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Under Pressure, News Corp. Pulls Simpson Project (NYT)
Bowing to intense pressure from both outside and inside the company, the News Corporation yesterday canceled its plans to publish a book and broadcast an interview with O.J. Simpson in which he was to give an account of how he might have murdered his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. The company was responding to a week's worth of ferocious criticism. CNN Poll via HuffPo: 55% thought the project was offensive, while 30% thought it was inappropriate. AP via Yahoo: During an appearance on CNN's Larry King Live, Fred Goldman, Ron's father, expressed appreciation to anyone who opposed the book and interview: "We want to say thank you, thank you for everyone in this country who raised their voice and stood up for the right thing." WaPo: "The thing that made us uncomfortable, besides the subject matter, was that it smacked of being an infomercial for the book," said Art Slusark, a vice president at Meredith Corp., which owns Fox-affiliated stations. Slusark added that "advertiser reaction was a thousand-to-one, with people not wanting to be involved with it." NYP: Some copies of the book, which had been selling strongly in pre-orders, had already been shipped to stores but will be recalled and disposed of, company officials said. LAT: One News Corp. executive said that scheduling the program represented "a severe underestimating of the American public" by company executives Peter Chernin and Peter Liguori. NYDN Editorial: What kind of utterly soulless corporate culture thinks up something like this in the first place? What kind of creepy mold grows in the petri dish that is Fox that someone could even imagine for a minute it was a good idea to pay O.J. Simpson several million dollars to discuss how he might have sliced his wife's head off?

Seinfeld Star Michael Richards Apologizes On Letterman For Racist Tirade (FishbowlNY)
Appearing via satellite during Jerry Seinfeld's appearance on the Late Show last night, Seinfeld actor Michael Richards apologized for his epithet-filled tirade at the Laugh Factory over the weekend. Said Richards: "For me to be at a comedy club and flip out and say this crap, I'm deeply, deeply sorry." HuffPo: Richards banned from the Laugh Factory.

Children of Murdered NYT Reporter Rosenbaum File $20M Suit (WaPo)
The children of slain New York Times reporter David E. Rosenbaum filed a $20 million lawsuit against the District and Howard University Hospital, claiming that their father was a victim of official negligence and medical malpractice. The lawsuit comes less than a month after a jury convicted a 42-year-old man of murdering Rosenbaum during a robbery.

Redstone Family Feud Redux: Nephew Suing for Viacom Stake (Reuters)
Viacom Inc. chairman Sumner Redstone's nephew Michael Redstone has filed a lawsuit charging that the billionaire media mogul and his own father cheated him out of a stake in the media conglomerate. The lawsuit accuses his uncle and his father Edward Redstone of "self-dealing," "breaches of fiduciary duties," and "unjust enrichment."

CBS Defends Janet Jackson 'Wardrobe Malfunction' in Court (WaPo)
Lawyers for CBS argued that singer Janet Jackson's breast-baring at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2004 was unintended, took place without the knowledge of the network, and should not be considered indecent. CBS is suing the Federal Communications Commission in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, challenging a $550,000 fine issued by the agency over the stunt.

Newspapers, Yahoo Reveal More About New Partnership (E&P)
Executives from newspaper companies and Yahoo shed more light on the new "transformational" partnership that links the Web giant to over 150 newspapers. While help wanted plays an important part in the deal, there are also revenue share opportunities for search and graphical functions. Yahoo executive VP and CFO Susan Decker would not disclose the terms of the "multi-year" commitment.

Google Mapping an Offline Course (NYT)
Major Internet sites are showing a strong and growing interest in the advertising business, and traditional ad firms are starting to get worried. Google has been leading the way, building on its online ad strength by striking deals to sell advertising in traditional media like newspapers and radio.

Analysis of 2006 Mag Ad Pages: Decrease in Automotive Balanced by Other Gains (MIN)
The result for the 168 measured monthlies is a cumulative fractional ad page gain in spite of the economic and technological challenges thrust by the perception that all advertising is headed to the Web. The 2006 ad page increase/decrease ratio for the 168 monthlies is 73-up/95-down; this is almost exactly the reversal from 2005's 95-up/79-down.

Is It Al-Jazeera Or CNN International? (NY Sun)
Brendan Bernhard: While one reason for Al-Jazeera English's absence from American TV screens is political, another may be that the global range and scope of its reportage could prove an embarrassment to the relative parochialism of CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, et al. Of course, much the same could be said of CNN International, which is far more globally-oriented than the domestic brand.

NFL Targets 'New Media' (WaPo)
On Thursday, the NFL Network will broadcast the first of eight Thursday-Saturday league games. It's a bold new venture for the league and the network, though not one that is without its tribulations. The NFL Network is not on three of the country's largest cable companies as they resist what they see as the league's heavy-handedness.

BBC Journalist Missing in Pakistan (Reuters)
International media organizations urged Pakistan to investigate the disappearance of a journalist working for the BBC. The journalist, Dilawar Khan Wazir, works for the BBC's Urdu-language service in the troubled tribal areas on the Afghan border, where security forces have been battling Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Google CEO: Don't Bet Against the Internet (Economist)
Eric Schmidt: What's surprising is that so many companies are still betting against the 'net, trying to solve today's problems with yesterday's solutions. The past few years have taught us that business models based on controlling consumers or content don't work. Betting against the 'net is foolish because you're betting against human ingenuity and creativity.

NYP's Perv Patrol (Slate)
Jack Shafer: Over the last eight years — as far back as Nexis covers the paper — the New York Post has woven the word "perv" into the heds of at least 642 stories and the word "pervert" into another 59. That's almost 90 a year. Working as a slightly slower clip, the Daily News has published at least 163 "perv" heds (29 "pervert" heds) in the past four years, or only about 48 a year.

A Media Guy Thanksgiving (AdAge)
Simon Dumenco: Thanks, Edward R. Murrow, for coming back from the dead to inhabit the body of Keith Olbermann. Thanks, Judy "WMD" Miller for recently complaining about the lack of ethics among bloggers (Judy, you're hilaaaaaarious!). Thanks, Fox News, for signing up blogger Greg Gutfeld as a commentator — but the fun won't really begin until you name Greg head of human resources.

Responding to a Reader, Nicholas Kristof Lets His Fangs Show (CJR Daily)
Brent Cunningham: Nick Kristof is frustrated. One need only read his column in Sunday's Times to know that. He devotes the entire piece to shaming a woman he identifies as Marguerite H., who had the temerity to suggest that Kristof stop writing so much about Darfur and use his considerable influence to draw attention to, and promote action on, the many problems we have here at home.