More Daily News exits as Tronc buys Va. paper

TRONC

on Tuesday said it was buying The Virginian-Pilot and related Web sites and real estate from Landmark Media Enterprises for $34 million.

The deal includes several niche publications, plus a 465,000square-foot headquarters in Norfolk and a Virginia Beach distribution facility.

Meanwhile, there was a new round of cuts at Daily News over the past two weeks, and its gossip column appears to have vanished from print in recent days.

Also, two staffers from the sports desk tweeted their goodbyes on May 18.

Tom Biersdorfer wrote, “Friday was my last day at the New York Daily News after almost 8 years ... I’ll miss creating the back page, af- ter making more than 1,000 of them. Tough choice, but time for something new. -30-”

Ian Powers also bid adieu that same day. “Today is bittersweet for me as I finished my last shift at the New York Daily News ... Stay tuned for my next exciting venture.”

Insiders said their departures were part of the Tronc reorganization that got rolling in March Interactive developer Kelli R.

Parker also resigned recently after about a year on the job, since most of the jobs in that department were headed west as part of a consolidation of design and production for all the papers in Chicago. An update: Patrick Soon

Shiong’s deal to acquire the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union Tribune from Tronc for $500 million, announced in February, still has not closed. And McCormick Media, which was given a 10day extension to complete its purchase of just over 25 percent of the stock now owned by ex-chairman

Michael Ferro for $23 a share, also has not finalized its deal.

Tronc stock closed up 6 cents, at $16.39, on Tuesday.

Agent Kelly

Another alumni from Graydon Carter’s Vanity Fair has landed.

Jim Kelly, a contributing editor at VF for the past seven years and earlier the top editor at Time magazine, is joining Aevitas Creative Management, the literary agency formed by Todd Shuster and Da

vid Kuhn in 2016. He said he’ll cast a wide net in his new career as a literary agent.

“My tenure at Time and Vanity Fair allowed me to be curious about everything, but I guess I lean toward biography and history,” Kelly said. “I also have a passion for crime, both real and imagined, which I guess is a consequence of growing up with a NYPD officer as my dad.”

Kelly bumped into Carter when they both started at Time within a week of one another in 1978 — and stayed friends as they advanced their publishing careers. Kelly capped his nearly 30-year career at Time as its top editor and then spent three more years as an editor at large.

Kelly’s VF contributing editor contract expired at the end of May, and he starts his new job on June 1.

Gathering no moss

Rolling Stone is beefing up its music, politics and pop culture coverage as its new owner gets ready to pump in an estimated $8 million to $10 million in a redesign to be unveiled in July.

“If you want to do it right, it costs money,” said Jay Penske, whose Penske Media took over majority control of the title from Jann

Wenner, paying an estimated $51 million last December.

While founder Wenner placated the aging baby boom generation, many have criticized him for missing the hip-hop revolution in recent years while that magazine was trying to cover everything from gaming to pro wrestling.

“We’re going to be staying in three lanes: music in all the genres that matter, politics and pop culture,” Penske said.

Among the new hires is Andy Kroll, most recently at Mother Jones, where he worked on investigations into Cambridge Analytica. He is joining as the DC bureau chief, the first time in a dozen years the magazine has had a fulltime staffer in the nation’s capital. The publication already counts as political news editor John Hen

drickson, who joined earlier this year.

Alan Sepinwall — who wrote the best-selling book “The Revolution Was Televised” and who did the popular Hitfix podcast “Firewall and Iceberg” with Daniel

Fienberg — is joining as the magazine’s chief TV critic.

Both new hires — Sepinwall and Kroll — report to Managing Editor

Jason Fine, who took over the top editorial job in 2015 when Will

Dana was forced out in the wake of the University of Virginia fake fraternity rape story, which cost the magazine $1.56 million.

Since the acquisition of 51 percent of Wenner Media, a Penske

lled hiring spree has added Brendan B Klinkenberg from Complex Media as a senior editor covering hip-hop, Jamil Smith, poached from the Los Angeles Times, as a senior writer, and Elias Leight as a music reporter. As part of its relaunch, the magazine plans to develop branded events, and in March tapped Amber Mundinger to be senior VP, live media and strategic partnerships. “We’ve probably grown editorial by 15 percent since the acquisition,” Penske said. kkelly@nypost.com