Shaping the Future of the Newspaper Blog: March 2009 Archives

Google partnering with music labels for free downloads in China

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 31, 2009 at 4:19 PM

Google is collaborating with Sony Music, EMI, Warner Music and Universal Music to offer users in the Chinese market about 350,000 free MP3 downloads Media Guardian reported yesterday. The catalogue will be expanded to 1.1 million songs in the coming months.

Google has partnered with Chinese music site Top100.cn, which may help it compete with Chinese search site Baidu, which has a 76.9 percent share of the Chinese market, compared to Google's 16.6 percent share. A large amount of traffic on Baidu is from illegal music sharing.

Hartford Courant and TV stations to merge operations

Posted by Simon Day on March 31, 2009 at 1:17 PM

Tribune Co. today announced the joint operation of the Hartford Courant and Hartford television stations WTIC-TV and WTXX-TV, beginning later this year, a press release posted by Fox Business announced. The media combination will be headed by Richard Graziano, senior vice president and general manager of WTIC-TV and WTXX-TV. He has been made Courant publisher, effective immediately.

"This is the future of media," Randy Michaels, Tribune's chief operating officer, stated in the press release. "Whether in print, over the air, or online - the delivery mechanism isn't as important as the unique, rich nature of the content provided. Bringing these media properties together will enable us to bring more resources to our news coverage, improving and expanding what we can offer readers, viewers and advertisers in the area."

Microsoft to pull plug on Encarta

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 31, 2009 at 10:57 AM

Unable to compete with the likes of Wikipedia, Microsoft will close down both its MSN Encarta reference Web sites and its Encarta software, paidContent reported yesterday.

MSN Encarta Web sites around the world will be shuttered on Oct. 31, except for Encarta Japan, which will be closed Dec. 31. Microsoft will also stop selling Microsoft Student and Encarta Premium software by June, the company announced on its Web site.

Sun-Times Media Group declares bankruptcy

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on March 31, 2009 at 10:27 AM

Sun-Times Media Group Inc. today filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to "reestablish itself as a self-sustaining, profitable operation. That is worth fighting for, said Chairman Jeremy Halbreich, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The news group, which owns the Chicago paper and other suburban dailies and weeklies, filed for bankruptcy "with the aim of reorganising operations, setting a tax liability and making the company fit for a buyer," the Sun-Times article stated. The company owes the U.S. Internal Revenue Service US$608 million in taxes and penalties incurred by former owner Conrad Black, currently in prison for corporate theft. However, the STMG does not have bank debt.

British Culture Secretary seeks support for newspapers

Posted by Simon Day on March 31, 2009 at 10:15 AM

British Culture Secretary Andy Burnham will hold a day-long conference on how newspapers can survive in a digital age, UPI reported. Scheduled for April, the conference will bring together both government and industry representatives.

Burnham's approach to rescuing the industry involved the revocation of restrictions on newspaper mergers and government advertising in newspapers. He also suggested government support in the industry transition "into the digital age."

Huffington Post to launch investigative journalism unit

Posted by Simon Day on March 31, 2009 at 4:12 AM

The Huffington Post has revealed plans to fund an investigative journalism unit, AFP reported. With an initial budget of US$1.75 million, Ariana Huffington, founder huffingtonpost.com, said the unit is an attempt to prevent the media's role in democracy becoming a victim of the newspaper industry's financial crisis.

"As the newspaper industry continues to contract, one of the most commonly voiced fears is that serious investigative journalism will be among the victims of the scaleback... All who recognise the indispensable role good journalism plays in our democracy are looking for ways to preserve it during this transitional period for the media," Huffington told AFP.

Survey: Online journalists worried about quality over revenue

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 31, 2009 at 3:23 AM

A recent Pew survey shows that online journalists are more optimistic about their careers than those in more traditional media fields, yet they are concerned about the quality of journalism online even more than they are concerned about finding a profitable business model. Findings published on the Pew Research Center's site were collected in a survey of members of the Online News Association (ONA).

Many professionals believe the Internet is "changing the fundamental values of journalism," and taking it in the wrong direction. However, the majority of those surveyed were reticent to disapprove of the progress of online media, and confident that the news form would find a way of generating revenue, despite disappointing trends in advertising returns.

Internet ad sales growth hitting a plateau

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 31, 2009 at 3:22 AM

Although Internet sales increased significantly by 10.6 percent between 2007 and 2008, the economic recession is flattening growth, according to the Internet Advertising Revenue Report released Monday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, The New York Times reported.

Cable television spending also rose by 7.8 percent, while non-Internet media revenue slid by 2.4 percent. Internet revenue dipped during Q1 and Q2 for the first time in four years and online advertising in 2008 grew much less than it did compared to the same time a year ago. On the other hand, digital video revenue more than doubled in 2008 from 2007, according to the report.

Although sponsorship advertising fell in Q4, online advertising from consumer-packaged good companies increased from $925 million in 2007 to $1.5 billion in 2008, The New York Times reported. This increase is "something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. People didn't think this would be the right space to be selling grocery-type products," said Peter S. Fader, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

L.A.'s Spanish language daily goes weekly

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 31, 2009 at 3:20 AM

Los Angeles area free Spanish language daily Hoy will now be published weekly, Newspaper Innovation reported. The paper, which was launched in August 2004, will continue to publish online, as well as its weekend edition Fin de Semana.

The New York edition of Hoy shut down at the end of 2008, leaving the Chicago edition, which boasts a circulation of 62,000 during the week and 300,000 for Fin de Semana, the only remaining Hoy that continues to publish daily. The decision comes following reports that decreases in advertising revenues are having an effect on ethnic media.

Media General Inc. makes more cuts at Tampa Tribune

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 31, 2009 at 3:19 AM

The Florida Communications Group (FCG) branch of Media General Inc. has laid of 53 employees at its various publications, including the Tampa Tribune, Editor & Publisher reported. The layoffs were reported to be mostly from operations, not the newsroom.

A three-day furlough has also been implemented by the FCG. The days, which are in addition to the 10 that were instated at the beginning of the year, will be taken between April and June.

The Tribune has reported that the FCG's publications are "under review" for potential closure following the shutting down of the group's publications, Skirt and Flair. Twelve vacant positions will also disappear and some news bureaux risk closing their doors. In a memo, FCG President John Schueler told employees that "Tampa Bay's economy is not recovering" and explained, "therefore we will need to further reduce our operating costs."

Many European papers serve as thriving examples

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 30, 2009 at 5:58 PM

Some newspapers in Europe have been able to make money from readers, making them less dependant on advertising in a recession-pummelled economy, The New York Times reported Saturday. German publisher Axel Springer, for example, recently logged the highest yearly profit in its history.

CEO Mathias Dopfner told The Times that Axel-published Bild is not intimidated by the digital revolution and is looking for acquisition targets in Germany, Eastern Europe and perhaps in the United States. European publishers have dealt with the crisis by getting rid of unreliable advertisers, leaning more heavily on readers, creating launching new Web sites and strengthening Internet divisions.

IHT Web site relaunched to show relationship with NY Times

Posted by Simon Day on March 30, 2009 at 1:48 PM

The International Herald Tribune on Monday relaunched its Web site under the new Web address global.nytimes.com, and added "The Global Edition of The New York Times" under its masthead, emphasising its link to its parent company, Times Co. Global.nytimes.com will aim to combine "the international voice of the IHT with the worldwide breadth of reporting of The Times and the digital expertise of NYTimes.com," the company announced in a press release posted by MarketWatch.

