Golden: NAA meeting not a secret

Editor & Publisher reports that Michael Golden, vice chairman of The New York Times Co. and chief operating officer of The New York Times Regional Media Group, defended Thursday's Newspaper Association of America meeting in Chicago, saying there was nothing secretive about it.
From the article:
"The characterization in The Atlantic that this was a 'secret meeting' was inaccurate," Golden, who attended the event, told E&P Friday. "If it were secret, there wouldn't have been a sign on the door saying 'NAA meeting.' This was a meeting that had been planned for weeks -- you can't get these people together without planning it over a period of time."

View the full story here.

Riding the wave

This week Google announced its new communication tool, Wave.

Due out sometime this year, the application imcorporates the elements of conversation and an electronic documents.

With Wave, people can communicate and collaborate with text, photos, videos, and maps in real-time.
Participants can also reply anywhere in a message feed, edit content and add participants to the process. 

The product idea, which originated from the success of email and instant messaging, has been in the works for more than two years.

From the post:

"It's concurrent rich-text editing, where you see on your screen nearly instantly what your fellow collaborators are typing in your wave. That means Google Wave is just as well suited for quick messages as for persistent content — it allows for both collaboration and communication. You can also use "playback" to rewind the wave and see how it evolved," said Lars Rasmussen, Google's software engineering manager.

Photos for the win

If one thing's for certain, business stories tend to be text-heavy and photo-light. When photos do accompany business articles, they're often of executives sitting stiffly at their desks, products sitting limply on a table, or just an outside shot of a business.
That's why I find the slideshow accompanying The Wall Street Journal's "Wal-Mart Exports Big-Box Concept to India" refreshing.
Eric Bellmen doesn't just take a picture of Mike Duke or the store being constructed. He goes a step farther, taking pictures of the people running India's small retailers soon to be impacted by Wal-Mart in a big way.
Bellmen's slideshow takes Wal-Mart's abstract business decision and makes it concrete, clearly showing the human impact of the business news. Photography is the ideal medium for reporters to incorporate more of the humanity within business news into their stories.
Learning to think outside traditional business photojournalism to create greater context and human interest within business stories is essential for all 21st century journalists to master.
View the slide show here.

Done some great business journalism photography? Comment and tell us about it.

Top newspaper execs meet to discuss charging for online content

According to The Atlantic, the nation's top newspaper executives will be coming together to discuss charging for online content at a hotel near Chicago today.
The Models to Monetize Content meeting, said to be organized by Newspaper Association of America and led by Barbara Cohen, will reportedly include executives from Advance Publications, The Associated Press, E.W. Scripps, Freedom Communications Inc., Gannett, Hearst Newspapers, Lee Enterprises, McClatchy, MediaNews Group,The New York Times Co. and Philadelphia Media Holdings.

The decisions made at this meeting could indelibly change the face of the media landscape to come. While some journalists are cheering the prospect of being paid for online content, many readers are still uncertain of online content's value and the ability of newspapers to offer more worth beyond their print editions.
James Warren's perspective on the meeting and the industry as a whole is similar to that of many journalists' today-simultaneously cynical and optimistic. From the story:

Now, more than ever, is a time for creativity and nerve, not just hunkering down and crossing fingers that safe harbor will appear on the horizon. It's a wonderful and important product, vital to American communities. Unlike a lot of jobs, you can look yourself in the mirror and know you're doing some good. Many newsrooms remain filled with a sense of mission even amid the looming dread.

View the story here.

How do you feel about the meeting and charging for online content? Comment and let us know.

Report for your community by going oversees

The world is intertwined. Show your readers by connecting the dots.
A fellowship through the World Affairs Journalism Fellowship Program gives U.S. journalists a chance to cover a global story of local importance.
At a time when international reporting is shrinking, the fellowship covers expenses and provides support so that fellows can go abroad for two weeks to research and report stories that matter to their local community.
Applications are due by June 10. Click here for information on how to apply.

Chrostowski leads KC Star's biz team

Keith Chrostowski was recently named the new business editor for The Kansas City Star. He replaced Chris Lester, who left the paper after leading the biz desk for more than 10 years.
Now Chrostowski, a 34-year veteran of The Star, wants his readers to know that under his leadership he will keep the paper's commitment to business coverage.
In a letter today to readers, he wrote:

But along with that buffet of breaking news online, the printed version of The Star will give you scoops — and scoops of context, perspective and analysis. The business desk will work to quickly spot trends, look for the good as well as the bad turns in the economy, investigate wrongdoing and be sharper about explaining the why behind daily developments. And the great news is that The Star’s business journalists can provide that increasingly sophisticated coverage.

Read the full letter here. Or for the announcement of Chrostowski's appointment to the biz desk click here.

NYT names first new media editor

The New York Times has named its first Social Media Editor.
Jennifer Preston, a journalist, author and adjunct professor at Columbia University, has been appointed to the job, according to reports from the technology news blog ReadWriteRead.
From the story:

Social media at newspapers doesn't have to be about promotion or damage control, it's also a real resource. "One thing I want to encourage more is writers responding to comments and using comments as a resource," Ingram says. "That's commenting 2.0, I think...One of the biggest things we need to do is identify and encourage members of the community who are thoughtful, intelligent, and produce comments of value -- encouraging them to contribute more, elevating what they do and suppressing some of the noise."

