Hamill to celebs: Drop dead.

Less than six months into his job as editor and secular savior of the much-abused New York Daily News, Pete Hamill is already under the gun. Circulation is down because of printing and delivery problems at a new plant in New Jersey and a drop in newspaper reading everywhere. Hamill was reportedly forced out of his charming West Village neighborhood because of a massive rent increase. Hamill's notion of the meaning and purpose of journalism, however, flies in the face of nearly every development in the recent history of the craft. Hamill's immigrant-driven remake of the paper is a gamble in more ways than one. Advertising analysts would argue that his strategy is the wrong one to maximize profits. Many elite department store executives regard tabloid readers less as potential customers than as likely shoplifters.