LA Times reporter heads to WSJ

LA Observed reports that Stephanie Simon, a national reporter for the Los Angeles Times, has accepted a job at the Wall Street Journal.
For the Times, Simon worked in Moscow, Ventura, Los Angeles and Chicago, and reported from all over the Midwest. She starts her new job on April 14.
For more on Simon and other staffers who have recently left the Times click here.

111 staffers to leave Newsweek

Folio reports that 111 Newsweek staffers have accepted buyouts, a move that came after the magazine offered nearly 150 employee buyouts.
The buyout is said to have included as much as two years salary, certain pension bonuses and the option to continue health care packages until age 65.
Folio says it's not clear what the magazine will do without such a large contingent of its senior staffers. Some top writers and editors—including David Gates, David Ansen and George Hacket—are among those who are leaving before the end of the year. Political writers Jonathan Alter and Howard Fineman declined the offer.
For the full story click here.

Newspaper ad revenue down 7.9 percent

The New York Times reports that newspaper advertising revenue fell 7.9 percent in 2007, the second-worst year in more than half a century, according to the Newspaper Association of America. Those figures include continued growth in online advertising.
Until last fall, the industry appeared headed for a less severe decline. But as the economy slowed, newspapers suffered a particularly bad fourth quarter — the peak period for ad sales — with revenue down 10.3 percent from a year earlier.
For more click here.

Gazette changes saturday biz section

The Gazette in Colorado Springs has made changes to its business section.
Now, the saturday business section features a one-page synopsis and analysis of the week’s stock and mutual fund market performance called “Monday & Markets Extra.”
The feature replaces listings of individual stock and mutual fund performance in print. That information is now available online.
For more click here.

New biz blogs

The Asbury Park Press has added three new business blogs on its Web site.
"The Big Bucks" is a blog about local business and how people spend money. Business Writer David P. Willis' "Short Circuits," looks at the latest in electronic gadgets and how they will affect our lives.
And Business Writer Michael L. Diamond's "In the Rough" looks at workplaces and the economy.
To visit the site click here.

WSJ strengthens its political coverage

The Washington Post reports that since Rupert Murdoch took over the Wall Street Journal the newspaper has assumed a harder edge, particularly on politics, establishing the Journal as a high-profile player in the presidential campaign.
The steady flow of campaign stories on the Journal's front page is a departure for a newspaper that built its identity on business coverage, long features and quirky tales known as "A-heds."
"Mr. Murdoch wants to see the paper take on added urgency and broaden its areas of coverage," says Marcus Brauchli, the Journal's top editor. "He's very engaged in news. He knows what's going on. He's got good, strong ideas about journalism."
For the full story on the Journal click here.

Why wasn't the media on top of the sub-prime crisis?

Editor & Publisher columnist Danny Schechter wonders: "Where was the media when the sub-prime disaster unfolded?"
In his column, Schechter says if Wall Street's financial crisis was on the verge of disaster than why was the American news consumer the last to know?

Was the press just not paying attention as hundreds of billions of dollars were swept into exotic structure investment vehicles over years, and then sliced and diced into CDO’s and so-called asset based securities? A New York Times columnist even admitted that experts and advocates first warned them in 2001 that predatory lending practices were devastating poor neighborhoods but the issue was not covered in any depth for five years. This has resulted in nearly three million families facing foreclosure and the rest of us losing share and home values.

To read the entire column click here.

BusinessWeek partners with LinkedIn

Folio reports that BusinessWeek.com has partnered with LinkedIn, a professional networking site.
On BusinessWeek.com, users will be able to view their LinkedIn contacts at companies featured in articles via LinkedIn’s Company Insider feature, which launched March 10. According to BusinessWeek, this is the first of several LinkedIn applications to be integrated into the site.
Last month, BusinessWeek competitor Fast Company announced the launch of a social networking platform it said was the first to blend journalism with online community.
For the full story click here.

Thomson-Reuters deal almost official

Thomson Corporation and Reuters Group will officially join forces on April 17 as long as courts in Canada and the United Kingdom approve the $17 billion sale, according to Forbes.
The report said shareholders gathered in both Toronto and London on Wednesday, approving the acquisition with "overwhelming" enthusiasm.
The Thomson Corporation, a Canadian financial data services firm based in Stamford, Conn., and Reuters Group, a London-based news wire service, got approval from the U.S. Department of Justice, the European Commission and the Canadian Competition Bureau in mid-February on the condition that Thomson and Reuters sell copies of some financial data bases.
"If they get it right, it's going to mean a much more robust platform for the customers," said BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Casey, "but that's much further down the road."
For the full story click here.

SABEW announces Best in Biz Journalism

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers recently announced the winners of its Best in Business Journalism contest.
The contest, which began in 1995, highlights the best business journalism each year from publications around the country. The contest was started to set standards and recognize role models for outstanding business journalism.
The awards will be presented Sunday, April 27, in Baltimore during SABEW's 45 annual conference.
The Arizona Republic, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and USA Today received an overall excellence award for papers with a circulation about 325,000.
In the projects category, Patricia Callahan, Maurice Possley, Michael Oneal, Evan Osnos, Ted Gregory and Sam Roe from the Chicago Tribune won for their series “Hidden hazards.” Charles Duhigg of The New York Times was also recognized for “Golden opportunities” and his colleague Walt Bogdanichwas awarded for “Toxic pipeline.”
For a complete list of all the winners click here.

Newsday's Aileen Jacobson takes buyout

Portfolio reports that Newsday's Aileen Jacobson was one of 36 employees to accept a voluntary buyout.
Jacobson covered the media business, book publishing and the arts during her 34 years at the newspaper. Now she plans to freelance and write books.

