As we mentioned earlier, there have been several staffing changes over at PRWeek. Kimberly Maul (kimberly.maul@prweek.com) recently joined as entertainment reporter, and just this week Jaimy Lee joined as healthcare reporter (jaimy.lee@prweek.com).

Sorry to all you aspiring journalists - they're no longer hiring, at least for now. PRWeek editor-in-chief Keith O'Brien tells PRNewser, "We're now fully staffed and ready to roll, as it were."

The new hires were not additions to the team. Keith tells us they "replace departing staff."

FishbowlNY Editor Noah Davis keeps us up to date on the latest with Tribune owner Sam Zell and his crazy press releases.

Apparently one went out today with the headline "TRIBUNE ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS AND, AMAZINGLY, ONLY ONE IS CONNECTED TO CLEAR CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS!"

Unfortunately, Noah has not yet received any offical world from Tribune on the strategy:

When we called Gary Weitman, Tribune VP of corporate communications, for comment, we were told he was in a meeting, no doubt thinking of more witty PR tactics. Can't wait.

In related news, Tribune Co. recently reported a $78M 4Q Loss.

As you may have heard, Gawker Media head Nick Denton sold some blogs today. For real this time.

FishbowlNY has been all over the news, speaking with Gawker Media managing editor Noah Robischon, who could not confirm the fate of freelancers at Gridskipper, Wonkette, and Idolator.

On a related note, we've always known Silicon Alley Insider's Peter Kafka to have a high "bullshit censor." He analyzed the different spin tactics:

You can interpret this two ways. Either Denton is dumping three weak sites to concentrate on his strong ones, or he's worried about the online ad market in the face of a looming recession. Denton is happy to provide both spins.

The "look out!" take: "I'm not so sure that an advertising recession will spare the Internet," he says. "And, if there's a chill coming, I'd rather be stocking up on firewood."

And the "things are going great!" take: Denton says that his 15 sites generated 227 million pageviews in March, up 96% y/y; uniques are 29.7 million, up from 22 million six months ago.

Look at that, instead of dishing the snark, Denton is receiving it!

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After getting emails from about a zillion friends, co-workers and of course family members, we feel compelled to blog about the "talk of the internet" today, the NY Times story on "blogging 'till you drop."

In case you somehow missed it, the story analyzed the health consequences of the 24/7, always in front of a computer, not exercising, eating crappy food lifestyle that most bloggers adhere to.

Rest assured PRNewser readers, Jason and I are young, full of energy, and despite sometimes consuming a few too many "adult beverages" at industry happy hours, we should be good for quite a while.

Jokes aside, tech guru Doc Searls may have put it best when he told us all to "chill out."

Scoops are great, and in the online media world, more traffic equals more money. It's very simple. But putting a scoop before your own health: not sustainable, and not wise. (Don't worry Laurel & Chris, we're still hustling.)

One person who is wise: Matt Richtel of the Times. His story garnered quite a bit of buzz today, as we all took his link bait.

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Has a trend officially hit the mainstream once it's reached the NY Times? We think so.

The Times Allen Salkin has an article out on bloggers and book deals, featuring mediabistro's own Galleycat blogger Ron Hogan. "I was shocked and amazed that they got that much money for a concept that Martin Mull had written a book on back in 1985," Ron told the Times.

That quote was in reference to Christian Lander of stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com landing a $300k book deal.

While literary agents are scouring the web for potential blogger book deals, they are not always a success. For example, "Gawker.com spawned the book, 'The Gawker Guide to Conquering All Media,' which has sold fewer than 1,000 copies since its release in October 2007," according to Salkin.

We mention this on the heels of two PR book releases this week. Ogilvy's Rohit Bhargava published Personality Not Included: Why Brands Lose Their Authenticity And How Great Companies Get it Back.

In a clever way to promote the launch, Rohit issued an open call on his blog to ask for any blogger to send him a five question interview that he would personally respond to. So far he's done over 57 interviews.

