In your wearying Wednesday media column: the Washington Post is somewhat unpopular, the NYT is just coasting, Steve Coll's secret reading list, and a late freelancer payment tidbit.

Meredith Bryan observes in the NYO today that—hello!—niceness is back! On the internet, and in New York in general. Goodbye to cynicism! This interesting and somewhat true phenomenon will destroy us all, if we let it.

D-Day is here for ABC News. ("D" is for "Damn, they're taking my job.") The company is reportedly seeking three to four hundred buyouts, which would amount to about a quarter of its workforce. We'll update below with details.

Anyone noticed we haven't heard as much about Haiti lately? A Nexis search shows us that US newspapers and wires have run 30% fewer "Haiti Earthquake" stories this week than last week. What could be replacing Haiti in the news?

In your value-added Tuesday media column: The Onion shuts down a section, SmartMoney may be taken over by Dow Jones, an n+1 guy gets a book deal, and Magic Johnson's still not a media mogul.

Snoop Dogg has been banned from entering the UK for three years, because he used "insulting words" whilst being pushed around by police in Heathrow airport. One positive side effect: The WSJ now gets to translate the mysterious Snoop language.

In your fill-in Monday media column, journalistic panhandling fails, dick jokes meet the holy land and Anna Wintour gets the recognition she's been waiting so long for.

The new New Yorker profile of Paul Krugman is great, and not just for the picture of the New York Times columnist holding his cat. It's also awesome for revealing Krugman as the wildest, effigy-burningiest economist with a Nobel Prize.

In your flippant Friday media column: Americans don't know who to trust, a money man gives up on the NYT, Conde Nast is spying on you, and Chris Dovi really got screwed.

The Pulitzer Prize Board has allowed the National Enquirer to enter its John Edwards coverage in two categories, according to the Huffington Post, reversing an administrator's earlier objections. "Tabloid trash" has never looked better. Update: Columbia gives a no comment.

Remember when Barack Obama caved in to the demands of the White House press corps and held a press conference earlier this month? That was just part of his pernicious plan to hide from the public. Don't trust him!

In your thawing Thursday media column: the PR industry blows a chance to look good, a Nick Kristof documentary, a wedding fight, and NBC declares war on the Lo Lifes.

In your completely literal Wednesday media column: unsurprising insight into consumer preferences, ABC executives support ABC employee, Charlie Gasparino gets a new job, and Reader's Digest and Playboy have problems.

Zachery Kouwe—the New York Times business reporter caught plagiarizing portions of stories from other news outlets and press releases—resigned yesterday. Nobody was more surprised that Zachery Kouwe plagiarized (at least) a half-dozen times than Zachery Kouwe himself.

Last year saw a record number of reporters killed (70) or imprisoned (136) for their work in some of the loveliest hotspots around the world. The closure of bureaus and the rise of the internet may be contributing.

Long Island University gave out its prestigious George Polk Awards today. Among the winners: the New York Times' David Rohde, 60 Minutes' Steve Kroft, and the anonymous person who recorded the murder of Neda Agha-Soltan on a cellphone.

The person who filmed the death of Iranian protester Neda Soltan has become the first anonymous recipient of a Polk Award. Only the Pulitzer Prize committee can preserve the journalism priesthood now, by screwing the National Enquirer. (Via)

In your tenuous Tuesday media column: people get fired for crazy reasons, reporters doubling as models, a talking head maybe getting a new job, and journalistic kayak fail.

The Associated Press has said it's "mad as hell" at internet portals. Yet the wire service's pandering to one major online client is said to be severely taxing reporters and undermining editorial quality.

Bloomberg News staffers no longer have the market on fear and loathing cornered: Informants tell us that high-stakes monitoring of reporters' performance has poisoned the atmosphere at Reuters and the Associated Press business desk, too.