http://www.mnguild.org Minnesota Newspaper Guild Typographical Union Copyright 2009 Minnesota Newspaper Guild Typographical Union en-us Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:49:16 -0400 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:49:16 -0400 http://www.sjguild.org/rss/jpg/MNGuild.jpg http://www.mnguild.org 140 55 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003990389 Of the 1,400 layoffs Gannett Co. is ordering at its U.S. Community Publishing Division, the Cincinnati Enquirer and its related digital and print products will absorb about 100, Publisher Margaret Buchanan said in a memo Thursday. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003990389 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003990062 MediaNews Group late Wednesday denied a report in an investors newsletter that it is arranging a pre-packaged bankruptcy — or readying any change in ownership of the Denver-based publisher controlled by William Dean Singleton and Richard B. Scudder. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003990062 http://www.thestreet.com/story/10532921/1/murdoch-talks-media.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN Murdoch, the 78-year-old News Corp. (NWSA Quote) chairman and CEO who moved television news considerably to the political right with Fox News, stunned the U.S. newspaper establishment in 2007 with his purchase of Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal. http://www.thestreet.com/story/10532921/1/murdoch-talks-media.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989439 A federal judge overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings for Philadelphia Newspapers LLC ordered lawyers for the company’s creditors to share details of their investigation into an alleged unauthorized recording of a meeting with the company’s lenders. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989439 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989365 The Indianapolis News Guild overwhelmingly rejected a two-year contract offer from The Indianapolis Star that would have included a 12% pay cut, no pay increases for at least two years, and the elimination of arbitration on individual layoffs. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989365 http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/07/a_closer_look_at_medianews_gro.php When the Rocky Mountain News was put up for sale in December (a move that prefigured its February closure), employees clinging to hopes of a last minute reversal of fortune repeatedly pointed to the debts burdening MediaNews Group, owner of the Rocky’s rival, the Denver Post. Because MediaNews, chaired by Post publisher Dean Singleton, isn’t a public company, however, it was mighty difficult to quantify the depth of that debt. But a new article offers some tantalizing clues. http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/07/a_closer_look_at_medianews_gro.php http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/another-big-round-of-layoffs-is-imminent-at-gannett/ The Gannett Company, owner of the nation’s largest newspaper chain, will go through another round of layoffs soon, with an announcement possible in the next few days, executives said Tuesday. http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/another-big-round-of-layoffs-is-imminent-at-gannett/ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989268 Lee Enterprises said late Tuesday it is not going ahead with a reverse stock split that would raise its share price, which currently costs about as much as a copy of one of its dailies. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989268 http://www.contentbridges.com/2009/06/1cast-hitting-the-mobile-video-aggregation-trifecta.html "Mobile." "Video." Usually, these are the rather dry one-world descriptions of What’s Next, items on to-do lists for anyone serious about building new digital businesses. Add "Social," and you’ve got a trifecta. http://www.contentbridges.com/2009/06/1cast-hitting-the-mobile-video-aggregation-trifecta.html http://www.mnguild.org/index.php?ID=6641 Guild leadership recounts chronology of concessions request, a revision, then withdrawal and layoffs http://www.mnguild.org/index.php?ID=6641 http://www.mnguild.org/index.php?ID=6640 Instead of trying a less painful method for savings, the St. Paul newspaper opts to bring out the axe http://www.mnguild.org/index.php?ID=6640 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989090 The St. Paul Pioneer Press laid off nine newsroom employees and two more in advertising sales and production today, according to a report by the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989090 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989257 Gannett executives told told The New York Times’ Richard Perez-Pena that the McLean, Va.-based company is getting ready to issue another round of layoffs. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989257 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989170 The Indianapolis News Guild is voting today on a two-year contract offer from The Indianapolis Star that includes a 12% pay cut, no pay increases for at least two years, and the elimination of arbitration on individual layoffs. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989170 http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Moodys-and-SP-lower-ratings-apf-835097569.html?x=0 Standard & Poor’s Rating Services and Moody’s Investor Services both lowered their corporate ratings of McClatchy Co. on Friday following a debt exchange deal announced by the newspaper publisher. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Moodys-and-SP-lower-ratings-apf-835097569.html?x=0 http://crosscut.com/2009/06/29/seattle-newspapers/19082/ When the Seattle Times Co. announced June 15 that it had sold its Blethen Maine subsidiary to an investment group, Maine Today Media, Carolyn Kelly, the Times president and chief operating officer, quickly noted in a staff memo that the sale, while welcome, "does not solve the financial challenges we face." http://crosscut.com/2009/06/29/seattle-newspapers/19082/ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989059 Barely two weeks after being named interim CEO of Freedom Communications, Burl Osborne announced that company-wide salaries will be cut by 5%. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003989059 http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=137628 "The month of May came and went," the New York Times Co. told staff last Thursday, "and, contrary to the prediction of one writer, we did not stop printing." http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=137628 http://weblogs.jomc.unc.edu/talkingbiznews/?p=9866 More than 250 business journalists lost their jobs due to media closings, layoffs or newsroom buyouts in the first six months of 2009, according to an analysis of the industry. http://weblogs.jomc.unc.edu/talkingbiznews/?p=9866 http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/1981400.html The McClatchy Co.’s offer of discounted buybacks to bondholders has expired, with the exchange reducing public bond debt by $75 million. http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/1981400.html http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27/business/media/27globe.html?_r=1 The New York Times Company hopes to sell a newspaper in central Massachusetts along with The Boston Globe and wants the buyer of the papers to take on $59 million in pension liabilities. It intends to make a deal quite quickly, according to a letter sent to potential bidders. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27/business/media/27globe.html?_r=1 http://www.nwitimes.com/articles/2009/06/26//business/business/doc6ad7f4cacb10d5cf862575e0006bc477.txt Union employees at the Gary Post-Tribune are launching an effort to purchase the newspaper, which is the second largest newspaper in the bankrupt Sun-Times Media Group. http://www.nwitimes.com/articles/2009/06/26//business/business/doc6ad7f4cacb10d5cf862575e0006bc477.txt http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601009&sid=arV9LtrIGjaQ McClatchy Co.’s attempt to cut its debt by exchanging bonds at discounted prices failed as the third-largest U.S. newspaper publisher struggles to cope with the biggest industry ad sales plunge in at least 38 years. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601009&sid=arV9LtrIGjaQ http://www.contentbridges.com/2009/06/investigative-sites-plan-networked-future.html Pocantico once served as one of the Rockefellers’ family estates. Stately, 45 minutes north of Manhattan, it speaks to the wealth of an earlier industrial era. The Rockefellers, of course, built their fortunes on oil, but their brethren, like the Hearsts and the Pulitzers built them on paper and ink. The kinship is palpable as we move into the era of digital publishing and renewable energy. http://www.contentbridges.com/2009/06/investigative-sites-plan-networked-future.html http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003988328 The McClatchy Co., which had offered to exchange as much as $1.15 billion in debt for deeply discounted new notes that pay far higher yields, said Friday the offer had closed — with holders of old notes with face values totaling $102.9 million accepting the offer. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003988328 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003987944 The drop in average time spent in May on Web sites is not just isolated to newspapers: Time spent per user was down for more than half the top 30 global news and current events sites, according to Nielsen Online. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003987944 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003988341 Following the sagas that played out in Denver and Albuquerque, Seattle has become the latest market that can no longer support two major dailies. Hearst in January was forced to make a critical decision on what to do with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Kill the P-I altogether, or let it live online. It chose, of course, the latter — and March 17 marked the last day a Post-Intelligencer print edition would roll off its presses. But was this a terribly sad, or actually quite promising turning point? http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003988341 http://medianation.blogspot.com/2009/06/economic-turmoil-and-globes-future.html The tentative deal between the New York Times Co. and the Boston Newspaper Guild over wage and benefit cuts at the Boston Globe (here, here and here) comes in the midst of unprecedented economic turmoil. http://medianation.blogspot.com/2009/06/economic-turmoil-and-globes-future.html http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2009/06/23/9747/black_ink_star_tribune_reports_monthly_profit For the first time in bankruptcy, the Star Tribune has reported a monthly operating profit. In the May 4-31 period, the Strib made $1.35 million from operations, after posting its biggest monthly loss ($3.45 million) in April. http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2009/06/23/9747/black_ink_star_tribune_reports_monthly_profit http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003987102 The Daily Camera newspaper might not be moving out of its downtown building as soon as planned. The paper has announced that at least two potential bidders for its downtown building have pulled out of discussions. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003987102 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003987034 Shortly before midnight, it emerged that the largest guild at the paper and the Boston Globe had agreed to a new contract that hammers out $10 million in cuts while reducing the pay cut from 8.4% to 5.9% (plus a one-week furlough). http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003987034 http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/05/06/globe_and_guild_talk_into_the_night/ The Boston Globe’s largest union reached a tentative deal with the New York Times Co. shortly after 3 a.m. this morning, agreeing to a substantial pay cut, unpaid furloughs, and modifications to the lifetime job guarantee provisions that protect almost 200 employees in the Boston Newspaper Guild, according to sources familiar with the deal. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/05/06/globe_and_guild_talk_into_the_night/ http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/06/23/globe_guild_call_talks_productive/ The Boston Globe and the paper’s largest union went another day without an agreement, but the union president said the two sides are close to finalizing a pact. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/06/23/globe_guild_call_talks_productive/ http://voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2009/06/22/this_just_in/111propertysale061909.txt The new owners of The San Diego Union-Tribune are trying to sell at least two of the properties they bought from Copley Press, including the home of one of its North County newsrooms. http://voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2009/06/22/this_just_in/111propertysale061909.txt http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003986709 Former newspaper mogul Conrad Black is asking a federal judge in Chicago to release him from a Florida prison while he appeals his fraud conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003986709 http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2009/06/can-grassroots-journalism-do-job.html My doubts are growing about whether we can rely on volunteers to produce credible journalism for a sustainable period of time. http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2009/06/can-grassroots-journalism-do-job.html http://www.thedeal.com/newsweekly/features/gannet-default-option.php Newspapermen don’t come any grittier than Al Neuharth. Even today, at 85, the USA Today founder remains to many the public face of Gannett Co. His staying power reflects both his provocative opinions, which USA Today continues to feature in a column called "Plain Talk," and his corporate contributions, as president or chairman and titles in between, to Gannett’s glorious run from 1970 to 1989. http://www.thedeal.com/newsweekly/features/gannet-default-option.php http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003986392 The amount of time people spent at the top 30 newspaper Web sites is stuck in neutral if not reverse: More than half saw significant falloff in May. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003986392 http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/1962484.html The McClatchy Co. has extended its original June 22 deadline for bondholders to consider discounted buybacks of their investments to June 25, the company announced. http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/1962484.html http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/big-loss-for-avista-in-star-tribune-bankruptcy/ The private equity firm Avista Capital Partners stands to take a big loss in the bankruptcy reorganization of The Star Tribune of Minneapolis. http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/big-loss-for-avista-in-star-tribune-bankruptcy/ http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/2009_06_18_Globe_Guild_sets_date_for_vote_on_possible_deal/srvc=home&position=also The Boston Globe’s biggest union is still locked in renewed talks over $10 million in concessions, but has set a date to vote on a possible new deal to lessen the blow of a 23 percent pay cut that kicked in this week. Boston Newspaper Guild president Dan Totten told members in an email today that a ratification date has been set for July 20. He told Guild delegates meeting in Washington, D.C., that he is "otpimistic" that a deal is in sight. http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/2009_06_18_Globe_Guild_sets_date_for_vote_on_possible_deal/srvc=home&position=also http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003985743 Two top news sites grew monthly unique visitors the most in May: Fox News Digital Network, up 49% and the New York Daily News Online, also up 49% year-over-year, according to new data from Nielsen Online. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003985743 http://www.startribune.com/business/48570942.html The Star Tribune plans to exit bankruptcy in the fall, about 10 months after a sharp decline in advertising and circulation revenue forced it to default on heavy debt payments. http://www.startribune.com/business/48570942.html http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business-12/124540027490550.xml&coll=2 About 500 union employees of The Plain Dealer have agreed to take pay cuts and furloughs as the paper strives to keep the business viable while advertising revenue sags. http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business-12/124540027490550.xml&coll=2 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003985957 The Boston Globe’s largest union has scheduled a contract ratification vote, even though it has yet to reach a new tentative agreement with management. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003985957 http://online.wsj.com/article_email/BT-CO-20090618-711636-kIyVDAtMEM5TzEtODIxMDgwWj.html Concerns about the future of the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, Gannett Inc. have intensified this week after the company said Chief Executive Craig Dubow will go on extended medical. http://online.wsj.com/article_email/BT-CO-20090618-711636-kIyVDAtMEM5TzEtODIxMDgwWj.html http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003985598 Boston Newspaper Guild President Dan Totten says he remains "proud and honored" to serve as the guild’s leader during these difficult times, adding that the union will "adapt and change" to keep The Boston Globe going. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003985598 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003985063 The dog days of summer arrived early for newspaper Web sites, with several leading outlets showing declines in unique visitor in May. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003985063 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003985572 The Portland Press Herald’s new owner says his company has reached an agreement to sell its downtown real estate. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003985572 http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003985569 Unionized drivers on Wednesday ratified a tentative agreement with the Star Tribune, marking the last major bargaining unit to agree to concessions with the newspaper that filed for bankruptcy protection in January. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003985569