Veteran biz journalist joins PR firm

Michael Flagg, a veteran business reporter and editor at the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and the Washington Post, has joined the Washington, D.C. office of Manning Selvage & Lee (MS&L) as senior vice president.
Selvage & Lee is a communications firm headquartered in New York. Flagg will specialize in finance and public affairs, working with clients including the Renewable Fuels Now coalition, Philips, the American Public Power Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
“Mike’s media acumen, relationships and experience managing high-profile public affairs campaigns is a tremendous asset to our clients. With almost three decades of experience writing and developing stories, Mike is a unique and exciting addition to our team,” said Sheila Gruber McLean, senior vice president and director of corporate affairs at MS&L.
For the full release click here.

Washingtonpost.com partners with paidContent

Washingtonpost.com has announced that it will partner with paidContent, a leading digital news blog.
The deal will bring content from the blog to the site's technology section and increase in-depth reporting on the business of digital media.
paidContent joins washingtonpost.com’s popular blogs including Brian Krebs’ Security Fix, Rob Pegoraro’s Faster Forward, the latest news from Post I.T., online chats with technology experts, and vast databases of product reviews.
“We’re always exploring new ways to bring our readers the most comprehensive, quality journalism available,” said Jim Brady, Executive Editor of washingtonpost.com. “paidContent’s experts offer some of the most thorough analyses available today on the digital media industry, and will provide an important concentration in our technology section.”
For more click here.

New Dow Jones site

The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, Inc. unveiled a redesigned Web site, https://www.newspaperfund.org.
Visitors will find career information, including the searchable Journalism Schools database and The Journalist's Road to Success.
The new site will allow students to apply electronically for the Fund's annual summer internships in business reporting, sports copy editing, online and news copy editing, eliminating paper application forms.
For more click here.

Barrett returns to BusinessWeek

Romanesko's memos reports that Paul Barrett is rejoining BusinessWeek as assistant managing editor for investigative projects.
Barrett left the publication in January to rejoin the staff of the Wall Street Journal.
Articles that Barrett edited last year for BusinessWeek include "The Poverty Business," "Prisoners of Debt," and "Fresh Pain for the Uninsured" have won multiple awards and are in the running for more.
For the full post click here.

Book publishers hot on the economy

A recent Los Angles Times story says that as the economy continues to deteriorate, more people will seek out books to solve their problems on topics like real estate or the 401 (k).
As this happens, book publishers now see a chance to cash in.
The report says publishers are "working feverishly to find the next "big book" that reflects a more sobering view of the economy and offers solutions to help Americans survive the current fiscal woes."
From the story:

In a 48-hour period last week, Penguin Portfolio outhustled rival publishers to make a preemptive buy of "The New New Deal" by financial guru Eric Janszen; Doubleday and HarperCollins beat the drums about their forthcoming books on the Bear Stearns Cos. collapse; and Business Plus, an imprint of Grand Central, jumped at the chance to acquire Leeb's title, which makes no bones about the health of the nation's economy...
All of these new business books will sound an alarm. But most won't be appearing until 2009, so publishers are rushing to reissue older titles that predicted worsening conditions and seem relevant now.

For the full story click here.

Biz editors defend coverage

Editor & Publisher recently talked to business editors at some of the nation's largest newspapers about their coverage of the mortgage crisis.
While some believe newspaper's haven't diligently covered the story enough, most editors say they were onto the story early and have covered it appropriately.
From the story:

As the fallout from the sub-prime mortgage debacle continues, some pundits have pointed their fingers at the media for possibly missing the story. Some critics, such as Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, blame the press for not reporting much of the story more widely. "The sub-prime mortgage story was just hiding in plain sight," says Lemann. "It was a get-able story."
But for those in the newsrooms, coverage, in some cases dating back to 2004 and 2005, warned readers that the expanding use of such volatile, adjustable mortgages was doomed.
"We did a pretty good job of looking at some of the rumblings and problems," said Matt Murray, national news editor of The Wall Street Journal. "I think the media was aware of this; that, if not a bubble, a huge amount of inflation was coming. Credit was being overextended."

For the full report click here.

IRE Announces 2007 Winners

Two stories dealing with Chinese imports were among the winners of the coveted 2007 IRE Medals, the top awards given by Investigative Reporters and Editors. Winners were announced Tuesday. The other two entries receiving top honors dealt with mistreatment of veterans at Walter Reed Hospital by Washington Post reporters Dana Priest and Anne Hull, and an investigation into a 43-year-old murder case of two African American men in Mississippi that led to the prosecution of one of the perpetrators. It was produced by a team from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and MSNBC.
One of the Chinese import stories also captured the first annual Barlett and Steele Investigative Business Award offered last year by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism.
“A Toxic Pipeline” traced the poisoning deaths of victims in Panama to cough syrup and toothpaste made in China. The New York Times team which completed the project was led by reporters Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker.
The other import story by Loretta Tofani of The Salt Lake Tribune showed how mundane products used by Americans and made in China can have deadly consequences for the workers who make them, complete with bogus safety audits and false record keeping. For a complete list of winners, go to http://www.ire.org/contest/07winners.html

Panel Spotlights Recession Coverage

A global markets strategist from JPMorgan Private Bank, a personal finance columnist from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and a reporter from the Denver Post will be featured panelists during a phone conference call set up by the Society of Business Editors and Writers. Wednesday’s panel will provide advice and tips to journalists on how to cover the turbulent economic times and bring the voices of everyday people into their stories. The session, “Covering the R Word,” will be moderated by Tom Redburn, deputy business editor of The New York Times.

