The cyclist who says he was dragged around Central Park by a Fox News writer, who won't face any charges in the incident, tells us neither cops or prosecutors tried very hard to investigate the incident.

In your dehydrated Tuesday media column: Sam Zell may be looking for a new business, a discrimination suit against the WSJ, Sharon Waxman has no idea who anyone is, and more!

Reader's Digest reported yesterday that it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection any day now. The firm that Reader's Digest retained back in June to try and restructure the company's debt so it could prevent a bankruptcy filing? Miller Buckfire, the same financial advisory firm now counseling Harvey and Bob Weinstein on how to prevent their media company from going under. [Forbes]

The biggest problems with the New York Times: fluff stories being given prominence, a withering reporting staff, and credulous hacks ready to put lies from politicians on page one. Welcome to 1964.

Yesterday in Norwalk, Connecticut the contents of former Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione's massive former townhouse were auctioned off for charity. Not surprisingly, some of the items in the auction were, uh, different, which somehow caught some potential buyers by surprise.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office is declining to prosecute Don Broderick, the Fox Newser who was charged with leaving the scene of an accident in June after allegedly hitting a cyclist and taking him on a Central Park death ride.

Conde Nast's most painful recent cost cut: No more Fiji Water. Now Mother Jones reports: Fiji Water is evil. If Conde had just waited one week, they could have gotten rid of it because it's evil. Not because they're poor.

In your sweltering Monday media column: Reader's Digest is going bankrupt, Ted Nugent loses his journalism gig because he is too hardcore, Dan Rather's madness debated, and Mediaite traffic numbers.

Salon has laid off eight six editorial staffers—or 20% of its editorial staff—so that, in the words of CEO Richard Gingras, it can become "more of a true Web publication." Welcome to the internet, Salon!

• Another media company falls: Reader's Digest Association, the publisher of Reader's Digest (duh) and a handful of other titles (like Every Day with Rachael Ray), says it will file for bankruptcy protection shortly. [Reuters]
• As you may have heard, things haven't been too well for Harvey Weinstein and his brother, Bob. So what will happen if they don't turn the mini-studio around? "I'll be... making cheap hamburgers, or selling trailers, or refrigerators, or something," says (a refreshingly honest) Harvey. [NYT]
• Fashion mags are looking a bit thin this fall, in case you haven't heard. [WSJ]
• Don't expect the feud between Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann to dissipate: Ratings for both have been up since the war of words began anew. [LAT]
• Comedian Steve Harvey is joining Good Morning America. In related news, comedian Mo Rocca is hosting a web-based show for CBS News. [ABC, NYT]
• District 9 was No. 1 at the box office this past weekend. [ABC News]

Guest of a Guest has a tip that Harvey Weinstein is trying to sell the Weinstein Co.'s stake in A Small World, a useless "Facebook for millionaires" that the company stupidly invested in three years ago.

Tomorrow is August 15, when we wade into the thickest weeds of summer, sleepy and slow. Everyone's on vacation (or sad they're still working), media B-teams helm the control rooms and Page One meetings, and bullshit stories blossom like gladiolas.

• The next top editor to fall victim to budget cuts at Condé Nast, at least according to Keith Kelly: Architectural Digest editor Paige Rense. [NYP]
• The first guest on Jay Leno's new show on Sept. 14: Jerry Seinfeld. [THR]
• Jay, Conan, Jon, Jimmy, Jimmy, or Craig? Now more than ever, celeb (and their publicists) are being forced to choose between late-night hosts. [THR]
• At least a dozen advertisers have abandoned Glenn Beck's show now that he's established himself as the most vile human being on television. [NYT]
• A big group of media companies—including CBS, NBC, Disney, News Corp., and Viacom—have teamed up to give the Nielsen ratings a run for its money. [NYT]

You can't swing a hepcat (you know, from the '60s!) without hitting a feature about Mad Men, then why aren't there many details about, you know, the actual show.

The New York Times Co., which you may know from glancing at your local news stand, is now also selling wine. Good wine! Not that cheap shit. Hey buddy, need some wine?

• The value of Michael Jackson's estate may double by the end of the year thanks to the surge in music sales and all those movie/merch deals. [LAT]
• Bad news for Conan: Repeats of David Letterman's show last week still managed to beat new episodes of the Tonight Show in the ratings. [NYT]
• For the first time, Us Weekly's website attracted more monthly visitors than People.com. Us's footage of Michael Jackson's hair on fire helped. [WWD]
• Bill Bratton, the former police commissioner of LA and, before that, New York City, has landed a book deal with Random House's Broadway Books. [AP]
• Does lots of buzz on Twitter send people to movie theaters and boost box office sales? Not so much, at least according to one poll. [NYT]
• Dr. Dre, Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine, and Hewlett-Packard are teaming up to "save digital music." Good luck with that, guys. [CNET]

In your thrombosis-like Thursday media column: Paul Krugman buys a home, NYT photogs are harassed by crazies, Garrett Graff gets a new job, and men's mag editors speak on abs, and gayness.

Frank Bruni is leaving the New York Times restaurant beat, but he's moving on to something even bigger: the Frank Bruni® beat. He's his own brand now! Brand You® is the NYT's highest reward. A list, we've made!

These are uncertain times for Condé Nast. McKinsey consultants are now scouring company budgets looking for fat to trim. And staffers are now getting acclimated to a world in which they're expected to subsist on room temperature Poland Spring, not chilled Fiji water or sparkling citrus beverages in round little bottles. It hasn't been a walk in the park for Condé Nast chairman Si Newhouse, of course. Over the past year, he's probably seen several billion dollars of his net worth evaporate. And his private foundation—a vehicle he's used over the years to shower hundreds of millions of dollars on art institutions, hospitals, libraries, and his alma mater, Syracuse University—hasn't been immune either.

The LA Times has a new website! So does Newsday! And you know both these papers are in some serious trouble, so these redesigns better work. What's their secret success formula? Not so much boring "news."