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In an exclusive report in The Daily, Richard Johnson reports 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin–long an activist in Democratic politics and someone who’s toyed with a run for office–is now seriously considering a run for mayor of New York, now that Rep. Anthony Weiner “appears to have sexted himself out of the 2013 race,” writes Johnson.

According to a story by Richard Johnson in The Daily, the rumored departure of Meredith Vieira from NBC’s top-rated TODAY may come even earlier than anticipated. “The announcement was to come in the first week of May, and the switch in September, when Vieira’s contract expires. But sources say the timetable has accelerated. The announcement could come as soon as today that Vieira will step down as Matt Lauer’s co-anchor in June.”

Q&A

Reviewing Mediaite’s Power Grid ranking of the top Print and Online Columnists is loke looking at the modern day Journalistic Hall of Fame. Familiar bylines – from business models old and new – peacefully coexist next to one another: Krugman and Kruathammer pleasantly reside in the same canon as Huffington and Hitchens. But one of these things is not like the other: NY Post columnist Richard Johnson, whose Page Six column not only redefined “gossip” in the new millenium, but also maybe one of the most influential and underrated media critics of our time.

Last week, Gawker announced that Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis had won its “douche of the decade” poll. The post in question also initially called Francis a “rapist” — leading him to threaten to sue Gawker. At the time, some observers wondered how serious the threat was. When Mediaite contacted Francis, we received a response from his publicist to the effect that he still plans on suing, and that the suit will be filed on Monday: