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New section at LA Times

Posted by Helena Humphrey on February 3, 2010 at 5:51 PM

On Monday The Chicago Tribune announced changes to its content and format as it prepares to roll out a narrower-by-one-inch page size as of 8 February. Editor Gerould W. Kern revealed these changes to be cost-cutting measures for the Tribune Co. paper, which is still crawling its way out of the bankruptcy protection it entered over a year ago.

The LA Times, another Tribune Co. publication, is also implementing similar cost-cutting alterations, evident yesterday. The most notable change was not the inch the paper also shaved from its width, but rather the new section - LATExtra - including local and California stories including entertainment, business, national and foreign news, as well as the lottery results and weather page. The section runs from Monday to Saturday.

Chicago Tribune announces format changes

Posted by Trafton Kenney on February 2, 2010 at 2:48 PM

The Chicago Tribune announced yesterday that it would be implementing several changes in content and format as it prepares to roll out a narrower page size. Beginning on February 8th, the paper will become one inch narrower. The length of the broadsheet will remain the same, as will the "body type," or font size for news stories.

"There will be some adjustments such as smaller headlines and photos in places, but the content of the paper largely will remain the same," said Editor, Gerould W. Kern, in a letter to readers.

Bankrupt Tribune Co. to pay $45 million in bonuses

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on January 28, 2010 at 12:22 PM

Hundreds of managers and executives at the bankrupt Tribune Company will get bonuses as part of a $45.6 million incentive program, under plans approved by a Delaware bankruptcy judge.

This is the largest such payment in at least 12 years and will be awarded to 720 managers. Judge Kevin Carey overruled objections by the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild and the US bankruptcy trustee that the payment was too high and unwarranted, particularly considering that the company had frozen salaries for most staff. Carey found that many of the targets had already been met when he held hearings on the issue in September.

MediaNews Group files for bankruptcy

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on January 25, 2010 at 12:49 PM

The holding company for MediaNews Group, publisher of The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News and 52 other daily publications, has filed for bankruptcy, Editor and Publisher reports.

Affiliated Media Inc., the privately held parent company for the publisher, expects to emerge from bankruptcy in one or two months. It has said that it has a deal with creditors to reduce its $930 million debt to $165 million. Lenders including Bank of America would get most of the company's stock, wiping out shareholders such as Hearst Corp. A bankruptcy court in Delaware still has to approve the plan.

Tribune's operating cash flow results better than expected

Posted by Helena Humphrey on January 22, 2010 at 11:50 AM

A staff memo from the Tribune Company's CEO Randy Michaels and COO Gerry Spector, obtained by Romenesko Wednesday, announced the company's financial results for 2009. Despite a dicey year for newspapers all round, which left the Tribune company "feeling as though we would be fighting for our very survival", the bankrupt enterprise still managed to ring in an operating cash flow of almost $500 million at the end of last year - an impressive $100 million more than it had reason to predict a month ago.

Overview of how newspapers are using sports to increase revenue

Posted by Emma Heald on January 14, 2010 at 8:55 PM

At the WAN-IFRA conference on how to optimise sports revenues, Stanislas Sabatier, a senior consultant at SapienS&Sapide gave an overview of ways in which newspapers around the world have used sports sections to increase readership and revenue.

He began by describing two websites which he thinks could inspire newspapers. ESPN has been launching local sites in the US - directly in competition with general local newspapers. The first was in April in Chicago, and the company has moved through major US cities, planning to launch in spring in New York, and it intends to come to the UK soon. These launches have been a great success for ESPN - the local audience in Chicago is higher than that of newspapers which were already there. Clearly the market wasn't already saturated, said Sabatier, it was an opportunity that local newspapers missed.

QUE is finally here: Plastic Logic's new e-reader

Posted by Emma Heald on January 8, 2010 at 11:55 AM

Plastic Logic launched its long-awaited e-reader yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. QUE, described in a press release as "the world's first proReader" is a large screen product aimed at business people. For now, it is only available in the US, shipping in April, and there were no details about dates for launches in other countries.

The e-reader measures 8.5 by 11 inches and has a touch-screen 10.7 inch display. It is plastic, and therefore lighter and possibly more durable than a glass screen. Two models are available: 4GB and 8GB. Digital books are being supplied by Barnes and Noble, but selling books is not its primary goal.

It is very much being marketed at business people rather than leisure readers. The press release quotes Plastic Logic CEO Richard Archuleta who said that "mobile professionals can look forward to a paperless briefcase, a lighter load and a better way to work." It supports reading and annotating documents, and also features a calendar that can import appointments from its owner's computer. It can even display emails, and Plastic Logic will have an app for BlackBerry phones so that users can wirelessly sync content from their phones, according to Wired.

