OC Register eliminates staff by 5 percent

The Orange County Register and its affiliated publications are laying off between 80 and 90 employees because of declining advertising revenue, according to reports from the newspaper.
Publisher Terry Horne said declines in real estate and classified job advertising have created a short-term financial problem that forced the cutbacks, which are scheduled to be completed today.
This is the third round of layoffs in a year for Orange County Register Communications, the umbrella brand for the Register newspaper, web sites, magazines and other community publications. The company also completed a voluntary severance program to cut staff in 2006.
In this round of layoffs, managers protected basic reporting and editing staff and targeted high salary employees, so that fewer people were laid off.
To read the full story click here.

Committee criticizes Brauchli's departure

The Wall Street Journal reports that a special committee charged with overseeing the newspaper's editorial integrity said its members should have been alerted that managing editor, Marcus Brauchli, was pressured to resign.
The committee, created when News Corp. took over Dow Jones lst year, is responsible for safeguarding Dow Jone's editorial independence and integrity.
Brauchli, a longtime Journal editor and reporter, resigned on April 22 and the committee said they learned about his departure too late in the process, a move which they see as a violation of the spirit the agreement.

In its chronology, the committee said it "has not been made aware of any issues of editorial independence or integrity either before or since" the April 22 meeting. The committee said it later met "and decided that there was no practical way to 'unresign' Brauchli and start the process over."
"Under the agreement, the committee has the duty and responsibility to approve or disapprove such actions," the statement said, referring to the removal and hiring of the managing editor. "The Committee intends to exercise fully its role in the approval of a successor managing editor and to take the steps necessary to prevent a repeat of the process it has just been through."

Click here to read more.

Post launches new investor tools online

This past wekend The Washington Post launced new investor tools online, enabling readers to quickly pull together a list of their stocks and mutual funds and easily monitor price fluctuations.
The online features provide a simple way to get a range of information about investments, including the latest quotes and news, company profiles, profits, insider transactions, analyst recommendations and Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Other recent additions to Sunday Business include redesigned inside pages
with Market Buzz by Sunday Business Editor Steven Levingston, highlighting an investment insight of the week; Hindsight, which provides a chart of a compelling trend; and Foresight, in which Federal Reserve reporter Neil Irwin previews market-moving news. There are also articles from Kiplinger's Personal Finance and a new Ask the Experts feature in which financial advisers answer questions.
For more click here.

BusinessWeek and Bloomberg reporters among Knight Fellows

Geri Smith of BusinessWeek and Janine Zacharia of Bloomberg News along with 10 other U.S. journalists have been awarded John S. Knight Fellowships to study at Stanford during the 2008-09 academic year.
During their stay at Stanford, the Knight Fellows will pursue independent courses of study and participate in special seminars. The 2008-09 program marks the 43rd year that Stanford has offered fellowships for professional journalists.
Smith plans to focus on immigration, trade integration and the quest for international competitiveness in the Americas. And Zacharia will tackle changing how rulers rule: what went wrong with the freedom agenda and lessons for the future.
For the full list of fellows click here.

Digging into Lake Tahoe's economy

Interactive journalism is allowing graduate students at the Reynolds School of Journalism to dig deeper into cultural, economic and social issues.
The site, www.OurTahoe.org, gives students a chance to develop, deliver and participate in innovative journalism while encouraging users to think critically about the future of a precious resource, Lake Tahoe.
In 2006, the degree program’s students worked with faculty to design the site and develop experimental journalism projects on issues of fire, community networks and interactivity.
“It has astounded me that no one wants to talk about poverty at Tahoe. I know the word ‘poor’ and poverty can cause shame, but keeping the poor invisible doesn’t help their cause,” said Liz Margerum, a Reno Gazette-Journal photojournalist and University journalism graduate student. “My aim [with my project on the Web site] is to tell a story of the ups and downs of being poor in a place where the wealthy come to play and live. The economy depends on the working class. What would happen if they left?”

SABEW's new officers

The Society of American Business Editors & Writers has named new officers.
Bernie Kohn, assistant managing editor of business for The Baltimore Sun, was named president of the organization and Greg McCune, training editor for Reuters, became vice president.
Rob Reuteman, business editor of the Rocky Mountain News, became treasurer. Kevin Noblet, former business editor for the Associated Press, became secretary.
The three officers assumed their new jobs at the organization’s 45th annual conference in Baltimore.
Gail DeGeorge, Sunday editor of The Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., completed her year-long term as president at the conference.

St. Pete Times to cut biz section

Talking Biz News reports that The St. Petersburg Times is planning to cut its weekday standalone business section next month, combining the content into the metro section.
The newspaper may also cut its stock listings and its Floridian features section during the week.
For more click here.

Financial Times and the Middle East

The Financial Times will launch a Middle East edition to serve what it sees as a growing demand for business news in the Gulf states and other parts of the region, according to Reuters reports.
The paper is part of Pearson PLC's international expansion strategy for the Times and the first copies will be available on Tuesday.
"The economic dynamism of the region is striking," Financial Times Chief Executive John Ridding said in an interview with Reuters on Saturday. "It's not just the rate of growth, it's the nature of growth."
"Unlike the previous sort of oil booms, I think what we're seeing this time is a substantial investment in the foundations of sustainable economic development, infrastructure and education," Ridding said.
For the full story click here.

Aaron Brown back on TV

The Associated Press reports that former CNN anchor Aaron Brown will join PBS' "Wide Angle" series, ending his on-air absence of more than two years.
Brown, who left CNN in November and is now the Walter Cronkite Professor of Journalism at Arizona State University, will anchor the weekly public affairs series with a global focus.
He said the new venture offers the chance, "to work in an environment where people just think about making good TV and good journalism."
Brown, 59, who left CNN in November 2005 during a shake-up that gave his time slot to rising star Anderson Cooper, said he was contractually barred from working in TV until last June. "Wide Angle" begins its seventh season July 1.
For the full story click here.

