Resurgent lifestyle publishing diva Martha Stewart will be playing blue. Her latest title, Blueprint, will launch as soon as May. Aimed at first-time homeowners, the new pub is expected to launch with a circulation rate base of around 200,000.

Bayer HealthCare's Consumer Care Division, which has been negotiating with consumer magazines to place its controversial Aleve pain reliever brand in "good news" branded editorial content, Tuesday released findings of a study it funded showing that the majority of consumers would rather hear good news than bad news. The survey, conducted by The Segmentation Company, a division of Yankelovich, polled 1,004 people, with 94 percent saying they want to hear more good news, and 77 percent believing the media does not give enough coverage to good news.

Oprah Winfrey, who has not appeared on David Letterman's late-night show since the 1980s, has agreed to be a guest Dec. 1. The reason for the long-long-delayed booking: "The Color Purple," which she is backing, opens at the Broadway Theater that very night; the venue is literally across the street from The Ed Sullivan Theater, from which Letterman's nightly show originates. Oprah's stubborn refusal to sit beside Dave has been the topic of much on-air speculation--and laughter--for years on "Late Show." For a time, Letterman even wrote--and read aloud--a daily journal of his futile efforts to contact Winfrey, who of …

The New York Times' Alessandra Stanley, who writes about TV and TV personalities with a sharpness not generally found elsewhere in the paper, today presents Ted Koppel with a big, wet kiss. The occasion is Koppel's departure, with tonight's show, from "Nightline." He concludes his long, glorious run on the ABC franchise with a recap of one guest's several appearances --the late Morrie Schwartz, who, because his story so resonanted with the American public, eventually became the subject of the best-selling book, Tuesdays With Morrie. Mitch Albom, who wrote the book, will also appear on the final installment of the …

Writing in her blog, Greta Wire, Fox News' Greta Van Susteren finally tackles the topic so many Americans are curious about: the case of missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway. In particular, why the seemingly endless, morbid fascination with the pretty blonde who disappeared while vacationing with friends in Aruba months ago? Aren't there other stories of greater import? Van Susteren responds that she "would like to see the story through to the end" and that Natalee's "family deserves answers." Additionally, in response to viewers' questions about why the focus on young Ms. Holloway and not other missing persons, Fox's ratings-grabber …

In a piece that is so overly long as to be tiresome, Michael Stoll, writing at GradeTheNews.org, goes after the San Jose Mercury News for its habit of disguising display advertising as legitimate news. GradeTheNews focuses on San Francisco Bay-area media, and as such can be a useful watchdog. The Mercury News is an influential local paper which, because of its location in the heart of the Silicon Valley, is often cited by national publications on matters high-tech. What set off writer Stoll was a recent full-page ad for "collectible coins" that clearly was designed to look like a …

Last week the Columbia Journalism Review's online affiliate, CJR Daily, rolled out a radically reconceptualized Web site, which in a spare, Google-ish sort of way tries to cover a variety of topics of possible interest to journalists. Yesterday, in a section called "Behind the News," CJR Daily referred readers to a Rolling Stone profile about Washington PR firm Rendon Group, which, according to RS, had played a critical role in helping to build the case for Iraq. Rendon Group reportedly earned as much as $100 million from the U.S. Defense Department for public relations work done between 2000 and 2004. …

Patrick Kenealy, CEO of the International Data Group, a major publisher of tech information in print and online, is leaving the first of next year to run IDG Ventures, which is starting a new fund. The fund, Pacific 2, is aimed at raised seed money for early-stage technology companies. In leaving as CEO, Kenealy said his major accomplishment in the last three years has been the restoration of profitability and revenue growth to the company, which puts out more than 300 magazines (including CIO, Computerworld, and InfoWorld). "It's been very satisfying watching the whole company turn like that," said the …

Peggy Fry, named vice president of ad sales by Netflix earlier this year, is rolling out her first big initiative: advertising printed on the packaging in which her company's DVDs are mailed. According to Brandweek, Fry "engineered the experiment with Sony," whose Columbia Pictures unit signed on to promote "Memoirs of a Geisha" via Netflix's packaging; until now, Netflix's DVDs arrived in ad-free wrapping. It was the explosive growth of Netflix, a DVD subscription company, that persuaded Columbia to try the novel format. Netflix, famous for its exceptional customer service, says it ships one million DVDs daily, all, obviously to …

Ziff Davis Media is killing off Sync, a men's bimonthly Magazine that has been around for barely 18 months. The book, which focused heavily on gear and technology, never found an audience. Its initial rate base was 200,000, but recent issues were selling as few as 45,000 copies at newsstand. Sync competed in a crowded market. Until several years ago, the young-men's magazine pantry was anything but well-stocked. Maxim and FHM were hot, but what else was there? Playboy? Penthouse? No surprise, then, that Cargo, Vitals for Men, Zink, Razor, and an assortment of other books launched in rapid succession. …