Michelle Lang, a Calgary Herald reporter, was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan yesterday. The blast also killed four soldiers. Earlier this year, the National Newspaper Awards named her best beat writer in Canada. She was 34. [Calgary Herald]

The New York Post has a late contender for dumbest story of the year — they really squeaked it under the wire, but it really is bad. And the middle-east dominates the rest.

• You may not be able to tune into Fox as of tomorrow. The feud between News Corp. and Time Warner Cable has yet to be resolved, and if a deal isn't reached in the next day, you'll have to go elsewhere for your Simpsons reruns. [THR]
• There was no Christmas miracle for Harvey and Bob Weinstein this year. With Nine underperforming at the box office since its release two weeks ago, the brothers are now on the hunt for more cash to stay solvent. [Reuters, NYP]
• Condé Nast's war on the mystery hackers who managed to infiltrate the company's computer system in recent months is intensifying. [NYP]
• Remember when magazine readers would write letters to the editor? It turns out it isn't the most popular communication channel these days. [WWD]
• Susan Boyle is still No. 1 on the music charts. Well done, America. [EW]
• Sex doesn't sell when it comes to marketing movies. Allegedly. [CNN]

There was a major terrorism incident this week, which means ABC News' chronically wrong investigative reporter Brian Ross rushed in with a highly suspect blockbuster story about it. This time, he claimed former Gitmo inmates planned the Christmas bombing attempt.

In your democratic Wednesday media column: Letters to the editor are alive and well, the Washington Times sports section teeters, Hu Shuli rebounds, and Carl Kasell takes up whittling.

Never in history has anything good come from a "manifesto." Their effects range from misguided repression (political manifestos) to mere annoyance (college student-written manifestos). Oh look, a new "manifesto" is out! "A Slow-Word Movement." First ever good manifesto? No.

Earlier this month, Conde Nast filed a lawsuit to try to find the identities of hackers who posted images of Conde magazines online in November, prior to their publication. Conde Nast has no patience for electronic chicanery from common layabouts.

• How did World News anchor Diane Sawyer do in her first week? Better than Katie Couric, but not as well as Brian Williams. (So-so, in other words.) [NYT]
• TV news: MSNBC is taking heat for not really covering the attempted terror attack on Christmas Day; NBC News has been scolded by a journalism ethics committee; CNN's ratings were down 30 percent in 2009, more than any other cable network; and ethics-free Fox News just recorded its best year ever.
• Comedy Central has canceled The Jeff Dunham Show, thankfully. [NYT]
• Know how TV networks give you the programming for free, but pay their bills by airing commercials? Yea, well, it isn't the best business model, FYI. [AP]
• How many product placements appear in Avatar? A bunch! [Brandchannel]
• Charlie Sheen's arrest hasn't hurt ratings of Two and a Half Men. Phew! [LAT]
• How did TMZ get duped by that JFK photo? Harvey Levin isn't saying. [NYT]
• Editor & Publisher's last issue has shipped and will close down on Thu. [E&P]
• Legendary caricaturist David Levine died today. He was 83. [NYT]

In your windswept Tuesday media column: Mexico is all fucked up, the NYT is too stingy for its own good, E&P may be saying goodbye for good, and Sam Zell's still golden.

The Society of Professional Journalists is scolding NBC News for buying its "exclusive" interview with David Goldman—the father of that Brazilian kid—by chartering a jet to fly father, son, and NBC reporter back to the U.S. Shocking, indeed.

• Sad news, Tyra fans: This season will be her last, she says. [People]
• Avatar was No. 1 at the box office this weekend with $75 million in domestic receipts. The movie has raked in $617 million globally thus far. [THR]
• The game of chicken between Fox and Time Warner Cable continues. [USAT]
• MSNBC's new schedule will focus more on "the day's big stories" and less on "personality-driven programming"—during daytime hours, at least. [AP]
• Get ready for lots of remakes of old TV shows in the year ahead: Charlie's Angels, Hawaii Five-O, and The Rockford Files are all in development. [NYT]
• Also: Get ready to pay for lots of online news in the near future. [NYT]
• What else is in store for the media for 2010? A handful of predictions. [LAT]
• Tiger Woods' advertising partners haven't fared well in recent weeks. [WSJ]
• Director Roman Polanski, now under house arrest at his Swiss ski chalet, has issued his first statement since his arrest back in September. (He's really thankful for all your support and warm wishes, just so you know.) [Reuters]
• As rumored last week, TMZ is branching out with a sports site. It's also smarting from an "exclusive" this morning that was actually a hoax. [NYT, TSG]

