We’re On Deadline (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

When the Newseum opened last week in Washington, D.C., more than a few critics pointed out that it was a strange time to throw a party. And indeed there is a certain irony to debuting a seven-story, $450 million museum of journalism at a time of budget cuts, shrinking revenues and contracting newsrooms. Last week the American Society of Newspaper Editors reported that 2,400 full-time newspaper jobs were lost in 2007, the largest annual drop in 30 years. Meanwhile, less than one person in five believes what he reads in print, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a research organization, and a recent Sacred Heart University study found that nearly nine in 10 Americans believe that journalists are actively biased, one way or another.

But with public faith in the mainstream media on the wane, it may be smart to build a temple to journalism as a mammoth public relations tool for the industry. This may explain why the Newseum was able to net $122 million in seed money from major media outlets that are simultaneously slashing personnel and shuttering bureaus. Time Warner, ABC, NBC, Bloomberg, Hearst, News Corp., and the New York Times Company, among other major media organizations and families, each anted up the $5 million minimum gift. (The Washington Post Company, which owns Newsweek, will cover the costs of admittance for groups of schoolchildren in the Post's circulation area for the first year.)

"It was easy," said Newseum president Peter Prichard of the fund-raising effort. "We told them what was going to be in the museum and they said, 'We need that'."

The Newseum's major galleries and theaters bear the names of these "founding partners"—a sponsorship scenario familiar from professional sports stadiums, which bear names like Tropicana Field, Petco Park and Jobbing.com Arena.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003791145

U.S. News Slashes Rate Base, Frequency

A spokesperson for U.S. News declined to comment on the changes, which were confirmed by media buyers.

Lucia Moses

APRIL 17, 2008 -

In another sign of the ongoing contraction in the newsweekly category, U.S. News & World Report has whacked its rate base to 1.5 million from 2 million this year, while cutting its frequency to 36 issues from 46.

A spokesperson for U.S. News declined to comment on the changes, which were confirmed by media buyers.

As previously reported, Newsweek cut its guaranteed circ by 16 percent to 2.6 million this year, following Time magazine’s rate base reduction of 19 percent, to 3.25 million, in January 2007.

“I’m not surprised, especially given the way that this category has migrated to the Web,” said Robin Steinberg, senior vp/director of print investment and activation, MediaVest, reacting to the U.S. News rate base cut. “Consumers want news immediately. We’ve seen the consumer behavior move from book to online.”

All three titles have pruned their staffs in the face of softening circulation and ad pages as readers and advertisers turn online for news and audiences. The category has been particularly hard hit this year, with key ad categories of pharma, financial and auto pulling back spending in print.

U.S. News has been hit harder than its peers on that front. Year to date through April 14, ad pages plummeted 38.4 percent, to 280, per Mediaweek Monitor. (The title had three more issues in 2007 in the same period.) The category overall declined 16.3 percent in the same period. U.S. News’ circ has been flat at 2 million for the past couple of years.

Under editor Brian Kelly, U.S. News has put an emphasis on service journalism in an effort to differentiate itself, building on its “Best Colleges” rankings franchise. Its 2008 editorial calendar lists eight such “Best” features.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_17/b4081130361611.htm

Media Centric April 17, 2008, 5:00PM EST text size: TT
An Eerie Temple of Yesterday’s News
It seems an odd time to erect the Newseum, a $450 million paean to journalism

by Jon Fine

As far as dedicating a museum to a milieu I know well—one routinely accused of smugness, elitism, undue self-importance, and being thin-skinned—well, I might have preferred something modest in someone’s basement commemorating the indie-rock underground of the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Quite reasonably, though, no one asked me.

And now there’s an impressive edifice looming over a prime section of Washington’s iconic Pennsylvania Avenue—a straight shot from the Capitol building—called the Newseum, which officially opened on Apr. 11. The Newseum, created and funded in part by the Freedom Forum, the foundation run by USA Today impresario Al Neuharth, is a major reboot of a smaller version formerly located in Rosslyn, Va. You may have guessed what its 250,000 square feet are devoted to: journalism, and to an extent, the businesses that have fed off it, their artifacts captured under glass, sometimes in temperature- and light-controlled environments, like something fragile or suffering from a dread disease.