Thomson and the WSJ

Today's New York Times includes a story focused on Robert Thomson, who became publisher of The Wall Street Journal in December.
Thomson, the article states, "has left left a trail of happy reporters in his wake — at The Financial Times and more recently at The Times of London, where the newsroom under his guidance was, in the words of a former colleague, 'the happiest place to work on Fleet Street.'”
But the article points out that Thomson now has his work cut out of him at The Journal. Last Wednesday, he became the de facto editor after the resignation of managing editor Marcus W. Brauchli and replacing the veteran editor is just one of his many challenges at the newspaper.
From the story:

With editors assembled around the table, Mr. Thomson said the paper would not rush to replace Mr. Brauchli, and he assured the group that people who thought the paper was straying from its traditions were misinformed. Then, he said, he offered something no reporter or editor could resist: more space for more words.

Mr. Thomson said that the News Corporation, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch and which bought the newspaper’s parent company, Dow Jones, last year for close to $5 billion, would invest $6 million a year to add four pages for international news.

Adding heft to a paper at a time when cutbacks are the industry norm — The Journal’s advertising revenue, like other newspapers, declined in the first quarter — is a nice start for Mr. Thomson to ease the anxieties of Journal staff members whipsawed by change. But the vagueness of his role — publishers do not typically attend news meetings — has everyone wondering what else he has in store.

For the full story click here.

Harris joins the Republic

Craig Harris, most recently a reporter at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, is heading south to join the staff of The Arizona Republic.
He will cover business and government for the newspaper.
Previously he covered business for the Intelligencer, including Starbucks Co.

Herald has new biz editor

The Boston Herald has named Greg Turner its new deputy business editor, according to reports from the newspaper.
Turner worked as the business editor of The MetroWest Daily News in Framingham for six years before joining the Herald earlier this week.
“Greg brings his energy, experience and considerable talents to the job,” said business editor Frank Quaratiello. “He has jumped right in and already made valuable contributions to the business section. I’m glad to have him as part of our team.”
Turner is an 11-year veteran of Community Newspaper Co., the Needham-based chain owned by GateHouse Media Inc.
He was an award-winning reporter and editor for several weekly papers, including The Concord Journal.
“I’m excited to join the talented staff that Frank leads,” said Turner. “I look forward to helping them continue their aggressive coverage of the Boston-area business community.”
For more click here.

Changes at the WSJ since Murdoch

Business coverage on the front page of The Wall Street Journal has decreased since Rupert Murdoch took control of the newspaper.
That the results of a study conducted by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which tracked the front page of the Journal every other week since Dec. 13.
Here are some of their findings:

In the first four months of Murdoch’s stewardship, the Journal’s front page has clearly shifted focus, de-emphasizing business coverage that was the franchise, while placing much more emphasis on domestic politics and devoting more attention to international issues. But it is not, at least not yet, as broad as the New York Times on the same days.

Under the Murdoch regime, the single biggest change in front-page coverage occurred with politics and the presidential campaign. From Dec. 13, 2007 through March 13, 2008, coverage more than tripled, jumping to 18% of the newshole compared with 5% in the four months before the ownership change.

Since the front page has a finite amount of space, that increase in political coverage seems to have come largely at the expense of business news. In the Murdoch era, coverage of corporate America has plunged by more than half—to 14% of the front-page space from 30% in the months before the sale.

For the full study click here.

Rupert Murdoch and the FCC

As he nears completion of a deal to acquire Newsday from the Tribune Company, Rupert Murdoch appears likely to pose the first significant challenge to the media ownership rule that the Federal Communications Commission recently adopted, according to reports from The New York Times.
Murdoch is already in the process of seeking waivers to continue to control two newspapers (The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post) and two television stations (WNYW and WWOR) in the New York area.
Now with Newsday, he's adding another newspaper into the mix.
The new rule permits a company to own just one paper and one television station in the same city in the top 20 markets so long as there are at least eight other independent sources of news and the station is not in the top four.
For more click here.

Scientist wants to expand biotech coverage

The Scientist magazine, a publication for life scientists, is looking to expand its biotech coverage.
So to accomplish that mission, the magazine is looking for interns, associate editors and freelance reporters with an interest in both business and biology.
The magazine will consider both experienced reporters and editors and also people just launching a career. Interns and associate editors will be based in Philadelphia.
For more information e-mail Deputy Editor Alison McCook at amccook@the-scientist.com.

New top editors at LA Times; biz editor steps into managing editor role

Today Russ Stanton named Business Editor Davan Maharaj managing editor and Managing Editor John Arthur executive editor of the Los Angeles Times.
Maharaj assumes oversight of the Foreign, National, Metro, Sports and Business departments. He will be responsible for shaping coverage, deploying people and overseeing personnel decisions with guidance from Stanton and Arthur, accoring to reports from the Los Angeles Times.
Maharaj has been an assistant foreign editor and, in Business, served as a deputy editor before assuming leadership of the department last year.
Under Maharaj's tenure, Business revamped its coverage to give greater emphasis to consumer issues. It also redesigned its Sunday section, devoting it to stories that can help readers with their personal finances.
A native of Trinidad, Maharaj holds a political science degree from the University of Tennessee and a master's degree in law from Yale University.
For the entire story click here.

Marsden wins National Business Book Award

Montreal journalist and filmmaker William Marsden was named the winner of the $20,000 National Business Book Award for his book about the environmental degradation of Alberta, Stupid to the Last Drop: How Alberta Is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (And Doesn't Seem to Care).
Marsden, a senior investigative reporter for the Montreal Gazette, argues development of the oilsands is out of control and Alberta is levelling its northern boreal forest, destroying people's health and the agricultural sector with gas wells and depleting and destroying its waterways.
Other contenders for the award were:
Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent.
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.
Beaverbrook: A Shattered Legacy.
The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World We Need.
For more click here.

