In your windswept Tuesday media column: Mexico is all fucked up, the NYT is too stingy for its own good, E&P may be saying goodbye for good, and Sam Zell's still golden.

The good thing about being a crime reporter in Mexico is that there sure is a lot of crime there, so, you know, jackpot. The bad thing is if you write about it very much at all you just might be killed, like a dozen of your colleagues were in the past year ("virtually none" of the journalist murders have been solved). So, as always, it's better to be covering entertainment.


Virginia Postrel explains why she turned down an offer to write a column in the NYT's Sunday Business section: "The paper wants writers who take no money, including expense reimbursement, from anyone who might conceivably be a "current or potential news source," even on beats unrelated to their NYT writing. The traditional way to achieve this goal was to pay staffers full-time salaries and cover their expenses. But the Times is no longer willing to foot that bill."


Editor & Publisher has shipped what will be its last print issue unless a buyer comes to its rescue. The latest word from Greg Mitchell: "there has been a lot of interest but no firm news to report as yet. We are scheduled to vacate and shut down for good by the end of Thursday if nothing materializes, though, of course, E&P could always be brought back a bit later, or online only."


Biographer on failed Tribune mogul Sam Zell: "At the core, Sam is very rational – he operates on the 70-30 rule, meaning that Zell wants to be right 70% of the time. Anyone who is right 70% of the time in business is golden." Which is why Tribune is bankrupt, but Sam Zell is still rich.