PC World, whose reporter was at the show, described the QUE's interface as "much richer" than those of current products. "It feels a bit less like an electronic book, and a little more like a computing device that happens to be focused around reading." Its homepage seems to be aimed at more than just reading.

Its price is also definitely targeted at professionals: the QUE will be expensive compared to other e-readers on the market: the 4GB version, with wi-fi, USB and Bluetooth, is priced at $649 and the 8GB version, which also includes AT&T wireless, is $799. Amazon's Kindle DX, in comparison, is $489, Barnes and Noble's Nook is $259, Sony's Reader Touch is about $299.

So what's in it for newspapers?

Plastic Logic has sought to present itself as a suitable strategic partner for newspapers for some time. In an interview in March last year, Daren Benzi, Plastic Logic VP for business development, told the EW that "newspapers and magazines really are our core focus" and suggested that publications might also be able to bring in advertising revenue from the device.

Yesterday the company announced that, using its truVue technology, the QUE "enables newspapers, magazines, and other types of content to have a richer reading experience that is symbolic of their print editions, complete with photos and formatting." The press release quoted Dave Hunke, president and publisher of USA Today, who said that "it's really exciting that there is an eReader platform that delivers our content the way it's supposed to look and feel." PC World's reporter confirmed that USA Today on the QUE "preserved a USA Today-like personality," and said that the truVue formatting "looks like a big improvement on the drab, text-only presentation on the Kindle and Nook."

And several newspapers seem to have been convinced that getting their product on the QUE would be a good move. New content partners announced include the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, Sacramento Bee, Miami Herald, Oakland Tribune, Huffington Post, ProPublica and The Sporting News Today, Barron's, Fast Company and Forbes. These publications join previously announced strategic partnerships with USA Today, the Financial Times, Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News.

The press release states that publications are available on the QUE store for one-time use or as an ongoing subscription. A subscription to the New York Times costs $24.99 per month, the Washington Post is $11.99, and the Chicago Tribune and LA Times are both $9.99, for example. Obviously a big question for newspapers is the revenue split: how much of this amount actually goes to the publisher. It has become well-known that the split on the Amazon-reader is not particularly favourable, with the publisher only receiving about 30%. Though exact figure have not been released, it has been suggested that Sony offers a better deal on its e-reading devices, and several publishers recently signed on.

The eReader market is undoubtedly expanding, with Samsung also launching e-reader products at the CES, and the Skiff made a preview appearance. It sounds as if the QUE is offering a high quality device that compares favourably to its rivals (although Skiff might turn out to be a good competitor). For newspapers, the fact that their products will be presented in a format that is more similar to their print edition is likely to be appealing, as is the fact that it allows for updates to the display page throughout the day as a newspaper that updates itself. The revenue split and potential for advertising are equally crucial, however, and these are as yet unknown to the public.

The pricing of the device is likely to be prohibitive for many and therefore it is likely that the QUE will indeed be a niche device for successful professionals, providing a smaller, though desirable, market for publishers. Of course, there is also the looming threat of tablet computers, which with increased functionality and not hugely higher price tags, might soon provide some serious competition.

Tribune Co. execs play musical chairs

Posted by Betsey Reinsborough on December 11, 2009 at 5:23 PM

Tribune Co., which has spent the last year dealing with bankruptcy, has announced that Gerry Spector will be taking over at the new chief operating officer. He is replacing Randy Michaels who was promoted to CEO last week to replace Sam Zell, who became chairman.

Spector will be overseeing the publishing, broadcast, and Internet operations. He has been with the company since 2007, having previously been the chief administrative office.

Making Google pay, the Axel Springer way

Posted by Helena Humphrey on December 9, 2009 at 3:37 PM

Rupert Murdoch is not the only mogul looking to make money from online content - it's just that what with the intense media circus surrounding his rants, not to mention the severity of his accusations (think calling Google and Yahoo out and out thieves on international TV) he's the only one we've really heard about of late.

Led by Matthias Döpfner, Axel Springer, publisher of Europe's biggest daily, Das Bild, and other newspapers across Germany and Eastern Europe, is plotting the numerous ways in which it too can go about monetising its content online.

Christoph Keese, Springer's head of public affairs, said: "The meta-philosophy of free - we should get rid of this philosophy. A highly industrialized world cannot survive on rumours. It needs quality journalism, and that costs money." Döpfner added: "I see no justification, neither democratic nor market-related, for content to be generally free on the Internet. For centuries, people have been willing to pay for things of interest to them."