Peck to receive lifetime achievement award

Abe Peck, an eclectic professor, writer, B-to-B editorial consultant was chosen for the American Society of Business Publications’ Lifetime Achievement Award.
Currently Peck is the Chair of Journalism & Cross-Media Storytelling at Northwestern University where he also holds both the Helen Gurley Brown professor and its Theodore R. and Annie Laurie Sills professorship.
In addition to his magazine-related work at the school, Peck has represented business-to-business publications well over the years. He has served as consultant to Advanstar Communications, a large B-to-B publisher, for which he helps lead editorial performance reviews in the U.S. and U.K.
Among the most most memorable stories of his career were studies of author Studs Terkel, a rundown on the drug paraphernalia industry, and among the first national stories introducing a young California bodybuilder named Arnold Schwarzenegger as he began to move toward wider career aspirations.
He is also the author of Uncovering the Sixties: The Life and Times of the Underground Press for Pantheon/Citadel, and has edited or contributed to nine other books, some of which touched on the theme of the cultural past.
Peck will receive the award on July 24 in Kansas City, Mo.

New biz columns at Concord Monitor

The Concord (N.H.) Monitor will launch two new business columns in May.
Business Reporter Kate Davidson will write a column on personal finance and another on general business news.
The columns will run in the new Sunday section, Your Life.
Your Life will combine the currently separate Home & Family and Business sections into one Sunday feature.

Murdoch wants Newsday

Rupert Murdoch has placed a $580 million bid to purchase Newsday. According to The New York Times, the purchase of Newsday from the Tribune Company would put Mr. Murdoch in control of 3 of the nation’s 10 largest-circulation papers (the others being The Journal and The New York Post).
Owning Newsday, which is based on Long Island, would also open an eastern front in the long-running battle for New York tabloid supremacy and, by combining some operations, could allow News Corporation to end decades of heavy losses by The Post.
For the entire story click here.

Sue Clark Johnson shares her views on the newspaper industry

Sue Clark Johnson, who will retire in May from her post as Gannett's chief newspaper division executive, recently spoke to members of the Newspaper Association of America about both the challenges and promise in the newspaper industry.
In this time of transition for newspapers, Johnson said she sees endless opportunities. She pointed out that consumers frequently combine the use of newspapers and the Internet to evaluate and make purchases. The transformation, she says is happening now.

"We used to report the news once a day. In one product. Now we're doing it 24/7 in print, on mobile phones, on the Internet. We're using video, audio, podcasts, text-messaging. We used to report the news generally. Today we operate in a world of niches and specialized news and information...which makes for even more robust opportunity for good journalism than ever before. Where we used to have an audience, today we can target many audiences, larger audiences, some we’ve never had before. We can engage them in the process."

For the entire speech click here.

Glasser removed from role at the Post

After a record of poor morale among her staff, Susan B. Glasser was removed from her post as assistant managing editor at The Washington Post.
According to The New York Times, Glasser joined the newspaper in 1998 as a deputy editor for investigations and was promoted to assistant managing editor in 2006. Her superiors at that time called her, "one of our most talented and visionary journalists.”

From the Times story:

Several Post reporters who spoke about Ms. Glasser on Tuesday said that they agreed with that description, and that Ms. Glasser, while often demanding, recognized that newspapers had to think more imaginatively had the era of declining circulation and the rise of the Internet. But morale suffered under Ms. Glasser’s leadership, to the extent that in recent weeks a high-ranking Post editor surveyed people on the national staff to gauge just how bad feelings were running, people at the newspaper said. The morale report was conveyed recently to Mr. Downie, who was said to have been dismayed by the findings.

Northwestern University Professor Receives Award

Abe Peck, a Northwestern University journalism professor for the past 28 years who is retiring, will receive the American Society of Business Publications’ Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors commitment to editorial excellence and to the B-to-B press.

Peck is currently the Chair of Journalism & Cross-Media Storytelling at the Medill School, where he holds both the Helen Gurley Brown professor and its Theodore R. and Annie Laurie Sills professorship.

A magazine specialist whose journalistic roots were in the “alternative press” of the 1960s and 1970s, Peck is also involved with the prestigious Media Marketing Center.

In addition to his magazine-related work at the school, Peck has represented business-to-business publications over the years. He has served as consultant to Advanstar Communications, a large B-to-B publisher, for which he helps lead editorial performance reviews in the U.S. and U.K.

Peck will receive the award during a luncheon ceremony at ASBPE’s National Editorial Conference July 23-25 in Kansas City, Mo.

WSJ's Managing Editor Leaving

Marcus Brauchli is departing as managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, leaving one of the top journalism posts after a little less than a year on the job, according to a story in today’s Journal.

Brauchli's departure comes four months after the Journal's parent company Dow Jones & Co. was acquired by Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate News Corp.

A New York Times story said it was unclear why Brauchli, 46, was leaving, but friends and colleagues say he may have been frustrated by his lack of control over the newspaper.

The Journal story said Brauchli was expected to stay on with the company in a yet-to-be-determined role.

Tacoma Paper Cuts Back on Stock Listings

The Tacoma News Tribune is cutting back on its stock pages starting April 26 and is considering combining some of its sections, it announced Monday. No word yet on whether its business section is under consideration for folding into another section.
The stock page reduction means readers will get two fewer pages on the week-ending stock report.

“Newspapers all over America, including us, have trimmed back stocks in our
daily business pages – to almost no reader reaction,” David Zeeck, the
paper’s executive editor, tells readers in an April 20 column. “That’s because almost all active investors watch
their stocks on the Internet these days.”

