Newsstand specials, which do not depend heavily on advertising, are part of the revenue mix at virtually every other magazine publisher, but at Conde Nast they fell into the category of moves that were believed to risk cheapening the brands

In an internal announcement, president/CEO Mary Berner said the cuts were aimed at ensuring the company's healthy financial future.

"To that end, we've made the difficult but necessary decision to reduce headcount across many areas of the company," she said.

The revolution Ted Turner launched on June 1, 1980 -- by turning on round-the-clock news for everyone everywhere, then never turning it off again -- keeps trying to make CNN feel older than it is. Sagging ratings, scrappy social-media kids threatening to run rings around it and all.

"It's a 30-year anniversary, but it might as well be 150 or 200," said Brian Solis, a digital analyst and sociologist who advises Fortune 500 companies and others about new media. "What Twitter and other social media is doing today is similar to the impact CNN had 30 years ago."

Among the events that helped to cement CNN's presence in the minds of the American public: the Jan. 28, 1986, Challenger disaster; 1987's around-the-clock coverage of the rescue of "Baby Jessica," a toddler who fell into a well in Midland, Texas; the first Gulf War in 1991, with Peter Arnett reporting live as bombs exploded behind him in Baghdad; and even the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a story that was broken by CNN.

It’s no secret that AOL is aggressively building out its content strategy. Today at TechCrunch Disrupt, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong says that the company now employs 4,000 journalists, 3,500 of which are part-time or freelance. As of last October, the company employed roughly 3,000 journalists.

Whether it's in the news or on Twitter, YouTube or Google, there's a wealth of information being created, searched and shared every minute. Newsfeed is your in-the-moment guide to what matters most. We're not here to break news. Instead, NewsFeed puts breaking news and trends into perspective, telling you what it means, why its important and why people are talking about it. And we'll always make it smart, snappy and easy to share with your friends.

We're also your guide to the weirdness of the viral Web. Confused about why Justin Bieber is a trending topic on Twitter every single day? We'll let you know. Not sure what it means to get Rickrolled? We're, um, never going to let you down.

In addition to expanding its mobile presence, Playboy is working on a "free, safe-for-work site" its calling TheSmokingJacket.com, as well as additional subscription content. The strategy is clearly aimed at slightly tamer rivals like Maxim, which has captured much of Playboy's targeted readers over the past decade, despite past troubles of its own.

Hugh Hefner's bunny-eared men's magazine said it would publish 11 issues this year instead of the 10 it originally planned, and return to a 12-times annual frequency in 2011.

To conclude the divestment process, the publishing operations of the remaining RBI-US controlled circulation titles are to be closed: Building Design+Construction, Chain Leader, Construction Bulletin, Construction Equipment, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, Control Engineering, Converting, Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, Graphic Arts Blue Book, Graphic Arts Monthly, HOTELS, Logistics Management, Material Handling Product News, Modern Materials Handling, Plant Engineering, Professional Builder, Professional Remodeler, Purchasing, Restaurants & Institutions, Semiconductor International, Spec Check, Supply Chain Management Review and Tradeshow Week.

According to the filing, Bedford has liabilities of from $1 million to $10 million, and between 50 and 99 creditors. They include Laptop's printer World Color (USA) Corp., which is owed more than $900,000, and the magazine's paper supplier, Gould Paper Corp., which is owed nearly $800,000.

Bedford also owes its landlord, LH Charney Associates, nearly $500,000 in rent.

The Pulitzer Prize Board has officially accepted The National Enquirer's submissions for breaking the John Edwards scandal, according to sources close to the Board. In a historic move, the Pulitzer Board conceded that the self-proclaimed tabloid is qualified to compete with mainstream news outlets for journalism's most prestigious prize. The Enquirer is in the running for the Pulitzer in two categories: "Investigative Reporting" and "National News Reporting" for The National Enquirer staff.

"We're excited to be officially part of the Pulitzer competition," The Enquirer's Executive Editor Barry Levine told me when contacted for his reaction to the decision. "We know we'll be judged against other very outstanding submissions, but our work on Edwards is truly worthy of the Prize."