The International Herald Tribune is the global edition of The New York Times. IHT.com now automatically redirects to global.nytimes.com and NYTimes.com users can set the Global Edition site as their preferred home page. The collaboration also features a new service, "Today's Headlines Global Edition," a twice daily e-mail service for both European and Asian morning editions.

El País increases price

Posted by Simon Day on March 30, 2009 at 1:45 PM

Prominent Spanish daily newspaper, El País on Monday announced it will increase its cover price by 9.1 percent to €1.20 for its Monday to Saturday editions, Reuters reported.

Media group Prisa, which publishes the left leaning newspaper, left the price of the Sunday edition unchanged at €2.20. The move marks an attempt to offset the financial impact of the global recession and the subsequent decline in advertising revenue for newspapers.

"The increase will allow us to guarantee readers the news quality they demand and undertake future projects under a difficult backdrop given the world economic crisis and falls in advertising," the paper's front page announced, according to Reuters.

NY Times, Washington Post announce sweeping cutbacks

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 30, 2009 at 9:04 AM

Both The New York Times Co. and The Washington Post Co. have announced cost-cutting strategies that include layoffs, pay-cuts and buyouts, Bloomberg reported.

The Times Co. said it will cut a total of 100 positions on the business side of the company as well as implement salary cuts of up to 5 percent for the rest of the year. The Times Co.'s pay cuts will affect non-union employees of The New York Times, Boston Globe and the papers' Web sites, along with corporate executives.

AOL expands sports site as newspaper staffs shrink

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 30, 2009 at 7:10 AM

AOL's programming unit Media Glow has hired five newspaper journalists and one senior editor to work for its sports blog FanHouse, paidContent reported Sunday.

The staff additions are seen as a strategic move by the company, which seeks to capitalise on the lack of news coverage in areas that have been affected by newspaper closures and layoffs.

AOL programming SVP Marty Moe told paidContent writer David Kaplan that AOL doesn't "take any joy in the turmoil currently happening at newspapers, but we do see an increased role for FanHouse, as well as other channels." Reports say that FanHouse could hire more writers, as the site gets ready to cover the baseball season in the United States.

Ad downturn hits U.S. ethnic papers

Posted by Simon Day on March 30, 2009 at 7:05 AM

While ethnic orientated newspapers have continued to increase readership bases as mainstream papers suffered circulation declines, these papers serving immigrant and minority groups in the United States are now having to make similar staff cuts and closures as their larger counterparts, The Associated Press reported Sunday.

Newspapers that immigrant communities rely upon to stay informed and navigate American life have continually shown lasting readership strength as more immigrants arrive in the United States and older non-English speaking readers prefer print over the Internet.

Free Press, Detroit News offer free copies for redesign launch

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 30, 2009 at 7:04 AM

More than 500,000 copies of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News were distributed for free at more than 18,000 retail locations throughout Michigan on Monday, the Detroit Media Partnership announced in a press release.

The editions showcase the newspapers' new looks, which include reader-friendly condensed news formats, more local news and information in "at-a-glance formats," the release, posted by Fox Business, stated. The newspapers' Web sites attract a weekly audience of 2.1 million people combined. The Detroit media partnership is also the advertising sales agent for several Detroit publications.

Iranian newspaper closes as government calls for cost-cuts

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 30, 2009 at 7:02 AM

The state-owned Iranian newspaper Khorshid will close due to government plans to cut costs, according to the country's official news agency, IRNA, AFP reported Monday.

The newspaper closes months before the country's presidential elections, scheduled for June 12, which has put an end to criticism that the "pro-government" newspaper would be an advantage in the election campaign of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has yet to make his candidacy official, according to the AFP report, posted by Asia One.

Online music suffers from falling ad revenues, labels

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 30, 2009 at 7:00 AM

As advertising revenues fall globally, music Web sites that allow free listening but not downloading are facing challenges from labels that demand a share of advertising revenues, advance royalties and investment stakes, The Financial Times reported Sunday. The crisis has prompted beleaguered sites to seek out new and more affordable licensing terms.

SpiralFrog and Ruckus are examples of two casualties. Similarly, Yahoo recently stopped showing popular music videos in the UK because of exorbitant royalties. Apple's iTunes will reportedly face the same predicament next month, according to the FT.

Flavoured advertising could help newspapers

Posted by Simon Day on March 27, 2009 at 7:10 AM

Ink manufacturer US Ink has offered up a solution for newspapers and and their economic woes - flavoured advertising. The company, which sells ink to newspapers, has turned its clients towards advertising that allows the consumer to sample the product advertised via a flavored strip, the Hackensack Record reported Thursday.

Although not a new idea, the unique form of mass media advertising allows newspapers to tap a consumer base only available to physical distribution channels and could boost advertising revenue that has followed consumers online.

Twitter looks to businesses as a source of revenue

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 27, 2009 at 6:43 AM

Micro-blogging site Twitter is proposing enhanced versions of the site for a fee to various businesses and corporations, Reuters reported Thursday.

Biz Stone, the co-founder of Twitter, told Reuters that "if these services are valuable to companies, we think they may want to pay for them." Twitter's strategy to generate revenue from the site has been much anticipated and comes in light of recent findings that many companies are opting for Twitter as a communication tool over other networking sites.

Sun Online UK's most popular newspaper site

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 27, 2009 at 6:42 AM

Capitalising on its coverage of popular topics like Jade Goody's battle with cancer, the Web site of UK red top The Sun attracted more than 27 million users in February, making it the most popular UK Web site. Sun Online beat out the Web sites of the Guardian, Telegraph, Mail Online and Times Online, Media Guardian reported.

Although page views fell by 2 million compared to January's record number of 344 million, Sun Online Web sites like DreamTeamFC, Sun Bingo, Page3.com and the News of the World Web site contributed to Sun Online retaining its place as the newspaper Web site with the most individual page views.

Television the most used medium

Posted by Simon Day on March 27, 2009 at 6:42 AM

A $3.5 million study, released by the Council for Research Excellence on Thursday, found TV to be the most dominant medium in terms of advertising and consumption, with the average American being exposed to five hours and nine minutes of TV everyday, The New York Times reported. The study found computer usage has surpassed radio as the second most used media, with print sitting in fourth. On total the survey revealed adults as exposed to screens for around 8.5 hours a day.

During the eight and a half hours of daily television, Internet and mobile video, the average American is subject to 61 minutes of advertising and promotions.

Free Italian daily to close early next month

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 27, 2009 at 6:41 AM

Free Italian afternoon daily 24 Minuti will stop publishing on April 1 due to "current market conditions," Newspaper Innovation reported Thursday.

Giancarlo Cerutti, chairman of the Il Sole 24 Ore Group, which owns the paper, said the market has given the company no alternative.

Newsprint company extends restructuring deadline

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 27, 2009 at 6:39 AM

Newsprint firm AbitibiBowater has extended its restructuring plan deadline, Thunder Bay Television reported Thurday.

AbitibiBowater, which has been attempting to avoid bankruptcy in the light of falling newsprint prices, was meant to formulate a plan to attend to billions of dollars of debt. The original deadline for the plan, 11:59 on Wednesday, has now been pushed to 5 p.m. Friday.

Spanish TV broadcaster open to collaboration

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 27, 2009 at 6:02 AM

With decreasing revenues and increased competition from digital terrestrial channels, Spanish's TV station La Sexta is looking to collaborate with other Spanish TV broadcasters, said CEO Jose Miguel Contreras, Dow Jones reported Thursday.