Business media sentiment about economy remains low

A report from TrendPointers indicates that the majority of the business media sentiment is "at best uncertain or acknowledges that the economy is in a recession." Interestingly, however, this month's data, with 78 percent of respondents negative or uncertain, is actually a decline from the 90 percent who expressed the same view last month.

The mass media are following this pattern with Recession Acceptance increasing from 39 percent to 47 percent this month.

In the report, TrendPointers concludes the following: "The most optimistic view of the data is that the business media, who sometimes lead the overall sentiment trends, are now thinking out loud about how long and how severe that recession might be, and studiously comparing current conditions to past recessions."

Read the full release here.

Tribune Co. chief talks about print decline

Tribune Co. chief Sam Zell said that the company's broadcasting group is performing better than expected, according to David Goetzl today at Mediapost.com

"This was in sharp contrast to the outlook he painted for the publishing business, where 'revenue trends ... are significantly worse than we expected,' resulting in a major hit. In the first quarter--final results have not been reported yet--print ad dollars are expected to fall by double digits, compared to the same period a year ago."

Goetzl writes that the main problem is the loss of classified ad dollars to the Internet, with papers in Florida contributing most to the decline.

Since taking over the company, Zell has focused on keeping everything together and maintaining the company's existing portfolio, but his tune has now changed. "The significant erosion in the first quarter has certainly put that plan into some question. We are forced to consider the possible divestiture of some of our assets."

Read the entire article here.

New editor at Nashville Business Journal

According to the Austin Business Journal, Lance Williams has been appointed editor of the Nashville Business Journal.

Williams, who has been editor of the Austin Business Journal since 2006, will begin his new role on May 5.

The former bureau chief for the Lexington Herald-Leader joined American City Business Journals, the parent company of both the Austin and Nashville papers, in 2002 as a reporter and editor with the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Read more here.

Palm Beach Post Eliminates Sunday Biz Section

The Palm Beach Post will officially launch a Sunday online business magazine in mid-May. A version was soft launched earlier this month and is still being tweaked, said Rick Christie, the paper’s assistant managing editor for business.
The magazine, which is called “The Conversation,” is a response to the paper’s decision to eliminate its Sunday business section and fold three days of its standalone section into the Local section.
“Losing the Sunday section was a blow to staff,” Christie said. “We saw this as way to get some of the wind back.”
The online magazine will contain a couple of columns, business features, a business cartoon done in-house and will likely experiment with interactive news such as live chats.
The changes to the print edition took effect March 30. Newsprint costs were cited as the reason for the cutbacks.
Christie said the changes did not alter business section staffing levels.
“In times like this you really need to find way to bring business news to people,” he said.

NAA Fellowship Program Deadline Approaches

The deadline is rapidly approaching to apply for the Newspaper Association of America’s Minority Fellowship Program. Completed applications are due April 30, 2008. The fellowships are aimed at newspaper professionals of color in the areas of editing, business, leadership, design and production. The courses will be offered between July and December and will feature new courses and programs to build competencies of tomorrow’s leaders. The fellowships cover tuition, lodging, airfare, meals and other expenses. To download an application, go to http://www.naa.org/diversity/minorityfellowships. For more information, contact Angela Winters at (571) 366-1003 or angela.winters@naa.org

Pearlstein: publishers are following the wrong story

Steve Pearlstein, a business columnist for The Washington Post and recent winner of the Pulitzer Prize, writes today about the struggles in the newspaper industry.
He says, "a lack of vigorous competition slowed the pace of innovation and allowed publishers and editors to make decisions about what readers wanted and needed without listening carefully to the readers themselves...there is no way to save the industry as long as the people who own it insist on returning to the days of 20 percent profit margins."
Pearlstein says to survive and prosper newspapers must:
* Have a large enough reader base to support a core of experienced and well-paid editors and reporters. And they need to be large enough to support not only a printed newspaper but also a Web site and a range of news products the company can offer to advertisers.
* Take advantage of combining newspapers and other media outlets in a single region -- "clustering," as it is called in the industry. That doesn't mean readers won't be able to get news and advertising targeted to them -- technology makes that possible.
* Understand that consolidation by itself is not a magic bullet and won't succeed in the long run if the efficiency gains are not invested back into new technology, top talent and product improvement.
For the entire column click here.

NYT may resort to newsroom layoffs

The buyouts offered at The New York Times haven't attracted enough volunteers. The paper needed about 100 employees to ask for buyouts to meet its targeted newsroom reduction.
So now if the number of buyouts isn't met by next week's deadline, the newspaper will most likely have to resort to newsroom layoffs, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal.
"If that is indeed the case, as we expect it will be, we will -- regrettably -- be forced resort to some limited number of layoffs within the core newsroom," said assistant managing editor Bill Schmidt. "We approach it with a heavy heart."
To read more click here.

Cutter says he's ready for a career in business journalism

Check out this profile on Chip Cutter, one of the eight students from the across the nation who was awarded a business journalism scholarship from the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism.
In the story, Cutter says he's more than ready to begin a professional career in the promising area of business journalism.
“It’s one of the few areas of journalism that’s growing,” said the junior at Indiana University. “I think there is a great need for it.”
To read about Cutter click here.

Quittner returns to Time

The Washington Post reports that Josh Quittner is leaving his editor post a Business 2.0 magazine to return to Time as a editor-at-large.
At the magazine, he will write a column focused on consumer technology and a also write a daily blog for Time.com.
Quittner joined Business 2.0 in 2002 after seven years at Time, where he worked as the editor and tech editor for the publication.

