Every media outlet has its own niche when it comes to the BP oil disaster. The Wall Street Journal, not surprisingly, is concentrating on the ups and downs (mostly downs) of BP stock prices. Mother Jones is muckraking (literally) from an environmentalist perspective. Even The Huffington Post is doing its own thing, which involves one of Arianna’s celebrity friends penning a new-age, pop-psych essay called Drawing Blessings From the Gulf Oil Spill. (”To best serve the Gulf of Mexico, ourselves and our world, I encourage focusing and having faith in the power of divine love. By focusing on bringing greater good into manifestation, there can be a returning to the natural order that thrives and creates bounty.”)

With everyone getting into the act, it’s no surprise that the National Enquirer is muscling in on the action with a story headlined OILY BP BOSS BUSTS UP NUPS!:

BP boss CARL HENRIC-SVANBERG isn’t just being blamed for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, he’s the accused villain behind the breakup of a Massachusetts couple’s 18-year marriage! …

What’s more, just days after BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20 - leaving 11 dead and millions of gallons of oil spewing into the gulf - the lovebirds vacationed in Phuket, Thailand on his luxury yacht!

Wow. Can’t wait to see how the Weekly World News is going to cover this … but I bet it’ll involve space aliens and Bat Boy.

While you’re waiting for President Barack Obama to arrive (Air Force One touches down at MSY at 11:20, unless he pulls a switcheroo and comes in on JetBlue), here’s some background reading…

• The New York Times and The Washington Post both report on the duration of the visit and the contretemps over whether it’s long enough….

• Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao is still disappointed in Gov. Bobby Jindal for not getting in on the funding for the proposed high-speed rail line between here and Baton Rouge….

• On the HuffPo, Harry Shearer examines Obama’s to-do list, and weighs in on what’s been checked off and what’s overdue….

• Michael Bauer of the San Francisco Chronicle interviews Leah Chase, who will be packing up a takeout lunch for the president today. (Hail to the chef!) Then the topic of another president arose:

In another photo, President George W. Bush was seated at a table with other dignitaries, and he was grasping her hand as she posed behind him.

At the end of the meal I asked about Obama and her eyes took on a joyous sheen as she practically sang his praises in her deep, rich voice.

I couldn’t resist: “So you seem to be an equal opportunity cook,” I said, as I drew attention to the other President. Her twinkle shifted a bit.

“He’s a lovely man,” she said. “He’s invited me to the White House twice and he’s such a gentleman.” After a short pause she said: “However some men just find themselves in the wrong job.”

That ought to keep you occupied. Meanwhile, Clancy DuBos will be on CNN at some point this morning, and we have reporters at both the UNO town hall and the Crescent City Recovery protest on the river. We’ll also be Twittering Obama’s speech, as well as all the bloviating from the punditocracy. Later.

Do you want to know what your friends are reading? What about your friends’ friends? With Huffington Post’s new HuffPost Social News, you’ll get your chance. The new feature is a partnership with Facebook that tracks what HuffPost articles you’re looking at and what all your Facebook friends are perusing. In a recent article, “Huffington Post + Facebook= the Future of Journalism,” for Slate’s The Big Money, Chadwick Matlin, explains how the two Web sites are providing the service:

Connect basically serves as a conduit between Facebook and another Web site, allowing data to be sent between the two. Facebook sends profile information. In return, the site sends details on what the user is doing. Web sites, of course, have always tracked what pages their users visit. Now HuffPost is broadcasting that information to all of your friends. It has become a loudmouthed Big Brother.”

Not too surprising, the success of the venture could guarantee quite a cash windfall for both Facebook and HuffPost. Matlin isn’t a huge fan of HuffPost, but as he concludes, “it’s not important. Trust me. Huffington Post has taught me that lesson all too well.”

Layoffs may be on the way for staffers at The Times-Picayune after the first of the year, reports Editor & Publisher:

Advance Publications’ Newhouse Newspapers, believed to be the only major newspaper chain to avoid layoffs throughout the recent upheavals suffered by its industry, is planning to remove its long-standing “no-layoffs” pledge.

Publishers at the chain’s 20 daily newspapers, which include The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.; The Oregonian in Portland, the Staten Island (N.Y.) Advance and The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, broke the news to staffers Wednesday.

“We wanted to communicate to employees that this is coming,” said Steve Newhouse, chairman of AdvanceNet, the chain’s online division, and a member of the Newhouse family, the company’s longtime owners. “We have had a pledge not to layoff employees for economic conditions or advances in technology.”

But Newhouse said recent industry problems have forced the company to rescind the pledge. He said staffers are being told today that the pledge will remain for six more months, and then layoffs could occur.

“It was not a pledge that applied to the kind of transitional moment in the newspaper industry that is basically struggling to survive,” he said, noting it only applied to the company’s daily newspapers.

This is following the departure of some of the T-P’s most experienced and recognizable names, including Angus Lind, Susan Finch and David Cuthbert in the paper’s latest series of buyouts. It’s also a rough blow to a paper where morale already isn’t tip-top and yet the staff is working hard to put out quality work, because that’s just what they do.

The pledge was a lovely thing in theory, but it was hardly legally binding; the life of a newspaper employee isn’t a civil-service sinecure, with all its perqs and guarantees. The days of big-city dailies as fat-and-lazy “velvet coffins” where people remain for decades are gone forever. It’s possible to foresee a day when big-city dailies are gone forever, too. According to the blog Paper Cuts, which tracks the death decline of U.S. newspapers, the industry has lost 12,964 jobs in 2009 alone — almost as many as it did in the entire year of 2008, which was horrendous on its own. With this news, it’s hard to imagine 2010 will be any better for anyone except perhaps Satan’s Botoxed Handmaiden, who will likely be offering unemployed journos the chance to work “for exposure.” But exposure don’t pay the rent or feed the cat.

To our friends and colleagues over at the T-P (even the ones who can’t stand us): we’re feeling for you today. Truly.

• And to double the bummer: It’s been one of the worst-kept secrets in town that the T-P’s excellent food critic, Brett Anderson, was on the very short list of people to replace The New York Times‘ food critic Frank Bruni. Today it was announced that the job went to Times culture editor Sam Sifton. We’re disappointed for Anderson, but the silver lining is that we’ll be able to look forward to his byline in Lagniappe.

• Stormy Daniels was arrested over the weekend on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence.

• The former head of the Louisiana Film Commission is headed to the pokey after pleading guilty to accepting bribes.

• Democrats are outraising Republicans in Congressional swing districts. Notes Real Clear Politics:

Perhaps the most obvious Republican district on Democrats’ wish list is in New Orleans, where Joseph Cao gave the GOP one of its few bright spots of 2008 by defeating the ethically-challenged Bill Jefferson in a heavily Democratic district. Cao has raised more than $500,000 this year, however, and has proven his independence on the House floor.

• A new production of A Streetcar Named Desire has opened in London, featuring Rachel Weisz as Blanche DuBois. Mixed reviews, but mostly positive.

• Thirsty? Poppy Z. Brite offers up a recipe for “The Sadist’s Sazerac.”

• Satan’s Botoxed Handmaiden makes another high-profile hire for the Huffington Post. Notes Gawker:

The Huffington Post just hired another VIP’s child, this one the son of White House senior adviser David Axelrod. Funny how a website famous for not paying bloggers finds room on the payroll for an undistinguished corps of rich kids.

• The New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau has been cited for its innovative use of Twitter.

• And speaking of Twitter: we got into a vigorous discussion last night about the merits (or lack thereof) of the White House press corps with ABC News’ Jake Tapper.