Mediagazer: API/NAA merger update (Jim Romenesko)

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, JIMROMENESKO.COM, New York Magazine, FishbowlNY, BuzzFeed, Splitsider and Poynter

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, The Huffington Post and paidContent

Jim Romenesko:

Pruitt is a different kind of AP CEO — A Romenesko reader sends this dispatch: Jim: Feel free to use this, though without attribution. Though The Associated Press traces its linage back to 1848, today's organization really started 52 years later following the dissolution of The Associated Press …

Discussion: Sacramento Bee

Sarah Limbrick / Press Gazette:

David Beckham's dad sues News Int over phone-hacking — The father of footballer star David Beckham's has become the latest celebrity to launch a lawsuit over phone-hacking. — Ted Beckham has joined a string of public figures suing News Group Newspapers and private investigator Glen Mulcaire …

Discussion: Guardian

NPR: As 'Murdoch's Scandal' Unravels, Many Implicated

Martin Hickman / The Independent:
Rebekah Brooks questioned over alleged bribes

Discussion: @joshhalliday and Telegraph

Betsy Rothstein / FishbowlDC:

NBC's Chuck Todd Trashes ‘Tidbit’ Journalism — On this morning's MSNBC “The Daily Rundown” host Chuck Todd went after what he and his panel dubbed “tidbit” journalism. Their repugnance was high after yesterday's Etch a Sketch remark from a top Mitt Romney campaign advisor that, they joked angrily, “went viral.”

Discussion: Forbes, American Journalism Review, @jayrosen_nyu and CJR

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, The Informer, FishbowlLA, Jacket Copy and GalleyCat

Discussion: Melville House Books

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

After the ‘Post’ loses music critic Dan Aquilante, it also kills an ad he bought for his new venture — Dan Aquilante, the New York Post's longtime music critic, has left the paper to start his own editorial syndicate. And after 32 years of loyal service, he thought the Post would be an ideal venue …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Craig Silverman / Poynter:

Gossip Cop prepares to expand into sports, as niche fact-checking grows — Amidst the fervor about PoltiFact's verdicts and the rise and expansion of political fact-checking operations, there is another fact-checking website that leaves the political checkers in the dust, traffic wise.

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

Bloomberg TV Cuts 30 Staffers, Adds Digital Jobs — TVNewser has learned Bloomberg TV has laid off up to 30 reporters, producers, associate producers, editors and other staffers this morning as the company shifts to a digital-centric newsroom. As TV employees are cut …

Discussion: mediabistro.com, FishbowlNY, @niemanlab, Business Insider, @brianstelter and TVSpy

Jim Romenesko:

API/NAA merger update — It was announced in January that American Press Institute is merging with the Newspaper Association of America Foundation. Here's the latest on that from a Romenesko reader: … I passed this along to NAA's Marina Hendricks and asked for comment a few hours ago.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

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: Poynter

Alan Jacobs / The Atlantic Online:

Will Kindle's Free Samples Change the Structures of Plots? — Search-engine optimization reshaped the craft of a good headline. Will Amazon's book promotions have a similar effect on novels? — We all know that people who run websites have a hatful of little tricks intended to give their sites more prominence in searches.

Discussion: TeleRead