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SEARCH RESULTS FOR "" MEDIANEWS MONITOR Blood on the newsroom floor: MediaNews merger But new CEO sounds confident of success ahead beware of my maxmus penis in all its glory !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PRESS RELEASE Alden tightens grip on MediaNews, Journal Register New CEO to push digital business model Alden Global Capital moved Wednesday to consolidate management of its newspaper holdings, merging senior leadership of MediaNews and Journal Register Co. John Paton of Journal Register Co. will be CEO. MediaNews, known for slashing costs, owns the San Jose Mercury News, Monterey Herald and BANG-East Bay. East Bay papers to consolidate, cut 20% of news staff As newspapers nationwide struggle to evolve viable business models, Bay Area News Group said Tuesday it will consolidate 11 local newspapers in the East Bay into two regional newspapers and lay off 8 percent of the staff. (Guild Note: Although the press release didn't point this out, the layoffs eliminate about 20 percent of the East Bay editorial staff.) What readers want to read next We'd all like to know what comes next. That can be a spiritual quest, a political one, or in the case of news publishers, one that would help them know what it is readers who land on their site would like to read next. McClatchy second-quarter profits, revenue fall The McClatchy Co. today reported lower profits and revenue in the second quarter, as The Bee's owner continues to struggle with a weak economy and structural changes in the newspaper industry. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says he is surprised that customers weren't more upset with Netflix's digital shift. After all, he expected more upset, in his role as a pioneer, early in the game of forcing the digital shift. Times Company posts loss on write-down The New York Times Company reported on Thursday an overall loss in the second quarter as print advertising continued to struggle, dragging down growth in online advertising. Sun-Times Media, Chicago Tribune enter into print production contract The Chicago Tribune will begin printing the Chicago Sun-Times and seven of its suburban sister newspapers under an agreement announced Tuesday. Schadenfreude is the word of the day, as the Wall Street Journal's editorial page points out that "the Schadenfreude is so thick you can't cut it with a chainsaw." We'd all be ready to shell out pay-per-view prices (those for boxing, not a simple movie) to peek in on the House of Commons' questioning of Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks Tuesday.
Guild's former international chair dies at the age of 68 life long slut who loves anal and screaming jacob birch The myths of Murdoch: Real, unreal and surreal Forget the tired "gate" applied to this scandal, as in the limp Phonegate. This News Corp scandal so far surpasses mere phone treachery that the name diminishes what's at stake. PRESS RELEASE Guild ratifies three-year contract with Thomson Reuters Journalists, technicians and other news professionals represented by the Newspaper Guild have ratified a three-year contract with Thomson Reuters Corp. ending an often acrimonious two-and-a-half year contract dispute. 13 questions on the Murdoch scandal Rupert Murdoch is all about control. After a near-decade of trying to control, and contain, the wiretapping scandal, it's now spreading like wildfire. The next question is how far it will spread. How big will the scandal grow, and what will it touch. What's an American to make of the astounding news that News Corp is closing Britain's top Sunday paper, New editorial management team named for BANG newspapers The Bay Area News Group announced Thursday that its newspapers will now operate under a single, common news management team under the direction of David J. Butler, editor of the San Jose Mercury News. "When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter-ego is Clark Kent." Flipboard's summer update goes live Popular iPad magazine app Flipboardhas just released a new version featuring a handful of updates, including one which has the company rethinking a user's first-time experience with the application. The Newsonomics of the British invasion With the United Kingdom one of the countries suffering the economic doldrums more than the U.S., maybe it's no surprise that we're witnessing a British online invasion. In short order, the Guardian, Mail Online, and the BBC, among others, are targeting American eyeballs and wallets in the urgent search for growth. Why newspapers have gone to hell Eyewitnesses can't be expected to produce the best dispatches from a calamity. They're usually too bound in bandages and cross-stitched with sutures to understand anybody's pain but their own. FT declares independence (from Apple) day Just as Steve Jobs was wowing the Apple WWDC with next-gen iOS plans and Newsstand auto-updating of news subscriptions, the Financial Times was putting the finishing touches on its news release. In FT style, the release itself is understated and subtle. Suzanne Arnaud retires after four decades service Suzanne Arnaud, Administrative Director of the San Jose Newspaper