Bling takes a hit in a down economy

A story in today's The Wall Street Journal offers an interesting look at another area touched by the down economy - "bling."
Rappers and other jewelry lovers are now finding it more difficult to afford their shiny pieces. To compensate, alternative jewelry with less precious stones, like cubic zirconia, are instead being considered for "bling."
And, as the story points out, jewelers also have to adapt.
From the story:

"A lot of these rappers simply don't have the money for real stuff anymore," says Jason Arasheben, who crafts custom jewelry for wealthy clientele, including Saudi royals and Hollywood movie stars, at his California boutique called Jason of Beverly Hills. "It's to the point where they are wearing imitation jewelry, and that's ridiculous."

Benefit for business journalism & SABEW

Paul Steiger (former Wall Street Journal managing editor and ProPublica founder) and Larry Ingrassia (New York Times Business editor) are hosting an event to benefit business journalism and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW).
The event will raise funds to aid displaced business journalists as well as train business journalists in digital media.
With the money raised, SABEW's plans to remake its job listing site, create a market for freelancers to find work, establish a mentor program for displaced journalists, teletrain journalists on multimedia and business journalism, offer scholarships to attend conferences and training, and revamp its website.
Event Details
Location:
The World Room, The School of Journalism at Columbia University 2950 Broadway; New York, NY.
Time: Thursday, May 28, from 6 to 8 p.m.
RSVP: To sabew[at]missouri.edu by Tuesday, May 26.
Price: The event is free but donations to the SABEW Fund for the Future are requested as SABEW must raise $50,000 by August to qualify for a matching amount from four foundations.

The recession interactive

Portfolio.com, despite its rocky road to survival over the past few months, hasn't faltered in creating outstanding interactive media covering business. Its packages have simplified recent economic issues and put them into context in a clear, visual way.
Take the interactive multimedia with Band-Aids for the Ailing Economy, for example. Portfolio staff created a comprehensive timeline from 1860 to 2008 showing fluctuations in the nation's gross domestic product, wars, financial crises, house majority and major government regulations on the banking industry. This piece not only displays the nuances of what contributes to a faltering economy, but puts today's recession into context in America's financial history.
This multimedia feature achieves what all business coverage should-it takes vast amounts of complex data and facts and serves it to users in comprehensible, chewable pieces.
Some other Portfolio interactive pieces to check out:
Wall Street's Graveyard, Brother, Can You Spare $2?, The Green Miles, Subprimal Headquarters, and False Starts. The graphic Uncle Sam's Growing Portfolio is also worth a look.

To see Portfolio's interactive features section, click here.

European media covering U.S. housing collapse

European media from Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands have been asking The Sacramento Bee for help in covering the collapsed housing market in California.
More and more of these news organizations time zones away are trying to show the repercussions of America's faltering housing industry on their struggling banks.
This is a sign business journalists more than ever need to think about coverage on a global level.
View the story here.

Urban & Associates COO Exits

Editor & Publisher reports that Urban & Associates, the chief operating officer, Dan Cotter is stepping down from his post at the the Sharon, Mass., newspaper consulting firm.
Instead, Cotter will be working full time on his own research and consulting services company, DMCotter Research & Strategy in Dedham, Mass.

San Diego Union Tribune makes employees sign confidentiality agreement with non-solicitation clause

The San Diego Union Tribune is reportedly making employees sign a confidentiality agreement with a non-solicitation clause.
The agreement inhibits employees from joining rival organizations and from bringing their Tribune colleagues with them (whether currently employed or unemployed at the paper). Part of the agreement states:

"I shall not solicit directly or indirectly, any person who is a SDUT employee or who has been employed by SDUT within the prior six (6) months for employment by, or any business relationship with, a competitor."

This restriction reportedly lasts two years after a staff member's employment is ended.
View the story here.

Playboy may be up for grabs

The New York Post reported today that Hugh Hefner's Playboy Enterprises is quietly for sale. The well-known empire is reportedly being shopped around for $300 million but no interested parties have stepped forward to make an offer, New York Post sources said.

The iconic brand has been doing a lot of cost cutting and in the most recent quarter, the company said it lost $13.7 million. Revenue is also down for Playboy.

From the article:

"The empire's iconic bunny ears are one of the most identifiable trademarks in the world, but the empire has fallen on hard times as the Internet and video-on-demand have eroded its core brand, the magazine."

More details on Portfolio.com revival

Wednesday's announcement has people talking about the reincarnation of Portfolio.com in the hands of American City Business Journal's Bizjournals.com.
Under the new rule, the site will employ five editorial staffers with Portfolio.com managing editor, Josh Moss as the lead.
But full control, including editorial power, will be with ACBJ to give Portfolio a "stronger focus on industry news", said Tim Bradbury, president of ACBJ.
Portfolio.com will also have unique access to local markets and ACBJ newsrooms across the country.
Group president of Condé Nast, David Carey, noted that the chain of American City Business Journal weeklies would benefit from Portfolio.com's "long tail" of traffic.

