Mediagazer: Layoffs underway at Times-Picayune, Advance's Alabama papers (Steve Myers/Poynter)

1:20 PM ET, June 12, 2012

Top News:

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Layoffs underway at Times-Picayune, Advance's Alabama papers — Employees at The Times-Picayune in New Orleans and Advance Publications' papers in Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville, Ala., have started to learn if they'll have jobs when the papers stop printing every day and shift their focus to their websites.

Discussion: New Orleans Times-Picayune, WWL-TV, Grub Street New York, Gambit New Orleans News … and AdPulp

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.

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:
New Orleans Times-Picayune Layoffs: Paper Cuts A Third Of Its Staff

Discussion: Blog of New Orleans, Gambit and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Jaquetta White / New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Times-Picayune advertisers voice opposition to newspaper's planned changes

Discussion: Bayoubuzz.com

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.

Discussion: h30507.www3.hp.com, Mashable, PC Magazine, Neatorama and Personanondata

Steve Myers / Poynter: Biggest news sources on Google News aren't shared the most on Twitter

Press Gazette:

Murdoch ‘asked Major to change policy on Europe’ — Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch asked former Tory prime minister John Major to change policy on Europe, he told the Leveson Inquiry into press standards today. Murdoch - owner of The Sun and The Times - warned that without change his newspapers …

Discussion: Guardian, Jon Slattery, Guardian, Guy Fawkes' blog, @benfenton and @benfenton

Guardian: Murdoch's share of newspaper market is too big, says Miliband

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

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: Forbes, VentureBeat, CNET and Softpedia News

Dan Barry / New York Times:

All the News That's Fit to Screen: Movies About Journalism — BACK when paper and ink still mattered, I fell into a job as a nightside reporter at The Providence Journal, in the habitually newsworthy state of Rhode Island. This was many years ago, before exercise, sobriety and good hygiene …

Discussion: Prof Chris Daly's Blog

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:

Seattle Times features ‘op-ed rap’ in response to local shootings — On Sunday, The Seattle Times experimented with a new kind of editorial — an “op-ed rap” as some are calling it. — Sharon Chan, associate opinions editor/digital at The Seattle Times, asked local hip-hop artist Prometheus Brown …

Discussion: Seattle Times and Prometheus Brown

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

Google's e-book deal could slow rise of Amazon Kindle in Europe — Google announced a major deal this week with French authors and publishers that clears the way for the sale of millions of e-books that have been caught in legal limbo until now. The deal could spur digital publishing …

Discussion: AllThingsD, Pocket-lint and Melville House Books

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Random House promotes digital president Madeline McIntosh to COO — Random House has promoted Madeline McIntosh, president of sales, digital and operations, to the position of chief operating officer, effective immediately. — McIntosh, who is 43, was Amazon's director of Kindle content acquisition …

Jon Henley / Guardian:

Greek journalists return to work unpaid for what may be paper's last edition — Eleftherotypia was Greece's second-biggest newspaper, a centre-left daily with a proud tradition of independent reporting and opinion. Founded after the fall of the military dictatorship in 1974, its name means “freedom of the press”.

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Looking for the Apple TV? Look in Front of You. — Nope, still no Apple TV. — Apple's WWDC presentation took nearly two hours, and none of that time was devoted to the product lots of smart people insist is going to show up one day, someday. — Still, look a little closer …

Discussion: MediaNama and Forbes