In your merciless Wednesday media column: attorneys general come after Backpage.com, a photo editor bravely falls on his sword, a new CFO at NewsBeast, Conde Nast figures out the internets, and the amusing NYT-Yahoo rumor.

  • The attorneys general of 45 states have sent a letter to Village Voice Media regarding its Craigslist knockoff Backpage.com, asking the company "to prove it is monitoring the site to prevent illegal activity." Haha, what? Then nobody would put their ads there! Stupid idiots. Also most state attorneys general are big Ashton Kutcher fans.
  • Dayton Daily News photo editor Larry Price decided to resign rather than to lay off half his staff, as his bosses were telling him to. Badass. Not Joao Silva-level badass, but still badass.
  • Newsweek Daily Beast has hired itself a new CFO, after the last one failed to bring in staggering riches. Good luck to the new guy.
  • Looks like Conde Nast has finally figured out the internet, and it's only 2011. Great work, everyone.
  • Yesterday afternoon, Henry Blodget reported: "Analyst hearing rumors that Yahoo is bidding for the New York Times Company." And look, the stock is up moderately this week! Must be true.