Mediagazer: The Onion's Bumpy Ride to Chicago (John Hudson/The Atlantic Wire)

10:55 AM ET, March 23, 2012

Top News:

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

Layoffs At CNN As Network Transitions To Acquisition Model For Documentary Programming — CNN laid off dozens of employees today in its two documentary units, TVNewser has learned. — In a statement, the channel says that while it will continue to produce in-house docs-such as the …

Discussion: The Wrap and Inside Cable News

Matt DeRienzo / NewspaperTurnaround.Com:

Patch ignored early advice about one journalist-per-town model — Before Tim Armstrong launched Patch, jumped from Google to AOL, bought it from his own investment group and expanded it across the nation, he ignored early advice suggesting that the hyperlocal's one-journalist-per-town model would not work.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Daniel Frankel / paidContent:

OWN's Lesson For Yahoo: Big Names Don't Necessarily Equal Hit Channels — As companies like Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) make big investments into video content channels with name-brand film and television talent, they might want to consider the plight of basic cable's Oprah Winfrey Network.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, the Econsultancy blog, 24/7 Wall St. and Bloomberg

Rem Rieder / American Journalism Review:

Why “Etch A Sketch” Matters — I'm ordinarily a big Chuck Todd fan. I find the NBC chief White House correspondent to be extremely knowledgeable and generally insightful with his takes on politics. And I love his zest for the game. But I have to disagree with him on this one.

Betsy Rothstein / FishbowlDC:
NBC's Chuck Todd Trashes ‘Tidbit’ Journalism

Discussion: TVNewser, Mediaite, Forbes, @jayrosen_nyu and CJR

Adrienne LaFrance / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Embracing the stream: ITV's new Twitter-inspired news site breaks the day's news into pieces — British network ITV unveiled a bold new look for its news site Monday — one that favors newness over editorial control, rethinks what a “story” is, and takes inspiration from the Twitter …

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

Wanted: Developers in Media — On the not-so-mean streets of Brooklyn's Dumbo, home to several digital shops, there's an ad glued to a graffiti-covered wall. It shows a New York magazine cover with “Wanted! Software Developers; Send Resume to hr@nymag.com” plastered across Niki Minaj's face.

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Jim Romenesko:

RIP, American Press Institute — From W. LAWRENCE WINTER, American Press Institute President/Executive Director, 1987-2003: As one of Romenesko's readers reported today, one of America's longest-serving and most impactful journalism organizations is set to die tomorrow. Quietly. Without fanfare.

Discussion: Washington Post and The Buttry Diary

Jim Romenesko: API/NAA merger update

Greg Sandoval / CNET:

Google Play mulls movie sales — Google Play is on the march. Execs there have spoken to some of the film studios about offering Android users the option to buy titles. The formerly named Android Market currently offers rentals. — Follow @sandoCNET — When you rent a movie on Play Movies …

Discussion: Google Operating System, The Verge and Softpedia News

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

Gawker Misreads the WSJ on Vaccines and Immunity — Gawker totally misreads a Wall Street Journal story on numbskulls who don't vaccinate their kids, writing that it means “Oregonian Religious Nuts Are Going to Give Us All Measles.” … That's just wrong, and (allowing for Gawker-style sensationalism) it's not what the Journal said.

Discussion: Mediaite

John Hudson / The Atlantic Wire:

The Onion's Bumpy Ride to Chicago — The Onion is in the midst of the biggest upheaval in the newspaper's 24-year history. This week, its editorial team in New York City begins the first phase of its move to Chicago, as staffers clean out their desks, put the writer's room table up for sale on Craigslist …

Discussion: Betabeat, BuzzFeed, Poynter, DCist, Splitsider, New York Magazine, FishbowlNY and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Ross Luippold / The Huffington Post:
‘Onion News Network’ Canceled: IFC Spokesperson

Discussion: TVWeek.com

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

The Big Winners in the Tim Tebow Trade: The Tabloids — Coming to a front page near you. Every day. For the rest of time. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) — Tim Tebow is coming to New York, and not everyone's happy about it. Nor should they be. Mark Sanchez, the Jets' incumbent starting quarterback …

Discussion: Capital New York, Bleacher Report, CBS New York and Forbes

Jon Bruner / Forbes:

The Interactive Media Map: America's Most Influential News Outlets — Oregonians love NPR; Wisconsinites adore the Onion; the Huffington Post is widely read in Appalachia. These are a few of the favorites that the data team at Bitly uncovered when they parsed data from millions of clicks on their shortened links.

Discussion: NewscastStudio Blog, Forbes, Crikey, Poynter, Daily Download and The Huffington Post

Elizabeth Jensen / Media Decoder:

PBS Agrees to Revisit Documentary Schedule — Under intense public pressure from independent documentary filmmakers, including a Twitter campaign, PBS on Thursday agreed to find a new home next season for the award-winning film series “Independent Lens” and “POV.”

Discussion: Center for Social Media blogs

Ken Doctor / Newsonomics:

McClatchy's Gary Pruitt Scales the AP Mountain — Associated Press board members — the newspaper CEOs who populate the board — opted for one of their own when they picked McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt as their new leader . — By historical measure, it's a strange move.

Discussion: PR Newswire, paidContent and The Huffington Post

Jim Romenesko:
Pruitt is a different kind of AP CEO

Discussion: Sacramento Bee

The Smoking Gun:

Feds Intercept Pot Shipments To Publishing House — Two shipments of marijuana destined for the New York City offices of a major book publisher were intercepted this month by federal agents after postal workers detected a “suspicious odor” emanating from the Express Mail parcels, according to court records.

Discussion: The New York Observer, Gothamist, FishbowlLA and The Informer