Meanwhile RLM PR president, author and pundit on "media culture and hype," Richard Laermer sent PRNewser an advanced copy of his next book, 2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade. We'll read it soon, Richard! It is now available on Amazon.com.

Is there a "cat fight" going on between two prominent NY Times video bloggers, David Carr and David Pogue? PR video maven Doug Simon seems to think so, and he has the video to prove it.

Simon is asking folks to vote on who they think is the "Best Video Blogger" at the Times, and as of now, Pogue is leading Carr 58% to 42%.

Ok, so it's definitely a joke, a somewhat funny one at that, but maybe you could use it as "pitching fodder" with either journalist over the next few weeks?

[Disclosure: This PRNewser counts Doug Simon among his former bosses.]

A tipster sent in this post from Crunchnotes, which features an email exchange where a staffer from Qorvis Communications asks TechCrunch's Mike Arrington about "reprints."

Arrington's response: "yeah, we're a blog, we don't do prints, let alone re-prints."

On the other hand, David Parmet points out in the comments: "Some companies like to reprint their press mentions with a logo and the masthead from the publication. They use this for sales. Most print pubs charge for this sort of use. That's probably what she was asking about."

Do most print pubs charge for this? It definitely varies, depending on the publication and what exactly you're using the clip for. We're curious to hear your thoughts on this matter.

It's common knowledge that PR and marketing folk get paid more than (most) journalists. But just in case you weren't sure, the Wall Street Journal really lays it out for you.

In an interview with Eric Gerard, senior vice president of Great Ink Communications, the former journalist explains why he made the move:

"Every Thursday night, I'd work until midnight to meet deadline and one Thursday at around 8:30 p.m., I got a call from a publicist I knew who was having two people leave her practice. She asked if I knew anybody who would be good. When I asked what the pay scale was, I was floored. It was 35% to 40% more than I was making. At the rate I was going, it would take me 15 years to make that salary, so I took the job, and in one jump I made a 15-year leap."

What's better about PR:

"Basically it's a nine-to-five job. It's more family friendly. Instead of 2% raises, there is an annual 5% to 10% raise, and you don't have to crawl on your hands and knees for it. I now make over $100,000. I am also able to vacation more regularly -- I never had more than two to three weeks' vacation at the newspaper. In public relations, especially in a small firm, if you bring in clients you get a commission. There is a constant ability to supplement your income -- with one account you can make an extra $10,000."

Interestingly enough, this article showed up in a Google News Search as posted 21 hours ago, but a note before the article stated, "Originally published September 6th, 2006." Old or not, we felt it was worth a read, especially in these economically turbulent times.

From PRWeek: Julia Hood, upon her promotion to publishing director of PRWeek, has launched Page Views, a new PRWeek blog on the intersection of media and marketing.

BusinessWeek media & advertising reporter Jon Fine has a big today. From his blog, Fine on Media:

"...I am moderating a panel discussion for Digital Hollywood's News York Media Summit. It's titled "The Changing Face of News: The Power, The Influence and the Challenge of the Technologies." On the panel: CNN President Jon Klein, Atlanta Journal Constitution editor Julia Wallace, former New York Times Executive Editor Howell Raines, ABC News President David Westin and USA Today Executive Editor Kinsey Wilson.

...if you were moderating the panel (or in the audience), what questions would you most want to ask?"

He got some interesting responses in the comments, which ranged from, "If the young are willing to blog for free, continually stealing views from professionals, what is the trajectory for keeping local journalists employed or employable?" to, "What's the role of BRAND for your organization as the media landscape changes? As the distribution model continues to change in the fashion it has, does brand become more or less important?"

PRNewser will not be at today's event, however we will be on the lookout for reports from media and bloggers who are there, including our buddy Peter Himler of the Flack. Are you there and have something to share? Let us know.

UPDATE: Broadcasting & Cable reports from the Summit: Disney CEO Bob Iger conceded the computer is replacing TV as the primary entertainment source in the home.