Star-Tribune Kindle Edition

Mediaweek.com reports that Minneapolis's Star-Tribune has revealed a new edition of the paper for the Kindle E-reader.
The Kindle device and software, developed by an Amazon.com subsidiary, allows readers to purchase and read a black-and-white edition of many newspapers around the country.

According to the report, The Star-Tribune edition costs $10 per month, or 75 cents a day—25 cents more than the cover price of a weekday edition.
And other Kindle edition prices are similar.
The Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post all charge $10 per month.

USA Today charges $11.99, The New York Times $13.99, and The Wall Street Journal costs $14.99 per month.

View the story here.

Guild talks resume at the Boston Globe

Talks have resumed between the Boston Newspaper Guild and The Boston Globe, according to The New York Times.
Last week, the Boston Newspaper Guild rejected an offer from The Boston Globe that would have cut guild members' total compensation by 23 percent.
The resumed negotiations have been seen as an indicator that an agreement may soon be reached between the guild and the newspaper. The guild has scheduled a contract vote for July.
To view the blog post, click here. For an overview of the situation between the newspaper and the guild, click here.

Innovation in job loss

The Boston Globe ran an interesting online story today about airline design innovation.
The story tells how Emil Jacob, a man who recently lost his job at an economics consulting company, came to invent and patent a new airplane seating system to create less cramped conditions for passengers riding coach.
At a time when bad news keeps on coming for the economy and job market, this story highlights the opportunity one man made of his unemployment to follow other interests and better the services of an industry.
Finding positive stories in a dark economic time is a true challenge for business journalists. Yet if it is done well, journalists can give much-needed hope and inspiration to their downtrodden readers.
View the story here.

What stories have you written covering the positive repercussions of the recession? Comment and let us know.

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.

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.