The overall TV advertising market in Spain had decreased 25 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared to a year ago, Contreras said.

Blender shutters print publication

Posted by Simon Day on March 27, 2009 at 6:00 AM

Music and entertainment magazine Blender will stop publication after its April issue, but will continue with its Web site, blender.com, its owner, Alpha Media Group, announced on Thursday, The New York Times reported.

"We went as far as we could in a difficult environment," said Alpha Media spokeswoman Nora Haynes. Thirty people will be laid off as a result of the publication's closure.

Washington Post chairman: Despite losses, paper committed to future

Posted by Simon Day on March 26, 2009 at 7:54 AM

In a letter to shareholders yesterday, Washington Post Co. Chairman Donald E. Graham revealed that the loss of "substantial money" in 2009 will involve further cost cutting measures at the Washington Post, the paper reported today. This comes on top of a US$24.9 million operating loss for 2008. However, the company is not prepared to write the newspaper off just yet.

"The familiar problems of the newspaper industry - declining readership and the loss of classified - are now made worse by bankrupt advertisers," Graham stated in the letter. "The newspaper will lose substantial money in 2009. Some will be non-cash accelerated depreciation because we will be closing a printing plant. Most will be real losses."

Regional newspaper execs leave bonuses on table

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 26, 2009 at 5:25 AM

Executive directors of UK regional newspaper publisher Johnston Press agreed to forgo bonuses for 2008, due to a fall in earnings, Media Guardian reported Wednesday.

The executives also saw total pay decline by about 46 percent; however, basic salaries did increase. Tim Bowdler, the company's former chief executive, for example, saw his total remuneration fall 46 percent from his 2007 earnings, but his basic salary increased by £17,000, according to the 2008 annual report.

British Parliament to study state of country's media

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 26, 2009 at 5:23 AM

A bipartisan group of MPs in Britain has launched an inquiry into the future of local and regional journalism in response to recent cutbacks and job losses, Press Gazette reported Thursday.

In preparation for a series of face-to-face meetings, the culture, media, and sport select committee has asked for comments from those in the industry before meetings on the issue begin later this year. The talks are in reaction to the more than 1,000 journalism jobs that have been cut from regional newspapers since last summer, as well as the dozens of papers that have been shut down.

Four Michigan dailies reduce publication

Posted by Simon Day on March 26, 2009 at 5:20 AM

Four Michigan markets are set to lose daily editions of their newspapers, with only three days a week seeing print versions in Flint, Saginaw and Bay City, and twice weekly in Ann Arbor, according to The New York Times. Advance Publications is closing the 174-year-old Ann Arbor News in late July. It will be replaced Web-based news operation, AnnArbor.com and a two day a week printing company.

All 272 employees at The Ann Arbor News will lose their jobs and be asked to reapply at the two new establishments. The new staff size is undecided, but "there will be by far fewer positions," said Laurel Champion, publisher of The Ann Arbor News.

Bakersfield Californian to lay off 26 employees

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 26, 2009 at 5:19 AM

The Bakersfield Californian plans to lay off 26 workers and introduce a 5 percent company-wide pay cut in order to balance its budget in light of decreasing advertising revenue, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The cutbacks will reduce the paper's staff by about 12 percent, including 14 positions cut from the newsroom. The layoffs are the second in a series that began in December, when the paper and one of its subsidiaries laid off 25 workers.

FT creates positions to aid newsroom integration

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 25, 2009 at 3:03 PM

In a major restructuring plan, the Financial Times' Newsroom 2009 project will see new "news integrator" positions created, as well as the introduction of a three-stage editorial process for all channels, journalism.co.uk reported Tuesday.

The news integrators will lead on the UK News/World, UK companies/ICN and features desks. According to the Newsroom 2009 plans, there will be no new redundancies due to the changes.

In order to end workflow inefficiencies, staff, including correspondents outside London, will be trained in online production so that they are able to work for the more digitally focused newsroom, taking on tasks such as online production, according to journalism.co.uk.

Google's new algorithms aim for more relevancy

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 25, 2009 at 2:18 PM

Google has made changes to its algorithms to make it easier for users to find more relevant results, as the changes are aimed to better understand "associations and concepts related to your search," offering related search results on the same page, the search giant announced on its blog Tuesday.

For searches three words or longer, a snippet from the relevant page will tell the user whether the page is worth looking at, by highlighting the words from the search in bold on the page.

U.S. bill would give newspapers nonprofit status

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 25, 2009 at 4:18 AM

Democratic Senator Benjamin Cardin introduced on Tuesday a bill to allow newspapers to restructure as nonprofits, granting a variety of tax breaks to those "struggling to stay afloat," Cardin said, Reuters reported. Although no one has come forward to co-sponsor the bill, it has created a bit of a buzz in the media.

Under the Newspaper Revitalization Act, newspapers would operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, which is how public broadcast companies work.

Twitter, Federated Media partner on 'ExecTweets'

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 25, 2009 at 4:12 AM

Twitter Inc. has partnered with advertising network Federated Media to launch "ExecTweets" on Monday, Business First reported. The ExecTweets page, exectweets.com, collects tweets from corporate executives, and may be a way for Twitter to finally make money.

The site allows visitors to search for word clouds of most frequently used words on ExecTweets, and users can also vote tweets up or down, as well as suggest executives that should be featured on the site. The page was built by Federated Media, and is sponsored by Microsoft Corp.

Census to use mass media to reach minorities

Posted by Simon Day on March 25, 2009 at 4:11 AM

In an effort to reach the entire population in next year's U.S. census, the Census Bureau plans to spend US$250 million on promoting participation in the population survey. Most of this money will be dedicated to advertising across the media board, utilising both traditional and social media platforms, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The media blitz is specifically targeted at traditionally hard to reach demographics. Almost a quarter of the funding is aimed at news outlets whose target audiences are the Asian, black and Hispanic populations. $26 million will be spent on the Asian and Hispanic populations utilizing television, radio and online media. With another $10 million devoted to black community, which typically is undercounted, Federal News Radio reported.

Houston Chronicle cutting 12% of workers

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 25, 2009 at 4:10 AM

The Houston Chronicle will cut 12 percent of its workforce, the Hearst Co.-owned paper's publisher and president, Jack Sweeney, announced Tuesday, the newspaper reported on its Web site, Chron.com. Editor Jeff Cohen explained that the newsroom will be restructured, losing about 90 staffers.

The Chronicle will offer employees affected by the layoff severance packages which include two weeks of pay for every one year of service up to one year's pay, as well as career transition services.

Hearst also owns the recently online-only Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the struggling San Francisco Chronicle.

Deadline for Globe buyout passes, job cuts in limbo

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 25, 2009 at 4:09 AM

The Boston Globe's deadline for employees to apply for a buyout passed on Friday, but employees still have a seven day grace period to change their minds, the Boston Business Journal reported Tuesday.

The Globe announced in January that it needed to cuts 50 of its 433 newsroom positions in response to the recession and the paper's financial problems. A memo issued by editor Marty Baron explained that he hoped to reach the goal of 50 job cuts "through voluntary departures."

Media General overhauls structure

Posted by Simon Day on March 24, 2009 at 12:22 PM

U.S. newspaper and television company Media General on Monday announced the restructuring of the firm to five geographic regions, replacing its current traditional structure that groups media by division - publishing, broadcast and interactive, Mediaweek reported. The restructure will go into effect in early July.

