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Report: Feds Probe Apple Execs, Steve Jobs, 'Falsified' Documents (Financial Times)
Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple Computer, was handed 7.5 million stock options in 2001 without the required authorization from the company's board of directors, according to people familiar with the matter. Records that purported to show a full board meeting had taken place to approve Jobs' remuneration, as required by Apple's procedures, were later falsified. The Recorder: Feds are looking closely at stock option administration documents that were apparently falsified by company officials to maximize the profitability of option grants to executives. San Jose Mercury News: Stock falls. TheStreet.com: Then rebounds.

CBS Doesn't Air Special Report On Ford Death (AP)
Unlike its network rivals, CBS News did not break into its programming for a special report on former President Ford's death, instead running a printed "crawl" at the bottom of the screen with the news. CBS said it is bringing Katie Couric home from an overseas vacation to anchor the CBS Evening News on Thursday and any ceremonies for Ford over the weekend. NYT: Infamous "Drop Dead" Daily News headline was never said by Ford. NYDN: Headline was the brainchild of the paper's late managing editor, William Brink. Huffington Post: 10 antidotes to media's Gerald Ford eulogy overkill. TVNewser: Dusting off old interviews. NYT: Death of a former president has become an almost cheery television event. FishbowlNY Video: Dana Carvey's Tom Brokaw was ready for Gerald Ford death in '96.

Washingtonienne Senate Sex Blog Case Heads Toward Court (AP via CNN)
Lurid testimony about spanking, handcuffs and prostitution aside, the case against ex-Washingtonienne blogger Jessica Cutler could help establish whether people who keep online diaries are obligated to protect the privacy of the people they interact with offline. Former Capitol Hill staffer Robert Steinbuch sought more than $20 million in damages in 2004 after discovering his then-girlfriend Cutler had been writing about the tribulations of juggling sexual relationships with six men.

Deputy In Mel Gibson Arrest Claims Harassment (LAT)
Six months after he arrested Mel Gibson on suspicion of drunk driving in Malibu, a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy alleges he is being harassed for his action by officials who question whether he leaked a report detailing the actor's anti-Semitic rant to the news media.

MTV Looks to Pimp Dubai (Variety)
Viacom's MTV has inked a deal with Dubai-based startup Arabian Television Network to create a version of MTV in Arabic for youth audiences in the Middle East. Viacom had been looking for a partner to launch the free-to-air channel, MTV Arabiya, which will broadcast a mix of music videos, MTV programming and locally produced shows.

Judge Throws Out Crash Lawsuit (AP)
A judge threw out a lawsuit filed by a man who was denied producing credit for the Oscar-winning movie Crash. Bob Yari first arranged financing to make Crash, and was one of six credited producers. He sued in March after the Producers Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named only two people as producers for purposes of Oscar credit.

Times Square NYE Crowd to be 'Targetad' (NYDN)
New Year's Eve revelers who arrive early at Times Square to watch the 99th annual ball drop will be treated to special 3D effects courtesy of Target. The retail giant will distribute 30,000 pairs of 3D glasses along Seventh Ave. and Broadway, between 43rd and 47th Sts., that will transform the extravaganza's fireworks into glowing "Target bull's-eyes." The glasses will also enable viewers to see Target's logo coming out of the 1,070-pound ball as it drops on New Year's Eve.

Kaplan To Rescue Katie? (Page Six)
Rick Kaplan, the veteran network news exec who most recently ran MSNBC, is rumored to be coming to CBS News to help boost Katie Couric's ratings on the Evening News. After a brief stint on top of the ratings when she launched in September, Couric has been mired in third place.

Star Trib Fire Sale Likely Won't Affect Smaller Papers' Value (E&P)
While McClatchy's loss-making sale of the Star Tribune to private equity firm Avista Capital Partners has some wondering about a ripple effect on metro newspaper valuations, prices for small and mid-sized dailies and weeklies are holding up very well. "It kind of looks like McClatchy is cutting and running on its big Midwestern property," said Media Consultants Inc. president Michael D. Lindsey.

Broadcaster Settles Lawsuit Over Payola (Bloomberg News)
Entercom Communications, the radio broadcaster, has agreed to pay $4.25 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, over kickbacks paid for radio airtime. The settlement is the latest in a series of payola investigations by Spitzer, a Democrat, who will become New York's governor next month. In October, he settled a similar lawsuit against CBS and its radio division for $2 million.

Did Reader's Digest Fumble $150M? (TheStreet.com)
In a recent regulatory filing chronicling Ripplewood Holding's proposed $1.6 billion buyout of Reader's Digest, the Pleasantville, N.Y. publisher revealed the private-equity firm twice offered to pay $18.50 a share for the company, almost 9% more than the $17 a share takeover price that Readers Digest's board ultimately agreed to in November. It appears Reader's Digest's fumbling of the lengthy negotiations with Ripplewood may have cost shareholders up to $150 million in a buyout premium.

A Book You Read for the Articles (NYT)
Evidence presented in The New Bedside Playboy: A Half Century of Amusement, Diversion & Entertainment suggests a more ambitious grand plan. With its ribald jokes and cartoons, airbrushed "pictorials" and prose selections from America's best-paid writers — all wrapped up into a glossy connoisseurship that Mr. Hefner called the "Playboy Philosophy" — the magazine can be seen as a mad plot: to create a race of men more boring and insecure than any before.

Washington Post Writer Who Wrote Yesterday's Gerald Ford Obit Died In January (WaPo via Drudge)
J.Y. Smith, 74, a former foreign correspondent who transformed the backwater reputation of the Washington Post obituaries desk as its first official editor — and whose byline appears under the paper's Gerald Ford obituary that ran Wednesday — died in January.

Thai Queen Prompts Coyote Ugly Crackdown (AP)
Coyote Ugly inspired mainstream Bangkok nightclubs to feature their own brand of seductive dancers known as "Coyote Girls." But after a recent performance near a Buddhist temple on a Buddhist holy day, Queen Sirikit wants a "Coyote Girl" crackdown. "Coyote Girls have to be in the right place, like an animal has to be in the zoo," said Ladda Thungsupachai, director of the Culture Watch Center, a division of the Culture Ministry, which wants to restrict the dancing to nightclubs and bars.

Glimmer of 'Hope' for Newspapers '06 (Marketplace.org)
It was a year of selloffs and layoffs for American newspapers as they continue to lose revenue in an increasingly digital world. But a renewed trend toward local ownership offers a glimmer of hope.