Mediagazer: Times-Picayune tells readers: ‘This is a difficult week at our paper’ (Julie Moos/Poynter)

10:05 PM ET, June 12, 2012

Top News:

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Detroit publisher says layoffs coming to Free Press — Detroit Free Press publisher Paul Anger told employees Tuesday he anticipated layoffs would be coming to the newspaper. The news, first reported by Steve Neavling at Motor City Muckraker, apparently came during a morning meeting …

Discussion: Indianapolis Star

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:

New Orleans Times-Picayune Layoffs: Paper Cuts A Third Of Its Staff — Layoffs have begun at the New Orleans Times-Picayune, as the paper prepares to transition to a mostly-digital operation. The media world was rocked in late May when the Times-Picayune announced that, come the fall, it will only print three editions a week.

Discussion: WWL-TV, Inside Alabama, Media Decoder, Blog of New Orleans, Gambit, The Atlantic Wire, NolaVie, The Daily Beast, @wrightthompson, Poynter and City Desk

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Times-Picayune restaurant critic laid off — A few weeks back, when the New Orleans Times-Picayune announced plans to reduce its print schedule and lay off some staff, it spoke of robust-ifying its coverage in at least one area: The newspaper plans to continue its highly successful Picayune …

Discussion: The Wrap, Poynter, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Diner's Journal, @justinnxt and @erikwemple

John McQuaid / The Atlantic Online:

Why a Weak Website Can't Replace a Daily Newspaper in New Orleans — Today's layoffs at the Times-Picayune signal the end of daily papers as tribunes of the communities they serve. — The newspaper industry is in the midst of a mass decimation. This is due to the inexorable forces …

Discussion: American Journalism Review, blogs.forbes.com/johnmcquaid, The Nation, AdPulp and Jack Shafer

Rem Rieder / American Journalism Review:

Newhouse Flunks the Test in New Orleans — Its Web site buries the blow-by-blow of major layoffs at the Times-Picayune while showcasing a feel-good video from the paper's editor. Tues., June 12, 2012. — Rem Rieder (rrieder@ajr.umd.edu) is AJR's editor and senior vice president.

Discussion: Second Front, JIMROMENESKO.COM and New Orleans Times-Picayune

Julie Moos / Poynter:

Times-Picayune tells readers: ‘This is a difficult week at our paper’ — As journalists at Advance Publications' New Orleans and Alabama papers receive word of layoffs, Times-Picayune editor Jim Amoss is responding to readers angry about the plan to reduce printing and staff.

Discussion: Gambit New Orleans News …

Kat Stoeffel / The New York Observer:

Wall Street Journal Reporter Gina Chon Resigns — Gina Chon, The Wall Street Journal reporter whose Iraq courtship emails with ambassadorial nominee Brett McGurk (now her husband) were leaked on Cryptome last week, has resigned. — “Gina Chon agreed to resign this afternoon after acknowledging …

Discussion: Washington Post, Media Decoder, Mediaite, The Atlantic Wire, The Huffington Post, @poynter, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, Politico and Gawker

Julie Bosman / Media Decoder:

After Long Resistance, Pynchon Allows Novels to Be Sold as E-Books — Thomas Pynchon was one of the last great holdouts: the rare writer who had refused to allow his work to be sold in e-book format. — Now he's changed his mind. — Mr. Pynchon, the author of “The Crying of Lot 49,” …

Discussion: Jacket Copy, New York Times, @zseward and @chanders

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Arianna's new tablet magazine, ‘Huffington,’ is a lot like a print magazine — The Huffington Post's new iPad publication will hit the Apple Store for the first time on Thursday. — The weekly tablet magazine, called Huffington. (Ed. note: yes, with a period at the end …

Discussion: Media Decoder and Mashable!

Guardian:

Murdoch's share of newspaper market is too big, says Miliband — Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation should be forced to sell either the Sun or the Times, Ed Miliband effectively told the Leveson inquiry, opening a new front against the embattled media mogul.

Discussion: Guardian and Press Gazette

Press Gazette:
Murdoch ‘asked Major to change policy on Europe’

Discussion: Guardian, Guy Fawkes' blog, Mixed Media, New York Times, Guardian, Deadline.com, @benfenton, @benfenton and Jon Slattery

Steve Jordon / Omaha World-Herald:

Warren Buffett buys Texas newspaper — The Omaha World-Herald Co. said Tuesday it has agreed to buy the Bryan-College Station (Texas) Eagle newspaper from the Evening Post Publishing Co. of Charleston, S.C. The purchase, for an undisclosed price, is to close June 30.

Discussion: Poynter, @juliemmoos, Newswatch, Reuters, Business Week and Forbes

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

Owens's straw man army — A commentator takes 10 swings at paywalls, and misses each time — Howard Owens's 5,200 word CJR riposte to David Simon on paywalls deserve a reply of its own (outside of its comments section, which at 126 and counting, you should take some time to read).

Discussion: @ryanchittum, @ckrewson, MediaStorm Blog, @mathewi and @mathewi

Reuters:

DirecTV could also deploy ad skip technology — DirecTV Group (DTV.O), the largest U.S. satellite TV operator, could deploy technology that would enable its millions of subscribers to automatically skip television advertising, its top executive said on Monday.

Discussion: PC Magazine, Forbes, VentureBeat, CNET and Softpedia News

Foster Kamer / The New York Observer:

That Time Tina Brown Almost Turned Obama Into Trayvon on the Cover of Newsweek — The presence of Tina Brown atop the Newsweek masthead has been nowhere more evident than on the cover of the magazine itself, from S & M to a very dead (and very photoshopped) Princess Diana.

Discussion: newsweek.tumblr.com and The Atlantic Wire

Megan Garber / The Atlantic Online:

Why the World's Most Perfect News Tweet Is Kind of Boring — Researchers have found a way to predict a tweet's popularity — with an astounding 84 percent accuracy. — Here, per one algorithm, is the Platonic version of the news tweet: … If that seems a little dull for Twitter Perfection ... well, that's the point.