http://www.mnguild.org Minnesota Newspaper Guild Typographical Union Copyright 2009 Minnesota Newspaper Guild Typographical Union en-us Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:10:48 -0500 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:10:48 -0500 http://www.sjguild.org/rss/jpg/MNGuild.jpg http://www.mnguild.org 140 55 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-onthemedia10-2010mar10,0,2411166.column A wealthy philanthropist has kicked in $5 million in seed money. A top management consultant has come up with a business plan. A renowned university will lend not only its students but research help. And the budding endeavor has a chief executive who will pull down $400,000 a year and one of the world’s most prestigious newspapers ready to give its future news offerings a home. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-onthemedia10-2010mar10,0,2411166.column http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12100512 Hundreds of employees at Hawaii’s two largest newspapers gathered for what was described as a "somber" meeting Sunday night. With their jobs up in the air, workers met with union leaders to get the latest on the newspaper shakeup that was announced a little more than a week ago. http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12100512 http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100308/NEWS01/3080323/Unions Workers from six unions at the two-hour meeting heard their leaders exhort them to press hard for a contract by the time the deal is consummated, and to take a strong stand to preserve their jobs. http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100308/NEWS01/3080323/Unions http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004073438 Gannett Co. Inc. and Oahu Publications Inc. (OPI) have reached an agreement for OPI to acquire The Honolulu Advertiser and its related assets, including its Web site, non-daily publications, and Gannett’s interest in Hawaii.com — but a report this weekend by the Advertiser is suggesting the smaller party in the deal is getting some help to do so. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004073438 http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2010/03/04/16435/pioneer_press_overlords_emerge_from_bankruptcy_with_nice_payday In a blistering six weeks, Denver-based Affiliated Media — the holding company for MediaNews Group, which owns the Pioneer Press — has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2010/03/04/16435/pioneer_press_overlords_emerge_from_bankruptcy_with_nice_payday http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/03/murdochs-grumpy-agenda-in-ny-news-war.html George H.W. Bush, who parachuted to safety when his Navy aircraft was shot down in World War II, marked his 75th, 80th and 85th birthdays by jumping out of planes for the fun of it. http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/03/murdochs-grumpy-agenda-in-ny-news-war.html http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0305-tribune-suit--20100304,0,978399.story A group of Tribune Co. creditors sued the banks behind the Chicago-based publisher’s 2007 leveraged buyout, saying the $8 billion in loans they arranged for the deal doomed it to bankruptcy. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0305-tribune-suit--20100304,0,978399.story http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004072572 A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge approved Affiliated Media Inc.’s prepackaged reorganization plan Thursday, clearing the way for the MediaNews Group holding company to emerge from Chapter 11 protection. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004072572 http://newsonomics.com/why-we-have-a-hard-time-thinking-of-yahoo-as-a-news-company/ Carol Bartz runs one of the top three news sites on the web...and doesn’t, well, like the news. In a rambunctious interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Bartz celebrated Yahoo’s 15th anniversary and found herself asked a lot of tough questions by CNBC’s Lunch Break team. http://newsonomics.com/why-we-have-a-hard-time-thinking-of-yahoo-as-a-news-company/ http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/03/01/daily29.html Any delay in confirming the bankruptcy plan of Affiliated Media Inc. — parent of Denver Post publisher MediaNews Group Inc. — will hurt the company’s business, its chief financial officer warned in a court filing. http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/03/01/daily29.html http://newsonomics.com/tasini-tasini-a-blast-from-another-century/ Justice, or at least the courts, does grind exceedingly slowly. Today, the Supreme Court gave its (final!) approval to the $18 million settlement between publishers and writers seeking compensation for the digital use of their work, which has been written for...print. http://newsonomics.com/tasini-tasini-a-blast-from-another-century/ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004072042 News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch confirmed the worst-kept secret in the newspaper industry Tuesday afternoon: The Wall Street Journal is launching a New York Edition next month. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004072042 http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2010/03/zippy_the_pinhead_axed_--_alon.php Nothing fires up newspaper readers like changes to the comics section. That’s something former Rocky Mountain News editor John Temple acknowledged in "The Funnies Aren’t Funny Anymore," our 2007 state-of-the-art critique. http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2010/03/zippy_the_pinhead_axed_--_alon.php http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/03/01/daily10.html Two more objections were filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in connection with the pre-packaged reorganization plan offered by Affiliated Media Inc., parent of Denver-based newspaper chain MediaNews Group Inc. http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/03/01/daily10.html http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FT-Will-Use-PayPal-For-Daily-paidcontent-895040994.html?x=0&.v=1 The Financial Times first started talking about a web "pay-per-view" model back in August. Last month, it confirmed a "day pass" will be added to its annual subscription. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FT-Will-Use-PayPal-For-Daily-paidcontent-895040994.html?x=0&.v=1 http://www.cjr.org/feature/tangled_web_1.php?page=all Speaking as a card-carrying member of the old media, it has been my observation that virtually every magazine (old media) now has a Web site (new media, a.k.a. digital media), and that the proprietors of these sites don’t, for the most part, know what one another are doing. http://www.cjr.org/feature/tangled_web_1.php?page=all http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004071858 Shares of The New York Times Co. spiked more than 11 during trading Monday, spurred on by a rumor that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim was looking to buy the company. