In your indignant Wednesday media column: yet another example of the WSJ's determined surliness, big media buys cheap ass stories, the battle for control of the doomed Philly papers, and Alex Pareene is somewhere else now.

  • Even more surliness from the newly New Yorky Wall Street Journal: We hear that Sarah Ellison—who spent a decade as a WSJ reporter—was banned from the WSJ's press conference rolling out the new section. The ostensible reason was that she was not working on a "specific assignment," but of course the actual reason is the WSJ does not like her new book about the WSJ. Everybody's so surly over there, wowza!
  • Ad Age reports that Reuters, Cox Newspapers and Hachette Filipacchi have all run editorial content from Associated Content, which pays contributors as little as five bucks a story. But think of the exposure they get, on the internet. That's invaluable.
  • The auction of the bankrupt Philly newspapers is going hot and heavy. Now a local philanthropist is volunteering $10 million to help keep the paper in the hands of the current investors, who (PLUS) are locals but (MINUS) bankrupted the joint already. The Philly paper's future is as bright as the smiles of its sunny citizens, no matter what!
  • Look, it's Alex Pareene's first day at Salon and he is already writing things. Go in the comments and angrily demand that he reveal his "journalistic credentials." He'll enjoy hearing from you!
  • ABC News laid off 22 staffers yesterday.