BizSense adds to their team

RichmondBizSense.com founder and editor, Aaron Kremer announced the addition of new writer, David Larter, to their staff today.
Larter, who will graduate from the University of Richmond in December, will cover some new beats for the Virginia-based Web site including local universities, health care, technology and nonprofits.
Larter is working full time for the site through the summer. In the fall, he will continue on as a stringer prior to graduation.
See the full story here.

San Jose Mercury News may charge for content

The San Jose Mercury News has reportedly decided to start charging for its content. The paper is reportedly planning on charging people to access its online edition.
The paper's choice has the potential to impact how other Media News Group publications treat their online content.
Former Mercury News online editor Michael Bazeley said the move could put the paper at the mercy of competing organizations.

"You're going to essentially open up the market for other people who want to come into the market and offer content for free, and there will always be people. There will always be competitors who see an opportunity," Bazeley said.

Readers also offered skepticism about the decision.
Mercury staff have remained silent about the dramatic change thus far, declining an interview with a local media station ABC7.
View the story here.

Business writer wins Mirror Award

Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications gave a "People's Choice" award in the third annual Mirror Awards competition to Fast Company's Clive Thompson, the school announced today.
Thompson won the People's Choice category of Best Single Article, Traditional Media for his piece, "Is the Tipping Point Toast?", a story on marketing industry techniques.
View a full list of the winners here.

Economic map down

Slate created an interactive map this month that chronicles America's increasing job losses from Jan. 2007 to March 2009.
The map is strewn with markers, detailing down to state counties the jobs gained or lost in the current month. The map's animation ticks through its timeline, showing changes in employment down to individual counties by changes in map markers' color and scale.
The project, which is based on local area unemployment statistics from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, takes a large body of data and gives it life. It also provides insight into different regional economic trends over the past three years.
Business journalism projects like this that simultaneously provide a macro and micro perspective on national issues are becoming a necessity rather than a luxury. Multimedia pieces like this interactive map are key in journalism stepping up to help people navigate this complex financial environment.
View the project here.

Google thought about buying a newspaper

In an interview with the Financial Times, Eric Schmidt, chairman and chief executive officer of Google said that the technology giant has considered purchasing a newspaper, www.ft.com reported today.
Schmidt elaborated that Google has since decided against an acquisition or charitable donation to avoid a conflict of interest.
From the article:

"'Clever ideas about sheltering newspapers in non-profit structures had been suggested to the Google.org foundation but they are unlikely to happen without some massive, massive set of corporate bankruptcies”, Mr Schmidt said.

View the full story here.

McClatchy plans discounted debt exchange

McClatchy Co. announced Thursday its plans to exchange $1.5 billion in notes at a steep discount. Holders would receive up to $60 million in cash and as much as $175 million in 5-year notes with a 15.75 percent yield in return for exchanging the debt.
McClatchy went into to debt to expand itself before the recession hit, bringing it to roughly $2 billion in deficit.
Its financial struggles have also been attributed to declining advertising revenue. California and Florida, two states the organization has a major presence in, have both been heavily hit by the collapsing housing market.
View the story here.

Dow Jones adds financial journalists to global team

Dow Jones, parent company of The Wall Street Journal, announced the addition of two business journalists to their editorial staff for the Dow Jones Newswires this week.
Jamie Miyazaki, a former Tokyo Dow Jones Newswires correspondent, joins the Hong Kong team as a senior writer covering Asia.
Syndicated international loan market writer and former contributor to Loan Radar news service, Alessandro Pasetti, will also join the Dow Jones as a senior writer in their London office.
View the full story here.

Huff Post hires former biz editor

Former Washington Post business editor, Lawrence Roberts, was named as the head of a new Investigative Fund for the Huffington Post today.
The fund, which launched in March with an initial budget of $1.75 million, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit initiative with the goal of producing multimedia investigations.
Read the story here.

Associated Press buys out veteran staff

Word that the Associated Press is offering buyouts got out Monday. The buyouts were offered three weeks ago with little publicity. The News Media Guild said the move was part of AP's attempt to reduce its labor costs by 10 percent.
The news organization is offering $500 for each year of service and pension benefits increased 14 to 16 percent.
The offers target hundreds of veteran staff. Employees who take the buyout must be at least 55 years of age, have worked at the AP at least 10 years, and their age and years of service must total up to 75.
View the full story here.

TheStreet interim CEO to stay

TheStreet announced Tuesday that Daryl Otte, its interim chief executive officer, will be its official CEO.
Otte replaced Thomas Clarke, the previous TheStreet CEO for roughly a decade. Clarke stepped down in March amid speculation it was due to Jim Cramer's The Daily Show appearance .
View the story here.

Portfolio.com relaunches

Condé Nast's Portfolio.com will have a new place to call home this July when it moves to American City Business Journals Inc.'s Bizjournals.com.
Bizjournals will oversee the editorial and business sides of the site from New York, Condé Nast and American City Business Journals announced Wednesday.
From the story:

"In addition to newly created content, Portfolio.com will share content with other Condé Nast sites such as Wired.com, GolfDigest.com, and WWD.com, as it did before. It also will be the home of the archives of content published by Portfolio’s print and digital properties over the past 24 months."

