The New York Times, which was struggling to make staff buyouts substitute for layoffs, has indeed had to let some people go, though spokespeople will say only that "the company laid off a 'very limited number' of employees," writes Alexander Kaufman. According to a staff memo, "the buyouts cost the Times some of its top talent," adds Kaufman, but there were a number of promotions as well. Among them, "former business editor Larry Ingrassia was named assistant managing editor of new initiatives, which will include a big international expansion."

WBEZ' on-air campaign playfully suggests current listeners can leave an important gift that will sustain its base for the future. 

Andrew Sullivan's move to start a subscription-based independent blog (now a week away from its launch) "was like a shot across the bow of traditional media, one that is no doubt being watched closely by many high-profile writers and journalists — such as New York Times statistics blogger Nate Silver, whose contract with the newspaper is coming up for renewal soon," writes Matthew Ingram. "Where will the continents lie after this tectonic shift is over?" Ingram explores the question in a thoughtful post.

Lots of features appearing on New York magazine's site to commemorate the series finale of the seven-year-old "30 Rock" on Thursday. But first, the breaking news: There will be a "30 Rock" Ben & Jerry's flavor! No clue yet what will be in it, though the site's Grub Street has some ideas, including sandwich scraps (in homage to a favorite snack of Liz Lemon's). The posts include lots of funny business, from a video detailing Kenneth's backstory to drawings chronicling the sexual history of Jenna and Mickey Rourke. More seriously, TV critic Matt …

The British version of Condé Nast's Vogue is spawning what will be at least a test of a teen version, Miss Vogue, to be packaged with the June issue of British Vogue. "It is not yet known whether a second issue will be produced," writes Bibby Sowray. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Teen Vogue has been published since 2003.

Global media CEOs need a Xanax more than CEOs from other industries, with 75% of the former worrying "intensely about shifts in consumer behavior," versus only 50% of the latter, writes Jill Goldsmith. That's according to PricewaterhouseCoopers research presented at the World Economic Forum. Again varying from the norm,  "a disproportionate 84% of [media CEOs] anticipate changing their company's strategy within the next year," and "over 60% of showbiz CEOs are concerned about the speed of technological change, 19% above the global cross-industry total."

Yiddish-language newspaper The Forward wlll debut an "enhanced Yiddish Web site" featuring articles from the paper along with a daily podcast and other blogs (including one "geared to students studying Yiddish") Feb. 4, writes Joseph Berger. Forward editors took this step because they were encouraged by what they see "as renewed interest in Yiddish among younger people" -- though the print version's schedule will be cut from weekly to every other week

In what we sincerely hope will be counter-programming to the usual rich-and-stupid-but-weirdly fascinating reality TV show stars, Nelson Mandela's grandaughters will star on "Being Mandela," the first new series to launch on Cozi TV since the offshoot of the NBC Owned Stations group was introduced in December. Debuting on Feb. 10 at 9 ET, episodes of the half-hour show will feature the two women's "first visit to Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years, as well as their experiences shark cage diving and traveling to Swaziland, where they are full-fledged African …

"How many magazines are being sold on tablets? This seems like it would be an elementary question, one covered far and wide," writes Thea Selby on the Publishing Executive site. Since Selby didn't find the data "out there in any accessible way," she did some quick "count on fingers" research and came up with numbers categorized by magazine genre, from sports to women's lifestyle. And while major magazine publishers have all seen "online readership numbers rise," some see digital subscriptions as "a way to redefine our subscription offerings at a higher price," according to …

Viacom's Comedy Central has promoted Kent Alterman to president of content development & original programming. With content creation consolidated under Alterman, the company plans to "see deeper social and digital integrations, as well as a rededicated push to incubate new voices, concepts and future franchises," according to an official statement.