In your sun-dappled Wednesday media column: Newspapers crumble like so many sandcastles at high tide, Rupert Murdoch's still rich, Choire has a contest, and J-school is changing. Not enough:

Bad newspaper news daily roundup: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is cutting its news staff by 30%, which will make that paper even worse, somehow; the Houston Chronicle is laying off 12% of its staff; and, most ominously, Politico's John Harris is perfectly confident that whether the rest of the media falls apart in the next five years or not, Politico has "cracked the code" to success. Remember that one.


Rupert Murdoch's worth half as much as he was a year ago. Which is to say, a lot.


Have you contributed your Choire Sicha Book Title Idea yet? With a possible payout of $25, this is currently the most lucrative media job opportunity in New York.


Columbia is shaking up the curriculum at its journalism school to make it more appropriate for this fractious modern media age. Its new dean wants to "bridge the longstanding gap between the business and editorial sides of the journalism world." How about giving the first class on "The Economics of Journalism" for free, and then when students understand what an awful investment J-school is, they can save themselves tens of thousands of dollars right there by dropping out? Business!