http://www.newsguild.org News and headlines about the media industry from the Guild Reporter Copyright 2005 The Newspaper Guild en-us Wed, 14 May 2008 15:21:17 -0400 Wed, 14 May 2008 15:21:17 -0400 http://newsguild.org/rss/reporter.gif http://www.newsguild.org 119 50 http://www.minnpost.com/davidbrauer/2008/05/13/1852/strib_guild_no_new_management_no_new_labor_either The Star Tribune has just begun labor negotiations with newsroom employees. Meetings began last week — editor Nancy Barnes communicated her vision Friday — and today, the Strib’s Newspaper Guild let its members know what labor said behind closed doors in a statement titled "This Is Our Newspaper." http://www.minnpost.com/davidbrauer/2008/05/13/1852/strib_guild_no_new_management_no_new_labor_either http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003803049 Challenger Bernie Lunzer, whose election as Newspaper Guild president is expected to be certified on Thursday, said he wants to have the union "actively involved in the direction of the industry." Lunzer’s comments followed the release of ballot data on the Guild Web site that indicate Lunzer had at least 3,630 votes out of 6,367 cast, with incumbent Linda Foley taking 2,737. In accordance with Guild rules, the election is not final until it is certified on Thursday. Foley had no comment on the election. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003803049 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/363005_timesshares14.html Struggling with falling profits and revenue, The McClatchy Co. said Tuesday that it’s willing to sell its 49.5 percent share of The Seattle Times Co. McClatchy’s valuation of its interest in the Times Co. has declined steadily since March 2006, when it acquired the interest through its $4.1 billion purchase of Knight Ridder Inc. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/363005_timesshares14.html http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003802762 One potential obstacle in Frank Blethen’s effort to sell his Blethen Maine Newspaper group may have been lifted as the tiny Morning Sentinel in Waterville reached agreement with its local Newspaper Guild on a new contract. But the new agreement, which includes a 5% raise and a $1,600 bonus payment, runs only through next January — a clear sign that management does not want new owners hamstrung by a lengthy union agreement. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003802762 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7398973.stm A Spanish court has thrown out murder charges against three US soldiers accused of killing a Spanish cameraman during the war in Iraq. Jose Couso, 37, died in April 2003 after a US tank fired on a hotel used by foreign journalists in Baghdad. Madrid’s National Court dropped all charges, ruling there was "insufficient evidence" to continue with the trial. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7398973.stm http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003802534 Tribune Co.’s $650 million sale of Newsday is an important step toward alleviating its debt burden — for this year. Tribune now seems to be covered on a $650 million lump-sum debt payment coming due in December as well as other near-term obligations, but analysts say it needs to get moving on other asset sales in order to be in shape to deliver on another $750 million debt payment due in June 2009. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003802534 http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2008/05/12/journal-register-a-shakespeare-tragedy/ In William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, Prospero the exiled sorcerer frees the spirit Ariel from a tree. In much the same way, Ariel Investments has freed itself from a tree as well. The Chicago-based investment firm reported in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it no longer owns any shares in Journal Register Co, the publisher of 20-some U.S. newspapers. http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2008/05/12/journal-register-a-shakespeare-tragedy/ http://www.reuters.com/article/mergersNews/idUSN1240009620080512?sp=true The fight to buy Tribune Co’s Newsday surprised many in the media world — not because of its high-profile combatants, but because of the price they were willing to pay to buy a newspaper. The bidding war, ended by Cablevision Systems Corp with a deal to buy Newsday for $650 million, is not indicative of where the newspaper industry is headed. http://www.reuters.com/article/mergersNews/idUSN1240009620080512?sp=true http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080512-big-media-slams-proposal-to-roll-back-cross-ownership-rule.html Thirteen major broadcast and newspaper groups have filed lengthy denunciations of a public interest group’s appeal to redo the FCC’s recent relaxation of its TV station/newspaper cross-ownership ban. Their comments once again expose the enormous divide between public opinion and big media on this issue. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080512-big-media-slams-proposal-to-roll-back-cross-ownership-rule.html http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/05/10/monitor_looking_at_changes_in_effort_to_remain_vital/ As The Christian Science Monitor marks its 100th anniversary this year, the Boston-based newspaper is weighing changes with an eye toward remaining viable in an uncertain media environment. Like many other newspapers, the Monitor has battled declining circulation as readers have migrated to the Internet. From a peak of more than 230,000 in the early 1970s, the Monitor’s average daily circulation had dropped to 56,083 as of March 31. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/05/10/monitor_looking_at_changes_in_effort_to_remain_vital/ http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bznews0512x,0,7341028.story Cablevision Systems Corp. announced Monday morning an agreement to acquire Newsday from Tribune Co. in a $650-million deal that would create a regional news and advertising giant with a powerful grip on Long Island. The agreement, repoterdly signed Sunday night, calls for the creation of a joint venture in which Cablevision owns 97% of Newsday and its subsidiaries, with Tribune Co. retaining the remaining 3%. http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bznews0512x,0,7341028.story http://www.newsday.com/news/ny-nynews0511,0,6174868.story News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch has dropped his $580-million bid to purchase Newsday, his spokeswoman said Saturday. "It became uneconomical for us to continue," Teri Everett of Murdoch’s News Corp. said. Murdoch’s withdrawal leaves two other bids for Tribune Co. to consider: Cablevision Systems Corp.’s $650-million offer or a $580-million bid from Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman. http://www.newsday.com/news/ny-nynews0511,0,6174868.story http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003801848 Troubled Journal Register Co. warned late Friday in a regulatory filing that it probably will be in default of its loan covenant before the end of July. The publisher said it was in compliance with the total leveraged financial covenant in the first quarter of the year ended March 30, but it is likely to be in default in the second quarter unless business picks up in some unexpected dramatic way. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003801848 http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2008/05/08/media-consolidation-internet-ent-competition08-cx_lh_0508media.html When it comes to debates about media consolidation, it’s hard not to get the sense that the horse has long since bolted from the barn. Take a look around. Giants dominate the landscape. Which may explain why Capitol Hill is gearing up for yet another battle over a Federal Communications Commission decision last December to loosen restrictions on the ownership of a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same market. http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2008/05/08/media-consolidation-internet-ent-competition08-cx_lh_0508media.html http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6558915.html?rssid=193 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has decided to put off hearing Tribune’s challenge of the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to grant it waivers to complete the deal to sell the company to investor Sam Zell. The court decided to hold off on hearing the Tribune challenge, or a motion by media activists to dismiss, until the FCC rules on a petition by those activists to reconsider its decision to approve the deal. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6558915.html?rssid=193 http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/09/8840/ The mainstream media are as likely to report on Pentagon propaganda — and thus, themselves — as President Bush is likely to cede that "mission accomplished" was poor phrasing. That is, it ain’t ever gonna happen. To avoid being duped, we need to understand not just why the mainstream media are mum on this scandal, but how they created the scandal in the first place. Just how does propaganda creep unnoticed into everyday reporting? http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/09/8840/ http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2008-05-09-locy-appeal_N.htm Federal appeals court judges on Friday questioned whether a contempt order against a reporter who refused to identify her sources went too far, noting that lawyers for former Army scientist Steven Hatfill have asked for a trial date anyway. Former USA TODAY reporter Toni Locy is appealing a judge’s order requiring her to pay up to $5,000 a day out of her own pocket until she gives up her sources. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2008-05-09-locy-appeal_N.htm http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003801424 The E.W. Scripps Co. took another formal step towards spinning its newspaper business into a separate company, announcing Friday that its board of directors had approved the plan. The separation is expected to take place July 1. Scripps shareholders will get a tax-free distribution of stock in the new company, called Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., and will continue to own shares in E.W. Scripps, which will operate the newspapers. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003801424 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-080508-tribune-earnings,0,2540019.story Tribune Co. reported a big first-quarter profit, thanks to a mammoth tax gain the Chicago media concern recorded in connection with the leveraged buyout by which it went private at the end of 2007. Without that artificial boost from the tax change, the company swung to a loss, as interest payments soared to service Tribune’s heavy load of buyout-related debt. