Layoffs in San Antonio, buyouts in Boston, a shutdown at Cox

The downsizing is relentless.

Over the past two days, newspaper positions have been eliminated in Texas, buyouts have been announced in Boston and employees at three popular and growing college sports websites were told the sites would be shuttered.

Fourteen staff positions were eliminated at the San Antonio Express-News and two at the Houston Chronicle, both Hearst publications. The moves reflect attempts to streamline some coverage, such as from their Washington and Austin bureaus, as well as “economic factors,” said San Antonio Express-News publisher Susan Pape.

Among those laid off: Longtime San Antonio statehouse bureau chief Peggy Fikac, who Texas Tribune publisher Evan Smith called one of the finest reporters covering Austin in recent decades. “Texas and the world will bejournalism awards, the Student Press Law Center reported. (h/t Jacqui Banaszynski)

MOVING UP: John Avlon is moving from editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast to a full-time senior analyst and anchor at CNN. Executive editor Noah Shachtman ascends to Avlon’s old job. … Dustin Weaver, from The Hill, is headed to The Associated Press to become its new Congress editor, Washington bureau chief Julie Pace announced Thursday.

REBORN: After nine months without publishing, Indian Country Today will return next month under the ownership of the National Congress of American Indians and the leadership of Mark Trahant, a journalism veteran and a member of the Shoshone-Bannock tribe. CJR asks: Will the new Indian Country Today — which was so popular on hiatus that it drew 500,000 unique readers a month — protect