Memo Pad: Over to Wired... Cutbacks... Safe Does Sell...

OVER TO WIRED: Another early hire is leaving Portfolio — senior writer Daniel Roth. But at least he's staying within Condé Nast: Roth will join Wired in the same position. Staffers found out about his departure late Wednesday afternoon in a brief e-mail circulated to the staff by managing editor Blaise Zerega. Roth will start his new position around Christmas.

Roth was poached by Portfolio editor in chief Joanne Lipman from Fortune, where he had worked since 1998 alongside Katrina Brooker, who was also recruited by Lipman to join Portfolio during its launch. Brooker quit to return to Fortune in September, but Roth stayed, despite conversations with Time Inc. editor in chief John Huey and Fortune managing editor Andy Serwer about his return to Time Inc. Roth was said to have a good working relationship with Lipman, but sources close to the magazine say Portfolio's tumultuous working environment — with its constant media scrutiny and frequent staff departures that have led to a steady increase in the number of staffers from Lipman's old stomping grounds at The Wall Street Journal became too much for Roth. Since the summer, editors and writers from the magazine who have severed ties include Brooker, deputy editor Jim Impoco, ex-New York Times writer Kurt Eichenwald and ex-Men's Journal editor in chief Michael Caruso, who served as contributing editor at large under a yearlong contract. In return, ex-Journal staffers Hilary Stout, Scot Paltrow, Daniel Golden and Peter Waldman have joined the masthead.
— Stephanie D. Smith

CUTBACKS: Not all The New York Times staffers will settle into their shiny new offices in Times Square in 2008 — a memo circulated to the staff from executive editor Bill Keller details the paper will be revealing layoffs next year, primarily in support and administrative positions. About a dozen people will be affected by the cuts. "Despite growing pressure on the newsroom budget, the Times has continued to turn out great journalism, whether it's covering Iraq, New York City or the most crowded Presidential campaign in memory. We've been able to do this, in part, because each of you has helped us save money by finding new and more efficient ways to do what we need to do," Keller wrote. "That is why I must tell you that there are going to be layoffs in the newsroom, for the first time in recent memory. The people who are affected are not journalists, but that does not make this news any easier to share." The company also said that it put into place a hiring freeze several weeks ago.
— S.D.S.