If you're a large media company that's about to ax hoards of employees, what's the best way to deliver the news? Publicly announce the firings on a news dump Friday? Sure, but anybody can do that. Spin the layoffs as "right-sizing"? Fine, but PR speak is so transparent these days. What about blame the economy? Blaaaaand!

So, might we suggest two better alternatives that at least show you're a big media company bursting with creativity?

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As Jason Binn's Niche Media joins Viacom this month in a supreme round of staffer bloodletting, many insiders don't have much sympathy for a one Samantha Marcus Yanks, the fashion editor at Gotham and Hamptons, and formerly of Vogue and O.

That's because Yanks, seen here at her wedding to husband David in 2003 — and here's the requisite Times wedding announcement — "has a habit of hanging on to all the designer goods she collects from photo shoots," claims one industry insider. So the story goes: Yanks was sent $400,000 worth of designer goods and, like the stuff you would see out of The Devil Wears Prada, didn't return them. "Interns would have to lie for her to designers." (We reached out to Yanks for comment; we haven't heard back.)

Is it unheard of for fashion and accessories editors to hang on to some of the goods they're sent for review or use in shoots? No. But like today's Dow Jones, the valuation is much less.

The Memorial Day Weekend didn't just kick off the summer Hamptons season – it also began the summer Hamptons magazine printing schedule. And with this, the magazine's 30th anniversary, publisher Jason Binn, who bought the title in 1999, takes readers on a retrospective of the magazine. [WWD]

At left, Madonna's July 4, 1985 issue; at right, the current Kim Cattrall edition, which was feted over the weekend; somewhere in the middle, the end of the East End's big hair and the beginning of its big yachts.

In February, Barack Obama spent $1 million on Internet advertising, much of it devoted to Google search terms. It's a decent tactic: Replace organic search results with paid listings.

Jason Binn appears to be doing the same.

A Google search for his name used to show this Copyranter blog post as the first result. Now it's an ad for the luxe mag guru's Niche Media. Even more troublesome: That pushes Jossip down from 7th to 8th.

Luxury publisher Greenspun Media made a big deal, just two days ago, about its "category crushing" new web portal that was going to make Citysearch look like Web 1.0. (In-sult!) The anchor of its new restaurant-nightlife-events website would be Las Vegas Life, the high-brow glossy for the well to do, extending the luxe brand to the web.

Except now Greenspun chief Michael Carr says the April issue of Las Vegas Life will be its last. So much for luxury publishers riding out the recession.

Is this the future of the Greenspun-Niche Media-Ocean Drive partnership that was hammered out just this quarter? Will Jason Binn's Gotham chug along as a mere domain name? And what's to happen to Lenny Dykstra's The Players Club, a magazine for the sports set by the sports set, from upscale niche publisher Doubledown Media?

It's this uncertainty of free, heavy paper stock magazines we don't read that keeps us up at night.

We're still not sure what, exactly, luxury publisher Greenspun Media will be rolling out on Memorial Day, but chief Michael Carr believes his new online project will make the competition look like toddlers. "Yahoo, New York magazine may be doing a piece of it, but we’re doing the whole thing. We’ll invest in the infrastructure. That’s why it’s going to be a category crusher." So, um, what is the Jason Binn/Niche Media partner cooking up? "An interactive portal of information," says Folio, where each regional site will be a front door to "restaurants, sporting events, schools and 'everything hyperlocal.'" Oooh, so like Citysearch? Throw up a few ads for Patek Philippe and insert a party photo section, and it's online Gotham!

Isn't the whole point of working for a Jason Binn magazine that you get to go to all 7,493,953 of its parties each year? Not so!, says Michael T. Carr, Binn's boss (in name, at least) and the chief of Niche Media's buyout henchman Greenspun Media. While ad sales staffers are allowed to RSVP and check their coats, they are not supposed to make it past the lobby of Niche events; they must stay in the foyer and play greeter. Now, we're just going off the cuff here, but isn't the point of throwing these events (some of which are said to cost Binn seven-figures) to impress over-paying and editorial-influencing ad partners, and getting them to agree to a deal when they're halfway in the can? That introductory glass of bubbly in the lobby ain't gonna cut it. [Folio]

The boyish Jason Binn was already preparing the 2008 launch of Michigan Avenue, a glossy magazine that's actually about Chicago, not Michigan, which you might have realized if you spent any time in the Windy City … shopping. It's set to compete with Modern Luxury regional spin-off CS (nee Chicago Social).

