This image was lost some time after publication, but you can still view it here.


The chick's kinda hot, but who's the fat kid?

This image was lost some time after publication, but you can still view it here.

Should a paranoid party-boy billionaire who'll do anything to stifle the press really be allowed to buy his own newspaper chain?

Most people wouldn't mind being mentioned in connection with the most beautiful girl in the world, but this opulent clown could not be any more anti-First Amendment if his name was Kim Jong-Il. (Also, Gisele's a little old for him).

The Sacramento Bee has a good story today about our pal Burkle's bid for the 12 Knight-Ridder newspapers, and quotes from the bilious billionaire's blustery anti-gossip op-ed piece in the Wall St. Journal — which, we're told, was actually written* by his $450-an-hour superflack, Mike Sitrick.

The Bee buzzes:

All of this is interesting enough - a would-be newspaper chain owner complaining about newspaper gossip. But it takes on an added dimension when one looks at Burkle's strenuous efforts to block reporters from accessing court documents in his own divorce case...

*Hey, Arianna - maybe Burkle will "blog" for you. - JPS

Tycoon at Center of Ironic Bursts of Media Attention [SacBee]