• Will Kristine Johnson replace Roz Abrams as weekday anchor on WCBS News? Yeah, us either. [NYDN]

• New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin accuses press of not covering the vast swathe of stories in New Orleans that don't involve rape, poverty, sluggish reconstruction, municipal incompetence, or women being vivisected and baked in ovens. [E&P]
  

Whatever interactive media InterActiveCorp overlord Barry Diller enjoys, it's apparently got nothing to do with Craigslist, or Gawker. Seeking a new executive assistant for Diller, an IAC human resources staffer advertised for the job on tha C-list — totally within bounds, reportedly, for non-confidential positions. We ran the ad here, as we often do for job listings relating to those powerful enough to squash us like the bugs we are. But it turns out the first rule of Barry Diller Club is, you do not talk about Barry Diller Club. The apparent abject humiliation of having the assistant ad on Gawker generated a pulse of executive rage from Diller's office all the way down to the HR caves, where the unfortunate staffer was promptly canned. Just makes working closely with Diller as his assistant sound so much more appealing.

Are you an organized young go-getter who's interested in helping Barry Diller achieve his decade-long dream of making IAC "the world's largest and most profitable interactive commerce company by employing highly intelligent and energetic people and pursuing a multi-brand strategy through its operating businesses through a multitude of acquisitions"? Well, there's a spot for you in his organization as lead executive assistant, provided you're proactive and resourceful enough. We'll post the full job listing after the jump, but be forewarned: Responsibilities include coordinating meetings, overseeing travel arrangements, listening to Arianna Huffington's endless John Cusack stories, and being available 24/7 to scrub the CollegeHumor office of all Schedule I Controlled Substances in advance of police presence.

We just received the first "edition" of Very Short List, IAC head Barry Diller's newest attempt to console himself over losing out on the purchase of Daily Candy. (Not even the CollegeHumor deal cushions that sting.) VSL, still in double-super-secret test format, is in fact a Daily Candy for the "smart set," specifically the smart set that doesn't have time to, you know, read reviews to figure out what book or movie they need to pretend to have seen or read. Among its contributors VSL includes "godfather of snark" Kurt Andersen, which makes sense when you consider that the newsletter is under the supervision launch-editorial consultancy of Simon Dumenco, whom Andersen still owes big time for that whole Bennetton magazine thing. The e-mail itself is fairly concise, if unexciting; this project might work. But what about those of us who are too busy to even read e-mail? Maybe at the end of the month they can take all the stuff they've recommended, stick it in a box, and mail it out. Someone would pay money for that, right?

The long-rumored deal between skank-humor hub CollegeHumor.com and Barry Diller's InterActiveCorp has finally been consummated. IAC has acquired a 51% stake in CollegeHumor's parent company, Connected Ventures, LLC, and full voting control of the company (Barry's a bit of a dom). The Post guesstimated the deal to hover around $20 million, but we've been told that the price tag was quite a bit higher. Never underestimate the financial viability of photographing pyramids constructed from beer cans.

Barry Diller is as mindful of the investment potential in giant foam fingers that penetrate both the anus and the vagina simultaneously as the rest of us. Like a recovering content junkie who decides that he can handle one or two more without getting hooked again, Diller is reportedly taking a close look at the fresh, young men over at CollegeHumor.com. The rumor has his InterActiveCorp close to signing a deal that values the company (which has also been eyed by Viacom and Pilot Group) at $20-30 million — not an outright takeover, but a major investment with options. While none of this has been confirmed, CollegeHumor.com staff has been alerted that there's a deal in the offing. Meanwhile, site founder Ricky Van Veen's denial ("We're still talking to the parties involved and so far off from a deal with either one of them that you'd just be printing fiction." Hey, Ricky, that's what we call content.) doesn't exactly put the whole thing to bed. And really, is it such a stretch to think that Diller would want to acquire a stable of handsome frat boys? Should the deal close, the CollegeHumor guys will have yet another assload of cash with which to purchase flat-screen televisions and luxury sedans — plus they've each been promised a closetful of DVF wrap dresses. Ah, success in the new century: All it takes it a picture of a topless sorority girl passed out in a punchbowl and a dream.