SABEW board elections

Eleven candidates are running for six vacant seats on the Society of American Business Editors and Writers’ Board of Governors.
The top six vote-getters will serve three-year terms, beginning at the group’s annual meeting in Baltimore on April 28.
The candidates and their respective media outlets are:
-- Kathy Brister, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
-- Cliff Cumber, Frederick News-Post
-- Nikhil Deogun, The Wall Street Journal
-- Dan Haar, The Hartford Courant
-- Ray Hennessey, FOX Business Network
-- Beth Hunt, American City Business Journals
-- Roland Jones, MSNBC.com
-- Gail MarksJarvis, Chicago Tribune
-- Mark McSherry, Reuters
-- David Morrow, TheStreet.com
-- Dawn Wotapka, Dow Jones Newswires

Globe's biz reporter moves to NE network

Peter J. Howe, who has written more than 6,000 stories in his 22 years at The Boston Globe, will become a business reporter for the New England Cable News network next month, according to a story in today's newspaper.
Howe will replace Mont Fennel, NECN's business reporter for the past 16 years; Fennel is joining DigiNovations Inc., a Concord firm specializing in video production and Internet TV, NECN said.
At the Globe, the 42-year-old Howe has covered such beats as transportation, energy, airlines, travel and tourism, telecommunications, and technology.
For the last four years, he also has been editor or co-editor of the Globe 100, an annual special section that focuses on the top-performing publicly traded companies in Massachusetts.
For the full story click here.

Newsweek's Levy Moves to Wired

Steven Levy, senior editor and tech columnist for Newsweek, is moving to Wired magazine as a staff writer. He starts sometime this spring. He will continue to be based in New York City. In addition to his column, called “The Technologist,” he covers high-profile tech stories for Newsweek, where’s he worked since 1995. He’s also been a contributing writer to Wired over the years. He’s currently working on a book on Google and has authored several others, including “Hackers,” “Crypto,” and “The Perfect Thing,” which is about the iPod's impact on business and culture. In a memo to Wired staff, Executive Editor Bob Cohn described Levy as one of the “finest tech journalists in the country.”

WSJ to revamp Marketplace section

The Wall Street Journal is planning to revamp its Marketplace section.
A New York Times story says the changes call for fewer business features on the section’s first page.
The section front also has featured columnists who will be shifted inside, except Walter S. Mossberg, the technology columnist. The Marketplace front page will instead have more hard news articles about events in the corporate world.
Some reporters and editors who have spent much of their time on the long front-page articles and Marketplace features say they worry about the changes.
For more click here.

Newsday up for sale?

The New York Times reports that three of New York’s biggest moguls are in discussions to buy Newsday, the Long Island newspaper.
The three interested bidders are Rupert Murdoch, chairman of the News Corporation, owner of The New York Post; Mortimer B. Zuckerman, the real estate developer and publisher who owns The Daily News, The Post’s tabloid rival; and James L. Dolan, whose family controls Cablevision, the cable television operator.
The sale process, which is described as a soft auction in which investment bankers are approaching a selected number of buyers, involves several possible kinds of deals. Current estimates say Newsday could be sold in the price range of $350 million to $400 million.
For more click here.

New biz editor for Gaston Gazette

The Gaston Gazette (Gastonia, N.C.) has hired Neil Lineberger as its new business editor.
Lineberger has previously taught at Auburn University and worked as technical writer and consultant.
In 2004, he returned to Gaston County, joining Benefit Partners Inc., to work for his brother, Charles Lineberger. As an employee benefits specialist, Lineberger sold insurance to area businesses. He became active in the Gaston Chamber, Rotary and other business and civic organizations.
"I discovered that my brother got the sales gene in our family," said Lineberger. "I also missed writing. So when I learned of the opening at the Gazette, I took a chance that no English instructors from the Abbey were looking for a job."
For more click here.

The biz model needs innovation

Chris O'Brien, a veteran business reporter for the San Jose Mercury news wonders were the innovation is in newspapers' business model.
Earlier this month, he was one of the Mecury reporters who waited for a call to see if he still had a job. That call never came, which means O'Brien has now survived six rounds of buyouts.
He was part of a group that has worked to bring innovative practices inside his newspaper, but what scares his most is lack of creativity for newspapers' business model. The model, he says, is dying.

What we have is a business model problem. Even as our audience has exploded, our revenues have cratered. It's hard enough for newspapers to experiment with their content. But playing with revenue models is the real third rail. Almost all the money still comes from print. Which means ads. But all this fails to impress advertisers. For the dollar they pay us to advertise in print, they pay a dime to advertise online.
What truly surprises me is what I see (or don't see) happening outside of newspapers. Even the most innovative minds I know will describe their dazzling vision for new content, and then insist they will pay for it because this content will optimize things for advertisers. This is true for countless Web 2.0 companies. Even Facebook, for all its hype, can't seem to figure out any other business model than some twist on selling ads.
Is this it? Is this what we're stuck with? Why is there all this energy around reinventing the content and almost none being directed toward reinventing the business models? It represents a failure of imagination.

For more click here.

Biz blog grows at Grand Forks Herald

A month after Ryan Schuster began working as a business reporter at the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald, he launched a business blog on his newspaper's Web site.
The blog focuses on local, regional and business news and topics that affect consumers and businesses in North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.
And since it's launch, Schuster says his audience has continued to grow.
"For about a year before taking the job in Grand Forks and I was excited about the opportunities to combine online and print reporting and also offer a forum for the public to comment on business happenings," Schuster said. "In February it had the second-most hits of the about 10 blogs at the Herald. Most of the interest from those posting comments center around consumer issues like what stores and restaurants are coming to the area and issues like customer service and what they like or don't like about local stores."
To check out the blog click here.

