Though Hugh Jackman’s recession-special opening may have saved the future of the Academy Awards, the media is finding it more difficult to find salvation in recycled paper and ink. In today’s news, local papers file for bankruptcy, CNBC.com resorts to YouTubing its own TV personalities, and other anchors begin tweeting news exclusives.
• News Corp. president Peter Chernin, who toiled as Rupert Murdoch’s second-in-command for twelve years, is stepping down into a lucrative semi-retirement. It’s expected that Murdoch himself will pick up some of Chernin’s duties. [LAT]
• Gawker is absorbing its Hollywood gossip site, Defamer. Though the three Defamer bloggers are effectively canned, Gawker is looking to — gasp! — hire a new Hollywood gossip writer. [NickDenton.org]
• Still, Nick Denton must be doing something right — his flagship blog was named most valuable by finance blog 24/7. [247WallSt]
• The owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News were not as lucky: both filed for bankruptcy late Sunday night. [NYT]
• Trend alert! The Journal Register Company, publisher of the New Haven Register in Connecticut and other newspapers, also filed for Chapter 11 protection on Saturday. [NYT]
• Meredith-owned ReadyMade magazine is being moved from its Berkeley, California, office to Des Moines, Iowa — sans staffers who refuse to leave their vegan Bay Area homes. Cue fans mourning the projected demise of the do-it-yourself mag that was considered sooooo West Coast. [SF Gate]
• CNBC.com seems to have finally discovered YouTube. To maximize publicity and web traffic, the news site is now posting cringe-worthy rants by its own TV personalities on the web after they air, like they did with Rick Santelli’s outburst about Obama’s plans to address the housing crisis. [NYT]
• Though some anchors prefer self-promotion, thank you very much. David Gregory, Terry Moran, Rick Sanchez, Julie Banderas, and Rachel Maddow have begun to overshare on Twitter. [WP]