In your trendy Tuesday media column: another big name leaves Newsweek, ProPublica's employees are shockingly well-compensated, magazine trends examined, more freelance payment fuckery, and OK! is not OK!

  • Evan Thomas, Newsweek's most prominent journalist, is leaving the magazine in the wake of its sale to old rich man Sidney Harman. Thomas is going to teach and write books and he says his departure's not connected to the magazine's sale, okay, whatever. This can only bode well for Fareed Zakaria's parking space prominence.
  • ProPublica's top editors and reporters make loads of money! Led by editor in chief Paul Steiger, who makes damn near $600k. It's kind of funny because ProPublica is a nonprofit and all, but who are we to judge how they waste their money, not having donated any to them?
  • Today in magazine companies not paying freelancers in a timely manner: Lockwood Publications, "publisher of Tobacco International and other nicotine- and caffeine-related trade magazines." Uhh let's see hmmm PAY THEM IN CIGS AND COFFEE. Done, next.
  • What trends are being spotted in the magazine circulation field, these days? Well, celebrity magazine sales are down, while food magazine sales are somewhat less down, but one thing everyone can agree on is putting women over 40 on magazine covers now is the "thing."
  • Late pass from yesterday, but this Ad Age piece on OK! Magazine is worth reading just for the chance to reflect on what a disastrous investment OK! Magazine has proven to be thus far. "We thought we were going to create a cultural phenomenon," says one surprised exec. Could Americans be slightly less stupid than suspected?