But then we were referred over to the blog belonging to Oregonian film critic Shawn Levy, a genuine authority who's neck deep in a Newman biography and recently offered vague confirmation of his own:

I have known for a while that Newman was very ill, probably with cancer, and today the Internet is flooded with the news that it's lung cancer and that it's not good; there aren't very good sources on any of these stories, and nobody has any shocking exclusives, but given what I know I find every word of them credible. ... He's 83, and his next birthday is in January, and we can only hope he'll make it. I suspect I'll be writing an obituary before I hold a copy of my book in my hand.

Well, Shawn, when you put it like that... Though we guess it's not like it could get any sadder, anyway.

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

• Paul Newman Has Cancer: AP Stands By Story Despite Newman's Hedging [AP]
• Going, Gently or Otherwise, into That Good Night [Mad About Movies]

Q: Why an entertainment vertical?

A: There is overwhelming demand from customers and members for coverage of celebrity, movies and music. According to PQ Media, the market for outsourced entertainment news content is set to rise by 77% by 2011 to $960 million. So, increasing our entertainment coverage provides an opportunity to give them more of the content they want and to increase revenue at the same time.

SHUDDER. Beyond asking the simple question of how the downturn in ad revenue across media — and thus the resultant belt-tightening, downsizing and shuttering among AP subscribers — squares up with that 77% boost for outsourcers like AP, we'd also like to know: Why a separate organization altogether? Becker notes it's all about the flexibility to "fine-tune" its service, but he sneaks in a bit about a discrete "management structure and P&L" as well. In other words: We're red-headed stepchildren, but at least we're not union stepchildren.

There are some epistemological crises in there, too:

Q: There is a fear that this will take AP closer to tabloid journalism. How will AP ensure it maintains its journalistic standards?

A: The entertainment vertical is not about gossip, unnamed sources and innuendo or about "peephole" journalism with AP photographers becoming paparazzi. It's about recognizing an opportunity to use our journalistic talent and unmatched network of resources to produce high quality, multimedia coverage in an area of growing interest.

Translation: "Did you see South Park the other night? We're going to be just like the photographers outside Britney Spears hospital room, except our captions will I.D. both Stan and Kyle by name. You know — for old times' sake!" Excuse us, we need rush off to stockpile gasoline.

• AP Planning Massive Celebrity Coverage [DHD]