Dan Baum chronicled the loss of his New Yorker gig on Twitter. His story—and the New Yorker's own reaction—is a great reminder that America's best magazine still runs itself like a secret society.

The New York Times has, in recent months, started punching back at its critics, rather than maintaining the usual dignified silence. But with letters and memos, which, let's face it, are for wusses, right?

Author Michael Gross suggested over the weekend that the Costume Institute Gala, hosted by Anna Wintour, represents the Vogue editor's attempt to compete with Graydon Carter's equally star-studded Vanity Fair Oscar bash every February. "Graydon and Anna are competing for the social crown. It's the social-status factor that defines those magazines," explained Gross. So did Graydon deign to stop off at last night's celeb-fest at the Met?

Professional media beef-starter Michael Wolff is starting another beef! It's just what he does. Today's target: NYT media columnist David Carr, who Wolff says "I've never personally liked very much." We know why, Michael!

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal are now in a full-blown pissing match over circulation. The name calling must be more comfortable for the newspapers than grappling with their real problems.

There are club houses, secret passwords, and panty raids, probably: "Print reporters have posted a sign in the desk area of the White House press room reading, 'Blog-Free Zone.'" Nothing better to do, after all.

There are some bloggers Gawker Media overlord Nick Denton simply can't stand to lose. Some can be drawn back into the fold with generous counteroffers. Some cannot. Emily Gould could not. And she paid.

Gone are the days when the Wall Street Journal newsroom left brutal attacks on other media outlets to the Journal's rabid editorial page. Rupert Murdoch bought the paper to wage war, and it's happening.

If Chris Matthews had run for senate he would have become a pandering "toady" like Arlen Specter, so he would like to obsequiously thank former nemesis Keith Olbermann for welcoming him back to MSNBC.

In your bitter Monday media column: Newspaper circulation predictably declines, Martha Stewart is predictably scared of us, old people predictably get conned by media hustlers, and Portfolio's unpredictable burn rate:

Miami cocaine rapper Rick Ross is most famous, these days, for being repeatedly embarrassed, on the internet, by 50 Cent. But his new album gives us another reason to appreciate him: awesome self-mythologizing crimetalk doublespeak!

What happened on Larry King Live last night? Why was Larry panting over and fondling Levi Johnston's tattoo? What was with the creepy "sheep sex in the woods" undertones?

The idea of a book of microblogging "tweets" really bugs some people. Our own Nick Douglas, author of the forthcoming TwitterWit, already knows that. Now a New York Times columnist is feeling the hate.

Revolution is inevitably followed by a period of chaos. Maybe that's why a highbrow New York Observer story about the evolution of Hollywood news media devolved into a glorious, shit-throwing media shitstorm.

Poor Kelly Killoren Bensimon. Not only is she facing charges in connection with the beating of her boyfriend, still classified as a man by the NYPD, and desperately looking to sell her house in the Hamptons, she's now being accused of ripping off the jewelry designs of her former friend, Celeste Greenberg. At the rate she's going, she should be stealing handbags from clubs by about the third week of June or so. Mark your calendar. [GoaG]

When we revealed that an agency retained by JPMorgan Chase to collect outstanding debts had resorted to harrassing debtors' kids by posting nasty messages on MySpace, we didn't realize who Jamie Dimon was messing with. Meet Gina Ricobene. She's the daughter of Jim Ricobene, the man suing the bank because Gina found a message on her MySpace page threatening to put her dad behind bars if he didn't come up with the cash to pay off the loan on his Mercedes.

Apparently Ryan Adams lives in Los Angeles forever now? The whiny singer blames his departure from New York on a mean, vicious publication—That's not a filthy blog like the one you're reading: a newspaper.

A former advertising director at Body + Soul is accusing parent company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia of firing her because she broke her spine and went on temporary disability. That's cold, even for Martha.

Today in his Huffington Post column, Alec Baldwin delivered an important lecture about how to practice good, proper journalism. First lesson: Don't mess with Alec Baldwin.

Jim Cramer can't stop talking about Jon Stewart, and this week he told a college newspaper that Stewart "ambushed" him and that the show lured him into the mauling with lies.