http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/dbm/ en-us Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:03:50 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051347/posts On Wednesday, New York Times Co. (NYT) reported disappointing second-quarter earnings, and on Thursday the stock continued in its steep descent. At the end of trading it stood at 12.48, or virtually half the price it commanded one year ago. This part of the story is unsurprising, given how the Street is slamming any newspaper stock. What's startling is something else: If you back out much of the rest of the company's portfolio, you arrive at a surprisingly teeny valuation for the vaunted New York Times itself, despite all the respect the brand commands. At its current $12.48 stock price—down... Business Week http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051347/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:03:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051289/posts LAT Gags Blogs: In a move that has apparently stirred up some internal discontent, the Los Angeles Times has banned its bloggers , including political bloggers, from mentioning the Edwards/Rielle Hunter story. Even bloggers who want to mention the story in order to make a skeptical we-don't-trust-the-Enquirer point are forbidden from doing so. Kausfiles has obtained a copy of the email Times bloggers received from editor Tony Pierce. [I've excised the recipient list and omitted Pierce's email address]: snip Slate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051289/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:30:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050772/posts SAN DIEGO – The parent company of The San Diego Union-Tribune announced Thursday that it has hired an investment banker to look into the possible sale of the company. Copley Press engaged the New York-based investment banking firm Evercore Partners, which also represented the publishing company in the sale of newspapers it owned in Los Angeles and in the Midwest in 2006 and 2007. In a statement, The Copley Press, Inc., cited the tough times in the newspaper industry as its motivation in deciding to explore the company's strategic options. “The last couple of years have been a difficult period... San Diego Union-Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050772/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:11:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050596/posts Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co (MNI.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a more than 40 percent drop in quarterly profit on Thursday as advertising revenue plunged, but shares shot up 5 percent after the company said it still will be able to pay its debt. The results, along with EW Scripps Co (SSP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Lee Enterprises Inc (LEE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) which also reported financial results on Thursday, are the latest sign that a weak economy and fundamental changes in how people get their news continue to hammer U.S. newspaper publishers. McClatchy, publisher... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050596/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:59:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050447/posts If you want an efficient, capsule summary of why you haven't read anything in newspapers or seen anything on major network news about how John Edwards ran from National Enquirer reporters in a hotel parking garage, about how he hid in a bathroom for 15 minutes, and about how he was holed up overnight with his alleged mistress and love child — an awesome, amazing story — parse these three revealing sentences from Washington Post "gossip" columnist Roxanne Roberts, in response to one of many persistent questions about the scandal in an online chat yesterday: The Enquirer is not going... The Gawker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050447/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:47:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050091/posts The lenders who financed Avista Capital Partners’ 2007 acquisition of the Star Tribune now want out of the deal, and are seeking a buyer for their debt package, originally worth more than $400 million. Credit Suisse and Royal Bank of Scotland have hired Lazard Ltd., a Wall Street financial adviser, to put the debt package on the market. Two local executives, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, said local business leaders have been approached with offers to purchase the debt. Neither the banks nor their representatives would confirm that there is an effort to sell the debt. But... Finance and Commerce http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050091/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:27:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049899/posts Real estate mogul Sam Zell, who took control of media giant Tribune Co. about six months ago, defended yesterday the staffing and page cuts under way at The Sun and its other newspapers as necessary in the worst advertising climate in decades. In a conference call with Tribune Co. reporters, Zell said reducing staff by as much as 25 percent in some newsrooms and shrinking and redesigning the company's newspapers were the only options to ensure short-term survival and to allow a longer-term reinvention of the American newspaper. "We're looking at some of the worst advertising numbers in the history... Baltimore Sun http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049899/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:54:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049350/posts When historians get around to 2008, it’s likely they will say it was the year the Los Angeles Times died. No, I don’t think the paper will fold between now and December. But I do fear the paper will be so diminished, so crippled, that the chance of saving it will have slipped away. I’m aware that there are residents in L.A. who are cheering this prospect. The Times engenders more hostility than any daily paper I know of; in the view of its critics, the Times is an arrogant, liberal behemoth that deserves whatever fate befalls it. But for... LAMag.