Times to staff: We're going to have to cut some jobs Newsroom layoffs have been sweeping through papers across the country, and now it looks like The New York Times will cashier news staffers as well, after a buyout offer in February didn't draw enough takers. The paper was looking for 100 volunteers from the more than 1,300 who work in the newsroom. But in a memo to the newsroom yesterday, Bill Keller, the paper's executive editor, wrote that the tally came somewhat short of that figure, and that layoffs will be coming to make up the difference. "We have been forced to resort to a relatively small number of layoffs to meet our assigned goal," Keller wrote. He did not say how many would be cut, but reports have it around 15. They could be the last but there's no guarantee, as the Times suffers through this latest ad downturn and pressures from investors to trim expenses.   At MTV, keeping viewers engaged during commercials You’d think those fickle MTV viewers, who grew up in an age of channel surfing and digital video recorders, would be among the least likely to tune into commercials. That’s a problem that’s been recognized and remedied, or at least that’s what the network hopes to convince media buyers during its upfront presentation today. MTV will put particular focus on its so-called “podbusters,” commercial content that is so slick, stylized and plot-heavy that it’s hard to distinguish from traditional ads, though it’s still very much selling something. MTV claims that early uses of such techniques, which integrate advertiser products into storylines, has made a big difference in audience retention during commercials. The idea, of course, is to make ads so entertaining that people won’t change the channel or fast-forward through them, and it’s a concept that will be used across MTV Networks’ properties going forward, including the flagship channel, CMT and Spike.   TV Guide's crazy ride: Magazine is back on the block It looks as though long-troubled TV Guide will soon segue to a fifth owner in the past decade. Macrovision, which just finished a $2.8 billion transaction to buy Gemstar-TV Guide, is putting the venerable title back on the block, along with its two complementary cable networks. This comes one day after the magazine ousted editor Ian Birch and installed former Life & Style editor in chief Debra Birnbaum as his replacement, furthering the magazine’s three-year move toward a general entertainment/celebrity title rather than one focused on TV listings. TV Guide’s been losing money for years, though publisher Scott Crystal tells The New York Times that the magazine just finished its first profitable quarter in the past 16. The magazine’s ad pages are up this year compared with an industry-wide slump. Macrovision intends to keep TVGuide.com, which has become a widely used video destination. It’s not clear how long the parent company intends to draw out the magazine auction or if any buyers have expressed interest.   Now enrolling, five new ABC News campus bureaus This may be one way to ensure that young people watch the news: ABC News is opening five on-campus bureaus at colleges across the country. The network announced the move yesterday, saying that it will give university students on-the-job training by reporting on local stories to be aired across ABC’s news programs, including “Nightline” and “Good Morning America” as well as “World News with Charles Gibson.” But ABC is also hoping that the increased interaction with adults 18-25 will help the news operation gain insight into the interests of this demographic, which largely shuns the evening news and other broadcast news programs. Students who work at the bureaus will be trained at ABC News’ New York headquarters. The initial bureaus will be located at Arizona State, Syracuse, Florida, North Carolina and Texas, in conjunction with the schools’ journalism schools.   UK court: Celebs' kids aren't fair game for photogs Just because your mom is a public figure doesn’t mean newspapers have the right to splash your picture on their pages. That’s the far-reaching ruling of a UK court after JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, triumphed in her legal battle to keep her son’s picture out of the press. Rowling’s suit claimed David’s right to privacy had been violated when an unauthorized photo of him, then age 18 months, hit the press back in 2004. The billionaire author initially lost her case against Big Pictures, the photo agency that snapped the picture, last year. Rowling appealed and won yesterday when the Court of Appeals decided that children of famous parents should be able to stay out of the public eye in the same way that other children do. Rowling and her husband, Dr. Neil Murray, released a statement saying that they were immensely grateful to the Court for the decision.