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Ailes to the Chief (NYT)
Roger E. Ailes, the media adviser to three Republican presidents who has been chairman of Fox News Channel since its inception, was given another title yesterday: chairman of Fox Television Stations. WWD: Rupe's fridge. NYT: News Corp. is in discussions to acquire Blinkx, a service that scours the web for video and audio clips.

Celeb Mags Continue Surge (Mediaweek)
The Fas-Fax semi-annual report of top-line publishers estimates for the first half of 2005 showed gains at titles across all categories, especially the slew of celebrity magazines. NYT: "Consumers have an insatiable appetite for celebrity news," said George R. Sansoucy, director of print and media at MAGNA Global Trading, a division of Interpublic.

Post Drops Sponsorship of Pro-War Rally (WaPo)
The newspaper notified the Department of Defense that it would no longer donate public service advertising space to help promote the Freedom Walk, an event planned for Sept. 11. Department of Defense: Post's decision is "unfortunate."

'There's a File Inside This Cake; We Need More of Your WMD Coverage' (Huffington Post)
Arianna Huffington: Even though new U.N. ambassador John Bolton has been giving the press the cold shoulder, he recently paid a visit to jailed New York Times reporter Judy Miller. NYT: Congress must pass a bill that sets clear standards the federal government must meet before it issues a subpoena to a reporter in a criminal or civil case, writes Bob Dole.

Dow Jones Rumors Lift Newspaper Stocks (NYT)
Newspaper shares rose across the board yesterday after a report suggesting a possible sale of Dow Jones & Co. tapped into growing investor sentiment that newspaper stocks may be undervalued.

Icahn Gets a Sit-Down (NYP)
Time Warner chief Dick Parsons agreed to meet this week with Carl Icahn to discuss the hedge fund manager's ideas for goosing the media giant's stock price. Bloomberg via NYDN: Icahn demanded yesterday that Time Warner separate its cable business and buy back at least $20 billion worth of its stock. WSJ: Icahn issues Time Warner challenge.

Evening News Looks Long-Term (B&C)
The financial story is not as bleak as ratings suggest. And execs are looking to take advantage of new distribution methods to spread the expenses of newsgathering across more sources of revenue. USAT: Little urgency at ABC, CBS to name successors. Reuters: Jennings off of Evening News show title.

Rove Told Him to Try All the President's Men (LAT)
George W. Bush plans to read three books while on vacation: Salt: A World History, Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar, and The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History.

Ex-Viacom Chief Returns as CFO of CBS (Reuters)
Fredric Reynolds, a longtime veteran of Viacom Inc., who left the company last month, now plans to rejoin as chief financial officer of CBS after the conglomerate splits apart.

Baquet Takes Over at LAT (LA Observed)
Besides holding a half-dozen conferences with reporters and editors, the paper's new head honcho Dean Baquet also sat for a Los Angeles mag interview with Kevin Roderick.

French Journo Abducted by Gaza Militants (Jerusalem Post)
Unidentified gunmen kidnapped a French journalist who was in the Gaza Strip to cover the disengagement, prompting some foreign TV crews to leave the area in fear for their lives.

Kathie Lee Back in the Game (B&C)
Five years after tearfully bidding farewell to morning talk, Kathie Lee Gifford will return to TV to cover Broadway and conduct interviews for syndicated entertainment-magazine show, The Insider.

U.S.-Russian Reporting Team Investigating Klebnikov Slay (NY Sun)
A team of top-flight investigative reporters from America and Russia has committed itself to untangling the case of gunned-down Forbes editor Paul Klebnikov.

Payola or Not Payola? (Media Ethics Magazine)
Jeffrey Seglin: If we're concerned as much about perception as we are about a columnist actually being in the pocket of an organization, should columnists refrain from accepting fees regardless of how remote the financial connection?

BBCer: Glass Ceiling Is for Men (Independent)
Veteran BBC newsreader Michael Buerk complains that "almost all the big jobs in broadcasting [are] held by women," and that men have been reduced to "sperm donors."

Paste Sticks (AJC)
Sonia Murray: Think of Paste magazine, whose print run is now 225,000, as a dream come true for that high school classmate who used to make mixtapes for his friends.

SGTV: Second-String Celebs (WaPo)
Paul Farhi: An oversize dose of what-EVer pervades Smoking Gun TV, which uses celebrity marionettes to act out actual stories from the popular crime-sleuthing web site.

Journalism Striking Out? (E&P)
Denny Wilkins: The desire to create shareholder value has sapped the joy from today's newsrooms. Only rarely do bold new ideas emerge about how to significantly improve journalism.

Make a Mag for Inventors (WaPo)
Ever wonder how to make a gizmo that takes aerial photographs using a disposable camera, a kite, rubber bands, Popsicle sticks, fishing line, a toothpick, and Silly Putty? Then this mag's for you.

—David S. Hirschman

IN YESTERDAY'S MB BLOGS:

Rupert Murdoch Puts Roger Ailes In Charge Of The Fox Television Stations Group [TVNewser]
Two weeks of speculation came true Monday with the announcement that Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes will add to his plate the post of chairman of the Fox Television Stations group, a position that also will give him oversight of Twentieth Television, producer of first-run syndicated programming and distributor of off-network programming, TV Week reports.

Happening Now! Wolf at Dinner [FishbowlDC]
Someone listened! On Friday's "The Situation Room," Wolf Blitzer only reminded viewers 38 times that they were "in the Situation Room"-- nearly half the rate of his previous days. Plus: We're hiring.

Gutfeld: Still really, really wants to be fired, has fun new friend to help him [FishbowlNY]
Greg's lately been matching his trademark contrarian posts ("No one sent me the email about it being ALL-CINDY FRIDAY, and now I feel like a wallflower at an orgy. A BIG FAT HAIRY WALLFLOWER") with his Double Super Secret Blog, which mysteriously Arianna and the HuffPos have allowed to remain in his "author bio" slot.

Trouble at People [FishbowlLA]
RadarOnline reports that People West Coast bureau chief Todd Gold has been accused of sexual harassment by a 29-year old reporter

Party On, Just Remember Where They Came From [UnBeige]
The kids at Umbra tried to pull a fast one by changing the name of their U+ Studio line from Toronto locations to NYC references.

Take More Beautiful Notes [mbToolbox]
At some times, taking your regular style of notes doesn't seem to work, say, if you're following a large group discussion. How do you keep track of the themes of the discussion, what who is saying what, and so on? If you're artistically inclined, you might want to drop the tape recorder and give graphic facilitation a try.