• Tom McGeveran took over as editor of the Observer after Peter Kaplan made his exit this spring, but now he's headed out the door as well. [NYO]
• Layoffs: The cuts at Condé Nast continue though they should end soon; the layoffs at Forbes this week were deep ones: 1 in 4 editorial staffers were let go.
• Newsday's website erected a pay wall today. Good luck with that. [E&P]
• The Michael Jackson movie This Is It sold $2.2 million in tickets on its opening night, which is pretty good considering it was a Tuesday. [LAT, NYT]

Last November, the AP decided it would be reducing its budget 10% this year—costing up to 400 jobs, we heard at the time. How's that going? Michael Calderone estimates they may need hundreds more layoffs before January. [Politico] *Clarification:

In your spirited Wednesday media column: George Stephanopoulos should listen to his kids, Conde Nast forswears frequency cuts, France has a wacky newspaper scheme, and we have the menu for GQ's dinner tonight.

Tom McGeveran, who took over as editor of the New York Observer after longtime editor Peter Kaplan left earlier this year, told his staff today that he's leaving the paper at the end of the year. Who can blame him?

Last night a bunch of people who work in mainstream media arbitrarily divided themselves in half in order to argue over the vague, meaningless proposition, "Good Riddance to Mainstream Media." It was great fun to watch. Fake issue, real animosity!

John Koblin got his hands on the New York Times' employee buyout offers—which handily include a breakdown of the numbers of employees in every one of the paper's departments. Behold something massive beyond reason!

A tipster tells us that National Geographic laid off 8-10 staffers today. Reason: "The economy."

• Nell Scovell, a writer on Dave Letterman's show in the late '80s, has stepped forward to detail the show's "hostile, sexually charged atmosphere." [VF]
• Layoffs: Yesterday's cuts at Forbes claimed 30-40 people; reality TV-focused Teen Vogue laid off half a dozen staffers today; the cuts continue this week at W; and a big round of cuts could go down at Time Inc. sometime next week.
• Sarah Palin's memoir, which comes out next month, had already earned her $1.25 million even before she stepped down as Alaska's governor. [AP]
• Michael Jackson's This Is It debuts in theaters tonight. [NYDN]
• How's Jay Leno's new show doing more than a month in? Not so good. [NYT]

How Arthur Sulzberger discusses his paper's problems: "What was the critical flaw to the Titanic?"

"Find A Mag Job When The Economy is Crap." How? Start teaching a class called "Find A Mag Job When The Economy is Crap," like Ed2010 founder Chandra Czape Turner. Cost of class: $150. Actual value of class: $0.

First Andrew Ross Sorkin pissed off Charlie Gasparino. Now it's his colleagues: Some anonymous New York Times staffers are angry at him, Keith Kelly reports, for failing to credit the newspaper's scoops in his new book, Too Big to Fail.

In your dark Tuesday media column: the layoff train is rollin' down the tracks that many magazines now regret installing in their offices, the San Francisco Chronicle flounders like a flounder, Wonkette hates Politico anew, and John Stossel vs. Lou Dobbs.

If anyone else is weirded out by newspapers trying to dispassionately report news of their decline, look away now.

Last week we heard large-scale layoffs are hitting Forbes this week. An insider tells us "at least three" sales staffers were canned today. FishbowlNY got an internal memo from Steve Forbes telling his staff about what's to come:

• Bad news for CNN: The network now occupies fourth (and last) place in the cable news ratings. Not only did it fall behind Fox News and MSNBC in October, it also dropped below its sister network HLN as well. [DF, NYT]
• More bad news for newspapers: Sales were down 10 percent between April and September; the New York Times' weekday circulation has now fallen below 1 million for the first time in two decades. [AP, NYT, AdAge]
• As rumored, Forbes carried out a round of job cuts today. [NYT]
• Ricky Gervais will be the host of the 67th Annual Golden Globes. [LAT]
• If you love Top Chef and Top Chef Masters, you'll be pleased to hear that a third iteration, Top Chef: Just Desserts, will debut on Bravo next year. [THR]
• Rosie O'Donnell's new Sirius XM show debuts next week. Get excited! [USAT]
• Self editor Lucy Danzinger has no need for the Town Cars normally provided to Condé Nast editors. After she's finished running six miles in Central Park in the morning, Condé's bravest editor straps on a helmet and bikes to work! (Except when it's snowing or she has an important meeting, of course.) [NYT]

Good Morning America was for years produced by ABC's entertainment division, before people got all huffy about "journalism." Now, as ABC contemplates what to do after Diane Sawyer departs for World News Tonight, it may be headed back.

In your manly Monday media column: BusinessWeek's actual sale price revealed, America's most fucked newspapers revealed, Gene Weingarten revealed to still be (reasonably) funny, and a job revealed at Conde Nast! Oh, too late.

Ever since McKinsey & Company finished up its three-month review at Condé Nast a few weeks ago, the publishing giant has been busy cutting costs, closing down four magazines and laying off staff at most of its remaining titles. But perhaps instead of hiring the pricey consulting firm, Condé should have traveled to the front lines to talk to one of the guys who sells magazines for a living? To gain some insight into the future of printed media and find out what sells (and what doesn't), we headed over to a newsstand on Third Avenue to chat with a kind gentleman named Naseer. You'll find his thoughts on the layoffs and career advice for unemployed journalists below.

US newspaper circulation in the past six months: Down 10.6% compared to last year. Eek.

Self magazine editor Lucy Danziger should be awarded some sort of prize—the Nobel people should establish a new category, if necessary—because she chooses to ride a bicycle to work.