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RECENT NEWS Colorado mulls shutting down journalism school The University of Colorado at Boulder is considering the possibility of discontinuing its School of Journalism and Mass Communications "for strategic and budgetary reasons," the state's flagship university announced Wednesday. The executive editor of The Washington Times says the owner of the financially troubled newspaper has reached a preliminary agreement to sell the paper to a company affiliated with the Unification Church. Washington Post Co. shares rebound on bullish Barron's article Back in April, Barron's said The Washington Post Co. "may be the most undervalued media company in America," with a share price that was "dirt cheap." With the stock having plunged since then, the financial weekly repeated its assessment even more firmly over the weekend. Albany Times Union ordered to reinstate 11 axed employees The Times Union in Albany, N.Y., violated federal labor law in 2009 when it laid off 11 employees without negotiating criteria with their union, an administrative law judge has ruled -- and the newspaper has been ordered to reinstate the workers with benefits as well as back pay. Honolulu Advertiser vets create 'Metromix'-like Website Former Honolulu Advertiser staffers on Monday launched a Website patterned after the Metromix entertainment site at the former Gannett Co. daily. Tribune bankruptcy plan collapses; JPMorgan, Angelo Gordon Ankle The Tribune Co.'s plan to emerge from bankruptcy has unraveled in the wake of an independent report concluding that talks leading up to the company's 2007 leveraged buyout bordered on fraud, attorneys said Friday. Imagine if the New York Times gave $1 million to the Democratic Party I'm sure curious what Fox News talkers like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck make of the news that their corporate bosses recently contributed $1 million to the re-election drive of Republican governors nationwide. Unfortunately we don't know what the talkers think of the stunning development because there's apparently been a news blackout inside Fox News and it appears nobody on staff is allowed to discuss the embarrassing development, let alone try to defend the actions. Unions say Sun-Times parent cutting ex-workers health benefits without court O.K. Unions representing former employees of the Sun-Times Media Group Inc. are seeking information from the company in a dispute over termination of health insurance benefits.
News Corp. gives Republicans $1 million With Republicans hoping to recapture a number of statehouses in November, the media conglom- erate headed by Rupert Murdoch is inserting itself into the races in bold fashion with a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association. Rupert's $1 million Republican gift: Why it matters Why has News Corp's million dollar gift to the Republican Governors Association gotten so much attention? I think there are a few top-of-mind reasons and one -- a little paper called the Wall Street Journal -- that forms the subtext here. No newspaper growth until 2014, VSS forecast says Declines in newspaper spending are expected to slow this year, with the market eventually stabilizing by 2013 and growth beginning in 2014. But with spending of only $36.76 billion in that year, newspapers will not come close to the $66.37 billion in peak spending the industry saw in 2005, according to the Veronis Suhler Stevenson Communications Industry Forecast 2004-2014. Bankruptcy judge again gives Tribune Co. more time A Delaware judge has agreed to again extend deadlines in the Tribune Co.'s bankruptcy as the company continues negotiating with creditors. Nine questions on Patch's new push It's Patch day in the news news world, as AOL formally announces the expansion of its network of local sites. It's really a ratification of what we've been hearing, as CEO Tim Armstrong stakes his reborn company's future on professional news content creation, here, specifically local. The number bandied about: $50 million in investment in Patch, resulting in 500 local sites across 20 states by the end of the year. AOL's plan to own your neighborhood AOL's effort to own America's local news, said it has grown to 100 sites in 20 states, up from six sites since the company bought the fledgling news startup in June 2009. AOL also said it hopes to be in 500 communities by year's end. Tribune Co. asks bankruptcy judge for more time Tribune Co., citing "vigorous negotiations" toward a new settlement with its creditors, asked the judge in its bankruptcy case for more time to work out a reorganization plan that "would maximize consensus" around a deal. Murdoch dreams of a digital newspaper Murdoch may be the world's most successful newspaper man, with a history of outsized reach and profits (though, now, fading) in Australia and the UK, but here, in the US