The Newseum cannot help but evoke such metaphors. It is a striking-looking place, modern and glassy, with lots of space. It’s stuffed with enough effluvia to keep a media geek happy for weeks. (I write this as someone sufficiently interested in Rupert Murdoch’s phone from around 2005—yes, it’s on display—to blog about who he had on speed dial. Wait—what is Murdoch’s phone from 2005 doing in a museum?)

snip

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUSN1828472520080418

AOL to cut about 100 jobs in Web ad-selling unit
Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:31pm EDT

NEW YORK, April 18 (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc’s (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) AOL will cut about 100 employees from its Web advertising-selling unit Platform-A as it consolidates various job functions, a company spokeswoman said on Friday.

Most of the cuts will be complete by the end of the month, AOL spokeswoman Tricia Primrose said. The unit employs about 1,600 people, she said.

AOL has spent about $1 billion buying companies in the past 18 months such as Tacoda, Quigo and buy.at that it is using to build up its Platform-A unit, Primrose said. Buying these companies has resulted in some jobs that are duplicative.

“At the end of the day, it’s about consolidation,” she said.

Time Warner shares rose 23 cents, or 1.57 percent, to close at $14.84 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Editing by Carol Bishopric)

http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/the_seattle_times_buyout_list_and_a_pred

The Seattle Times Buyout List, and a Prediction of An “Extreme May-kover” for the Newspaper

posted by Eli Sanders on April 18 at 11:35 AM

A memo went out at the Seattle Times a short time ago listing the newsroom employees who are taking the paper’s buyout offer.

There were, apparently, four more “expressions of interest” (EOIs) from employees who wanted buyouts than the paper was willing to approve. Times Executive Editor David Boardman writes in the memo:

We accepted EOIs from 19 people, two of them in a job share and five of them editors. These people will take with them a wealth of talent and experience, leaving an enormous challenge for those of us who remain. But their willingness to step forward preserved the jobs of people with less seniority and whose Seattle Times careers are largely ahead of them.

Here’s the buyout list, with job identifications as described by a Times source:

Melinda Bargreen, Classical Music Critic

Scott Barry, North Bureau editor

Ted Basladynski

Paula Bock, Pacific Northwest Magazine Writer

Arlene Bryant, East Bureau Editor

Florangela Davila, TV and Radio Writer

Rich Dilworth

Ranny Green, Pet Writer

Jerry Holloron, Copy Editor

Shirleen Holt, Reporter

Marsha King, Metro Reporter

Lee Moriwaki, Editorial Page

Tom Reese, Photographer

Bill Ristow, Web

Nyssa Rogers, East Bureau

Francine Ruley

Tom Scanlon, Music Writer

Janine Steffan, Reporter

Betty Udesen, Photographer

What’s this “Extreme May-kover” all about? It’s explained in the memo, which is in the jump.

The past 11 days have been among the most difficult in decades here, since we announced the significant staff reduction we must endure. Yet, these trying times have also demonstrated that this is not just any newsroom, or news staff. I am profoundly grateful to you all for the trust, respect, grace and professionalism you have displayed under fire.

We received and accepted enough Expressions of Interest in News and Editorial to avoid further layoffs beyond those we announced last week. In fact, we have one opening for a reporting job and have posted that to the six zone reporters who were identified for layoff. The number of involuntary terminations will be reduced to 15.

The EOIs we are accepting come from: Melinda Bargreen, Scott Barry, Ted Basladynski, Paula Bock, Arlene Bryant, Florangela Davila, Rich Dilworth, Ranny Green, Jerry Holloron, Shirleen Holt, Marsha King, Lee Moriwaki, Tom Reese, Bill Ristow, Nyssa Rogers, Francine Ruley, Tom Scanlon, Janine Steffan and Betty Udesen.

We turned down four additional requests. I recognize that those rejections may hurt not only the people who submitted them, but those who remain on the layoff list. The way this process was set up, any job for which we accept an EOI simply vaporizes. Our goal was to reach our savings target while preserving our ability to produce a high-quality newspaper and Web site.

While we are losing wonderful contributors both through voluntary and involuntary departures, we will continue to have not only the finest news staff in the Northwest, but one of the best of any regional newspaper in America. Still, there is much hard work
ahead.

Our first priority is an appropriate formal farewell to those who are leaving. After that, we plan to use the month of May to engage you all in what we’re calling “Extreme May-kover,” looking at everything we do from a fresh perspective and forging a plan for the future.

Before then, please just take time to enjoy all of our departing colleagues and to absorb whatever bits of wisdom we can glean from them before they leave.

Again, my deepest apologies to those who are losing their jobs and to those who spent these days with their jobs in limbo. Thanks to the rest of you for your patience, perseverance and renewed commitment to serving our community with quality journalism.

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