"Victor is not going anywhere. He is highly regarded here at CNN." That's what a CNN mouthpiece told us back in August when we heard Paula Zahn Now executive producer Victor Neufeld was leaving the network with her.

Vehement denials, as we assumed, could only mean one thing: The opposite of what they say is true.

Indeed, our original report panned out: Neufeld's departure from CNN was just announced.

We can tolerate publicists who "don't have any knowledge" of specific events. But don't lie to us. Or write us emails saying "The posting about Victor Neufeld is not true … Can you say a CNN Spokesperson said it is false? … Can you remove it or update it?" And then, when we reply, "So, he's sticking around at CNN? You'll assure me that?" don't respond with, "Yes. He is sticking around."

Second note to Paula Zahn: If you feel you must keep an uncomfortably detailed sex-diary of your illicit extramarital trysts (and we're totally not saying you should) please at least have the foresight not to gush like a "16-year-old schoolgirl" and/or "illustrate it with photos."

Also, what's up with the whole "accounting" probe thing? (We get it, you're trying to override the prenup by proving your super-rich husband is financially irresponsible). But don't you think you just might have a sliiiightly stronger case if your "my husband kicked me out after finding my illustrated sex-diary" apartment weren't costing an estimated $40,000 per month in rent?

Note to Paula Zahn: The next time you feel like having an extramarital affair with married ContiGroup CEO Paul Fribourg and cheating on your multimillionaire husband —and father to your three children—Richard Cohen, you might want to think about, you know, not keeping a handwritten diary of all the lurid details, stashing it in a totally obvious hiding place, and then accidentally leaving it behind for your soon-to-be-ex husband (who's still, understandably, somewhat bitter about the whole extramarital affair/divorce thing) to find just in time for the settlement proceedings.

Otherwise, keep up the good work! Oh, but since we're on the subject of things you should probably have done differently, you might also want to rethink that tacky lime green blazer.

Shocker! Paula Abdul's playlist features a lot of American Idol winners. [Mollygood]

Now that Paula Zahn is gone from CNN, so is her executive producer Victor Neufeld. A source says the former Early Show and 20/20 producer is leaving the network after making "significant contributions to the demise of Paula Zahn Now." Clearly, an objective observation.

Update: Counters a CNN spokesperson: "Victor is not going anywhere. He is highly regarded here at CNN. There have been no decisions on staffing for Campbell Brown's upcoming show." Hmmm. Who even mentioned Campbell Brown's show?

Update 2: Emphasizes a source: Neufeld isn't gone immediately, but will be leaving at a "date to come." Funny, too, 'cause when we heard Paula Zahn was being eased out the door, CNN flacks had a similar denial they shared at the time.

• ""You're not going to survive very long in this business if you internalize every rumor that is out there," Paula Zahn tells the AP. "To a certain extent, my staff and I were able to drown out the noise and do what we were expected to do." You know, until she "voluntarily" resigned.

• Salon readers, YouTube subscribers don't like being called "novices."

• Exciting news! JLo will grace the cover of that annoying Fashion Rocks outsert you'll glance at (briefly) before tossing into the trash.

• NY Times donates over 700,000 pages of personal letters, financial documents and photographs to the New York Public Library. And it should all be available to the public as early as…the year 2050.

CONTINUED »

The new issue of Wired carries all these How-To tips, including a whole section for the workplace. One of them is "How To: Get Fired," and it advises: "If you're a big shot, ask to issue a joint press release about your decision to leave. And in your next job, negotiate severance terms up front as part of your employment agreement."

Perhaps Paula Zahn reads Wired? Because in the news that just came out of CNN, it was she who resigned from the company, effective Aug. 2, and not CNN who got rid of her. TVNewser has the deets, including her farewell letter. But if you're recall, we've been waiting for this day for months.

Don't feel sorry for Paula Zahn. Not because her marriage is dissolving or she might be imminently forced out of CNN or because her legs are no longer and tan and supple as they used to be.

Because no matter what you think, Paula's life is still much, much better than yours.

Take, for example, your apartment. You know that spacious 2-bedroom loft in the West Village you've had your eye on for a while now? Well, forget it. You're living in a closet-sized Murray Hill—that's, ironically, closet-less—and paying $1250/month for the privilege of splitting an 850 square-foot dump above "Curry In A Hurry" with an out-of-work aerobics instructor and her impossibly hairy boyfriend.

