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It's times like this that we find ourselves, despite all our better intentions, actually rather liking the Daily News's star-crossed Lowdowner, Lloyd Grove.

As the Times reports today, Grove last week attended an interview of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, conducted by Time Inc. EIC Norm Pearlstine, to which about 100 journalists and businesspeople were invited. Just before the event began, Time Warner chairman Dick Parsons declared the interview off the record, which raises the question of why TW flacks invited journalists like Grove. So Grove wrote about it anyway. And Time Warner professes to be disgusted.

"I found the rules absurd, and I didn't attend the thing with those rules in mind," Mr. Grove said later in an interview. "This was something Dick Parsons announced by fiat, ex post facto, and no one paid attention to it."

Moreover, he said, it was clear from a discussion he had with "someone in authority" at Time Warner that the company, which owns news outlets like Time magazine and CNN, expected the event to be written about.

Later in the Times piece, Ed Adler, the chief Time Warner flack, admits as much:

"We're not nave," Mr. Adler said. "We expect an item or two will get out. But I didn't expect a full-blown story."

Well, yes. News items do tend to get out when you invite journalists to your events.

As slutty sis Wonkette points out: "Aren't you delighted to live in a world where gossip hound like Lloyd appears to care more about the public right's to know than Bob Woodward?"

Like we said, sometimes we can't help but like Lloyd.

Being Quoted 'on the Record' on What You Might Have Said [NYT]
Scalia's Appearance of Ridiculousness [Wonkette]