So what, then, of this news that Binn is buying Philadelphia Style, a magazine he did not create?

It makes complete sense. Since inking a convoluted deal to sell his company to Greenspun Media while merging it with Ocean Drive Media while snagging the title of CEO of whatever company is left over, Binn, who bought his name in Google search results, has been ever more focused on crushing the competition. Or at least keeping pace.

Some might say he's got a lock on regional luxe titles, what with Gotham, Hamptons, Los Angeles Confidential, Aspen, Capitol File, and Boston Common, . But the national Modern Luxury is going after his bread and butter: localized glitzy offerings packed with party photos from around the town the magazine is named after.

In addition to his new Philadelphia purchase and the upcoming Michigan Avenue, Binn is working on Atlantic City rag Boardwalk Magazine. And anywhere else Modern Luxury plans on heading.

A quick note to keep things in perspective. Jason Binn, who is selling his Niche Media roster of luxury magazines to Greenspun Media Group (some would say it's more of a merger), will help create a media company with 16 titles, 300 employees, and a distribution of 300,000. The little blog company that publishes this site, meanwhile, has 4 titles, 6 employees, and a distribution of 7 million. Jason is bringing in $100 million a year. We, um, aren't. What the hell is wrong with this picture?

How David Carr's Jason Binn news peg – that the Gotham and Hamptons magazines publisher was selling his company (to himself, sort of) to create a national luxury media conglom – turned into an article about Binn's prowess to bring influencers together in a list that includes Carr is, well, moderately disturbing. But with lines like "his naked worship of the rich and famous makes Robin Leach seem demure," we'll forgive and forget.

So congrats, Jason: As a former Niche Media intern, we've seen your magic in full effect. And congrats, Carr: Once you've made it into Binn's society pages, you're a somebody. And we should know. We used to help manufacture "The List," the magazine's much-ogled roster of names of significance. How our family members ended up on there, well, we're blaming an editing error.

• Larry King has never used the Internet, bothered to wipe off toilet seat.

• Hudson News covers up the prude Ashley Judd.

• Wallpaper editor Jeremy Langmead departs after four years to become editor of British Esquire.

• Miami luxe rag publisher Jerry Powers, who runs Ocean Drive, isn't too pleased that former protege Jason Binn (publisher of Niche Media's Gotham) now owns him.

• TV Guide lays off 40 staffers, blames industry.

• Details' Dan Peres finds his new bitch.

Fishbowl NY reports that Jason Binn, founder of Niche Media, may be putting his titles on the block. Well, not exactly on the block, since he's rumored be selling them to a specific buyer: Jerry Powers of SoBe News. (Note from the loyal question mark in Fishbowl's headline that nothing is officially confirmed yet.)

Binn's Niche pubs include Hamptons and Gotham — possibly the most well-known of the half dozen pubs for their New York-centered socialite-y gossip — which have put Binn on the map of high-ranking young publishers.

And … that's pretty much it. Binn is selling his pubs. To Powers. At SoBe. Oh, wait, and then there's this.

Binn is a shareholder in Sobe News.

So, basically Binn is selling magazines to himself? The biz side of things will forever confuse the crap out of us.

Jason Binn's Niche Media Sold? [Fishbowl NY]

This mass email from Niche Media's Keija Minor was just distributed to a swath of media scribes:

Hi all,

Just to clarify (and correct the misspelling in the Post :-)) -

Jason Oliver Nixon will become the Style Director of all Niche Media titles as of April 1. Keija Minor will be transitioning into the role of Editor in Chief of Gotham and will assume the full-force baton as of April 1. Cindi Cook is becoming the Editor in Chief of Hamptons.

So, just to clarify: The New York Post doesn't fact-check, and Keija Minor wants to make sure ya'll are aware she'll be running the show (with her "full-force baton") beginning on April Fool's Day. A tell-tale sign if we've ever seen one.

