Six months after the Sept. 11 attacks, Sarwat Husain realized she could not be the sole spokesperson for the Muslim community in San Antonio. So she started a newspaper. Now, five years later, she distributes the paper throughout the Lone Star State and to paid subscribers in other cities. The paper, called "Al-Ittihaad," (which means unity) is a compilation of articles related to Islam and the community. She says she doesn't print anything explicitly against the United States or the Bush administration, but that her newspaper is becoming an alternative source of news. She has a reporter covering local Muslim …

For Leslie Moonves, chief executive of CBS Corp., "it was a week to savor." A decision to put Katie Couric in the news anchor chair seemed to be paying off, while the network is set to go into the fall season as the most watched in prime time. Meanwhile, some success on Wall Street endeared Moonves to his boss, Sumner Redstone, who controls both CBS and Viacom. Finally, he got to see the downfall of his rival, Tom Freston, fired by Redstone as head of Viacom. "I am like: 'O.K., bring it on and let the games begin,'" says Moonves. …

"Surveying the smoking ruin that is ABC's reputation after the 'The Path to 9/11' debacle, it's hard to know whether you're looking at the consequence of unadulterated folly or of a calculated strategy that turned out to be too clever by half." That's the opinion of Tim Rutten in the Los Angeles Times. Of course, it probably doesn't make much difference, because the controversy surrounding the network's "docu-dramatic" re-creation is a self-inflicted wound. Whether ABC attempted to paint itself as a champion of free speech or just misunderstood, Rutten notes that the network thought that it could approach the biggest …

When Discovery Communications rolled out its Animal Planet channel 10 years ago, executives needed a star to lift it above the usual staid documentaries that were wildlife shows. So they found the late Steve Irwin, the sometimes "bug-eyed Australian" who didn't hesitate to put himself in danger--and he set the channel apart in a crowded cable universe. "He was probably the first real star the channel had," says Billy Campbell, president of Discovery Networks U.S. But with his death last week, Discovery is looking for new stars to fill the void. One, like Jeff Corwin, is already in the Irwin …

With only a week to go before the start of the new broadcast network television season, advertisers seem to be sticking to their upfront commitments for the fourth quarter. But only about half that bought in the upfront have turned "holds" into actual orders, although the pace is expected to pick up soon. The reason: a more sluggish upfront, along with a trend to wait closer to air date to sign off on ad plans. In a buyers' market, the networks have been going along. "It's a different world," says Steve Lanzano, evp at media agency MPG. "The leverage has …

The Weather Channel's fall programming will feature an overhauled lineup that will include more talking heads and fewer charts. As part of an attempt to bring in new--and younger--viewers, the network will launch a nightly news show, along with an original series focusing on climate change. President Deborah Wilson says the new programming will not move the network away from its primary task of forecasting the weather. But it will move two of its more prominent meteorologists--Stephanie Abrams and Mike Bettes--from the weather map to the couch when it launches "Beyond the Forecast" on Sept. 25. That one-hour series, to …

Britain's ITV is facing a meltdown in ad revenue as media buyers worry that its new mass-market approach is driving away wealthier viewers. Indeed, buyers and analysts think that the channel could be down 20 percent for the balance of the year, compared to 2005. The slide comes in the face of a heavy new fall lineup, and the paper notes that fall is typically one of ITV's strongest periods. But a fast desertion of up-market viewers is exacerbating its ratings slide. Says Toby Syfret, a media analyst at Enders Analysis: "The drop in total TV advertising spending in the …

Various magazines have published "green" issues to bring attention to environmental concerns and global warming, but none has gone as far as The Economist to address the impact of a publication on the ecosystem. A deputy editor at the London-based newsweekly wanted to do something unique for a 16-page green section on newsstands this week. So she arranged for the spread to be carbon-neutralized through the Carbon Neutral Co. in London. "I thought it would be the journalistically interesting thing to do," says Emma Duncan, deputy editor. The process entails calculating all the carbon dioxide burned from all the traveling, …

When the Ultimate Blackjack Tour airs next weekend on CBS, there's a chance that poker fans will see one or two familiar faces. Set to roll at 2 p.m. on Sept. 16, the show pits some of the world's best poker players against elite blackjack players for a $1 million prize pool. About 100 blackjack players and 10 of poker's biggest names were invited to play. While the blackjack experts outnumber poker players by a huge ratio, the show is actively promoting itself by touting poker's biggest names, like Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan. But despite the fame of the …

A federal appeals court has stayed findings that swear words in four broadcasts violated federal indecency statutes regulations. Both sides in the litigation that could become a test case for stepped-up government attacks on offensive speech say they welcome the action. Attorneys for the networks think the stay will keep the Federal Communications Commission from penalizing fleeting expletives, while the FCC official said the stay applies only narrowly--to the four broadcasts at issue. The court also granted an FCC motion for 60 days to give the nets time to argue against a March finding that the broadcasts violated indecency rules. …