Last night's farewell party for departing Page Six deputy editor Paula Froelich was as lovey-dovey as expected. In long-standing New York Post tradition, there was a mock front-page about her. As for gossip about about her departure, nobody was talking.

• How's the New York Times Co. planning to lift itself out of the financial mess it's been in? Times Co. chief Janet Robinson says more cuts are on the way and the company is planning to sell off more assets. Also, there's some sort of paid membership model in the works, apparently. [WSJ, Gawker]
• Related: The paper says it will sell its stake in the Red Sox by January. [BG]
• What you missed at Walter Cronkite's funeral yesterday. [NYT, WaPo]
• Best-selling author E. Lynn Harris has died. He was 54. [NYT]
• More magazine is teaming up with Candace Bushnell on a new Web series starring 90210's Jennie Garth and Talia Balsam from Mad Men. [MW]
• After a ten-year run, today is Paula Froelich's last day at Page Six. [NYM]

In your finally Friday media column: The NYT looks ethically inconsistent and its management is mush-mouthed, Bruce Wasserstein contemplates buying BusinessWeek, and Fleet Street dies, unnoticed.

Andy Rooney—whose work we do not usually care for—was overcome with grief while delivering the eulogy at Walter Cronkite's funeral yesterday, and had to excuse himself after less than two minutes. It's god damn heartbreaking. A generation passes.

Complex puts together a very impressive compendium of of 48 separate dead hip hop magazines. Vibe and Mass Appeal were just the latest. I didn't even notice Elemental was gone! R.I.P., One Nut! [Complex]

Tomorrow's Paula Froelich's last day at the New York Post's Page Six. There's a lovey-dovey farewell party for her tonight. So, why do we keep hearing from Post insiders that we should "dig deeper" for the real reason she left?

In your inexplicable Thursday media column: picturing the New York Times' printing presses, Porsche's CEO pays off old reporters, a 174-year-old newspaper folds, and Steve vs. Steve. Steve?

We asked, and you answered. After the jump, everything you need to know about how to survive a McKinsey & Co. visit to your company, without getting canned. This one's for you, Conde Nasties.

• BusinessWeek's Jon Fine reports that New York owner Bruce Wasserstein may be in the running to break out a dollar bill and buy BusinessWeek. [BW]
• ESPN banned New York Post employees from appearing on the network yesterday after the paper ran (blurry) pics of a nude Erin Andrews. [AP]
• Will will happen with McKinsey consultants now infiltrating Condé Nast? How should you behave if you work there? Some answers and tips. [NYM, Gawker]
• Martha Stewart loves Twitter, doesn't particularly care for Facebook. [TDB]
• Kate Major, the Jon Gosselin-loving, publicity-seeking reporter for publicity-seeking Star magazine, has resigned from the junky tabloid. [Star]
• Ad revenue fell precipitously, but the New York Times Co. reported second-quarter profits of $39.1 million, up from $21.1 million a year ago. [NYT]
• Related: Is the Times Co. planning to hang on to the Boston Globe? [E&P]
• America's most trusted newscaster? That would be Jon Stewart. [Time]

This has the suspicious whiff of a setup: Star reporter Kate Major and Octo-dad Jon Gosselin very publicly become an "item." Star trumpets this fact in a press release. Hours later, Kate Major resigns. Why?

The management at Conde Nast is well aware that lowly assistants—who are paid poverty wages in order to take order from high-strung self-important media assholes in $8,000 outfits all day—could snap at any time. Solution: divide, conquer.

Speculation has abounded over whether Mike Steele, Janice Min's "acting" successor as editor-in-chief at Us Weekly, is the real deal, or just a temporary space-holder. Wenner Media boss Jann Wenner tried to clear it up in a staff memo yesterday.

Things that would otherwise be boring are in fact not boring—and worthy of extended commentary by the New York Times—if they happen in The Hamptons. In The Hamptons, everything is consequential. In The Hamptons, they wear various t-shirts.

Living the hobo life really does save money. The New York Times Co. just announced that they actually made money in the second quarter. Cutting all expenses and selling off everything works! Uh, sort of.

Brace yourselves. For the first time in a long time, there's a bit of good news from the New York Times today! "The New York Times Co. said Thursday its second-quarter profit climbed nearly 85%, bucking predictions of another loss even as its ad revenue plunged." [AP, NYT]

The Observer's Gillian Reagan wrote a piece on how the content is managed on at NYTimes.com. Reagan spoke to the Times executives who manage the paper's website, two guys whose view of the web is, well, interesting.

Did you ever get the sense that the people who run Politico are arrogant tools? Us too. Founders Jim VandeHei, John Harris, Robert Allbritton, and reporter Ben Smith were on Charlie Rose last night and they OWNED THE SEGMENT.

Oh, Wall Street Journal. Somebody there has poor reading comprehension skills. Or hates PR people. [Thanks, P!]

In your cackling Wednesday media column: Hoda Kotb describes her love of working with the mentally ill, Conde Nast's other McKinsey go-around, an intern is led astray by J-School demons, and Janice Min denies everything.

• Why did Janice Min leave Us? It was about money, reports WWD, which explains that given the economy, Jann Wenner wasn't prepared to offer her the $2 million a year she's been collecting. Min is denying it. [WWD, NYDN]
• Dan Rather’s $70 million lawsuit against CBS is back on track. [NYT, WSJ]
• McKinsey has been retained by Condé Nast to do the sort of "rethinking" and "realigning" that the consulting firm gets paid enormous sums to do. And while it isn't the first time McKinsey has been in the building—they were hired by Condé in 2001—this time employees are totally freaking out. [NYO]
• One title that is doing well: Food Network Magazine, apparently. [CNY]
• ESPN's Erin Andrews was secretly videotaped in the nude while staying at a hotel. Now an ESPN employee is said to have been behind it. [NYDN, AP]