http://www.mnguild.org Minnesota Newspaper Guild Typographical Union Copyright 2009 Minnesota Newspaper Guild Typographical Union en-us Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:53:27 -0400 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:53:27 -0400 http://www.sjguild.org/rss/jpg/MNGuild.jpg http://www.mnguild.org 140 55 http://finance.yahoo.com/news/McClatchy-2Q-earnings-plunge-apf-4153383502.html?x=0 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. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/McClatchy-2Q-earnings-plunge-apf-4153383502.html?x=0 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/thomson-reuters-q2-profit-slips-8-62148-.aspx 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. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/thomson-reuters-q2-profit-slips-8-62148-.aspx http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/study-newspapers-sink-below-internet-and-tv-as-information-sources-62127-.aspx 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. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/study-newspapers-sink-below-internet-and-tv-as-information-sources-62127-.aspx http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=101&aid=187619 WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange has figured out that on the Internet, being homeless means you don’t have to play by anybody’s rules. http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=101&aid=187619 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/stockton-record-says-paywall-a-success-so-far-62122-.aspx 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. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/stockton-record-says-paywall-a-success-so-far-62122-.aspx http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/zell's-not-the-bad-guy-in-tribune-co-'s-collapse-62120-.aspx 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. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/zell's-not-the-bad-guy-in-tribune-co-'s-collapse-62120-.aspx http://newsonomics.com/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. http://newsonomics.com/news-flash-circulation-up-1042/ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/'update-circ-accounts-for-nearly-30-of-total-revenue-at-'dallas-morning-news'-parent-a-h-belo-62097-.aspx 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. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/'update-circ-accounts-for-nearly-30-of-total-revenue-at-'dallas-morning-news'-parent-a-h-belo-62097-.aspx http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/judge-to-conrad-black-no-canada-for-you-62095-.aspx 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. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/judge-to-conrad-black-no-canada-for-you-62095-.aspx http://www.snd.org/2010/07/a-qa-with-gannetts-kate-marymont/ 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. http://www.snd.org/2010/07/a-qa-with-gannetts-kate-marymont/ http://www.theawl.com/2010/07/what-its-really-like-to-be-a-copy-editor 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. http://www.theawl.com/2010/07/what-its-really-like-to-be-a-copy-editor http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/new-york-times-co-q2-profit-doubles-as-revenue-turns-positive-62071-.aspx 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. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/new-york-times-co-q2-profit-doubles-as-revenue-turns-positive-62071-.aspx http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/in-suprise-fcc-defends-loosened-newspaper-cross-ownership-rules-but-copps-vows-tighter-ban-62065-.aspx In a surprise move, the Democrat-controlled Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Wednesday defended changes to media cross-ownership rules adopted in the George W. Bush administration that loosened somewhat the ban on same-market common ownership of a newspaper and broadcast station. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/in-suprise-fcc-defends-loosened-newspaper-cross-ownership-rules-but-copps-vows-tighter-ban-62065-.aspx http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/update-conrad-black-released-from-prison-on-2-million-bond-62064-.aspx Conrad Black walked out of a federal prison in Coleman, Fla., Wednesday afternoon after 28 months of incarceration. Earlier in the day, a federal judge set bond at $2 million, ruling that the former media mogul can’t leave the continental United States and must return to a Chicago courtroom to receive further conditions of his release. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/update-conrad-black-released-from-prison-on-2-million-bond-62064-.aspx http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/18/BABG1EEB55.DTL KQED Public Media will increase its local news content and integrate radio and online formats starting today when 10 newscasts are added to 88.5 FM and made instantly available in audio on kqednews.org. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/18/BABG1EEB55.DTL http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/help-wanted-classified-revenue-actually-turns-positive-as-lee-enterprises-swings-to-q3-profit-62048-.aspx Lee Enterprises Inc. reported a profit for its third fiscal quarter ended June 27 on ad revenue that remained stubbornly on the decline even as it improved from the year-ago quarter. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/help-wanted-classified-revenue-actually-turns-positive-as-lee-enterprises-swings-to-q3-profit-62048-.aspx http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/judge-oks-settlement-to-change-charleston-newspaper-joa-62044-.aspx A federal judge granted final approval to changes to the Charleston, W.Va., joint operating agreement (JOA) that is intended to bolster the Charleston Daily Mail. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/judge-oks-settlement-to-change-charleston-newspaper-joa-62044-.aspx http://newsguild.org/index.php?ID=9313 The Newspaper Guild-CWA is among 22 media groups that have signed onto a "friend of the court" brief supporting the Westboro Baptist Church’s right to picket service members’ funerals, offensive picket signs and vituperative outbursts notwithstanding. http://newsguild.org/index.php?ID=9313 http://newsguild.org/index.php?ID=9318 The Newspaper Guild, CWA and NABET formally entered the debate over media concentration this week with a joint submission to the Federal Communications Commission, which is conducting a quadrennial review of its media ownership rules. http://newsguild.org/index.php?ID=9318 http://ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4894 It’s important to remember that the era of digital journalism is still in its very early stages. It’s going to evolve dramatically over the years. That means that many of the truths about online news that we hold to be self-evident aren’t written in stone, etched in granite or ready to be taken to the bank. http://ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4894 http://newsonomics.com/gannetts-whimper-bang-show-strategies-plainly-in-flux/ Gannett’s second quarter announcements: A whimper and a bang. The whimper comes from its tepid revenue data. The bang from its coincident statement that it is joining its newspaper colleagues in the Yahoo Newspaper Consortium. http://newsonomics.com/gannetts-whimper-bang-show-strategies-plainly-in-flux/ http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/07/the-newsonomics-of-the-dead-cat-bounce/ The season’s upon us, as newspaper and media companies announce their second-quarter earnings. At least some of the companies will announce: fewer than used to a couple of years ago, as Tribune has gone private (and banko), metros like Philly and Minneapolis have moved to private hands, MediaNews releases less information than it used to, and Dow Jones’ results are less decipherable, aggregated within News Corp. news division results. http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/07/the-newsonomics-of-the-dead-cat-bounce/ http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/14/conrad-black-71-million-tax-bill-personal-finance-black-fights-irs.html Imprisoned former media baron Conrad M. Black is fighting a $71 million bill from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, which says from 1998 to 2003 he filed no tax returns and paid absolutely nothing on $120 million in taxable income. http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/14/conrad-black-71-million-tax-bill-personal-finance-black-fights-irs.html http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Gannett-2Q-expected-to-show-apf-2290483486.html?x=0&.v=1 The prolonged slump has helped make the year-to-year comparisons progressively easier. Although Gannett executives haven’t made any promises, there’s a growing sense that it might not be much longer before newspaper advertising begins to increase again. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Gannett-2Q-expected-to-show-apf-2290483486.html?x=0&.v=1 http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=144943 At a time when many newsrooms are contracting or consolidating, the BBC is growing its editorial operations with an original news site aimed at the American audience. http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=144943 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/gannett-rolls-out-cci-newsgate-creates-page-production-hubs-61977-.aspx Gannett Blog posted on July 13 a note to staff from The Cincinnati Enquirer’s executive editor, Tom Callinan, confirming that Gannett will implement a national page-production network using five hubs for the work. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/gannett-rolls-out-cci-newsgate-creates-page-production-hubs-61977-.aspx http://newsonomics.com/weigel-and-nasr-sins-put-the-church-of-high-integrity-on-trial/ I’ve always been a faithful disciple, worshipping at the altar of Church and State. (And of the Reverend Al Green, but that’s another story.) I’ve resisted commercial pressures and been party to painful terminations when staffers violated rules bringing the newspaper’s integrity or credibility into question. http://newsonomics.com/weigel-and-nasr-sins-put-the-church-of-high-integrity-on-trial/ http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2010/07/13/19650/journalism_onlines_press_paywall_easy_to_defeat After my skeptical post yesterday about Journalism Online’s new Press+ paywall at the Lancaster (Pa.) Online site, a source let me know how easy it was to beat the meter. http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2010/07/13/19650/journalism_onlines_press_paywall_easy_to_defeat http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/11/BU891EAOUB.DTL Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. are redefining the online news experience, but in diverging ways that underscore the evolving identities of the search giants. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/11/BU891EAOUB.DTL http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/business/09sun.html?partner=rss&emc=rss Each July, billionaires and mere multimillionaires flock to the shadow of the Pioneer Mountains, and ride in soft-leather comfort along Dollar Road to mingle and be rich and maybe, just maybe, cut a deal. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/business/09sun.html?partner=rss&emc=rss http://newsonomics.com/patch-vs-medianews-one-little-instructive-story/ AOL’s Patch is ambitiously adding websites, lately going after MediaNews territory in the East Bay of the Bay Area — San Ramon, Danville, Walnut Creek and Pleasanton — and penetrating SoCal, from Fairfax and West Hollywood to Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach. Hundreds of local reporters are being hired as hundreds of new sites are being replicated from California to Illinois to Maryland to Rhode Island, joining the early sites in Connecticut and New Jersey. http://newsonomics.com/patch-vs-medianews-one-little-instructive-story/ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128362511&ps=cprs Employee performance reviews should be eliminated, according to UCLA business professor Samuel Culbert. "First, they’re dishonest and fraudulent. And second, they’re just plain bad management," he says http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128362511&ps=cprs http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/07/news-stocks-lag-despite-dramatic.html Although the shares of the publicly traded newspaper companies have advanced impressively from their all-time lows 12 months ago, they still are worth on average about a fifth of their value on June 30, 2005. http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/07/news-stocks-lag-despite-dramatic.html http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/new-'honolulu-star-advertiser'-owner-buys-11-b-c-papers-folds-five-61903-.aspx David Black’s Black Press has bought 11 British Columbia papers from Glacier Media and announced the closing of five of them, including the century-old Nelson Daily News and Prince Rupert Daily News. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/new-'honolulu-star-advertiser'-owner-buys-11-b-c-papers-folds-five-61903-.aspx http://www.businessinsider.com/the-wall-street-journal-is-clobbering-the-new-york-times-in-e-reader-subscriptions-2010-7 The Wall Street Journal has by far the highest e-reader circulation of any newspaper in the U.S., according to Audit Bureau of Circulations data cited in a recent report by the World Association of Newspapers. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-wall-street-journal-is-clobbering-the-new-york-times-in-e-reader-subscriptions-2010-7 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5haiwam-UyJiR3reXC6qG1wvE178gD9GOCDV00 Detroit’s two daily newspapers knew they were shoving some readers overboard in an effort to stay afloat when they decided to limit home delivery to just three days a week. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5haiwam-UyJiR3reXC6qG1wvE178gD9GOCDV00 http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20100707/time-magazine-walls-off-its-web-site-will-you-pay-up/ Want to read the cover story of this week’s Time magazine? Whip out your wallet: You can only get all of Steve Brill’s piece on lobbying and financial reform via Time’s print edition or its new iPad app. http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20100707/time-magazine-walls-off-its-web-site-will-you-pay-up/ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/phototypesetting-inventor-mayroud-dies-at-96-61890-.aspx Electronics engineer Louis Marious Moyroud, co-inventor of phototypesetting, died at his home in Delray Beach, Fla., June 28 . He was 96. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/phototypesetting-inventor-mayroud-dies-at-96-61890-.aspx http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0702-newspaper-ad-20100702,0,5593471.story County lawmakers say promotions resembling news pages harm the paper’s credibility. Publisher Eddy Hartenstein says ads help defray the cost of global coverage. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0702-newspaper-ad-20100702,0,5593471.story http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/video-sam-zell-on-why-tribune-co-remains-mired-in-bankruptcy-61861-.aspx In the time since Tribune Co. filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in December 2008, at least 10 other newspaper publishers have entered and exited bankruptcy. Why is it taking Tribune so long to for Tribune Co. to get to the other side? http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/video-sam-zell-on-why-tribune-co-remains-mired-in-bankruptcy-61861-.aspx http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/newspaper-stocks-plunge-with-sinking-dow-61850-.aspx Newspaper stocks, which had staged a remarkable rally that began almost exactly a year ago, tumbled again Tuesday along with a Dow alarmed at global and domestic economic news. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/newspaper-stocks-plunge-with-sinking-dow-61850-.aspx http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-about-ihype-tax-to-save-news.html The pesky problem of paying for the news could be resolved rather fast if publishers and broadcasters just charged Steve Jobs a nickel a word for all the free hype they provide to sell his iParaphernalia. http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-about-ihype-tax-to-save-news.html http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20100629_Daily_News__Inquirer_sale_plan_OK_d_by_bankruptcy_judge.html A federal bankruptcy judge yesterday approved a plan to bring the Daily News and Inquirer out of Chapter 11 with a sale to a coalition of investment firms, willing to put up $105 million in cash for the newspapers and their Web site, Philly.com. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20100629_Daily_News__Inquirer_sale_plan_OK_d_by_bankruptcy_judge.html http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/newspaper-guild-cuts-budget-payments-by-locals-61809-.aspx The Newspaper Guild is cutting next year’s budget by $415,000, or 13.9%, and for the first time in its history reducing the dues payments union locals make to the national organization — moves reflecting the layoffs and wage reductions suffered by members. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/newspaper-guild-cuts-budget-payments-by-locals-61809-.aspx http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/pension-moves-key-to-clearing-philadelphia-newspapers-sale-61805-.aspx Creditors poised to take over Philadelphia’s two largest newspapers hope to move employees from defined pensions to 401k plans or some mix of both, their lawyer said after a bankruptcy confirmation hearing Thursday. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/pension-moves-key-to-clearing-philadelphia-newspapers-sale-61805-.aspx http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/correct-that-file-wells-fargo-didn't-cut-holdings-of-'dallas-morning-news'-after-all-61803-.aspx This isn’t the kind of thing you like to see from a bank: On Monday, Wells Fargo and Co. reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), correcting a previous filing, that they owned a 6.48% stake in A.H. Belo Corp. — suggesting they had cut their holdings of the stock nearly in half. E&P and other news outlets naturally perked up at that news. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/correct-that-file-wells-fargo-didn't-cut-holdings-of-'dallas-morning-news'-after-all-61803-.aspx http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/supreme-court-sets-aside-conrad-blacks-honest-services-fraud-conviction-61802-.aspx The Supreme Court has sided with former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling in limiting the use of a federal fraud law that has been a favorite of white-collar crime prosecutors. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/supreme-court-sets-aside-conrad-blacks-honest-services-fraud-conviction-61802-.aspx http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20100624_Bankruptcy_judge_to_hear_arguments_in_pending_sale_of_Philadelphia_Inquirer__Daily_News__Philly_com.html A federal bankruptcy judge will be asked Thursday to give his blessing to a reorganization plan that would surrender the parent company of The Inquirer to a collection of the firm’s creditors. http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20100624_Bankruptcy_judge_to_hear_arguments_in_pending_sale_of_Philadelphia_Inquirer__Daily_News__Philly_com.html http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/'west-marin-citizen'-accuses-new-'light'-owners-of-attempting-'hostile-takeover'-61773-.aspx For a weekly that rarely sold more than 4,500 copies — and is considerably below that circulation now — the Point Reyes Light in Marin County, Calif., over the years has earned more than its fair share of industry attention. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/'west-marin-citizen'-accuses-new-'light'-owners-of-attempting-'hostile-takeover'-61773-.aspx http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/after-nearly-doubling-holdings-wells-fargo-dumps-almost-half-its-a-h-belo-stock-61758-.aspx Since Memorial Day, Wells Fargo and Co. has dumped nearly half its holdings of A.H. Belo stock, the bank holding company disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/after-nearly-doubling-holdings-wells-fargo-dumps-almost-half-its-a-h-belo-stock-61758-.aspx