An anchor's ambivalent exit

Tiger turns tail

Now that Tiger Woods has uttered the word "infidelity" and dropped off the tour, you wonder: How did he get away with it for so long?

"Some say Woods' famously controlling nature allowed him to philander unsuspected," the L.A. Times reports. "Some wonder whether intimidated golf reporters never pressed Woods because they did not want to risk losing the little access they had to the sport's premier practitioner. Some believe that fellow players, had they suspected, would have kept mum because of Woods' beneficial effect on TV ratings, their earnings and public interest in golf. Others think the singular nature of professional golf itself made it possible for Woods to create a nearly impenetrable zone of privacy -- or secrecy."

Houston makes history

"Annise Parker's comfortable rise to mayor is drawing attention from national news outlets who are noting the significance of the nation's fourth largest city making history by electing an openly gay leader," the Houston Chronicle observes.

"The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor and MSNBC, for instance, emphasized that Parker won the race in a state that outlawed gay marriage and in a city that defeated a referendum granting benefits to same-sex partners of city workers. With Parker winning nearly 53 percent of the vote late Saturday, Houston became the largest city with to elect an openly gay mayor. Others include Cambridge, Mass., Portland, Ore., and Providence R.I.

"From The Christian Science Monitor: 'The distinction neatly sums up the American mood. As gays and lesbians become broadly accepted in society and politics, that acceptance is marked by a firm boundary beyond which voters do not yet appear willing to cross: same-sex marriage.' " This would have been unthinkable in the South a decade ago.

Max-imum raise

The MSM hasn't had much appetite for the Baucus story, but Politico advances the ball:

"Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, gave a nearly $14,000 pay raise to a female staffer in 2008, at the time he was becoming romantically involved with her, and later that year took her on a taxpayer-funded trip to Southeast Asia and the Middle East, though foreign policy was not her specialty. . . .

"Baucus acknowledged his relationship with Melodee Hanes, whom he nominated for the job of U.S. attorney in Montana, after it was first reported on the website MainJustice.com. But he said that Hanes withdrew from consideration for the job when the relationship became more serious. The next day, he dismissed calls for an ethics investigation, saying, 'I went out of my way to be up and up.'

"Since his announcement, more details of the relationship have emerged, raising questions about a workplace romance between a boss and employee that Baucus tried to keep quiet and also contradicting his explanation for why Hanes's nomination was withdrawn.

"Jodi Ravi, a former reporter for the Missoulian revealed over the weekend that the paper informed Baucus in March that it was poised to publish a story about Hanes's relationship with the senator and the fact that he had nominated her for the U.S. attorney job. The next day, Hanes withdrew from consideration. According to the Missoulian, Baucus's office never acknowledged a relationship between the two, and the paper did not run a story."

Why in the world did the paper spike that story?

Color-coded

At Pajamas Media, Rick Moran sees this NYT feature -- on "gifts created for and by people of color this holiday season" -- as a strange throwback:

"Do you have a Negro friend and are you having trouble finding just the right gift to get him dancing and singing on Christmas Day?

"Well, the New York Times has come up with one of the great ideas of the 1950s: a holiday gift guide for the colored folk.

"You've probably struggled with what to give your doorman, or valet, or housemaid as an appropriate present. You want something not too expensive but something they can really use. This colored folk gift guide takes the worry out of your holiday shopping for servants and others who are complexion-challenged."

E&P, RIP

John Temple congratulates himself on his foresight:

"In 2006, I wrote a blog post with the headline, 'Why Editor & Publisher has become irrelevant.'

"Three years later, it's dead.

"It's easy to underestimate the power of aggregation. But the truth, in my view, is that Romenesko replaced Editor & Publisher long ago as the place where journalists turned to find out what was going on in their world. It's not limited by one medium or industry. It's timely. And it's deep. The magazine couldn't compete. And it's not just Romenesko. There are many sites and blogs to turn to today to learn what's going on in journalism. Which is why E&P couldn't survive as a viable business. I know many would like to think that the same thing couldn't happen to other publications. I wouldn't if I were them."

Temple should know; he was publisher of the late Rocky Mountain News.

Facebook privacy

In light of the loosening rules, Gawker sticks it to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg by publishing his private photos. Meanwhile, check out what sounds like a pretty cool app: Google Goggles.

Howard Kurtz also works for CNN and hosts its weekly media program, "Reliable Sources."