contacted me after I poked fun, lovingly, at his upcoming book on my other website.