If you haven't read CoverAwards.com — former Life & Style editor Mark Pasetsky's attempt at reinventing himself as a media consultant — you can be forgiven: Most of the website consists of magazine cover scans accompanied and bits of celebrity gossip disguised as tabloid coverage, and really, don't you have an RSS reader stuffed with those sites?

But now Pasetsky is reviewing a crop of magazine each week, focusing in on the tabloids — something we grew tired of, but is still done by many a website out there.

So what's so special about Pasetsky's write ups? For starters, they're less critical observations about the industry's products than they are an attack on his former colleagues.

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FoxNews.com gossip Roger Friedman launched a seemingly personal battle against TV Guide today when he didn't see Tim Russert's face peering at him from its cover this week. While some folks think the media have gone overboard with Russert tributes, Friedman expected the magazine covering Russert's industry would put him on the cover. And when he didn't spot the mug of the deceased? He blamed new owner Macrovision, which is trying to sell off the print title while hanging on to its dot-com.

Except as so often happens with Friedman, his argument holds little water.

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The bitter blood between Debra Birnbaum and Mark Pasetsky has not disappeared, even though neither of them are running Life & Style anymore.

You'll remember back in November 2006, we reported Bauer removed Birnbaum as the tabloid's EIC, where marketing type Pasetsky stepped in. Then we chronicled his handling of the magazine, which ultimately ended up with him leaving in September 2007, and Richard Spencer from sister In Touch stepping in to helm both weeklies.

Somewhere in the middle of that, Birnbaum headed to TV Guide as a consultant, and then executive editor. (She had been EIC of spin-off Inside TV, which shuttered.) Pasetsky left to run his own PR firm Mark Allen & Co. It's there he also launched the website CoverAwards.com, which claims to critique magazine covers with an expert's perspective.

In the past couple weeks, as TV Guide was sold to Macrovision and editor Ian Birch was shown the door, Birnbaum was elevated to the top spot.

And it's there, on Cover Awards, that Pasetsky is trying to take her down.

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Having just snapped up Gemstar-TV Guide for $2.8 billion, new owner Macrovision is, as expected, already looking for a buyer for TV Guide the magazine. [NYT] It was no big secret from the beginning that Macrovision was interested in Gemstar's technology, but not its print asset, or its television channels (the TV Guide Channel, and horse-racing station TVG). The new owner is, however, interested in keeping TVGuide.com, which in the digital era is viewed as a more substantial asset that the ink-and-paper brand, though hanging on to the magazine's domain name, we imagine, could be a sticking point for a sale.

Or not.

Very quickly, the magazine has done an about-face. This is interesting.

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Remember Debra Birnbaum, the editor of Life & Style who, as we were the first to tell you, was ousted by Bauer head Hubert Boehle in November '06, only to be replaced by Mark Pasetsky, who got himself the ax less than a year later?

In June of last year, she headed to TV Guide as the executive editor. TV Guide, if you're unfamiliar, is a magazine your mother used to keep on the coffee table so she knew what time her stories were on. Today, it's a magazine that's seen readership dwindle and is basically a commodity in the $2.3 billion sale of parent Gemstar to Macrovision, which only wanted Gemstar's video programming technology; the sale, of course, also saw top editors EIC Ian Birch, managing editor Lois Draegin, and exec ed Steve Sonsky leave the building.

Getting to the point: Now we're hearing rumors that Birnbaum is taking over as editor of the magazine. Mediaweek is hearing those same rumblings but notes "the title's long-term future is up in question," since Macrovision isn't expected to hold on to the magazine for very long. Which means Birnbaum assuming the top spot now could be trouble down the road. Or a brilliant career move. It's so hard to tell with these things!

Update: It's confirmed: Birnbaum is the new EIC.

Ousted Life & Style EIC and one-time Inside TV exec editor Debra Birnbaum has secured the exec editor spot at TV Guide, we're hearing. She's been consulting with Gemstar-TV Guide since the beginning of the year; now she joins the staff. Perhaps she'll revamp the slumping magazine with a tabloid edge to take on L&S replacement Mark Pasetsky? Only in our imaginary and inventive blog!

