TVNewser: Take the poll: Who is the next Oprah?

MediaJobsDaily: The Washington Post Co. laid off staffers today from washingtongpost.com.

Reuters: Hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, which now owns a 14.64 percent stake in The New York Times Co., cut its stake from 16.38 percent in September.

Guardian: Rupert Murdoch's son James sees a smaller role for newspapers than for TV in the future. "In the business of ideas, which is the business that we are in, we do think journalism plays a role, and we do think there are business models there that will make a lot of sense, albeit perhaps not at the scale of some of our broadcasting businesses and other entertainment businesses," he said. "Is it going to be as big a role? No. Structurally, television is vastly more profitable and a big opportunity."

After cutting 90 people from its news department this week, shuttering four bureaus, the Associated Press today announced that it had expanded the roles of six news editors and appointed four interim regional photo editors "as part of a restructuring of U.S. news management."

The news editors who are taking on more regions include West Virginia news editor Brian Farkas, who is adding oversight of Virginia; Amanda Kell, the current news editor for Maryland and Delaware who is now taking on the Mid-Atlantic bureau in Washington, D.C. as well; Arkansas news editor Kelly Kissel, who is adding oversight of Oklahoma; Nebraska news editor Kevin O'Hanlon, who is becoming Great Plains news editor with oversight of North and South Dakota; Massachusetts and Rhode Island news editor Karen Testa, who is becoming New England news editor with added oversight of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine; and Tennessee news editor Teresa Wasson, who is now adding oversight of Kentucky as well.

Meanwhile, the photo editors and their assignments are Stephanie Mullen in the West, Kii Sato for the Central region, Jackie Larma in the East and Mike Stewart in the South.

What's more, the AP said it has posted jobs for openings around the country. So, after meeting its goal of cutting 10 percent from its payroll this year -- through buyouts, layoffs and attrition -- it looks like the AP needs to staff up in order to fill holes left in its organization post-restructuring. Will axed AP staffers be reapplying for open spots?

AP changes roles for 6 news editors, 4 photo eds --AP

Earlier: With 90 Laid Off, AP Finally Hits Payroll Cut Goal

Today saw the premiere issue of the much-discussed Chicago edition of The New York Times. The Times has been encroaching on regional news since it started Bay Area coverage last month, and the launch in Chicago is further indication that Arthur Sulzberger and company are betting the future of journalism is in hyper-local coverage.

But it's not just the outreach to other cities that has competing publications worried: The Tribune Company, which owns The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times, lost several of its editors to the newly-formed Chicago News Cooperative, the organization now providing content for the Chicago edition of the Times. The co-op will be providing two additional pages of Chicago-based coverage for the Times twice a week, which will be added to the paper for the region.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal launched their own San Francisco edition earlier this month, proving one again: If you bill it, they will come.

Read More: The Times to Begin Chicago Edition on Friday --New York Times

Previously: More Tribune Employees Join Chicago News Cooperative, Tribune Employees To Create Content For NYT In Chicago

Yesterday AOL revealed that it was looking to cut one-third of its staff as it heads towards its spin off from parent company Time Warner and looks to trim $300 million from its annual operating costs.

But, as our sister blog WebNewser pointed out today, today's Wall Street Journal actually has some good news about AOL for journos:

"AOL is still hiring for some positions that [CEO Tim Armstrong] has pinpointed as essential to its growth, such as journalists."

All of those journalists losing their jobs from places like BusinessWeek and the Associated Press may have a new place to work.

AOL Grapples With Harsh New Reality --Wall Street Journal

Details of AOL's Voluntary Layoff Plan --WebNewser

Earlier: AOL Looks One Third Of Staff

Despite recent layoffs, Forbes Media is still moving forward.

ForbesLife, the bimonthly Forbes' spin-off focused on culture and lifestyle, has put Lorraine Cademartori at the helm of the publication in the role of executive editor. She has spent the previous 11 years as managing editor at the luxury magazine and worked as managing editor at Spy before that.

Who said luxury magazines were dead?

Full press release after the jump.

Previously: Forbes Layoffs Decimate Staff

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To say it's been a rough week for BusinessWeek would be an understatement. Yesterday, the axe fell hard, and new parent Bloomberg LP has cut around 130 people for the business mag's staff -- including 60 to 70 from the edit side.

Among those getting pink slips were big names like media columnist Jon Fine, community manager Shirley Brady and tech writers Steve Wildstrom and Stephen Baker.

Business journalism blog Talking Biz News has kept a running tally of outgoing BusinessWeekers since yesterday, and today has an updated list. Blogger Chris Roush says senior writer Pete Engardio, Atlanta bureau chief Dean Foust, Philadelphia bureau chief Amy Barrett, management department editor Jena McGregor, associate editor Hardy Green, senior editor James Cooper, senior photo editor Kathy Moore and Prudence Crowther, head of the copy desk, will not be making the transition to Bloomberg's BusinessWeek.

