Editors Weblog: Search Results

Los Angeles Times runs front page ad for $700,000

Posted by Trafton Kenney on March 8, 2010 at 11:55 AM

The Walt Disney Company paid roughly $700,000 to the Los Angeles Times for a front page ad for its upcoming "Alice in Wonderland" movie, a source at the newspaper confirmed to The Wrap.

Readers of the LA Times last Friday morning had to flip to the second page to read the day's headlines, while a multicolored picture of Johnnie Depp, dressed as the Mad Hatter, obscured two stories on health care and the war in Afghanistan.

The editorial board at the LA Times opposed the ad, but the decision was ultimately made by the newspaper's business executives, according to anonymous sources at the paper who spoke to The New York Times.

"Obviously, it was not my decision," said Russ Stanton, the top editor at the newspaper.

"We worked very closely with Disney to come up with an exceptional and distinctive way to help them open 'Alice in Wonderland,'" said the Times' spokesman, John Conroy. "It was designed to create buzz, and to extend the film's already brilliant marketing campaign."

South Korean reporting boot camp pushes trainees to the limit

Posted by Emma Heald on February 24, 2010 at 6:17 PM

All journalistic training schemes are designed to challenge their participants, but it seems that young reporters in the Western world may have it easier than some of their counterparts around the world. The Los Angeles Times has written about a 'boot camp' for trainee reporters in South Korea, describing the grueling routine that the aspiring journalists are subjected to.

It is a round-the-clock programme, involving supervision by minders, little sleep, little food but a lot of alcohol, and production of stories at high-speed; as the LAT put it "it's a sink-or-swim test of willpower and stamina designed to prepare young wire service, newspaper and television writers for survival in South Korea's no-holds-barred news culture."

Not every news outlet participates, but many send all their new hires to the camp for up to six months, and each outlet can specify the degree of severity of the training, the LA Times reported.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Non-profits and eyewitnesses: the changing face of journalism awards

Posted by Maria Conde on February 23, 2010 at 9:10 PM

T. Christian Miller of the independent, non-profit news organization ProPublica recently won the prestigious 2010 Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting. Editor & Publisher reports that it was a collaboration between The Los Angeles Times and the non-profit news outfit that produced Miller's winning report into abuses of insurance coverage for private contractors in war zones.

Just last week, the winners of the George Polk Awards in Journalism - usually given to courageous and skillful reporting - were announced, NPR's On the Media explains. Among the usual big media winners was a surprising win - the anonymous Iranians or Iranian who captured the death of the 26-year old protestor Neda Agha-Soltan on tape in the violent aftermath of the Islamic Republic's contested elections of June 2009.

Tribune Co. has one month to file reorganisation plan

Posted by Helena Humphrey on February 22, 2010 at 12:18 PM

The Tribune Co. was granted a stay of execution, Thursday, when a bankruptcy judge gave the owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune until the end of March to file its long-awaited plan of reorganisation. Although the media conglomerate had asked for an extension until June, the extra month permitted gives the company a fighting chance to resolve its bankruptcy and $8.2 billion leveraged buyout issues, which has resulted in the committee of unsecured creditors attempting to start litigating against the banks, in the hope of recuperating a small part of some of the funds lost.

The Daily Beast's Posner admits to more plagiarism

Posted by Trafton Kenney on February 10, 2010 at 2:22 PM

Gerald Posner, chief investigative reporter for The Daily Beast, has a history of plagiarism, according to Jack Shafer in an article published yesterday in Slate. Shafer and a Slate reader found eight separate examples of plagiarism from publications like The Miami Herald, Texas Lawyer, and a blog run by the Association of Health Care Journalists.

Shafer broke the initial story last week, uncovering seven sentences Posner had copied from an article that first appeared in the Miami Herald on February 2nd. During an interview with Shafer, Posner acknowledged that he had plagiarized. The Daily Beast Executive Editor Edward Felsenthal confirmed it was plagiarism and removed the copied text from the website.

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.

USC students to write for LA Times blog

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on January 29, 2010 at 12:35 PM

The Los Angeles Times and the journalism school at the University of Southern California have announced they will collaborate on homicide reporting, the LA Times reports.

Under the arrangement, students from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism will write stories for The Times' Homicide Report blog. This will provide more content for the blog and give crime-reporting experience to the student journalists.

The Homicide Report has been re-launched this week, to feature a searchable database and an interactive map of homicides in LA County.

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.

Bay Area News Project announces leadership

Posted by Trafton Kenney on January 26, 2010 at 12:35 PM

The Bay Area News Project, a nonprofit news and media organization based in San Francisco, announced last Thursday that it had filled two key positions and had reached a deal to contribute content to the Bay Area edition of the New York Times.

The Bay Area News Project appointed as its CEO Lisa Frazier, a current partner at the consulting firm, McKinsey and Company. Frazier has experience advising online newspapers, information, and media companies on strategies for growth and marketing and sales.

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.

Journalists hindering Haiti relief?

Posted by Trafton Kenney on January 20, 2010 at 1:33 PM

Journalists might be doing more harm than good in Haiti, suggests Noam Scheiber in a polemical piece published yesterday in the New Republic. While many journalists initially struggled to get to Haiti amid the chaos, nearly all major news outlets have a presence in Port-au-Prince by now. The New York Times and Washington Post each have ten staff in the country, not to mention CNN and CBS with their fifty-person production crews.

In some ways, he feels the mere presence of the media is hindering the rescue efforts they came to report. An excess of news staff puts an unfair burden on the country's already meager resources, with reporters "mooching off supplies intended for earthquake victims." On top of that, he dismisses the bulk of the news reported back as "redundant."

Are Non-Profits the Future of Investigate Reporting?

