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Spin, Vibe on the Block (Radar)
Having already received an unsolicited $100 million bid to buy both mags, interest from competing groups prompted the company's CEO to open up the sale to other bidders.

Bloomberg Ready to Cash Out? (Independent)
There is growing speculation on Wall Street that Michael Bloomberg might use his likely re-election as mayor of New York in two weeks as the catalyst to sell the financial information service he controls for up to $16 billion.

Behind the CBS Shakeup (NYT)
Chairman Les Moonves provided no single reason for the news department switch, other than that Andrew Heyward had been in his post a long time and that his contract was up at the end of the year. NYT: In wake of CBS change, networks still changing newscasts and facing tough questions. WaPo: McManus said he would spend 95 percent of his time on the struggling news division for the next two year. Mediaweek: Heyward exit memo takes oblique swipe at CBS.

Google to Try Brokering TV Ads (NYP)
The search engine dynamo, already dabbling in print ads, recently confirmed that it's "mulling" ways to extend its ad-brokering system to television spots as well.

The Silence of Metro (Boston Phoenix)
Mark Jurkowitz: How do you avoid concluding that Metro Boston is simply a local outpost in an international cut-and-paste journalism factory and that its officials are Stepford executives following the dictates of a hierarchical and arrogant corporate culture?

Fitzgerald's 'Incorruptability by Media' (WaPo)
Tina Brown: Patrick Fitzgerald's silence has been another kind of shock and awe, especially at a moment when the media themselves can't stop blabbing.

Plame, Press, Leaks... Fishbowl (Washington Times)
Will the experiences of Judith Miller prove the ultimate cautionary tale for journalists who fear they could be fired or incarcerated for relying on anonymous sources? Jennifer Harper makes the case using FishbowlNY as an example.

Time Warner to Hold 'Robust' Talks on AOL (FT)
Time Warner's board of directors will hold crucial discussions about AOL's future at a meeting today, focusing on whether to partner with Microsoft or Google, although a final decision is not expected immediately.

The Ras al-Ghul of Alt-Weeklies (NY Press)
David Walley: The news that on the eve of its fiftieth anniversary the Village Voice has been acquired, thus becoming one of 17 free newspapers around the country with a combined circulation of 1.8 million, leaves this former New Yorker dry-eyed. SFBG: Why regulators should reject the New Times/VV deal.

Omnimedia on Slippery Footing (TheStreet)
Shares in the company have tumbled hard since the debut of The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, shedding some 35 percent of their value, and analysts expect MSO to lose 30 cents per share on $40.7 million in revenue.

Do Reporters Take Unnecessary Risks During Hurricanes? (Gallup)
A poll that was conducted before Hurricane Wilma hit the Florida peninsula found that 77 percent of Americans thought that television hurricane coverage wasn't worth the danger faced by reporters.

USAT Photoshops Condi? (Michelle Malkin)
One reader theorizes that the photo looks like what they did was use a Photoshop filter called "unsharp mask" to emphasize the edges between colors or shades. E&P: USA Today removes altered photo from website.

Look Back in Anger (NYDN)
NBC's Brian Williams has taken pieces of his reports for "NBC Nightly News" and elsewhere on Hurricane Katrina and packaged them with observations and commentary in a short film for the Sundance Film Channel.

Fiction, Big Pharma Team-Up a Natural Pairing (LAT)
PhRMA hires a writer to come out with a novel whose plotline is "high-concept." A group of shadowy terrorists conspires to murder thousands of Americans by poisoning the medicine they're importing from Canada.

Their Hardest Interviews (WWD)
Corner offices across the TV news business emptied out early Tuesday night as their occupants gathered to congratulate Mike Wallace on the publication of his new book, Between You and Me.

Ad Big: News Corp. Web Push Is 'Panic-Buying' (Guardian)
WPP group chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell has accused traditional media owners such as Rupert Murdoch of panic-buying internet companies because of falling ad revenues.

Vanity Press for Success? (CSM)
Randy Dotinga: For less than $500, anyone can become a published author. But how many self-published books make it to the mainstream?

Blogs Helped Wal-Mart Image During Katrina (BusinessWeek)
PR maven Richard Edelman learned early that Wal-Mart employees were using blogs to communicate logistics, so his company got the blog URLs to conservative blogs, which then made their way to mainstream media.

—David S. Hirschman

IN YESTERDAY'S MB BLOGS:

New CBS News Prez: Newsroom Breathes Sigh Of Relief; It Could Have Been An Entertainment Executive! [TVNewser]
"The announcement that Moonves had selected McManus as the next news president was met with substantial relief and optimism in the newsroom, especially because many had speculated that the CBS chairman was going to tap an entertainment leader to take over the division," the Los Angeles Times' Matea Gold says.

Google: Now It's Personal [FishbowlNY]
In keeping with its eventual plans for world domination -- which frankly, is getting boring already -- Google is now looking to muscle into the world of classified ads, which will drive yet another nail into the coffin of poor beleaguered print journalism.

Who's Your 'Piece of Work'? [FishbowlDC]
Lost in the hailstorm of Plamegate coverage was an interesting comment passed on by Eugene Robinson in his column titled, "Judy Miller, Piece of Work." Read the passage below and then we want all of you to tell us who's the "Piece of Work" in your newsroom.

The 90-Second LAT [FishbowlLA]
Most-emailed-stories analysis: People are slightly more interested in the Plame leak investigation than real estate or luxury-scrambled-eggs preparations.

Collins McCormick has a new name, finally [Galleycat]
In the aftermath of the split last month between David McCormick and Nina Collins, the biggest question was what would happen to the rest of the agency's stable: Amy Williams, PJ Mark and Leslie Falk.

The AIGA Talked About The Thing No Good Wasp Is Ever Supposed To Talk About [Unbeige]
The AIGA's (along with Aquent) recent salary survey of the trends in the last five years is a nice little colored graph that, to be honest, makes us weep for all design industry people, except the owner/partner ones, who we want to find and make an honest designer out of.

Blog Platform for 'Loop-d-Loop' [MBToolbox]
A bit more on how you can make blogs work for you and your company, by Jane Genova. You can't just sit back and hope to be picked up as an awesome new blog. You need to work it, girl.