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The Columbia Journalism Review just happened to catch some similarities between an October 2008 cover for The Economist and a May 2009 edition of The Atlantic. Besides the typeface, the pictures on the covers are almost identical: both show the shadow outline of man peering over the edge of a cliff, you know, to symbolize how much trouble our economy is in.

But it's a total coincidence, Atlantic art director Jason Treat told CJR:

"I actually hadn't seen the Economist cover when we designed this, so I wasn't even aware that they had arrived at the same design solution...I only wish I had seen the Economist cover first...(I) would have revised it to distance it aesthetically."

We believe Treat when he says it was an honest mistake: this is fundamentally different from the Newsweek/Runner's World photo rights issue going on right now. If anything, the only thing both The Atlantic and The Economist are guilty of here is using the worn cliché to represent the financial crisis.

Everybody's On Edge --Columbia Journalism Review

You'd never know it from the cuts across the board being made at publishers like Time Inc. and Forbes Media, but some of these companies' titles are seeing a upswing in their readership. Lucia Moses of MediaWeek reported this week that Fortune, The Economist, Smart Money, The Wall Street Journal, Inc. and Forbes have all seen an increase in readers, ironically because of all the financial terror that has caused their publishers to make cuts in the first place.

So while audiences bemoan Rupert Murdoch's pay wall plans, following The Wall Street Journal model, the paper itself has seen an 11.6 percent growth in overall readership from last year. And while Fortune may be cutting as many as 40 staffers over the next several weeks as part of Time Inc.'s reduction plan and Forbes let go 100 employees just last month, the two magazines have grown to 4.1 million (9 percent increase) and 6 million (11.5 percent) in total readers, respectively. And with the current trend seeing unemployment still on the rise among executives, you can bet one place they won't be cutting back: their subscriptions to business magazines. Maybe next year's jump in readers will be big enough that these titles can actually hire back some of their emaciated newsroom.

Read More: Report: Business Magazines See Uptick in Readership

Previously: First on FBNY: Time Inc. Shutters Custom Pub Fortune Small Business, Forbes Layoffs Decimate Staff, Time Inc. Closes Door on Buyouts Today, WSJ Looks To Claim Title Of Number One Paper In Circulation

Yesterday, it became clear that the rumors were true: Oprah Winfrey will be leaving her network TV show in 2011.

Tim Bennett, CEO of Winfrey's production company Harpo, sent a letter to the local television stations that broadcast her show yesterday, letting them know that "The Oprah Winfrey Show" would be coming to an end in September 2011. After, Winfrey will appear on her cable channel, OWN.

Winfrey will inform her audience of her decision on her show today. The announcement was taped live at 10 a.m. and has already aired on some stations. (The New York Times' media blog has a full description of the announcement.)

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Mediabistro caught up with Notional CEO Ricky Van Veen at the launch party for the company last night at the IAC building. Van Veen -- co-founder and former editor-in-chief of CollegeHumor.com -- told us Notional "is a television and web production company with the DNA of an Internet company." The company's initial block of programming includes content from the Food Network and HGTV.

Notional has a focus on "scalable" content, including game shows. Said Van Veen, "We want to do scripted, we want to do comedy, but the potential for that, in terms of scalability, is a lot less."

As of now, Notional is focusing on the Web and TV, but Van Veen hinted that the company will look to do more in mobile and other platforms. "We know how to get the web excited, to make it go to the top of Digg," he said. Notional is also collaborating with former co-chairman of NBC Entertainment Ben Silverman, who will also soon be launching the programming lineup for his own IAC funded production company. "We've got some good stuff in the works," Van Veen said of the collaboration.

Related: More On Ben Silverman's New Project

Levi Johnston with the author, Nicole Caldwell, at last week's Playgirl photo shoot

Levi Johnston is standing naked in a 13th-floor studio in midtown Manhattan holding a hockey stick.

He swivels his head and looks into the camera as -- click -- the photo is taken. This is the money shot: the one Daniel Nardicio is tweeting about right now; the one Levi's manager Tank Jones will gush about to Us Weekly; and the one Gawker and Life & Style and a cajillion other gossip outlets will mention as proof positive that, in the words of Tank Jones, "You'll see what you need to see in these photos."

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One year since its launch, online news hub The Daily Beast has named a president, Stephen Colvin. Colvin, executive vice president of CNET/CBS Interactive, will report directly to the site's founder and editor-in-chief, Tina Brown.

Colvin was formerly the president and CEO of Maxim publisher Dennis Publishing, and helped oversee the company's $225 million sale to the Quadrangle Group before joining CNET. At The Daily Beast, Colvin is charged with "revenue generation, audience development, brand development and social media," the company said. He'll also oversee the Beast Books imprint and develop new revenue streams, like events.

Full release after the jump

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