NBC's Brian Williams says the lasting legacy of Hurricane Katrina for journalists may be the end of an unusual four-year period of deference to people in power. There were so many angry, even incredulous, questions put to Bush administration officials about the response to Katrina that the Salon Web site compiled a "Reporters Gone Wild" video clip. Tim Russert, Anderson Cooper, Ted Koppel and Shepard Smith were among the stars.

Heading into its fifth year, American Idol, Fox's hit show, has set a new milestone for network TV: a record-high price tag for a 30-second commercial unit. For the new fall season, the cost of a 30-second spot during the Wednesday installment of the program has surpassed the $700,000 mark. That's a first for any regularly scheduled prime-time network series. Sources with firsthand knowledge of the numbers confirmed that the average price for a 30-second unit in the program is $705,000, up about 7 percent from a year ago.

Condoms are getting a makeover. Trojan plans to repackage the male contraceptive under a boldly feminine brand name, "Elexa," and move it to the aisle that men steer clear of whenever possible - that is, where feminine hygiene and other women's products are sold. Church & Dwight is betting that Elexa will boost condom sales among women when it hits U.S. stores later this month. A full-scale ad campaign, created by New York agency the Kaplan Thaler Group, is already breaking in magazines.

Miller Brewing, eager for a beer brand to relive the high life, is sending in a girl to do what had been a man's job. The beer is of course Miller High Life, which since 1997 has been sold with a series of humorous commercials centered on a sardonic, sometimes crotchety advertising character who views the world from a distinctly male perspective. Beginning next week, the "High Life Man" campaign will give way to spots featuring a female figuratively and literally out of this world: the "Girl in the Moon" character who has symbolized High Life on packages, signs and …

Interpublic Group's Foote Cone & Belding said it has named Steve Centrillo president and CEO of its flagship New York office.

Sears Holdings Corp. Chairman Eddie Lampert has demoted Sears CEO Alan Lacy, replacing him with former Kmart CEO Aylwin Lewis, while expanding his own role in day-to-day merchandising and marketing duties. Analysts and industry watchers lambasted Mr. Lampert's move to take a more active role in merging marketing at Sears and Kmart, saying the hedge-fund manager and financier, whose company ESL Investments orchestrated the Sears/Kmart merger, should stick to what he knows best.

Cable TV advertising revenue increased 15.3% to $7.9 billion during the first half of 2005, leading gains made by all other media, according to TNS Media Intelligence. TNS attributed the spike in cable revenue to higher unit costs, increases in commercial time and larger audience. Internet advertising grew 9.4% to almost $4 billion, outdoor notched a 9.3% increase to $1.6 billion and consumer magazines grew 9.1% to $10.5 billion.

One of the advertising communities' worst nightmares is for states to pass ill-defined, inconsistent and highly restrictive legislation that creates a dangerous patchwork of regulation. Unfortunately, Michigan and Utah recently enacted laws that while well-meaning threaten exactly this result.

It's a long way from Samoa to the supermarket aisles, but in a growing trend among market researchers, anthropologists trained to study isolated tribes in the South Pacific are shifting their focus to the behavior of American households. Advertisers say the academic approach - known as ethnography - is challenging the traditional focus group to give marketers an understanding of consumer likes and dislikes.

Jim Beam and its maker are finally clambering aboard the increasingly crowded bandwagon of liquor brands being advertised on television. The Jim Beam bourbon brand began appearing last night in a commercial that is running on cable networks like CMT, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, FX, Fox Sports Network, OLN and Spike TV. The commercial for Jim Beam, sold by the Jim Beam Brands Worldwide division of Fortune Brands, was created by the Chicago office of BBDO Worldwide, part of the Omnicom Group.