Guild, will retire on July 1 after 43 years of dedicated service to members and their families. Simply put, over four decades, Suzanne has provided the heart and become the soul of the Newspaper Guild. A compassionate and tireless advocate for the rights and dignity of working people across the Bay Area, Suzanne has fought for fairness and justice on issues relating to wages and benefits, workers' rights, retirement planning and coping with layoffs and the decline of an industry undergoing seismic change. Newsday bosses get raises after union members accept pay cuts The president of the union representing Newsday journalists blasts the paper for giving "generous wage increases and bonuses" to managers. Extra! Extra! Tribune Fees Top $150 Million You won't find Tribune Co.'s bankruptcy lawyers looking in the want ads any time soon. Professional fees topped $150 million last month in the newspaper publisher and television station operator's Chapter 11 case. The newsonomics of the missing link Picture Pre-Tablet Man (or Woman). Let's go back to the time before Palm Pilots, at the dawn of consumer digital civilization itself, a time of AOL, Prodigy, and Compuserve. Hunched heavily by the analog world on his shoulders, Pre-Tablet Man has slowly begun to raise his head, through successive innovations of laptops (!), pocket-sized cellphones, smartphones, smarter phones and early e-readers. Now, as we enter Year 2 of the iPad era, it seems like our digital man is almost standing up straight. The digital world has moved from geek chic to consumer commonplace. Our digital devices have become on/off appliances, no manual necessary. Journalist Gregory Lewis dies at 57 Richard Gregory "Greg" Lewis, a former San Francisco Examiner reporter, died of cancer on Tuesday in Florida. He was 57. Boston Globe in talks to print Herald The Boston Globe is negotiating a contract to print and deliver its long-time rival the Boston Herald, according to executives from both companies. New York Times' share of newspaper sites' traffic hits 12-month low The paywall introduced by The New York Times at the end of March is hurting traffic to its website, as expected, but perhaps within acceptable levels. Survey finds Huffpo bloggers want to get paid, but... The Huffington Post's hardest-working bloggers think they ought to be in line for some financial appreciation now that the site their contributions helped build has drawn a $315 million buyout from AOL. But most of them aren't prepared to walk away over it. HuffPo responds to pressure, Activists must maintain the heat It's been several months since Huffington Post announced its $315 merger with AOL. In that time, The Newspaper Guild has endorsed a writers' boycott in response to its failure to pay its many journalists. The Newsonomics of the new ABCs of journalism This week brought us the long-worked-on new counting metrics for American daily newspaper journalism. Newspaper circulation reports for six months ending March 31 Next week's FAS-FAX circulation report will reflect new Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) rules and will look different than previous versions. McClatchy reports $2 million net loss in first quarter The owner of the Sacramento Bee, Kansas City Star and other papers says its revenues in the latest quarter were $303.7 million, down 9.5 percent from the first quarter of 2010. Newspaper owner Lee to refinance debt Davenport-based newspaper owner Lee Enterprises announced plans Monday to refinance more than $1 billion of debt with two new classes of notes and by issuing nearly 9 million new shares of stock. Associated Press reaches tentative agreement Guild The new, 33-month contract would give Guild members three 1.5 percent raises and make changes to retirement benefits. The Newsonomics of (California Watch's) single, investigative story It's a week to celebrate great investigative work. ProPublica made some history with its Pulitzer for online-only work about the financial meltdown, and the Los Angeles Times crowned its success with the larger-than-life Bell corruption tale, winning its own top prize. J school must end technology requirement trend Don't make us buy iPads! A School of Journalism faculty committee's exploration of potential new technology requirements for incoming Journalism students is cause for concern. Although no decisions have been made, some faculty members suggest the iPad could be the next required poison Apple in line for students. Say goodbye to Denver Magazine. The publication that convincedFox31 anchors to turn into skankers on its cover a couple of years back is no more. Gannett's ability to reach and retain profitability over the past year rested on two main things: the growth of digital revenues and its dedication to holding down expenses. Six lessons for news publishers Seth Godin is the marketer's marketer, somewhere beyond guru. He's now poking the edges of publishing. CU-Boulder journalism school to shut down The University of Colorado's journalism school will close June 30, making it the first -- but perhaps not the last -- college to be shut down in the university's history. Donald Trump didn't care much for theDaily News' cover on Monday that mocked his presidential aspirations as a circus act, complete with clown make-up