See the full story here.

100 most creative people in business

Fast Company released its collection of 100 Most Creative People in Business Monday. The profile pages have:

• A paragraph about the person's life and work
• Links to their Web sites
• Stories about them from Google News
• Excerpts from their Wikipedia pages, blogs, or other online accounts like Linkedin and Twitter
• Videos of the individuals and their work from Vimeo and Youtube
• Their company's stock ticker or their standing on Google Trends
• A photo gallery of their products, programs and other work
• A collection of their notable quotes

Fast Company's collection shows an informed understanding of the Web. It takes full advantage of its online format, creating a collage of the individuals' Internet manifestations to give people a bigger picture of what each innovator is like.
It also avoids the typical, cliché business profile format, offering readers something they haven't already seen. The collection is a great example of business reporting in a Web 2.0 world.
View the collection here.

SmartMoney editor leads writing course

SmartMoney senior editor, Beverly Goodman will teach an online course on Mediabistro.com next month to help journalists hone their business writing skills.
The four week financial writing course, being held June 2- June 30, will offer an interactive experience for writers to achieve timely and original business angles in these challenging economic times.
Find complete course details here.

WSJ chimes in on press coverage

NPR talks with economics editor of The Wall Street Journal, David Wessel, to chat about the highly-criticized role of media coverage during the financial meltdown on Tuesday's Talk of the Nation newscast.
Listen to the conversation here.

Dow Jones trims benefits

Though The Wall Street Journal's circulation and site usage has increased, its parent company News Corp. is cutting back benefits in the face of economic woes.
Dow Jones Chief Executive Les Hinton announced the cuts in a memo Tuesday. The cuts will freeze the Money Purchase Plan and reduce health care subsidies for the retired.
Hinton said some of the money saved in the cuts would be put toward new health and wellness benefits.
Hinton said in the memo, "We want to give Dow Jones employees - whose ages, family situations, and career profiles are more varied than ever before - increased choice and enhanced coverage while providing individuals with better ways to manage health care costs."
Read the full story here.

Nieman Foundation selects biz journalists

Business journalists are among the 24 journalists selected for the Nieman Foundation for Journalism's 72nd class of fellows.
Announced Tuesday, the class of 2010 includes Wired magazine contributing editor, Jeff Howe who will examine crowdsourcing and its use in the development of sustainable journalism models.
Other fellows focusing on business issues will research topics like the economic impact of Latin American immigrants into the United States and the interconnection of the economy with life issues like foreign policy and health care.
See a full list of the 2009-2010 fellows here.

Wall Street Journal prints in India

The Dow Jones & Co. announced Tuesday it will print The Wall Street Journal Asia in India. The move is part of the company's expansion into India and China. It will be printed in New Delhi and Mumbai and delivered the same day to subscribers in major Indian cities.
See the story here.

Still hope for newspapers

In a recent Forbes.com article, Lauren Rich Fine, director of research at ContentNext Media, urges newspapers employees to expand their boundaries and challenge current media norms with creative alternatives in order to prolong their longevity.
"The world is changing. Newspapers need to change with it," said Fine who also is a practitioner in residence at Ohio’s Kent State University College of Communication & Information.
Fine suggests media companies re-vamp their community relationships by having reporters interact more with residents. Also, newspapers can add value to their content for the communities they serve by embracing new media options for better engagement.

Harvard Crimson students flee the industry

The Harvard Crimson has seen fewer editors going on to journalism industry careers. Of 10 previous editors at the Harvard University newspaper, only two now work at newspapers.
Crimson editors choosing careers outside of journalism has become more common over the past 5 to 10 years according to Paras Bhayani, the departing managing editor. Bhayani said job scarcity and instability is deterring students from entering the field.
From the story:

“I would have loved to do something in political journalism,” Bhayani said. “A lot of us have been doing journalism since middle school or high school and it’s something we all love and care about. It’s sad that that possibility for a lot of us is gone.”

To read the full story, click here

"Reuters Small Business" up and running

Reuters Small Business, a micro-site geared toward entrepreneurs, launched today.
Content now up on the site includes information for finding start-up funding in the bailout area and a multimedia feature on budding handbag maven Jane Saidenberg.
From the site:

We’ve got a dedicated editorial team looking at the stories that matter most to the small business sector, and content from partners like Entrepreneur, BNET, IDG, GreenBiz.com, and Wired. Editor Jon Cook will also be reporting live from the Small Business Week conference in Washington, DC.

Phx biz journal wins awards

The Phoenix Business Journal clinched four Arizona Press Club awards.
The paper reports the Journal took first place for Best Use of the Web, small and medium publications. Also, Staff Photo Editor Jim Poulin won second- and third-place awards for Portrait/Personality photography, and reporter Chris Casacchia won a third-place honor for Sports Reporting on his story, “Arizona firms in China go for gold with ’08 games.”
For the full story click here.