Ohio newspapers to share content

Editor & Publisher reports that Ohio's top newspapers have agreed to an arrangement to share content beginning Monday.
The Akron Beacon Journal and seven other "major [Ohio] newspapers" will post many of their stories to share on a private site each day, according to a staff memo sent from editor Bruce Winges.
The move comes after top editors expressed their displeasure with the updated Associated Press rate structure.
"We are taking this step because it will bring better stories to our readers, while giving credit where it is due," the memo, which does not specifically mention AP, said in part (the entire memo is posted below).
For the full story click here.

Fox biz anchor talks about her passion

The Hartford Courant has a Q&A with Dagen McDowell, a Redding resident who became an anchor on Fox Business Network in September.
McDowell describes herself as a "business dork" who talks and thinks about business constantly.
In the interview, McDowell talks about the network's style and how she evolved from a history major in college to a business journalist.
Here's a sample:

About 14 years ago, after college, I moved to New York City. I figured I could find a job. I happened to interview for a job at "Institutional Investor," a magazine for the finance industry. I had great editors who taught me how to become a reporter. I was covering business and Wall Street and you just figure it out. I learned how to make sources and break news. I just enjoyed it. It was interesting because I didn't know that much about it and I was constantly discovering new things. It was complicated, but that was a challenge. It changes every second of the day.

For the complete interview click here.

WSJ articles free? Machinist explains how

The Machinist reports that The Wall Street Journal's articles are already free and that every article the paper publishes is available to anyone, for no money at all.
The report says there are tricks to get all of the aricles, but that getting the stories is legal and "drop-dead simple."
The story details steps for readers to either go the easy way and get WSJ articles for free (but you don't get all stories) and the slightly more difficult route to get all the newspaper's stories.
For more click here.

Senior editor leaving Forbes

The New York Post reports that Forbes senior editor Lea Goldman is leaving the magazine to join Hearst's Marie Claire as a features editor.
Goldman complied the Celebrity 100 List for Forbes.
Last October, the magazine also lost Managing Editor Dennis Kneale to CNBC, and Senior Editor Liz MacDonald to Fox Business News.
For more click here.

Biz reporter rejoins AP to help launch new real estate and home news service

Noell Knox, a national real estate reporter for USA Today, has rejoined The Associated Press to help create and lead a new real estate and home news service, according to reports from the International Herald Tribune.
Knox, who has 18 years of business reporting experience, will help launch the service in the first half of the year. It will offer a comprehensive menu of breaking news, news-driven features, service articles, multimedia and data.
The real estate and home service is the first targeted news product from AP's newly created Financial and Business News division. The division is responsible for AP's financial news coverage and for developing new content products to satisfy the needs of print, digital, broadcast and commercial customers.
For the complete story click here.

New England business reporter joins DigiNovations

Mont Fennel, a New England business news reporter, will join DigiNovations as Senior Producer.
Fennel is a four-time Emmy award-winner and a 16-year veteran at New England Cable News (NECN). His nightly business reporting on the nation’s largest 24-hour regional news channel reached 3.7 million subscribers in more than 1,050 cities and towns across all six New England states.
DigiNovations is one of the fastest-growing creative video production firms in New England. The company calls itself a leader in the field of web video and Internet TV.
“Internet video demands a blend of new skills and attitudes with well-established disciplines,” said DigiNovations executive producer Michael Kolowich. “What appealed to me about Mont is his instinctive eye toward finding the core of the story and then using the medium to bring that story alive. I believe he’ll flourish in the new medium of internet video, just as he’s done in traditional broadcast journalism.”
For more click here.

Goel to become NYT deputy technology editor

Vindu Goel is leaving the San Jose Mercury News after almost nine years as an editor, editorial writer, blogger and columnist to become a deputy technology editor at The New York Times.

"As I talked to folks at the NYT, it was clear to me that the organization has come a long way from the stodgy “gray lady” that I interned at 20 years ago. The Times, which has always been a great newspaper, is thinking creatively about new ways to present news and connect with readers, and it’s committing resources to the effort even as it wrestles with the same economic pressures that face the entire newspaper industry. I’d love to hear your ideas about how the Times can cover technology better, in print and online. Be as radical as you want."

For more click here.

AP CEO says elections may help a push for open government

As part of a Sunshine Week speech, Associated Press President and CEO, Tom Curley, said the news media shuold press the presidential candidates on whether their administration would enforce "the spirit as well as the letter of the law," protecting the public's right to know.
Editor & Publisher's story on the speech says Curley stated the presidential election provides a good opportunity to press for open government policies
"Secrecy is one of the handiest tools for government that wants to be accountable only to itself regardless of the spirit of any law.
"We need to ask the candidates — at every opportunity until we have a clear answer — whether they are willing to appoint an attorney general willing to follow the spirit as well as the letter of the law that protects the people's right to know what their government is doing."
For the full story click here.

Miami station moves into Sun-Sentinel

The Tribune Company announced it will merge its broadcast and interactive operations of its Miami television station, WSFL-TV (CW39), with its Ft. Lauderdale-based newspaper, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, under a single roof to create a media powerhouse serving readers, viewers and advertisers.
The company said the move will give advertisers more market coverage, choices and increased efficiency.
“This strategy is unprecedented in a major U.S. market,” said Howard Greenberg, Sun-Sentinel president and publisher. “This gives our print, broadcast and interactive operations the opportunity to work together to develop unique content and programming in a variety of areas. Plus, with this combination, there will be no better way for advertisers to reach more people with a consistent message.”
For the full release click here.

