It's the cold calculus of the high-stakes world of U.S. network television news -- if your show's ratings go down, your prospects go down with them. And with ABC nipping at NBC's heels, the executive producer of NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams may pay the price.

From the NYT:

Since when did microlending, global poverty, constitutional law and civil wars in Africa become topics for frank discussion on fake-news comedy shows?

Publishers say that particularly for the last six months, “The Daily Show” and its spinoff, “The Colbert Report,” which has on similarly wonky authors, like the former White House official David Kuo, have become the most reliable venues for promoting weighty books whose authors would otherwise end up on “The Early Show” on CBS looking like they showed up at the wrong party.

(Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad) Yunus’s appearance gave a jump-start to his national press tour and sent his rank on the online bookseller Amazon soaring, said Susan Weinberg, who is the publisher of PublicAffairs. “It was our pièce de résistance,” Ms. Weinberg said. “It had a huge impact on the book.”

Tony Fox, a spokesman for Comedy Central, said that though “The Daily Show” has been on the air since 1996, the number of authors featured has increased significantly in the last five years.

Authors are treated to a fairly straight conversation with Mr. Stewart, but Stephen Colbert, who remains in character as a Bill O’Reilly-type commentator, can be a more challenging interviewer who forces the author to play along with his schtick. “It’s a different experience,” Ms. Weinberg said wryly.

From the BBC's Matt Frei in Washington:

When little green men from Mars eventually descend on our planet and unearth America's time capsule dating back to the beginning of the year 2007, it could skewer their whole view of our great civilisation.

Astronaut Lisa Nowak's story sparked huge media interest

"What's with the viewing figures?" they will wonder.

The country was embroiled in a losing war in Iraq, a festering war in Afghanistan and a looming war at the presidential polls.

But the issues that glued the nation to their flickering screens involved an astronaut who wore a nappy while driving across the country, a pop star who was so vexed by celebrity life she shaved off all her hair and a dead stripper whose burial tested the wits of Florida's finest legal minds.

The Toronto Star's Antonia Zerbisias on the effects of the Quebecor starvation diet on the Toronto Sun.

From the AP story on globeandmail.com:

The editor of The New Yorker said Thursday his magazine never intended to offend anyone when it published a cartoon that joked about a Polish name and drunkenness.

David Remnick was responding to the reaction of some New Yorkers of Polish origin, angered by what they consider a “Polish joke” published in the Feb. 19 issue of the magazine.

Veteran cartoonist Robert Weber had sketched two children chatting at a bus stop with the caption, “My parents named me Zbigniew because they were drunk.”

Some people are finding self-discipline by publicly blogging about their credit card profligacy.

The NYT's Richard Siklos on the battle to control video on the Web. Basically, it's GoogleTube vs. the media companies.

A tiny TV news station in Santa Rosa, Ca. has gassed its news staff and wants to replace them with user-generated content from the community.

The BBC has a series called The Conspiracy Files.  It covers all your favourites: Princess Di, plus upcoming episodes on the Oklahoma City bombing, weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly and (wait for it) ... 9/11!!

Unfortunately, Elvis and UFOs seem to be passé.

There's a conspiracy quiz plus articles on why we love a good conspiracy theory and the roots of such theories.

Say, why do you suppose the Beeb is really looking into this topic? I have a theory ... :^)

From the BBC:

A group representing UK media companies has called on the BBC Trust not to allow adverts to be published on its international websites.

The British Internet Publishers Alliance (BIPA) said the plan would hit revenue its members could make online.

Showing adverts to non-UK readers of BBC websites would also undermine the BBC's "worldwide reputation for integrity and impartiality," it added.

The BBC argues that readers outside the UK should contribute towards the costs.

While UK users pay for the website through their licence fee, international audiences are getting the service for free, the corporation says.

NYT media columnist David Carr on the remake of the cheeky New York Observer, which has produced some of the most amusing reporting about the Apple's media scene.

From the NYT:

For the second time in a week, an automaker has agreed to stop running a television commercial that several mental health organizations criticized as making light of suicide.

Volkswagen of America said yesterday that it would withdraw a commercial that four organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association, had labeled as irresponsible.

The spot, by Crispin, Porter & Bogusky in Miami, part of MDC Partners, was titled “Jumper” and showed a man contemplating suicide until he learned about new lower prices on Volkswagens.

