Miller's Blogger Takes Shots At Rival Anheuser-Busch [The Internet]

"Messrs. Marino and Pendergrass say they've been gently needled about the blog by Anheuser executives at industry events. Anheuser public-relations officials have responded with pique to reporters' follow-ups to Brew Blog items. 'You know that's put out by Miller, right?' an official told The Wall Street Journal." I would only consider selling my blog soul to Tina Fey. Directly. [WSJ]

Hippies Donate Stash [Grateful Dead]

"The Grateful Dead, whose songs celebrated personal freedom, American idealism and mind-altering drugs, will donate a cache of their papers, posters and props on Thursday to the University of California, Santa Cruz, which plans to use the musical miscellany as part of a research center to be known as Dead Central." [Times]

Gossip Girl In "Cleavage Kissing" Outrage [Gossip Girl]

The media manipulators at Gossip Girl have successfully ginned up some conservative outrage over their OMFG ad campaign. WorldNetDaily and Parents Television Council are upset about the poster at left (apparently real!) not because it shows Nate and Serena hooking up but because it uses "cleavage kissing... to hype [a] kids' show... 'The Parents Television Council deplores the CW's deliberate use of profanity and sexual imagery to exploit and further corrupt young viewers," drugs are bad, strip clubs are bad, drinking is bad for teens, etc. etc. I just like repeating "cleavage kissing." Bigger picture of the scandal poster after the jump.

[WorldNetDaily]

Katie Couric's Inevitable Comeback [Jobs]

Katie Couric hit rock bottom this month, starting with talk about an early exit from the CBS Evening News, continuing through to a lost debate-hosting opportunity and the worst ratings week in her show's history, and ending with Larry King's contract renewal for a show Couric had coveted at CNN. Now, at last, the news cycle seems to be turning in Couric's favor. Newsday reports Couric may be able to nab King's time slot:

"King did not secure a guarantee to continue anchoring the 9 p.m. hour, which - I am reliably told - opens the door wide for Couric when she leaves CBS after the inauguration, as she almost certainly will," wrote columnist Verne Gay

This may not be the exact opportunity that returns Couric to the glory she tasted in 15 years at Today. King's agent is already dumping on (though not refuting) Newsday's story, saying King's new contract is "the exact same deal and job that Larry has been doing."

But the now-positive King-Couric chatter is a reminder that Couric's ill-chosen move to the evening anchor chair is a career chapter she will eventually put behind her, and that the same media recently airing her many problems will eventually start talking about her comeback.

Here's more from Verne Gay at Newsday on why Couric's redemption might occur at CNN:

Without giving Larry a lock on 9 p.m., CNN is finally laying the groundwork for a 9 p.m. succession plan and in fact, CNN appears to have the luxury to do so: Its first quarter ratings were the best in years, and the one-time whipping post of FNC is finally doing a little butt-kicking of its own. There's a simple reality factor at work here as well: King'll be 75 this November, and while we can all agree his tenure has been a remarkable one, nothing - and no one - lasts forever. Nor is anyone untouchable in this business - even Walter Cronkite, whose exit from the anchor chair was assured in 1981 when Dan Rather, then a superstar, forced the issue.

[Newsday]

Obama Abercrombie Boys Independently Annoying [Barack Obama]

Those three distracting guys behind Barack Obama during his concession speech last night may all have been wearing Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirts, but they were not part of a marketing campaign for the "edgy"/racist/twattish youth clothing retailer, the company tells USA Today. And while the Obama campaign is obviously guilty of bad crowd control for letting the jumpy "toolboxes" stand in the camera frame, they say they didn't put them there on purpose, or pick out their outfits, or even know who they are. For now, the Obama Abercrombie chuckleheads remain a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma, at least until their viral YouTube video comes out, or they sign some kind of Ritalin endorsement deal. After the jump, TV host Stephen Colbert floats his own dark theory about the A&F incident.