• Rupert Murdoch is hoping to give the Times a run for its money. The mogul plans to put $15 million into the NYC edition of the Wall Street Journal. [NYO]
• ABC still hasn't said who's replacing Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, which has led to some "puzzlement and frustration" among staffers. [LAT]
• Why is Comcast planning to keep Jeff Zucker on as NBC Universal's CEO after it takes control of the company? There are no easy explanations, alas. [NYT]
• The Times may "prune" its collection of 70 blogs to cut expenses. [NYO]
• Sam Zell has stepped down as CEO of Tribune; he'll remain chairman. [NYT]
• The lineup for Sundance 2010 was announced today. [Vulture, NYT]
• Tiger Woods' spicy extracurricular activities would have come out two years ago if the National Enquirer hadn't cut a deal with the golfer. Allegedly. [NYP]

Here is the full complaint from Firas Al-Qaisi, who risked his life and was tortured for assisting the U.S. military in Iraq and now accuses the U.S. of trying to kill him.

The good news: the New York State Senate had an actual up-and-down floor vote on a controversial and important issue. Bad news: they voted down Gay Marriage. Nice work, everyone.

From the man who brought you My Son is Gay and The Phone Call, we celebrate John Robert's holiday-themed classic. Watch and laugh.

Sadly another season of this show has come and gone. Like most episodes, nothing happened, but the plot still seemed to progress. That's why we translated the action into serial comic form. It's later, the same day...

Whatever happens at the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen next week, we can be sure of one result: the entire event will be hijacked by bad actors spreading lies that will become conventional wisdom.

Swine flu is terribly infectious. That you knew. But were you aware that loneliness can spread among groups of people just as easily? That's what a bunch of researchers are reporting, so the next time you board a plane, you may want to avoid the dude hacking up a lung as well as the man weeping into his hands. [Reuters]

Watch a hardcover edition of Maurice Gee's Going West come alive in this commercial for New Zealand's Book Council.

The Way We Live Now: Caveman billionaire style. Here's the difference between a normal billionaire and a recession-era cavemen billionaire: All caveman billionaire needs is a nice woman, rich hockey teams, and a job at the W hotel.

How the Salahis begged for State Dinner tickets: ABC News has the complete email correspondence

This clever campaign for Drench Water shows hamsters, amped up on water, playing in a band. Watch the extreme cuteness as these little guys nibble on miniature saxaphones, trumpets, and harmonicas. Enough to melt even the coldest of hearts.

At a press conference in Paris a shoe was thrown at the Iraqi shoe-thrower. Thankfully for him this guys aim was just as poor as his own.

Remember when you played Madden with a friend and he went up to go pee? You'd sneak in a play while they were gone, and the player they controlled just stood there. Well this lineman's brain is your friend peeing.

Due to an unfortunate run in with an Elle magazine intern we were unable to watch The City last night. However there is one intrepid reporter who can not be kept down, and she was there to fill us in.

Layoffs at the fast-shrinking San Francisco Chronicle have freed up a lot of office space in the newspaper's headquarters. So naturally the Chronicle is now subleasing to a guy who severely undercut its business model in the first place. Spooky.

Don't let the cute rolling over trick fool you, this panda clearly has its eyes on freedom.

In your well-balanced Wednesday media column: NPR totally has Justinmania, Rob Shuter gets a new job, predictable Newseum layoffs, and Rupert Murdoch would like to teach the Arabs a thing or two.

According to data released today by the New York City Department of Health, Olivia—yes, Olivia—was the most popular girls name with white women in 2008. It's time for a recount! [NYDN]

Joel McHale makes a poignant joke when he reminds us that TLC "at one point was called The Learning Channel." Here, The Soup takes a guess the channel's next big hit: Fertile Little Tatooed Pageant Parents Who Enjoy Baking.