Media Bowling reaches its triumphant climax this week, with big victories over Stuff, V Magazine, and a random defeat by something called "Freelance." They seemed sad. This video contains at least two disturbing things: a makeout sesh and a declaration of paternity. Don't worry, kids, that man isn't actually your daddy. Probably.

Earlier: Bowling

• Conrad Black's fraud trial starts today. [Chicago Tribune]
  
• It's bid day for the Dennis Media properties: If you're not too embarrassed to own Maxim, Stuff, or Blender, go for it! [NYP]
  
• Suzanne Grimes, who left Conde Nast Media Group yesterday, is joining former boss Mary Berner at Reader's Digest; they expect Cookie publisher Eva Dillon to follow. [WWD]
  
• Tom Scocca is unimpressed by The Economist, idiots who want to have their own. [NYO]

• TMZ is coming to.... D.C.? Hmm, remember that show K Street? Yeah, that wasn't very good. Was weird though! [WP]
  
• Some analysis on the Viacom/You Tube lawsuit: Google needs to start kissing big media ass. [FT]
  
• Jon Friedman thinks there's nothing funny about rape, which suggests to us that he's just not doing it the right way. [Marketwatch]
  
• Deposed publisher Judith Regan may be striking a TV deal in Shanghai. (?!) [R&M, third item]
  
• In strange twist, OJ book may see light of day, to satisfy his debt to the Goldmans. Ah, brokeness, the great artistic force of our time. [Reuters]

When I interned at Stuff, it was common practice for interns to write a large portion of the letters to the editor. We rarely had enough letters from people who weren't fucking insane prison inmates to fill the space, so somebody had to do it. This was the case at another mag I worked at, as well (not going to name names on that one though). I always assumed fake letters to the editor were commonplace. And apparently I was right.

I spent a couple of years editing the letters column of a major magazine, and let me tell you...it wasn't easy filling the space with pity and cogent missives. Let's face it: people are idiots.

I was in San Francisco in the summer of 2003, minding my own business. Only I hadn't told my old flame I was on break from from New York, because I wanted to avoid falling into the habit of sleeping with him again. He was on a plane returning to SF from Italy when he thumbed through the current issue of Blender, where my friend was an editor at the time. When his plane landed, he emailed me, "why does Blender think you are in San Francisco?" I made a panicked call to my friend at Blender. She said, oh, I had to make up a bunch of letters to the editor, and I signed your name + San Francisco to one of them." I ran out to get a copy of Blender. The question in my ersatz letter to the editor was something like "is there any truth to the rumors about an orgy with Margaret Trudeau and the Rolling Stones?" To dodge admitting that I was in fact in San Francisco, I replied to old flame's query with "I think the real question is, why does Blender think I don't know the nitty gritty about all the Stones' purported orgies? And the answer is: makes all that shit up." He totally accepted that answer, and didn't find out I was in SF for several more weeks. Most, if not all, of the letters to the editor at Blender were fake the whole time my friend was an editor, but often signed with real names of 's friends, and like, their hometown or someplace they had vacationed recently, so all the letters wouldn't look like they came from New York.

I know this to be the case at 'organic style'...as soon as i read this entry, it rang a bell, someone i know who used to work as a editorial asst there mentioned not just that letters were handed to her, but that they actually wrote them themselves... often.... like every month... so there you go after...after she told me that 2-3 years ago, I made the generalization that this is prob standard.

I used to work at Redbook, and the assistants on staff regularly made up letters and attributed them to friends and family. Later one assistant made the huge mistake of asking her intern to invent a letter. The intern later reported this as one of her internship "duties" to the journalism chair of her school. The professor wrote a letter to the editor condemning this "unethical" practice (dude's obviously never worked at a magazine; they're all hotbeds of unethical practices), and of course the assistant got fired to save face.

The Observer makes them up all the time—I've done it myself. Plus, one editor in particular bars the publication of letters criticizing his pet authors. However, the NYO letters column is so dull, nobody cares. [Ed Note.: One of us used to have an office a few feet from the person who handled the fact-checking of that paper's letters, so uh, grain of salt on this one.]

I used to write the letters describing erotic adventures in Blueboy Magazine. Seriously. $300 per month. Ironically, most of the experiences I wrote about were true. [Note: Some of us had never heard of this publication but were informed that it does, in fact, exist, and is exactly what you think it is. -Ed.]