Wired plots new stylebook

MarketWatch reports that for decades, journalists have relied on such time-honored books as the Associated Press Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style. But if these well-thumbed arbiters of language and grammar seem a tad too 20th century for your tastes, enter Wired.com.
The technology-centric publication plans to unveil a stylebook that will not only modernize its popular decade-old version but also provide a fresh, sophisticated look at current issues facing online media.
"We're going beyond language, grammar and usage," said Evan Hansen, the 44-year-old editor-in-chief of Wired.com, a part of the Wired magazine and overall brand."

Herb Greenberg to leave MarketWatch

Today Herb Greenberg announced on his blog he's leaving MarketWatch, Dow Jones and traditional journalism on May 1 to start an independent research firm.
Greenberg said he's launching the firm with his good friend, analyst and accountant Debbie Meritz.
From Greenberg's blog:

"I’ve devoted my career to journalism, starting in elementary school by delivering copies of the Miami News from my bicycle, to my first job out of college in 1974 as the first business reporter for the Boca Raton News.
I’ve since been part of the evolution of modern business journalism, working from beat reporter to correspondent to columnist to blogger.
When Debbie and I first started talking about the idea of setting up a research firm, it seemed like the next logical step, just as it did when I left traditional print journalism 10 years ago to join the fledging online world.
Change is never easy, especially leaving a place as great as MarketWatch, which has been my home for the past four years. But change is also exciting and I’m looking forward to the next adventure."

Nashville Business Journal gets new editor

Lance Williams has been named editor of the Nashville Business Journal, according to reports from the paper.
Williams had been editor at the Austin Business Journal in Austin, Texas since 2006, and previously served as the paper's managing editor for two years.
He joined American City Business Journals in 2002, working as a reporter and editor with the Cincinnati Business Courier.
ACBJ is the parent company of the Nashville Business Journal, the Austin Business Journal and 39 other business weeklies across the country.
Prior to joining ACBJ, Lance worked as a bureau chief for the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader and as a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Centre Daily Timesin State College, Pa.

Tech editor leaves Post for NPR

Mediabistro reports that Yuki Noguchi, a tech editor for the Washington Post, is leaving the newspaper for a job a National Public Radio.
Noguchi was known for her ability to find stories on how tecnology affected familes, friends and communities. She wrote stories on romance and text messaging, online memorials and cell phone companies trying to get in touch with their inner fashionista and blogger therapy.
The Post is now looking to fill its tech editor slot and expected to do so from inside the newsroom.
For more click here.

Modesto Bee, Florida Communications Group offer buyouts

The Modesto Bee offered voluntary buyouts this week to more than 100 employees, citing fundamental changes in the news industry.
Mark Vasché, editor and senior vice president of The Bee, said the buyouts will affect a "very small" number of the newsroom's 90-plus employees and thus should have a minimal impact on readers.
About one-quarter of The Bee's 455 employees were offered buyout packages. The packages include up to 26 weeks of pay depending on tenure, and medical coverage.
"We are managing through a challenging business environment and changing business model," President and Publisher Margaret Randazzo said.
Click here for the full story.
Florida Communications Group also offered voluntary buyouts Monday to half the employees at the Tampa Tribune, WFLA-Ch. 8, TBO.com and several other news outlets in the Tampa Bay area.
The company, a subsidiary of Richmond, Va.-based Media General, opened the offer to about half its 1,326 employees, with some staffers qualifying for up to 39 weeks of severance pay, according to FCG president John Schueler.
The goal, Schueler said, is to reduce staff costs while melding the responsibilities of staff across their different media types, or platforms, in the same way their "convergence" efforts unite newsgathering efforts across television, print and online media.
For the complete story click here.

Series focused on Toyota

Almost three years ago, there was speculation that Toyota was going to build an auto assembly plant somewhere in North America.
In Canada's Oxford County a huge parcel of land to the east of Woodstock had been purchased, but the name of the purchaser remained unknown.
Eric Schmiedl, a reporter with the Sentinel-Review was dogged in his pursuit of the Toyota rumours. Schmiedl made numerous phone calls to places like New York City and Japan in trying to confirm if there was any validity to the rumours that Toyota was looking at Woodstock.
Through his perseverance, Schmiedl eventually was able to confirm that indeed, Toyota would build its second assembly plant in Canada in Woodstock - just down from its other location at Cambridge.
For almost three years, the paper has watched the landscape at the east end of Woodstock change dramatically.
And now with about six month left before the opening of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc.’s massive assembly plant and the production of the RAV 4, the paper is launching a series, which begins tomorrow, in its business section. The series will detail the makings of the plant and spin-off industry.
To visit the Sentinel-Review click here.

Changes for Globe's Sunday biz section

This Sunday, The Boston Globe will combine its Business & Money and Career sections, according to The Editors Weblog.
The new section will be called Money & Careers, and it will have a new two-page package of stories and graphics on the most significant investing events of the week, replacing the stock and mutual fund listings.
Marketweek, the first page of the package, will contain summaries of the world's major markets, five companies whose stocks had major gains or losses for the week, and the biggest national and local gainer and losers.
MoneyWeek, the second page, will include elements like a new table showing weekly and annual returns for the 50 most popular mutual funds in the country.
The Globe also will maintain 24-hour access to up-to-the-minute price quotes on stocks and mutual funds, free of charge, by telephone.
For more click here.

