The New York Times has been demanding Google welfare, which would artificially promote the newspaper's stories in search results. Yet inept Times webmasters just killed hundreds of thousands of their own Google hits.

Margaret Cho's "Domains" Q&A in the New York Times magazine is an entertaining romp, at least for fans of the comedian. Which is surprising: In a different light, these moments could look depressing.

This staff memo went out at the New York Times today—TV beat reporter Jacques Steinberg will join the National Desk and write a blog on college admissions.

Intrepid New York Times Russia correspondent (and former Marine!) CJ Chivers was snatched by the KGB this morning! Or was he? Read on for the details of this most insignificant international incident:

Russia! says that the Russian press reported that Chivers was "detained" by the KGB when he tried to enter into the disputed territory of Ossetia, and subsequently sent packin' back to Moscow. Crushing press freedom! International disputes! Editors called from New York, alarmed! Actually, Chivers told them, he and his fixer were just forced to sit around at the border because the border guards' supervisor was "in the shower":

• NBC is chopping 6 shows, including, yes, the Chopping Block. [THR]
• It's rumored Budget Travel has, yes, cut its budget. [Gawker]
• Another stain on Jim Cramer, not that he needs it: In '07, he called Andrew Cuomo a "communist" for proposing mortgage industry regulation. [NYT]
• The Times's Bill Keller sheds some light on yesterday's cuts and layoffs. [E&P]
• Condé Nast's Chuck Townsend sheds light on his staff changes. [AdAge]
• Lionsgate slashed 8 percent of its staff today. [THR]
• Newspaper ad revenue dropped 17.7% in 2008. [E&P]
• Americans spend 8.5 hours a day consuming video content. [NYT]
• Facebook needs a (generous) friend: It's trying to raise $100 million. [PC]
• Cable company Charter Communications is officially bankrupt. [NYT]

Why NYT gadget reviewer David Pogue succeeds despite always being late to the game.

Yesterday it was tent cities, today it's Portland on the verge of a descent into a 28 Days Later-like hellscape. The New York Times is on a New Depression jag, and it's bringing us down.

Yesterday the New York Times cut all of its non-union salaries by 5%—but it had to meet with the union to ask its members to go along as well. They better!

A group of British volunteers distributed a very slick-looking fake Financial Times in London today in a stunt expressly modeled on that fake New York Times put out by the Yes Men last year.

The New York Times followed Oprah's lead today and sent a reporter to cover the growing number of tent cities—"Bushvilles" or "Obamareas"?—sprouting up around the nation.

For your perusal. The salary cut memo:

• It's been a dark day at the New York Times: Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Janet Robinson announced a five percent salary reduction for all editors and said 100 employees on the business side would be laid off. [Gawker, NYO, NYT]
• Blender has been shuttered; April will be the mag's last issue. [AdAge]
• The Washington Post is offering buyouts again. And if enough people don't take 'em, the paper says a round of layoffs will follow. [Politico]
• Richard Beckman is out as Condé Nast's marketing chief; he'll be heading up the company's Fairchild Fashion Group instead. [WSJ, Crains]
• It's getting a little stormy over at the Weather Channel! [NYP]
• Rod Blagojevich may have some sort of reality show in the works. [CST]
• ABC News has settled a lawsuit filed against Diane Sawyer. [NYP]
• Barry Diller is the proud new owner of SportsPickle.com. [PaidContent]
• The most newspaper-friendly city in America? Rochester! [E&P]

The New York Times has completed the first step: admitting it has a problem. The internal memo is out, confirming today's rumored pay cuts (and layoffs). This is big news.

Updated: We've heard solid rumors that editors and managers at the New York Times are being told they will be taking a 5% pay cut and the paper is asking for similar cuts from newsroom employees.

Remember how author Daphne Merkin downplayed her brother's connection to Bernie Madoff in the Times this past weekend, describing Ezra Merkin as "a sibling who did business with him," and then suggesting that Madoff's victims weren't really victims, since no one held a gun to their heads and demanded their cash? We weren't the only ones surprised by the bizarro op-ed. The Times agrees that a bit more disclosure was warranted, according to an email a reader received from Times public editor Clark Hoyt:

The New York Times has a Nobel-prize-winning economist on staff. But no such expert is in tomorrow's front-page story on the trillion-dollar financial bailout. Only the stock market's verdict is included.

• You can rest easier now: Now that he's no longer planning to run for Senate, Chris Matthews has signed a new four-year contract with MSNBC. [NYT]
• Howard Dean has signed on to be a CNBC contributor. [HP]
• Major media companies are now looking for a bailout. From Google. [AdAge]
• Jay Leno's chat with Obama was his fourth most-watched show ever. [LAT]
• Some perks may be curtailed at Condé Nast. Like the one that allowed Portfolio editor Joanne Lipman to fly to Davos first-class, possibly. [NYP]
• Advance Publications is instituting mandatory 10-day furloughs and a pension freeze at nearly all of its daily papers, says Steve Newhouse. [E&P]
• Time publisher Don Fries is headed out the door. [NYP]
• NBC is very good at spinning the Times, in case you haven't noticed. [CJR]
• Knowing starring Nic Cage was No. 1 at the box office this weekend. [NYDN]

Brash young New York Times metroblogger and heir to the empire AG Sulzberger is already being allowed to summarize the Sunday news shows. The future of journalism, in more ways than one! [NYT; Pic via]

Did you know your four-legged subjugated animal ("pet") is raping the oceans with its voracious appetite for dead flesh? It's true, according to the Whole Earth Catalog New York Times op-ed section.

The New York Times has issued a formal set of standards for their in-house blogs, marking the first time blogs have ever had standards (No "snark"). The latest in a rich history of technomazing ideas!