Thursday morning headlines

Times talk: LAT Publisher Jeff Johnson gets a mostly flattering writeup in the NYT. Without offering any details, story notes that "many" expect Johnson and Editor Dean Baquet to be fired sooner or later (Baquet has some 'splainin to do after Nikki Finke's column that has him and ME Leo Wolinsky looking for buyers). Speaking of that column (see LAO), what on earth is Finke doing with e-mails of reporter Ted Rohrlich? And about coverage of Ron Burkle, no less. (By the way, the DN might want to remove the 9/21 Tribune story from its Web site. Noticed it this morning.)

Kirk's back: The GM shareholder and Socal's richest resident is interested in buying 12 million more shares of GM, which would give him a 10 percent stake. The shares would be purchased through Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. Kerkorian has been pushing for a three-way alliance between GM and Renault and Nissan. Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Renault and Nissan, said the arrangement could save the automakers $10 billion, though GM CEO Richard Wagoner is supposedly not wild about the financial arrangements.

It's a record!: The Dow topped its all-time record high this morning and then took a small slide. It's now hovering around 11,700; the high close, reached on Jan. 14, 2000, was 11,722.98.

Closer vote: LAT's Meg James lays out a more contentious shareholder vote on the Univision sale than was first thought. Turns out that Grupo Televisa, Venevision and Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Domit, holding a combined 30 percent of the shares, voted against the purchase by several investment groups and billionaire Haim Saban (you might remember that Televisa failed to buy the company). Just 63 percent of Univision shareholders approved the deal, 3 percent above the required number.

Morpheus ruling: Studios, record companies and music publishers declare victory after a federal judge ruled the distributor of the Morpheus file-sharing service encouraged computer users to download movies and music for free. An industry coalition had sued Woodland Hills-based StreamCast Networks and similar firms in 2001. The judge called it "massive infringement." Wednesday's ruling did not talk about damages.

Mobile ESPN dies: The start-up cellphone company backed by Disney is shutting down, the WSJ reports. The new plan is to become a content provider for big wireless carriers. The operation was a reseller of cell phone time, and despite the branding it had trouble developing a customer base. Decision is expected to be announced today. (ESPN Mobile was separate from Disney Mobile.)

Speaking of closings: Warner Bros. is shutting down Warner Bros. Online, according to the LAT, among the first of the online studio sites that produced original content. It's part of the ongoing budget cuts at the studio.

Actors approve pact: This one covers traditional TV and radio commercials, as well as those on the Internet and other new media. The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted 95.8 percent in favor of the two-year extension.

Pasadena groundbreaking: They're adding about 50,000 square feet to the Pasadena Convention Center, which will roughly double the facility's size. Work is expected to be completed in 2009.