Wired: editorial success and ad failure

An article in today's The New York Times details the challenges faced by Chris Anderson, the editor in chief of Wired magazine.
On one hand, the magazine has been a success editorially under Anderson's leadership. Wired won three National Magazine Awards last month.
But the story details how the magazine has lost 50 percent of its ad pages this year, a number that ranks it "among the worst off of the more than 150 monthly magazines measured by Media Industry Newsletter. Only Portfolio, which Condé Nast shut down last month, and Power and Motoryacht fared worse."
To read the full story click here.

Chronicling the Bear Stearns collapse

Casey Common of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune offers his analysis of "Street Fighters," a new book which chronicles the demise of Bear Stearns.
Wall Street Journal reporter Kate Kelly wrote the book after chronicling the Bear Stearns' dismantling in a three-part series for the paper.
That series served as the book's foundation.
Common says the book is "tightly written" and that it "zooms in on the three days leading to the fire sale of Bear Stearns to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co."
To read more about the book click here.

Rovell on the economics of sports

Today Mediabistro has a podcast with Darren Rovell, the sports business reporter for CNBC.
Rovell talks about how the economic crisis is affecting attendance, steroids and why business executives don't want to sit behind home plate at the new Yankee stadium.
To check out the podcast click here.

A reporter's credit crisis

Edmund Andrews, an economics reporter for The New York Times, offers a unique glimpse into his own credit nightmare.
Although Andrews knew the Federal Reserve well and wrote stories warning buyers about specific mortgages deals, he ended up stretching his finances beyond what he could afford.
Andrews story on his "personal credit crisis," offers an in-depth look at how he accumulated $805,700 in subprime debt by believing he could beat the odds.
Read the story here.

Tucson Citizen ceases its print publication Saturday

Arizona's oldest paper, the Tucson Citizen, will cease it's print publication after Saturday's edition.
The paper reports that the Citizen's Web site will continue, but will be modified as an opinion site, eliminating news and sports reporting.
Gannett, the company which owns the Citizen, searched for a buyer for the paper and for the last month employees waited for the results of negotiations.
Ultimately, no buyers were found.
Employees will be informed today if they will be laid off, kept on staff for a transitional basis or hired full time.
To read the full story click here.

Google's Cheng to join Bloomberg

The Wall Street Journal reports that a director for product management at Google is leaving the company to join Bloomberg LP.
Ien Cheng will become the Bloomberg multimedia group's chief of staff, a role that will have him overseeing television, radio, Web and mobile properties.
From the story:

Mr. Cheng’s hire signals a continuation of a broader effort by Bloomberg to reduce its reliance on sales of the financial-data “terminals” that account for most of its revenue. The evaporation of thousands of financial-sector jobs in the past year has slowed terminal sales, prompting the company founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to focus on making money on the large newsgathering operation that supplies the terminals with news, say people familiar with the situation. Last fall the company hired former Sony BMG Chairman and NBC News President Andrew Lack to run its multimedia business.

Trib Co. can pay bonuses, not severance

The Associated Press reports that a federal bankruptcy judge ruled that the Tribune Co. can pay more than $13 million in bonuses to almost 700 employees for their work last year.
But the judge denied allowing the Tribune to pay more than $2 million in severance payments to more than 60 employees laid off shortly before the Chicago-based company filed for bankruptcy protection.
From the story:

"We need to motivate and incentivize the key people who will implement change," Bigelow said. "These are really good people we're talking about. They're the best and the brightest of the company."

MoneyWatch.com increases video presence

CBSMoneyWatch.com is stepping up its online video presence through original programing and an increase in financial content, according to reports from The Huffington Post.
The personal finance site was launched last month. Now, a set and studio is currently in the works, one that will allow contributions to produce daily segments for MoneyWatch.
From the story:

The video-centric site, which features a prominent video player on the landing page, produces at least three original videos each week and adds about four to five videos to the site each day from the network's existing financial and business coverage from news programs like "The Early Show" and "The CBS Evening News."

Dow Jones plans expansion in India

Editor & Publisher reports that Dow Jones, parent company of The Wall Street Journal, is doubling its investment in its operations in India.
From the story:

"India is an increasingly important market for us," said Bruce MacFarlane, vice president and managing director, Asia Pacific, Dow Jones Enterprise Media Group. "The opportunities are significant and will only continue to grow as the Indian market becomes more and more hungry for high-quality business news and information."

Finalists for the Loeb awards in business and financial journalism

Finalists of the 2009 Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism were recently announced along with the winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Lawrence Minard Editor Award.
Bill Emmott, former editor-in-chief of The Economist who retired in 2006 after 13 years in the position, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. The Lawrence Minard Editor Award went to Lawrence Ingrassia, business and financial editor at The New York Times.
Finalists for the awards include:
* Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Brady Dennis for “The Crash: The Rise and Fall of AIG” in The Washington Post
* David Heath and Christine Willmsen for “The Favor Factory” in The Seattle Times
* David Leonhardt for “Obamanomics” in The New York Times Magazine
The 12 winners will be announced on June 29 at the 2009 Loeb Awards dinner. To read the full list of finalists click here.