Leno agreed earlier this month to appear at the event, before NBC announced his return to hosting "The Tonight Show," the group said. The network's move was prompted by affiliates protesting the poor ratings of Leno's prime-time show.

The comedian will share the stage with President Obama at the correspondents' dinner at the Washington Hilton. By tradition, presidents fire jokes at the news corps, political opponents and even themselves at the event, where politicians, journalists and celebrities rub elbows.

Starting in January 2011, a visitor to NYTimes.com will be allowed to view a certain number of articles free each month; to read more, the reader must pay a flat fee for unlimited access. Subscribers to the print newspaper, even those who subscribe only to the Sunday paper, will receive full access to the site without any additional charge.

Executives of The New York Times Company said they wanted to create a system that would have little effect on the millions of occasional visitors to the site, while trying to cash in on the loyalty of more devoted readers. But fundamental features of the plan have not yet been decided, including how much the paper will charge for online subscriptions or how many articles a reader will be allowed to see without paying.

Charles "Chas" McKeown, who will continue as publisher of E&P, hailed the sale and the speed and professionalism with which McIntosh and Nielsen completed the transaction. "Everyone knew what was at stake here," McKeown said. "Newspapers, which are transforming beyond the printed page to all forms of digital media, simply could not lose the one place where the industry could have a conversation with itself and exchange ideas and best practices for navigating the uncertain waters ahead, exemplified by our Interactive Media Conference which includes cable, TV, radio and other media."

Duncan McIntosh Co. Inc. is the publisher of several well-respected boating magazines and newspapers, including Boating World magazine; Sea Magazine, America's Western Boating Magazine; The Log Newspaper; and FishRap. The company also produces the Newport Boat Show in the spring and the Lido Yacht Expo in the fall. Both shows are held in California.

Mark Fitzgerald, a 26-year veteran, was named as E&P's new editor. He had most recently served as E&P's editor-at-large.

Those who are not customers of Optimum Online or the newspaper - both owned by Bethpage-based Cablevision Systems Corp. - will have to pay a $5 weekly fee. However, nonpaying customers will have access to some of newsday.com's information, including the home page, school closings, weather, obituaries, classified and entertainment listings. There also will be some limited access to Newsday stories.

Newsday described the move as one that would create a "pioneering Web model," combining the newspaper's newsgathering services with Cablevision's electronic distribution capabilities. About 75 percent of Long Island households are Newsday home delivery or Cablevision online customers or both, according to Newsday. Optimum Online customers total 2.5 million in the New York area, the paper said.

The program mirrors one carried out in the spring of 2008, when the paper erased 100 positions in its newsroom, though other jobs were created, so the net reduction was smaller. That round of cuts included some layoffs of journalists — about 15 to 20, though The Times would not disclose the actual figure — which was the first time in memory that had happened.

The paper has made much deeper reductions in other, non-newsroom departments, where layoffs have occurred several times. But the advertising drop that has pummeled the industry has forced cuts in the news operation as well. The newsroom already has lowered its budgets for freelancers and trimmed other expenses, and employees took a 5 percent pay cut for most of this year.

Generous expense accounts were de rigueur at glossy fashion and lifestyle magazines. Some top editors and publishers enjoyed clothing allowances and mortgage assistance. Even lowly assistants flitted about in chauffeur-driven town cars.

But that culture has been turned on its head as the magazine business reels from the battered economy, the drop in advertising revenue and restraints on expenses.

Conde Nast's unexpected closure Monday of venerable Gourmet and three other magazines underscored the swift and brutal fall of what had been one of the city's most elite and free-spending industries.

"EveryBlock's talented team has a track record of innovation in the industry, and we're excited to add them to the msnbc.com brand family," Tillinghast said. "They've broken new ground with their unique approach to collecting, organizing and presenting news down to the block level. Their impact and importance in the community space is extremely valuable and carries promise for journalism and new business models."

"Joining with msnbc.com gives us the resources to turn EveryBlock from a cool, useful service into something much bigger," said Adrian Holovaty, founder of EveryBlock. Holovaty and the company's staff of five will remain based in Chicago.

