SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE TO CLOSE

Scripps Howard News Service is shutting down after a nearly 100-year run due to the decline of the newspaper business.

McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, a joint venture of McClatchy Co. and Tribune Co., will take over the clients and selected contributors of the syndicated story distributor by Jan. 1.
         Founded in 1917, the newswire was the home of famed WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle, who died covering action in the Pacific in 1945.

With the shutdown, Scripps Co. is cutting seven Washington jobs connected with the news service and refocusing its effort on online and TV audiences.

It plans to add 10 staffers, including former NPR reporter Andrea Seabrook, to bolster political coverage and investigative pieces.

“Our strategy to expand as a content-focused organization, with a full commitment to investigative reporting and national politics, led us to this decision to cease being a packager and distributor of content from other news organizations,” said Ellen Weiss, D.C. chief, in a statement.

Cincinnati-based E.W. Scripps Co. owns 19 TV stations and 13 daily newspapers.

TALENT EXODUS CONTINUES AT NYT

The New York Times, which lost $24.2M during the third-quarter, has been hit this week by the loss of a trio of three key staffers

Hugo Lindgren, editor of the New York Times Magazine, plans to exit by the end of the year. The former executive editor of Bloomberg Businessweek joined the magazine in Sept. 2010.

Jill Abramson, executive editor, promises to have a replacement in place before Lindgren departs. She called the weekly a “treasured part of our news report” blessed with “vast reserves of talent.”

CNN has poached media reporter Brian Stelter to serve as host for the “Reliable Sources” Sunday media program. He also will work full-time on the digital front. He joined the NYT in 2007.

Yahoo News has recruited political correspondent Matt Bai for the national political reporter slot. He will begin a weekly column and weigh-in on breaking news in December.

The Times reported a 5.7 percent drop in daily print circulation to 676,633 and 2.1 percent dip in Sunday circulation to 1.2M for the six-month period ended Sept. 29.

Combined print/circulation reported a robust 18 percent daily gain to 1.9M and 14 percent Sunday hike to 2.4M during the same time.

FRANCISCO EARNS GH’S SEAL OF APPROVAL

Good Housekeeping has named Jane Francisco editor-in-chief, replacing Rosemary Ellis, who is leaving to next month to pursue other career opportunities.

She was e-i-c of Chatelaine, the No. 1 woman’s magazine in Canada, since 2009, where she placed it on mobile, online, TV and radio platforms.

Hearst Magazines president David Carey, said in a statement that Franciso is “an incredibly versatile editor, leader and branding expert, with the experience and vision to build on the lively, friendly energy of the revamped GH,” which reaches 25M online/print readers each month.

He impressed with the “top-to-bottom modernization” of Chatelaine under Robinson’s watch.

The new hire was e-i-c at Style at Home, founding e-i-c of St. Joseph Media’s Wish, editorial of SJM’s lifestyle group with Gardening Life and Canadian Family duties.