Microsoft quashes publishers' hopes

Posted by Jennifer Lush on December 7, 2009 at 10:49 AM

Amidst speculation of a potential deal that would entail News Corp's online content being exclusively listed on Microsoft's search engine, Bing- Satya Nadella, head of research and development for Microsoft's Online Services Division released an official statement last week, quashing publishers dreams of an escape from their current financial woes.

"We're not focused on getting non-Google content," Nadella said, adding that keeping information off Google was "not the thing that would be a benefit to us in the long run."

USA Today announces job cuts

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on December 2, 2009 at 4:00 PM

USA Today will cut 26 newsroom jobs, reducing its newsroom staff by 5%, under cutbacks announced by newspaper publisher Gannett Co. yesterday.

USA Weekend magazine, a weekly insert in other newspapers, will also lose 11 positions. Its remaining staff will be combined with that of USA Today.

Non-union workers at other Gannett newspapers will be required to take more unpaid furloughs, or leave of absence. Employees in Gannett's community publishing division will be affected.

Tribune Co. chief waiting for Murdoch to 'take the first sword' over paywalls

Posted by Jennifer Lush on December 2, 2009 at 3:13 PM

Sam Zell, owner of Tribune Co. which includes titles the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, has welcomed Rupert Murdoch's charge for paid online content, saying he is more than happy for the News Corp CEO to "take the first sword" in the battle.

"I'm more than willing to let Rupert take the first sword," said Zell on Tuesday morning as part of a round-table discussion on CNBC's Squawk Box. "And if it works, then I think everybody's going to follow him, and should have in the first place."

East Valley Tribune could have a buyer

Posted by Jennifer Lush on November 26, 2009 at 12:00 PM

The East Valley Tribune in Mesa, Arizona, which has previously announced it would shut down on 31 December, has received a letter of intent to purchase the troubled paper from a Tuscon newspaper publisher.

The Valley Tribune's parent company Freedom Communications said earlier this month that the paper has been up for sale for a considerable amount of time, yet received no promising bids and announced it would begin taking steps toward closure.

Many US papers to raise cover prices for Thursday

Posted by Betsey Reinsborough on November 25, 2009 at 5:38 PM

There are exceptions to every rule, even in regards to the current epidemic of declining advertisement revenue. The United States' busiest shopping day, commonly called Black Friday, is the day after Thanksgiving. The day leading up to it is also the largest selling day for newspapers. This trend has caused many newspapers to decide to take advantage of shoppers' lust for the sale pamphlets stuffed into the Thanksgiving editions. Thus, many papers will be charging the Sunday price for the Thursday edition.

It is indeed a rarity that a business is able to charge a larger fee due to an increase in advertising, but for many consumers, the sale inserts pay for themselves many times over.

Connecticut daily sued for plagiarism by competitor

Posted by Betsey Reinsborough on November 20, 2009 at 5:11 PM

The Hartford Courant, Connecticut's largest daily, is being sued for plagiarism by local competitor The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, reports the Associated Press. The suit was filed this week in Connecticut Superior Court in Hartford. It accuses the Courant of lifting 11 articles, both in full and in pieces, from the Inquirer during August and September.

The Courant, which is America's longest continually published newspaper, began using the other paper's stories last summer when it launched a new "aggregation policy" on its website. Stories of local interest from the Inquirer, such as those about town politics and local events, were summarized or rewritten (many containing full sections verbatim) and placed on the paper's website with attribution but without permission.

The Inquirer alleges that the Courant then began to run the stories in its print version with the by-line of a Courant reporter or without giving credit to the original source.

AP lays off undisclosed number

Posted by Betsey Reinsborough on November 18, 2009 at 11:50 AM

As speculated, the Associated Press laid-off an undisclosed number of employees Tuesday. According to the AP, the move was done to reach its goal of cutting payroll costs by 10 percent.

The cost cutting has been slowly implemented since last October when the AP announced that it would be lowering its fees for newspapers and broadcasters in a move to help those hit by the recession and the shift of readers to the internet. The projected fall in revenue from the reduced fees will be about 6 percent this year, to $700million.

Even with the drop in fees, many papers have cancelled their subscriptions to the AP to attempt even bigger cost cutting. Tribune Co., which filled for Chapter 11 last December, recently ran a test week in which none of the company's papers used AP stories. However, many papers that gave the AP the required two-year have begun to cancel their cancellation requests.

Gay newspaper, Washington Blade, the latest to close

Posted by Jennifer Lush on November 17, 2009 at 11:52 AM

The Washington Blade, a gay newspaper with a circulation of 23,000 announced it would close its doors yesterday.

