Gannett, the owner of USA Today, announced that it is spinning off its more than 80 newspapers into their own company, because, ah... hey, good luck to all you newspapers, we wish you the best!

In your magic Monday media column: Michele Norris takes a hiatus at NPR, fuckery at Gannett, The Daily Beast TV is here, newspapers roll out a false slogan, and Charlie Rose on morning television would be... good.

In your threatening Tuesday media column: major layoffs at Gannett, Randy Michaels is back in radio, AOL eyes paid online content, rumors of OK! Magazine being sold, and Fortune poaches from the NYT.

In your warming Monday media column: Jacob Weisberg points out that The Daily has no clothes, CBS is still wooing Katie Couric, rumors of Gannett getting rid of USA Today, Arianna Huffington stiffs a high school reporter, Dan Le Batard hammers a word stake in Deadspin's black heart, and alpacas attack.

In your gusty Friday media column: a new fashion magazine, undermining at the Chicago Tribune, gay anchors invade the airwaves, the NYO hires a media reporter, and Gannett's money isn't as long as it looks.

• The deal between Comcast and GE to hand over control of NBC Universal to the cable giant is done; an announcement may come Thursday. [CNBC]
• Job cuts hit Gannett today; USA Today is reducing its staff by 5 percent. [AP]
• So much for Lou Dobbs moving over to CNBC. The cable network now says it has no plans to hire the ex-CNN anchor/possible political candidate. [NYT]
• Will Bravo get into trouble if it goes ahead and casts White House state dinner crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi on The Real Housewives of DC? Did the Today land an interview with the couple because of their pending deal with sister network Bravo? So many questions, so few answers. [NYDN, Gawker]

• The New York Times says it will cut 100 newsroom jobs, or roughly 8% of its editorial workforce, via buyouts and/or layoffs. [NYT, NYO]
• The Condé Nast cuts continue today at Wired, Glamour and Lucky. [Gawker]
• The bad news for NBC: It's facing blowback from its affiliates over Jay Leno's 10pm show. The good news: MObama is booked on Leno this Fri. [LAT, AP]
• Meanwhile, Vivendi, NBC and Comcast are inching along in their respective negotiations to hand over control of the network to Comcast; and former News Corp. exec Peter Chernin has signed on to advise the cable giant. [NYT, WSJ]
• CBS News paid tribute to late 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt today. [AP]
• Ticket sales were up big this weekend. As expected, Where the Wild Things Are came in No. 1 at the box office with $32.5 million in sales. [LAT, THR]

A tipster tells us that Gannett's Westchester newsroom was told today that "50 out of 140 people would be laid off and everyone else would have to reapply for a job." This is unconfirmed. Know more? Email us. [UPDATED]:

The final word on the layoffs at Gannett, America's largest newspaper publisher, which were confirmed earlier today: 1,400 employees will lose their jobs. This memo just went out to staffers nationwide, from Gannett US Community Publishing president Bob Dickey:

• Cablevision is planning to launch an entire cable network devoted to nothing but wedding shows. So now you'll be able to watch Bridezillas 24/7. Yay. [B&C]
• It may not be over for Vibe. Quincy Jones, who founded the magazine in '93, says he's looking into buying it back and keeping it alive as a website. [Ebony]
• Spin reportedly laid off 20 percent of its staff yesterday. [Gawker]
• Gannett Co., the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S. by circulation, is reportedly cutting between 1,000 and 2,000 jobs at the company. [WSJ]
• More bad news for CNN: MSNBC is now in front on weeknights and Campbell Brown's nightly show continues to plunge in the ratings, too. [NYT, TVBTN]
• CNBC's Dennis Kneale doesn't like it when bloggers mock him. Will acting like a nut on TV fix that? No, but it sure makes for amusing TV. [Dealbreaker]

The rumor we reported earlier today about Gannett Newspapers laying off thousands was true. According to the Wall Street Journal, Gannett plans to cut between 1000 and 2000 jobs in the coming days. [Google/AP]

Gannett, America's largest newspaper publisher, has already written down the value of its papers by almost $6 billion and instituted mandatory furloughs this year. But it could get worse—are thousands of layoffs coming next week?

The editor of some Gannett paper issued a memo asking reporters to "reserve social networking... for your private time," since it's not like you can find sources on Facebook and Twitter.

• The Times is folding in several sections of the paper (City, Escapes); scrapping the weekly fashion spread in the New York Times Magazine, and cutting the budget for freelance writers. Grim times, indeed. [NYT, Gawker]
• NBC CEO Jeff Zucker is reportedly concerned that CNBC has become too conservative and is becoming "the anti-Obama network." [P6]
• The new Ben Silverman? That would be ABC's Stephen McPherson. [NYP]
• Bill O'Reilly tends to ambush liberals more often than he does conservatives. Could that mean he, like, has an agenda or something? How surprising! [NYT]
• Twitter on fire: Traffic is up 131 percent from February. [AdAge]
• Gannett Co. reported a 60 percent decline in first-quarter profit today. [AP]

Alan Henney is an assignment desk editor at Gannett-owned WUSA-TV in Washington. He quit this week—mad as hell, the whole bit. In his farewell email, he blamed too much blogging, not enough news-ing:

• A round of staff cuts at the Journal may come next week. [Portfolio]
• CBS and David Letterman are negotiating a new deal to keep him on the network after his contract expires in 2010. [B&C]
• Is The New Yorker in trouble? [Gawker]
• Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper company, is writing off $5 billion. [E&P]
• Dreamworks and Pepsi have a 3D commercial airing during the Super Bowl on Sunday. You'll need special glasses to watch it, however. [Time]

Bob Dickey promised he would "be sharing the financial hardship" after furloughing his workers. He warned the Tucson Citizen might shut. Then he joined fellow Gannett bigwigs at a golf resort.

• Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S., is forcing thousands fo employees to a week of unpaid leave. [NYT]
• The NYT-owned Boston Globe is cutting its staff by 12 percent. [NYT]
• Penthouse is laying off staff. [Portfolio]
• Newspapers are saving money by outsourcing foreign news coverage. [WSJ]
• Hope you're interested in reading lots more about Bernie Madoff. There are a total of eight books about him now in the pipeline. [NYO]
• Here's something you didn't expect to hear: A recent study finds that commercials actually make watching TV more enjoyable. [AdFreak]

Gannett, the publisher of USA Today, said earlier this month it plans to cut 1,000 newspaper jobs. Probably not because of all those new potential customers, Gannett today announced its acquired another 10 percent of online jobs site CareerBuilder from Tribune for $135 million, raising its stake to a controlling interest of 50.8 percent. Tribune, which used to be an equal partner with Gannett, now owns 30.8 percent of CareerBuilder. McClatchy, which is also a member of Yahoo's HotJobs newspaper consortium, owns 14.4 percent. Microsoft owns 4 percent.

Here's our theory: Daily deadlines did in the newspaper industry. The pressure of getting to press, the long-practiced art of doom-and-gloom headline writing, the flinchiness of easily spooked editors all made it impossible for ink-stained wretches to look farther into the future than the next edition. Speaking of doom and gloom: Online ad revenues at several major newspaper chains actually dropped last quarter. The surprise there is that they ever managed to rise. The newspaper industry has a devastating history of letting the future of media slip from its grasp. Where to start? Perhaps 1995, when several newspaper chains put $9 million into a consortium called New Century Network. "The granddaddy of fuckups," as one suitably crotchety industry veteran tells us, folded in 1998. Or you can go further back, to '80s adventures in videotext. But each tale ends the same way: A promising start, shuttered amid fear, uncertainty, and doubt.