The five regions are Virginia and Tennessee, Florida, mid-South, North Carolina and Ohio and Rhode Island. The restructuring also includes a sixth business segment, which will hold interactive advertising services, and include the Blockdot, DealTake and NetInformer Web sites.

Gannett employees to take second round of furloughs

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 24, 2009 at 10:54 AM

After mandatory, week-long unpaid furloughs saved Gannett Co Inc. US$20 million, the U.S. newspaper publisher has instituted a second round of furloughs in April, May and June to cut more costs, according to a company memo obtained by Reuters Monday.

This new round of furloughs will vary based on location and division of the company, according to a memo to employees from CEO Craig Dubow. Other measures include a temporary salary reduction for some employees with salaries over $90,000, and a one-year freeze on wages and salaries beginning April 1.

Cox Enterprises makes offer for Cox Radio

Posted by Simon Day on March 24, 2009 at 6:26 AM

On Monday, Cox Enterprises Inc. tendered an offer of US$3.80 per share of the remaining publicly held shares of Cox Radio Inc., which, when including expenses and fees, comes to a total of $69.1 million, The Associated Press reported.

Cox Enterprises Inc. currently holds an estimated 78 percent equity stake in Cox Radio and a voting interest of almost 97 percent. If the transaction is successful, Cox Radio will become a subsidiary of the privately owned Cox Enterprises.

Mainstream companies choosing Twitter

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 24, 2009 at 2:30 AM

Mainstream companies are increasingly choosing to use Twitter as a communication tool, which especially poses a threat to social networking sites MySpace and Facebook, which over the past year have worked to gain interest from companies as communication platforms, paidContent reported Monday.

For example, BusinessWeek, SalesForce.com and Best Buy have all incorporated Twitter feeds into their own Web sites and customer relations activities, according to paidContent.

IBM study: Media behind digital consumers

Posted by Simon Day on March 24, 2009 at 2:29 AM

Media companies are not advancing quickly enough to meet the needs and expectations of today's digital consumer, which also puts advertisers at a disadvantage, according to a study released Monday by IBM, Market Wire reported.

With the growth of online and digital formats and the concurrent decline of traditional forms of advertising revenue, the study, "Beyond Advertising: Choosing a Strategic Path to the Digital Consumer," warns that media companies that do not evolve their business model to provide a simultaneous marketing service will fall further behind the needs of the digital consumer and advertiser.

Ann Arbor News to close print edition in July

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 24, 2009 at 2:22 AM

Michigan's Ann Arbor News plans to close in July and be replaced by AnnArbor.com, an online site that will produce news and other content for the Web on a daily basis and in a print version twice-weekly, The Detroit News reported Tuesday.

The closure comes amid a series of other Michigan papers announcing cancellation of home delivery, reduced wages, or shut downs. The Flint Journal, the Saginaw News and the Bay City Times will from now on publish print editions on Thursdays, Fridays and Sunday partnered with daily Web editions. Other Michigan papers plan to continue publishing daily, while consolidating some operations and reducing employee pay and benefits.

Time Warner acquires stake in Central European Media

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 24, 2009 at 2:20 AM

Time Warner Inc., looking to make its presence better felt in Central and Eastern Europe, agreed Monday to purchase a 31 percent stake in Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. for US$241.5 million, Dow Jones Newswires reported Monday.

Time Warner's cash resources come from the $9.25 billion it received from selling its cable arm. The company said that it would use $2 billion to pay off debts.

McClatchy's Kentucky, North Carolina papers announce cuts

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 24, 2009 at 2:19 AM

As part of McClatchy Co.'s restructuring plan, job cuts and reduced wages will be implemented at newspapers in Lexington, Kentucky, and Charlotte, North Carolina, the Associated Press reported.

The Lexington Herald-Leader plans to lay off 49 full-time employees, about 15 percent of its staff, and cut the salary of remaining employees. Four part-time employees will also lose their jobs.

The Charlotte Observer will cut 60 full-time and 22 part-time employees across departments. Nineteen of the full-time positions and 11 of the part-time positions will be from the newsroom. The Observer has also announced pay cuts for remaining employees, with cutbacks in hours for some. Weeklong furloughs have also been proposed if economic conditions don't improve, the AP reported.

French radio broadcasters unite

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 24, 2009 at 2:00 AM

Four major players in French radio broadcasting will unite as Bureau de la radio, to "promote the medium and lobby government and advertisers," followthemedia.com reported Monday.

The four members, which own nearly all the national private radio channels, include RTL, NRJ Group, Lagardère Active and NextRadioTV.

The group would like to raise the ceiling on the 1994 ownership caps that were set to make sure that radio broadcasting did not get concentrated in a few hands. Radio Bureau is modelled on the American Radio Advertising Bureau, and replaces the Independent Trade Union of Private Radio Régies, according to followthemedia.

BBC online budget increase cut by £22 million

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 23, 2009 at 8:15 PM

Based on an ongoing assessment of the effect of new investments on the market, the BBC Trust has authorised a £30.7 million budget hike over the next three years for BBC Online - £22 million pounds less than requested, Journalism.co.uk reported Friday.

The BBC has been asked to save £1.9 billion from now until march 2012, a decision partly influenced by the economic recession. BBC's reduced budget will likely include a pay freeze for upper level management this year, and, at the most, "modest pay increases for other staff."

Speaking at Thursday's MediaGuardian Changing Media Summit, BBC's Director-General Mark Thompson said that in three years, the BBC must axe £400 million from its budget so it does not not exceed its borrowing allowance, according to Journalism.co.uk.

'Craigslist' most searched for term online in U.S.

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 23, 2009 at 7:56 PM

For the first time in three years, Craigslist beat out MySpace in the United States last week as the most sought out term on the Internet, according to online tracking firm Hitwise, CNET News reported Friday.

Searches for "Craigslist" were up 105 percent for the week ending March 14, compared to the same time last year, which may mean consumers are increasingly shopping for deals online, according to Hitwise data.

During the past year, bartering has jumped 100 percent on the site, ads for garage sales have doubled, ads for roommates have increased by 65 percent and for sale ads have risen 75 percent, Craigslist spokeswoman Susan MacTavish Best told CNET News.

TV stations may be next to outsource

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 23, 2009 at 7:00 PM

As newspapers increasingly outsource functions, even those in editorial departments, TV stations may also soon follow suit. Two Chicago area television may begin considering farming out their sportscasts to reduce costs, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.

What differentiates one sportscast from another, is "mostly the writing, the reading and the rapport of those who bring it to us," the Tribune's Phil Rosenthal pointed out in his column. "The question these days is how much the audience will care when they begin to see the score."

Shared use of generic, raw footage, which can be separately edited and used by multiple stations may be a stepping stone to cut costs. Further down the line comes full outsourcing of functions, such as making a deal with an outside firm to produce and deliver the sports segment, according to the Tribune.

Business community offers to turn SF Chronicle into nonprofit

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 23, 2009 at 6:50 AM

Business people in San Francisco have offered to help turn the San Francisco Chronicle into a nonprofit, reports Poynter Online.

Investment banker Warren Hellman and other area business people are behind the idea. Speaking with the San Francisco Business Times, attorney and power broker William Coblentz said he had spoken with Hellman concerning the nonprofit possibility and then presented it to William R. Hearst III. Coblentz, who has been a director for 30 years with the McClatchy Company, said the basic plan would be for a nonprofit organisation to take the reigns at the Chronicle, with support from the local business community. Current owner Hearst Corp., would continue to offer some philanthropic support.

