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Village Voice Media Executives Arrested Over Story in Phoenix New Times (NYT)
Michael Lacey, the executive editor of The Phoenix New Times, and Jim Larkin, chief executive, were arrested at their homes in Phoenix last night for revealing grand jury secrets after they wrote a story that revealed that the Village Voice Media company, its executives, its reporters, and even the names of the readers of its Web site had been subpoenaed by a special prosecutor. Arizona Republic: "I think that what has gone on here legally is without precedent," Lacey said earlier in the day of the subpoenas. It attempts to put a chill on reporters doing their jobs, he said, and invades the privacy of readers. Lacey says he didn't intend to turn over the information. East Valley Trib: The case stems from the paper publishing Sheriff Joe Arpaio's home address more than three years ago.

Jon Stewart Re-Ups as Daily Show Host Until 2010 (AP)
The host has signed a two-year contract extension that keeps him in the anchor chair of his Comedy Central "faux news" show through 2010, the network announced Thursday. His contract had been set to expire at the end of 2008. Stewart, 44, joined the satirical newscast on Jan. 11, 1999, succeeding Craig Kilborn, its host since the show began in July 1996.

Penthouse Perp-Walk for Exiting Editor (NYP)
Penthouse editor-in-chief Mark Healy is out, heading over to GQ from whence he came. Although Penthouse president and publisher Diane Silberstein praised Healy, the mag's owners were apparently less pleased. "I never got escorted out of a building before," said Healy, who earlier this week gave his bosses two weeks' notice but yesterday was walked out of Penthouse's offices.

CBS Reaching for a New Hit, but Early Numbers Fall Short (NYT)
Last spring, Leslie Moonves, chief executive of CBS, delivered what executives there described as a strong message to his programming troops: find us another hit, fast. This fall, CBS hoped to deliver on that challenge, but early ratings returns were weak. "I'm not concerned about the state of CBS," said Moonves. "I'm a bit concerned about the state of network television generally."

As Sale Nears, Dow Jones Reports a Steep Drop in Profit (AP via NYT)
Dow Jones said yesterday that profit was down sharply in its third quarter compared with a year ago, when it recorded a large tax-related accounting gain. Revenue rose nearly 20 percent as the company absorbed the rest of Factiva, a news database service. Excluding costs related to the company's pending acquisition by News Corp., profit was ahead of analysts' estimates.

Time Inc., SI Enter Into 'Brand Partnership' with Dan Patrick (Folio:)
Time Inc. has announced that Dan Patrick — the longtime Sportscenter anchor, ESPN Radio host, and ESPN The Magazine columnist who left ESPN this summer — will join Sports Illustrated in January as a senior writer. As part of what purports to be a highly synergistic partnership, Time Inc. also said that its digital unit will host Patrick's radio show on his Web site.

Fear of Writers Strike Spreads to Advertisers (NYP)
Fear of a possible writers' strike is rapidly spreading from Hollywood to Madison Avenue. A walkout by TV and film writers after their contract expires at midnight on Halloween would be bad news not only for the networks and studios but also for advertisers. The big concern for advertisers is that the networks — ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and the CW — will lose even more of their already-shrinking audience.

Guardian's American Site to Launch Tuesday (FishbowlNY)
Michael Tomasky (New York, The American Prospect) is at the helm and the paper will be based out of Washington. According to Tomasky, "Guardian America will combine content from London with content that we create here in the States to serve an American audience." In other words, it sounds like they're going after the Slate demographic with a vengeance.

Media, Web Companies Set Copyright Rules (AP)
A coalition of major media and Internet companies Thursday issued a set of guidelines for handling copyright-protected videos on large user-generated sites such as MySpace. Conspicuously absent was Google, whose YouTube site this week rolled out its own technology to filter copyrighted videos once they've been posted.

Tribune Deal Mired in FCC Rift Over Cross-Ownership Rules (LAT)
The $8.2-billion deal to take Tribune Co. private has become entangled in a newly inflamed debate over media ownership rules at the FCC that could pose problems for the transaction. Tribune needs FCC waivers to complete the deal because it owns newspapers and TV stations in Los Angeles and four other markets in violation of rules that prevent such cross-ownership.

U.S. Analysts: Chinese Search Engines 'Hijacked' (AFP)
U.S. Internet search engines in China were being hijacked and directed to Chinese-owned Baidu, analysts said, speculating that this may be retaliation for the White House award to exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama. Analysts at Search Engine Roundtable, a Web site focusing on Internet search, said Chinese users trying to search on Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Web sites were being redirected.

Sacramento Bee Editor Resigns in Dispute With Ownership (Sac Bee)
Rick Rodriguez resigned Thursday as The Bee's executive editor, ending a nine-year tenure amid a disagreement with his publisher over the paper's long-term direction. Rodriguez' leadership brought the paper nearly every major journalism prize, including the Pulitzer. Rodriguez also served as president of ASNE and has been one of the most prominent Latino newsroom executives in the country.

The Churchillian Side of Chris Matthews (Slate)
Jack Shafer: Dredge your overstuffed furniture. Scrape the bottom of your purse. Shatter your kid's piggy bank. Do what ever it takes to find $500 for a ticket to the Churchill Centre's fund-raising dinner so you can witness the presentation of the Emery Reves Award to Chris Matthews for lifetime achievement in journalism.

Wall Street Got Off Easy in Coverage of Black Monday 20 Years Ago (Marketwatch)
Jon Friedman: On Oct. 19, 1987, the stock market crashed, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508.32 points. Investors feared that the end of the world was at hand. Still, I contend that Wall Street got off easy. What if a market meltdown occurred today? Could you imagine the pandemonium at a time of 24-hour news cycles, blogs, and talk radio?

'Great Start' for Fox Business (BusinessWeek)
Ronald Grover: Does Fox Business have a chance? You bet. And if I were top NBC executive Jeff Zucker I'd be hustling full-time to stay ahead. Rupert Murdoch clearly wants to bring business to Main Street, NASCAR, and younger folks who like to mix stock chatter with their after-hour cocktails. After one day on the air, I'm betting he's already headed into a bull market.