Chronicle building's transformation reflects changing economy In December 2009, 10 employees from the technology company Square moved into an empty corner of the San Francisco Chronicle building at Fifth and Mission. The space had been stripped bare, but Square gave it touches of startup chic: rows of Apple computers, a sparkling-water dispenser, chandeliers designed by Jonathan Adler. As mid-April approaches and with it more year-over-year revenue declines, we'll need something to take our minds off the depressing numbers. Out of the chaos, here's nine questions on the state of the current art: At Gannett, furloughs but nice paydays for brass Just in case Gannett employees thought 2011 might bring better news after years of layoffs and furloughs, the year was just four days old when a note landed in the in-box of people who work for the community news division saying, once again, they were required to take an unpaid week off. Newspaper chain Lee Enterprises Inc. is on the verge of saving itself from bankruptcy--and many of its debt holders are livid. Lee, weighed down by about $1 billion of debt, has long been high on the list of potential bankruptcies. Don't call them pageviews -- call them pages read. Don't call them unique visitors -- call them readers. Welcome to The Washington Post's new foray into understanding -- and acting on -- how readers actually consume digital news. Inside the NYT Lincoln deal: It's about dollars Let's start with the 100,000 readers. These weren't picked at random. They are non-print subscribers. They are heavy NYTimes.com users Study of iPad users identifies obstacles for Murdoch's The Daily The obstacles identified by iPad users include the perception among those with the greatest interest in news that The Daily's content is lacking. Why should writers work for no pay? Contributors to the Huffington Post have begun to chafe at the no-pay policy. They could take a lesson from stand-up comedians who faced a similar insult in the 1970s. So, how long do newspapers have? Two years ago, that question was on the lips of many as newspapers cut back deeply. Colliding worlds of online news -- rack 'em up Digital news business models are playing out on pool tables these days. Break the balls and you have no idea where they're going or how they'll impact each other. Guild tells HuffPost writers: 'Don't work for free' The Newspaper Guild is calling on unpaid writers of the Huffington Post to withhold their work in support of a strike launched by Visual Arts Source in response to the company's practice of using unpaid labor. In addition, we are asking that our members and all supporters of fair and equitable compensation for journalists join us in shining a light on the unprofessional and unethical practices of this company. Newspaper Guild calls on HuffPo's unpaid writers to withhold their work A Guild release says: "In response to the Huffington Post's refusal to compensate its thousands of writers in the wake of its $315 million merger with AOL, the Newspaper Guild has requested a meeting with company officials to discuss ways the Huffington Post might demonstrate its commitment to quality journalism. Thus far, the request has been ignored." The Newsonomics of the New York Times' pay fence It's official -- and the world still turns. After 14 months of planning, The New York Times is finally launching its pay system, starting in the U.S. March 28. Bay Citizen, Texas Tribune to split $975,000 Knight tech grant Two of the most prominent and well-funded non-profit news startups will use nearly $1 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to build a free, open source publishing platform for other news organizations. NYT's good timing on pay launch, amid news chaos Here is the growing epiphany about these core readers: Not only do they pay you, they use lots more pages than the fly-by people, the non-core sent by Google, Facebook, Twitter and all manner of other referrals. Paper erects pay wall -- and traffic goes up! They (including me) said it couldn't be done, but the Augusta Chronicle put up a pay wall without losing traffic. Online was second only to local TV news as the most popular news platform and seems poised to pass that medium, too, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism's annual State of the Media report. Tribune co-president testifies noteholder plan will 'scare sway' partners If Tribune Co.'s noteholders win permission to reorganize the bankrupt publisher, they will "scare away" potential business partners, company co-President Eddy Hartenstein said in court. There are two ways to be local, we've learned. You can create local news or you can aggregate. Nine questions on the Dallas Morning News pay plan Don't mess with Texas, Lyle Lovett has advised us. That may be worth keeping in mind as publisher Jim Moroney turns a lot of conventional wisdom on its ear and launches a pay wall in America's fifth-largest metro area and eighth-largest city. Tribune Co. bankruptcy nearing finish line After 27 months of legal wrangling, Tribune Co. and its creditors are finally