NBC4's Ana Garcia did an investigative report tonight on sanitary conditions in L.A. gyms, complete with hidden cameras and an outside lab testing swabs collected from workout equipment and locker rooms. Key words: staph aureus, fecal matter and e coli bacteria. She named names.

Thursday shorts:

• Nikki Finke analyzes the New York Times' appointment of Sam Sifton as the paper's Culture Editor. He got the nod over former LAT staffer Jim Schachter. The announcement from executive editor Bill Keller is classic NYT memospeak.

• Times sports writer Helene Elliott will be honored in November by the Hockey Hall of Fame. Says the president of the Professional Hockey Writers Association: "Helene Elliott is a pioneer among female sports journalists. But she has truly been a role model for sportswriters of both genders...There is no one in this business any more respected than Helene."

• Cathy Seipp was on NPR's "Morning Edition" today talking about why she blogs.

• The Bear Flag League is hosting a conference on blogs and politics in July in Pasadena.

• Rebecca Rickman has joined Kneerim & Williams at Fish & Richardson P.C., the Boston-based literary and dramatic rights agency, as a scout in Los Angeles.