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004071858 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004071883 Gannett Co. is ending the wage freeze at its newspapers, U.S Community Publishing (USCP) President Bob Dickey announced Monday. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004071883 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004071642 David Black, the majority owner of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, says he and its other owners considered closing the paper last year — but decided instead to make what turned out to be a successful offer to buy the rival Honolulu Advertiser from Gannett Co. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004071642 http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100227/NEWS01/2270338/It+s+not+first+time+Gannett+gave+up+fight For some, the impending sale of The Honolulu Advertiser to the owner of its smaller, money-losing rival, The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, has striking similarities to a deal that involved The Advertiser’s owner nearly 20 years ago in Little Rock, Ark. http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100227/NEWS01/2270338/It+s+not+first+time+Gannett+gave+up+fight http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100226/NEWS01/2260395/News+left+workers+shocked++confused Journalists in The Advertiser’s newsroom quickly went to work yesterday to post news of Gannett Co.’s sale of the daily newspaper on www.honoluluadvertiser.com, then began the task of covering the biggest story of the day, which just happened to be about their employer. http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100226/NEWS01/2260395/News+left+workers+shocked++confused http://newsonomics.com/ap-gateway-learning-from-ap-mobile/ AP Mobile — the news app for the iPhone, Blackberry and Android — have seen more than 3.5 million downloads, a success of a sort (Tetris: 100 million paid downloads), as AP tried for first time to create one big aggregated product, its own content and that produced its member papers. National advertising revenue’s been small, and local advertising — to be sold by member papers — never took off. http://newsonomics.com/ap-gateway-learning-from-ap-mobile/ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004071356 The parent company of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on Thursday announced it was purchasing longtime rival The Honolulu Advertiser, the largest newspaper in Hawaii. Oahu Publications Inc. said it will acquire the Advertiser, its Web site, non-daily publications and an interest in Hawaii.com from Gannett Co. The Advertiser, one of Gannett’s larger newspapers with a daily circulation of 130,000, was founded in 1856 and purchased by Gannett in 1993. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004071356 http://newyorktimesblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/urgent-nyt-co-employment-fell-18-in.html On a wave of layoffs and other job cuts, employment across the New York Times Co. fell 18% last year from the year before, to 7,665 workers, the company just disclosed in its annual 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. http://newyorktimesblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/urgent-nyt-co-employment-fell-18-in.html http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004070866 One year after slashing its quarterly stock dividend to 4 cents a share from 40 cents, Gannett Co. declared a dividend in the smaller amount Wednesday. The dividend of 4 cents per share is payable on April 1 to shareholders of record as of March 5. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004070866 http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Washington-Post-Co-quadruples-apf-2937979511.html?x=0&.v=4 The Washington Post Co. said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profit more than quadrupled, largely because of a big reduction in accounting charges. Its education division also provided a lift, and the publishing segment made money after cutting staff. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Washington-Post-Co-quadruples-apf-2937979511.html?x=0&.v=4 http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=178457 Four reporters associated with the Chauncey Bailey Project will be honored by the University of Georgia for journalistic courage. http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=178457 http://newsonomics.com/attributors-anti-piracy-guardian-trial-begins/ Attributor’s "Fair Share Consortium" got a fair amount of pub (Attributor’s "Fair Share Consortium Completes Newspaper Trifecta") last year with a blindingly simple idea: monetize illegal use of copyrighted news content. That’s otherwise known as anti-piracy as business development, one of favorite web jujitsu strategies. http://newsonomics.com/attributors-anti-piracy-guardian-trial-begins/ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2360209,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03079TX1K0000584&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ziffdavis%2Fpcmag%2Fdvorak+%28PCMag.com%3A+the+Official+John+C.+Dvorak+RSS+Feed%29 The New York Times is about to make a huge mistake. The paper thinks it can charge readers $360 or so a year for the privilege of browsing its pages on the iPad or Kindle. When will newspapers realize that the party is over? They can’t go on in this dream world. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2360209,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03079TX1K0000584&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ziffdavis%2Fpcmag%2Fdvorak+%28PCMag.com%3A+the+Official+John+C.+Dvorak+RSS+Feed%29 http://www.mnguild.org/index.php?ID=7260 Debt and pension underfunding pressured eased during 2009, The New York Times Co. said in a regulatory filing. http://www.mnguild.org/index.php?ID=7260 http://crosscut.com/2010/02/23/media/19604/ The Seattle Times says the paper is here to stay, with Blethen family control assured for years to come. But there are those who think financial challenges will continue for a considerable time. http://crosscut.com/2010/02/23/media/19604/ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004070416 Newspaper publisher and television broadcaster E.W. Scripps reported a fourth-quarter profit Tuesday of $12.1 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with a loss of $12.62 million, or 24 cents per share, a year ago. