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Remaking the Journal (NYT)
Tomorrow, in all likelihood, shareholders will vote to approve the sale of Dow Jones to Rupert Murdoch's company, the News Corporation. But Murdoch has already seized the reins of Dow Jones and The Journal, setting in motion what amounts to an overhaul of the look, content, and staff of one of the world's most prized newspapers. NYO: Outgoing Dow Jones CEO Richard Zannino may stick around for a while to help with the transition. "I told Rupert that I'll stay for as long or as little as he would like me to stick around," he said. NYP: A budding feud is developing between Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff and Wall Street Journal reporter Sarah Ellison, both of whom now have book deals to write about Rupert Murdoch and News Corp.'s takeover of Dow Jones. Guardian: The New York Times tries to savage Murdoch for making decisions at the Journal, writes Roy Greenslade. Hollywood Reporter: Mudoch's rarified heir. NYMag.com: Last night, The Wall Street Journal editorial team, tragically left out of News Corp.'s holiday bash at the Hilton on Friday, likely sat glumly in the 12th-floor conference room, sipping "alcoholic beverages and softer fare" and engaging in forced merriment at their one and only holiday party.

Strike Touches a Ritual for Wooing (NYT)
Unless something happens quickly to restart stalled talks between entertainment producers and the Writers Guild of America, one of the oldest rituals of the television business, the May network upfront presentation, is likely to fold its tent, possibly forever. With the writers' strike now looking as if it may extend into the new year, every major network is pondering the elimination of the big, garish upfront shows. LAT: The Writers Guild of America is under new and mounting pressure from its ranks to get back to the bargaining table. LAT: The networks are facing pressure from sponsors worried about what will happen when fresh episodes run out.

Yahoo and CNBC in Distribution Deal: Cable Screwed? (Silicon Alley Insider)
Yahoo and CNBC have signed a distribution deal in which Yahoo Finance will distribute a handful of CNBC clips each day. This is a smart step for both parties, but it's also only a tiny fraction of what the two companies could and should do together. CNBC is nowhere online, primarily because of its restrictive (and lucrative) carriage deals with cable companies.

Travel Channel's Sawyer Injured In Helicopter Crash (Multichannel News)
Travel Channel on-air personality Forrest Sawyer was injured late last week in a helicopter crash in Tanzania while filming a segment for the network's Presidential Tour series. Travel Channel president Pat Younge in a statement said Sawyer and most members of his production crew involved in the crash are safe and with their families.

NYP Metro Editor Walks Out of Newsroom and Quits (Village Voice)
Newly minted New York Post Metro editor Dan Colarusso walked out of the tabloid's Sixth Avenue newsroom Monday night and won't be back, sources say. There's still no word on what precipitated his dramatic departure after less than a year on the job. Colarusso is credited with reinvigorating the Post's business pages before being elevated to the Metro editor in January.

Penthouse Buys Group of Social-Networking Sites (NYT)
While the influx of free and low-cost video has hurt the sale of pornographic videos, the chief executive of the Penthouse Media Group remains so bullish on the sex-related entertainment industry that he is investing $500 million in a group of social networking sites. Marc H. Bell, chief executive of Penthouse Media, said the company had acquired Various Inc. and its subsidiaries as part of a plan to expand its reach.

Web Embodies Total Playboy Brand Experience (JackMyers.com)
Dorian Benkoil: When mag executives talk about a Web site re-launch these days they tend to mention social networking applications and other buzzwords. They may talk of supplanting subscription dollars with ads online. Not Playboy. "For me, the online experience should be as complementary to the magazine as it is to television, or radio, or to location-based entertainment or anything else that we do," said Bob Meyers, Playboy Enterprise Inc.'s president, media and EVP.

FX Rebrands in Effort to Put More Distance Between It and HBO (AdAge)
A new FX branding campaign, launching next Tuesday during Nip/Tuck, will hopefully clear up for devoted and casual viewers alike what the FX brand stands for five years after its initial hits The Shield and Nip/Tuck paved the way for its edgy, risk-taking approach on ad-supported cable.

Tribune Set to Penalize Employees Who Smoke (AP via E&P)
In an effort to motivate workers to kick unhealthy habits, U.S. companies are hitting them where it hurts: in their wallets. Starting in 2008, Tribune Co., which owns newspapers including the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun, will apply a monthly surcharge of $100 to family premiums of workers — or dependents — who use tobacco.

O Tanenhaus! As Editor Does Double Duty, Times Insists It Still Values Book Review (NYO)
Some reacted to the appointment of Sam Tanenhaus at "Week in Review" with concerns that the quality of the Book Review could decline as its top editor is pulled in two directions. "It certainly signals the demise of newspapers, that they would have two such important sections run by one person," said one publishing executive at Random House. "It reflects how unimportant books seem to be at the Times."

Alex Trebek Suffers Mild Heart Attack (AP)
Longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek was hospitalized Tuesday after a minor heart attack, a spokesman for the game show said. Trebek, 67, was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center late Monday night and was expected to remain there about two days for tests and observation, said show spokesman Jeff Ritter.

2007's Best Books (Salon)
Laura Miller: In 2007, books remained the most consistently refreshing, illuminating, diverting, original, and enriching sources of entertainment in our lives. These are the books we thought about on the way to work and rushed through our dinner dates to get back to at night, the books we blocked out whole weekends to read, and propped up next to our bowls of breakfast cereal.

Critic's Journos of the Year: Mailer and Halberstam (Marketwatch)
Jon Friedman: I'm naming David Halberstam and Norman Mailer, who died in 2007, as my Journalists of the Year. It may seem schmaltzy to pick two legends instead of the hipper, edgier batch of journalists working right now. So be it. I learned as much from Halberstam and Mailer as from anyone else who excelled this year.

J-School Prof Who Doesn't Trust Reporters Under 30 (Slate)
Jack Shafer: The prejudice against young political reporters probably has more to do with the inexplicably high status accorded campaign reporters inside newspapers than it does with the actual skills the job demands. Too many journalists think of the campaign trail as the most prestigious beat, and they wig out when somebody who hasn't spent two decades as a journeyman lands a seat on the campaign bus.

Eight Questions Reporters Should Ask Huckabee (CJR)
Todd Gitlin: The campaign lurches along under more journalistic surveillance than ever before, but like other observers I'm often struck by questions — significant questions, in my estimation — that go unasked, or at least not asked very often or insistently. Here are some questions for the Republican candidate and former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee.