The Hollywood Reporter has lured Scriptland columnist (and former FBLA fishie) Jay Fernandez to the fold as a full-time senior film reporter, concentrating on breaking news.

Congratulations, Jay!

OC Register Editor Ken Brusic reportedly sent a memo out to the five or six people who still work at the paper, letting them know that biz editor Glenn Hall is leaving to become editor at TheStreet.com.

Brusic sees fit to inform his tattered troops that Hall's decision has nothing to do with the low morale, continued cuts and general ennui that has gripped the newsroom. Nope. None at all:

"Though the timing is not great, Glenn assures me his decision was not prompted by the recent layoffs or a lack of confidence in our company or our industry. This move is, in fact, a great opportunity to build on his fine accomplishments here."

Sure. Good luck, Glenn.

Sources close to Ryan Seacrest have confirmed to FBLA that Ryan Seacrest is in talks with CNN to shimmy into Larry King's chair. Now "talks" can mean a lot of things, and our source also says, "I don't think it's going to happen."

Why?

Well, for one thing Ryan is currently the host of... everything. E! News, American Idol, a popular KIIS-FM radio show -- not to mention a producer. Taking on Larry King's show would almost certainly mean shedding all those responsibilities and losing much of the Ryan Seacrest "brand." Plus our source doubts CNN would want to fork up the cash it'd take to get Ryan out of his other obligations.

Our big question, though, is why would Ryan even want to do this? Sure Paris Hilton has been on Larry King -- and, yes, Ryan interviewed Hillary Clinton -- but could Ryan seriously keep from nodding off while talking to political wonks?

In a word, our source says: "Yes."

"His background is in being a generalist. He's known for his work with celebrities, but he came up through mass radio. He could pull it off."

We're not sure if our source meant King's job or his suspenders.

From our tip jar:

We still do not have a clear indication of where or when this sale will take place. There has been a considerable amount of discussion surrounding NBC and selling KSTS/Telemundo 48 and converting that to Telemundo 4 or the other way around NBC would move the Telemundo to 11 and NBC4 would be originating out of San Jose. The COL - City of Location would still be San Francisco for Channel 4 but its new location would be out of San Jose which would share the same new studio facilities as KNTV.

The studios of KRON at 1001 Van Ness would be sold off and although NBC has a studio on Broadway near CBS and ABC San Francisco would have the presence of all three networks - FOX not included.

I don't know how accurate this information is and if it's even worth the time to print it but something is brewing and from what we gather it's been kind of very secretive and confidential.

It's worth the paper it's printed on. We assure you.

In a news story about the cuts, Register Editor Ken Brusic says, "In this round of layoffs, managers protected basic reporting and editing staff and targeted high salary employees, so that fewer people were laid off."

But we know of at least four newsroom staffers who were shown the door. Names and more info as we get them confirmed.

[UPDATE: Well, the OC Weekly got the same tip we did and went ahead and published the names before we could get them confirmed -- not that the Weekly confirmed them, but as long as they're out there we figured f---k it. Among the departed:

Robin Hinch, obit writer, editor and resident baby shower party thrower

Neil Pichon, a design editor with a thick British accent.

Andy Horan, who started at the paper as a wee lad only to move up in the ranks to Sunday editor.

Steve Plesa, travel editor who has been at the paper for longer than we've been alive.

Greg Gibson, sports editor and nice guy.

Daniel Anderson, a photographer and husband of Register columnist Yvette Cabrera

We knew all these folks, and -- man -- does this news suck.]

As we promised, here's more on the changes at the top of the Times:

Los Angeles Times Announces Masthead Changes

Editor Russ Stanton Defines Key Editorial Positions For John Arthur and Davan Maharaj

LOS ANGELES, April 23, 2008 -- The Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com)today announced the promotions of John Arthur to Executive Editor and Davan Maharaj to Managing Editor as part of the editorial restructuring currently being undertaken by Editor Russ Stanton.

"I'm thrilled to work alongside two richly experienced journalists and editors who share a deep dedication to ensuring The Times editorial relevance and role as one of the world's great newspapers," said Stanton. "John's terrific news judgment, deep experience and creativity will help us produce increasingly dynamic news and information to meet the changing needs and interests of our readers, and Davan's outstanding management and editing skills, broad range and distinguished track record make him ideally suited for his role."

Arthur, who has been Managing Editor since July 2007, assumes the newly created position of Executive Editor. He will continue as Page One Editor, helping set the overall strategy for The Times' news gathering operation across all mediums, with responsibility for shaping coverage of stories and the deployment of resources. Arthur will also oversee important production functions, including the A1, copy, design and photo desks.

As Managing Editor, Davan Maharaj assumes oversight of Foreign, National, Metro, Business, Science and Sports, and will work alongside Stanton and Arthur in directing coverage, deploying journalists and resources and overseeing personnel decisions. The Times Business Editor since February 2007, Maharaj is charges with further integrating the print and Web story pipelines.

Earlier: BREAKING: Davan Maharaj Named L.A. Times ME

New Head Ed Russ Stanton promotes the former Business editor to the second-to-the-top spot and gives John Arthur the new title of executive editor.

More as we get it.

[UPDATE: Sources inside the newsroom say Davan is "a great guy who was a terrific reporter." But there is some concern about his resume: "He's also one of the least experienced MEs in history. Time will tell -- and probably not much time."]

Per Fishbowl NY: Rupert Murdoch's reign at The Wall Street Journal took a hit today when reports that managing editor Marcus Brauchli announced his resignation surfaced. According to sources within the paper, "Brauchli tried to find a middle path between the paper's traditionalists and Murdoch's new vision for the paper," but was unable to, which isn't a surprise in the least.

The guys at Newsday must be thrilled.

New Line Cinema announced it will cut 450 jobs. And today is Tax Day. And the weather sucks. If you need us, we'll be at Tom Bergin's.

The LAT reports that its keeping its Hot Property feature, but its losing its Hot Property writer.

"Ruth Ryon will be filing her last installment of the feature she created almost a quarter-century ago."

Stuff you'll learn in the story:

* Hot Property was kicked off on Nov. 25, 1984, with an item about Johnny Carson buying a home in Malibu for $9.5 million.

* Ryon got the idea from reading Parade magazine.

* then-deputy associate editor Shelby Coffey III championed it, moving it to the front page of Real Estate section in 1987.

* Ryon has written more than !,300 columns. No wonder she's taking the buyout!

Good luck, Ruth!