In your sober Monday media column: Thomas Frank moves to Harper's Magazine, Newsweek has a new owner, why CNN passed over Katie Couric, the NY Daily News is caught ripping off a story, and Dan Le Batard speaks the truth.

  • Newsweek.com managing editor Carl Sullivan is the latest Newsweek employee to jump ship, and perhaps the last of this particular uncertainty-induced migration, because 91 year-old stereo-manufacturing billionaire Sidney Harman's purchase of the magazine is now a done deal.
  • Why did CNN choose Piers Morgan to replace Larry King, instead of Katie Couric? Because it would have been too hard to get Couric out of her contract, and besides, that Piers Morgan, the CNN people love him!
  • Thomas Frank, the WSJ's lone brilliant editorial columnist, is leaving to become "The Easy Chair" columnist at Harper's Magazine. The universe is now aligned that much more properly.
  • Today in piss-poor excuses: Danny Shea catches the NY Daily News blatantly ripping off a story from the Daily Mail UK. In addition to clearly stealing portions of text, the Daily News write goes so far as to wrap a sentence from the Daily Mail story in quotes, and credit it to "one observer." The NYDN's explanation: "an inadvertent omission of credit." HA SURE.
  • The Miami Herald's Dan Le Batard writes a thoughtful and perceptive column on ESPN's disappearing Lebron James story, in which he points out that "newspapers are wheezing in the frenzied race to keep up because things move too fast now for today's business plan to be throwing yesterday's news on your front lawn (or asking you to buy in print what we give you online for free)." Gold star, Dan Le Batard!