AP launches economic stress index

The Associated Press is launching an economic stress index that will provide monthly, multi-format updates on the economic stress of the United States down to the county level.
The index weighs three economic variables - unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcy - to produce a score on a scale of 0-100 that measures how the recession is affecting a county compared to all others.
The scores are then plotted on the interactive Associated Press Economic Stress Maps, which demonstrate at a highly local level how economic conditions have deteriorated since October 2007. They also can be used as a tool to measure the progress of recovery in the coming months, providing a granular view of economic change in the United States.

"The AP Economic Stress Index is a valuable tool for analyzing what got us to this point of the recession," said Kristin Gazlay, the AP's managing editor for business news and global training. "But, even more importantly, it gives us a way to look at how things change over time and judge whether the economy is actually getting better, including pinpointing precisely where the recovery has its roots."

WSJ to introduce micro-payment service

The Financial Times reports that News Corp has plans to take its paid content model one step further.
This year the company will introduce a micro-payment service that allows visitors to pay for individual articles and premium subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal’s website.
From the story:

"The move will position the Journal as the first big newspaper title to adopt a model many are cautiously studying as they seek to reduce their dependence on plunging advertising revenues. It comes as John Kerry, the senator leading congressional hearings on the future of journalism, told the FT it was conceivable that publishers could be given limited exemption from antitrust laws to discuss online models."

Times Wire launches on NYT homepage

TechCrunch reports that Times Wire, a new service which allows you to see New York Times articles, blog posts and stories by some wire services as they are placed on the web, is now available on the homepage of the paper's Web site.
Times Wire is updated every minute. In addition to a "Your News" section where readers can select the news they want to view, Business and Technology news also has its own section.
From the story:

Business and Technology is actually one of the sections that has its own tab right now, as the NYT clearly knows that tech lovers will probably be more interested in this than the average reader — at least right now. For all other sections, you can use the “Your News” area to filter the various sections of the site into your wire feed. There are also photos featured on the right hand side of the site, that you can click on to go to the story they pertain to.

MarketWatch.com gets a makeover

Reuters reports that MarketWatch.com launched a redesigned Web site today, one that's aimed to attract sophisticated professionals and bring in a wider class of advertisers.
According to the report, the site's new design packs in more content, stock quotes on demand, customized data and charts. It will also offer breaking news, analysis and market data in automatic updates.
From the story:

"It also plans to refine its focus on markets coverage, increase its technology story coverage, step up its presence overseas in places such as Japan, Israel and Canada and emphasize commentary -- a growing trend among news outlets trying to branch out beyond offering "commodity" daily news."

Star-Ledger announces cuts

George Arwaday, publisher of The Star-Ledger of New Jersey, sent a memo to employees Thursday detailing new pay and benefits cuts at the paper. The entire memo has been posted to Poynter's Romenesko blog.
From the memo:

The first $40,000 of your new combined annualized income will be cut by 5%. If you make more than $40,000, your next $40,000 in income up to $80,000 will be cut by 10%. Any annualized income over $80,000 will be cut by 15%.

In addition, Arwaday told employees that any bonuses they receive will be rolled into their salary and not delivered all at once at the end of the year.
In addition, all employees will now have to pay for 25 percent of their health care coverage. These moves were put in place to help offset a $20 million year-over-year drop in first quarter ad revenue.
To read the memo, click here.

192 positions eliminated at San Diego Union-Tribune

The new owner of the The San Diego Union-Tribune cut 192 jobs at the paper just three days after the acquisition was completed. A Beverly Hills based private equity firm, Platinum Equity, purchased the paper from Copley Press Inc.

Employees were given termination notices, effective July 6, on Thursday. Cuts were made in several departments, including the newsroom. The company assured employees they will receive "transition assistance and termination benefits."

For more click here.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch owner reports smaller loss

Lee Enterprises, which owns the St. Louis Post-Dispatch among other papers, reported results for its second fiscal quarter Thursday.
The company posted a loss, but still fared better than it did in the previous quarter, according to the Associated Press via Yahoo! Finance.

The Davenport-based company lost $51.8 million, or $1.16 per share, in the quarter that ended March 29, compared with a loss of $713 million, or $15.90 per share. Excluding one-time costs, its loss was 7 cents per share.

Advertising sales were down 24 percent, with individual categories falling anywhere from 19 percent (retail ads) to 33 percent (classified).
In line with a common trend this quarter, the company showed losses in online advertising of 27 percent. Several other companies have shown similar losses online, where they had been experiencing solid growth for several years.
To read more, click here.

CNBC's Becky Quick on co-anchoring a live morning program

(201).net, a local Web site that caters to Bergen County, NJ, has an article about CNBC anchor Becky Quick. Quick co-anchors "Squawk Box" from 6 to 9 a.m. ET. This means she is at work around 4 a.m., catching up on all of the overnight news developments and, of course, filling up on caffeine. But Quick doesn't seem to mind the lifestyle:

The great thing about being on so early is that you get all the news as it hits the wires. My co-anchors, Joe Kernen and Carl Quintanilla, and I love that more than anything because we love getting the news live, while we're on the air, and trying to interpret exactly what it means, how to ask the best questions, so we can set the business agenda for the day. We need to tell people what they should be thinking about before the market even opens.