Original publishers want Google preference

Posted by Simon Day on March 23, 2009 at 6:48 AM

As major media companies search for new sources of revenue in the advertising starved economy, they are asking Google to push their professional, original content to the top of the search engine's undifferentiated plethora of results, reports Ad Age.

Publishers have taken issue with the criteria Google uses to select the top results, such as the PageRank system, which is based on how many links a page has. As publishers attempt to generate new forms of income in the online world they are especially at odds with Google's preference against paid content sites.

Newsprint company attempts to restructure debt

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 23, 2009 at 6:46 AM

Newsprint firm AbitibiBowater is making efforts to avoid bankruptcy due to the falling price of newsprint, reports The New York Times. A failure to reach an agreement with the company's bondholders could result in the company having to file for bankruptcy protection.

In 2008, newsprint consumption dropped by an average of 14 percent, with daily newspapers seeing a 16 percent decline in readership. The decrease in demand has left AbitibiBowater in a difficult position regarding its substantial debt - most of which was accrued when Abitibi Consolidated, of Montreal, and Bowater, of Greenville, South Carolina, merged in 2007.

Freedom Communications to impose furloughs

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 23, 2009 at 6:40 AM

U.S. newspaper publisher Freedom Communications plans to implement one-week furloughs for all but its most recently hired employees, reports Editor & Publisher.

According to a staff memo from President and CEO Scott Flanders, five unpaid furlough days will be required of nearly all employees at Freedom's 100 papers, with the exception of those who have been hired in the last six months "because, as new associates to the organization, this is the ramp-up period where they are still learning the role and our preference was not to interrupt the process."

The required days off are scheduled to take place from April 1 to June 30. Flanders explained his decision in the memo saying, "like other businesses, including those in our industry, we need to take additional steps sooner rather than later to try to combat this tough economic environment."

Daily Mail to cut 1,000 jobs

Posted by Simon Day on March 23, 2009 at 5:38 AM

The Daily Mail and General Trust plans to cut 1,000 jobs across its newspaper division as advertising revenue continues to decline in the print sector, reports BBC News.

In a trading update, the company revealed cost cuts across its newspaper division, including the Daily Mail and free daily Metro, as expected advertising revenue during the first quarter is set to drop by 24 percent.

Denver News Agency cuts 200

Posted by Simon Day on March 23, 2009 at 5:19 AM

With the close of the Rocky Mountain News last month, the Denver Newspaper Agency has announced planned staff cuts of around 200, reports The Associated Press.

The publishing agency was in charge of the non-editorial joint operation of both the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post since the two merged into a joint operating agreement in 2001. However the News closed its doors on February 27.

Microsoft: 'Good opportunity for a deal' with Yahoo

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 20, 2009 at 12:28 PM

Although Microsoft Corp.'s effort to buy Yahoo Inc. was unsuccessful under former Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang's control, Microsoft' CEO Steve Ballmer is once again hopeful for a possible deal, now that Carol Bartz has taken Yahoo's helm, Reuters reported Thursday.

"Unless I'm fooling myself, over time I would expect a there's a good opportunity for a deal," Ballmer said at the McGraw-Hill Media Summit in New York, according to Reuters.

'Data visualisation' promotes new narratives

Posted by Simon Day on March 20, 2009 at 11:42 AM

The rapid growth of "data visualisation," the process of converting technological code and raw data into unique, legible, interactive information, is fundamentally changing the narrative way in which news, information, products and services are displayed and consumed, Advertising Age reported Thursday.

Google has paved the way for the coordination of an interactive service, brand name and advertising in the one product. As it organises the world's online existence, for example, it aggregates everyday news, maps the earth, the oceans, the moon and is the bibliographer for the world's books, it includes advertising at every step.

Seattle Times Co. helps Post-Intelligencer go online

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 20, 2009 at 8:59 AM

The Seattle Times Co. plans to help Hearst Corp. transition its folded Seattle Post-Intelligencer into the online-only seattlepi.com format, Editor & Publisher reported Friday.

The Times Co. has agreed to provide "consulting and transition services" to Hearst Corp. under terms of a document terminating their joint operating agreement (JOA). Seattlepi.com launched on Wednesday, and will receive consultation services from Times Co. for 30 days.

BBC seeks savings and collaboration with struggling rivals

Posted by Simon Day on March 20, 2009 at 7:58 AM

Speaking at the MediaGuardian Changing Media summit, BBC Director General Mark Thompson said the company needs to reach savings of US$580 million over the next three years on top of the $760 million that has been shaved in recent years, AdWeek reported Friday. Thompson said the BBC will also pursue collaborative efforts with commercial media.

UK politicians and broadcasting executives have questioned the BBC's guaranteed $5.1 billion annual license fee income while commercial rivals are seeing their revenue greatly reduced.

MP urges government to support local newspapers

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 20, 2009 at 3:58 AM

During a debate in the UK House of Commons which addressed the future of newspapers, Brian Binley, a Conservative MP for Northampton South, spoke of the importance of the future of newspapers, The Northampton Chronicle reported Thursday.

During the debate, politicians made reference to the more than 900 jobs that have been lost in England's local newspaper industry since June last year, as well as the forced closures and relocations of several papers.

Newspaper offered 'basement' price

Posted by Simon Day on March 20, 2009 at 3:54 AM

The purchase of the Blethen Maine Newspapers, part of the Seattle Newspaper group, by an investment group, has been negotiated at a minimal price based mostly on the value of the real estate being transferred as part of the deal, reports the Morning Sentinel.

Investors would have the potential to pay off debt within three years through the sale of real estate and through cash flow generated by the newspapers. It's possible they could make a profit estimated to be five times net earnings should the business be sold in the future, the documents suggest.

Herald-Leader wins union acceptance to cut jobs, wages

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 20, 2009 at 3:53 AM

The Lexington Newspaper Guild has agreed to allow the Lexington Herald-Leader to cut 14 union-covered jobs in its newsroom, as well as cut wages by percent for all Guild-covered workers, The Seattle Times reported Thursday.

The cuts follow the paper's parent company, McCLatchy Co.'s, announced restructuring plan that includes cutting its workforce by 15 percent, totalling approximately 1,600 jobs.

The union also approved a week-long, unpaid furlough for union-covered employees, which make up 75 full and part-time employees at the Lexington, Kentucky newspaper.

Summit: UK commercial radio may be 'dying'

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 20, 2009 at 3:50 AM

Other than the BBC, UK commercial radio may be living out the last two decades of its existence, Claire Enders, founder of UK research service Enders Analysis, told the MediaGuardian Changing Media Summit Thursday, MediaGuardian reported.

Enders based her statement on the shift to online news dissemination and a sharp decline in offline advertising that have rendered many commercial radio stations unprofitable.

Sony-Google e-book deal increases available titles

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 20, 2009 at 3:47 AM

Sony's eBook store will carry 500,000 public domain books scanned by Google, InformationWeek reported Thursday. Sony now has more than 600,000 e-titles, compared to Kindle's 245,000, which also sells newspapers, magazines and content from blogs.

In the days of startup eBook companies like SoftBook and NuvoMedia, e-book technology was hindered by constraints including "clunky hardware, lack of an e-commerce ecosystem, and too few publishing partners," InformationWeek reported.

