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Unique visitors to blogs affiliated with the top 10 U.S. newspaper sites rose to 3.8 million in December 2006, from 1.2 million the previous year, according to data released this week by Nielsen//NetRatings. Those same blogs increased their share of page views at the papers from 4 percent to 13 percent in the same period.

The world's most famous satiric newspaper is gearing up for its Washington launch, reports the Washington Post, which will be partnering with the Onion to sell local ads. "We believe that The Onion will be very well-received among young Washingtonians," says the Post Co.'s Christopher Ma, who sees crossover readership potential between the Onion and the Express, the free Post Co. tabloid he helped launch in 2003. Washington will be the Onion's 10th city with paper distribution.

Jim Mullin, who edited the South Florida alt-weekly for 17 years, signed a letter of intent yesterday to buy the 25,000-circulation monthly The Biscayne Times, reports the Miami Herald (second item). Mullin, who has never owned a paper before, admits he has much to learn "about running the business from the business side. I have to learn to interact with advertisers in a way that I haven't before.'' The Biscayne Times, which has four full-time staffers, in 2005 was named ''best neighborhood newspaper'' by Miami New Times.

iDate, the annual conference of the Internet dating industry, kicked off at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Monday, reports the Miami Herald. One of the meeting's major themes will be how to win over (and win back) users of youth-oriented social networking sites like Facebook and iLike, which are being used by young people to find dates. ''Traditional online dating sites (like Match.com) are feeling the pinch,'' says one conference participant.

Advertisers are turning to the smallest nooks and crannies in public and private spaces to reach an increasingly distracted, on-the-go public, reports the New York Times. From supermarket eggs stamped with the names of CBS television shows to commercial jingles on school buses, marketers are trying to catch the public's eye no matter where they are or what they are doing. "What all marketers are dealing with is an absolute sensory overload," says Gretchen Hofmann, a marketing and sales executive at Universal Orlando Resort. "Ubiquity is the new exclusivity," says another exec.

Ford Motor Co. is using Beyonce Knowles, video games, Rolling Stone magazine's Web site, and AOL’s social networking pages in a multimedia launch for its 2007 Ford Edge in December, reports Mediaweek. "If there was a word for the media mix for '07, it's about engagement," says Phil Cowdell, CEO of Ford Media Services. "The auto industry realizes its marketing and communications is crucial at this time." The trend is clear: Auto industry advertising in print magazines dropped 11 percent in 2006, according to Publishers Information Bureau. Cowdell tells the magazine that carmakers will increasingly turn to new media platforms that can better engage consumers and offer measurable results.