The guidelines say that on-air talent, reporters and writers are prohibited from having sports-related blogs or Web sites and that they will need a supervisor's approval to discuss sports on any social networking sites. They will also be restricted from discussing internal policies or detailing how stories are "reported, written, edited or produced."

The guide that Bucher focused on reads, "The first and only priority is to serve ESPN-sanctioned efforts, including sports news, information and content." Violating the new guidelines could lead to suspension or dismissal.

Twitter has a value of $441 million to $589 million, according to a new report by an independent research firm co-founded by financial world celebrity Michael Moe.

The analysis by NeXt Up Research, which has been posted on the investment site Sharespost.com (registration required), pegs the value of the San Francisco micro-blogging service using recent mergers and acquisition transaction data. It estimates Twitter shares would sell for between $19 and $26.

Of the 2,025 U.S. adults surveyed, 69% said they didn't know enough about Twitter to comment on the service.

Compare that to just 17% of advertisers who admitted to not knowing much about the website -- a group whose colleagues would, if they found out about said confession, probably take them out back "Old Yeller" style.

The minority of consumers who actually knew about Twitter were split on its effectiveness. Some said the short-messaging service would grow, and an equal number of respondents said it was just for kids. The remaining 8% are apparently too cool for the tweets, saying that Twitter is old news and that it's time to find the next big thing.

The cuts will come from the U.S. Community Publishing division, which consists of Gannett's more than 80 local dailies, the person said, and won't affect the company's flagship, USA Today. The exact number of jobs to be cut wasn't clear. The cuts will be disclosed in the next few days.

Gannett, which like most newspaper publishers is suffering from steep advertising declines, cut about 10% of its work force last year. The company was expected to make additional cuts after a dismal first quarter, when net income fell nearly 60% from a year earlier as publishing ad revenue declined more than 34%.

According to a plan announced Friday (May 22), two magazines will fold: Today's Christian Woman and the Campus Life College Guide, which targets Christian undergrads. CTI will also cease to publish Glimpses, a worship bulletin insert with stories from Christian history, and Church Office Today, a bi-monthly newsletter read by church administrators.

The moves, which reduce CTI staff numbers by 22 percent to 108 employees, mark the latest attempt to cut costs at Carol Stream, Ill.-based CTI. In January, the organization shuttered two other magazines -- Marriage Partnership and Ignite Your Faith -- and sold a third, Today's Christian.

President and Publisher Harold Smith called the latest actions "necessary."

"We find ourselves -- as does our industry -- in the midst of a perfect publishing storm," Smith said in a written statement. "The impact on employees who are truly gifted -- and the impact on the church as a whole -- is a sobering reality for me and the entire CTI team that remains."

AFAR was conceived by Greg Sullivan, a serial international entrepreneur, over a beer on a beach in Goa, India, with business partner Joe Diaz, a former teacher. AFAR is the result of their shared thirst for a different kind of travel resource. "There were no media sources on the market for international travelers who shared our desire for deeper and more authentic experiences," said Sullivan. "AFAR takes travelers beyond the ordinary tourist haunts to experience the authentic essence of a place."

AFAR is helmed by some of the most talented names in the industry, including, as president and publisher, John Sheehy, who was the founding general manager of Time Inc.'s Health magazine, as well as president and publisher of Utne Reader, and COO of Weider Publications. Susan West, former executive editor of Smithsonian and co-founder of Health magazine, will be editor in chief, and Jane Palecek, the founding art director of Health and former design director of Mother Jones, will be art director. Laura Simkins, the founding consumer marketing director of Dwell, will be audience marketing director.

"AFAR's readers are redefining travel as a way to learn, connect and grow," said West. "So we'll tell stories from the inside out, celebrate authenticity and offer the unexpected. Our writers will approach their subjects with the same enthusiastic curiosity that drives our readers."

• New 'USA Today' Publisher Sees Future Paid Web Content
• Disney Looks Beyond Traditional Studio Model
• The Guardian Looks Into Online Charging Model
• Murdoch on Paid Content: "The Current Days of the Internet Will Soon be Over"
• Media Executives Plan Online Service to Charge for Content

Owner Crain Communications made the announcement on Tuesday, ending months of speculation over the fate of the pub. TV Week will continue as an online-only site, but with a dramatically reduced staff.

