The Ticker: NBC, Hill, Koppel’s Toothpaste…

> An NBC tipster tells TVNewser: “Reports are as many as 100 people may be laid off from NBC News before the first of the year. Also: producers in L.A. have been told they no longer work for an individual show but NBC News in general, and they will take on producing reports for Access Hollywood that recently let 14 people go.” True?…

> Update: 12:54pm: Another tipster adds: “It is true that as part of 2.0 we’re all girding for some people being let go across the board — NBC, MS, CNBC. But we’ve been told it will be done through attrition and buyouts, and there won’t be outright layoffs. More importantly, at the bureaus, people work for the network not individual shows…”

> Find out how Erica Hill got bit by the journalism bug and ended up at CNN (via ICN)…

> In case you care: Ted Koppel arrived at Reagan National yesterday “without a clear plastic bag and a too-large tube of toothpaste in his shaving kit,” the Washington Post dutifully reports (via Extreme Mortman)…

> Writing for Media Matters, Eric Boehlert says “the press appears to be turning away” from the Iraq war “just as nervous Republicans nationwide are also turning away from it…”

> Thanks to the e-mailers who have forwarded today’s Olbermann item; because it’s a sensitive security issue, I’m choosing not to link to it…