2007 Sigma Delta Chi winners announced

The Society of Professional Journalists has annouced the 2007 winners of the Sigma Delta Chi Awards for excellence in journalism.
This year’s winners were chosen from more than 1,000 entries in 48 categories including print, radio, television and online.
The Sigma Delta Chi Awards date back to 1932, when the Society first honored six individuals for contributions to journalism.
The awards, which recognize work published in 2007, will be presented July 11 during the annual Sigma Delta Chi Awards banquet at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
A few winners include:
* Non-Deadline Reporting (circulation of 100,000 or greater, “Chemical Fallout,” Susanne Rust, Meg Kissinger & Cary Spivak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
* Investigative Reporting (circulation of 100,000 or greater), “American Imports, Chinese Deaths,” Loretta Tofani, The Salt Lake Tribune
* Public Service in Magazine Journalism, “Healthcare Crisis,” Staff, Consumer Reports
* Magazine Investigative Reporting, “Poverty Series,” Brian Grown, Keith Epstein, Robert Berner & Geri Smith, BusinessWeek
* Public Service in Television Journalism (Network/Top 25 Markets), “Mortgage Meltdown,” Staff, WMAR-TV, Baltimore
For the complete list click here.

Biz and education reporter team up for investigative series

Amy Hetzner was struck by an agenda item for the Waukesha School Board's Finance and Facilities Committee. The item, which called for the board to authorize issuing $40 million in bonds toward financing employee post-employment benefits, made this education reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel want to take a more detailed look at the scheme.
She started digging.
Hetzner turned to business reporter Avrum D. Lank for help and together they produced a Sunday package with months of reporting behind it.
The story, "Schools in Risky Business" detailed that five Wisconsin public school districts have made an investment gamble that could force taxpayers to finance multimillion-dollar bailouts.
To read the series click here.

Entrepreneur's publisher leaves

Mediabistro reports that Entrepreneur's publisher, Kate Rodler, has left the magazine to become vice president of sales at Ladies Who Launch.
According to a release, the company, founded by Victoria Colligan and Beth Schoenfeldt, "is the preeminent source for entrepreneurial-minded women who want to live their dreams and love their lives and is the first company to define entrepreneurship as a lifestyle choice connecting women online and in person to foster creativity, community, and support."
LwL serves the almost 11 million female entrepreneurs in the United States.
Before Entrepreneur, Rodler served as publisher of The George Lucas Foundation and acting publisher of BusinessWeek.

Bob Greene Dies; Dogged Investigator, IRE Founder

Bob Greene, 78, an investigative reporter for Newsday who helped the paper win two Pulitzer Prizes, died Thursday after a long illness. Greene
was also a co-founder of Investigative Reporters & Editors, an organization that still exists as an educational group for journalists.
Greene was best known for his tenacious drive to root out public corruption and organized crime. He won his first Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal in 1970 for exposing land scandals in Long Island. He won a second Gold Medal four years later as part of a reporting team that tracked heroin from poppy fields in Turkey to Long Island neighborhoods.
In 1976 he led a team of investigative reporters from outside the state of Arizona in probing the murder of Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles. The six-month project uncovered corruption in the state and helped launch IRE.
Most recently he taught journalism at Stony Brook University.
“Bob was a reporter, a teacher and a skilled tactician whose investigative zeal changed laws, exposed wrongs and improved the lives of millions of Long Islanders,” said Newsday Editor John Mancini.
To read more, click here.

Pearlstein on Executive Pay

Ignoring recalcitrant CEOs is probably the best approach for the business press when it comes to reigning in executive pay, says Washington Post business columnist Steven Pearlstein, who was online Wednesday discussing bonuses for top executives with readers. Pearlstein, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary earlier this week, didn’t hold back.

“I've somewhat given up on most public policy solutions to the executive
compensation problem. As I said before, social disapprobation is probably the
strongest tool. In the press, I think we should mostly just ignore them. They
have already lost their legitimacy in terms of public policy debates -- from a
political standpoint, nobody cares what CEOs think about anything any more. And
the press, for the most part, doesn't lionize them much any more….”

Click here to see transcript of the discussion.

Journal names publisher of high-end magazine

A luxury marketing consultant and former publisher of Travel + Leisure Magazine has been named vice president and publisher of The Wall Street Journal’s new high-end lifestyle magazine. Ellen Asmodeo-Giglio will lead WSJ., which is scheduled to launch Sept. 6. Her job will include developing revenue-generating strategies and overseeing marketing and advertising initiatives. The magazine will focus on celebrating the lifestyle of the Journal’s affluent readers, covering topics ranging from fashion to philanthropy to travel. Asmodeo-Giglio spent 17 years at American Express Publishing, working her way up to publisher of Travel + Leisure Magazine. WSJ. will be Journal’s first glossy magazine.
Click here to see Dow Jones release.

Layoffs at Publisher of E&P

Nielsen Business Media, the parent company of Editor&Publisher, is laying off a number of employees across the company, according to FOLIO.
It is still not clear how many individuals have been let go although earlier reports suggested it was around 50 employees.
From FOLIO:

"A Nielsen Business spokesperson told FOLIO: that 'some positions were eliminated today at Nielsen as part of our ongoing, previously announced restructuring effort,' but would not confirm the exact number of layoffs nor the departments in which the cuts were made."

Read the entire article here.

Economist CEO to leave in July

Helen Alexander, the publisher of the Economist, will leave her post as CEO this July, according to reports from FOLIO.
Andrew Rashbass, publisher and managing director, will replace Alexander who is leaving to become an advisor to private equity group Bain Capital.
Alexander joined the magazine in 1985 as marketing manager. From there, she moved on to international circulation and then served as managing director of the Economist Intelligence Unit until 1997 when she became CEO.

Biz editor buys art mag

Stephanie Hainsfurther, associate editor of special publications at the New Mexico Business Weekly, has purchased albuquerqueARTS Magazine.
Hainsfurther is a longtime freelance writer and author and is a former editor of the New Mexico Business Journal and Albuquerque The Magazine.
The magazine will go from publishing 11 times per year to a monthly schedule. It will be owned by a new limited liability corporation formed by Hainsfurther called NM Mags LLC. She will serve as publisher and editor.
For more click here.