Hedge funds or the company -- who really won the NYT deal?

Fortune examines The New York Times recent deal with hedge funds Harbinger Capital Partners and Firebrand Partners.
The hedge funds claimed a 20 percent state in the Times and were pushing to elect four directors to the company's board. And on Monday, the Times agreed to support two of the nominees at its annual meeting next month.
But did the hedge funds really win the battle?
From the story:

The hedge funds have declared victory. But perhaps they are being a little hasty. The truth is, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the company's chairman, may have been the true winner for avoiding a bitter proxy war that might have raised questions about his leadership and damaged the Times...
Now Sulzberger is wisely casting himself as a conciliator. Instead of ignoring the hedge funds, he agreed to enlarge the company's 13-member board to make room for two of the candidates proposed by the hedge funds: Scott Galloway and James Kohlberg, co-founder of private equity firm Kohlberg & Company.
In doing so, the Times chairman may have may have effectively neutralized the dissidents - at least, for a while. The hedge funds can't complain that he is ignoring them, but they don't have enough votes to sway the board either.

For the full story click here.

Winner of Stokes Award

Reporters Thomas Content, Lee Bergquist and Joel Dresang from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently grabbed the 2007 Thomas L. Stokes Award for Energy Writing.
The National Press Foundation reports that the paper's package looked at global warming through a regional lens, painting a vivid picture of the area’s increasing dependence on coal, documenting the state’s missed chances to change its energy direction and detailing the real and potential local impact of global warming.
Judges found the pieces well thought-out, clearly written and very accessible. The entry was complemented by excellent explanatory graphics and photography, online elements and a special section to help readers reduce their own carbon footprint.
Honorable mention was awarded to Ken Ward, Jr. of The Charleston Gazette.
Ward pounded away at the serious issue of mine safety in classic beat reporting style, combing documents and hounding public officials for answers.
His reporting uncovers a pattern of regulatory failure with the clear potential for safety consequences.
It caught the attention of lawmakers, and so far has forced the Department of Labor to develop a plan to catch up on critical mine inspections. Judges commended the paper and the reporter for intelligent, dogged and courageous pursuit of an important story on behalf of the public good.
For more click here.

OC Register updates real estate section

The Orange County Register has updated its print and online real estate section, according to reports from Editor & Publisher.
The new site allows readers to connect, through commenting on forums and polls and through uploading videos, photos or events.
"The redesigned real estate site contains an even richer collection of information, and its elements are better categorized to cater to specific interests," Glenn Hall, chief innovation officer at Orange County Register Communications, said in a statement.
For the full story click here.

Financial Times promotions

Mediabistro recently listed key promotions for editorial staffers at the Financial Times. Here's the list.
* Former US business editor Francesco Guerrera has been named US finance and business editor.
*Former Wall Street correspondent Ben White has been named US banking editor.
* Former London-based capital markets reporter Joanna Chung has been named as a US financial correspondent.
* Former Lex writer Julie MacIntosh has been named as US mergers and acquisitions reporter.
* Former US deals correspondent James Politi has been named US economics and trade correspondent.

Commercial Appeals adds three biz reporters

As The Commercial Appeal expands its business coverage, the publication will add three new reporters to its staff.
According to reports from Black Enterprise, James Dowd will cover small business, reporting on legislative efforts, general strategies and other issues that affect a growing pool of small-business owners in Memphis. He also will cover retail outlets, including the publicly traded retail firms based here.
Cassandra Kimberly will cover real estate and economic development, reporting on the land purchases that bring jobs and opportunity to the region.
Jim Masilak will cover sports and entertainment after covering area high schools, the Memphis Redbirds and the University of Memphis basketball and football programs.
To read the full story click here.

Slate will launch business site

This summer Slate will launch "The Big Money," a new site focused on reporting the mysteries of Wall Street.
Reuters reports that the site will make its debut in a field crowded by both well-entrenched publications and newcomers dedicated to making business news palatable to a mainstream audience.
Slate is an online news and opinion magazine owned by The Washington Post Co. "We're reaching a different audience, a general interest site for people who have an interest in money and financial affairs and economics ... but not specifically or necessarily who work in the finance industry," Slate Editor James Ledbetter told Reuters in an interview.
For the full story click here.

NY Times Co. Agrees to Add Director Seats

New York Times Co. has agreed to add two seats to its board of directors and those seats will be filled by outside directors nominated by dissident investors. The move is being made to avert a proxy battle with hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners and investment firm Firebrand Partners.
The total number of board seats will go from 13 to 15.
Harbinger and Firebrand are the largest public investors in the New York Times Co. and have amassed a 19 percent stake, up from about 5 percent two months ago. They have been pressuring the company to sell assets and expand its online operations.
One of the nominees for the outside seats will be Scott Galloway, a New York University marketing professor and shareholder activist who has been advising Harbinger. The other is James Kohlberg, co-founder of the investment firm Kohlberg & Co. The winning directors will be announced at the company’s annual shareholder meeting next month.
In return for the Times support of the directors, Harbinger and Firebrand will stop pushing a four-person nominee slate it had proposed.