Meanwhile, here's where Zahn has been "roughing it" since ditching that dreary, red hawk-infested co-op on Fifth avenue.

CONTINUED »

"NBC NEWS star Campbell Brown expected to join CNN," breathlessly reports Drudge. "Announcement imminent as final deal points are being completed… Developing…" Meanwhile, that's not the only CNN shake-and-bake: Paula Zahn is also losing Paula Zahn Now, says TVNewser, confirming a claim we made back in October about the network zoning out Zahn.

[Images via]

• A jury of Peter Braunstein's peers rejected his mental insanity plea and convicted him on charges stemming from the 2005 Halloween attack. Jurors cited Braunstein's meticulous premeditation and overpowering urge to kill Vogue editrix Anna Wintour as evidence that he was, in fact, fit to stand trial.

• Meanwhile, attractive CNN wannabes are lining up in hopes of nabbing Paula Zahn's coveted anchor spot. But we're not ready to say goodbye to Paula yet. After all, who could predicted this?

• One year and 25 operations after being injured in Iraq, CBS news correspondent Kim Dozier is finally ready to tell her story. Which is both amazingly empowering and exceedingly difficult to turn into a punchline.

• The Today show's new "Today On The Trail" feature is remarkably similar to This Week with George Stephanopoulos' award-winning "On The Trail" feature. Then again, it's probably just an unfortunate coincidence.

• Scarlett Johansson channels Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe in the new Louis Vuitton campaign, reminds us that "curvy physique" is apparently synonymous to "Size two."

Occasionally—not often, but surely more than once or twice—we here at Jossip have come to the realization that we've made a mistake. And when this happens, we usually go with the tried-and-true "admit it, and move on" approach, lest you discerning readers think we're attempting to sweep our minor misstep under the proverbial rug.

And, in that spirit, we'd like to share this excerpt from today's Page Six, regarding a certain cheating anchorwoman and her adulteress affair:

JUST three weeks after Page Six ran a blind item about their crumbling marriage, Paula Zahn and her husband, real-estate magnate Richard Cohen, have filed for divorce. The blind item asked, "Which TV news anchorwoman is about to get separated from her husband? He suspects she's been having an affair . . . " An insider confirmed that not only does Zahn have a boyfriend, he's also married with children. Radaronline claims the man is ContiGroup CEO Paul Fribourg, who did not return our calls.

CONTINUED »

Well, lately the talk about Paula Zahn has been about her new, gimmicky baby boomer off-shoot and those nasty rumors that she's being slowly phased out on CNN.

But, according to Radar, the only person being phased out is Paula's soon to be ex-husband, Richard Cohen, the very same Richard Cohen who very publicly evicted red-tailed hawk, Pale Male, from his unauthorized rent-free perch atop 927 Fifth Avenue.

These things, however, have a way of working out. Not three years since Pale Male was forced to flee the co-op, Dick's apparently been given a similar ultimatum. According to Radar, Zahn's rumored to have replaced Cohen with a newer, younger version another elderly white man: Conti Group CEO, Paul Fribourg.

And somewhere overlooking Fifth Avenue, Pale Male is putting his winged arm around his longtime mate, Lola, and saying, "See? I told you those humans don't know a damn thing about monogamy."

Time magazine might have just launched its new on-sale date, relaunched Time.com and finally ignited a modicum of interest in the newsweekly business – see how we just covered a huge piece of news in one line? J-school education at work! – but the real bit of Time Warner news you're going to care about is the extension of a Paula Zahn segment. And you thought CNN had tired of the news anchor. Those silly reports, where do they come from?

Because the only thing apparently worth watching on Paula Zahn Now her gimmick bit for baby boomers "Life After Work," CNN plans to branch out on the segment to its website as well. A microsite is to be born, filled with "video clips from the show, expanded coverage of the subjects profiled, photo galleries and various interactive elements." Synergy, people!

But after gloriously failed Time Warner ventures like OfficePirates.com, it's certainly comforting to know the media conglom at last has found its sweet spot: old people.

Rejoice, CBS, you're not the only ones.