• Should you consider Us Weekly an "upper echelon" magazine, then you'll understand how publisher Jann Wenner thought he could make a cheaper spin-off of the celeb weekly. But after months of planning it looks like Wenner will have to settle with struggling to keep Men's Journal afloat instead of a new Olsen twin haven. [NYP]

• Judith Miller and the New York Times may have their reunion sooner than expected. As early as next week the paper's former starlet could return to the newsroom, just in time to delete those Scooter Libby love letter emails. [NYO]

• Why is Anderson Cooper going to get the better NewsNight slot? Because hot gay men with grey hair get better ratings. [TVNewser]

• One thing we never accused Niche Media's Jason Binn of doing was stealing. And, discounting his "borrowing" of Boston magazine's advertiser database for his Boston Common, his repurposing of Town & Country for Gotham and Hamptons will only be the second time we didn't accuse him of stealing. [ WWD]

Jason Binn is back, baby &mash; an impressive feat when he never went anywhere unlike, say, Bob Guccione Jr. (who is "back" with Discover, but we're not here to talk about that).

Tomorrow's is Binn's big day in Boston, where his couriers will be dropping off copies of the premiere issue of Boston Common, the 352-page glossy graced with Steven Tyler's sunken cheeks (despite Ben Affleck's face is still plastered on the mag's website).

And as with each new launch (Capitol File hits D.C. this month), Binn once again takes the quiz as to whether his magazines exist for more more than the advertisers.

Which is funny, because some people actually take this debate seriously, as if the answer isn't clearly written in the mag's pages.

Fox News advertises in Binn's Washington magazine; two of its anchor people appear in a "power" profile. ("It's their first ad ever," Binn says.) An article in Capitol File reports that Barneys New York's creative director and his partner "both have new projects bringing them to D.C."; Barneys appears on Niche's list of national advertisers. "They don't advertise in Capitol File," Binn says. "There is no connection whatsoever."

Elsewhere in the magazine, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright comments that she likes to wear Ferragamo shoes; the brand name is highlighted in the text. Three pages away one finds a full-page Ferragamo ad. Binn points out that many of the people photographed in his magazines wear the jewels and gowns made by his advertisers, such as Armani and Jimmy Choo, because that's what they wear in real life. He comments: "When Madeleine Albright talks about luxury lifestyle, that's the kind of story an editor wants."

Dual agendas abound. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler appears on the inaugural cover of Boston Common, and he happens to be plugging a new clothing line. Larry King is a contributor to the Washington magazine, advertises his charitable foundation in the magazine, and appears in a full-page photograph attending one of Binn's bashes. "So Larry King likes to come to our parties," says Atkinson. "What's the big deal?"

Well that was a fun game. Unfortunately, we hear the good times aren't going to last long. From inside the House of Binn we hear staffers are anything but enthusiastic about Boston Common's chance of survival. In New York, Gotham works because we're flashy with our money. Not the case in Boston, or so we're told.

• Not sure why Anna Wintour's friend Mohammed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods, would put his own daughter Camilla in harm's way, but he's managed to enlist her to be the Vogue editrix's personal intern this fall

• Conde Nast's business title might be nearly two years away, but it's already got Forbes owners worried enough to send out a missive to the entire biz staff.

• Jason Binn's luxe publishing house Niche Media unleashes its latest ode to wealth, Capitol File. The D.C. glossy weighs in at a heft 346 pages and probably weighs more than its cover subject, Ashley Judd.

• News Corp, fresh off its MySpace.com $580 million acquisition, continues its buying spree with a $650 million offer for Internet video gaming company IGN Entertainment.

• Men's Health will feature a disabled person for the first time on its November cover. Though don't expect David Zinczenko to pick a wheelchair-rolling ab maniac anytime soon — Cpl. Peter Sprenger "only" lost an eye and dons a patch.

• Apprentice no more! Bill Rancic, the winner from the show's first season, announced at a Malaysian conference that he's leaving The Donald next March to start his own business (and maybe have an office with a window?). But he's not totally severing ties, since he'll make guest appearances in Seasons 4 and 5 of the reality hit.

• NBC might be in fourth place in the ratings war but it's leading the buzz game when it comes to its fall season. At least that's based on what the society agenda-determining blogosphere is saying.

• eBay, already part owner of Craigslist, is looking to expand its one-of-the-people image with the purchase of VoIP company Skype. The price tag? An outrageous $2 to $3 billion, or as much as $5 billion.

• Today we celebrate NY1's 13th anniversary! Yey for local cable news actually worth watching more than its big brother cable nets.

• Penthouse founder Bob Guccione is facing a $4 million lawsuit from the company he used to run, which is looking for unrecovered cash, art and furniture.