If you want to see some fantastical fake letters, check out the Ask section on the first page in Parade magazine. If they are real, may god strike me down because I cannot think of a single person who gives a shit about any question I've ever read since I learned to read.

Dennis Comes Clean About Titles For Sale [AdAge]

DAN BOVA NAMED EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF STUFF MAGAZINE

NEW YORK, NY [October 26, 2006] - Dan Bova has been named editor-in-chief of Stuff magazine, Stephen Colvin, Dennis Publishing U.S., President and Chief Executive announced today.

"Since joining Stuff Dan has proven to be an essential and well-respected member of the editorial staff which he'll now have the opportunity to lead. His energy and drive are as contagious as his wit. I'm looking forward to taking Stuff to new heights with him at the helm," said Colvin.

"Stuff is the ultimate lifestyle guide for guys who want the best of everything, and I am excited to make this magazine bigger and badder than ever," says Bova. "Stuff is all about no-limits living, and our readers rely on us to be their filter for cool. We're absolutely obsessive about delivering the greatest gear, music, movies, games and style—everything the 20-something with money to blow needs to know about. I apologize in advance to any readers whose heads explode from awesome overload."

Dan Bova is a veteran member of the Stuff family. His first stint at Stuff was in 2000 serving as Senior Features Editor. He left in 2003 when he moved to California joining the staff of Jimmy Kimmel Live as a segment producer. He returned to New York and Stuff as Deputy Editor in 2003 and was promoted to executive editor in 2005, a position he has held since that time. Bova began his career at Spy where he was a staff writer. He has freelanced for such publications as Details, Cosmopolitan, Maxim, Glamour and Redbook among others.

He lives on the Metro North shuttling between Stuff and his home in Larchmont, NY. He and his wife are expecting their second child in December.

Bova replaces Jimmy Jellinek who now serves as editor in chief of Maxim.

Earlier: Yunjin Kim Works On So Many Levels

Full press release after the jump.

JIMMY JELLINEK NAMED
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF MAXIM MAGAZINE

New York, NY (May 12, 2006) - Jimmy Jellinek has been named editor-in-chief of Maxim magazine, the best-selling men's lifestyle magazine in America, it was announced today by Dennis Publishing president and CEO Stephen Colvin. Jimmy Jellinek replaces Ed Needham, who is returning to England with his family.

Jellinek moves over from Dennis-owned Stuff magazine, which with its 1.3 million circulation, is the second best-selling men's lifestyle magazine in the US. As editor in chief of Stuff, he evolved the title into the premier men's product and entertainment magazine, being rewarded with success in circulation and advertising. Jellinek's replacement at Stuff will be announced shortly.

Jellinek has a long impressive career in the men's category: before joining Dennis Publishing, he was the editor-in-chief of Complex magazine. He began his career working at Rolling Stone, then moved on to Details magazine and FHM magazine. Over the past 10 years, he has written in-depth features, plus crime, service, and travel articles for the likes of Rolling Stone, Men's Journal, The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, New York Post, The Face, GQ, Wired, and Time Out New York.

"Maxim is all about making the lives of men better," says Jellinek. "Sure it has to have wit and sex appeal and glamour to stand out, but at its heart, Maxim should be the ultimate playbook for men; helping them navigate the uneven terrain of the 21st century world. I am going to make sure that Maxim delivers guys the vital information on everything from finance to style, from sports to entertaining. In short, I'm incredibly pleased to take on this awesome opportunity and can't wait to get started delivering our 13 million readers the best of everything every single month."

"I'm delighted to have Jimmy Jellinek as the editor in chief of Maxim," explains Colvin. "The magazine is certain to thrive under his leadership."

Jellinek's arrival comes right after the magazine's much-touted 100th issue celebration in Las Vegas, and as the famous annual "Maxim Hot 100" issue is about to hit newsstands, accompanied by a VH1-TV special.

# # #

Dennis Publishing, Inc. is a media company that publishes the two most successful modern men's lifestyle magazines in America - Maxim (2.5 million rate base) and Stuff (1.3 million rate base) - along with general interest music magazine Blender (Advertising Age's Launch of the Year and Adweek's Hot List), and The Week, a distillation of the week's most important news and opinion from the US and international media (Advertising Age's A-List). Maxim, Stuff, Blender and The Week (Advertising Age's A-List, Adweek's Hot List) are registered trademarks of Felix Dennis. Maxim Radio is broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio on channel 108.