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004070416 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004069163 Executives with The New York Times Co. shed some more light on the metered model system the company plans to roll out to its flagship Web site in 2011. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004069163 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004070132 Monday is Washington’s Birthday, and the one-year anniversary of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of the parent company of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. One is a cause for patriotic celebration, the other a marker of the lack of progress in working out a settlement between the people who put together the deal to buy the papers when Knight Ridder was taken over, and the lenders who financed the deal. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004070132 http://www.contentbridges.com/2010/02/hey-who-you-calling-white-space.html Patch, AOL’s new push to provide local news is expanding — rapidly, according to a memo that Silicon Alley Insider’s Nicholas Carlson says he got from inside the reborn content-is-king AOL. http://www.contentbridges.com/2010/02/hey-who-you-calling-white-space.html http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/17/BU591C2C99.DTL&type=business With big media companies grappling with ways to increase online revenues, a new survey released Tuesday showed 85 percent of Internet users believed that online content that is currently free should remain free. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/17/BU591C2C99.DTL&type=business http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0217-tribune--20100216,0,6505151.story In advance of what promises to be a closely watched hearing Thursday in Tribune Co.’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, the U.S. trustee’s office asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey to appoint an examiner to investigate charges that Sam Zell’s 2007 leveraged buyout of the Chicago-based media conglomerate was improper. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0217-tribune--20100216,0,6505151.story http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004068406 Total revenue for Lee Enterprises fell just 9.2% in January compared with a year ago — the first single-digit percentage decline since 2008, the community newspaper publisher’s CFO will tell shareholders at its annual meeting Wednesday. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004068406 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1820648820100218?type=marketsNews Tribune Co was granted until the end of March to file a plan of reorganization and avoided the immediate threat of starting a "litigation nightmare" over its 2007 leveraged buyout. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1820648820100218?type=marketsNews http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004068454 Morris Publishing Group’s reorganization plan was confirmed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Augusta, Ga. Wednesday, clearing the way for the parent of The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville and a dozen other dailies to emerge from bankruptcy as soon as March 1. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004068454 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004068038 Up against difficult January comparables because of last year’s presidential inauguration, the average time spent per person at the top current events and news sites fell, according to Nielsen Online. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004068038 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004068139 McClatchy is expanding its Sunday Select program to four additional markets: Fresno, Calif.; Boise, Idaho; and Macon and Columbus in Georgia. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004068139 http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=101&aid=177722 There are two provocative elements to MediaNews’ paid content plan, which will be tested at two sites, the York Daily Record in Pennsylvania and the Enterprise-Record in Chico, Calif., in April or May: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=101&aid=177722 http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/02/maybe-others-should-copy-early-lat.html Newspaper traditionalists recoiled when the Los Angeles Times announced a few weeks back that it would move its front-page deadline to the shockingly early hour of 5:25 p.m. from the prior 11:25 p.m. http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/02/maybe-others-should-copy-early-lat.html http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004067119 Two of the three biggest credit ratings agencies upgraded their ratings of The McClatchy Co. late Thursday as The Miami Herald parent concluded its sale of $875 million of senior secured notes that pays off impending loans and stretches maturities out to 2017. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004067119 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004067014 USA Today, with its ad pages down 10.5% in the last quarter, is chopping expenses again, ordering all employees to take a week-long unpaid furlough and extending for another three months the freeze on salary increases imposed a year ago. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004067014 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004067234 Welcome back, NYTimes.com. The newspaper Web site climbed to the No. 5 position on list of the top 10 current events sites in January after falling two slots in December, according to data provided by Nielsen Online. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004067234 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004067235 At the end of February, the Berkeley (Calif.) Daily Planet will stop printing a newspaper. In its current issue, the publisher and executive editor say the print edition was done in by pro-Israeli critics, a "hostile" city government — and fraud by its payroll service that leaves it on the hook for five years of back taxes. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004067235 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004067396 Slim got the warrants in January 2009 when he lent the Times Co. $250 million. The company said that that he would not be joining the board. The Class A common shares he has the right to purchase are publicly traded stock, not the super-voting shares that gives the Ochs and Sulzberger family control of the company. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004067396 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004066947 Barclays Capital upgraded The New York Times Co. to "overweight" after the company released quarterly results on Wednesday. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004066947