Well! At least everyone's having fun! From the NYT:

On Tuesday, The Daily News, whose workers have to walk past a Post sign needling them about circulation and telling them to have a nice day, sent a reporter to The Post's headquarters in Manhattan bearing a gift: a case of cold duck and a bottle of Australian sparkling wine, a nod to the heritage of The Post's editor in chief, Col Allan. The note said, "Congratulations on your exclusive, have a nice day."

Mr. Allan’s move to take the blame appears to have been more than a gesture of buck-stops-here leadership. Political editor Gregg Birnbaum was away on vacation Monday, according to a source familiar with the Post’s operations. The first edition of the paper had carried a piece about the Vice Presidential search written by reporter Vincent Morris. The names of Mr. Morris and Washington bureau chief Deborah Orin, who had written previously about Mr. Kerry’s potential running mates, were absent from the story—as was any other byline or reporting credit.

The circumstances and the anonymity of the piece imply that it was edited—and possibly reported—from the upper reaches of the masthead. Mr. Birnbaum declined to comment on the story. Calls to the Post’s Washington, D.C., bureau, where Ms. Orin is based, went unanswered on Tuesday, and messages left on the voice-mail system were not returned.

>Journalists Scramble, but a Secret Is Kept (Mostly) Safe [The New York Times]
>Allan Eats Crow–But Who Fed Post Gephardt Story? [The New York Observer]
Thanks to Charles and Steve!