American City Business Journals gets new CEO

According to Editor & Publisher, Whitney Shaw will be taking the place of his late father as chief executive officer and president of American City Business Journals, with his brother Kirk Shaw acting as vice president and chief financial officer.
The announcement was made on Monday. Whitney Shaw previously presided as ABCJ's senior vice president and president of ACBJ's sports publishing division.
Ray Shaw passed away July 19 after complications from a bee sting. He purchased ABCJ in 1989 and served as its chairman for 20 years. The news organization has 40 different print business journals and has published over 1.25 million business news articles since 1996.
View the story here.

Gannett cuts hit Cincy, Louisville and Phoenix

After announcing that 1400 Gannett employees would lose their jobs this week, the shake out is starting to take shape.

According to an Editor & Publisher report, Enquirer Media in Cincinnati, which includes The Cincinnati Enquirer and other publications, eliminated 101 positions this week. Included in the cuts were editorial page editor David Wells, columnist Peter Bronson, and the entire staff of its arts-and-entertainment tabloid CinWeekly.

The outlook was dim for Phoenix Wednesday as well, as confirmation of nearly two dozen staffers losing their jobs at The Arizona Republic came in.
According to the Phoenix Business Journal, designers, feature writers, copy editors, and business and community reporters were among the latest newsroom staffers cut, which was said to total to 20.
The publisher of Louisville-based, The Courier-Journal says the newspaper has eliminated 44 jobs, or 7 percent of its work force. The layoffs were the second round at The Courier-Journal and Gannett since late last year.

View the full story here.

Financial Times pens global syndication deals

Editor & Publisher reports that the Financial Times has signed syndication deals with publications in Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
According to the report, Korean-based news magazine Financial Week is carrying up to 20 Financial Times articles a week, displayed on FT-branded pages.

Turkey's business and finance magazine, Ekonomist, is translating up to four articles from FT's The Banker. The Financial Times is also expanding a pre-exsisting syndication deal with the Courier International, a weekly newspaper in Paris.

View the full story here.

Guild asks AP to cut social media rules

Editor & Publisher reports that the News Media Guild has formally asked the AP to remove controversial social media rules it instituted last month.

The Guild, which represents about 1,500 Associated Press employees, is asking the AP to remove the rules because of concerns employees have voiced since the rules were announced to employees, June 18.
The rules include a requirement that employees delete comments of friends that could violate the AP's Ethics Policy. This stipulation is the cause of much concern and anger from AP employees who feel the measure to be instrusive.
View the full story here.

Tribune Co. revenue drops

According to Editor & Publisher, Tribune Company's revenue has dropped almost a quarter in its first five months under bankruptcy protection. Its profit margins have also been cut by over half compared to its margins of last year. The Tribune filed for bankruptcy reorganization in Dec. 2008.
Tribune Co.'s operating receipts have fallen 14 percent from the start of the year to May 31, the article says. The publisher and broadcaster still remains cash-flow positive, bringing in $112 more than it spent during the five-month period.
Since going private, the Tribune Co. has expanded local programming while launching new products and revamping older ones in order to make major expense cuts.
View the article here.

What do you think of Tribune Co.'s drop in revenue? Has it affected you? Comment and let us know.

Colorado newspaper bought by mayor it criticized

Editor& Publisher reports that Colorado's oldest newspaper, the Weekly Register-Call has been bought by a mayor it once criticized. Black Hawk Mayor David Spellman, purchased the publication after its 93-year-old publisher died in May.

The newspaper, which is about 40 miles west of Denver, is the state's oldest after the closing of the Rocky Mountain News
The newspaper will be merged with its competitor, Gilpin County News.

Editor of the Gilpin County News, Aaron Storms, says the mayor won't have any control over editorial content of the combined newspaper.

But the Register-Call's current editor, Debra Krause has been dismissed. She says the mayor bought the newspaper to silence criticism of him.

View the story here.

New COO for Pioneer Newspapers Inc.

Editor & Publisher reports that Mark Cohen, former vice president of advertising for Gatehouse Media in New England, has been appointed chief operating officer for Seattle-based Pioneer Newspapers Inc.