TV Week's NewsPro supplement, however, will continue as a stand-alone print publication, distributing issues monthly beginning in August.

Among those departing are editor Greg Baumann, who told Variety that he will assist in the transition through June 1, when TV Week publishes its final print edition. After that, Baumann said he planned to consult and freelance in journalism.

• Yahoo will cut nearly 700 jobs after reporting a weak Q1.
• Media General is cutting 300 jobs.
• The Sun-Times Media Group is cutting jobs in an attempt to cut payroll by 15%.
• The New York Post says Hachette Filipacchi implemented 6& pay cuts for all overtime-exempt employees and 3% cuts on all hourly employees.
• The San Francisco Chronicle is cutting 90 to 100 driver jobs.
• The Chicago Tribune has made cuts - 53 editorial employees have left.
• NPR has cut 13 jobs.
• Disney has cut 1,700 positions at its theme parks.
• Phoenix Media, which publishes the Boston Phoenix, has cut six positions.

“We went as far as we could in a difficult environment,” said an Alpha Media spokeswoman, Nora Haynes.

About 30 people will leave the company as a result of the magazine's closing, she said.

Alpha also is combining its magazine Maxim with Maxim.com, which means a few staff changes and, potentially, more layoffs. Joe Levy, the editor in chief of Blender, will become editor in chief of the combined Maxim and Maxim.com; Jay Woodruff, formerly editor in chief of Maxim Digital, will become chief content officer of the operation.

Blender has been publishing since 2001, featuring music reviews, recurring features like "greatest songs ever," and articles on Ludacris and Radiohead. It is aimed at young men and its covers have tended to feature female singers, like Fergie and Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls, in come-hither poses.

STARLOG.com has relaunched in beta! As a part of our massive digital initiative, STARLOG.com has returned to the web to bring you the best original content pertaining to the worlds of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Comic Entertainment.

With daily news, reviews, features, and more, STARLOG.com is your home for sci-fi on the web.

In addition, our new Digital store (launching next month), available on our network of online sites including STARLOG and FANGORIA, will soon feature beautifully restored digital editions of the entire run of STARLOG magazine.

We feel that these new technological ventures are very much in step with the futuristic concept of STARLOG, and will carry the brand forward into the new ideology of the 21st century and beyond.

It is also at this time that we announce the temporary cessation of the current run of STARLOG as a print magazine. After 33 years, and considering the present state of the economy, we feel its time for a major revamp and will be temporarily discontinuing publication while the model and redesign of the magazine are contemplated and executed.

The last print issue available for the time being is #374, while issue #375 will be available exclusively as a digital edition on the network in the very near future.

We're looking forward to bringing you more of the best of sci-fi in the months ahead. Thank you for your continued support and your understanding in this matter.

Time is in good company - most big magazines' subscriptions cost on average little more than a dollar an issue. But now, as they consider the decline in advertising and the success of magazines that have increased prices recently, some publishers are wondering whether they can raise their prices without losing subscribers.

“We’re realizing that the product is undervalued,” said Michael A. Clinton, the chief marketing officer of Hearst Magazines, which raised cover prices on more than half of its magazines last year and plans to raise subscription prices this year.

Publishers have long set low subscription prices and have even lost money doing so, assuming that the real money came from ads. Subscription revenue was gravy.

In the last six months of 2008, subscribers paid an average of 47 cents an issue for Newsweek, 77 cents an issue for BusinessWeek and 89 cents an issue for Fortune, according to an analysis of their filings with the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Still, for NavPress, the move to cease the printing operations for their magazines and enhance their web presence was decidedly the best one, though a difficult one.

"This new structure positions us for a long and fruitful ministry through publishing," said Miller in his announcement. "But it means saying goodbye to some outstanding people. That's always the hardest part."

According to NavPress, Navigators staff members were informed of the new developments on Friday, and the publishing division is now communicating details with its authors.

ForbesWoman on Forbes.com will serve as the premier destination for professional women, with breaking news, prominent voices, regular features, in-depth reports and columns, peer-driven social networking and numerous opportunities for dialogue and interactivity. ForbesWoman content areas include: Leadership, Power Women, Entrepreneurs, Net Worth, Style, Wellbeing and Time. It will also offer a video series, "Smart Women Now," and featured columnists who include Moira Forbes and economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett.