newspaper business, he's only ever been a dud. The Newsonomics of TBD's new D.C. news site Thirsting for good news, the welcome given TBD.com by news observers has been a bit overwhelming. In a desert of too-scarce good news about the news business, TBD represents one of the potential oases, like its smaller -- and largely nonprofit -- counterparts from San Diego to Austin to the Twin Cities to New York. Zell to bankruptcy court: If lower creditors get money back, I want mine Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell is demanding his share of repayment in the media company's bankruptcy if lower-priority creditors, emboldened by a recently released examiner's report, get anything. News Corp. plans national newspaper for tablet computers and cellphones It's the latest bid by a major media company to build readership using new devices such as the iPad. The new publication would offer short, snappy stories and operate under the auspices of the New York Post. Point Reyes shines 'Light' on L3C ownership For the past couple of years there's been a lot of buzz about the so-called L3C ownership model, which theoretically would let papers continue to operate as if they were for-profits, but also allow them to accepted tax-deductible donations and foundation money. Theoretically, because no newspaper has actually tried organizing that way -- until now. The write stuff: A Yahoo stylebook If you strolled by a copy editor's desk at any metro newsroom thirty years ago, you would have likely seen, sandwiched between the pica pole and the Carter's Rubber Cement, a well-worn, dog-eared version of the Associated Press Stylebook. Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism considers $5,000 annual fee "I am writing to seek your advice and suggestions as we contemplate an annual fee for future students at the Graduate School of Journalism" -- Dean Neil Henry. Newsday to hire 34 journalists, add news/opinion pages "In a big step forward on boosting our local coverage, during the next six months we will hire 34 new journalists for our newsroom and digital teams" -- Debby Krenek. Zell not responsible for paying Tribune Co. returement fund losses, says judge A judge has ruled that Sam Zell can't be made to pay for his company's retirement fund losses -- a blow to workers who claim the Tribune Co. CEO caused the company's employee stock ownership plan to lose value, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. Canceling Que, Plastic Logic works on next-gen e-reader Plastic Logic has revised its product strategy, canceling introduction of its original Que e-reader in favor of development of a next-generation ProReader. The company had planned to ship the thin, lightweight, large-screen Que this summer. New journalism ventures in the works In a city filled with unemployed reporters, creative talent, and entrepreneurial spirit, journalism experiments abound. Among the new efforts brewing in Seattle are 10 projects that came out of the "Journalism That Matters" conference at the University of Washington in January.
Chronicle's David Perlman wins lifetime award Chronicle Science Editor David Perlman has been honored with a lifetime achievement award for a journalism career that spans seven decades. Perlman took his first job at The Chronicle in 1940 and, except for some time off to serve in World War II and a stint at the International Herald Tribune, he has been spitting out newspaper stories at the San Francisco paper ever since. TBD: First takes on the launch For a multimedia site, TBD showed some media savvy, lining up a media briefing today, complete with visuals, numerous staffers and a sampling of local bloggers who've joined the TBD Community Network. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newsroom staffers stage symbolic walkout In what was described as a symbolic action on Aug. 9, 38 editors and reporters walked out of the downtown Pittsburgh Post-Gazette building, ABC television station WTAE. Washington Post Co. stock tumbles on for-profit education warning The Washington Post Co. (WPO) stock was hammered in midday trading Friday, and was off 10.5% at the noon hour. Earlier in the day, WPO set a new 52-week low of $363.71 -- a little more than four months after hitting a 52-week high of $547.18 a share. E.W. Scripps reports Q2 results The E.W. Scripps Company on Monday said total segment expenses for its newspapers were down 3.8% from the prior-year period to $93.4 million. Second-quarter segment profit in the newspaper division was $14.6 million, down 5.6% from $15.4 million in Q2 2009. Billionaire philanthropy Bingo: How 'bout 1% for News? You see A15, I say A1. Found in the print New York Times, page 15, but a big story for the country, and one that could be a big one for the next generation of news media. Murdoch: iPad is 'game changer' that will get youth reading newspapers