Click here to receive mediabistro.com's Daily Newsfeed via email.

New Yorker Katrina Issue Wins Award for Best Cover (NYT)
The cover illustration depicts a flood in the Oval Office after Hurricane Katrina, with the waters rising around President George W. Bush and his top appointees, who were criticized for failing to respond promptly and fully to the disaster. The magazine-cover contest was held jointly by the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Magazine Publishers of America to promote their industry. FishbowlNY: The Economist won for best cover line — "Rocket Man" — predating the media's current coverage of the kooky North Korean president Kim Jong Il.

Kidnapped AP Photographer Freed in Gaza (AP via Yahoo)
Emilio Morenatti was brought before midnight to the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by Fatah officials. It was not clear who kidnapped him, though officials said he was taken by criminals. The government and main Palestinian groups denounced the abduction. Morenatti, a 37-year-old Spaniard, looked fatigued after his daylong ordeal but said he was unharmed.

CNN, NPR Refuse Ads for Bush 'Death' Film (Reuters via AOL)
Two major U.S. news outlets, CNN and National Public Radio, will not air advertisements for a controversial movie depicting the assassination of President George W. Bush. "CNN has decided not to take the ad because of the extreme nature of the movie's subject matter," the cable television network said in a statement.

'Powdery Substance' Found in LAT Building (LAT)
A hazardous materials crew from the Los Angeles Police Department was dispatched to the Los Angeles Times yesterday evening after a white powdery substance was discovered in a letter mailed to the newspaper. By 10 p.m., about 2 1/2 hours after authorities were contacted, police determined that the powder was not hazardous.

Tribune Acting Like Takeover Is in the Works (NYP)
As leveraged buyout powers circle wounded Tribune Co., the media giant said it had changed its retirement and bonus plans to give certain employees payments if the company undergoes a change of control — a move typically made by firms before they get acquired. The company has attracted the interest of at least five brand-name buyout shops. LAT: Leaders of Tribune will receive deferred compensation immediately, should a new owner take control.

Radio Host Limbaugh Accuses Michael J. Fox of Exaggerating Parkinson's Symptoms (WaPo)
David Montgomery: Possibly worse than making fun of someone's disability is saying that it's imaginary. That is not to mock someone's body, but to challenge a person's guts, integrity, sanity. To Rush Limbaugh, Michael J. Fox looked like a faker. "He is exaggerating the effects of the disease," Limbaugh said. "He's moving all around and shaking and it's purely an act. ... This is really shameless"

More Cable Networks Say No to Ad Ratings (WSJ)
Viacom's MTV Networks, Discovery Communications' Discovery Networks U.S., Time Warner's Turner cable-networks unit and Walt Disney's ESPN said they wouldn't take part — at least initially — in Nielsen's effort to measure the average viewership for all the national commercial minutes that run during a program. The networks are unhappy with how Nielsen is calculating the new ratings. LAT: Nielsen has delayed the release of the first data by three weeks, until Dec. 11, to address various objections.

Ex-Source Editor Hopes Her Mega-Payday Redefines Hip-Hop Culture (Metro NY)
"I definitely hope this has an impact on the attitude of hip-hop toward women," Kimberly Osorio said yesterday during a news conference at her attorney's office. "Hip-hop is a very respectable art form and a lot of times, we see the negative images of women portrayed in hip-hop. I hope that this case is significant in that people will understand that that's not what hip-hop represents." WaPo: Defendants say they will appeal the verdict. NYP: Orsorio says she's not not worried that the magazine is in bankruptcy or that creditors are lining up like music lovers at a concert. NYDN: Osorio is mulling a tell-all memoir about her time at the top of the magazine.

Does Boston Massacre Have Sulz Thinking About Selling Globe? (NYO)
The New York Times Co. is trapped between Beacon Hill and Wall Street. "Terrible" is how industry analyst Edward Atorino summarized the Times Company's third-quarter statement. And regarding the Boston Globe in particular? "Dreadful." He said it is having its "second bad year in a row," but that this doesn't that mean Mr. Sulzberger is "ready to pull the plug yet."

Times-Pic Still Fighting Battle of New Orleans (E&P)
Joe Strupp visits the newsroom at the Times-Picayune a little over a year since the "resilient" staff returned after fleeing the floods from Hurricane Katrina. On the surface, much seems familiar, yet everything has changed — and likely will remain askew for years, or a generation, to come. Editor Jim Amoss wishes it was "over" already.

Among White Heterosexual Goyishe Humorists Ex-Spymasters Were the Best (NYO)
Spy: The Funny Years is a somewhat self-congratulatory — if thoroughly enjoyable — vanity project assembled by a former Spy sub-editor, George Kalogerakis, under the supervision of founding uber-editors (as they would've put it) Kurt Andersen and Graydon Carter, refugees from Squaresville, white-shoed, WASP-y Time and Life.

Mag Shmoozefest All Business (NYP)
Keith Kelly: A very serious American Magazine Conference took down the tent in Phoenix yesterday, and for the first time ever, the once clubby industry suspended all of its extracurricular activities, and instead devoted all its time to work sessions. Many in the magazine world are referring to the publications as brands, and saying they must have an online component in order to survive. FishbowlNY: Complete AMC coverage.

SI.com Finds Success With MySI Feature (MIN)
"We're feeling pretty good about things," says SI.com editorial director Paul Fichtenbaum. But this time, the "feel good" is football, not bikinis. September's 455 million page views even edged above "Swimsuit"-aided February. Fichtenbaum credits the launch of MySI, a branded, downloadable toolbar that pushes customized team headlines and live sports scores to the desktop.

Conservatives on Talk Radio Breaking With GOP (WaPo)
Howard Kurtz: For 15 years, the conservatives who dominate talk radio have served as shock troops for the GOP, bashing Democrats, hitting the hot buttons, rallying their listeners, and wielding a powerful megaphone for their ideological side. But at yesterday's White House "radio day" it became apparent that there are serious cracks in this once-solid wall of support.

Changing Direction, or Changing the Rhetoric? (CJR Daily)
Gal Beckerman: So now the White House has announced that "stay the course" will be replaced by "constantly updating and changing," purely an alteration of language. Yet, in addressing the change, most newspaper editors neglected to acknowledge this truly Orwellian moment, simply printing it without much commentary on how the policies behind the words will not be following suit.

Talent Agency Looks for Stars of Online Video (NYT)
United Talent Agency has created an online unit devoted to scouting out up-and-coming creators of Internet content — particularly video — and finding work for them in Web-based advertising and entertainment, as well as in the older media. The move by the amounts to a bet, albeit a modest one, that Web video is on a growth curve similar to that of cable television a generation ago.