Posted by Trafton Kenney on January 19, 2010 at 12:43 PM

Non-profit investigative news groups have been encountering many of the same financial difficulties as the newspapers they have been working with, according to the AP's Andrew Vanacore.

As newsrooms cut costs and staff, investigative non-profit groups like the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) have picked up where they left off, or more appropriately, what they left out. Charitable foundations and philanthropists have pumped tens of millions of dollars into these non-profit watchdogs to investigate issues like corruption and the environment, which some newsrooms lack the resources to cover.

AP's new social network manager interviewed

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on January 13, 2010 at 2:57 PM

All AP journalists should use social media, and more AP accounts will be rolled out on social networks in the coming weeks, according to AP's new manager of social networks Lauren McCullough. In an interview with Steve Myers on Poynter Online, McCullough has explained her vision of an active two-way conversation about the news.

"Social media plays a central role in our newsgathering," she says, adding that social networks are used both to build sources and monitor trends. At the same time, the AP seeks to distribute its content through social networks, such as on their new winter Olympics website, optimised for social sharing. Accompanying Twitter and Facebook accounts are planned.

Earlier deadlines for LA Times

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on January 12, 2010 at 1:23 PM

The planned closure of the LA Times' Orange County printing plants, announced last week, will mean more than just staff layoffs. According to LA Observed, editorial deadlines could be brought forward as much as five hours.

After the closure, the Wall Street Journal and the LA Times will both be printed on the same Los Angeles presses. Under a plan approved by Times publisher Eddy Hartenstein, the Times will move to the earlier, and thus less desirable time, while the paying customer, the WSJ, will benefit from the later deadlines.

UK, US printing plants to close

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on January 8, 2010 at 4:06 PM

Two newspaper printing plants, one each in the US and the UK, are set to close, and substantial layoffs are expected to follow.

In the UK, Harmsworth Printing has begun a 30-day consultation over closing its Plymouth printing plant. If the plant is closed, 90 staff could be lost, although the company has said it would try to find jobs for them elsewhere in the organisation.

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.

Local news network launched in California

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on January 8, 2010 at 10:57 AM

A new local news website, the Orange County Local News Network, will be launched next month, paidContent reports. The U.S. Local News Network and the Los Angeles Times Media Group will join forces to launch the website, and will cross-sell advertising and share content.

The LA Times Media Group already owns several local weekly newspapers in Orange County, including the Huntington Beach Independent and the Coastline Pilot. The new website will compete with another regional newspaper, the Orange County Register.

AP names social network manager

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on January 7, 2010 at 12:08 PM

Lauren McCullough has been named as the new manager of Social Networks and News Engagement for the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times has reported.

Her role will include helping reporters to reach online communities, finding story material on social networks, informing editors of high interest topics within social networks, and promoting AP stories on social networks and in the blogosphere.

She will head the Social Network Center, one of the four sections of the new AP Nerve Center, or headquarters, in New York. The other components are standards, production, and the news center. The new heads of the News Center, Sally Buzbee and Tamer Fakahany, were announced this week.

News publishers to cash in on Twitter?

Posted by Maria Conde on January 6, 2010 at 6:06 PM

Over the last year, newspapers have successfully utilized the micro-blogging social networking site, Twitter, to distribute their content and build up their audience.

However, newspapers have not started cashing in directly from the tweets published on Twitter - at least not yet. As Ad Age reports, early exploration from New York to Montreal is showing how newspaper publishers could cash in on their 140 character tweets.

Key editors of AP News Center named

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on January 6, 2010 at 1:06 PM

The deputy managing editor for the new AP News Center will be Sally Buzbee and the assistant managing editor will be Tamer Fakahany, the Los Angeles Times has reported.

Buzbee's new role will be to run the News Center, while Fakahany will be the No. 2 leader, working U.S. evening hours as other parts of the world are beginning their days.

Nineteen more publications sign up for the Sony Reader devices

Posted by Emma Heald on December 21, 2009 at 5:07 PM

Sony has now announced 19 new newspapers and periodical partners for its Reader devices, the Financial Times reported. The FT itself will be available immediately on the e-readers, along with the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune.

Other titles to follow later include the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Denver Post and the San Jose Mercury News. Amongst those signing on, the Dallas Morning News, the Providence Journal and the New York Observer are not available on Amazon's Kindle.

Huffington Post estimated to bring in $12 - 16 million this year

Posted by Emma Heald on December 18, 2009 at 6:39 PM

Los Angeles Times writer James Rainey asks "Will the Huffington Post strategy pay off?" following an interview with founder Arianna Huffington. The company does not provide figures, he specified, but "three people who work in the field estimated that it would take in $12million to $16 million this year."

Greg Coleman, Huffington's chief revenue officer, aims to double the site's revenue in one year and build it six-fold in three, Rainey said. The site is looking at expanding its advertising space.

The Huffington Post has managed to increase its readership over the past year: Rainey pointed out that Nielsen NetView estimated just under 9 million unique visitors to the site last month, 27% higher than in the same month of 2008. It now has 89 full-time employees, eleven of whom produce original content. In an effort to move away from covering almost purely political news, as it did in its early days, the site has added several other topic-specific and local sections.

HuffPost has also embraced social media, partnering with Facebook to allow readers to easily share articles, and it created a popular iPhone application.

Source: Los Angeles Times

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.

Huffington Post launches LA local site

Posted by Nestor Bailly on December 7, 2009 at 5:38 PM

The Huffington Post Los Angeles local news site has gone live, a year after HuffPo's Chicago local site and its NYC site that was launched this summer.

Not many details have been made public prior to this launch, and not much is known about future HuffPo plans. A company representative was quoted by paidContent as "not ready to reveal any forthcoming plans."

This move mirrors the introduction of local editions of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Several other news sites are launching local initiatives as well, such as ESPN and NBC.

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."

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