In your barren Monday media column: wine journalism going the way of wino journalists, a young lady makes a magazine for Christians, Romenesko got jokes, and pay walls cometh.

A tipster says that the 22 Bloomberg News journalists who made up its non-business, or 'World News', team were told the section was being scrapped last week, just before Christmas. As of today they have still not been reassigned.

The abortion issue will probably be at the center of attempts to finalize and sign the healthcare bill, if Senators like Ben Nelson are involved. People will be bandying the phrase 'pro-life' around to refer to anti-abortionists. They should stop.

• Golf Digest has decided to "suspend" Tiger Woods' monthly column. Will Condé Nast continue to pay him his $3 million-a-year salary? Unclear. [NYP]
• The Balloon Boy parents were sentenced to 90 days (him) and 20 days (her) today. For what it's worth, Richard Heene says he's "very, very sorry." [AP]
• Alexis Glick, one of Fox Business's first employees, resigned today. [LAT]
• Fox will go ahead with Idol with or without Simon Cowell. Obviously. [THR]
• Another humorless group is whining about MTV's Jersey Shore. [AP]
• The feud between Time Warner/Fox over cable fees is getting nasty. [DF]
• Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts and Mickey Rourke have signed on to present at next month's Golden Globes alongside host Ricky Gervais. [LAT]
• A look back at the wars Rupert Murdoch has waged over the years. [NYM]
• The trailer for Sex and the City 2 was released today. Yes, already. [EW]

The broadsheets all go with the news that the family of a Mexican special forces hero, killed battling a drug cartel, were gunned down hours after his funeral. But in cheerier news, one story does feature the words "Christmas miracle."

• Diane Sawyer's World News debut lifted the newscast's ratings a bit. [LAT]
• As for Sawyer's performance last night, some critics weigh in. [NYT, WP, BG]
• Chris Albrecht, who served as HBO's chief executive until he was fired for pulling a Chris Brown on his girlfriend, is now in charge of Starz. [DH, NYT]
• The second episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians has set a new ratings record for the series and E! Congrats, America. You must be very proud. [THR]
• In related news, Kim has replaced Paris in TV's dirtiest burger ad. [NYDN]
• In other random TV news, CNN has made a minor change to its lineup; and Joan Rivers, who ditched E! in 2005 after a dispute over money, is back.
• It may have been Google that decided not to buy Yelp, not vice versa. [Bits]
• Is TMZ planning to launch a sports-related site? It's looking like it. [PC]
• Hollywood grossed $10 billion at the box office in '09; it's a new record. [AP]
• Kim Peek, the savant who inspired Rain Man, has died at age 58. [NPR]

Fancy-schmancy award-winning photojournalist James Nachtwey put up a demanding ad for an unpaid lackey (pretty much specifying rich kids only). Instead of lapping it up like starved dogs, New York's photographic community lashed out.

Katie Couric's ascension to the anchor chair was attended by a ceaseless and intrusive promotional blitz that ended up serving as a handy contrast to the epic editorial and commercial failure that her newscast became. Having learned that lesson well, ABC News has gone for a stealth transition, which makes sense inasmuch as nobody really cares who is reading from a teleprompter on TV while they're on the way home from work anyway. As the New York Times' Alessandra Stanley puts it, "Network anchors are a bit like European monarchs: they don't really matter much anymore, but people still perk up for a royal wedding or a changing of the stars."

The 85-year-old will serve between one and three years on the Astor case, report the Daily News and New York Times. Elsewhere there's holiday travel news. And, of course, Brittany Murphy's past gets dredged up.