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Parsons Hails Icahn's Impact on Time Warner (NYP)
At war just a year ago, Time Warner chief Dick Parsons is now lauding raider Carl Icahn for putting a fire under the company — not to mention a $35 million gain in Parsons' own holdings. Parsons said that without Icahn's surprise raid and bust-up attack on Time Warner, the media company might never have gotten its own rescue plan off the ground in a timely way. NYT: Parsons won't rule out a run for NYC mayor. Reuters: Time Warner seeks digital growth in 2007.

Tribune to Extend Review Process, Slowing Auction (WSJ)
Backing away from its initial hope for a speedy auction, Tribune Co. said it would extend its strategic review process through the first quarter of next year. The announcement appeared inevitable to some parties involved in the bidding, who have privately said that the auction process has appeared disorganized for weeks. NYP: Tribune said that its advisers, including Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, recommended that the board extend the auction into the first quarter of next year in order to "ensure thorough consideration of all proposals." Chicago Tribune: Gannett may see special interest in Tribune because of their joint ownership of CareerBuilder. LAT: Bidding said to be "tepid."

Murdoch Recoups $1M 'Kill Fee' for Barbara Walters O.J. Interview (Guardian)
Rupert Murdoch appears to have recouped some of money lost in the recent O.J. Simpson fiasco when his publishing arm received an unexpected windfall of $1 million from the rival television network ABC, which had entered into prolonged negotiations with ReganBooks to do a special interview with O.J. Simpson as part of publicity for the book.

From Condé to Condiments: Vice Chairman Florio Leaving to Start Restaurant (NYP)
Condé Nast vice chairman Steve Florio is going into the restaurant business on the East End of Long Island, near his home in Sag Harbor. Il Tutto Giorno is expected to open in about two weeks. Florio stepped down as president and CEO of Condé Nast three years ago, his contract as vice chairman comes to an end on Dec. 31.

Google Reaches Deal in Belgian Dispute Over News Links (AP)
Google Inc. has struck a content-sharing deal with two organizations to partly settle a dispute in Belgium over news articles available through the Internet search engine. But Google still faces a bid by Belgian newspapers to get the company to pull the news content unless it paid the newspapers or received their permission. A judge said she would deliver her verdict in early January. Ecommerce Times: Google sues by French film company over video downloads.

NBC Weighs Restructuring in Burbank (LAT)
Two weeks after a major management shake-up at NBC Universal's New York headquarters, Jeff Zucker is considering a reorganization of the entertainment division in Burbank. One scenario under consideration: elevating Jeff Gaspin — currently in charge of the programming of NBC Universal's entertainment cable channels and digital entertainment — over all of the company's TV content.

Life & Style & Editor Change: Less Than A Year In, Birnbaum Is Out (FishbowlNY)
Bauer Publishing's Life & Style has made a switch at the top of its Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, compound, replacing editor Debra Birnbaum with general manager Mark Pasetsky. Insiders say that Birnbaum's strengths and background were not suited to the magazine's push for "deeper style coverage." "She was not as interested" in style as she was in celebrity, says an insider. "The missions collided." Jossip: Bauer wants to make Life & Style "the style bible."

Outspoken Media Exec Joins VNU (NYT)
Jon Mandel is making a career change that underlines the growing importance to Madison Avenue of collecting and analyzing data about consumer behavior. His new job is in the New York office of the VNU Group, as chief executive of a new unit, NielsenConnect, which is meant to bring together data from dozens of VNU divisions under names like AC Nielsen and Nielsen Media Research.

Super Bowl Ads May Be a Buyers' Market (WSJ)
This year, says one media buyer, more advertisers are indicating a willingness to hold out for a lower price before committing to the ad lineup on CBS. "Those are guys who would like to have a Super Bowl spot, but not at $2 million" or more per 30-second spot, says Jason Kanefsky, a senior vice president at Havas's MPG. "They are the ones who actually fill up the boat, and they wait it out longer."

Nancy Grace's Crisis Manager Steps In, And Duckett Crisis Deepens (NYO)
In the days after Melinda Duckett's suicide, Grace utilized the services of Anna Cordasco, who is the managing director of Citigate Sard Verbinnen, which specializes in below-the-radar corporate-image resuscitation. Cordasco and her colleagues immediately set to work restoring the fire-breathing former prosecutor to her pre-Duckett level of dignity and national esteem. Except it just got worse.

Q&A With PNI's Brian Tierney (WSJ)
WSJ: You are in the midst of negotiating with some of your unions, and there is concern at the Inquirer about editorial layoffs. Do you think advertisers care about staffing levels and depth of coverage? Tierney: I haven't met an advertiser out there who thinks ... that the secret to being better is to necessarily have a lot more people doing it. E&P: Philly Newspaper Guild planning online strike paper.

Washington Post Journos to Be 'Graded' (NYO)
Reporters at the Washington Post will now be ranked with a multiple-choice job-performance assessment each year. Each will be described as: "frequently exceeds expectations," "sometimes exceeds expectations," "meets expectations," "sometimes fails to meet expectations," or "frequently does not meet expectations." "It's like a third-grade type of evaluation system," said one Post staffer.

Why Did Media Wait So Long on 'Civil War?' (Newsweek)
Jonathan Alter: With the midterm election returns, we've forgotten how recently the White House held a hammer over the head of anyone who might dare dissent. Earlier this year, any major news organization deciding to call Iraq a "civil war" would have almost certainly been attacked as unpatriotic by the White House-RNC-Fox industrial complex.

Stephen Hatfill's Paradoxical Lawsuit Against the New York Times (Slate)
Jack Shafer: The more evidence Hatfill's lawyers gather to prove the government maintained a file on him and actively leaked it to reporters, the more he undermines his libel action against Nicholas Kristof and the New York Times. Why? Because if the information shared from the files is true, and Kristof drew on that information, he and the Times can plead the truth as a defense. Case over.

Deep Staff Cuts at Popular D.C. TV News Show (WaPo)
Paul Farhi: The drumbeat of cutbacks raises key questions: How much more will WRC cut? And how far can News4 go in reducing its staff and newsgathering resources before the moves drive viewers away? Among the recent moves, several of the journalists already have left; others will leave at staggered intervals through early next year.