MEDIA
• While America is busy fawning over its newest boyfriend, Michael Phelps, the Western media is irked by how the Chinese government is handling the Olympics. [WSJ]
• Katie Couric will be producing exclusive Internet specials during the Democratic and Republican national conventions. CBS said this is the first time the network will produce live, Web-only programming from the conventions. [Broadcasting & Cable]
• American Media, Inc., which publishes National Enquirer, netted losses in the first quarter, but just reported a $388,000 profit in the latest quarter. Perhaps chief David Pecker should send John Edwards a thank-you note. [WWD]
• Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo is out at WFAN. He sees a future in satellite radio. [NYP]
FINANCE
• Everyone else seems to be doubting Lehman Brothers, but, as of June, George Soros upped his shares in firm from 10,000 to 9.5 million. He must see something in the battered bank. [DealZone/Reuters]
• Oh, how the mighty fall. Salomon Brothers’ former chief, John Gutfreund, who was once considered the king of Wall Street, has been caught in the IRS’s snare: His Fifth Avenue co-op was hit with a lien for more than $430,000. And last year the state slapped him with a $230,400 tax warrant. Come on, dude, you know how to manage a balance sheet! [NYP]
• Are Russian investments even riskier than Wall Street expected? [NYT]
LAW
• The American Bar Association voted to endorse a version of “merit selection” for federal judges, meaning that lawyers want to strip judicial-selection power from future presidents. [WSJ]
• Rumors were swirling about Shearman & Sterling — but it turned out none of them were too juicy. [Above the Law]
• JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley pony up $7 billion in the banks’ auction-rate-securities settlement with A.G. Andrew Cumo. Laywers at Clifford Chance and at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett worked on the deal. [Law.com]
REAL ESTATE
• Tinseltown producer Paula Wagner just laid down $4.5 million for a ninth-floor loft in the same Tribeca building where Time Warner chairman Dick Parsons has a 2,241-square-foot spread. [CityFile]
• A 35-story indoor-ski mountain at a Long Island resort? Really? [NYS]
• Mark your calendars: The opening days for the new Citi Field and Yankee Stadium have been announced. The Mets will take to the field against the San Diego Padres on April 14, and the Yankees will try fending off the Cleveland Indians on April 16. [NYP]
