In your value-added Tuesday media column: The Onion shuts down a section, SmartMoney may be taken over by Dow Jones, an n+1 guy gets a book deal, and Magic Johnson's still not a media mogul.

Troubles at the The Onion? Andy Battaglia, formerly the editor of The Onion's A.V. Club in New York, sent out this email today saying he's leaving the paper and his section is being folded:

Hi everybody,

Apologies if you receive this more than once, but today is my last day as city editor of The A.V. Club in New York. The New York website is being shut down, the city section in the paper is being cut significantly, and I am moving on.

SmartMoney magazine is currently owned by Hearst and Dow Jones. Dow Jones now says it's "in talks" to buy out Hearst's half of the mag. Which is interesting, because just this morning a tipster told us that "Smartmoney just had an emergency staff meeting to announce that Dow Jones is taking full control." So don't be surprised if the "talks" are successful!


Congratulations are in order for n+1 editor Chad Harbach, who just got a book deal to write a fiction book about baseball, and college. It is called The Art of Fielding, and it "centers on a Wisconsin liberal arts college and the lives that intersect around its baseball team." Perhaps it should have been set at FSU, though.


Looks like Magic Johnson won't be the new owner of Ebony and Jet after all. Sad news for those hoping for more basketball content in Ebony and Jet.