In your luxurious Thursday media column: the WaPo has an explanation, Sam Sifton promotion rumors, licensing journalists is bad, MSNBC leans forward further, and tawdry speculation about our company's activities.

In your soggy Wednesday media column: More Reuters poaching, a PR liar called out, America's Most Wanted returns, ad spending forecasts decline, and Felix Salmon does more stuff, somehow.

A Byzantine drama unfolded this weekend over whether Mike Arrington will be fired from TechCrunch, the tech blog he started. He's already been ousted as editor, supposedly because he's starting an investment fund, and that's a huge conflict of interest. But the ethical concerns are bullshit. This is a power play by Arianna Huffington, plain and simple.

In your laboring Friday media column: Rupert Murdoch gets his due, rumors of more Washington Post cuts, the Oakland Tribune is dying, a rare August with lots of news, and Matthew Freud may be the last man standing.

In your pleasant Thursday media column: newspaper ads slide on down, Tavi Gevenson prepares to launch, Tribune Co. is still shameless, a drunk student journalist tells it like it is, and science meets journalism (Hello!).

In your merciless Wednesday media column: attorneys general come after Backpage.com, a photo editor bravely falls on his sword, a new CFO at NewsBeast, Conde Nast figures out the internets, and the amusing NYT-Yahoo rumor.

This photo of Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein attracting bumblebees in Beverly Hills raises questions.

In your most-beautiful-day-of-the-year Tuesday media column: Don Lemon's for sale, The Politico will not stop succeeding, Tina Brown will not stop showing out, Slate spinoff suggested, and Mediaite locates America's most meaningless story.

In your resplendent Monday media column: an NYT ombud feud, News Corp loses its education contract, NY1 rules, government spending can't save print media, and the world's oldest grudge against Romenesko.

In your soggy Thursday media column: hurricane coverage rules the universe, commenters can sometimes write, John Podhoretz discusses cocks, the NYT op-ed section is not working class, and Jack Shafer says goodbye.

Yesterday, the already-shrunken world of media reporting lost its two grandest figures: Jim Romenesko, the quiet man who singlehandedly set the agenda, like a front page editor for all media news (semi-retiring, by choice); and Slate's Jack Shafer—America's most consistently fearless press critic (laid off). Step back. Look around at the smoldering carnage of the media critic landscape. Who's left to carry the "harassing one's own industry colleagues" torch? A brief look, below.

Former good NYT restaurant critic Frank Bruni has morphed into current bad NYT columnist Frank Bruni. Perhaps he just wasn't writing what he knows. Today, Frank's column ventures back into the topic of food! The result: disaster.

In your shaky Tuesday media column: Carlos Slim loves the NYT again, ASNE downsizes, Al Sharpton's on TV to stay, the Fairness Doctrine is dead, and obligatory earthquake mention!

In your blockbuster Monday media column: Katie Couric's new show will knock your Couric off, local TV news is winning, reporters are trapped in Libya, a September issue preview, and News Corp is besieged by powerful enemies.

The New York Times sent James Oestreich to review a free Mozart Concert at Avery Fisher Hall a few weeks ago. How was the concert? Don't ask James Oestreich! He spent the bulk of his review complaining about the presence that some selfish jerk with an oxygen tank.

In your finally Friday media column: Michael Daly is leaving the NY Daily News, NewsBeast is a revolving door, Greta Van Susteren bolsters her "Fakest Journalist" credentials, a reporter quits in style, and something notable printed in The Daily.

Ashton Kutcher's editorship of Details was, as we noted yesterday, a brazenly self interested and highly misleading act of journalism. But it may have been a federal crime, too, judging from what the New York Times is reporting.

Not only did Ashton Kutcher pose for the cover of Details' September issue, he also edited a special "online only" version, out today. Turns out Hollywood's prettiest boytoy is one compromised whore of a magazine editor, directing most of his recommendations and profiles to tech companies he's invested in, with nary a word of disclosure. It's shameless even by Condé Nast standards.

In your hopeful Wednesday media column: someone gives Capital New York some dough, Chris Rovzar leaves New York, Elisabeth Murdoch has tons of News Corp shareholder cash, Village Voice sex lawsuit dismissed, and the world's highest paid authors.

In your maudlin Monday media column: CNN has more 9/11 documentaries than you can shake a stick at, Patch is incredibly expensive, 23 more newspapers get paywalls, the Richmond newspaper shrugs off an ad-stravaganza, and a French newspaper caper.