Jesse H. Neal Award Winners Announced

A story on trends in the security field won the Grand Neal Award at the 54th Annual Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards.
The winners were honored Friday, March 14, in New York City.
The article, “Red Gold Rush,” published in IDG/CXO Media’s CSO magazine, took home the top honor.
Other finalists for the Grand Neal Award were “The Trouble with HUD and How to Fix It,” which ran in Hanley Wood’s Affordable Housing Finance; “Solving the Driver Crisis,” which ran in Heavy Duty Trucking published by Newport Communications Group; and the web site of Architectural Record, which is part of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
For a full list, go to: http://www.americanbusinessmedia.com/abm/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=1438

Jackson Heading to Journal-Constitution

Andre Jackson, assistant managing editor for business at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, will be leaving the paper March 21 to take a new position as an editorial writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A native of St. Louis, Jackson has worked at the Post-Dispatch nearly 21 years, starting as a general assignment reporter in 1987. He has held a series of other posts, including suburban editor and weekend editor.
He moved to the business desk shortly after earning a master’s in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in 1996.
“It’s a hard call to make to leave your hometown but they approached me and it’s an opportunity to do something different and stretch a part of my brain I haven’t journalistically in writing opinion pieces,” he said.
His editorials will focus on the economy and business.
His last day at the Post-Dispatch will be March 21 and he’ll begin his new job on April 14.“I’m going back to what I loved when I started in this business, which is reporting and writing,” he said. “I’ll just add a new trick in writing opinions.”

Bailey's job at the Globe will be hard to fill

A story in The Phoenix that details key leadership changes and looming buyouts at The Boston Globe, points out just how important Steve Bailey's business coverage was for the city.
Bailey, executive editor Helen Donovan and deputy managing editor for news operations Mike Larkin are all leaving the newspaper.

Bailey’s importance should be evident to anyone who reads him regularly, or pays even passing attention to Boston business or politics. With his aggressive reporting, frequent scoops (which often become front-page news), and acid commentary — e.g., saddling Deval Patrick with the moniker “Governor Slots” — Bailey has earned a reputation as the most influential columnist in town. His replacement, whoever he or she is, will face exceedingly high expectations; the fact that Globe insiders struggle when asked to suggest possible candidates shows just how hard filling that job will be.

For the full story click here.

NYT says livemint.com is lifting content from its Sunday business section

A report from contentSutra says The New York Times has accused Livemint of lifting content from its Sunday business section.
Patricia Kranz, the Times deputy Sunday business editor, wrote to Poynter saying that “We have discovered a website called livemint.com, which is—according to the website—a “partner” of The Wall Street Journal, that has lifted stories from the Sunday Business section of the New York Times without permission or attribution”
Raju Narisetti, Editor of Mint, has told ContentSutra that there is a syndication deal in place between HT Media and NYT syndication, adding that “Mint’s site has our Code of Conduct right at the top and we take our journalism ethics very, very seriously.”
For the full story click here.

Goldstein Crowe to leave portfolio.com

Lauren Goldstein Crowe, who focuses on fashion coverage for Porfolio's site, has decided not to renew her contract that expires later this month, according to reports from Women's Wear Daily.
The report says portfolio.com doesn’t want to invest heavily in fashion coverage, but still wants a presence at the international collections, and to be a force in the fashion business media.
“We will continue to cover fashion aggressively on the Web site — it’s too important a business category not to cover,” said a spokeswoman. “As the site has evolved, our needs have changed.”
For the full story click here.

Job cuts at St. Louis Post-Disptach

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch announced it will cut 31 positions, but no newsroom employees will be affected.
Cicrulation, classified phone rooms, production, purchasing, telephone operations and marketing are the departments that could see cuts reaching as high as management positions.

"Although the Post-Dispatch is performing relatively well, especially compared with other metropolitan newspapers, we believe it is prudent to dial back our expenses modestly," Kevin Mowbray, publisher of the Post-Dispatch, said in a statement. "These staff reductions will not affect the quality of our products or services for our customers.

"Our local economy remains good, but St. Louis is not immune to the economic challenges that have been affecting the country at large," he added. "In St. Louis, as across the country, the advertising climate has cooled in recent months, especially for businesses related to the housing slump. Meanwhile, our audience continues to grow, making us the most effective and far reaching medium for advertisers in our area."

For the full story click here.

AP consolidates business units

The Associated Press will consolidate its newspaper, broadcast, and online sales operations into one unit, according to reports from Editor & Publisher.
The report said the change is an effort to streamline its business dealings across media formats.
Now all sales and marketing efforts will be under Tom Brettingen.
He said said the changes should simplify the decision-making process within the company's sales force, particularly when dealing with large clients such as Gannett Co. or News Corp. which own newspapers, broadcasters as well as online outlets.
For the full report click here.

Murdoch visits D.C. bureau, promises to increase resources

Politico reports that Rupert Murdoch told staffers at the Wall Street Journal's D.C. bureau that he would increase resources for Washington coverage and take on the New York Times, while reassuring them that he is not a "conservative” pushing an agenda in the news pages.
For roughly 90 minutes, Murdoch and publisher Robert Thomson spoke to Journal reporters and editors assembled in the paper’s conference room.
For the full story click here.

Sac Bee offers buyouts

The Sacramento Bee announced it will offer voluntary buyouts to a limited number of employees. The paper's executives said they expect less than 2 percent of their 1,400 employees would be approved for the buyouts.
Buyouts will be approved primarily in the newspaper's support areas, including finance, human resources, production and parts of circulation.
The reduction comes as The Bee increases its focus on online and niche products.
"In order to support these efforts we must look for ways to operate more efficiently," Bee Publisher Janis Heaphy said in a statement.
For the full report click here.

