Mediagazer: McClatchy President Gary Pruitt leaving for AP (Dale Kasler/Sacramento Bee)

2:50 PM ET, March 22, 2012

Top News:

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

Ross Luippold / The Huffington Post:

IFC Cancels ‘ONN’ — NEW YORK — At Tuesday's upfront announcing new programming for the cable channel IFC, one show that previously was a staple, “Onion News Network,” went unmentioned. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for IFC confirmed to The Huffington Post that “ONN” would not return for a third season.

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

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, Jacket Copy and GalleyCat

Vanna Le / Forbes:
St. Martin's Press Finds Humor In The 11 Pounds Of Marijuana From Mystery Sender

Discussion: Melville House Books

Jim Romenesko:

Pruitt is a different kind of AP CEO — A Romenesko reader sends this dispatch:

Dale Kasler / Sacramento Bee:
McClatchy President Gary Pruitt leaving for AP

Discussion: ap.org, Poynter and JIMROMENESKO.COM

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 …

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.

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.”

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

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.

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

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

Slovakia's Paid Content System Eyes Up Larger Markets — The online news payment system introduced across Slovenian and Slovakian publishers in May and February wants to launch in three more countries this year. — Piano Media, which gives access to 70 sites across the two countries for a single fee …

Discussion: 10,000 Words