http://www.newsguild.org News and headlines about the media industry from the Guild Reporter Copyright 2005 The Newspaper Guild en-us Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:51:46 -0400 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:51:46 -0400 http://newsguild.org/rss/reporter.gif http://www.newsguild.org 119 50 http://www.cwa-scacanada.ca/EN/news/2010/100823_nbay.shtml Employees at The Nugget in North Bay, Ont., are using social networking and transit ads to enlist readers and advertisers in their battle to preserve the local nature of the daily newspaper. Dave Dale, president of the North Bay Newspaper Guild, says his remaining 70 members are frustrated by layoffs, consolidations and looming contract clawbacks as Quebecor-owned Sun Media squeezes small-town assets to shore up the bottom line in bigger centres. http://www.cwa-scacanada.ca/EN/news/2010/100823_nbay.shtml http://paidcontent.org/article/419-analyst-paywall-subscribers-worth-a-quarter-of-print-readers/ Even if newspapers migrate every print reader to paying online, they will still face big losses, according to one analyst. Annual income per paywall subscriber on TheTimes.co.uk and WSJ.com is just a quarter that from subscribers to UK quality dailies’ print editions, he concludes, while switching off the presses might save newspapers 25% of their total costs — which is not enough to make up the gap from the smaller online income. http://paidcontent.org/article/419-analyst-paywall-subscribers-worth-a-quarter-of-print-readers/ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/has-rupert-murdochs-paywall-gamble-paid-off-2067907.html As the fugitive businessman Asil Nadir flew back to Britain from his North Cyprus bolt-hole last week, Sean O’Neill, the crime editor of The Times, scooped Fleet Street by being the only print journalist on the plane. Yet those searching Google for the latest on the breaking story that morning would have found no sign of O’Neill’s exclusive — only follow-up stories by rival news organizations such as The Guardian and ITN http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/has-rupert-murdochs-paywall-gamble-paid-off-2067907.html http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/27/1794359/stop-killings-of-honduran-journalists.html#ixzz0yNxNvWK7 Honduran radio reporter Israel Zelaya Díaz was found dead Tuesday night on the side of a rural road in San Pedro Sula, making him at least the eighth journalist killed in that country this year. If past killings are any guide, his murder will go unsolved — a pattern that suggests a deeper breakdown of law and order, undermining Honduras’ desire to put last year’s political violence behind it. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/27/1794359/stop-killings-of-honduran-journalists.html#ixzz0yNxNvWK7 http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/09/next-big-thing-tv-newspaper-staff.html Newspaper and TV newsroom mergers could become the next big thing as profit-pressed publishers and broadcasters seek to cut costs and strengthen their digital presence. But will hybrid newsrooms live up the promises of producing better journalism? The performance of the longest-running major newsroom merger — the combination 10 years ago of the Tampa Tribune and WFLA — is far from encouraging. http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/09/next-big-thing-tv-newspaper-staff.html http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/08/30/a-century-later-teddy-roosevelts-speech-on-corporate-power/ Ex-Presidents almost always follow a small number of well-worn scripts. Some rush to cash in on their celebrity. Some do charitable good deeds. Some just lay low. Exactly one century ago, on August 31, 1910, we had an ex-President who took a brash and bold leap that took him far beyond these narrowly circumscribed roles. On that day, in the middle of Middle America, Theodore Roosevelt essentially called on his fellow citizens to smash the nation’s rich down to democratic size. http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/08/30/a-century-later-teddy-roosevelts-speech-on-corporate-power/ http://www.nlrb.gov/About_Us/News_Room/template_html.aspx?file=http://www.nlrb.gov/shared_files/Press%20Releases/2010/R-2779.htm The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that a union violated its duty of fair representation in requiring nonmember dues objectors to restate their position every year, despite their express desire to have the objection continue from year to year. The ruling grew out of a case in which a union member had informed his union that he wished his objection to continue indefinitely; the union responded that all dues objections had to be restated annually. http://www.nlrb.gov/About_Us/News_Room/template_html.aspx?file=http://www.nlrb.gov/shared_files/Press%20Releases/2010/R-2779.htm http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/poster-boy-for-debt-no-more-gatehouse-media-gets-rating-upgrade-62465-.aspx GateHouse Media, which took on heavy debt to fund a newspaper buying binge just as the industry was about to tumble into its worst-ever recession, received something Tuesday that would have seemed extremely unlikely just last year: a ratings upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s upgraded GateHouse’s “probability of default rating” to Caa3 from Ca which while an improvement is not exactly a ringing endorsement. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/poster-boy-for-debt-no-more-gatehouse-media-gets-rating-upgrade-62465-.aspx http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/bankruptcy-court-appoints-mediator-for-tribunes-talks-with-creditors-62477-.aspx The court overseeing Tribune Co.’s increasingly contentious 19-month bankruptcy case appointed a mediator Wednesday to assist in the Chicago media giant’s talks with its various creditors. U.S. Bankrtupcy Judge Kevin Gross was named mediator for the tangled talks. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/bankruptcy-court-appoints-mediator-for-tribunes-talks-with-creditors-62477-.aspx http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/31/latin-american-democracies-lash-out-at-the-press.html Here’s a puzzler. Latin America has never been more democratic: of 34 nations in Central and South America and the Caribbean, all except one (Cuba) are constitutional democracies, with laws guaranteeing open elections, independent courts, legislatures, and freedom of expression. So why do so many governments still trample on citizens’ rights, bully journalists, harass private business, and generally lord over hearth and home? http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/31/latin-american-democracies-lash-out-at-the-press.html http://www.truth-out.org/media-manipulates-end-war-iraq62826 Sadly, it is not merely the president and others who have a political motive for perpetuating the myth that the United States has ended our national nightmare in Iraq. More troubling has been the performance of the mainstream media, which, in print and on television, have been witting pawns in this massive deception, reporting on the war as if it were truly over, celebrating this historical moment and ignoring crucial details. http://www.truth-out.org/media-manipulates-end-war-iraq62826 http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/ipad_newspapers.php All of the major western newspapers have an iPad app now: the New York Times, Wall St Journal, Guardian, USA Today, Financial Times, and others. There are also new forms of news services that have arisen based solely on the iPad’s touchscreen interaction and multimedia capabilities: Newsy and Flipboard come to mind. In this post we’ll look at how some of the leading newspapers are using iPad, what the user experience is like, and what could be improved still. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/ipad_newspapers.php http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/michael-eisner-ready-cross-finish-line-tribune-co-20528 Michael Eisner is ready to cross the finish line. An announcement on the former Disney CEO becoming the chairman of the Tribune Co. is imminent, a person familiar with the talks has told TheWrap. "Right now, it’s going to be Eisner,” the person said. "The lenders are going to try to take the company. It’s the only way they are going to get some of their money. But they’re not ready yet." http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/michael-eisner-ready-cross-finish-line-tribune-co-20528 http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/sep/01/rupert-james-murdoch-news-corp-pay While Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers laid off journalists and fought their way through a global advertising recession, the Australian-born media mogul endured a modest degree of personal belt-tightening: his take-home pay dropped by 6%, to $16.8m. Although still a hefty sum, Murdoch’s annual pay packet was his smallest since 2003. The 79-year-old billionaire’s salary was unchanged at $8.1m, but his performance-related bonus fell 20%, to $4.4m. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/sep/01/rupert-james-murdoch-news-corp-pay http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/31/AR2010083102816.html For all of their flaws, unions give voice to workers, and not just their members. Their "small d" democratic strength is a vital counter to the special-interest big money that has so distorted our politics. And their revival is central to building a new foundation for this economy, one that will ensure that it works once more for working people. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/31/AR2010083102816.html http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/commentary.aspx?id=23303 One of the odors emanating from Washington, D.C., these days is from journalists marking their territory. It doesn’t seem all that long ago that representatives of the newspaper industry would have recoiled from working with Congress to deny legal protection to anyone who leaked confidential or classified documents. Today, however, they seem happy to be doing so. http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/commentary.aspx?id=23303 http://www.philly.com/philly/business/homepage/20100831_Newspapers_sales_deadline_extended_for_2_weeks.html The formal sale date of The Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News has been extended for two weeks to permit the prospective new owners more time to resolve contract issues with five unions. The closing deadline for the sale had been today, but Chief Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Raslavich extended it until noon Sept. 14 at the request of Philadelphia Media Network Inc., a collection of 16 financial institutions that bought The Inquirer, the Daily News, and the website Philly.com. http://www.philly.com/philly/business/homepage/20100831_Newspapers_sales_deadline_extended_for_2_weeks.html http://www.startribune.com/business/101837218.