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Menicheschi Named Vanity Fair Publisher As Katz Exits (Mediaweek)
After several months of speculation, Vanity Fair has a new publisher. Edward Menicheschi, most recently president of WWD Media Worldwide, succeeds Alan Katz, who is leaving Condé Nast. Katz had been on the job less than a year. NYT: Menicheschi is a man much more to the liking of editor Graydon Carter. Gawker: The move comes less than a month after Carter told the New York Post that Katz was safe. FishbowlNY: Vanity Fair's advertising performance has dipped. WWD: A dapper swagger and a packed Rolodex helped Menicheschi snag the job, according to Condé Nast chief executive officer Chuck Townsend.

Wife of Fox News Cameraman Pleads for Release (AP via WaPo)
The wife of kidnapped Fox News cameraman Olaf Wiig made a public plea Wednesday to his kidnappers to release him and a fellow journalist. Palestinian officials said they had no firm leads on where the two men are being held.

New York Times Magazine Writer, Photographer Injured In Missile Attack In Lebanon, Return To Work (FishbowlNY)
Reporter and author Scott Anderson and photographer Paolo Pellegrin were on assignment for the magazine in Tyre on August 8 when the attack occurred, Anderson wrote in an e-mail yesterday.

UN Condemns Journalist Killings in Iraq (UPI via Monsters and Critics)
The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Director-General urged "all those working for the reconstruction of the country to consult media organizations with a view to identifying such measures that could help make respect for the fundamental human right of freedom of expression an absolute priority."

WaPo's Farhi Scores Clean Tackle — on a Teammate (CJR Daily)
On Monday night, when the Minnesota Vikings took on the Oakland Raiders in a preseason snoozer, the best hit of the game took place between two teammates — specifically, Washington Post style writer Paul Farhi's pancaking of the Post's Tony Kornheiser.

In London, Battle Lines Are Drawn Between Newspaper Giants (Independent)
One is the world's most powerful media tycoon, Rupert Murdoch. The other is the head of Britain's pre-eminent newspaper dynasty, Jonathan Harold Vere Harmsworth. And when London's new evening tabloid is launched, the two will go head to head in a vicious and increasingly hostile media war.

Ex-ABC Anchor Vargas Has a Boy (USAT)
In May, Vargas, 43, stepped down as the co-anchor of ABC's World News Tonight to take maternity leave. Charles Gibson became the sole anchor, replacing Vargas and Bob Woodruff, who was injured in Iraq earlier in the year.

Court Ruling Raises Issues for SF Chron Investigative Unit (E&P)
Although the newspaper is appealing the ruling to a federal court of appeals, which may take months to decide, the reporters' steadfast decision not to reveal their sources for the leaked grand jury testimony in the BALCO case could put them in jail, further draining the unit's reporting resources.

Icahn Has New Strategy for TW (NYT)
Carl C. Icahn, the billionaire financier, is not finished with Time Warner yet. After backing away from the attempt he started last year to break up Time Warner, Mr. Icahn is now planning to increase his stake — and influence — in the company through a new fund that he is developing.

Peltz Putting Squeeze on Tribune (NYP)
Added clout from Nelson Peltz could spell trouble for Tribune Chief Executive Dennis FitzSimons. FitzSimons so far has maintained the support of many shareholders, but if Peltz decides to apply pressure, FitzSimons could be forced to take bolder steps, faster.

Can YouTube Take on iTunes? (Guardian)
YouTube's plan to provide "every" music video free is a "nail in the coffin" of the paid-for online content business model and potentially threatens the dominant position of Apple's iTunes, according to analysts. The video site is in talks to offer music video downloads for free. B&C: YouTube making "significant revenue" right now, says CEO Chad Hurley.

China May Censor Videos on Internet (WSJ)
China may issue new regulations to censor online videos, extending the government's efforts to control the Internet into a burgeoning new type of Web content. But it remains unclear whether service providers or individual video creators would be targeted by the regulations.

Jill Carroll's Story: Part 4 (CSM)
Jill Carroll: "'Oh, I didn't know women could be car bombers,' was all I could muster. Later I was told that this was the only way women could be part of the mujahideen. The men could have the glory of fighting in battle. Women got to blow themselves up."

Substance Abuse: Seattle's Dueling Glossies (Seattle Weekly)
Knute Berger: Seattle and newcomer Seattle Metropolitan are locked in a classic magazine war. But both publications offer some substance between stories about Seattle's most eligible singles and the search for the city's best chocolate chips.

Copyright and Its Discontents (LA Weekly)
"Copyright holders have become so aggressive, they've limited the creative process in all different kinds of mediums," says filmmaker Kirby Dick. "That's bad for artists and bad for the studios. I think they're shooting themselves in the foot."

Lefty Times Shows Its Colors? (NY Press)
Russ Smith: The New York Times has reached such an extraordinary level of self-parody that a charitable observer might be excused for letting the paper's growing imitations of posts on the Daily Kos slide, shrugging it off as a temporary losing streak, sort of like the Yankees of the late 1960s.