Mediagazer: Daily Caller giving away guns to readers now through Election Day (Dylan Stableford/Yahoo! News)

5:20 PM ET, May 24, 2012

Top News:

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Times-Picayune to publish three days a week, cut staff — A memo from Times-Picayune publisher Ashton Phelps Jr. confirms that the newspaper will cease daily publication, moving to three days a week in the fall: Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The memo also confirms staff cuts, though it doesn't say how large they will be.

Discussion: American Journalism Review, NetNewsCheck Latest, Newspaper Death Watch, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Save the News, Blog of New Orleans, Gambit, Erik Wemple, CJR, Charles Apple, TheLensNola.org, Yahoo! News, Newsonomics, Guardian and The Newspaper Guild

John McQuaid / Forbes:

The Digital Future of The Times-Picayune — I spent most of my journalism career at The Times-Picayune and have many friends there, so the news that its owners are slashing the staff, dismissing top editors, and cutting back publication days is very difficult to process.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Lens, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Poynter, Blog of New Orleans, Gambit and Business Insider

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:

New Orleans Times-Picayunes Faces Deep Cuts, Will End Daily Publication — The New Orleans Times-Picayune, the paper that became internationally famous for its courageous reporting during Hurricane Katrina, is facing steep cuts and will end its 175-year history of daily publication, the paper announced Thursday.

Discussion: New Orleans Times-Picayune, Forbes, The Gambit, @davidfolkenflik, Media Decoder, @the_gambit, @the_gambit, @the_gambit, @toffleresque, @lizzieohreally, @elgray, @ryanchittum and @bmccarthytp

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
Advance cuts daily publication of its three Alabama papers

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Inside Alabama and Media Decoder

Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:

Warren Buffett Won't Stop Buying Newspapers Until He's Dead — Warren Buffett is going to buy more newspapers. Yes, in addition to the 63 his Berkshire Hathaway Media Group scooped up last week. In a letter sent to the editors and publishers of those publications, Buffett says he …

Discussion: Lists, Poynter, JIMROMENESKO.COM and FishbowlLA

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Why rich people are investing in newspapers, again — In March, Chris Hughes paid around $5 million for a majority share of The New Republic. On Sunday The New York Times reported he'd be doubling the magazine's staff and hiring former editor Franklin Foer to edit the magazine once again.

Discussion: Forbes, Capital New York and NetNewsCheck Latest

Gregory Korte / USA Today:

Propaganda firm owner admits attacks on journalists — WASHINGTON - The co-owner of a major Pentagon propaganda contractor publicly admitted Thursday that he was behind a series of websites used to discredit two USA TODAY journalists who had reported on the contractor.

Discussion: Poynter

Matthew Belloni / Hollywood Reporter:

Fox Sues Dish Network Over Auto Hop Ad-Skipper — Fox has sued Dish Network over its new Auto Hop service, which allows consumers to skip television ads. Fox issued the following statement on Thursday:

Discussion: The Wrap, The Verge, @laureni and @theharryshearer

Mike Shields / Adweek:

NBCU Exploring Buyback of MSNBC.com — Chris Matthews must be getting that tingling feeling down his leg again. He and his colleagues may soon have a giant news site to call their own. — That's because NBCUniversal is in serious negotiations with Microsoft to buy back MSNBC.com.

Discussion: Forbes

Reuters:

UK minister leaked information in Sky deal - News Corp — The UK minister in charge of approving News Corp's bid for BSkyB passed on information about the process to Murdoch's media empire through his aide, a News Corp lobbyist insisted, brushing off denials by the government.

Discussion: Telegraph

Gordon Rayner / Telegraph:
Leveson Inquiry: Jeremy Hunt memo shows he backed News Corp bid for BSkyB before taking charge of decision

Discussion: @arusbridger, Guido Fawkes, @jamesro47, @tomjharper, @skynewsbreak, @rosschawkins and London Evening Standard

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

The Case Against AOL, In Numbers — Starboard Value, the activist hedge fund that seeks to replace three of AOL's directors with its own nominees next month, has laid out its disagreements with the internet giant's current management in a 96-page presentation to investors.

Discussion: CNET

Bobbie Johnson / paidContent:

New ‘radically simplified’ WordPress is on the way — Matt Mullenweg, the founder of WordPress and Automattic (see disclosure) says that the service is preparing for a significant change of direction — by releasing a much simpler version designed to work on mobile.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Beet.TV and The Next Web

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Amazon bans Kindle Store spam (finally) — Amazon is finally banning some of the junkier content in the Kindle Store, including “content that is freely available on the web unless you are the copyright owner of that content.” — The company is making new rules on public domain and “other non-exclusive content.”

Discussion: Plagiarism Today, The Domino Project and WebProNews

Paul Bond / Hollywood Reporter:

Fox News Slams Professors Who Claimed Its Viewers Were Ill-Informed — The cable channel was mum the first time around, but now that Fairleigh Dickinson University has released a follow-up study that disparages its audience, FNC is striking back with some observations of its own.

Discussion: TVNewser, Mediaite, TVWeek.com and mediabistro.com

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
Survey: NPR's listeners best-informed, Fox viewers worst-informed

Discussion: Media Matters for America, The Media Machine, Mediaite, Erik Wemple, The Huffington Post and Hit & Run

Zach Dionne / Vulture:

Jennifer Egan's New Yorker Story Will Be Serialized on Twitter Over Ten Nights — News many will be quickly thrilled by: Brooklyn author Jennifer Egan has composed a short story revolving around a character from her 2011 Pulitzer winner A Visit From the Goon Squad.