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-080508-tribune-earnings,0,2540019.story http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/362342_amy09.html Sami al-Haj is a free man today, after having been imprisoned by the U.S. military for more than six years. His crime: journalism. Targeting journalists, the Bush administration has engaged in direct assault, intimidation, imprisonment and information blackouts to limit the ability of journalists to do their jobs. The principal target these past seven years has been Al-Jazeera. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/362342_amy09.html http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=116&sid=1400766 Unions should be required to make public more details of their internal finances, the Labor Department said Thursday as it proposed new changes to union disclosure forms. Federal officials are proposing a more detailed form, and penalizing small unions who get into trouble with the law by prohibiting them from filing a simple form. The proposed changes will be printed on Monday in the Federal Register. http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=116&sid=1400766 http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10204.html Even with countless media outlets available these days, a Sunday New York Times cover story could always be counted on to send a jolt through the television news cycle. But apparently that’s no longer the case. Indeed, reporter David Barstow’s 7,600-word investigation about ex-military talking heads—often with direct ties to contractors—parroting Defense Department talking points on the air, has been noticeably absent from television airwaves. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10204.html http://www.journalism.org/node/10953 The Daily Show aims at more than comedy. In its choice of topics, its use of news footage to deconstruct the manipulations by public figures and its tendency toward pointed satire over playing just for laughs, The Daily Show performs a function that is close to journalistic in nature — getting people to think critically about the public square. In that sense, it is a variation of the tradition of Russell Baker, Art Hoppe, Art Buchwald and H.L. Mencken. http://www.journalism.org/node/10953 http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/05/08/pressed_freedom/ Toni Locy was always a good, tough-nosed journalist, always in high heels and high spirits. She is now in danger of becoming a very broke and incarcerated journalist. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., wants to bankrupt her and throw her in jail because she won’t give up her sources. The legal fatwa against Toni Locy is arbitrary and Orwellian, and if successful will make reporters even less likely to keep an eye on the government. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/05/08/pressed_freedom/ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003800569 The Sun-Times Media Group (STMG) expects its Class A shares trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to be de-listed. The company said in an announcement yesterday that it does not intend to appeal, and that it expects to move trading of the stock to the OTC Bulletin Board once it gets kicked off the Big Board. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003800569 http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/84517/ Over the last 15 years, at least 500 journalists were killed directly because of their work. But in less than 15 percent of cases have the perpetrators been brought to justice, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Murder is used by states as the ultimate form of censorship, and the more these cases go unpunished, the more the press is silenced. http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/84517/ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003799970 New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller told his staff today to expect a "small number of layoffs." Keller would not disclose the number or the people who are on the list. Two months ago, the Times said it needed to reduce its newsroom staff by 100 positions and offered voluntary buyouts. Not enough employees took the buyout so the paper will have to resort to layoffs. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003799970 http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/05/06/battista-jumps-nlrb-ship-joins-union-busting-firm/ Robert Battista, who for five years chaired the National Labor Relations Board, told a U.S. House-Senate joint hearing in December he doesn’t believe the primary purpose of the National Labor Relations Act is to promote collective bargaining. Now he can put that belief openly into practice: he’s joining the notorious union-busting firm of Littler Mendelson. http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/05/06/battista-jumps-nlrb-ship-joins-union-busting-firm/ http://bizlex.com/Articles-c-2008-05-06-76067.113117_HeraldLeader_Seeks_Buyout_from_4_Percent_of_Staff.html#222 The Lexington Herald-Leader is looking to trim its staff of 385 full-time employees by 4 percent through a voluntary buyout program, but is leaving the door open for layoffs if fewer than 4 percent take the voluntary buyout. In March the Herald-Leader announced it was shutting down its internal ad design and outsourcing the jobs to an Illinois company with design centers in India and the Philippines. http://bizlex.com/Articles-c-2008-05-06-76067.113117_HeraldLeader_Seeks_Buyout_from_4_Percent_of_Staff.html#222 http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2008/05/how_bad_is_it_f.php What’s up with recent doom-and-gloom coverage of the Star Tribune? One possibility is that with contract negotiations set to begin next week, the new owner is leaking stories about its dire financial situation as a n anti-union cudgel. In that regard its hiring of the Blackwell Group is potentially significant, since Blackwell has a history of aggressively slashing labor costs. http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2008/05/how_bad_is_it_f.php http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003799168 Challenger Bernie Lunzer will win The Newspaper Guild presidential election, according to voting data obtained by E&P that indicates he has a lead of more than 900 votes with only some 600 potential ballots left to be counted. Sources within the guild revealed that out of 6,420 votes tabulated so far, Lunzer, the longtime secretary-treasurer, has 3,648, while incumbent Linda Foley has just 2,722. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003799168 http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=26769 There is genuine press freedom within the EU. No state has ordered the murder or imprisonment of a journalist and official censorship is a thing of the past. Media express a diversity of opinion and a pluralism of ideas is generally assured. But the situation is not perfect. Threats made against journalists, murder attempts by private groups, assaults, intimidation of families are all among the very serious risks run today within Europe. http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=26769 http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL0214163420080506 Newspapers seeking to compete with the Internet are likely to become free and place greater emphasis on comment and opinion in the future, a survey of the world’s editors showed on Tuesday. The Zogby poll revealed that newspaper editors were still optimistic about the future of their publications but believed they would have to adapt further for the digital age. http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL0214163420080506 http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2008/05/05/daily7.html Newspaper chain MediaNews Group Inc. is outsourcing customer service operations for some of its California dailies — including the San Jose Mercury News, one of the company’s largest papers — to the Philippines. Phone calls from customers of the Mercury News as well as the Oakland Tribune and Contra Costa Times will be answered by employees of APAC Customer Services Inc. at its three call centers in Quezon City and Muntinlupa City. http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2008/05/05/daily7.html http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003798647 Early returns in the first contested Newspaper Guild presidential election since 1995 indicate a possible change at the top with challenger Bernie Lunzer ahead of incumbent Linda Foley. Andy Zipser of The Guild Reporter, the union’s monthly newspaper, declined to offer specific voting data. But he said his tabulations of a majority of votes show Lunzer, the union’s secretary-treasurer, ahead. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003798647 http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117985089.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 It might come as news that talking about gossip or God on television qualifies as news. The Federal Communications Commission has ruled as such in the cases of Fox’s "TMZ" and the Christian Broadcast Network’s "The 700 Club," declaring Friday that each show meets the test for "a bona fide newscast" and therefore would not trigger political equal-time requirements. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117985089.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3361 Two weeks after a New York Times story revealed a Pentagon propaganda campaign that had been feeding talking points to TV military analysts, many of whom also had ties to military contractors, the networks that employed these analysts have almost entirely failed to report this story. Fox has even continued to feature commentary by two Pentagon-affiliated ex-generals without disclosing their conflicts of interest. http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3361 http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i35/35a03201.htm The time has come for the nation’s wealthiest colleges and universities to rescue its leading newspapers — resources almost as vital to higher education’s purpose as libraries, laboratories, classrooms, and concert halls. The plan calls upon the richest institutions to set aside 3 percent of their endowments to buy The New York Times. Additional purchases of other newspapers by other endowments should follow. http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i35/35a03201.htm http://www.startribune.com/business/18565504.html Faced with sliding advertising revenue amid a continuing slowdown of the newspaper industry, the Star Tribune said Sunday that it has hired an adviser to evaluate its finances. The hiring of the Blackstone Group, a New York private equity firm, comes as the Star Tribune struggles to make debt payments under loan terms struck slightly more than a year ago, when projections showed the newspaper making more money than it is today. http://www.startribune.com/business/18565504.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/business/media/03paper.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Rupert Murdoch does not plan to raise his bid for Newsday in an attempt to match a higher offer from Cablevision, while Mortimer B. Zuckerman has not signaled whether he will increase his offer. But Cablevision’s $650 million bid includes the newspaper’s real estate, and therefore the difference between its offer and the $580 million offers from Zuckerman and Murdoch is smaller than it first appears. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/business/media/03paper.html?_r=1&oref=slogin http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003798129 Nine months after MediaNews Group withdrew recognition of the Newspaper Guild unit at its Alameda Newspaper Group outside San Francisco, employees there and at five sister newspapers have petitioned for a new union vote. Organizers of the union effort at the Bay Area News Group-East Bay (BANG-EB) papers filed with the National Labor Relations Board on Friday for a vote to certify the new combined union. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003798129 http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-04-30-sites_N.htm The Pentagon is setting up a global network of foreign-language news websites, including an Arabic site for Iraqis, and hiring local journalists to write current events stories and other content that promote U.S. interests and counter insurgent messages. The news sites are part of a Pentagon initiative to expand "Information Operations" on the Internet. Neither the initiative nor the Iraqi site, www.Mawtani.com, has been disclosed publicly. http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-04-30-sites_N.htm http://www.journalism.org/node/10849 On April 20, The New York Times published an 8,000-word, front-page article that detailed the close relationship between the Defense Department and some military analysts commenting on the Iraq war for television networks. Despite these revelations, there was virtually no mainstream media follow up to The Times’ expose. http://www.journalism.org/node/10849 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003797784 Its stock delisted by the New York Stock Exchange and shunned by investors, troubled community newspaper publisher Journal Register Co. said late Thursday it intends to stop filing reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Yardley, Pa.-based publisher said its board of directors concluded that being a public company just isn’t worth it anymore. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003797784 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003797872 The excess of newspaper staff-cut announcements in recent months has taken on an unsettling ring. While the loss of jobs is terrifying enough, an added element makes it even more stomach-churning: In some cases, jobs are not so much lost as going elsewhere — often overseas. Now the outsourcing of advertising production is drawing wider attention, as several dailies have transferred that function to overseas outfits, mostly with offices in India. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003797872 http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bznews0502,0,565450.story Cablevision Systems Corp.’s $650-million bid for Newsday has been received, and rival suitors were said to be mulling possible changes to their offers, sources familiar with the talks said Thursday. Newsday’s parent, Tribune Co., was expected to give News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch and Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman an opportunity to revisit their respective bids, both of $580 million. http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bznews0502,0,565450.story http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080519/editors What should we do when Big Media fails democracy? First, don’t let it get even bigger. As News Corp attempts to grab a third New York-area newspaper, the full Senate and the House should move swiftly to reject more consolidation. But they can’t stop there. Congress should investigate the Pentagon’s propaganda programs with an eye to determining whether laws were broken, especially regarding the sharing of classified information. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080519/editors http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/why-big-media-is-mum-abou_b_99562.html Tens of thousands of Americans have urged Congress to investigate the Pentagon’s pervasive program to embed at least 75 "propaganda pundits" on every major news network. But the corporate media haven’t batted an eye — or said a word. U.S. journalism has been struck with a paralyzing case of consolidation, and the corporate hands that own our media don’t want a cure. The effects of Big Media have never been more apparent. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/why-big-media-is-mum-abou_b_99562.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/29/AR2008042902397_pf.html The relationship between Barack Obama and the white working class is beginning to resemble that between Ahab and the white whale. In state after state (Ohio, Pennsylvania and now Indiana), Obama sets out to reel in his working-class quarry, and, in state after state, it eludes him. How, Democrats wonder, can they secure the white working-class vote? Well, they could start by re-unionizing it. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/29/AR2008042902397_pf.html http://gawker.com/5007377/civil-war-at-the-wall-street-journal Robert Thomson, former editor of Murdoch’s London Times, is a charmer. A former colleague reported that the Times newsroom was "the happiest place to work on Fleet Street." But his emollient side was not so obviously on display at Monday’s meeting: according to two attendees, Thomson berated the assembled reporters for their lack of aggression in reporting news and their arrogance. http://gawker.com/5007377/civil-war-at-the-wall-street-journal