A private funeral ‘live streamed’. A tasteless move by The Courier-Mail today, offering readers a “live stream” of the funeral of murdered Queensland woman Allison Baden-Clay. “Remembering a life lost — join us for a live stream of Allison Baden-Clay’s funeral as we pay tribute to her memory from 10.30am Friday,” said the tag line. It is plastered all over The Courier-Mail’s site. We clicked on it to see what was happening (yes we felt dirty) only to see a procession of mourners arriving at a church …

Journalists were then interviewed by other journalists about all the intimate details of the funeral — what songs were to be played, how her daughters would lay posies, etc …

Then a short biography of her life, work and family relationships was read out as a photo gallery was played on repeat, with a “more coverage coming up” in the corner …

Afterwards, back to more mourners arriving for the service, with a large Courier-Mail logo smack bang in the middle of the screen. We stopped watched just as the three journalists re-appeared to interview each other again. Classy stuff. — Amber Jamieson

He’s baaaack. Glenn Milne’s Oz return. Former News Limited press gallery heavy hitter Glenn Milne has made a long-awaited return to the pages of The Australian, penning an op-ed about the supposed political reincarnation of Peter Costello. Milne disappeared from the national broadsheet last September after the paper was forced to apologise for a column he wrote dredging up old rumours about Prime Minister Julia Gillard. He was also unceremoniously dumped from ABC TV’s Insiders program for being a “high editorial risk”.

In today’s paper, Milne treads familiar turf giving his opinion of the unlikelihood of the former treasurer moving back into politics. A long-time Costello spear carrier, it would come as little surprise to Milne watchers that he is offering his two cents on the ambitions of Canberra’s eternal bridesmaid.

“He has deliberately distanced himself from politics. His goal is not to be seen as one of those desperate has-beens who frequent Aussie’s cafe in Parliament House trying to cut that one last deal based on their long-passed political provenance,” writes Milne. “He has moved on. He is finished with politics in almost all of its dimensions. All save giving advice to Tony Abbott when it’s requested and he thinks it will help. Which is regularly.”

As to whether the column reignites Milne’s chances of returning to his former home at Holt St, it looks unlikely. The Australian‘s editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell told The Power Index this morning that the column was a one-off. According to his LinkedIn profile, Milne currently works as a consultant for his wife Jannette Cotterell’s lobbying firm Executive Counsel. — The Power Index

Le Grand’s grand tour. Great to see Crikey‘s occasional sparring partner and ex-Melbourne bureau chief Chip Le Grand filing video stories from the football front line in Spain. In this amateur video posted on The Australian‘s website yesterday, Le Grand reports the jubilation on the streets after Athletico Madrid’s Europa League triumph on Wednesday Spanish time.

But the intrepid Le Grand may soon have to make tracks back to Australia — he is currently being sued for defamation by former Office of Police Integrity investigator Keryn Reynolds in the Supreme Court, with his next hearing due on May 29. — Andrew Crook

US papers say ‘I do’ to Obama coverage. Yesterday, in an interview on US television network ABC, President Barack Obama said: “I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-s-x couples should be able to get married.” Today’s US papers cover the issue — one that’s highly divisive — in a colouful manner …

Front page of the day. Today’s Deniliquin Pastoral Times devotes its entire front page today to the exciting news that US singer Kelly Clarkson will be headlining this year’s iconic Denny Ute Muster. The Pastoral Times tells its readers:

International music superstar Kelly Clarkson (pictured) has been announced as the headline act of the 2012 Deniliquin Ute Muster …

Clarkson’s acclaimed career took off after winning the first ever American Idol competition in 2002.

Her first album was released in 2003, and now, five albums and countless topten hits later, Clarkson continues to wow crowds.

Part of her appeal is her ability to cross over. Her vocal range is outstanding, and her style isn’t easy to pigeon hole.

Get excited people!

Coulson: I may have seen top-secret state material

“The former News of the World editor Andy Coulson has admitted that he may have had unsupervised access to top-secret material while he worked for David Cameron in Downing Street despite having only mid-level security clearance.” — The Guardian

Ten says sorry for airing film showing close-up of man defecating

“Network Ten has apologised to viewers after broadcasting a film on its digital channel that showed close up images of a man, not an actor, defecating.” — mUmBRELLA

Time magazine’s controversial cover

“How’s that for a cover? That’s Time‘s latest, featuring Jamie Lynne Grumet, a 26-year-old mom, breastfeeding her three-year-old son.” — Fishbowl New York

The 140-character fatwa

“Despite assurances from the Saudi government that it is cracking down on religious radicalism, the kingdom’s top clerics continue calling for attacks on Christians across the Arab world. And in the Internet age, these voices of hate have been handed a larger megaphone than ever before. ” — Foreign Policy

How to tell when unpaid internships are abuse

“Like many college students and recent graduates, 22-year-old Ashleigh Atwell started her first internship this month. Also like many of them, Atwell won’t be getting paid for the work she performs.” — Poynter