Portfolio on track with competitors

By selling about 30,000 copies an issue, Portfolio's newsstand sales are within the range of their competitors, according to reports from Women's Wear Daily. The report says the magazine has been around for eight issues and so far its close to biweekly Fortune, which sold an average of 32,000 copies per issue last year.
The current number is said to be below the expectations of executives at Condé Nast, who hope to increase sales by about 10,000 a month and boost sell-through into the mid-20s.
For the full report click here.

Students get free access to The Financial Times

Editor & Publisher reports that The Financial Times will offer free access to its Web site to students through Facebook.
The offer extends internationally to graduate and undergraduate students via Facebook college groups. Only students will see the offer.
"There is an increasing demand from university and MBA students for access to the FT's quality of insight and reporting and the new Facebook application will enable them to access that premium content for free," Ien Cheng, publisher and managing editor of FT.com, said in a statement.
Students will be able to access the free annual subscription -- worth $109 -- a maximum of four times.

Leadership changes at The Boston Globe

Award-winning business columnist Steve Bailey, executive editor Helen Donovan, and deputy managing editor Michael Larkin, a team which has been at The Boston Globe since the 1970s, announced they are leaving the newspaper.
The newspaper reports that Bailey will move to Europe to join Bloomberg News as a senior enterprise editor.
The departures come about a month after The Globe's publisher, Steve Ainsley, said the newspaper was looking to cut 60 positions through voluntary buyouts as part of a broader cost-cutting effort at the company.
Ellen Clegg, currently deputy managing editor of the Sunday paper, will replace Larkin as deputy managing editor in charge of news operations. Caleb Solomon will succeed Donovan, assuming the role of managing editor/news and retaining his duties as the editor responsible for page-one stories.
For the full story click here.

Tribune-Review biz journalist dead at 54

Charles Mark Mortimer, a business reporter at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, passed away on Sunday following a recent surgery.
Mortimer was known for his reporting on the coal and steel industry. For his coverage he won numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalists Keystone State Pro Chapter's Spotlight Contest and a Matrix Award, sponsored by The Association for Women in Communications Pittsburgh Professional, according to the newspaper.
John Oravecz, Tribune-Review business editor, hired Mortimer more than 10 years ago.
"Chuck knew more about the coal industry than any reporter I've known or even read," he said. "He was a top-notch coal and steel industry reporter and he enjoyed doing that kind of work."
For the full story click here.

New business editor for Boston Herald

Frank Quaratiello will replace Greg Gatlin as the Boston Herald's business editor, according to reports from The Boston Globe.
Quaratiello is an 11-year veteran of the paper, working as deputy business editor and copy desk chief. He will oversee a staff of seven but plans to hire a deputy business editor.
Gatlin left the Herald to become director of public affairs for Suffolk University.
For more click here.

Mercury News cuts 5 percent of its staff

Through layoffs and buyouts, the Mercury News cut 50 jobs or about 5 percent of its staff today, according to reports from the paper.
Fifteen newsroom employees and 19 employees from other parts of the paper were laid off. Sixteen employees accepted buyout offers, five from the newsroom.
To replace two managers who accepted buyouts, Barbara J. Marshman was named the paper's editorial page editor. She is the first woman to hold that job at the Mercury News.
Stephen R. Trousdale will step into the business editor slot.
The staff reductions are part of cost-cutting plan for two dozen daily and weekly Bay Area newspapers owned by MediaNews and operated by the Bay Area News Group.
At the other papers, which include the Oakland Tribune and the Contra Costa Times, there was a 10 percent staff reduction through buyouts given to 107 people.
To read the full story click here.

Robinson-Avila named New Mexico's small biz journalist of the year

Kevin Robinson-Avila, a reporter with the New Mexico Business Weekly, was named the 2008 New Mexico Small Business Journalist of the Year.
Robinson-Avila writes about technology, energy, venture capital, telecom and Hispanic businesses at Business Weekly.
He is a veteran journalist with 25 years experience, including 10 years as a foreign correspondent in Central America and six years as an editor at the University of New Mexico's Latin America Data base.
For more about Robinson-Avila click here.

Indianapolis Star's editor to take post at University of Kansas

Indianapolis Star's managing editor, Pam Fine, is leaving the paper to become the Knight Chair for News, Leadership and Community at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas.
Editor & Publisher recently talked to Fine about her departure and about difficulty of working in a newsroom under tough economic times.
From the story:

Fine, 50, said budget cuts and other industry-wide problems also played a role in her decision. "It is hard and it has gotten harder to do the kind of work here we want to do," she explained. "The demands have grown and the staff hasn’t."
Asked if she believed more top editors would take the jump to teaching and non-newsroom jobs, Fine said: "I don’t know. I think people are thinking about their careers and where they'd be happy. Most of my colleagues still want to be in their day to day."

Click here for the full story.

Nieman annouces new journalistic independence award

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard is establishing an award that recognizes journalistic independence and honors the life of investigative journalist I.F. Stone.
The I.F. Stone Medal will be presented annually to a journalist whose work captures the spirit of independence, integrity, courage and indefatigability that characterized I.F. Stone’s Weekly, published 1953-1971.
Stone, who was born in 1907 and worked for several newspapers before establishing his weekly publication, believed fervently that dissenting voices are crucial in helping keep the United States true to its democratic ideals.
“It is this spirit of independent thinking that challenges punditry and conventional wisdom that we wish to honor,” said Bob Giles, curator of the Nieman Foundation. “The press, as an independent bedrock of our democracy, and the freedom of journalists to stand alone and apart from mainstream ideas and political currents are under great stress. Today, Izzy Stone serves as a model of the resolute, provocative journalist who worked against injustice and inequity, and loathed pomposity and false posturing, often at personal cost.”
For the full release click here.

