In your special weekend media column (whoa!): Traders die, generals lie, and the media influence of international oligarchs multiplies:

Ben Widdicombe wrote his last Gatecrasher column for the Daily News last April. Three months later, he replaced Julia Allison as Star's gossip maven. Is he already leaving? [UPDATED BELOW: Yes.]

MAD Magazine is about to put out its 500th issue. Fantastic! But starting in April, the mag is cutting down to only four issues per year. Nooooo! Reminisce on some of MAD's fine Obama-related work:

Cityfile today publishes a long post saying, essentially, that the ongoing rumor war between Anna Wintour and Conde Nast is the product of both sides using the media during tough contract negotiations. Let's look back:

In your Friday media column: Facebook is unholy, business is business, and Nicolas Sarkozy got you a present!:

There's been no shortage of Anna Wintour rumors the past couple of months. Back in November, the word circulated that the Vogue editrix was thinking about retiring; two weeks later, there was gossip that Condé Nast chief Si Newhouse was planning to replace her with French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld. More recently, there have been outlandish suggestions that Barack Obama is considering Anna as a possible ambassador to France or England. What gives? Who's been spreading the rumors? It turns out that the juicy bits about Anna are all connected: They're related to tense behind-the-scenes negotiations between Wintour and Newhouse over her new contract and were disseminated to the media by both sides as part of a devious whisper campaign.

In your pleasant Thursday media column: Jay Mariotti is an asshole, Teens can't read, checks are bouncing, and more:

We hear CBS' 60 Minutes is preparing a profile on Anna Wintour. Though takedowns are the news magazine's claim to fame, we're betting the Vogue editor will emerged puffed up.

Mailing it in for Hamilton Nolan, who's, er, on assignment, I'm here with your post-inaugural, Nobama media column.

• The broadcast of yesterday's inauguration earned the highest ratings since Reagan took the oath in 1981. Early numbers from Nielsen indicate 29% of US households tuned in. That figure doesn't factor in the people who viewed it online, and the big event in DC yesterday set web traffic records, too. [THR, NYT]
• The Wall Street Journal received a dozen envelopes filled with a mysterious white powder today. [WSJ]
• Maria Bartiromo has signed a new contract with CNBC. [NYP]
• Newsday editor John Mancini has returned to work following a dispute with the paper's owner, Cablevision's Jim Dolan. [Newsday, E&P]
• Clear Channel is laying off 9% of its work force. [AdAge]
• People pushed back its Tuesday afternoon deadline to Wednesday so it could publish a special double issue with Obama on the cover. [WWD]
• North Korea's news agency didn't bother to report the inauguration until late yesterday afternoon. The article was three sentences long. [FB]

With the recession taking a heavy toll on the magazine industry, it's nice to see that we aren't the only ones looking for a silver lining: "During the luxury boom, I grew accustomed to those hernia-busting periodicals that clogged my mail slot every month," writes Simon Doonan in his weekly Observer column. "Now, as I look for stuff to be glad about, I'm loving the fact that you can once again swat a fly or a cockroach with a folded fashion magazine." We can't picture too many cockroaches scurrying around the immaculate apartment Doonan shares with Jonathan Adler, but we get the point. And we couldn't agree more. [NYO]

• Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helù has pumped $250 million into the beleaguered New York Times Co. [NYT]
• Newsday's editor-in-chief and managing editor have been absent from the office the past few days and it's still unclear what exactly happened. [NYP]
• Matt Cooper has joined Talking Points Memo as editor-at-large. [Politico]
• For the first time, movie ads will appear during this year's Oscars. [AdAge]
• NBC says 90 percent of its Super Bowl ads have been sold. [AP]
• Jennifer Aniston on the cover of Vogue in December and GQ in January provided a nice boost to both titles. [WWD]

Last year it looked like the baby Vogue editors outshined the top dog. Now it seems those stars are dimming, most recently with an absurd quote from atop Vogue Italia.

In your Monday live-from-the-Chinatown-bus media column: Broke newspapers, Disney saved by Monkees, and Conde Nast's desperate peanut butter restrictions:

Anna Wintour said she wishes the new documentary about her had ventured beyond the offices of Vogue. And no wonder, because it is there that the editor made her ruthless reputation.

First the Vogue documentary, The September Issue, had its Sundance premiere in Salt Lake City. Now we learn that Anna Wintour had to fly coach to get there. When will the insults stop?

Your cold (double meaning) Friday media column: Star Trib goes bankrupt, layoff rumors, and you can watch Al Jazeera instead of reading book reviews, which will soon be nonexistent:

• How do you keep your magazine afloat? Put ads on the cover! [NYT]
• NBC is renewing 30 Rock, The Office, and The Biggest Loser. [AP]
• Music sales fell by about 7 percent last year. [NYT]
• The head of Hearst Magazines International is retiring. [NYP]
• Clear Channel is cutting $400 million in costs. [NYP]
• The Minneapolis Star Tribune has filed for bankruptcy. [AP]
• Donny Deutsch's ad agency is laying off staffers. [AgencySpy]

Ever since Vice plastered an ad on its cover that was only visible in the dark, magazines have been researching better ways to sell out. Now Esquire has made a breakthrough in invisible cover ads!

In your Thursday media column: Foreign correspondents are anachronized, jobs are vaporized, and the Obamanaguration will not be televised. (Yes it will):