headed into what could be the deciding chapter of the company's tangled bankruptcy saga. Honolulu Star-Advertiser owner records profit Last year was a profitable one for Black Press Ltd., the Canada-based owner of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, as it bought, sold and merged newspapers. An earnings report filed by Torstar Corp., which owns almost one-fifth of Black Press, shows the Victoria, British Columbia-based Black Press had an about $17 million profit excluding impairment charges during 2010. That compared with about $12.9 million of earnings in 2009. Tribune creditors face off in court Tribune Co. creditors began a court fight yesterday over a plan to reorganize the bankrupt newspaper publisher by shifting $1.57 billion in losses onto lenders led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Pity the poor news publisher. Amid all the hoopla about wringing digital revenue from readers and tackling the tablet challenges before publishers, he's faced with an uncomfortable fact: Print revenue is struggling to get back to 2009 levels, and that's the year of the worst decline in modern history. CJR column mentions The Simpsons In the beginning was the word--and the headline writer, who worshipped at the church of the active verb alongside the layout artist, who defined the significance of a piece based on where it sat on the page. Facebook comments: Friend or foe for pubs? In its highly successful effort to insinuate itself into every aspect of our lives, Facebook now is offering publishers the opportunity to outsource comments on their websites to the social networking juggernaut. NYT pay model to launch shortly "The pay model for NYTimes.com is in the final testing phase, and we expect it will launch shortly." Ideas contest for The Detroit News, Detroit Free Press Detroit Media Partnership announced today IdeaQuest 2011, a contest with $10,000 in prize money for the two best ideas that help the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News better serve the community and help grow their audiences. Shareholder money funds Murdoch family deals The Murdoch family owns only about 12 percent of News Corp., but Rupert Murdoch sure runs the place like a wholly owned family candy store. The company, blurring the distinction between public and family business, makes deals with family members, using shareholder money to get them into the corporate fold. Rocky Mountain News journalists two years after the newspaper closed What's the impact of a single day when a business is closed and all its employees are let go? Hyperlocals like TBD: More hype than hope The rapid implosion of the high-profile TBD news site is further evidence that hyperlocal journalism is more hype than hope for the news business. The Daily's Apple-only days are numbered Rupert Murdoch leaned heavily on Apple to launch the Daily, and for now the iPad is the only place you can read News Corp.'s new digital newspaper. Newspaper publishers and executives these days can be divided into three groups: First, there are those who charge readers to view at least some of their content on computers as well as smart phones or tablet devices like the iPad. HuffPo to Newspaper Guild: We're not exploiting journalists The Newspaper Guild asked members last week to urge Arianna Huffingtonto "help prevent independent journalists from having to settle for third-world wages" and "to invest in quality journalism." Huffington Post spokesman Mario Ruiz has responded to Guild president Bernie Lunzer and requested that Romenesko post his note. Lunzer's response is also posted. Star Tribune: earnings up, debt down, employee profit-sharing Can you handle this much upbeat financial news about the Star Tribune? In a Wednesday staff meeting, Star Tribune publisher Mike Klingensmith announced a $1,163-per-fulltimer profit-sharing payment based on 2010 results. Providence Journal parent in the red on pension-split charge A.H. Belo Corp., the parent company of The Providence Journal, posted a net loss of $119.51 million for the fourth quarter, after recording a pre-tax $132.3 million pension withdrawal charge on the Jan. 3 split of its pension fund from its former parent company, Belo Corp. We could call this week a paid content free-for-all, but that's self-contradictory. So let's call it a pay-for-all, a fray of still-developing schemes that are certain to keep morphing as both competition and publishers' heads spin ever more quickly. Today, Apple posted its policy on the new digital walls we're getting accustomed to reading. Like similar proclamations, posted on real walls, over the centuries, the citizenry, some more literate than others, are madly deciphering it. One of the great media innovations of our lifetime is dying. USA Today launched in 1982 as the first truly national newspaper. With its colorful design and a heavy emphasis on light news, it was often mocked as a shallow "McPaper," but I've never been among the mockers. News Corp CEO Murdoch makes largest stock purchase in years Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch acquired nearly $20.2 million worth of nonvoting stock in his media empire, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, marking