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1OiP:DiiUiacyKUUr The Star Tribune went back to U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Monday seeking an injunction to prevent its mailers union from filing grievances at odds with the union’s existing contract agreement with the company. The company said in a court filing that Teamsters Local 120 has filed more than 50 grievances that "seek to undo the very core" of the 2009 agreement that cut production costs by more than $3.3 million as part of the newspaper’s bankruptcy reorganization plan. http://www.startribune.com/business/101837218.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1OiP:DiiUiacyKUUr http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/08/local-news-rivals-doom-publisher-pay.html While newspaper executives have agonized for the better part of two years about whether to charge for their costly content, every indication is that portals, local broadcasters and other media companies have no intention of asking anyone to pay for access to their increasingly ambitious local sites. And that means newspapers simply won’t be able to charge for access — especially when their own stories are likely to become freely available within minutes at competing sites. http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/08/local-news-rivals-doom-publisher-pay.html http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/not-on-his-watch-usa-today-founder-says/ Allen H. Neuharth, 86, the former Gannett executive who founded USA Today nearly 30 years ago, had some tart words for the people now in charge of his beloved paper. When USA Today wrapped its front section in an advertisement for a Jeep last month, obscuring the entire front page, Mr. Neuharth fired off an angry letter to the paper’s publisher, David L. Hunke. He called it “the low point in any decision any USA Today publisher has ever made.” http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/not-on-his-watch-usa-today-founder-says/ http://www.toomuchonline.org/tmweekly.html Until this summer, no national pundit — at least no pundit in good standing with the chattering class — would ever dare suggest a federal tax rate on America’s top income bracket higher than 39.6%, the level in place under Bill Clinton. Now pundits and the policy wonks who hover around them are openly singing the praises of top tax rates calibrated at 50 or 60 or even 70%, a level that would double the current 35% rate on top-bracket income. http://www.toomuchonline.org/tmweekly.html http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2010/08/as-schaumber-leaves-nlrb-drops-from-five-to-four-members.html The National Labor Relations Board, plagued by years of vacancies, enjoyed just a brief two months at full strength this summer before losing another member with the departure last week of Peter Schaumber. Schaumber’s second term on the board expired Aug. 27. The board’s membership now drops from five to four: three Democrats and one Republican. http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2010/08/as-schaumber-leaves-nlrb-drops-from-five-to-four-members.html http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20100831_Pressmen_reject_Philadelphia_newspapers__contract_offer.html Another newspaper union, representing pressmen, voted overwhelmingly Monday against a contract offer from the prospective new owners of The Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. The pressmen voted, 74-9, to turn down the offer, joining the newspapers’ drivers and machinists in rejecting tentative contracts negotiated with Philadelphia Media Network Inc. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20100831_Pressmen_reject_Philadelphia_newspapers__contract_offer.html http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20100831_Teamsters___machinists__contract_rejections_hold_up_closing_of_newspaper_deal.html Stephen Raslavich, the federal bankruptcy judge trying to shepherd the Daily News and Inquirer to new ownership, met for three hours yesterday with lawyers, union representatives and business executives, but the parties emerged from the private discussions with little to say about the newspapers’ immediate future. Today is the scheduled closing date for a deal that would turn over the papers and their Web site, Philly.com, to a new company called Philadelphia Media Network. http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20100831_Teamsters___machinists__contract_rejections_hold_up_closing_of_newspaper_deal.html http://www.modbee.com/2010/08/27/1312764/us-should-shield-all-its-journalists.html By protecting journalists and sources from government intimidation, prosecution and incarceration, passage of the Free Flow of Information Act would further protect the rights established in the First Amendment and ensure transparency in government at all levels. These protections should be the law of the land — all of it, not just of individual states. http://www.modbee.com/2010/08/27/1312764/us-should-shield-all-its-journalists.html