• If it's not Natalee Holloway, Fox News is seeing ratings climb thanks to Hurricae Katrina. The news network nabbed an average 2.8 million viewers on Monday, it's largest of the year.

• Fairchild's Cookie is accompanying its baby mag November launch with a stroller shopping event on Madison Avenue next month. And by the way he's going, Brad Pitt might show.

• With Cargo's publisher Alan Katz jumping ship to head Vanity Fair in the business group shuffleboard, Conde Nast is bringing in American Media Inc. prez Lance Ford (of Maxim, Stuff and Blender launch fame) to run its men's shopping title.

• Google is trying its hand at print advertising, quietly buying up ad pages in tech titles like PC Magazine and reselling the space as cut-up units to marketers already a part of its AdWords program.

• First Wal-Mart secured exclusive distribution for Time Inc.'s All You, now they're securing exclusive rights to sell BET's DVDs.

• Congrats to Niche Media overlord Jason Binn and wife Haley on the birth of Penny Olivia, who will likely get her own mail slot on Park Ave South.

• When Ann Curry isn't bringing you toned down versions of the rest of the world, she's pissing off her neighbors. Meanwhile, ex-Entertainment Tonight host Maria Menounos is headed to the Today show to make it "more hip."

• Lachlan Murdoch is getting a giddy-up on his own plans for a media empire, having registered the new Australian company Illyria just three days after announcing he was leaving the News Corp. empire.

• The Washington Post named in-housers Roxanne Roberts and Amy Argetsinger as its new Reliable Source scribes, which should finally put to rest any rumors of Wonkette's Ana Marie Cox taking over Richard Leiby's byline.

• We're not the only ones concerned over Brandon Holley's coming editorship at Jane — the Wall Street Journal has its quibbles too. As in, for instance, should the mag be renamed Brandon? Probably not, as we don't need today's teens struggling with gender identity any more than they already do.

• It's not just Jason Binn launching new luxury lifestyle publications. And, he's hoping, we're the only ones who care.

• MSNBC's Joe Scarborough has a choice to make, and it's between renewing his contract with Rick Kaplan or submitting a bid to run for a Senate seat.

• FishbowlDC blogger Garrett Graff is joining the staff of Washingtonian magazine as an editor-at-large. Not that we're totally ignorant to the bloggers-joining-magazines craze or anything.

We'd be remiss to let another Jason Binn mention go unnoticed. Even if there's nothing terribly new revealed about the society rag superstar, name dropping Jason's name is sure to earn a writer at least one mention on Jossip.

So hello, Jon Fine, and welcome to the Binn Fan Club. And thanks for letting us know denizens of some of America's less substantial cities might soon find themselves on the receiving end of advertorial glossies weighing more than seventh grade history textbooks.

SEPTEMBER BRINGS NICHE'S entries into Boston and Washington: Boston Common and Capitol File. Next year, Niche launches in Chicago and Atlantic City. In late 2004, Niche applied for trademarks for titles relating to Houston, Seattle, San Diego, Sun Valley, Palm Springs, Palm Beach, and Phoenix. And Binn hints that the model could work internationally. "I've never had a bad launch," he boasts.

And if anyone can add some class to Atlantic City, we have full faith it'll be Jason.

• The Island producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald are blaming the movie's title (named after something that doesn't even exist in the film) and its stars Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor for the $120 million flop. They say lesser TV actors couldn't secured a bigger draw. Like, Katie Holmes?

• Bill Maher is falling for Niche Media's Jason Binn, now that the actor is penning a column for Binn's Gotham magazine. We're hoping that won't mean Fabian Basabe loses his page.

• HBO isn't letting its favorite franchise die early. Instead of the planned series finale next year, The Sopranos was signed for an extra eight episodes to air after the sixth season's sign-off.

• It's been only a few days since Eddie Murphy's wife Nicole filed for divorce and already he's on the prowl for a new fling. Perhaps his behavior has something to do with their "irreconcilable differences."

• Kimberly Stewart, who called Jennifer Anistion "homely" and not "gorgeous or anything" is trying to make good, sending flowers and an apology to the broken-hearted actress. Kimberly, Kimberly, Kimberly, now what did we say about throwing stones?

• Nicole Richie and producer Andrew Shaifer are trying to dodge Paris Hilton by moving the premiere date of their Kids In America to October 21, away from Paris' Pledge This November 4 debut date.