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U.S. Military Holds AP Photographer in Iraq for 5 Months Without Charges (AP)
Military officials said Bilal Hussein, an Iraqi citizen, was being held for "imperative reasons of security." AP executives said the news cooperative's review of Hussein's work did not find anything to indicate inappropriate contact with insurgents, and any evidence against him should be brought to the Iraqi criminal justice system.

Why Did ABC Spend $30 Million on Path to 9/11? (NYT)
Once it became clear that it would have to run it without sponsors, the network began to promote the mini-series as a public service. That decision left the network open to a weighty question: Is it truly a public service if it alienates a significant part of the audience? Guardian: Was ABC courting the right when it aired The Path to 9/11? If so, its strategy backfired, writes Peter Huck.

Redstone and Murdoch Exert the Power of Old-Time Media Moguls (LAT)
Viacom's Sumner Redstone and News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch are part of a line of autocratic media titans stretching to CNN founder Ted Turner, William S. Paley of CBS, Henry Luce of Time Inc., and others. Their power derives not just from their dominant stakes in the companies they've built but also from their inclination to use it.

Prognosis Unclear in ABC Lineup Shuffle (LAT)
For the first time in 36 years, Monday Night Football won't be in ABC's starting lineup for the official kickoff of the new television season tonight. But by dispatching the venerable weekly football event to ESPN, Walt Disney Co. has exacerbated ABC's programming challenges, say advertisers.

A Magazine Empire Built on Specialties (WSJ)
William B. Ziff Jr., who died Sept. 9, built magazine empires targeting niches brimming with big-spenders whose passions ranged from yachts to computers. "Every company that specializes in niche publishing today in one way or another is trying to replicate what he did," says Martin Walker, a New York magazine consultant.

Vieira, Lauer Complaining About 'Hospital Wing' Today Set (NYP)
The on-air talent at NBC's long-running morning gabfest is already on the warpath over the $3.5 million makeover that heralded the arrival of Katie Couric's replacement, Meredith Vieira, last week. The set, evidently, will evolve again over the next couple of months, costing millions more.

French Newspaper of the Far Left Faces Financial Ruin (NYT)
The end could be near for Libération. After years of falling readership and advertising, the paper's largest shareholder, Edouard de Rothschild, has stopped paying operating costs and, according to Pierre Haski, deputy editor of the newspaper, salaries have been frozen for October.

Contemplating Time Warner Without Time (NYT)
David Carr: Jeffrey Bewkes, president and COO of Time Warner, said there were no plans to sell the company's magazine division. But current realities and pressure from shareholders suggest that Time Inc. will either become a smaller, more profitable division of a public company or it will be in play. Mediaweek: "Time Inc. was really working with two models, the big magazine model and the small magazine model," explained Reed Phillips, managing partner of investment banker DeSilva & Phillips. "It clearly was saying it's not interested in the small magazine model."

Google's Growing Grasp (Time)
As the search giant picks up new partners ranging from MySpace and MTV to eBay and XM Satellite Radio, tech watchers are eying the Web colossus with growing curiosity. The company spent the summer striking a series of advertising and content deals, buying up promising start-ups and launching new products that stretch far beyond search.

A Mag for Earnest Young Things (NYT)
Sharon Waxman: Good magazine falls somewhere between: New Age meets new money Volunteerism meets the consumerist imperative. Exhibit A: The Fred Segal boutique in Santa Monica, outfitter to the stars, has put Good in its display window.

As Seen on YouTube: LonelyGirl Dumps Middleman (WaPo)
Howard Kurtz: The alluring aspect of YouTube — where the LonelyGirl15 soap opera remains online, in perpetual reruns among the 100 million other videos — is that anyone with a camera can play. But distortions are all too easy to pull off. NYT: Is LonelyGirl15 a prank, art, or both? LAT: LonelyGirl's creators meet a media whirlwind.

A Night With the Newscasts (USAT)
Peter Johnson: To get a sense of how the three networks each handle the news of the day, we chose one night last week to compare and contrast the broadcasts. Wednesday was a relatively slow news day; each led with a different story and played other stories differently.

An Online Revolution By and For 'Das Volk' (Guardian)
Jeff Jarvis: A grand experiment in the future of news is succeeding. Netzeitung's Readers-Edition.de is an online paper by and for das volk. The site says it doesn't publish commentary, so citizen reporters submit news and photos on politics, sports, technology and business. Netzeitung puts the best on its home page and then pays the contributors.

Rewriting the Rules of Fan Fiction (WSJ)
Fan fiction — stories by amateur writers about characters from books, movies or TV shows — was once a fringe pursuit. Now, Internet exposure is helping unknown authors draw big audiences. Media companies, meanwhile, are increasingly avoiding copyright challenges.

Can Newspapers Do Good Journalism and Make Money? (FoxNews)
Susan Estrich: The day may well be coming when newspapers are like sports teams; the toys of the rich, bought by billionaires to be players. Will communities be better served that way? Will coverage be fair, or will billionaire boy owners with no backgrounds in journalism prove unduly meddlesome?