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Times are tough for our friends in the print media — especially for the staff of the Hollywood Reporter, which has weathered shakeups and a redesign in the shadow of trade titan Variety. Now, from Sharon Waxman, comes word that the Reporter is going on the block (along with other Nielsen publications like Billboard and Adweek) and that one of the higher-ups has been pitching the paper to the New York Times:

According to a media executive with direct knowledge of the meeting, a principal in one of the Valcon private equity firms floated the idea of a purchase by The New York Times at a meeting of the Times' board of directors this week. (I cannot reveal the identity of the executive to protect the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.)

But that doesn't sound like the right fit to me. The New York Times is not in the business-to-business business. And I'm not sure why a big media company saddled with a core print business would take on more dead-tree properties.

Duh, recycling money! Anybody got a few Diet Coke cans to kick over to the beleaguered folks at the Reporter?