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Playboy Reportedly in Sale Talks With Iconix (Chicago Sun-Times)
Playboy Enterprises Inc., the men's magazine publisher, is in talks to sell itself to Iconix Brand Group Inc. Iconix, the owner of the Candie's and London Fog clothing brands, has looked at Chicago-based Playboy's finances, said one of the people, who declined to be identified.

Editor Solomon Resigns From Washington Times (Politico)
John Solomon, executive editor of the Washington Times, who has been missing from the newsroom following a shake-up on the paper's business-side Monday, has resigned. Publicist Don Meyer sent a one-line email that confirmed the move. WaPo: Managing editor Jeffrey Birnbaum said there was no indication that Solomon was pushed out and noted that he had tendered his resignation last Friday. TPM: Lanny Davis told Washington Times editors that he would not be continuing his weekly "Purple Nation" opinion column following the departure of his friend Solomon. FishbowlDC: TWT newsroom panics after Solomon resigns.

CNN's John King to Host New Program, Replacing Lou Dobbs at 7 p.m. (TVNewser)
CNN announced yesterday that John King, anchor of Sunday's State of the Union program on the network, will take over the 7pmET time slot on CNN. The spot was previously held by Lou Dobbs. King's program is described by CNN as a "definitive political hour." NYT: CNN/US president Jonathan Klein denied that CNN had acquiesced to pressure by Hispanic advocacy groups to drop Dobbs. WaPo: Dobbs reportedly had grown frustrated by the network's efforts to tone down his outspoken and controversial style. TVNewser: John Towriss, CNN's former deputy Washington bureau chief writes about the Lou Dobbs he knew. Daily Finance: Dobbs is going on Fox News for his first big post-CNN interview. The Daily Beast: Dobbs' abrupt exit caused relief, sadness and a job scramble at CNN's studios. Salon: Is Dobbs planning to run for office? Politico/The Arena: Keith Olbermann thinks that Dobbs "would benefit from a few years at Telemundo."

Time Inc. in Union Clash (NYP)
Time Inc. is battling union claims that the company is exploiting writers in People's Los Angeles office. The Newspaper Guild claims that People managing editor Larry Hackett is forcing writers to work on People.com without adequate compensation, in violation of the collective bargaining agreement.

AP CEO to Staff: Sorry, We're Going To Keep Firing You (Silicon Alley Insider)
Layoffs are not over at The Associated Press. AP CEO Tom Curley addressed staffers Thursday at a company-wide Town Hall forum, saying: "I know you all would like me to sound the all clear. I cannot do that." More cuts will be needed to slash 10 percent from the payroll as planned.

Former Editor Dishes On Playgirl's Future, Levi Johnson (FishbowlNY)
Nicole Caldwell, who formerly served as editor-in-chief at Playgirl before its print edition was shuttered, let us in on the behind-the-scenes workings at Playgirl today. Caldwell has been brought back on board to help put together one "special" issue of the magazine for this year and four more for 2010. UsWeekly: "The shoot was fantastic!" Levi Johnston's manager, Tank Jones, said of his Playgirl photo session. NYDN: Levi Johnson sees his upcoming memoir becoming a movie.

New York Times News Service to Cut Jobs and Relocate (NYT)
The New York Times News Service will lay off at least 25 editorial employees next year and will move the editing of the service to a Florida newspaper owned by The New York Times Company, the newspaper and the Newspaper Guild said Thursday.

Disney Profit Rises 18 Percent (WSJ)
Walt Disney Co. said fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 18 percent, driven by strength at its cable networks. The results followed news of a management shake-up in which Disney said chief financial officer Tom Staggs would switch positions with the head of its parks division, Jay Rasulo. B&C: Disney's Iger wants a piece of retransmission fees and a fee-based TV Everywhere model.

CNN.com Shutters Anchor-Driven Newscasts (WebNewser)
CNN.com Live is shutting down its anchor-driven newscasts as of Thursday. Reggie Aqui, Nicole Lapin, Naamua Delaney and Melissa Long, the four primary anchors of CNN.com Live, are being let go as are several production staffers.

Can Salon's Revamp Help it Stop Bleeding Money? (PBS/MediaShift)
Mark Glaser: Salon has unveiled a redesign to provide more context to stories, include related material, and give advertisers a more creative platform. It's also planning a store to sell third-party products, as well as a new food section. CEO Richard Gingras talks about how these moves could affect the bottom line.

The Man Who Beat Glenn Beck (The Daily Beast)
This week, Glenn Beck lost a legal battle to take down a parody site devoted to mocking his use of innuendo and rumor in going after his political enemies. The domain name that provoked his ire was GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlIn1990.com, whose main page pledged to "examine the vicious rumor."

SightUnseen: Lifestyles of the Young and Designy (Fast Company)
This week marked the launch of a new kid on the design-blog scene: SightUnseen, dedicated to the lifestyles and obsessions of designers. The site was created by Monica Khemsurov and Jill Singer, two former editors at the hoary design bible I.D.

Fairfield University Student Paper Faces Discipline Over Column's 'Harassment' (Connecticut Post)
Three months after The Fairfield Mirror newspaper ran a column that some Fairfield University students found highly offensive, the independent student publication faces harassment charges before the school's Student Conduct Board. Fairfield Mirror: The Mirror's response to Dean Pellegrino.

Moor: Newspapers Not Evolving Enough for Digital Demand (E&P)
Anthony Moor, who is leaving his post as top Web editor at the Dallas Morning News to head Yahoo's local news division, said part of the reason for the change is that newspaper online sites are not utilizing the growing medium quickly enough.

Is Fox Business Network a Lost Cause? (Vanity Fair)
Fox Business Network's strategy from the outset has been to go after business-minded viewers who may be turned off by CNBC's heavy use of finance-industry jargon and tendency to cater exclusively to investors. But even as Fox Business tries to chip away at CNBC's audience, Bloomberg TV is moving in on its high-end viewers.