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NEWS OF THE INDUSTRY

MEDIANEWS MONITOR

Blood on the newsroom floor: MediaNews merger

But new CEO sounds confident of success ahead

Richard Brenneman - 07 Sep 2011

MediaNews Group, the company that produces the largest share of California’s newspapers, is merging managerial functions with the Journal Register Co., with the new operation headed by Journal Register boss John Paton. Paton, who is one of the newspaper world’s leading advocates of a transition to the digital realm, becomes the boss of most San Francisco Bay Area newspapers, now published by MediaNews’ Bay Area News Group.

PRESS RELEASE

Alden tightens grip on MediaNews, Journal Register

New CEO to push digital business model

PR Newswire - 07 Sep 2011

Alden Global Capital moved Wednesday to consolidate management of its newspaper holdings, merging senior leadership of MediaNews and Journal Register Co. John Paton of Journal Register Co. will be CEO. MediaNews, known for slashing costs, owns the San Jose Mercury News, Monterey Herald and BANG-East Bay.

East Bay papers to consolidate, cut 20% of news staff

Carolyn Said - San Francisco Chronicle - 24 Aug 2011

As newspapers nationwide struggle to evolve viable business models, Bay Area News Group said Tuesday it will consolidate 11 local newspapers in the East Bay into two regional newspapers and lay off 8 percent of the staff. (Guild Note: Although the press release didn't point this out, the layoffs eliminate about 20 percent of the East Bay editorial staff.)


What readers want to read next

Ken Doctor - Newsonomics - 24 Aug 2011

We'd all like to know what comes next. That can be a spiritual quest, a political one, or in the case of news publishers, one that would help them know what it is readers who land on their site would like to read next.

McClatchy second-quarter profits, revenue fall

Dale Kasler - The Sacramento Bee - 31 Jul 2011

The McClatchy Co. today reported lower profits and revenue in the second quarter, as The Bee's owner continues to struggle with a weak economy and structural changes in the newspaper industry.

The Newsonomics of Netflix

Ken Doctor - Newsonomics - 31 Jul 2011

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says he is surprised that customers weren't more upset with Netflix's digital shift. After all, he expected more upset, in his role as a pioneer, early in the game of forcing the digital shift.

Extra! Extra!   from the Guild Reporter


MORE NEWS OF THE INDUSTRY

Times Company posts loss on write-down

Jeremy W. Peters - The New York Times - 21 Jul 2011

The New York Times Company reported on Thursday an overall loss in the second quarter as print advertising continued to struggle, dragging down growth in online advertising.

Sun-Times Media, Chicago Tribune enter into print production contract

David Roeder - The Chicago Sun-Times - 21 Jul 2011

The Chicago Tribune will begin printing the Chicago Sun-Times and seven of its suburban sister newspapers under an agreement announced Tuesday.

Schadenfreude

Ken Doctor - Newsonomics - 19 Jul 2011

Schadenfreude is the word of the day, as the Wall Street Journal's editorial page points out that "the Schadenfreude is so thick you can't cut it with a chainsaw."

New News Corp strategy

Ken Doctor - Newsonomics - 18 Jul 2011

We'd all be ready to shell out pay-per-view prices (those for boxing, not a simple movie) to peek in on the House of Commons' questioning of Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks Tuesday.


Connie Knox

Connie Knox

Guild's former international chair dies at the age of 68

Andy Zipser - The Guild Reporter - 18 Jul 2011

Connie Knox, a life-long Guild member who stepped down as the union's international chair just one week ago, has died. Her body was found at home Saturday by her daughter; further details about her death are unknown at this time.

The myths of Murdoch: Real, unreal and surreal

Ken Doctor - Newsonomics - 14 Jul 2011

Forget the tired "gate" applied to this scandal, as in the limp Phonegate. This News Corp scandal so far surpasses mere phone treachery that the name diminishes what's at stake.

PRESS RELEASE

Guild ratifies three-year contract with Thomson Reuters

Newspaper Guild of New York - 12 Jul 2011

Journalists, technicians and other news professionals represented by the Newspaper Guild have ratified a three-year contract with Thomson Reuters Corp. ending an often acrimonious two-and-a-half year contract dispute.

13 questions on the Murdoch scandal

Ken Doctor - Newsonomics - 09 Jul 2011

Rupert Murdoch is all about control. After a near-decade of trying to control, and contain, the wiretapping scandal, it's now spreading like wildfire. The next question is how far it will spread. How big will the scandal grow, and what will it touch.

The Murdoch fall-out

Ken Doctor - Newsonomics - 07 Jul 2011

What's an American to make of the astounding news that News Corp is closing Britain's top Sunday paper,

New editorial management team named for BANG newspapers

The San Jose Mercury News - 04 Jul 2011

The Bay Area News Group announced Thursday that its newspapers will now operate under a single, common news management team under the direction of David J. Butler, editor of the San Jose Mercury News.

Superman

Michael Meyer - Columbia Journalism Review - 04 Jul 2011

"When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter-ego is Clark Kent."

Flipboard's summer update goes live

Sarah Perez - ReadWriteWeb - 04 Jul 2011

Popular iPad magazine app Flipboardhas just released a new version featuring a handful of updates, including one which has the company rethinking a user's first-time experience with the application.

The Newsonomics of the British invasion

Ken Doctor - Newsonomics - 01 Jul 2011

With the United Kingdom one of the countries suffering the economic doldrums more than the U.S., maybe it's no surprise that we're witnessing a British online invasion. In short order, the Guardian, Mail Online, and the BBC, among others, are targeting American eyeballs and wallets in the urgent search for growth.

Why newspapers have gone to hell

Jack Shafer - Slate - 28 Jun 2011

Eyewitnesses can't be expected to produce the best dispatches from a calamity. They're usually too bound in bandages and cross-stitched with sutures to understand anybody's pain but their own.

FT declares independence (from Apple) day

Ken Doctor - Newsonomics - 07 Jun 2011

Just as Steve Jobs was wowing the Apple WWDC with next-gen iOS plans and Newsstand auto-updating of news subscriptions, the Financial Times was putting the finishing touches on its news release. In FT style, the release itself is understated and subtle.

Suzanne Arnaud retires after four decades service

Media Workers Guild - 06 Jun 2011

Suzanne Arnaud, Administrative Director of the San Jose Newspaper Guild, will retire on July 1 after 43 years of dedicated service to members and their families. Simply put, over four decades, Suzanne has provided the heart and become the soul of the Newspaper Guild. A compassionate and tireless advocate for the rights and dignity of working people across the Bay Area, Suzanne has fought for fairness and justice on issues relating to wages and benefits, workers' rights, retirement planning and coping with layoffs and the decline of an industry undergoing seismic change.

Newsday bosses get raises after union members accept pay cuts

Jim Romenesko - Poynter - 26 May 2011

The president of the union representing Newsday journalists blasts the paper for giving "generous wage increases and bonuses" to managers.

Extra! Extra! Tribune Fees Top $150 Million

Eric Morath - The Wall Street Journal - 26 May 2011

You won't find Tribune Co.'s bankruptcy lawyers looking in the want ads any time soon. Professional fees topped $150 million last month in the newspaper publisher and television station operator's Chapter 11 case.

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