New reporter for Phx biz journal

Patrick O'Grady recently joined Business Journal Phoenix as a technology reporter. He replaces Ty Young, who left in March to freelance full time.
O'Grady formerly oversaw a weekly newspaper, The Wester, and West Valley Magazine. Both focused on Phoenix's West Valley.
For more on O'Grady check out this interview he gave in January.

Entrepreneur for sale

FOLIO reports that Entrepreneur Media, publisher of Entrepreneur magazine, is for sale. The price: $200 million.
FOLIO's source said that Time Inc. would be a likely bidder, but suggested that Mansueto Ventures—the New York-based publisher of Inc. and Fast Company led by billionaire Joe Mansueto—would be the most logical suitor for Entrepreneur.
Mansueto is already working on the launch of Upstart, a magazine for entrepreneurs. But in an e-mail to FOLIO, CEO John Koten denied any interest in acquiring Entrepreneur.
So for now it's still unclear who might purchase the business magazine's parent company. FOLIO's article, however, adds some insight into the eventual sale.
To read the full story click here.

Newsroom employees asked to sell subscriptions

Denver Post employees received a flier on April 4 asking them to sell newspaper subscriptions for either the Post or the Rocky Mountain News. For their effort, they would be eligible to receive either $25 in cash or and iPod Shuffle.
The Denver Westword detailed how staffers reacted to the request in a recent article.

Post business columnist Al Lewis makes sport of the deal in an amusing blog entry on the Post website (it's the second item). "I don't just write the newspaper. Now I sell it," he declares, adding that, "like most Americans, I will do ANYTHING for an iPod."

But others at the paper took the admonition more seriously, including business reporter Elizabeth Aguilera, who sent out an e-mail about the contest to a wide range of folks on her contact list -- not just friends, but also people she met while working her previous beat, urban affairs. "I don't think this is the first time" the paper has tried such a tack, Aguilera says. "It's just the first time I've paid attention."

For Aguilera, the Shuffle isn't much of an incentive; if she earns one, she plans to give it to her eleven-year-old niece. As her e-mail makes clear, she decided to take part out of a commitment to help the paper during an especially difficult period. According to her, "We've all been talking about how the media industry is changing and we all need to grow with it, whether it's podcasting or blogging or maybe doing something like this."

Pearlstein hopes Pulitzer will prompt respect for economy reporters

Editor & Publisher writes that at a time when increasing numbers of daily newspapers are folding their separate business sections, Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post hopes his Pulitzer Prize for commentary -- the first ever awarded to a column devoted strictly to business -- will help regain respect for those who write about the economy.
"Obviously, I'm thrilled as anyone would be to win the Pulitzer Prize, but there's a special thrill that this would go to a columnist focusing on the economy and business," Pearlstein said Monday night. "Perhaps this will give more recognition to those who write about finance and investing."
He says the rationalizations that newspapers are offering for cutting back the business newshole, or concentrating only on local business, are "nonsensical."
"I frankly don't understand this," Pearlstein said. "There is no indication that people are less interested in finance and investing than they used to be -- in fact, if anything, it's the opposite."
For the entire story click here.

Biz reporters win Pulitzers

The Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting was awarded to Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker of The New York Times for their stories on toxic ingredients in medicine and other everyday products imported from China, leading to crackdowns by American and Chinese officials.
And also to the Chicago Tribune Staff for its exposure of faulty governmental regulation of toys, car seats and cribs, resulting in the extensive recall of hazardous products and congressional action to tighten supervision.
Columnist Steven Pearlstein of The Washington Post grabbed a Commentary Pulitzer for for his ability to explore the nation's complex economic ills with masterful clarity.
The Charlotte Observer's "Sold a Nightmare" series was a finalist in the Public Serivce category for, "its illuminating examination of the mortgage and housing crisis in the newspaper's community and state, resulting in federal probes and changes in a major lender's practices."
For the complete list click here.

LA Daily News editor resigns

Los Angeles Daily News Editor Ron Kaye resigned his position at the paper Friday, the newspaper's publisher announced.
Kaye joined the Daily News in 1985 as an assistant city editor. He became managing editor at the newspaper in 1993 and was named editor in 2005.
"All good things in life come to an end sooner or later, even my love affair with the Daily News," Kaye said in a message to the newsroom Friday afternoon. "What will always be with me is my love and respect for all of you."
Kaye's departure comes a month after the Daily News laid off 22 newsroom employees amid a national and statewide squeeze on the newspaper industry. The layoffs of reporters, photographers, editors and library and clerical staffers at the 150,000-circulation newspaper trimmed newsroom staffing to 100.
For the full story click here.

Pulitzer Prizes annouced this afternoon

The 2008 Pulitzer Prize winners will be announced this afternoon.
Possible business stories in the running include:
* The New York Times' project "A Toxic Pipeline" by Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker is a likely a top pick in the national, investigative or explanatory categories. For their work, the pair was already awarded the Barlett & Steele award for excellence in investigative business journalism by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism.
*Chicago Tribune's report on injuries and deaths related to unregulated imported products from China could get some nods.
* Charlotte Observer's "Sold a Nightmare" series which detailed local homeowners in trouble and foreshadowed the subprime crisis.

Former Business Week and Bloomberg reporter passes away

Leon Walczak, a veteran Business Week bureau chief, recently passed away from pancreatic cancer, according to reports from the Missisipi Sun Herald.
After retiring from Business Week after 20 years in January 2006, he joined Bloomberg News, where he was a political news editor.
He was diagnosed with cancer within weeks of starting at Bloomberg. "He was one of the greatest profiles in courage I have ever known," said Al Hunt, Bloomberg executive editor for Washington.
For more click here.