• Time Inc. looks to slice another 150 jobs, and not even People will be spared.

• Ousted Life & Style editor Debra Birnbaum lands at Gemstar-TV Guide in a gig that will let her tell them all the things they're doing wrong.

• Mort Zuckerman kindly asks The New Yorker not to write about him. David Remnick kindly denies request.

• If it's not overblown meth epidemics, it's other assinine drug stories Jack Shafer is pinning journos for.

• Judge freezes O.J. Simpson's If I Did It cash that was funneled to shell organization. Onlookers bewildered at paltry sum O.J. was actually paid.

• Rupert Murdoch's hat throne in ring for Tribune assets.

Exclusive

Is Bauer Publishing one of publishing's least friendly employers for those with XX chromosomes? That's what multiple current and former staffers, from the business and publishing side of the business, have been telling us. Forget VNU's dildo-slash-sexual harassment doozy of a lawsuit. If you're a woman who feels uncomfortable in the workplace, there's a good chance Bauer is your boss.

And most of the blame, we're told, falls on chief Hubert Boehle. One former Bauer employee calls the CEO an "egomaniacal misogynist," and that seems to be the kindest of compliments we've heard.

Bauer, of course, was in the news most recently for axing Debra Birnbaum as Life & Style's editor-in-chief, even after she managed a staggering 49 percent increase in circulation only to see the floor fall out on her. Her replacement was Mark Pasetsky, the mag's general manager who – we've been telling you – doesn't have the confidence of many staffers.

One current staffer claims Brinbaum's ousting may have much to do with the fact that she's a lady. "It's pretty obvious [Boehle] had a problem with a woman having so much success," tattles our insider. But an ex-staffer questions why Boehle – who has only one woman, the relatively powerless teen group president Lynette Gallagher, on his executive roster – would replace a woman with the openly gay Pasetsky. Perhaps it's because, as our source tells it, he's the "bottom" in this relationship.

I was very surprised when he put then openly gay Pasetsky in the GM role. He keeps most of his female and effeminate staff in editorial where they stay under his thumb. Of course, I have always held the opinion that his interest in Mark was a little deeper than general manager.

Bauer is an atrocity of an employer. Ask anyone who has worked for Carol Brooks at First For Women. During my time at Bauer she once told me that "employees at Bauer were the most 'litigous' she'd ever seen". Of course, that's what happens when you fire people for getting married/pregnant/having a life and take it as a personal affront.

So Hubert isn't the panty-chaser we took him to be, but rather on the verge of a Jann Wenner coming out story? We'd love to be the ones to report it. Or perhaps its the childish story more suited for Bauer's J-14. Either way, the infractions against women apparently continue to mount. And soon enough, Rachel Sklar is gonna hear about it. You were warned.

Just three days on the job and it sounds like Life & Style editor-in-chief Mark Pasetsky doesn't have a floor to stand on. You might expect a replacement EIC to face some awkward glances and stop-start editorial meetings at first, but an absolute fall-out? Even us gossip cravers couldn't have hoped for anything more.

Since we broke the news on Tuesday that Bauer Publishing removed Debra Birnbaum as editor, we've been hearing from hoards of current and former staffers (yesterday's update is here). It's unlikely we've ever received more communications from unhappy insiders about a single person at one time since this blog launched three years ago.

While Debra received much praise (and a few disgruntled asides), we've yet to hear one promising iota about the new L&S leader.

Though we have learned he dressed up as Brad Pitt at Bauer's Halloween party and likes to wear eyeliner. We don't know the brand, but staffers certainly have a nickname for him: "snake eyes."

Says one insider:

This guy has wreaked havoc on far too many people for far too long. If he works in the celeb gossip world, now's his time to see what it feels like to be the subject of the very gossip he likes to create in his brilliant cover lines that he loves to take credit for.

