Narcissistic linking disorder (NLD): an ailment whereby mainstream news organisations link more frequently to themselves than to anyone else. And on average, they do – a shocking 91 percent of the time – despite their best philosophical intentions, according to a recent study by Mark Coddington at the University of Texas, Austin. On the other side of the navel-gazing spectrum, independent bloggers link to themselves only 18 percent of the time on average. Poynter’s Andrew Beaujon reports.

The Guardian News and Media, parent company of the Guardian and Observernewspapers, is expected to announce job cuts in the near future, following publishing losses of about £45m in the financial year ending in March 2012, the Telegraph andMediaWeek report.

The rumours from All Things D have been confirmed. The media and technology network GigaOM has announced that it is buying ContentNext Media, owner of the digital media blog paidContent, from Guardian News & Media for an undisclosed amount.

As part of the deal, a GNM representative will sit on GigaOM's board of directors as an observer, and will become a minority shareholder in the company.

Staci Kramer will continue as editor of paidContent, and executive editor of ContentNext Media, Ernie Sander, will become executive editor of paidContent's and GigaOM's combined online operations. GigaOM's managing editor Nicole Solis has been made vice president of editorial operations.

GNM bought ContentNext in July 2008 in order to build market presence in the US, writes paidContent. However, GNM has been looking for a buyer for the site since last November as it focuses on building up its own US site, guardiannews.com.

Are international editions a luxury that newspapers with declining circulation can't afford?

In this digital age, increasingly it looks like international print editions are under threat. An article in The Guardian last Sunday speculated that the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of the New York Times, might be about to shut up shop. Author Peter Preston writes that after selling its stake in the Boston Red Sox and its regional newspaper group, getting rid of the Tribune might be the logical next step for the New York Times.

Preston calls the Tribune "very vulnerable" as senior editors are being called back from the IHT headquarters in Paris to other jobs in New York. He notes that the paper "doesn't make money. It struggles to keep circulation over 200,000 worldwide. And, crucially, it doesn't have a website of its own".

The article is based on conjecture (and it should be pointed out, The Guardian's own circulation was 230,108 in December and it has been losing money for some time) but perhaps Preston raises an important point about the cost of printing international editions. When print production everywhere is under threat, it's no surprise that they're the first to go.

Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of marketing group WPP, said governments might need to subsidise newspapers such as the Guardian, if they continue losing money and reach a point that could terminate their businesses, Media Guardian reported.

Sorrell said in an interview with Arabian Business that "governments probably have to decide whether consolidation and media titles going out of business is the right thing from an editorial point of view... The electorate is going to say whether they believe there should be more subsidies for traditional media."

He specified one example of the Guardian, which is currently going through cost-cutting plans to make up for losses. Sorrell said the government may have to consider subsidising the paper or give tax advantages "to people to subsidise it".

"For example, The Guardian newspaper loses money. In the long-term it can't go on losing money. So let us say, hypothetically, that The Guardian could not continue to lose money after a certain period, then you would have to think about whether the government should subsidise it, or whether you give tax advantages to people to subsidise it. There are plenty of ways to skin that particular cow," according to Arabian Business.