The decision was a result of an inability to find a buyer for the paper which had been forced into Chapter 7 bankrupcy. The publication, belonged to Window Media and Unite Media, both of which were bought by the Avalon Equity Fund with assistance from the Small Business Administration in 2001.

Further job cuts at the New York Times

Posted by Jennifer Lush on November 13, 2009 at 11:23 AM

Despite cutting 100 jobs less that a month ago, the New York Times has announced a further 28 editorial employees from its New York Times News Service will lose their positions in 2010.

Guardian News & Media to cut at least 100 jobs

Posted by Betsey Reinsborough on November 12, 2009 at 11:55 AM

The Guardian announced Wednesday that Guardian News & Media will layoff more than 100 of its current 1 700 editorial and commercial employees. The company, which oversees the Guardian, the Observer, and guardian.co.uk, will be offering voluntary buy-outs until the close of the year to attempt to get to the required number. If not enough workers come forward by that time, the company will then be forced into compulsory redundancies.

Voluntary lay-offs have already seen 68 editorial employees at the paper leave since the beginning of the year. Commercial operations has already lost 82 persons this year.

The Guardian cites economic troubles as the reason for the cuts. The company announced that it expects to do worse than the projected £33million losses, and, thus, must make up the difference through staff cuts.

This announcement comes less than a week after Guardian America, the US branch of the Guardian, announced that it was laying off six employees. Other recent publications to announce staff cuts include the Star Tribune, the Trinity Mirror, and the New York Times.

Star Tribune to cut 100 jobs

Posted by Jennifer Lush on November 10, 2009 at 11:31 AM

The Star Tribune announced it would cut another 100 jobs yesterday, as the Minnesota paper attempts to reduce costs in its struggle to stay above board, only recently emerging from bankrupcy protection.

Editor Nancy Barnes said in a memo to staff that about 30 of the cuts will come from newsroom and editorial departments. The layoffs are expected to reduce the Tribune's newsroom by nine per cent, and Barnes said they would take place across a two month period.

Employees become owners of own paper

Posted by Betsey Reinsborough on November 6, 2009 at 1:06 PM

The employees at the West Highland Free Press have just become their own boss. Last week, the ten employees officially became shareholders in the trust that owns the paper, making the Free Press the first newspaper in Britain to be owned by its employees, reports the Guardian.

In contrast to publications such as BusinessWeek and the Chicago Sun-Times that have been sold to outside proprietors recently, The Free Press has become employee-owned. The switch in ownership follows eighteen months of negotiations.

The paper has experienced a slight loss in subscribers lately, though it feels that it will soon make a recovery. This optimism comes mostly from lack of competition from the internet in rural Scotland. In fact, the paper simply offers samples and headlines from its paper on its web site rather than complete new stories.

50 newspapers withdraw AP cancellation notices

Posted by Jennifer Lush on November 5, 2009 at 12:38 PM

The Associated Press has announced that some 50 newspapers who had previously given notice of cancellation to the service, have changed their minds and withdrawn those notices in the last few months.

In a statement to Editor and Publisher, AP's director of media relations, Paul Colford said: "We are pleased and gratified by these members' decisions."

Tribune Co. newspapers trial reporting AP-free

Posted by Jennifer Lush on November 3, 2009 at 1:53 PM

The Tribune's newspaper chain will go AP-free as of next week in an experiment to see if it can manage without the news feed and eventually cut back on the cost of subscribing to it altogether.

The trial period is expected to start next week (Nov 8), just over a year since Tribune Co. gave AP the required two year notice of cancellation.

Arizona newspaper to close at end of year

Posted by Betsey Reinsborough on November 3, 2009 at 1:10 PM

The East Valley Tribune in Mesa, Arizona, will shut down on 31 December, parent company Freedom Communications announced Monday. The paper has been up for sale for some time now but received no reasonable bids. Freedom states that they are still willing to sell the paper; however, they are proceeding with closing steps, should no new bids be made.

This announcement is made amid other newspaper closures, including those of London Lite, SZ Primetime, and the Far Eastern Economic Review.

Earlier this year, two reporters from the Tribune, Ryan Gabrielson and Paul Giblin, won the 2009 Pulitzer for local reporting. Their five-part story investigated the toll a local sheriff's preoccupation with immigration enforcement took upon the investigation of other laws.

France: Today's empty newsstands thanks to strike action

Posted by Helena Humphrey on October 28, 2009 at 12:40 PM

Following trade union SGLCE-CGT's call for employees of Nouvelles Messageries de la Presse Parisienne (NMPP), France's number one press distribution company, to stage a 24 hour strike, the majority of the country's national daily newspapers will today be absent from newsstands where they are normally sold, Le Monde has reported.

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