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049350/posts#comment Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:17:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049012/posts Memo to Allentown, PA Morning News staff From: Kennedy, Timothy Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 3:00 PM Subject: A Message from the Publisher Dear Colleagues, I am writing today to update you on the status of the redesign and resizing of our paper. The new design will debut on Monday, July 28th. We will introduce the redesign beginning with a letter to our readers from me this Sunday with daily in-paper communication throughout the week. Beginning today you will be able to see prototypes displayed in both Publishers Hall and on the second floor in the newsroom. Later this week... Poynter Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049012/posts#comment Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:54:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048881/posts Just days after The Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel admitted it was cutting 20% of news staff but not reporting it, The Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, another Tribune paper, revealed it was reducing staff under a similar plan. Sun-Sentinel Editor Earl Maucker told E&P Monday that his paper also plans to cut 20% of its news staff -- now at 290 -- by the end of July. He said the cuts are coming through a combination of voluntary and involuntary departures. "A number of people have approached asking for consideration in the last three or four weeks," Maucker said, noting he told... Editor & Publisher http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048881/posts#comment Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:45:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048703/posts CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan, who just relocated to Washington DC, was the first correspondent to interview Barack Obama during his just-begun, but much talked-about overseas trip. The discussion happened today in Afghanistan and aired this morning on Face the Nation and on CBS Evening News. Politico's Mike Allen reports, of the three network anchors covering the overseas trip Katie Couric will go first, interviewing Obama on Tuesday "in a country that the campaign does not want named for security reasons." Charles Gibson gets Obama on Wednesday, and Brian Williams will go Thursday. Allen writes, at least... TV Newser http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048703/posts#comment Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:38:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048686/posts U.S. daily newspapers aren't shrinking just their newsrooms, an extensive study released Monday finds. Stories, page count, sections, international and national news are all smaller, too -- and only a minority of editors think online journalism will save their papers. In the study by journalist Tyler Marshall and the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, editors by big numbers think their papers are actually improving their coverage, even as they lament that their staffs have lost their most veteran journalists in waves of buyouts and layoffs. That's not to say that editors are feeling very confident: Just 5%... Editor & Publisher http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048686/posts#comment Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:31:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048558/posts One problem with managing a bunch of print journalists is that when you fire them — or cut their budget, or the size of their newspaper — they are still journalists, prone to grumbling about whatever they consider unfair. At the Tribune Company, the grumblers have found an outlet in a blog, Tell Zell, that lets them rip into Sam Zell, the Chicago real estate mogul who took Tribune private last year for $8.2 billion. The blog, set up in May, is mainly an encyclopedia of gripes about cutbacks at The Los Angeles Times, though other Tribune papers, like The... The New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048558/posts#comment Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:04:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048310/posts Layoffs and buyouts at U.S. newspapers PaperCuts http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048310/posts#comment Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:12:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048268/posts Will Katie Couric be as tough with Barack Obama as North Korean television is with Kim Jong Il? The last time Couric (and the other anchors to, for that matter) interviewed Obama the liberal Democrat had no more to fear from her and them than the communist dictator ever has from his state media. Pressed at the TV critics session with the networks in Beverly Hills on Friday as to whether ABC, CBS and NBC sending their anchors along with Barack Obama on his overseas trip is “justified or reflect media infatuation with the presumptive Democratic nominee,” the AP's Lynn... Newsbusters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048268/posts#comment Sun, 20 Jul 2008 05:21:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047775/posts Hollywood is quickly losing its grip on the kind of easy money once readily available through Wall Street. The collapse of Paramount Pictures' $450-million film financing deal underscores how dramatically the global credit crunch is prompting weary investors and several industry-friendly banks to shy away from a popular form of funding that has fueled Hollywood's production growth in recent years. The pullback could set the studios scrambling to find alternative sources of capital to help mitigate risk on their movie slates as filmmaking and marketing costs continue to climb. With the debt markets depressed and money drying up, studios like... Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047775/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:47:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047721/posts The Modesto Bee is moving forward with plans to print the newspaper at The Sacramento Bee. In an update to employees, Publisher and President Margaret Randazzo said that based on an analysis of printing The Modesto Bee in Sacramento, "it is clear that this move makes both financial and operational sense." "This regional synergy with our sister McClatchy paper allows us to combine resources and streamline processes, resulting in significant cost savings and the avoidance of future capital expenses," Randazzo said in her memo Friday. "This is consistent with combining operations across the entire industry," including at other McClatchy papers.... Modesto Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047721/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:07:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047662/posts The Baltimore Sun is laying off nine people in its newsroom after accepting what a union representative said seemed like most or all of the employee buyout applications it received last week. Of those forced to leave, four are editorial assistants, four are two-year interns and one is a reporter, the company told employees in a meeting held Friday morning. The Sun told the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild that nine others in the advertising section and call center are also being laid off. Tanika White, co-chair of the Guild, said Friday afternoon management only informed her of the 18 union jobs... Maryland Daily Record http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047662/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:26:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047617/posts Katie Couric was repeated asked by critics at press tour about reports that she will soon exit her position as anchor of "CBS Evening News." “We have no plans to part company anytime soon,” she says. “There were a lot of speculative pieces that have been spin out of control. I’m very committed to the people and here and the product. I think [the rumors are] dying down considerable. I can’t control what media writers write. Sometimes we live in a bit of an echo chamber. I think people in your room are more fascinated by these things than people... The Live Feed http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047617/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:35:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047441/posts Call it the Midsummer Massacre. The last two months have seen a bloodbath at some of America's largest newspaper publishers, with substantial job cuts hitting a number of papers, including a high proportion of newsroom positions. The scythe has visited McClatchy, Media General, the Tribune Co., the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post, among others. Media General got the scythe swinging in late May with its announcement that it would cut 810 positions across its properties in the southeast, with the vast majority falling on its publishing business; just 65 of the positions were in broadcasting or corporate. As... Media Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047441/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:49:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047190/posts A photographer who published pictures of dead U.S. Marines on his blog says his post led him to be ejected from his U.S. military embed in Iraq. Freelance photojournalist Zoriah says he does not believe he violated any of the rules of his embed agreement. But he says Marine commanders were so upset by his photos last month that they promptly arranged for a convoy to take him back to Baghdad. He decided to return home to the U.S. several days later. Speaking to PDN from Colorado this week, Zoriah (whose full name is Zoriah Miller but who uses only... Editor & Publisher http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047190/posts#comment Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:45:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047114/posts More than 300 Palm Beach Post employees have applied for buyouts and all have been accepted, according to an internal memo obtained by the Pulp. Though the newspaper announced it would cut 300 jobs, there will be additional layoffs. According to the memo: The number of applications was more than expected. However, we received too many in some areas and not enough in others, So we still expect to begin a small number of involuntary separations, or layoffs, the week of Aug. 18 in some departments as needed. Thanks to all who applied. You have greatly reduced the number of... Broward-Palm Beach New Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047114/posts#comment Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:40:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046824/posts Media General Inc (MEG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a second-quarter loss on Thursday, hurt by a severance charge and a 17 percent drop in newspaper advertising revenue, and said it would take a writedown of as much as $550 million. The publisher of the Tampa Tribune and Richmond Times-Dispatch posted a second-quarter preliminary loss of $129,000, or a penny a share, compared with net income of $5.1 million, or 22 cents a share, in the second quarter last year. The results do not include the effects of the expected non-cash writedown. Revenue fell to $204.8 million from $228.2... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046824/posts#comment Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:16:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046556/posts Greg Osberg, Newsweek’s president and worldwide publisher, is leaving the Washington Post Company, FOLIO: has learned. Osberg told FOLIO: Tuesday that he plans to stay on at Newsweek until early fall. No successor has been named, though Jon Meacham, the magazine’s editor, would figure to be a prime candidate. A Washington Post Company spokesperson said the decision would be made by Newsweek. A spokesperson for Newsweek did not immediately return a request seeking comment. Osberg joined Newsweek in 1990 as associate advertising director, then vice president/associate publisher. He left Newsweek in 1997 to become president of sales and marketing at... FolioMag.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046556/posts#comment Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:55:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046333/posts The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will cut its workforce by 8 percent, some 184 jobs, and eliminate its "geographically targeted news sections" as part of a cost-cutting plan the paper announced Wednesday. "The moves come amid an advertising revenue slump that has ravaged the newspaper industry and has been made worse by rising costs for fuel and newsprint," the paper reported. The paper reported that "job cuts, which will occur between August and October, will mainly affect the news and advertising departments at the company. They will be accomplished through voluntary buyouts, layoffs and job eliminations." The company currently has about 2,300... Editor & Publisher http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046333/posts#comment Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:24:42 GMT