The Rick Santorum presidential bid isn’t going so well, but it probably didn’t need this: a report from the Italian magazine Oggi, as aggregated by the Daily Beast, giving a visit to some confused and somewhat outraged communists in the old country who don’t really understand what their cousin is doing running a socially conservative campaign for leader of the free world.

A trio of departures from the Daily Beast and Newsweek to report today: In a move he says has been planned for months now, executive editor Edward Felsenthal has left the Daily Beast, telling his staffers that he is off to pursue other opportunities. Earlier today, it was announced that Daily Beast / Newsweek publisher Ray Chelstowski has been relieved of his duties at the media company, effective immediately, and that managing editor Tom Weber has resigned from his role.

The Daily Beast and Newsweek have offered a revealing look at Fox News president Roger Ailes — and it’s interesting not only because it provides additional insight regarding Ailes, the wildly successful businessman; but also provides a rare glimpse into Ailes and his personal life (Example: Don’t try to get between Ailes and a pinch of sea salt!), Perhaps most noteworthy, the piece offers a brief look into the future of Fox News Channel.

Last week, CNN’s Nic Robertson reported that he had found Lockerbie bomber Abdel Bassett al-Megrahi, and that things weren’t looking so good for the convicted terrorist. Having tracked down his lavish Libyan compound, Robertson found al-Megrahi hooked-up to oxygen and IV, in a coma and apparently near death, and indeed, the footage of bedridden al-Megrahi did not look good. But The Daily Beast’s Lloyd Grove remains somewhat skeptical.

Al Sharpton‘s surprise resurgence as a cable news host seems to have come a bit out of nowhere– certainly to his predecessor and to many viewers. Given his previous forays into television, the Daily Beast‘s Wayne Barrett has penned a doozy of an investigative piece that proposes talent alone couldn’t have gotten Sharpton the job: it was affirmative action and his support of the NBC/Comcast merger, Barrett concludes, that landed him the position.

Tina Brown is planning to extend the Daily Beast’s brand and reach with an online talk show that is being described as having a format similar to that of The View.

According to the Observer, the Newsweek Daily Beast company has already hired producers Kathy O’Hearn, formerly of CNN, and Susie Banikarim, who was “poached from Diane Sawyer.” O’Hearn has previously worked with Brown as the executive producer of CNBC’s relatively short-lived weekly talk show, Topic [A].

It’s been quite the week or so for journalistic ethics given the end of News of the World and the continuing corruption scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corp/News International enterprise. The Watergate references running fast and loose, Lawrence O’Donnell brought on an expert tonight to explain just how the two scandals compare– legendary former Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein. In doing so, however, O’Donnell brought down some ethical judgment on himself as Bernstein, now a Newsweek writer, stood up for his magazine.

The Newsweek editorial predicting what life would be like for Princess Diana made many readers uneasy about resurrecting the dead, but for Fox News’ Liz Trotta, it was no surprise. During her Saturday commentary segment today, Trotta noted that “you can expect more of the same” from editor Tina Brown, who peddles in “the lowest of the low” and is “desperate” to sell her “pamphlet.”

Steve Brill, founder of CourtTV and American Lawyer magazine, found it rather humorous that the Daily Beast would feature Marcia Clark — the head prosecutor in the infamous case against O.J. Simpson — as an expert analyst of the Casey Anthony trial.

Known as an iconoclastic Congressman and serial presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul also has a lesser-known career as a prolific author. To understand more about the candidate, the Daily Beast‘s David Graham went through the 2012 hopeful’s latest tome, Liberty Defined, and came away concluding, perhaps unfairly, that Rep. Paul is not a “disciplined candidate” and, given his affinity for conspiracy, is a long way from the nomination.

What does a politician do with his days after being disgraced in public, indicted on federal charges and losing a wife that left video testimony against him for his upcoming trial? Spend a lot of time with his late loved ones, according to a recent profile of former Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards. Daily Beast writer Michelle Cottle spent Edwards’ birthday in his native Chapel Hill, where residents noted he was so despised he was mostly seen alone these days, by tour guides at the local cemetery.

Democratic political analyst Kirsten Powers is not afraid to call them as she sees them, and in a Daily Beast column Wednesday afternoon, she blasted her friend (and ex-boyfriend) Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) for “sociopathic lying,” misogyny, and predatory behavior. In an interview with Mediaite, Powers gives her take on liberal suggestions that Weiner’s resignation should hinge on the disposition of Republican scandals like David Vitter‘s, and the notion that Weiner’s scandal lacks the hypocrisy of Republican sex scandals.