Editor & Publisher's former leader passes away

The New York Times reports that Robert U. Brown, who spent four decades leading Editor & Publisher died on March 20 at his home in Greenwich, Conn.
From 1953 until 1999, Brown was president and editor of Editor & Publisher, which was then owned by his family.
While working at Editor & Publisher, Brown wrote commentaries urging newspapers to uphold tough reporting standards. A decade ago, for example, he called on editors to crack down on the use of anonymous sources and decried journalistic sins like plagiarism.
He also helped found the Inter American Press Association, which promotes press freedom.
For more click here.

Biz section elminiated from Missouri newspapers

Cost cutting at Johnson County's Sun Newspapers has led to the elimination of the papers' business section, according to reports from the Kansas City Star.
The business section, which ran in the Sun Tribune, Sun Gazette and Liberty Tribune, will be replaced by a lifestyles section dependent on Web content. Gene Hanson, who did most of the business section’s reporting and editing, has been let go.
For the full story click here.

Watching biz sections disappear

Elinore Longobardi writes about disappearing business sections for the Columbia Journalism Review. She points out that business news is booming these days, but business-news sections not so much.
Longobardi says, "the death march has been noted by a few business-news watchers, most notably Chris Roush, who writes a blog called Talking Biz News. But the phenomenon has otherwise not gotten the coverage it merits."
Here's an excerpt form her story:

Newspapers across the country are quietly eliminating stand-alone business sections to lower costs. The business cuts don’t come in isolation, but local business sections have been hit particularly hard. Many stand-alone sections were born within
the past few decades, but their brief life is already coming to an end.
The death of the local business-news section won’t come as a great surprise to anyone reading, well, the business section these days. But a trickle is turning into a torrent, leaving a void in local communities and forcing local business editors to put the best face on it.

To read the rest of the story click here.

New biz editor in San Luis Obispo

At the Tribune, Julie Lynem, who has been business editor of the newspaper since July 2004, has been named enterprise editor. She will continue to cover the real estate industry and supervise some business projects.
Stepping into the job will be Antonio A. Prado, a former economics reporter who has been an assistant city editor for the past six years, He will overses daily and Sunday business news coverage.
For more click here.

Departing from the WSJ

Portfolio's Jeff Bercovici writes "newspaper jobs are hard to find, but you wouldn't know it from the way people are ditching the ones they have at The Wall Street Journal."
Recently columnist Jonathan Clements, reporter Laurie P. Cohen and editor Paul Barrett have all resigned from the paper. They follow reporters Anita Raghavan, who jumped to Forbes as European bureau chief, and Sally Beatty, who has joined Pfizer's PR department.
Clements, who will join Citigroup later this month, appears to be the biggest loss. His personal finance column, "Getting Going," is syndicated in 70 newspapers, and routinely makes the Journal's list of most emailed stories.
For the full story click here.

CBS begins layoffs

The New York Times reports that news operations at CBS stations in several cities started a series of job cuts this week even as the CBS News network moved ahead with plans to lay off about 1 percent of its nearly 1,200 employees.
Over the last several days, layoffs were ordered at local stations that CBS owns, including ones in New York, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco.
Dana McClintock, a spokesman for CBS, said the actions at the network and the local stations were not related. The moves are the latest in a wave of cuts at news operations in both television and print organizations.
Click here to read the full story.

WSJ U.S. edition to print in London

For the first time, The Wall Street Journal will print its U.S. edition in London starting April 16.
According to a release from Dow Jones, the move will complement The Wall Street Journal Europe by offering greater choice and more in-depth global political, business and finance news to local readers.
The U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal will go on sale in central London on the morning of publication, giving local readers access to the newspaper several hours before it goes on sale in the U.S.
"We're offering the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal to London readers in a particularly significant year for global business and political issues, with the credit crunch crisis and U.S. elections making front-page news most days," said Michael Bergmeijer, managing director of Dow Jones' Consumer Media Group in Europe. "We believe a large number of internationally-minded people living and working in London will value the U.S. edition, and we'll now be able to give them the competitive advantage of having the world's best business paper five hours ahead of U.S. readers."
To read the full release click here.

Needed: more sports reporters with biz backgrounds?

In a recent column for AOL Sports, Michael David Smith wonders if NFL reporter Peter King's SI.com column on proposed fees for Giant season ticket holders was too soft.
King's story details John Mara's sadness over forcing season ticket holders to pay thousands of dollars for personal seat licenses if they want to keep their season tickets when the Giants move into a new stadium in two years.
Smith says, in the process, King made Mara sound like a martyr.
That made him wonder if more sports reporters should come to the beat equip with a business journalism background.
From the column:

Sports fans would get much more insightful coverage if the sports media took a more skeptical view of team owners. As far as owners are concerned, their teams are businesses, and they're in the business of making money. Why is it so hard for so many members of the sports media to understand that?

Maybe we need more sports reporters whose background is in business journalism. I'm sure oil company executives would claim they feel the same way about high gas prices that King thinks Mara feels about personal seat licenses: Of course, those oil executives would say, they feel terrible about making record profits while gas prices reach record highs. The difference is that no business reporter would ever be naive enough to believe them.

For the full column click here.

Philly Inquirer hires new biz editor

A former editor of The Hartford Courant and national editor for the Associated Press will join The Philadelphia Inquirer as its business editor, according to an Inquirer staff memo on Editor & Publisher's Web site.
Brian Toolan,spent 16 years at the Inquirer's sister paper, the Philadelphia Daily News, from 1982 to 1998
For more click here.

Publish2 gets $2.75 million

Folio reports that Publish2, a social network and news aggregator devoted to journalists, has received $2.75 million from Velocity Interactive Group.
The service is currently in private beta test and will use the funding to finish building out its platform and hire additional staffers.
Publish2 is intended to let participants capture information that appeals to their interests and collaborate with other journalists, who can submit content online similar to the aggregator site Digg and create their own personal profile page featuring their work.
For the full article click here