The NY Sun, which announced its future was uncertain last week, has been racking up support from prominent people. Not only do Mario Cuomo and George Pataki sing the Sun's praises (Pataki says it's "the best paper in New York" while Cuomo said, "I like understanding from the op-eds and editorials the conservative view of things"), Eliot Spitzer gives his first public comments since his scandal: "The Sun has been a spectacular addition to the......

Last year, the NY Times, NY Post, NY Daily News and Newsday all featured 9/11 stories prominently on their first pages. This year, the Times doesn't have any, the NY Post focuses in on Election year makeup and the Daily News splits the cover (as it did last year) between 9/11 and Election year coverage. Only Newsday devotes the whole cover to the day. Is this a sign of moving on? At any rate,......

The Observer's Azi Paybarah took this great photograph of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver with today's instant classic "Count Shelly Dracula" NY Post cover. Apparently a Post photographer held up the paper as Silver responded to a question about "tabloid coverage," saying, "Well, I’ll tell you the truth. Media is having trouble in this town and I hope I help them sell a few newspapers today." Then a few questions later, he realized the newspaper was......

ABC News has seemingly won the Sarah Palin interview sweepstakes, with the Republican vice presidential candidate agreeing to an interview with Charlie Gibson (timing TBD). The McCain-Palin campaign has denied that it is shielding the Alaska governor from the press, instead claiming that the media has been sexist and unkind in its scrutiny of Palin and saying she would be interviewed when "news media is going to treat her with some level of respect and......

The Observer reports that the NY Times will announce later today "that it plans to cut the number of sections it has in the paper during some days of the week and it will fold in the Metro Section and Sports section into other sections of the newspaper." Sources tell the Observer, "the Metro Section is moving into the A-section and the Sports section will move into the Business section for some portion of the......

Today, Barack Obama has been campaigning in York, Pennsylvania. When asked whether, as Republicans charge, the Democrats or media has been sexist with its treatment of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, Obama said (video below):Listen, if they want to work the refs, they are free to do so. I think the public can make their judgments about this. The notion that any questions about her work in Alaska is somehow not relevant to her......

In today's NY Sun, there's a letter from editor Seth Lipsky warning that the paper may fold at the end of the month if they don't "find additional financial backing" (he calls current investors keeping the paper afloat "heroic"). Lipsky acknowledges their goal "of providing an alternative to the New York Times in coverage of New York City, politics, foreign policy, and culture" "was an optimistic project," but is proud of its "journalistic credibility and......

The NY Times Styles section looks at how the The Year of the Political Blogger Has Arrived, both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions extended credentials to bloggers. However, not all bloggers are created equal: At the DNC, there's the national credential ",which offers the same access granted to members of traditional news media organizations," while the "coveted" state blogger credential "allows one blogger per state to cover the convention alongside its state delegation, with......

After teaming up with Hello! magazine to shell out $14 million for photographs of Knox Leon and Vivenne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt, aka Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's twins, People showed off the cover of their special double issue with the new additions to the Jolie-Pitt family tonight on their website. The issue will go on stands tomorrow (interesting, since People's latest issue was just went on sale Friday), and here's an excerpt from People:"It is chaos,......

Photoshop skills are necessary in the bitter cable news wars. TV Newser noticed how Fox & Friends responded to a Saturday NY Times article about the Fox News Channel's ratings--specifically how CNN and MSNBC have been able to make gains on Fox's leadership position. Pointing out that Times editor Steve Reddicliffe might be bitter about not getting paid $750,000 to edit News Corp.-owned TV Guide anymore, Fox & Friends' Steve Doocy said, "[Steinberg] is essentially......

The local papers have weighed in and made the Mets' firing of manager Willie Randolph their number 1, 2 and 3 topics. Angry over how Randolph was fired (flying him all the way out to Los Angeles?!? And Omar Minaya claiming that the media speculation pushed him to fire Randolph?), yes, but the tabloids were probably angry over something else: The fact that the firing took place around midnight PST/3 a.m. ESt, which meant it was too late to get into yesterday papers! So today, it's all about the Mets....

Last night at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, a group of journalists and entertainers were honored for their work in 2007 at the ceremony for the 67th Annual Peabody Awards. This year's awards, administered by the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and selected by a board, are considered one of the most prestigious awards in electronic media (films intended for wide theatrical release are not allowed), were given to 35 different recipients--many......

Yesterday, Republican presidential contender John McCain made a number of appearances in Manhattan to boost his campaign and rake in some donations. The tickets to the fund-raisers costs $28,500 a pop, so he made at least $2 million. During the day, Cindy McCain visited a Harlem charter school and told NY1, "I do not ever envision myself as being involved in the 'McCain administration,' as it's been put, at all. But my husband and I......

The Post and Daily News gleefully put the old Gray Lady on their covers with the same headline--"The New York Climbs"--in the Times' headline font. The NY Times tucks mention of the pair of unrelated climbers, Alain Robert and Ray Clark, who scaled its building to the bottom of the front page. A year ago, the Post and Daily News didn't use the same headlines, but they did use the same cover and back......

The Post is doubling its weekday price to 50 cents. Why? It's the "result of increased production and transportation costs." The Post's owner, News Corp./Rupert Murdoch, first offered the tabloid for 25 cents in 2000. When the Post managed to surpass its archrival, the NY Daily News, in circulation in 2007, the Post went back on sale at 50 cents, but for only 10 days, leading Daily News editor Martin Dunn to say, "We did......