Quick said she has watched her 401(k) plummet in the last year and admitted that she did not even open her last statement. But Quick said it's still important to know what is happening with the markets and the economy. "Business news is more vital than ever," she said.

For more click here.

News Corp. posts results; newspaper division hit hard

News Corporation released its first quarter results Thursday, showing an operating profit of $755 million, down 47 percent from the previous quarter.
The newspaper division, however, was hit particularly hard, according to The New York Times:

The company’s newspapers in particular had a dismal performance. Newspaper operating income fell to just $7 million for the quarter that ended March 31, from $216 million a year earlier. Advertising revenue at The Journal fell 33 percent. News Corporation took a large write-down for the quarter that ended Dec. 31 to reflect the decline in the value of The Journal.

Chairman Rupert Murdoch remained optimistic, saying, "It is increasingly clear that the worst is over... The days of precipitous declines are gone."
Murdoch also stated that at least some News Corp. outlets will begin to charge for content online soon, according to Editor & Publisher.

In a conference call with analysts and journalists after the release of the media and entertainment giant's quarterly results, Murdoch said The Wall Street Journal has proven newspapers can charge for online content.
Asked specifically if he envisioned charging readers for that content from his general interest newspapers such as The Times of London or The Sun, Murdoch replied, "We are absolutely looking at that. Very much so."

As for a general time frame, Murdoch said that some newspapers should begin charging within the next year.

Click here for the Times article, and here for the Editor & Publisher article.

MSNBC President: Ratigan's move will not hurt CNBC's ratings

In his latest column, MarketWatch commentator Jon Friedman examines whether Dylan Ratigan's move to MSNBC could pull viewers away from CNBC. Ratigan left CNBC in March. At that time, he was the anchor of "Fast Money" and co-anchor of the "Closing Bell."

MSNBC President Phil Griffin does not believe CNBC's ratings will suffer as a result of the move. Ratigan seems to agree. "[W]e're going to do a show about policy and politics. I think people watch CNBC (for news about) managing money. I'm not going to talk about money," he said.

Friedman thinks MSNBC made the right call by bringing Ratigan on board. But he says Ratigan does have some work ahead of him.

From the story:

Ratigan will have to establish himself as a journalist who can appeal to a wider range of viewers, not merely financial-news junkies. If he proved to be successful, MSNBC would maintain its momentum and have a powerful news-reporting platform on Wall Street.

For more click here.

Former CNBC anchor to join MSNBC

NBC Universal announced that former CNBC anchor Dylan Ratigan, who abruptly left the financial network in March, is moving to MSNBC. This means Ratigan will stay in the NBC family. He will anchor a two-hour morning show, from 9 to 11 a.m. ET, immediately following "Morning Joe." He is scheduled to start on June 29.

"While I look forward to broadening my scope in covering the multitude of issues facing our country today, what draws me to MSNBC is that they have offered me a 2-hour forum to discuss any and all political issues with no directive other than to provide compelling content," Ratigan said.

NBC also announced that Ratigan will become "a regular contributor to NBC News programs."

For more click here.

FBN Stock Market Editor: "We're not going to hit bottom until 2011 or 2012"

In an interview with Woman Around Town, Elizabeth MacDonald, stock market editor at the Fox Business Network, shared her views on the economy, the bailouts and a future turnaround for the markets. MacDonald said she is pessimistic, and noted that she does not anticipate a market bottom until 2011 or even 2012. She said the bailouts, which were a product of "hysterical blindness," may not work. "I have lots of concerns including the impact of government's fiscal recklessness (which I should note also occurred under President Bush) and a potential national security issue now that China holds massive amounts of U.S. debt," she added.

MacDonald has the following advice for investors:

Start socking away your money in a decent bond fund with long-term bonds, not short-term debt instruments, which tend to be more volatile, and max out your 401(k). Save, save, save because the U.S. government is deeper into the economy than ever before. And your taxes and costs are going to go up.

MacDonald has received multiple awards for her business coverage, including the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business Journalism. Prior to joining FBN, she worked for Forbes and The Wall Street Journal.

For more click here.

Globe union and NYT reach deal

Early this morning, a tentative deal was reached between the New York Times Co. and The Boston Globe.
The Globe reports that the agreement includes "substantial pay cuts, unpaid furloughs, and modifications to the lifetime job guarantee provisions that protect almost 200 employees in the Boston Newspaper Guild."
From the story:

The Newspaper Guild was the last major union without a tentative agreement after more than a month of high-stakes bargaining to wring $20 million and major contract concessions.

The two sides began the bargaining session last night so far apart that the company had proposed what it called its "last, best offer," deeply slashing wages of guild members by 23 percent to gain the $10 million in concessions, according to union and management representatives with knowledge of the negotiations.

New biz writers for TheAtlantic.com

Mediabistro reports that TheAtlantic.com has added a new line-up of writers on its site.
The new staff includes some key business reporters:
* Author and business journalist Daniel Akst
* Scientist, biotech entrepreneur and investor William Haseltine
* Writer on energy and environment Lisa Margonelli
* Historian of technology and culture Edward Tenner
For the full list click here.