He also thinks he's a brilliant PR aficionado. So can he control all of these messages? Good luck.

And that seems to be the kindest of all notes. An ex-staffer – who recommends we "interview at Life & Style so you can see first hand how accurate MOST of the pissed off staffers are" – notes that Mark "transforms from a pseudo-closeted 'suit' to a gold chain wearing, muslce tee sportin', backward hat rockin' gym rat."

This person's email to us was so riveting, in fact, we've reprinted it in full after the jump. We're also going to send 'em a job offer. (Life & Style's PR folks, meanwhile, declined to comment.)

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The Life & Style melee is only just beginning, according to multiple insiders. Following Tuesday's dismissal of EIC Debra Birnbaum, current and former staffers, as well as other Bauer insiders, have been flooding our inbox with reports, which range from "morale is non-existant" to "there's at least a half dozen resumes from different people sitting in the printer tray." Some folks have had the audacity to claim Debra Birnbaum's replacement, Mark Pasetsky, has "not a drop" of "journalism experience," "ZERO edit or fashion experience" and that he "started at Bauer as marketing flunky."

Says one insider: "He has no vision, changes storries in middle of them being shipped, and cuts out outher mags and asks staff to copy it."

Clearly not the vote of confidence you'd hope for during such a top-level regime change — and it's unlikely Pasetsky is going to put up with it. "Expect a mass exodus," one senior level insider instructs us.

A parade of sudden vacancies wouldn't come as a surprise, and not just because of the new leadership, but because "[Bauer CEO Hubert Boehle] doesn't want to pay holiday bonuses." Another tattler tells us Pasetsky's role will be more "lapdog" than editor-in-chief, since Boehle's latest gimmick is to micromanage the magazine.

Which, as you know, works so well with Jann Wenner and Us Weekly.

We're hearing that following Tuesday's dismissal of Life & Style editor Debra Birnbaum – where she was replaced by L&S general manager Mark Pasetsky – creative director Tom Lowe also made an exit. Signaling what might be the beginnings of a staffer exodus, we're told Lowe left his gig voluntarily, without the fanfare of a formal firing. Which leaves Pasetsky without a No. 2 to handle .. what was it again? Ah, yes, editorial.

Some Bauer insiders are calling bullshit on the publisher's official excuses for firing Life & Style editor-in-chief Debra Birnbaum.

The official story – which we were the first to tell you about yesterday – has Bauer brass firing Debra (who'd only been sitting as editor since March) and giving Mark Pasetsky (who held the title of "general manager") the job because Debra supposedly had zero interest in the style/fashion aspect of the magazine. Mark, meanwhile, is allegedly a style expert and was around when the original concept of L&S was hatched.

But multiple sources we've spoke with inside the magazine (and staffers who used to work there) tell us the official word doesn't add up.

One insider with direct knowledge of the situation says Bauer was showering Debra with praise as recently as two weeks ago for bringing circulation up a full 50 percent during her tenure. Then, all of a sudden, they started asking for more style coverage; Bauer wanted L&S to become the "style bible," we're told. Which is odd, because as our tattler tells it, they were telling Debra there was too much style editorial just two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, some quick poking shows Debra's replacement doesn't have much of a style background himself. "Sure, he may be [general manager, and Debra's boss], but could he tell you the difference between Christian Louboutin and Heather Mills' shoes? No," claims one insider. And while Bauer may delcare Pasetsky as having hoards of editorial experience, we're told he barely had a hand in any of the day-today editing, story selection, or focus of the tabloid "besides saying, 'We need to be on Britney's divorce."

All of this, meanwhile, comes on the eve of what was supposed to be a new debut from L&S: a shopping website, much like ShopVogue.com, where readers can instantly access and buy the very items featured in the magazine. While one source says it was Debra's idea, another counters that the web venture is definitely one initiative spearheaded by Mark.

So maybe he does understand fashion, but a crash course on the difference between Chloe and Clarendon might be worth it.