Newsday's Verne Gay reports WNBC 4 "released another statement" today that apologizes for Sue Simmons' unexpected f-bomb during a Monday night promo. Gay believes the statement is "designed to dash media speculation that Simmons' 28-year tenure was imperiled by the outburst." Here's the statement:"Sue Simmons is a highly valued 30-year veteran of WNBC. Sue, along with WNBC, remains deeply sorry for her offensive remark on Monday night for which she quickly apologized. It was......

Big changes are ahead for WNBC, Channel 4. The NY Times reports NBC wants to transform the local station into a "content center" and "will start a 24-hour local news channel along the lines of cable’s New York One." Overall, NBC will "de-emphasize" WNBC--the WNBC website will be NBC New York. No layoffs are planned, but a huge culture shift is: Employees will be retrained and have "expanded duties," such as producers who usually produce......

Photograph by WCBS 880's Evan Bindelglass On some news stands now: Less of the Post's angry demands (like today's)! WCBS 880 took this photograph of a smaller NY Post, noting it's miniature size, 11" wide by 12" tall, versus its standard size of 11.25" wide by 13.75" tall. The smaller size appears to be a result of Post owner News Corp. investigating ways to achieve greater operational efficiencies--the Wall Street Journal is 11" wide.......

While there may be an uproar around Miley Cyrus's "topless" photo for a Vanity Fair shoot, it's possible that this photograph of Miley with "Achy, Breaky" dad Billy Ray Cyrus is more disturbing. Or maybe it's just because we have never seen a daughter pose like this with her father. Then again, there is a father who convinced his daughter to work at a brothel and gives her bikini waxes. Here's the Vanity Fair......

Oh, to be 15, to be the powerhouse behind a $1 billion franchise, and to have your "artistic" portrait--taken by Annie Leibovitz--be criticized! Teen star Miley Cyrus's photographs for the June issue of Vanity Fair have prompted a war of the words between the teen star, Disney (which produces her wildly popular "Hannah Montana" show) and the magazine. The photograph shows Cyrus, seemingly topless, covered by a sheet, and when Entertainment Tonight promo'd it over......

As rumors about Katie Couric leaving the CBS Evening News early next year continue to simmer, the Daily News offers one suggestion from a network (CBS? CNN?) "insider": "Take Katie off the 'Evening News,' let her to do Larry King, and then let [Anderson] Cooper anchor" the CBS Evening News. Of course, the suggestion for Couric to take over Larry King's talk show seems to have come from Couric herself, during a chat she, her......

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal suggested CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric may leave the network "well before her contract expires in 2011" and as soon as early next year. Why would CBS ditch their $15-million/year star? Reasons range from overall belt-tightening and disappointed about the program's poor ratings and Couric's apparent inability to bring in those female viewers. CBS issued a statement--"We are very proud of the 'CBS Evening News,' particularly our political coverage,......

Drawing on his roots in the fecund 1970s East Village avant-garde film scene, critic J. Hoberman has spent his three decades at the Village Voice introducing readers to the more adventurous cinematic worlds awaiting beyond the realm of Hollywood. He is the author of nine books, most recently The Dream Life: Movies, Media, and the Mythology of the Sixties, which was described by Slate as "an extraordinary publishing event." To commemorate his thirty years at......

The NY Times' article about presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain's superclose relationship with a young, attractive female lobbyist (more about her here) has drawn a lot of criticism, especially from McCain himself. His campaign seized the moment to raise money for his campaign. Campaign manager Rick Davis' fundraising letter read, "With John McCain leading a number of general-election polls against Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, The New York Times knew the time to attack......

The headline for the above-the-fold NY Times story about presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain, For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk, doesn't quite prepare readers for the juicy insinuations waiting for them in the second paragraph. The first sentence notes that during McCain's 2000 presidential campaign advisers were worried because... A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client’s corporate......

Photograph of Bill, Chelsea, and Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night by Carolyn Kaster/AP Yet another example of foot-in-mouth syndrome due to the hours of punditry on TV, followed by an apology and suspension! Yesterday, while referring to Chelsea Clinton's campaigning on behalf of her mother, MSNBC correspondent David Shuster commented, "Doesn't it seem as if Chelsea is sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" Yes, he totally said that. Or,......

It may have taken a few extra hours, but the Mets finally got their man. The Mets and Johan Santana agreed to a six-year, $137.5 million contract, with a club option for a seventh year. When the Mets and Twins agreed to the trade on Tuesday, Major League Baseball gave the Mets and Santana until 5 p.m. Friday to reach a deal. With the deadline approaching yesterday, but no agreement reached, the two sides asked......

A Giant hooked up to a shock device, numerous wedding proposals and an American Idol audition all added to the collective fun know as “Media Day” at the Super Bowl. What else can you expect when nearly 5,000 reporters have to shake out stories from 200 or so football players and coaches. Ruben Droughns must be looking for something to do because he agreed to answer questions while holding two electrodes hooked up to......

As if the Giants didn’t have enough to worry about heading into their Super Bowl matchup with the Patriots, the flu bug is going around the team. (Note: stop eating now) Aaron Ross was so sick yesterday that the Giants’ charter flight was delayed an hour to clean up the mess. The New York training staff has been giving the players every type of preventative medicine they can come up with to ward off the......

The game is still a week away, but the verbal sparring has begun. Plaxico Burress fired the first shot this week when he said about the Giants’ wide receivers that, "We have guys that can go out and do things just as well or maybe better than some of those guys.” The Patriots have refused to take the bait with Rodney Harrison simply talking about seeing what happens on the field while Ellis Hobbs noted......