Media Navel-Gazing by Mark Kollar

The nation and the headlines mourned the death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy (and a great read, by the way, by Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal over the weekend on the Reagans and the Kennedys); Michael Jackson’s death was ruled a homicide just before the world celebrated his 51st birthday; the media debated whether or not the US deficit will be hitting $9 trillion; and the Dow ended an eight-day winning streak by slipping a bit on Friday to close at 9544, or up 0.4% for the week.

Lehman Brothers Saga Hits Airwaves as Radio Drama
The British broadcasting service, the BBC, has reportedly created a “fictional account” of the weekend-long talks between Wall Street big wigs and regulators on how or if to save Lehman Brothers last September. The story, according to The Wall Street Journal, is based on interviews with those supposedly involved with the discussions or had knowledge of the drama. Actors will play real-life characters, but fictional characters also are part of the hour-long program, which will be broadcast from UK to the US and elsewhere. Called “The Day That Lehman Died,” the show will air Sept. 5 in the UK and soon after on US public radio stations.

Burson-Marsteller Chief to Stay on as WSJ Columnist
The president and chief executive officer of Burson-Marsteller, Mark J. Penn, will remain as a columnist at The Wall Street Journal, amid allegations that a colleague at the public-relations firm tried to use one of Penn’s columns for business gains. As first reported by Gawker, the Burson colleague reportedly sent the column from Penn on luxury camping, according to The New York Times, to fellow executives suggesting to forward the column to luxury sporting good companies and that Penn would follow up with notes asking to meet company executives. Penn said that he had “no business motives in writing it whatsoever” and assured WSJ executives he did not know about the follow-up note to his employees.