Times TV Beat Grudge-Match

BEATDOWN Dana, Carter (below) Rebecca Dana should have little trouble adjusting to her "new" home—she's already spent a year and a half there. As you may have read, Dana, the New York Observer's 24-year-old TV reporter, is no longer jumping ship to the New York Times. (Radar first reported the defection was in the works in December.)

An anonymous e-mail making the rounds this morning suggested that Dana wore out her welcome pre-arrival by making disrespectful remarks (possibly in jest) in public about Bill Carter, the Times's top TV beat writer. Her comments purportedly made their way back to Carter, resulting in the Times rescinding its offer in favor of a lesser arrangement. Now, sources close to the situation tell us that Dana, who had already signed a formal employment contract with the Times, has decided to simply stay put at the Observer.