Meghan McCain has finally come clean of her interactions on Twitter with Rep. Anthony Weiner, all of which were public and completely appropriate. McCain is one of the last people to be cited by name in his Twitter feed during the scandal, as she had kind words for the Congressman in the press. Her latest Daily Beast column may have severed that mutual respect, however, as she confesses she no longer follows him to preserve her mother’s peace of mind.

Influential New York Times tech reviewer David Pogue might have done some damage to his reputation by not immediately disclosing his relationship with Nicki Dugan, vice president of San Francisco’s OutCast Agency PR firm. Dugan’s firm happens to represent tech companies of which you may have heard. Like, oh, Facebook.

Meghan McCain, daughter of Senator Jack McCain, recently interviewed Donald “The Donald” Trump for the Daily Beast. And, predictably, the interview is getting quite a bit of negative feedback from around what some people who aren’t me might refer to as the “blogosphere.” Yes, that’s right, it’s H8er Week here at Mediaite. Kick back, grab a Pabst, and go with it.

As the merger between Newsweek and the Daily Beast continues to find its footing, 16 of the magazine’s employees have agreed to take a buyout and walk. That’s more than were expected to, meaning future layoffs could be avoided.

Tina Brown isn’t too worried about bloggers weighing in on her latest project – remaking the ailing Newsweek brand into something people will read, discuss and pay for. In an interview with The Guardian, Brown takes the criticism hurled her way (which includes a rather unfortunate and problematic comparison to a hagfish by Gawker editor [...]

The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz says CBS News is deep into the process of finding a replacement for Evening News anchor Katie Couric, whose contract ends in June. “The search is on” for a worthy successor, writes Kurtz, with “the new CBS News chairman, Jeff Fager, is looking at candidates both within and outside the network, insiders say.”

A top contender at CBS, Kurtz says, is 60 Minutes‘ Scott Pelley:

Between the Middle East’s sovereignty as we know it breaking down, myriad natural disasters and a less-than-stellar economy, no one would doubt that being the leader of the free world in 2011 is no easy task. Luckily for President Obama, there is some sympathy for him out in the media world– take, for instance, Newsweek editor Tina Brown, who suggested on Morning Joe this morning that “with the world exploding as it is, I have to say that Obama has the worst inbox of any president maybe in history.”

In a series of profiles of MSNBC personalities, The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz first talked with Ed Schultz, then with Rachel Maddow and now it’s Lawrence O’Donnell‘s turn. Although Kurtz titled the piece “MSNBC’s Newest Pit Bull,” what makes O’Donnell unique is that of all the opinionated cable news hosts, from this interview, he seems the most restrained and certainly the least arrogant.

In a profile of Rachel Maddow, The Daily Beast‘s Howard Kurtz reveals how Maddow puts together her nightly show and also gets many comments praising the new “face of a cable network.” With Keith Olbermann gone, MSNBC is clearly looking to Maddow to lead the way and she seems eager to assume the position. The article features harsh criticism of Fox News, specifically claiming that Glenn Beck is “running baroque conspiracies that are designed to freak people out about bogeymen coming to get them.”

With so much attention being given to the recent deal between Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington and Aol, it’s worth it to see what sort of impact this has on other media companies – namely, the recent merger between Newsweek and Tina Brown‘s Daily Beast.

This week, late on Tuesday night, Reliable Sources host and Daily Beast contributor Howard Kurtz issued a correction for an interview he conducted with Rep. Darrell Issa for a story titled “Darrell Issa: The GOP’s New Top Cop,” published back in November.

As it turns out, Kurtz hadn’t spoken with Rep. Issa at all but, rather, with spokesperson Kurt Bardella.

The Daily Beast‘s Howard Kurtz has experience exposing MSNBC’s dirty laundry and he’s at again with a new column on the “surprise star of its liberal lineup” – Ed Schultz. Although Kurtz accurately reflects that the ratings of The Ed Show are dwarfed by Fox News‘ Special Report With Bret Baier, he still considers Schultz to be “Rush Limbaugh‘s TV Nemesis.” Although Rush would dispute Schultz is in the same league as him, with profile-raising pieces like this and with increasingly critical commentaries of President Obama, Schultz’s stock at MSNBC is certainly rising.

As Republicans in Congress work to earn a legislative victory in keeping the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy as well as the middle class, Democrats are up in arms over comments from former Bush Communications Director Dan Bartlett gloating over the tax legislation, calling it a “trap” and admitting that watching Democrats fall into it “does feel pretty good, to tell you the truth.”