• ABC drops out of the pool of broadcasters hoping to convince the FCC that a little "shit" on-air isn't so bad.

• Paula Zahn missed the point. CNN staffers yawn with non-susprise.

• NYT Co. rebuffs ex-GE chief Jack Welch's offer to take the Boston Globe off its hands.

• Gay Talese is one person you can count on O.J. Simpson's side. Then again, his wife is Nan Talese, as in James Frey's Oprah cohort.

• Thanks to Michael Richards needing to apologize for his racist rant, David Letterman leap frogs over Jay Leno's ratings.

• Patty Hearst's (lesbian) Hollywood screen kiss will not, after all, come to fruition.

• Domino goes green for March.

Right about now, Paula Zahn's hair is looking brighter than her future. Last month month we reported word from inside CNN that Jon Klein & Co. were souring on Zahn and would be using the network's election coverage to phase her out of primetime before letting her ride out the year left on her contract. Though CNN denied the story to us, the only story we believe are the Nielsen numbers. (Well, only because CNN believes in them, not because they're accurate.)

Zahn got pushed out of primetime late last month so CNN had room to air its weeklong Broken Government series — and it performed much better than Zahn ever did. TVNewser reports the series, along with the Lou Dobbs Tonight Town Hall meetings "averaged a 31 percent increase in P2+ and a 51 percent increase in P25-54 in their premiere telecasts compared to regular 7p/8p program averages year-to-date." No decoder ring or 3-D glasses needed to figure out what that means for Zahn.

While NBC staffers are still reeling from the hatchet job issued by Jeff Zucker yesterday, we're told it's not all crystal chyrons and teleprompter rainbows at CNN — Time Warner doesn't want to be left out of the hit parade.

Sources tell us that the Atlanta-based cable news network is laying the groundwork to remove .. wait for it, wait for it .. Paula Zahn. The Paula Zahn Now anchor, who has been with the network since 2001 (originally heading American Morning), is barely holding her own against MSNBC's Keith Olbermann in recent weeks. At least that's the excuse CNN will likely hint at if these rumors come to fruition.

Don't get too excited: Zahn isn't departing yet. We're told she's got just under a year left on her contract. But one insider tells us CNN is using its election coverage to quietly phase Zahn out. One source points us to the gameplan put in place to phase Paula out:

Paula is giving up her 8-9pm broadcast next week for a week-long Broken Government series. When that wraps, she still won't have her own show: She'll be moving in with Wolf Blitzer to co-anchor a two-hour primetime version of The Situation Room, airing 7-9pm from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3. And when CNN shifts to "all elections, all the time" for the three days leading up to the Nov. 7 vote, Zahn will be all but invisible, merely "joining" Blitzer, Lou Dobbs, and Anderson Cooper while they man anchor duties.

CNN, meanwhile, has dutifully rebuffed these rumors. Spokeswoman Christa Robinson insists these rumors are "ridiculous," adding: "Paula is a co-anchor on election night and there are no changes to her role after that." So she's not leaving her primetime show? "No."

Though, is that a "no" like the "no" given by MSNBC when asked if Tucker Carlson and Rita Cosby are leaving? We'll surely find out, sometime between now and after Karl Rove's mid-term election surprise.

Today's Wall Street Journal features a full-out attack on Larry King, and his show CNN staple Larry King Live. The criticism is rooted in King's lack of journalistic focus and over exposure of celebrity and crime coverage.

Guests like James Frey and Lance Armstrong seem to choose King's show because they know they will avoid the hard-hitting questions.

But the real trouble is that Mr. King often appears disengaged. He seems to do little research before sitting down with guests. In interviews, he rarely strays from prepared questions, which means he misses the chance to probe his guests on the rare occasions when they say something revealing.

Other problems plague the show: it is smashed in between Anderson Cooper 360 and Paula Zahn Now, King "appears disengaged," and basically, he's an idiot. Even celeb NYU prof Jay Rosen thinks he totally sucks.

Had he only asked the really tough questions, like "James, is anything in your book actually true?" or "Lance, admit it, you're a total player." Then maybe King could've at least gained a Katie Couric level of journalistic respect from the WSJ.

Tabloid-Style 'Larry King Live' Is Losing Viewers and Credibility [Joe Flint, Wall Street Journal]