Last week, General Motors agreed to stop running a commercial, first shown during Super Bowl XLI, that presented a factory robot driven to suicide after losing its job for making a mistake. G.M. said it would edit the spot to remove the suicide scene. The robot commercial was created by the Marina del Rey, Calif., office of Deutsch, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies.

Russell Smith writes in The Globe and Mail about the role of publicists in the modern media age -- and what journalists should do about it.

From Slate.com:

The editors of the swimsuit issue have perfected a genteel notion of female sexuality. You might call it Minivan Cheesecake. That is, the magazine is just tasteful enough to be enjoyed comfortably by a middle-aged man who operates a minivan. This year's crop of 18 supermodels would look right at home in a Subaru commercial. They never reveal anything more than a stray nipple—and then it's tucked beneath a translucent swimsuit (Page 75) or body paint (Page 78). In return, the SI cameras maintain a discreet distance from the babes—none of the too-close-up shots you find in Playboy or Penthouse. The models seem to smile a lot morethan they do in the skin magazines, and they stop to pay tribute to inspirational heroes like Jane Goodall and Brett Favre. Why, there's even a special treat for the kids: supermodel trading cards!

The family-room aesthetic was handed down by Andre Laguerre, a raffish Frenchman and ex-DeGaulle associate who edited Sports Illustrated from 1960to 1974. Laguerre, who believed that a good deal of all magazine business should be conducted from inside a bar, found himself with a minor editorial problem: He had no compelling sporting events to cover during the winter months. In 1964, he had a brainstorm: He would supplement sport with skin. Laguerre summoned a young fashion reporter named Jule Campbell to his office and laid down the intellectual roots of the issue. He asked Campbell, "How would you like to go to some beautiful place and put a pretty girl on the cover?"

Macleans.ca has an interesting new feature. They have a panel called the Macleans 50.

From the blurb:

A diverse field of Canada’s most well known and respected personalities from journalists to politicians offering their comments on the issues of the day, everyday.

Essentially, the M-50, which includes Macleans journalists, can post comments on the stories Macleans.ca is covering that day.

See this one on Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach arguing for federal climate change money, as an example.

Now, how about the hoi polloi -- you know, you and I? Can we chip in to the conversation? Well, er, no. At least, not that I can see.

This feature is strictly for those with something to actually say. But the lessers are welcome to press their nose to the glass.

While I'm not really down with that principle (I don't think journalists should be above talking with their readers), it is potentially an interesting and useful way to broaden out a story.

For one thing, now reporters won't have to call sources for reaction! They just post now! Woo-hoo!! :)

However, I wonder what obligation has been imposed on the M-50 to post comments, or how they find out about new posts.

For example, there's a story up on Parliament passing the Kyoto bill. I wouldn't mind seeing what John Duffy, Mr. Climate Liberal himself, has to say about it. As I write this, however, no comment from Mr. Duffy.

Am I expected to click on the story several more times over the course of the day to see what his reaction might be? How long does Macleans think visitors will put up with that? I don't want to repeatedly revisit the same story just to see if an M-50 has deigned to comment.*

* In fairness, the Macleans.ca home page as a column in the centre that can accommodate the latest five M-50 comments. But you still have to check. A quick-and-dirty check shows RSS feeds for news categories, but not comments.

However, I suppose we shall see how it all unfolds over time. In any event, giving more voice to those with a voice can't be seen as a bad thing. :)

Afterword

Duffy never did comment on that story, although Tory blogger Stephen Taylor did.

Allan Rock, a one-time Liberal justice minister, is one of the M-50. There was a story posted on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's desire to appoint law-and-order-friendly judges. You'd think he'd be a natural.

It might have been interesting to see him mix it up over the issue with Guy Giorno, former chief of staff to Mike Harris, or John Reynolds, a former Conservative MP turned backroom player.

Alas, it didn't happen. 

I clicked on the bio of Adam Radwanski, managing editor of Macleans.ca, and he hasn't issued a comment for a week. A couple Macleans staffers haven't commented at all, which drops it to the M-48 at the very least. :)

The U.S. electrical industry can't see getting GHG emissions down below 1990 levels until some time in the 2020s.

Firedoglake.com has a team of six bloggers covering the Scooter Libby perjury trial. Their only real disappointment? The defence won't put the Scootmeister or Cheney on the stand.