Newspapers continue digital expansion

Posted by Simon Day on March 19, 2009 at 2:57 PM

Despite the continuing economic recession and the industry's financial issues, publishing companies continue to expand their online cooperative digital distribution and ad sales platforms, MediaPost reported Tuesday.

QuadrantOne, the online ad sales company formed by four major U.S. newspaper publishers Tribune Co., Gannett Co., Inc., Hearst Corp. and The New York Times Co. in February 2008 has recently announced new higher management hirings and new publicity campaigns.

San Diego Union-Tribune sold to Platinum Equity

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 19, 2009 at 2:02 PM

The San Diego Union-Tribune, on the market since July, announced Wednesday it was purchased by California-based Platinum Equity, a private firm, Dow Jones reported. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Although the near term financial prognosis for the newspaper is generally not considered optimistic, Platinum Equity has a "long history of creating value," under "difficult market transitions," Louis Samson, principal of the equity firm reportedly told the newspaper.

The newspaper sector's financial woes have been exacerbated in the last few months, with the September collapse of Lehman Bros. Other victims have included the Tribune Co., The LA Times, the Baltimore Sun, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and many other important dailies, Dow Jones reported in an article posted by CNN Money.

OPA: U.S. users spent most Internet time on content

Posted by Erina Lin on March 19, 2009 at 10:10 AM

Content still takes up the most time spent online in U.S., and continued to grow in 2007, according to the OPA Internet Activity Index, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2008 reported.

By December 2007, it accounted for nearly half of online time.

Study: Newspaper closure impacts democracy

Posted by Simon Day on March 19, 2009 at 8:28 AM

Princeton University economists Sam Schulhofer-Whold and Miguel Garrido have released the results of their yet to be published study "Do Newspapers Matter?" which analysed the "consequences of closing a newspaper," namely the Cincinatti, Ohio-based Cincinnati Post, which was also read by those living in the city's southern suburbs, in the state of Kentucky. The results revealed a disturbing influence on the operation of democracy in the state of Kentucky, reports Miller-McCune.

The Cincinnati Post closed its doors in January 2007. While being the much smaller Cincinnati paper, closing with a circulation of 27,000 against the 200,000 reader base of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the paper had strong support from readers in the city's southern suburbs, and became a major outlet of news in the area.

U.S. newspapers find allies in Washington

Posted by Simon Day on March 19, 2009 at 5:12 AM

The United States newspaper industry has found support in Washington in Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Attorney General Eric Holder.

Pelosi sent a letter Monday to Holder urging him to consider the financial situation of newspapers when reviewing requests for mergers and takeovers, reports MSNBC. "I think it's important for this nation to maintain a healthy newspaper industry. So to the extent that we have to look at our enforcement policies and conform them to the realities that that industry faces, that's something that I'm going to be willing to do," Holder told reporters in response to Pelosi, according to Reuters.

Aegis cuts 5 percent of workforce

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 19, 2009 at 5:11 AM

The media buying and research group Aegis plans to eliminate 5 percent of its workforce worldwide, totalling roughly 780 positions, Media Guardian reported Thursday. The job cuts are part of the company's £40 million cost saving plan designed to deal with the economic crisis facing the newspaper industry.

John Napier, an Aegis chairman and chief executive said he believes cost cutting across 40 countries has "positioned the company well to respond to challenging market conditions" and aim to "selectively address capacity, resource and variable cost elements." The cuts are hoped to save the company £20 million in 2009.

Columbus newspaper to cut 20 jobs

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 19, 2009 at 5:08 AM

As part of U.S. publisher McClatchy Co.'s restructuring scheme that included cutting 1,600 jobs across its newspapaers, The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer has announced it will cut 20 staff positions, Macon.com reported Thursday. The cutbacks mark the third time in less than a year the company has reduced staff numbers.

Meanwhile, McClatchy paper the Miami Herald will lose 175 employees in this round of cuts, as well as leave 30 vacant positions unfilled. The Kansas City Star will cut 150 positions, or 15 percent of its workforce. Full restructuring plan details were announced March 9 in a McClatchy press release, which stated that "each newspaper will determine how best to implement the savings in its market, while retaining its strategic focus on sales, news and online operations."

Ballot called at Scotland's Daily Record, Sunday Mail

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 19, 2009 at 5:06 AM

In the wake of Trinity Mirror's plans to merge production of the Daily Record and Sunday Mail, which could lead to 70 job losses, ballots will be sent Friday to union members on whether to strike or take lesser measures, allmediaScotland reported.

The move has also been initiated because some of the job cuts may be compulsory; however, the company has said its goal is that all downsizing will be done on a voluntary basis.

Google News to carry EPA content

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 18, 2009 at 2:50 PM

Google and the European Pressphoto Agency reached an agreement Tuesday in which Google will display EPA content on Google News, enabling users to find original content from the eight national news agencies that own the EPA, The Economic Times reported Wednesday. Online services are available from Epa's eleven shareholding agencies.

"EPA, the participating agencies and Google will benefit from the monetisation of our original articles and photos hosted by Google, and users will benefit from the user-friendly approach to this type of display of news agency content," said Jörg Schierenbeck, managing director of EPA, The Times reported.

Saudi Ministry plans push for online media

Posted by Simon Day on March 18, 2009 at 10:56 AM

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Information and Culture will begin its promotion of electronic journalism and online based media as it looks to fill an important gap in the local media industry, according to Zawya.com.

Saudi journalists are reported to be in support of the move, but they will not be able to launch online news ventures until the measure is approved by the government. Opening the Internet to journalists as a source and forum will be fundamental to developing news outlets in the country. This development will hinge on the expansion and introduction of new technology and the utilisation of contemporary online media.

Tucson Citizen kept alive by sales talks

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 18, 2009 at 7:44 AM

The Tucson Citizen will not shut down as announced pending negotiations between the paper's publisher, Gannett Co. Inc., and two interested buyers The Associated Press reported.

Robert J. Dickey, president of Gannett's U.S. Community Publishing, said the negotiations will be finished by Saturday, thus extending the paper's life span from the original March 21 deadline for sale or closure.

BBC journalists to hold two-day strike

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 18, 2009 at 7:42 AM

Protesting against the threat of upcoming job cuts, about 800 BBC journalists will go on a two-day strike in April, Media Guardian reported Monday. The corporation's London-based journalists covering Hindi, Nepali, and Urdu radio news programmes and Web sites have already held a day-long strike over the proposed cuts.

All BBC services will be unavailable on April 3 and April 9. Of the 1,100 union members who participated in the vote, 77 percent voted for the strike. The union has almost 4,000 members.

SFN study tour to focus on audience development in print, digital

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on March 18, 2009 at 7:35 AM

A recent poll of newspaper publishers showed that top executives see product and audience development to be the most important growth strategies for the next five years. The World Association of Newspapers will host a week-long study tour to inspire new revenue-making and audience building with targeted print and digital product strategies in Denver, Colorado, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Bakersfield, California.

Participants will learn from the most successful product and audience development companies from the Rocky Mountains and westward including Yahoo!, Adify, the Denver Post, Printcasting.com, ASTECH InterMedia, Media Management Center, Hewlett Packard, and the Bakersfield Californian. All told, the presentations will cover all links on the value chain of developing products and audience, including editorial, advertising, marketing, research, business development, management, production and distribution.

Crain Communications cuts jobs, salaries

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 18, 2009 at 4:42 AM

Business publisher Crain Communications has laid off 150 staff members and is implementing a 10 percent salary cut, paidContent reported Tuesday.