News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has been leading the charge among media executives to get customers to pay for things they are used to getting for free online, like news stories. New journalism is hungry for new business models. Beyond millions in foundation start-up support, what will sustain these enterprises? Forget the content flow, Watch the money flow Some things never change, like people trying to get between us and our wallets. Or in this case, the long-struggling electronic wallets that have never quite caught on in the U S of A, as they have in Japan and South Korea (broadband penetration: 95% and counting). Morningstar: New York Times Co. stock still overvalued Shares of The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT), which led the newspaper sectors with a 6.7% increase Monday on a 58 cents gain to $9.32, have also followed the sector by sliding significantly in value since hitting a 52-week high of $14.87 back on Jan. 11. N.Y. Times Co. to license technology for mobile platform apps The New York Times Co. announced it is launching Press Engine, a business that later this year will license technology to help other publishers put their content on mobile platforms. Wash. Post Co. inks deal to sell Newsweek Sidney Harman, the 91-year-old founder of audio equipment maker Harman International Industries, has agreed to buy Newsweek, ending a nearly half-century chapter for the magazine as part of The Washington Post Co. McClatchy 2Q earnings plunge but ad slump eases McClatchy Co.'s second-quarter earnings plunged as the newspaper publisher shouldered higher costs on its debt to buy more time to recover from a bedeviling ad slump. Thomson Reuters Q2 profit slips 8% News and information provider Thomson Reuters Corp. said Thursday its second-quarter net income fell 8% on weakness in its legal and markets divisions. The company is still recovering from last year's economic downturn, which put a crimp in budgets at many of the law firms and financial institutions that it counts as customers. Study: Newspapers sink below internet and TV as information sources Newspapers continue to be seen as less important at their primary job -- being sources of information -- according to the latest edition of the nine-year-old Digital Future Project from the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism. How WikiLeaks is changing the news power structure WikiLeaks' Julian Assange has figured out that on the Internet, being homeless means you don't have to play by anybody's rules. Stockton Record says paywall a success so far The Record figured it would lose half its viewership online and unique users, but has lost just between 30 and 35% of its page views and only a quarter of its unique users. Zell's not the bad guy In Tribune Co.'s collapse The exhaustive report of the independent examiner in Tribune Co.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case doesn't name names when it charges the 2007 going-private deal may very well have been a "fraudulent conveyance," that is, so overloaded with debt that the Chicago media giant was insolvent from day one. News flash! Circulation up 1042%! Wow. If the multi-platform strategy -- newspapers, online editions, replica e-editions, iPad editions, smartphone editions, holographic ones to come -- works, we'll see circulation reports unlike those ever reported. That's because ABC, the industry's Audit Bureau of Circulations, has loosened its counting standards yet again. Circ accounts for nearly 30% of total revenue at Dallas Morning News parent A.H. Belo Circ is really pulling its weight at A.H. Belo Corp. In a conference call with analysts Monday afternoon, Belo executives said revenue from circulation now accounts for 29.2% of total revenue, principally a result of higher subscription prices at its flagship Dallas Morning News. Judge to Conrad Black: No Canada for you A federal judge ordered Conrad Black to surrender his passport Friday, meaning the former media mogul can't return to his home in Canada now that he's free on $2 million bond. On Gannett's plans to create five centralized design centers After Gannett recently announced plans to create five centralized centers to handle most of the design demands at its community newspapers, the Society for News Design responded with an open letter on the value of design. I never had a personal investment in that space between the words, but as part of my job, it was my duty to point out that it should exist. It was a job that suited my tendency to worry about details, but one that also forced me to engage in unexpectedly absurd conversations. New York Times Co. Q2 profit doubles as revenue turns positive The New York Times Co. became the first big newspaper publisher to report top-line growth in its second-quarter results, with total revenue increasing 1.2% from a year ago. |
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