ForbesWoman online launches with a special report entitled "The New Executive Woman," sponsored by Audi, which profiles the modern day female executive. This report includes: "Rule Breakers," a story about how more women are taking greater control of their careers; "Making Money in a Downturn," profiling how women have stayed on top of their game in these challenging economic times; "The Year's Savviest Celebrity Businesswomen," a look at the most successful celebrity businesswomen; "Managing a Family," about how women manage high-powered careers with children; "How She Leads," a study that investigates if women have what it takes to be leaders; and "How She Gets Ahead," which provides networking and management strategies.

Could Saturday soon cease to be a Newsday on Long Island? Media appraiser Kevin Kamen thinks it will, predicting that Cablevision will cease publishing a Saturday edition of the paper to save money. "By cutting out a Saturday edition Cablevision could quickly realize a savings across the board, be able to further eliminate editorial and production positions and essentially streamline costs that help their profit margins," he writes.

A spokesman for the newspaper said the cuts were made through a combination of layoffs, buyouts and elimination of job openings. The Journal has about 760 newsroom employees.

The Wall Street Journal is published by Dow Jones & Co., which also publishes this newswire. Dow Jones is owned by News Corp. (NWS), which will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the closing bell.

Disney said its U.S. consumer magazine unit would focus its efforts on its bigger parenting title, 2.1-million-circ FamilyFun. March's issue of Wondertime will be the last, and Wondertime.com will be folded into Disney Online's network of family-focused Web sites in May, the company said.

Launched as a quarterly in early 2006, Wondertime offered an alternative to traditional parenting magazines, with a focus on learning and target audience of moms with kids under the age of 6. Wondertime was growing but from a small base. The title's ad pages increased 24 percent to 557 in 2008 versus a 3 percent decline in ad pages for the category overall, per the Mediaweek Monitor. Its rate base was slated to go 650,000 in February, an increase of 30 percent.

"The recessionary economy has impacted both publishing and broadcasting advertising, which accounts for approximately 60 percent of our revenue stream," Chief Executive Stephen Lacy said in a statement released on Thursday. "Trends indicate a continuing soft economy into calendar 2009 as well."

Meredith will take a charge of $16 million, which comes out to $9 million after tax, or 20 cents a share, for its fiscal 2009 second quarter.

The charge includes job cuts, the closing of Country Home magazine and moving the ReadyMade brand and Parents.com to its headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, Meredith said. The publisher also has an office in New York.

Meredith plans to report its second-quarter results on January 22. Analysts on average are expecting earnings of 48 cents a share before charges and other items on revenue of $366.1 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

We've spent the last few months trying to make the business behind JPG sustain itself, and we've reached the end of the line. We all deeply believe in everything JPG represents, but just weren't able to raise the money needed to keep JPG alive in these extraordinary economic times. We sought out buyers, spoke with numerous potential investors, and pitched several last-ditch creative efforts, all without success. As a result, jpgmag.com will shut down on Monday, January 5, 2009.

The one thing we've been the most proud of: your amazing talent. We feel honored and humbled to have been able to share jpgmag.com with such a dynamic, warm, and wonderful community of nearly 200,000 photographers. The images on the website and in the magazine were adored by many, leaving no doubt that this community created work of the highest caliber. The kindness, generosity, and support shared among members made it a community in the truest sense of the word, and one that we have loved being a part of for these past two years.

"The Post and the Sun have agreed to share the newspapers' day-to-day coverage of certain Maryland news and sports," the papers said in a joint announcement. "In addition, the Post and the Sun may draw on each other's national, international and feature stories that are distributed by the LAT-WP News Service, to which both contribute. The exchanges will allow each paper to take advantage of the other's strengths and expertise in specific subjects around the region and the world."

Some content won't be shared, the papers said.

"As part of this accord, exclusive stories will not usually be shared, nor will coverage of such competitive subjects as Maryland state government and University of Maryland athletics," they said.

In prepared statements, the rival editors had nothing but praise for each other's paper. The sharing starts Jan. 1.