Local TV stations in Chicago form news service

Four local TV stations in Chicago will begin combining their coverage efforts and sharing content next week in an effort to save money, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Tony Capriolo, a WMAQ sports producer, has been selected as managing editor of the service, which will be based at WBBM's headquarters across from Daley Plaza but separate from Channel 2's news operation. Each participating outlet will provide two news crews and an assignment editor, and they remain on their station's payroll. Capriolo is an employee of the service, paid for by participating stations.

While the service will save its member stations money otherwise spent on covering the same event or story, some worry that it will make it easier for the stations to lay off employees who are no longer needed.
The stations, on the other hand, say that the move will allow them to cover more angles and stories than they could before.
Click here to read more.

Financier trying to buy Sun-Times Media Group

A Chicago businessman is trying to attract investors in an effort to put together a bid to buy the Sun-Times Media Group, according to Crain's Chicago Business.

Mr. [James] Tyree, CEO of Mesirow Financial Inc., told Crain's he has reviewed Sun-Times' books and discussed a possible bid with CEO Jeremy Halbreich and other company executives. Though his plans are still at a "very early stage," Mr. Tyree says he has talked with several potential co-investors, including a private-equity firm, about forming a group of four to 25 "to keep this great institution in Chicago."

Tyree acknowledged the challenging position facing the industry as a whole, and the Sun-Times Media Group in particular, hinting that he thinks the company needs to become smaller if it hopes to regain profitability.
Click here to read more.

E.W. Scripps profit falls 88% in quarter

E.W. Scripps released first quarter results Monday which showed an 88% year-over-year decline in its newspaper division profits, according to Editor & Publisher.
Like most other publishers in the country, Scripps' overall newspaper ad revenue was down significantly. However, the company also posted a loss in online ad revenue:

Online revenue plummeted 26.5% to $7.3 million because of the weakness in print classified advertising, which accounts for 55% of online advertising revenue. Stripping out online ads tied to print, Scripps reported that online revenue from "pure-play" advertisers was up 30% to $3.4 million.

Much of the operating losses the company reported were one-time losses such as those related to the closing of the Rocky Mountain News. However, president and CEO Richard Boehne said that the second quarter looks like it will have results similar to those of the first quarter.
To read more, click here.

Portfolio publisher to stay with Conde Nast

The New York Observer is reporting that William Li, the former publisher of Portfolio magazine, will be named associate publisher at Conde Nast Traveler. Li said he found out about Portfolio's closing only one hour before he informed his staff. He served as publisher since 2008.

When Portfolio shut down last Monday, 85 staffers lost their jobs.

For more click here.

WSJ investigative reporter dies at 54

John Wilke, an investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal, died of pancreatic cancer on Friday at age 54, according to reports from the Examiner.
Wilke began his career at BusinessWeek in 1984 and then covered technology and business for the Boston Globe. He has worked at The Journal since 1989.
From the story:

In recent years, his investigation of earmark deals cut by members of Congress for friends or supporters led to last year's indictment of then Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz. Another story revealed the way Democratic Rep. John Murtha used earmarks to bring federal contracts to his Pennsylvania district.

Wilke's stories also included a 2005 expose on mutual-fund trader Mario Gabelli, who settled civil fraud claims for about $100 million six months after the story appeared. In 2000, Wilke scored an extraordinary interview with U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson...

To read more about Wilke check out this story from The Wall Street Journal.

Times Co. will not close Boston Globe...yet

The New York Times is reporting that its parent, The New York Times Company, has reached a "tentative agreement" with several unions at The Boston Globe. While talks with the largest union "remain unresolved," the process of shutting down New England's largest daily has been postponed.

From the story:

In negotiations that went past the midnight deadline set by the company, deals were struck with the three unions representing more than 500 mailers, drivers and press operators. More than ever, the fate of the paper appears to turn on talks with the Boston Newspaper Guild, which represents more than 600 newsroom, advertising and business office workers. The company said it had also reached agreements with smaller unions representing machinists, electricians and other workers.

This, however, does not mean that the Globe is safe. If union members do not agree on certain concessions, the paper may be forced to close.

For more click here.

Washington Post Co. loses nearl $20 million in quarter

The Washington Post Company released its quarterly results Friday, which showed that the company lost $19.2 million in the quarter, according to The New York Times.

The newspaper division reported an operating loss of $54 million. And to punctuate that unit's decline, cable TV revenue overtook publishing for the first time. Now newspapers bring The Washington Post Co. less revenue than either cable or Kaplan education services, two units that have helped shield the company from the publishing industry's woes. The Washington Post Co. had seen nine straight quarters of declining profit before the loss this time around.

The year-over-year decline in revenue was due largely to a decrease in ad revenue of 33 percent, a figure that has not been uncommon for other large newspaper companies so far in 2009.
However, while most other companies are seeing online ad revenue increases in the general range of 10 percent, the Washington Post Co. posted an 8 percent loss in the category.
To read more, click here.