To cap off another bad week in the media, we’re hearing about firings at CBS, the decline of perks at Time, and dire (or perhaps just mean-spirited) predictions for a bunch of other places. If you can still take it, the roundup is after the jump.
• Jared Kushner has laid off 70 percent of the national staff of his chain of Politicker Websites — which were devoted to local political reporting — leaving only East Coast state sites functioning. This is a bummer, because we always thought this was a cool (if unfeasible) project. [Gawker]
• Michael Wolff counters our optimism about Newsweek and predicts that it will be dead within two years. Now that’s just plain mean. [Newser]
• Outgoing McClatchy president Howard Weaver is a little optimistic about the company he’s leaving. “I believe we’re well on the road to reaching that stable new platform,” he wrote to the staff, “and are much farther along than most people believe.” Unfortunately, “we may face more painful choices before our re-calibration is complete.” There’s always a “but,” isn’t there? [Romenesko]
• Those CNET layoffs from yesterday also included layoffs at cbsnews.com. [MediaPost]
• Our own Jesse Oxfeld chimes in to tell us the story of how wonderful life used to be at Time Inc., and how, um, stripped down it is now. We never experienced a newsroom with drink carts, but somehow that’s what we miss the most. [Daily Beast]
• Neener, neener, neener — Gawker editors will now have to work the weekend shifts. To be clear, when they inevitably do this to us, too, you guys are allowed to laugh. [FishbowlNY/Mediabistro]
