Best Life folded today. But it was just the latest of many magazines to die in this grim, anti-glossy era of dirt and mud. Here, 23 of the departed. [Montage by Jess Shaffer]

Oh man. Who even knows why this happened, but Chris Matthews and former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer had a hilarious bitchy fight a few minutes ago.

Good Morning America made a big deal of landing U2 for a live show at Fordham University on Friday, but the broadcast actually lost ground in GMA's battle against NBC's Today Show.

The Museum of the City of New York's Director’s Council held its annual Winter Ball last night. Among the 600 attendees at the Versace-sponsored event were Steve and Christine Schwarzman, Patricia Duff, Allison and Peter Rockefeller, Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss (left), Andrew Rosen, Wilbur and Hilary Geary Ross, Rachel and Ara Hovnanian, Nicole Miller and Kim Taipale, Woody Johnson and Suzanne Ircha, Meredith Melling Burke, Dennis Basso, Valesca Guerrand Hermès, Amanda Cutter Brooks, Helen Lee Schifter, Celerie Kemble, Cristina Cuomo, Sylvester and Gillian Miniter, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Marjorie Gubelmann, Cynthia Lufkin and Dan Lufkin, Debbie Bancroft, Heather Mnuchin, Jennifer Creel, Zani Gugelmann, John Demsey, Jonathan and Somers White Farkas, Mark Gilbertson, Alexandra Lebenthal and Jay Diamond, Byrdie Bell, Allison Brokaw, Peter and Jamee Gregory, Geoffrey Bradfield, Antony Todd, Serena Boardman, Tatiana and Campion Platt, Maggie Betts, Johannes Huebl and Olivia Palermo, Bronson Van Wyck, Douglas Hannant, Karen Duffy, Jack Bryan, Brian Reyes, Yigal Azrouel, and Amy Fine Collins. [PMc, NYSD, MS, WWD, GoaG]

Hey, empathetic bald man Montel Williams is "getting his own national radio show through a multi-year deal with Air America Radio," which is kinda like Maury Povich getting a "national" column in Steppin Out.

Taylor Stein, the mother of Estée Lauder CEO William Lauder's love child, is going to court to get him to pay a $9.5 million settlement he agreed to in exchange for her silence.

Longtime New York Post real estate columnist Braden Keil died last night, after a battle with melanoma. He worked up until the very end, with his wife helping him write his last column.

Hooray! The Times found their new token conservative! Taking over for Bill Kristol: Mr. Ross Douthat.

[Submit your own Gawker Stalker sightings to stalker@gawker.com] March 11 @ 4:00pm In the NYU journalism building about to get interviewed for something.

Hah, someone fell asleep while Chip Reid asked Robert Gibbs a boring question during a White House press briefing.

And so the final 13 begins. With both bangs and whimpers. There were some pleasant surprises (go Kris Allen!) and some predictable disappointments (fail, Danny Gokey). Let's discuss further after the jump.

OBEY artist Shepard Fairey preemptively sued the AP for the right to use their Obama photo, free; today the AP sued him back. Shep seemed more righteous before we knew he sues other artists. But!:

Last month, shares in the New York Times Co. dropped below the $4 cost of a Sunday paper, and shares in Citibank fell below the cost of the bank's ATM fee.

Is the New York Times going under? Company officials have scoffed at the suggestion. The moneymen who just gave it a much-needed cash infusion are betting on it.

Three finalists remain in our contest to pick a new idea to be painted by pancake artist Dan Lacey. Will it be Rahm Emanuel? Maddow & Olbermann? Or fat Rush and Michael Steele? Vote below:

Has Anthony Weiner decided not to face off against Michael Bloomberg this fall? It's hard to say! In a letter to campaign supporters today, Weiner said he plans to put off a final decision about his mayoral campaign until the summer, since he doesn't feel this is an appropriate time to engage in politics. Rest assured it is still a fine time to cavort with models. [NYT]

In your blustery Wednesday media column: the newspaper industry burns, News Corp can't handle hardcore music, NPR needs more black people, and the NYT sells a jet:

[Sarah Jessica Parker in the West Village; image via Splash]

The problem with the economy isn't that financial institutions took obscene risks over the past few years in search of extraordinary returns. Or that tone-deaf banking CEOs have been undermining the system (and the terms of the bailout) by handing out bonuses and sending execs on lavish trips. The problem is that too many people are making fun of bankers! At least that's what JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon says: "When I hear the constant vilification of corporate America, I personally don't understand it... I would ask a lot of our folks in government to stop doing it because I think it's hurting our country." Are you listening, Washington? If this sort of stuff continues, Dimon might be forced to resort to The Claw! [BN via NYM]