Mediagazer: Google's chief economist understands media better than some industry executives do (Mathew Ingram/paidContent)

12:50 PM ET, September 27, 2013

Top News:

Tribune prepares for cost-cutting, says no targets for expense reduction have been issued — Tribune newspapers, including L.A. Times, prepare for cost-cutting — Tribune newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, may be due for another round of cost-cuting. Above, at the Tribune Tower in Chicago.

Discussion: Robert Feder, Radio & Television …, Strange Attractor and @megjameslat

Robert Feder:

Tribune boss orders $100 million in cuts — It's not clear how they're supposed to do it, but Tribune Co. executives have been ordered to come up with $100 million in budget cuts, sources said, as the company prepares to spin off the publishing side of the business.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, bizjournals and @logandobson

Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:

Attention v. relationship economy — Oddly, Google chief economist Hal Varian analyzes newspapers' problems and prescribes solutions strictly from an old-media perspective — based on attention to marketing messages — rather than an internet (namely, Google) perspective of relevance and relationships.

Discussion: Inside, JIMROMENESKO.COM, @jayrosen_nyu, @digiphile and @mathewi

Mathew Ingram / paidContent:

Google's chief economist understands media better than some industry executives do — Hal Varian, Google's chief economist, talked about the challenges facing the newspaper business in a recent presentation in Italy, and showed that he understands those challenges better than most media executives.

Discussion: International Journalism …

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Seymour Hersh on Obama, NSA and the ‘pathetic’ American media — Pulitzer Prize winner explains how to fix journalism, saying press should 'fire 90% of editors and promote ones you can't control' — Seymour Hersh has got some extreme ideas on how to fix journalism - close down the news bureaus …

Discussion: Gawker, Mediaite, FishbowlNY, Politico, The Huffington Post, @tweetsintheme, @barryeisler, New York Magazine, @froomkin, @pgourevitch, @miamijournalism, @jackshafer and @ryanchittum

GNM press office:

Alex Koppelman joins the Guardian as US News Editor — The Guardian announced today that it has hired Alex Koppelman as US news editor. The announcement was made by the Guardian's US editor in chief Janine Gibson. — Koppelman will be a senior member of the editing team and will help set …

Discussion: @nxthompson

Jim Romenesko:

GateHouse Media: Our bankruptcy filing ‘is not a reflection of any operational problem’ — GateHouse Media has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy. CEO Michael Reed says in a memo that “with the challenges facing our industry and the impending maturity of our secured debt next year …

Discussion: Poynter and St. Louis Business Journal

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Conflicts of Interest: CNN adjusts ethics policy around Crossfire — Yesterday we reported that Crossfire host Newt Gingrich may have broken ethical rules for conflicts of interest set forth by CNN's EVP of standards and practices Rick Davis. — Today, those rules appear to have changed.

Discussion: TVNewser, The Huffington Post, TheBlaze.com, Mother Jones, @politicokevin, Mediaite and Vanity Fair

William Launder / Wall Street Journal:

New York Times Forecasts Further Drop in Ad Revenue — Overall Revenue to Rise, Though, Thanks to Stronger Circulation — New York Times Co. expects to report around a 3% decline in print and digital advertising revenue for the third quarter, Chief Executive Mark Thompson said Thursday …

Discussion: MoneyBeat

Sara Morrison / The Wrap:

BuzzFeed Dominates on Facebook, BBC Tops Twitter, Study Says — BuzzFeed, “the media company for the social age,” has mastered at least one social network. — A NewsWhip study released on Thursday showed that the social sharing-focused site had far and away the most engagement on Facebook …

Discussion: Poynter, Journalism.co.uk, The Whip and @tomgara

Angela Washeck / 10,000 Words:

Plagiarism and Attribution Tests for Journalists: A Must or Not? — If there's anything journalists know, it's how not to plagiarize in our writing. Right? Right?! Wrong, apparently. — Wednesday Jim Romenesko broke the news on his blog that Digital First Media (DFM) …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

The Newspaper Guild of New York:

Next, Reuters targets five jobs in demise of website project — Thomson Reuters management representatives said on Thursday they want to eliminate five Guild positions from the recently condemned Reuters Next project by Nov. 29, almost half of the current New York-based online team.

Patrick Wintour / Guardian:

Press regulation debate nears final reckoning — Privy council will decide on 9 October whether to approve industry's royal charter or to enshrine PM-backed all-party version — The marathon battle to introduce a new system of press regulation will come to a head on 9 October …

Wall Street Journal:

Bloomberg News to Shuffle Management — Hays to Get Expanded Role; Hertzberg to Retire — Bloomberg L.P.'s news division announced significant management changes that will result in a smaller number of editors reporting directly to Editor in Chief Matt Winkler.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Reuters, Reuters, San Francisco Chronicle, Talking Biz News and Digits

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

James Murdoch Named Chairman of Sky Deutschland Supervisory Board — The deputy COO of 21st Century Fox, which owns a majority stake in the German pay TV firm, replaces Chase Carey. — German pay TV operator Sky Deutschland said late Thursday that James Murdoch, deputy COO …

Discussion: Reuters, Bloomberg, NASDAQ.com, Deadline.com and Rapid TV News

Chris Rauber / San Francisco Business Times:

Former Bay Guardian editor Tim Redmond launching left-wing nonprofit news site — Tim Redmond, the longtime editor and “voice” of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, says he's launching a nonprofit news site with a distinctly left-wing perspective. — Redmond's plans for the new San Francisco …

Discussion: sfbg.com

Lance Murray / Dallas Business Journal:

Gannett to sell $1B in bonds to fund $2.2B Belo acquisition — Gannett Co. will sell $1 billion in bonds to help pay for its planned acquisition of Belo Corp., the Dallas-based owner of television stations. — The Washington Business Journal reported that McLean, Va.-based Gannett (NYSE …

Discussion: bizjournals