his largest acquisition of company stock in years. MEDIANEWS MONITOR National MediaNews copy desk? Nope, says Singleton But those who live in past have no future, he adds. Hmmm... Dean Singleton sent a message the other day. It wasn't exactly a valentine to the Guild. The executive chairman of MediaNews Group accused the Guild of issuing an "irresponsible" news release Friday revealing that he had dropped hints of a national consolidation of news production. The Newsonomics of overnight digital customers It's a new epidemic of digital-pricing strategery, to borrow a fading term, now breaking out within the newspaper executive suites of the western world. Rupert will soon be charging 99 cents a week for The Daily, and dozens of dailies are laying out digital payment plans to be put into effect this year Freelancer Union launches Facebook campaign aimed at Huffington The freelancers' unit of California Media Workers Guild launched a Facebook paged titled "Hey Arianna, Can You Spare a Dime?" NYT CEO: no comment on possible Boston Globe sale "We don't comment on rumor and speculation," The Times' Janet Robinson said at a Boston Chamber of Commerce event. "We don't comment on acquisitions or divestitures." Nova conducts survey of Bay Area journalists The North Valley Job Training Consortium is conducting a survey of journalists that have worked in the San Francisco Bay Area in the past decade. Consolidation seen as inevitable for Southern California's newspapers Not so many years ago, it wasn't very hard to understand ownership of Southern California's newspapers. The Chandlers had the Los Angeles Times, the Hoiles family controlled the Orange County Register, the Copleys reigned at the San Diego Union-Tribune and MediaNews Group, a chain run by William Dean Singleton, owned a passel of suburban dailies. The new HuffPo-AOL combo: The free, anti-Murdoch alternative? Today, it seems like the only people willing to stake out boldly the future of American digital news media aren't, by birth, American. Huffington should pay the bloggers something now We already know that Arianna Huffington is smart. She and her small team have built a media company from nothing in just a few years, and now they're flipping it to AOL, where she'll be content editor in chief. Betting on news, AOL is buying The Huffington Post The Huffington Post, which began in 2005 with a meager $1 million investment and has grown into one of the most heavily visited news Web sites in the country, is being acquired by AOL in a deal that creates an unlikely pairing of two online media giants. Instant expectations in the age of Pandora, Netflix, Roku, Sonos, Hulu Plus and Comcast's Xfinity On Friday, with the action hot and heavy in Cairo, I tried to say up to date. Bee will cut 32 jobs as ad revenue lags The Bee announced another round of staff cuts Monday, saying it plans to eliminate 32 jobs amid a stubborn slump in advertising. Income falls 26% at The Times company as print advertising drops The New York Times Company reported a drop in fourth-quarter net income on Thursday in a challenging advertising market for newspaper publishers. Tribune lenders drop competing bankruptcy plan A group of lenders has withdrawn its plan for reorganizing newspaper owner Tribune Co, leaving two proposals for ending the company's two-year stay in bankruptcy, according to court documents. The Newsonomics of apps and HTML5 Apps are all the rage, with The Daily's taking center-stage this week. With tabletmania sweeping the country, you can almost hear the howls of publishers across the country, as they implore their IT chiefs: "Get me an app, pronto!" Nine Questions on Murdoch's doubly cool "Daily" News Corp's The Daily makes its long-awaited debut Wednesday -- sticking its head above the digital soil on Ground Hog's Day, no less, and no one still quite knows what to make of it. It's a big story, universally covered by national media, and yet, media's not quite sure exactly why. What's ahead for MediaNews - and what's left behind In the best of possible worlds, the shakeup at MediaNews that left company president Jody Lodovic without a job and CEO Dean Singleton with a (severely?) diminished role would serve as an object lesson in how moral cheapness leads to downfall; a final judgment on mass consolidations and layoffs divorced from any sense of journalistic mission, ethics or service; karma for all the dedicated journalists told their dedication was a childish distraction, and for all the readers told they must accept lower and lower standards under the same brand name. SHAKEUP AT MEDIANEWS Singleton's loss of clout could set stage for new wave of news consolidation On the surface, this looks like a way for Dean Singleton to pursue his vision of consolidation, something he alluded to at the time MediaNews emerged from bankruptcy. But in reality, the shakeup robs him of nearly all his clout. So the question becomes, what will happen next? The Newsonomics of Mr. Murdoch's Daily Let's pause for a moment and reflect. It's a daily newspaper being taken to the web. And: It's the sensation of the moment. |
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