Scientists find the secret cause of flame wars. Surprise! It's not Kirk vs. Picard. [Slashdot]
Community loans, free from the influence of rich banks. Funded by rich venture funds. [alarm:clock]
Did Barry Diller buy Ask.com just to kill Jeeves? Coolest. Acquisition reason. Ever. [Search Engine Journal]
Mashup Camp gets an overflow camp — Mucho Camp, hosted at Social Text — and becomes a wee bit less indie. [Mashup Camp]
A suggested slogan to combat "Googling": "Yahoo that bitch!" [Yahoo 360]

NY Mag chronicles Tina Brown comments and questions from her debut talk show. One puzzling question: "Who is the Barry Diller of the Democratic Party?" Lacking context, I'm not sure if she's looking for the Democratic candidate who's short, ambiguously gay, or just aggressively hostile when he feels remotely threatened. Someone please clarify: who is the Barry Diller of the Democratic Party? [Ed. noteoop! Door!]
Talk show [NY Mag]

A reader, ruminating on New Economy euphoria circa 1993 recalls a scene from Senate hearings on Barry Diller's attempted takeover of Paramount: "Diller was being interviewed outside the hearing room by a reporter, and while he was talking, the Capitol Police closed the huge, oaken door to the room. I was also outside the room, so I saw what happened next: when Diller was finished with the interview, he smiled and began striding toward the door without really looking where he was going, ran right into the door ad fell right on his ass. The TV reporter got it all on cameraand panicked. 'Don't worry...we won't use that...don't worry, Mr. Diller. We won't! We won't!'" Ah, 1993! When the corporate raiders got so excited about making piles and piles of money, they were running into walls! Or doors.

Here's the transcript from the Tina Brown show last night, in case you missed it:
9:00 PM ET - CNBC

Tina Brown, on her decision to invite entertainment mogul Barry Diller and New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell to participate in her talk show: "There must have been a good reason why I had decided to team these two people together in the first place. It was some creative high concept rationale about them both being mavericks in different spheres. I must have been insane to invite two of the smartest people I know to come all the way out to a shake-down cruise in a TV studio in New Jersey. Was I on drugs? I should have booked Celine Dion."
The Washington Oscars [Times2]

· Katie Couric, who will be hosting "The Tonight Show" on May 12, has been making impossible demands on the staff and was angry when her choice of guestsBen and J-Lo together and/or the entire cast of Friendsdeclined to do the show. [Page Six]
· Sightings: "David Gest getting peevish at a P.J. Clarke's waiter who balked when Gest ordered a salad for Liza Minnelli that wasn't on the menu." [Page Six]
· "THE London-based Cinnamon Club, maybe the world's most expensive Indian restaurant, is planning to open a branch in Manhattan. Sources tell The Post's Braden Keil that reps for the elegant eaterydubbed Posh Spice by Brit criticsare searching for a location to show off its costly curries, calfskin menus and back-lit urinals." [Page Six]
· Barry Diller on Fox programming when he was in charge: ""You can't have a more genuinely pure, liberal program...than 'The Simpsons.'" [NY Daily News]

Tina Brown's new talk show, "Topic A with Tina Brown" debuts tonight at 9PM EST on CNBC. Tonight's guests: Barry Diller, Sony Corporation of America chief Howard Stringer, Hollinger Inc. chairman Conrad Black and Queen Noor of Jordan, writer Malcolm Gladwell, and historian Simon Schama. Tina on her absence from the magazine world: "I miss being a journalist as such, being a journalist in the mix of the news. I keep thinking every day of articles that I would assign. And I keep thinking, why isn't anybody assigning Anthony Swofford, the author of 'Jarhead,' to go to Iraq? It seems to me mad. I would have done that instantly."
Tina Brown: I've always put myself in the hot seat [IWantMedia]
Dialogue with Tina Brown [Hollywood Reporter]
Press release: Topic A with Tina Brown [CNBC]

No, not that kind of out. He's leaving Vivendi Universal. Diller was seen by many to be an obstacle to a pending sale of the company's distressed assets to oil tycoon Marvin Davis, MGM or Viacom.
Barry Diller Resigns as Chairman and CEO of Vivendi Universal Entertainment [BusinessWire]
Diller quits as Vivendi Entertainment CEO [CBS Marketwatch]