Of all the ways to lose a World Cup game, to be victimized by a dive in the final moments of injury time, followed by a successful penalty kick, has got to be the worst.

From my vantage point, that's what happened to Australia today in its game against Italy.

Fabio Grosso should be known, henceforth, as Fabio Louganis.

Italy's fans may well be happy, but that's not a proud or honourable way to win.

From the NYT story:

Though product placement in movies and on television shows is a fairly standard practice, it is generally accepted that magazine and newspaper articles, and television and radio news programs, do not accept payment for naming products.

A recent survey, however, challenges that understanding. An annual poll conducted by PR Week magazine and Manning Selvage & Lee, a public relations firm, asked 266 marketing executives if they had ever paid for broadcast or editorial placement. Nearly half said yes. And nearly 46 percent of those who had not paid for placement replied that they would consider doing so in the future.

"I don't think it's as blatant as putting cash in an editor's hand. The issue is much more subtle than that and more nefarious as a result," said Mark Hass, chief executive of Manning Selvage & Lee and a former journalist. "The results show that there is an ethical issue that needs to be discussed, that there needs to be education around, so that the marketing industry develops more respect for the separation between editorial and advertising."

Mr. Hass cited the financial pressure on marketing executives to get their products broader exposure as one reason this practice had taken root. Another, he said, is the increasing number of specialty consumer and business-to-business magazines.

This story talks about an explosion in content sites as advertisers frantically look to spend money on online ads.

If it's that frantic, do I have to start worrying about the bottom falling out again?

CNN president Jonathan Klein promised last year that his network would redouble its efforts on good, old-fashioned reporting. But that lasted until he realized his ranters and emoters were the people bringing in the ratings, argues the NYT's David Carr.

Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, has written an open letter to critics assailing his paper for publishing a story that the U.S. government has been scouring the records of "terrorism suspects."