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Gallup Finds Trust in Media Up (E&P)
According to an annual survey, the number of Americans who trust the press has increased significantly since last year, although it's still slightly lower than what has been charted in recent years.

Geraldo: I Won't Sue Times for Smear (NYP)
"It's enough in the sense that they finally acknowledge that they had made an actual error," Rivera said. "But the way they did it—the grudging, rude and disrespectful way they did it—still irks me."

Eisner to Execs: Don't Panic (AP)
In his parting words to a gathering of Hollywood executives, Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Michael Eisner sought to reassure an industry facing major technological change. LAT: Incoming CEO Robert Iger's challenges will include getting all four main units to perform. LAT: Iger brings calm to tumultuous Mouse house.

Deconstructing Nick Denton (NYO)
Tom Scocca: While the rising king of the blogosphere's operations are futuristic and virtual in his background and ethos, Denton is a classic old-fashioned journalist, of a particular subspecies.

Fairchild to Close Vitals Titles (NYT)
Fairchild Publications announced yesterday that it would close its luxury lifestyle magazines Vitals Man and Vitals Woman, after just over a year of publication.

Jane Editors Jump Ship (NYP)
There is tension on the staff that founder Jane Pratt left behind, and in recent days editors have been dashing for the exits. Talk of a smooth and orderly transition seems to have evaporated.

Hollywood Writers Union Fires Exec. Director (NYT)
A week after new leaders swept into office at the Writers Guild of America West, the guild has fired its executive director, John McLean, saying he had resisted its change of direction.

Katrina Boosts Ratings for Fox, CNN (Variety)
CNN scored the biggest increase, but Fox News Channel remained dominant as hurricanes Katrina and Rita blew in big third-quarter ratings for the cable news outlets.

Big Media Spending Big on Web Assets (WSJ)
Driven by fear of losing advertisers and audience, large media conglomerates are spending billions in a spate of acquisitions and aggressive Internet initiatives, and are likely to keep on spending. Revolution: Nearly all people spend a third of their day using two or more media at the one time, often without even realizing that they are doing so, a new report has found. Red Herring: Murdoch wants wireless too.

Did U.S. Soldiers Swap Snuff Pics for Porn? (E&P)
The Army is investigating complaints that soldiers posted photographs of mangled Iraqi corpses on a porn site in exchange for access to pornographic images.

Tribune Liable for $1B in Back Taxes (LAT)
A court judge dealt a potential $1 billion blow to Tribune Co., ruling that the Chicago-based media company was liable for taxes on two deals it inherited from its 2000 purchase of Times Mirror Co.

Rather Admits He Is a Helpless Masochist (NYP)
Dan Rather wants to reopen the investigation that resulted in the Memogate scandal and led to his early departure from the anchor desk, but his bosses at CBS have forbidden him to go back at it.

Sly Not Dead Yet (WWD)
A report last month that the Sylvester Stallone mag was shutting down has prompted some soul-searching at AMI. After crunching the numbers, the company has elected to publish a fourth issue. [Last item.]

Damn the Snark! (AARP The Magazine)
Friends say Katie Couric was profoundly hurt by mean-spirited media coverage. "Nobody enjoys being trashed," she says. "But it comes with success, with an increasingly snarky environment in the world today."

Drug Probe Into Limbaugh Continues (AP via USAT)
Prosecutors want to question Rush Limbaugh's physicians in their probe of the conservative commentator's possible "doctor shopping" for prescription painkillers.

What the Foreign Press Thinks of the U.S. (VV)
Julian Dibbel: Watchingamerica.com has for some months been part of a nutritious media breakfast, serving daily doses of U.S.-focused news and commentary from abroad.

The Blog Beat (NYO)
CNN's Blog Chicks are one possible answer to television news' most loudly lamented conundrum: how to lure younger viewers without alienating older ones.

Relix Focuses on Live Music Fans (Billboard via Reuters)
What started out as a Grateful Dead fanzine in 1974 is now second only to Rolling Stone as the longest continuously published consumer music magazine in the United States.

—David S. Hirschman

IN YESTERDAY'S MB BLOGS:

Chris Matthews: A Reality-Distorter Who Has Disgraced The Media, Congressman Says [TVNewser]
On MSNBC's Hardball yesterday, Republican Congressman Peter King said Chris Matthews was "distorting reality."

Carlson Sticks It to Luxury [FishbowlDC]
You can just see Peter Carlson sitting down to write up his reviews of D.C. three new luxury magazines, and begging his editors to assign him anything but. There was certainly groveling involved. Perhaps even tears.

Kinsley Makes News Across the Pond [FishbowlLA]
Turns out Merry Olde England cares about the Merry Olde LAT Editorial Page. The Guardian ran a story on Michael Kinsley's departure, complete with an interview, in which Kinsley sounds less bitter about Jeffrey Johnson's desire for a 'clean break' than he did in that widely-circulated email...

New York: The sun always sometimes shines on NBC [FishbowlNY]
This week's New York magazine takes on the future of NBC in prime-time and late-night as Kurt Andersen interviews Jeff Zucker about his tenure at NBC from his success at "Today" to the crushing blow of the May upfronts (and the middling shows he's launched in between).

Yinka Shonibare Is A Guy Who Makes Art And We Were Skeptical But Things Could Change [UnBeige]
Last year sometime we went to London. And while we were there we went to the Tate and saw the Turner Prize 2004 exhibition. The winner was, surprisingly to us, Yinka Shonibare.

One-On-One [mbToolbox]
Whether you're attending a writers conference, scored an 'informational' interview or found yourself waiting in line together for the bathroom, every once in awhile a freelancer might find himself in the position of a coveted one-on-one meeting with a publication editor.