He takes over the post from Mike Gugliotto, who was named president and CEO of Pioneer newspapers in January.
Cohen has more than 25 years of experience in newspapers. Previous positions include director of sales and marketing for Morris Newspapers, and he was a vice president at Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.

Star Tribune Co. files re-organization paperwork

Editor & Publisher reports that The Star Tribune Co. filed a reorganization plan in U.S. Bankruptcy court Thursday, with a goal to emerge from Chapter 11 protection this fall.

Publisher and chairman Chris Harte said in a statement that he is confident that the newspaper will be in better shape when it returns, but that he does have plans to leave the paper, eventually.
Since the Star Tribune entered bankruptcy in January, it has drawn up agreements with 94 percent of unionized employees.
The Star Tribune says the agreements reached cost savings the company needs: cutting labor costs by $20 million a year.

View the story here.

Daniel Hertzberg leaves WSJ after 32 years

According to Editor & Publisher, The Wall Street Journal's deputy managing editor Daniel Hertzberg is leaving the news organization June 30 after 32 years at the paper. In an email to the newsroom, Hertzberg expressed gratitude for his time at WSJ:

As a reporter and later an editor, I have been lucky enough to participate in the growth of one of the world’s finest journalistic institutions, which values breaking news, lucid analysis and top-notch investigative and narrative journalism, delivered with fairness and balance.

A replacement for Hertzberg has yet to be named.
View the story here.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

USA Today names new publisher, editor

Gannett on Tuesday announced that it was appointing David Hunke as the new publisher for USA Today, a position filled by Craig Moon until April 17, according to Editor & Publisher.

Craig Dubow, Gannett chairman, president and chief executive officer, made the announcements at the company’s annual shareholders meeting.
“Dave is a highly talented, multi-faceted leader, who drives excellence throughout his organization while making the tough business decisions. At the same time, he has the courage to be innovative and take chances. He is just the right person for USA TODAY at this juncture,” Dubow said in a statement. “I am thrilled he will be joining my executive team.”

It was also announced that John Hillkirk would be promoted to the top editor position at USA Today from his previous role as executive editor.
To read more, click here.

Average time spent declines for many in March

Among the top 30 newspaper websites in terms of unique monthly visitors, most saw a decline in the average time spent per visitor in March, according to Editor & Publisher.

The average time spent per person at the NYTimes.com dropped by six minutes in March 2009 compared to the same period a year ago. The NYTimes.com has some company: The Wall Street Journal lost more than five minutes March 2009. So did Politico.
In fact, just over half of the top 30 newspaper Web sites (ranked by uniques) experienced declines in the average time spent per person.

Some sites enjoyed large gains, however. Both The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Newsday improved by more than eight minutes.
The New York Times was overtaken in first place by the Star Tribune, which lost about thirty seconds to finish with an average of over 32 minutes.
While the news can be interpreted negatively from an advertising standpoint, it can also be a sign that the number of unique users is increasing, which is the case for some papers on the list.
To see the list and read more, click here.

New York Times considers charging for content

At its annual conference Thursday, New York Times Company Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said that The New York Times is considering charging for some content again, according to Editor & Publisher.

Sulzberger did not specify any particular business model, but suggested the Times would look again at trying to get paid for its content. For several years, the flagship paper charged international users to access its site, and for a few years charged for access to opinion columns and other contents in its Times Select program.

Sulzberger did not say that the paper would stop running ads online, a practice he characterized as extremely successful.
He offered no time frame for a potential move beyond a statement that more information would be available "at a future date."
Click here to read more.

McClatchy hit hard by 1st quarter ad revenue

McClatchy Co. announced its first quarter results Thursday, and reported a drop in advertising revenue of just under 30 percent, according to Editor & Publisher.
Overall losses also exceeded analysts' expectations:

McClatchy reported a loss of $37.7 million, or 45 cents a share, from a loss of $993,000, or 1 cent a share, in the first quarter of 2008. Adjusted for certain items, such as severance payments from a wave of layoffs, the loss from continuing operations was $22.9 million, or 28 cents a share. The consensus of analysts had been for an 11-cent loss per share.

In more positive news, print revenue increased slightly, and when employment advertising is excluded, digital advertising was up 28.7 percent.
Click here to read more.