In your muckraking Monday media column: MSNBC.com borrows a little too liberally from the NYT, the Washington Post grits its teeth as another competitor launches, Clark Hoyt gets a new job, more advice for Newsweek, and Forbes.com gets Gawkery.

In your workmanlike Wednesday media column: Ed Henry comes out in favor of the competition, Clark Hoyt sums up his dramatic tenure, Newsweek gets a new bidder and beef with Howie Kurtz, and Clay Shirky, man of mystery no more.

Today's Public Editor column in the New York Times is like a living time capsule. An ornery reader wrote in asking, basically, "What is this thing called 'blogs'" And the Times' managing editor decided to answer him.

In the matter of "Paul Krugman vs. Andrew Ross Sorkin: Who Is Right and Who Is a Liar Jerk?" New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt has finally stepped in. And somebody's lying to him, too.

Today, the New York Times' Clark Hoyt used his Public Editor column to address the recent shitshow and rumors surrounding the Times' forthcoming story on New York governor David Patterson. And Bill Keller interestingly called us out in it.

The New York Times has travel writing issues; specifically, the accepting of junkets by their writers, and then having to fire them to the public in Clark Hoyt's ombudsman column. It's come to a peak. Special appearance by Mike Albo!

Ombudsmen, the Internal Affairs officers of journalism, should be feared and respected—but mostly: feared—by their respective publications. It's their job. The New York Times' Clark Hoyt? Quickly going soft. The Washington Post's Andrew Alexander? Pussywhipped. What's happening here?

Wow. Do we have a special one today. Jon Gosselin, seeking help from a rabbi. Alex Rodriguez thinks he's a centaur. Jessica Simpson's man requirements. Lady Gaga's ballet. RobPatz's marriage prospects. Presenting your epic Halloween Morning Gossip Roundup. Get scared:

NYT Public Editor Clark Hoyt: our love affair continues. You're like the Internal Affairs of the Times! All the cops/writers probably hate/fear you. Especially after giving David Pogue a curbside beating for shilling his Apple book with a Times review.

Clark Hoyt — de facto ballbuster and Public Editor of the New York Times — took the Styles section to task today. Hoyt finally went after Cintra Wilson's hysterically size-ist, Middle America tone-deaf, awesome assessment of NYC's new JC Penney's.

We've made fun of her time and time again for her absurdly error-filled columns, but this takes it to an entirely new level: the New York Times publicly addressed The Alessandra Stanley Problem today in Clark Hoyt's Public Editor column.

What kind of wacky, ridiculous business of the New York Times does Public Editor Clark Hoyt have to examine lately? Try this one on for size: putting the public at risk while driving, and bragging about it via the photo.

Something incredible happened. The New York Times' ombudsman opened the lid on the Illuminati-esque processes behind a personal passion, the Sunday Styles' Weddings and Celebrations. Tell us: is there only upper-crust elitism at their core? And did he mention us?!

Last Saturday, the NYT ran a breezy op-ed by Daphne Merkin, blaming widespread willful delusion for the Bernie Madoff debacle. No wonder. Her brother is the scam's biggest sucker.

Each Friday, 'New York Times' deputy managing editor Jonathan Landman and NYT.com General Manager Vivian Schiller write an in-house email on the subject of The Future and The Internet and The Newsroom. This week: Why is everyone ragging on 'T' magazine? A rebuttal!

Guess what professional interrogator Deborah Solomon happened to mention when she stopped by a Columbia j-school class last week! Her New York Times mag Q&As, which caught the eye—and the cover—of the New York Press earlier this month for her standards and practices. Well, turns out the column is going to have a itty-bitty disclaimer printed before it each and every time it runs.

Among the pissing and moaning in the wake of new Times ombudsman Clark Hoyt's gentle suggestion that the paper might want to cover the saga of the Sulzberger family and its struggle to maintain control of the paper, reader Daniel Waitzman sends a missive that we think encapsulates the mindset of a huge swath of the paper's demographic. An excerpt:

New New York Times ombudsman won't say "Mr." or "Dr." and there's no one who can make him. [NYT]

New NYT ombudsman Clark Hoyt suggests that the paper might try covering the Ochs-Sulzberger family in the same way they cover other stories. He didn't get very far with Pinch, though: "Sulzberger wouldn't talk about his family's trust in any detail, like how the family divides the income." Mmhmm. [NYT]

New Times ombudsman Clark Hoyt passes along a reader query about columnists' outside income to editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal. Rosenthal patiently explains that columnists cannot take money for anything except books they publish, academic work, and the occasional "reasonable" speaking fee. Oh, also: