MEDIA
• Vanity Fair scribe Bryan Burrough says he did not intend to lay the blame for Bear Stearns collapse at the feet of MSNBC. “The idea that CNBC did in Bear Stearns is ridiculous,” he said. But in the article, he didn’t seem to think the idea was so crazy. [NYP]
• Bill O’Reilly gets a makeover! Don’t get excited, it’s just online. [TVNewser/Mediabistro]
• Why does the ability to comment on blogs make us so mean? Yeah, Rocket 6, we mean you. [Time]
FINANCE
• Shares of Lehman Brothers have fallen 12 percent, to $17.30. This year, it has lost 70 percent of its value, while a broader index of broker-dealer stocks is down 33 percent. [DealBook/NYT]
• Treasury secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke are getting all serious about reform. They told the House Financial Services Committee today that “the financial turmoil that began last summer has impeded the ability of the financial system to perform its normal functions and adversely affected the broader economy,” said Mr. Bernanke. “This experience indicates a clear need for careful attention to financial regulation and financial stability.” [WSJ]
• And Paulson weighed in on today’s Times story about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying that a government takeover isn’t going to happen … yet. [Bloomberg]
LAW
• The legal decision over whether to hold Karl Rove in contempt for failing to respond to a subpoena will eventually fall to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. [Law blog/WSJ]
• University of Arizona law professor Gabriel J. Chin claims that, due to technicalities, John McCain is ineligible to run for president because he’s not technically a natural-born citizen (he was born in the Panama Canal Zone). [NYT]
• As the ink was drying on President Bush’s law to expand his own wiretapping and spy powers on Wednesday, the ACLU was already filing suit. [Wired]
REAL ESTATE
• The Observer takes a look at the Brooklyn housing price nosedive region by region. [Observer]
• The Red Hook ball-field vendors will be selling their delicious wares starting July 19! [Grub Street]
• Manhattan is not the only place to get an iPhone, you know. [Brownstoner]