The cutbacks follow the company's shutdown of the publication Financial Week (along with its online counterpart FinancialWeek.com), Business Insurance Europe, and Automotive News Europe.

There have been no reports regarding whether the job cuts will affect the business or editorial department of the company.

French dailies report rise in readership

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 18, 2009 at 4:39 AM

A recent study has shown that free French daily 20 Minutes is the best-read newspaper in France, Newspaper Innovation reported. The rise in circulation likely had to do with the French 2008 presidential election, the blog noted, adding that "readers turn to paid more when they are in search of election and other political news; free newspapers seem to be less important in that respect."

20 Minutes comes in first with 2.7 million readers, followed by the paid sports paper L'Equipe with 2.6 million and the free daily Metro, which counts 2.5 million readers.

PCC sees decline in online reporting standards

Posted by Simon Day on March 18, 2009 at 2:33 AM

The Press Complaints Commission, the British regulatory body for newspapers and magazines, announced it has noticed a lapse in the accuracy of reporting as journalism heads online, with a record number of complaints in 2008, according to Press Gazette. The Commission is also wary of the affects recent cutbacks at newspapers will have on journalistic standards.

As part of its annual report, the PCC published the details of its 4,700 complaints for 2008, an 8 percent increase from the year before. For the second year running, online stories were the source of a majority of the gripes.

Washington Post drops standalone business section

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 17, 2009 at 8:52 AM

The Washington Post plans to drop its business section, combining it with the front section for its Monday through Saturday editions Bloomberg reported Friday.

The decision is intended to curtail newsprint costs. The changes, including the reduction of the stock price listings to half a page, will be effective March 30.

Detroit newspapers to trial e-reader distribution

Posted by Simon Day on March 17, 2009 at 7:50 AM

As part of a online focused strategy, Detroit Media Partnership newspapers, The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press, will launch a trial distribution of the papers on electronic readers through a partnership with Plastic Logic, Newspapers & Technology reported.

The papers, which currently print more than 470,000 weekday copies, will combine and be released as one 32 page electronic section. The Plastic Logic readers operate on a 8 by 11 inch display and are not to be commercially released until 2010.

USAToday.com leads industry in online revenue

Posted by Simon Day on March 17, 2009 at 7:10 AM

Gannett Company Inc., the United States' largest newspaper publisher, appears to have made a relatively successful transition into online revenue generation, Seeking Alpha reported Monday. Its flagship paper, USA Today, reported a 27 percent growth in online advertising for February against this time last year.

This is the largest increase in online advertising by any national newspaper, especially amongst recession related closures, bankruptcies, staff cuts and sales. As a result Gannett's shares jumped 14 percent.

Report: Social media more popular than e-mail

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 17, 2009 at 7:00 AM

Social Web sites like Twitter and Facebook are surpassing e-mail in terms of popularity, and occupy the fourth position in this regard after search, portals and software applications, according a study by Nielsen, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday.

Although e-mail is fast, it is just not fast enough for a growing number of users. Meanwhile, social media have more limited space, which "forces you to get to the point," the Tribune stated. "E-mail is still king at the office, but we're all embracing social media and other forms of communication. Sometimes, we still actually talk to each other!"

NPR: Ethnic newspaper's readership remains strong

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 17, 2009 at 3:50 AM

A report on NPR's radio show On the Media details how papers that cater to growing immigrant populations are reporting wide readership despite the bleak financial climate.

On the Media's Brooke Gladstone interviewed Alberto Vourvoulias, the executive editor of the Spanish-language newspaper El Diario La Prensa, based in New York, who explained that the paper has been the fastest-growing newspaper in America two out of the last three years.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer now online only

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 17, 2009 at 3:48 AM

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer will move its content completely to the Web after the paper's parent company, Hearst Corp., failed to find a buyer for the 146 year-old paper, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The last print edition ran on Monday with the headline "You've meant the world to us." The edition was to be delivered accompanied by 20 to 24 pages of photos documenting the paper's history.

City seeks alternative to newspapers for relaying information

Posted by Simon Day on March 17, 2009 at 3:40 AM

The Philadelphia City Council Committee on Law and Government yesterday approved legislation that could allow the city to avoid newspapers when advertising public information, according to Philly.com.

Currently the city charter requires that public information, such as new legislation, be published in three of the city's newspapers with paid circulation. However, with recent bankruptcies of Philadelphia newspapers the Daily News and Inquirer, the new legislation proposes to ask voters during the primary election in May if the city should be given more flexibility when advertising information.

Report: Newspapers must find new business model

Posted by Simon Day on March 16, 2009 at 1:07 PM

The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism today published its annual report on the State of the News Media labelling 2009 as the "bleakest" it has seen since the group began doing annual studies six years ago, AFP reported. The report describes U.S. newspapers as "perilously close to free fall" and in desperate need of an economically viable business model to survive in a digital world.

The report offers insight into the business lives of newspapers, online media, network, cable and local television news as well as news magazines, radio and the ethnic press.

London's Metro turns 10

Posted by Simon Day on March 16, 2009 at 8:47 AM

Metro, London's free, daily, today celebrated its 10th birthday with the inclusion of a 12 page chronicle of its first decade, reports Media Guardian.

Daily Mail and Associated Newspapers launched Metro in 1999 after the success of the free newspaper model in Sweden. They secured a 10 year distribution deal with the London Underground to make the paper available, free every morning at tube stations.

Cable thrives as other media tries to survive

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 16, 2009 at 7:39 AM

Despite declines in advertising revenue affecting most areas of the media industry, cable news increased its advertising spending by 27 percent in 2008, in what Rick Edmonds calls a "banner year" in his article on Poynter Online.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism's sixth edition of its State of the News Media electronic yearbook details the surprising successes of cable television, revealing it as what Edmonds calls "the exception to the overall negative or mixed picture" of other forms of media. Cable television saw its audience grow by 38 percent in 2008, an increase which is not likely to be sustained in the coming year.

A good deal of cable televisions success is attributed to the public's interest in the presidential campaign and election, but credit most also be given to the high profitability of the business. Fees paid by subscribers effectively offset dependency on advertisers and packages that are sold to consumers also ensure income, as they are difficult and complicated for clients to cancel.

Former Rocky Mountain News staffers to launch news site

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 16, 2009 at 7:30 AM

A group of former staff members for Denver's Rocky Mountain News will partner with three entrepreneurs to launch a subscription drive for online news venture INDenverTimes.com, the group's Web site iwantmyrocky.com announced Monday. The group aims to have 50,000 subscribers by April 23, what would have been the 150th anniversary of the Rocky Mountain News, so the site can be up and running by May 4.

"INDenverTimes is an effort to reinvent the newspaper for the Internet age, featuring many of the reporters, editors, designers and other journalists that the Denver community has come to depend on for coverage of local and national news, sports and the arts. News will be free, but the subscription will invite readers inside the newsroom as never before through news analysis, insight, online chats and other features," the announcement states.

E.W. Scripps Co. closed the loss-making Rocky Mountain News in late February.

Adknowledge buys media division of Miva Inc.

Posted by Simon Day on March 16, 2009 at 7:26 AM

Adknowledge, the behavioural targeting advertiser, announced on Friday its US$11.6 million purchase of the Media Division of MIVA, Inc, according to a company press release. The acquisition is one of a number of recent purchases made by the advertising network as it looks to expand its multi-channel advertising base.