Bloomberg freezing top salaries?

Bloomberg imposed a salary freeze for about 20 percent of its editorial staff that makes more than $200,000 a year, according to reports from the New York Post.
But as employees brace for other cuts that could be on the horizon, the report says some staffers are not happy about a salary freeze in the midst of renovations nearing about $50,000 for Editor-in-Chief Matt Winkler's office and conference room.
In the story, a Bloomberg insider who wasn't in the $200,000-a-year bracket, supported cutting costs by freezing the salaries of the company's top-paid employees.
"I haven't seen there is a freeze yet, but if there is one at the top, I'd applaud that and consider that equitable," the insider said. "Usually, in tough times, it is the guys at the bottom who are cut, while the guys at the top continue to get rewarded."
For the full story click here.

Conrad Black begins prison term

The Associated Press reports that Conrad Black turned himself into a prison in central Florida on Monday to begin his six-and-a-half year sentence for swindling shareholders in his media empire.
Black and two co-defendants, John A. Boultbee and Peter Y. Atkinson, were convicted in Chicago in July of siphoning millions of dollars out of Hollinger International, which grouped many of Black’s holdings.
Each was convicted on three counts of fraud. Black also was convicted on obstruction of justice and ordered to pay $6.1 million in restitution.
For the full story click here.

CNNMoney.com grows with video

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age takes a look at CNNMoney.com's recent success online.
The story says the site has added video in addition to its print content, a move that could make it more competitive and attractive to a broader audience.
Steinber points out that CNNMoney's unique users have been far greater than those visiting CNBC.com or FoxBusiness.com.
CNNMoney officially ramped up its video offerings in mid-January, helping it reach about 9.4 million unique users, its highest monthly unique user total since January 2007.
for the full story click here.

Bids due for Weather Channel

Preliminary bids are due next week to purchase the cable network Weather Channel and owner Landmark Communications is looking for as much as $5 billion to make the sale, according to reports from the Los Angeles Times.

General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, Time Warner Inc., CBS Corp. and Comcast Corp. have all expressed interest in the network.
Landmark said in January that it was exploring options for its publishing and television businesses, hiring JPMorgan and Lehman Bros. to look at its alternatives.
Analysts have said the Weather Channel would be the most prized asset in a sale.For the full story click here.

Ventura County Star expands biz coverage

The Ventura County Star (Camarillo, Calif.) recently announced it will put a strong focus on growing its online business coverage.
On Sunday, the paper launched a business webshell, a place on the paper's site that caters specifically to business coverage and will provide more in-depth content.
Managing Editor John T. Moore told readers that they can search for older business stories through the archives and also get the current news.
He said the site will let readers spend more time with some of the bigger business stories and will also feature new online only content. For example, a new Ask Allison feature will allow readers to pose a question on a product or business trend to reporter Allison Bruce.
From Moore's announcement:

All the local stories from the newspaper are there. They are divided into the major topics of interest: Housing and Real Estate, Tech, Money, Retail and the Workplace and Agriculture The added attraction for our Business shell is that we've made it easier to find that story from yesterday's publication or from last week. If you're like me, you're forever forgetting to clip out that story from today's paper that you want to save. Now, it will be even easier to find it on the Business shell. You can use the search or just scroll through each themed section until you find your story.

Newspapers have long held a wealth of information that we were only able to give out to you once a day in bites limited by the available space in print. We are going to continue to provide that news each and every morning. But now, online, we want to take advantage of the depth and richness available on that publishing platform to expand on information in a way we have never been able to do.

Changes in Tampa Tribune biz coverage

The Tampa Tribune's business news on Mondays will appear inside the newspaper's Nation/World section.
The consolidation, which began today, is part of a series of changes that will reorganize specific sections of the paper. The regular business section, including stock listings, will run Tuesday through Sunday and will remain the same.
In addition to the biz changes, the color comics page will get its own section front and features coverage will be altered to focus on areas readers said were important including food, home, things to do, and health and fitness.
For the full list of changes click here.

The Economist continues to gain steam

The Economist says its goal is to reach smart people and to offer them content that's relevant.
And it seems their strategy, even in a world where many magazines and newspapers are struggling to attract readers, is not only working, it's thriving.
The magazine, which has a readership of 722,000 in North America, is reporting a 13 percent circulation growth and 8.5 percent increase in advertising pages for 2007.
Those details are part of a MarketWatch report by Jon Friedman.
Friedman goes on to say that the Economist is thriving in the U.S. because it frequently succeeds in being different from the American media. He said it's decisive, but not shrill. The reporting is analytical but not dull.
Here's how the magazine's editor-in-chief John Micklethwait sees it:
"We think there is an ever-growing number of people who want an intelligent read," Micklethwait said in the MarketWatch report. "People who read the Economist knew the problems with housing all over the world, the Islamic extremism, food prices and even bin Laden."
For the full story click here.

The games played for access to the top

Portfolio's Jack Flack details the steps that go into securing an interview with a rock star CEO. His notes five key factors that can play into the game of getting the meeting, a list that was put together after Elinor Mills' CNet story on her interview with Google's Eric Schmidt.
Flack's list includes, The Transactional Factor, which he describes as:

The agreement between Mills and the Google flacks reflects the reality that most CEO interviews are now often conducted with pre-negotiated restrictions. The company wants to use the journalist to get out its messages, and the journalist wants to use the CEO's fame to impress editors and attract readers. The company is free to offer its conditions, and the journalist is free to accept or reject them. Unfortunately, most journalists know that if they reject the deal, one of their competitors will take it.

To read his full list click here.