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McClatchy To Sell Minneapolis Star Tribune For $530M (WSJ)
McClatchy agreed to sell the Minneapolis Star Tribune, its largest newspaper, to private-equity firm Avista for $530 million, less than half of what McClatchy paid in 1998. "This was not an easy decision to make, but we're still confident about the future," said Gary Pruitt, McClatchy's chief executive. NYT: Pruitt: "It was a drag on the bottom line and we felt we would do better without it."

NYT Reporter: I Was Assaulted by Pakistani Agents (ABC News' Blotter)
New York Times correspondent Carlotta Gall says she was assaulted by Pakistani government security agents while reporting in Quetta, a Pakistani city near the Afghan frontier where NATO suspects the Taliban hides its shadow government. According to Gall, the agents broke down the door to her hotel room, after she refused to let them enter, and began to seize her notebooks and laptop. When she tried to stop them, she says one of the men punched her twice in the face and head.

Google Set To Expand Newspaper Ad Program (WaPo)
This fall, the search-engine company proposed to show how it could help newspapers sell print advertising to the hundreds of thousands of small merchants who buy Internet ads from Google. Now, two months into a test with 100 advertisers and 66 newspapers, Google executives say that its pilot program has exceeded their expectations and that they will roll out an expanded version in the coming months.

Glam.com's Traffic Questioned (WWD)
Upstart fashion portal Glam Media sent out a press release in September in which it claimed to be the "No. 1 online fashion and beauty Web property," eclipsing established giants iVillage Beauty & Style and Style.com, as measured by comScore Media Metrix. But the market research firm recognizes no such category. Instead, it ranked Glam Media as number seven among women's community sites in November. (2nd item)

Hallmark Mag Allows Advertisers' Logos on Cards (NYT)
At a time when many magazines are struggling, Hallmark magazine, in its third issue published by the greeting card company, is enjoying success largely because it is making its retail assets available for advertising on a regular basis. Advertisers who buy space in the magazine can put their logos on Hallmark flowers, gifts and cards, including online greeting cards.

Taking Bets On Harry Potter's Death (NYT)
If Harry Potter is to die in the seventh and concluding volume of his adventures, a British bookmaker is posting odds on the killer. Speculation that the boy wizard will meet his end has been rampant since J. K. Rowling disclosed last week that the book is to carry the title Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Rupert Adams, a spokesman for the bookmaker, William Hill, said "most of the early money has been for Harry, who has been cut from 10-1 to 6-1, and Voldemort remains the odds-on favorite," at 4-5.

Masthead Mutiny at LTB Media (NYP)
The latest exec from publisher Louise T. Blouin MacBain's empire to hit the pavement is Deborah Harris, the publisher of Modern Painters, who was out just before the Christmas break. Harris resigned when new group publisher David Gursky wanted to cut her compensation by one-third. One source said MacBain is "trying to cut anyone that is making any kind of significant money."

News Corp. to Pay Liberty $300M if Deal Fails (Reuters)
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. said on Tuesday it must pay fees of $100 million to $300 million to Liberty Media Corp. should a planned $11 billion share swap between the two rivals fall through. PCMag: Broadband seen as big task for DirecTV.

Amazon.com: Best Christmas Ever (Forbes)
Amazon.com Inc.'s 2006 holiday season peaked with more than 4 million orders placed on Dec. 11, the Web retailer said. The company said it sold 1,000 Xbox 360 game consoles in 29 seconds as part of a promotion that slashed two-thirds off the regular retail price.

Media Giants Struggle for Digital Growth (AP)
Media titans are still a long way from figuring out how to deliver their goods and engage shoppers over the Internet while still making a profit. As they enter 2007, many of these companies will be turning to newly installed executives to make it happen.

Sopranos Cast's New Year's Charity Auction Drawing Little Interest (NYP)
Steven Van Zandt, who plays "Silvio Dante," Tony "Paulie Walnuts" Sirico, Vinnie "Big Pussy" Pastore and other cast members teamed up with the Hard Rock Cafe in New York to auction "A Wiseguy New Year's Eve in Time Square" on eBay. But as of press time, there was just one bid — and a suspicious one at that: the bidder's name: bid4fun2006; bidding history: none.

2006 Foot-in-Mouth Awards (Wired)
President Bush, when asked if he ever Googled anybody: "One of the things I've learned on the Google is to pull up maps. It's very interesting to see — I've forgotten the name of the program — but you get the satellite, and you can — like, I kinda like to look at the ranch. It reminds me of where I wanna be sometimes."

No Band, Little Booze, But Good Food (for Munchies?) at Wenner Party (Daily Intel)
There was one last big blowout to catch before Holiday Party Season 2006 wound down: The annual Wenner Media extravaganza. With the bank busted on Rolling Stone's 1,000th-issue celebration in May, this year's holiday gathering was less glitzy than in the past, with no big-name musical act slated to perform.

Plot Thickens For Hemingway's Cats (USA Today)
The legendary American novelist Ernest Hemingway lived in Key West for a decade in the 1930s, in a stone mansion on Whitehead Street with his wife, Pauline, and a six-toed cat named Snowball. Hemingway divorced Pauline in 1939, but Snowball stayed on. Today, about 50 of Snowball's descendants roam the grounds, to the delight of many tourists who visit the Hemingway Home and Museum. But the cats won't be roaming much longer, if the federal government has its way.

Will Hi-Def Kill The Extreme Close-Up? (AP via Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
The holiday shopping season was expected to boost the number of U.S. homes with high-definition televisions to nearly 33 million. In the eyes of a growing number of image-obsessed on-air personalities, that's 33 million reasons to be concerned. When Good Morning America debuted in high-definition last year, host Diane Sawyer, 61, noted that viewers will now know when she has stayed up too late the night before. "They will see it right there," Sawyer said, indicating the puffiness under her eyes.