The Wall Street Journal has a problem. One or more staffers who appear on its video series, “WSJ Live,” is ugly and doesn’t know it. And because these people don’t realize they’re walking around with unfortunate faces, the paper’s editors were forced to send out a memo.

The note, obtained by Jim Romensko, reminds everyone that they need makeup before getting in front of the camera. The nudging was needed because apparently some at the paper don’t own irons, have issues with combs, and actively cultivate face grease:

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According to a memo, The Wall Street Journal is searching for a staffer to cover “executives, management and corporate leadership trend.” Sounds breathtaking.

Here’s another snippet from the note, obtained by Jim Romenesko:

The reporter must have at least four years of experience, deep sources within companies and work well across bureaus. The reporter will write section-front stories packed with insightful takes on the news and frequent, lively blog items.

Don’t everyone raise their hands at once, now.

According to the new circulation report from the Alliance for Audited Media (AAM), The New York Times has been enjoying some success, but the New York Daily News and New York Post haven’t. For the period between March 31, 2012 and March 31, 2013, the Times’ circulation grew by 18 percent; while the Daily News and Post saw their numbers drop by 11 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

As of the end of last month, the Times had a circulation of 1,865,318, but that still wasn’t enough to take the top spot from the Wall Street Journal. The paper’s circulation experienced a solid 12 percent growth, and clocked in at 2,378,827.

Much like the Daily News (516,165) and Post (500,521), Newsday’s numbers left a lot to be desired. The Long Island daily saw circulation drop by five percent over the past year, down to 377,744.

Let the over celebration or casual dismissal of the numbers begin.

Robin Riddle has joined Dow Jones as publisher of WSJ Custom Studios. Riddle comes to the company from The Economist, where he had been for the past 15 years. He most recently served as the Economist’s vice president of custom publishing and events.

At WSJ Custom Studios, Riddle will have “global responsibility for both custom publishing and special advertising sections,” according to a Dow Jones statement.

Riddle’s appointment is effective immediately.

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Dow Jones has made two changes to its Europe coverage. First up, Thorold Barker has been named editor, Europe, Middle East and Africa for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. In this new role, Barker will be responsible for news output in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He will be covering the print, digital and local language sites of The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires and Financial News.

Additionally, Gren Manuel has been named executive editor for Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal. He will be tasked with integrating and then overseeing the operations of the newsrooms in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Manuel will report to Barker.

“As we continue to build an integrated newsroom tasked to pursue our global ambitions, an expanded role in Europe ranks among our highest priorities,” said Gerard Baker, managing editor of the Journal and editor-in-chief of Dow Jones, in a statement. “Given the size of our presence in the region, it represents a tremendous opportunity for us to refine and grow our peerless range of news products and take them to an even wider audience.”

There must be something in the air, because over the last week three major news companies have announced that their respective websites were getting updated. It started with The New York Times. Then yesterday The Wall Street Journal revealed a new site was coming. Now have a look at the new Reuters, pictured above.

A couple things we like about the Reuters update: It’s much cleaner and columnists are easy to locate. However, regarding the look, there is only one ad on this preview, so we’ll see how much white space remains in the final version. Another great new feature is a constantly updated feed that includes social media and news.

We don’t know what the Journal has in mind for its new site, but the little we’ve seen from the Times and Reuters has us excited. Because we’re dorks.

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The Wall Street Journal has just announced two promotions. Tracy Corrigan has been promoted from editor of Wall Street Journal Europe to digital editor, and Stephen Wisnefski has been promoted from senior editor of Americas for Dow Jones Newswires to real-time news editor.

According to a memo obtained by Jim Romenesko, both moves will be part of an upcoming redesign of WSJ.com.

Gerard Baker, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones, writes:

Steve will lead the creation later this year of a single global real-time news desk, bringing the WSJ.com home-page management team and the Dow Jones Newswires copy desk under unified leadership.

Tracy is tasked with leading the expansion of our flagship digital publication and overseeing development of WSJ.com, mobile platforms, social media, and premium digital initiatives. She and a team of colleagues will soon embark on a redesign of the look and feel of WSJ.com.

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