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New Top Editor for Los Angeles Times, the 4th in 3 Years (NYT)
The Los Angeles Times named Russ Stanton its new top editor on Thursday, three weeks after the previous editor, James E. O'Shea, was forced out for resisting another in a series of staff cuts. Stanton, who has been running the Times' Web site, will take charge of a deeply unsettled newsroom that in less than three years has lost three chief editors, all of whom publicly protested the shrinking of the news staff. WaPo: Stanton acknowledged this climate of retrenchment yesterday. "Unfortunately, my first mission is going to be shrinking the size of the newsroom," he said. But he said he would formulate a plan to break the "never-ending cycle" of cutbacks. E&P: The appointment of Stanton drew mostly favorable reactions from current and former Times staffers. LA Observed: Official memos about Stanton's promotion. LAT: Video clip of Stanton's speech to the newsroom.

New York Times to Cut 100 Newsroom Spots (NYT)
After years of resisting the newsroom cuts that have hit most of the industry, The New York Times will bow to growing financial strain and eliminate about 100 newsroom jobs this year, the executive editor said Thursday. The cuts will be achieved "by not filling jobs that go vacant, by offering buyouts, and if necessary by layoffs," the executive editor, Bill Keller, said. Portfolio: Keller likens newspapers to vinyl records. NYP: "I don't think it comes as a surprise to anyone," grumbled one insider, who added, "In some cases it's a way to get rid of deadwood." the Times currently has 1,332 editorial employees — more newsroom jobs than any other newspaper in the U.S. NYO: Keller said he didn't imagine any sections (like Travel or Escapes or City) getting eliminated, and that the newsroom cuts would therefore come on a person-by-person basis.

Montel Employee Gets Canned for Having Brain Aneurysm, Sues (New York Mag/Daily Intel)
Last March, Erin Primmer, 35, had been a producer on The Montel Williams Show for two years when smack in the middle of Montel's show on "Survivor Stories: Ripped From the Headlines," she had a brain aneurysm, collapsed on the floor, and was rushed to the hospital. Fortunately for Erin, it wasn't the kind of brain aneurysm that kills you — but it was the kind of brain aneurysm that kills your career.

Vanity Fair's JFK Love Child Goes Public (FishbowlNY)
Last week, word leaked out that an article in Vanity Fair about a possible illegitimate son of John F. Kennedy was in the works (and possibly being killed). Now the man in question has gone public. 56-year-old native Texan Jack Worthington, who currently lives in the suburbs of Vancouver, BC, went public with his identity by giving interviews to The Vancouver Sun and The Globe and Mail.

Reader's Digest to Launch Healthy Cooking (AdAge)
The Reader's Digest Association is continuing its transformation under former Fairchild chief Mary Berner, killing off its Light & Tasty brand next month and shifting its paid circulation of 500,000 to a new magazine called Healthy Cooking. Competition is intensifying among food magazines, partly because they have comprised one of the brighter spots in the magazine industry.

Oxford American Staffer Arrested for Embezzling $30K (Folio:)
The former operations manager of the Oxford American literary magazine is facing jail time after being arrested for allegedly embezzling at least $30,000 from the Arkansas-based non-profit publication. "This is a hurtful kick we sustained," founder and editor Marc Smirnoff said. "We're a poor non-profit. Losing $5 hurts. She essentially emptied our bank account, so we have to rebuild from scratch."

Sex Boycott for NY Post Readers? (Nerve)
Emily Farris: We've never been big fans of the Post and its yellow journalism. But when the paper revealed the identity of a man who happened to choke while minding his own business at a BDSM club, it sent us over the edge. We thought about calling for a boycott of the paper, but that wouldn't do much good. So, instead we're calling for a boycott of sex with people who read the New York Post.

NBC Apologizes for Jane Fonda 'C-Bomb' (Reuters)
NBC apologized for itself and actress Jane Fonda on Thursday after she used an offensive word on the Today Show. NBC called it "a slip" and said they did not mean to offend audiences. Fonda was on the program on Thursday with playwright Eve Ensler to discuss Ensler's award-winning work, The Vagina Monologues.

Somehow, Leno Stayed on Top (LAT)
The strike by the Writers Guild of America ended not a moment too soon for Jay Leno. But even while he was in danger of falling behind his chief rival, The Late Show With David Letterman, Leno in fact emerged from the strike unscathed — even with one hand tied behind his back because, for much of the writers walkout, he was operating at a disadvantage.

Networks Go Forward With Upfronts (Variety)
With the WGA strike over, CBS said Thursday that it will move forward with one hallmark of the smallscreen calendar: the upfronts. And while they haven't made any official pronouncements, ABC, NBC, Fox, and CW will also brief advertisers in May — ensuring the upfront week tradition will continue, though perhaps in a modified form.

The $tar Treatment (NYP)
Star editor-in-chief Candace Trunzo has made it no secret that she wants to take the celebrity glossy back to its old dirt-digging days as a supermarket tabloid — and she's doing so by paying sources for stories. "We do pay for information," said Trunzo, who took over the magazine last year. "I make no qualms about it ... I think all the celebrity magazines do it."

Nielsen: Transition to Digital TV Will Have Greater Impact Among Minorities (TV Week)
With the country's transition to digital TV one year away this weekend, Nielsen is dropping some strong hints that significant challenges remain to avoid ratings shortfalls. In a new study to be unveiled today at its annual client meeting, Nielsen warns that 13 million homes, or 10.1 percent of all households, would lose access to most TV signals if the transition happened now.

Executive Moves at Life & Style, Hearst, Real Simple (WWD)
Maria Padova will become publisher of Life & Style. Padova joins the magazine from Wenner Media, where she was advertising director of Us Weekly. Another exec on the move is Cosmogirl's founding publisher Kristine Welker, who was named vice president of sales and marketing for Hearst Magazines Digital Media. And Allie Lewis Clapp is taking over as head of Real Simple's food department.

Long-Running CW Comedy Girlfriends Ending (AP via USAT)
The CW's Monday night comedy series Girlfriends, the longest-running live action comedy on network television, is ending after eight seasons, the show's creator announced on Thursday. The series about three friends navigating life and love has been a linchpin of the CW's Monday night lineup, and was previously on UPN.

'Out-of-Control' MSNBC is the 'We're Sorry' Network (Marketwatch)
Jon Friedman: Yes, MSNBC consistently has the lowest ratings among the cable news channels. But all is not lost. It does stand out in one underappreciated category: embarrassing, mealy-mouthed apologies. These expressions of contrition seem to occur only after MSNBC has been publicly flogged and needed to repair its image, and they sound (to me) disingenuous and self-serving.