Adknowledge plans to "quickly combine MIVA Media's strong industry position and experience with Adknowledge's core predictive targeting technology to improve results for MIVA Media's advertisers," Scott Lynn, CEO of Adknowledge, said in the statement.

Tucson Citizen closes after 138 years

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 16, 2009 at 6:28 AM

Arizona's oldest newspaper, The Tucson Citizen, will shut down Saturday after 138 years in the business, The Associated Press reported Sunday.

Gannett Co. Inc., which has owned the paper since 1976, has been looking to sell off certain assets of the paper since January. Robert J. Dickey, president of Gannett's U.S. Community Publishing, said the loss-making paper was a drain on Gannett's operations.

comScore: Older generations read the print newspaper more, while online news has the chance to attract those who don't often read the print

Posted by Erina Lin on March 13, 2009 at 10:26 AM

4US print news read LR.jpg

According to a comScore Plan Matrix demographic profile conducted in the summer of 2007, U.S. newspaper readers skewed as being older generations, while younger people are more likely to be either light users, or even non-readers, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2008 reported.

The index of heavy readers in the age group 65+ is almost three times higher than the overall index, and it's higher than the average in the age group 55-64 and 45-54, too.

In the younger generations, the index of heavy or medium readers is much lower, while that of light readers and non-readers is much higher than their counterparts in older groups.

This indicates that younger Americans are less committed to printed newspapers.

OPA unveils flashier ad campaign

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 13, 2009 at 9:53 AM

The Online Publishers Association plans to introduce three new display units which are hoped to liven up their online ads, reports paidContent.org.

The units include features such as a "fixed panel," which scrolls up and down a Web page along with the user, an "XXL Box" which is not only extra large but also permits the user to turn pages within the ad, and a "pushdown" which initially fills up half the screen and then rolls up to the top. The units are designed to allow advertisers to display their ads in a more creative way, but also to provide publishers with increased revenue from fewer ads.

NY Daily News launches small business social network

Posted by Simon Day on March 13, 2009 at 5:53 AM

New York Daily News will partner with platform Salespider.com to launch a new small business social network, MarketWire announced in a press release Friday.

The platform will allow New York Daily News readers to reach, connect and network with 500,000 small businesses, and will also offer for download sales information, government grant and free access to business tools, according to the release, posted by MSNBC.

Scripps partners with AdPlay for new ad platform

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 13, 2009 at 5:52 AM

In a move to simplify and better integrate the print and online marketplace, E.W. Scripps Company will adopt a new print and online classified ad platform, thanks to its partnership with online classified ad company AdPay, Media Week reported Thursday.

The AdPay network offers classified and display ads integrated with retail inventory as well as Web-to-Web, Web-to-print and print-to-Web capabilities, said Rusty Coats, vice president of interactive for Scripps.

By June 1, Scripps expects 19 of its newspapers to be on the AdPay platform. The sites will aggregate searches of content from other sites as well as combine the order-entry system for both print and online ads, Media Week reported. Ad placement will also be facilitated by the fact that they can simultaneously be added to the Web site, newspaper and AdPay's national classified network.

INM chief hands company over to son

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 13, 2009 at 4:57 AM

Sir Anthony O'Reilly, chief executive of Independent News & Media, announced he will hand over control of the company to his son, Gavin, Reuters reported Friday.

Gavin O'Reilly, also president of the World Association of Newspapers' executive committee and board, will take over a company with debt of €1.4 billion, of which a €200 million bond is due in May. Despite the 96 percent rise in shares to 20 cents following the announcement, INM still plans on restructuring, projecting a reduction of its board members to 10 from 17.

Zimbabwe to have new independent daily newspaper

Posted by Simon Day on March 13, 2009 at 3:21 AM

Zimbabwe is set to have its first independent daily newspaper in six years, with the planned launch of the NewsDay, newzimbabwe.com reported Thursday. African Media entrepreneur Trevor Ncube announced a US$4 million investment in the paper and describes it as a "litmus test" for the purported liberalisation of the country under the new unity government.

In 2003 Zimbabwe's largest and last privately owned daily newspaper, The Daily News, was forced into closure by the government. Many weekly papers suffered the same fate, as Robert Mugabe closed any forum for opposition support.

Study: Americans indifferent over newspapers' fate

Posted by Simon Day on March 13, 2009 at 3:16 AM

Many Americans are not concerned with the fate of their local newspaper as U.S. papers struggle against a crippling economic and industry slump, according to a Pew Research Center study, out Thursday. The report found that 43 percent of Americans feel that the loss of their local paper would damage their community's civil life "a lot" and only a third would personally miss reading the local newspaper.

The public is aware of the struggles facing the newspaper industry, with 53 percent of the group surveyed having heard "a lot" about the industry's problems. In total, 85 percent were aware of the the numerous recent closures, job cuts and bankruptcy fillings of newspaper companies across the country.

U.S. led in monthly online time per capita

Posted by Erina Lin on March 12, 2009 at 12:01 PM

The United States led in average monthly online-related time per person, according to the data by Nielsen Online, January 2008, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2008 reported.

On average, an Internet user in U.S. spends 28 hours and 31 minutes online per month. France and Spain followed, with 19 hours and 55 minutes, and 18 hours and 48 minutes, respectively.

Google to launch "behavioral advertising" programme

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 12, 2009 at 8:32 AM

Behavioral advertising, Google's latest strategy to track clients' Internet search and surfing habits to ascertain their interests and thus identify more effective ads for each user, launched Wednesday, Ars Technica reported. Although Google has said it will not allow identifying information attach to the cookie, privacy watchdogs are worried about the move.

The company announced that it will launch a beta test of the system on its partner sites and YouTube. Advertisers will be invited to participate in the program starting in April.

Star Tribune seeks to avoid labor contracts

Posted by Simon Day on March 12, 2009 at 8:31 AM

In an attempt to lower costs, the Star Tribune on Wednesday sought court permission to renege on one of its labour contracts, reports The Associated Press.

On Wednesday the newspaper requested that Judge Robert Drain cancel the contract after failed negotiations with the pressmen union. The paper said it needed US$3.5 million in wage concessions from the pressmen union as part of $20 million in cuts across the newspaper's 10 labour unions.

Chronicle's unions make concessions to Hearst

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 12, 2009 at 8:29 AM

Two unions representing employees at the San Francisco Chronicle have agreed to make major concessions, after the newspaper's owner, Hearst Corp., said it may have to sell or shut down the San Francisco newspaper, The Berkeley Daily Planet reported Wednesday.

In response, the unions have agreed not to protect senior employees from the upcoming 31 percent job cuts. Other concessions would include not allowing new hires to become mandatory union members.

According to Hearst, the Chronicle has been unprofitable since 2001, reporting losses of US$50 million in 2008, The Berkeley Daily Planet reported. Hearst has also said it may close the Seattle-Post-Intelligencer, although there is talk that the newspaper may go completely online.

Canwest seeks extension of debt

Posted by Simon Day on March 12, 2009 at 8:28 AM

The media branch of Canwest Global Communication Corp. and its senior lenders have agreed to an extension of a waiver on the conditions of a loan until April 7, Reuters reported. This will allow continued operation of Canada's largest media company, which owns the Global television network and a chain of daily newspapers in Canada, while it attempts to secure capital through cutting operating and capital costs.

Canwest announced on Wednesday that it would forego the interest payment of US$30.4 million due on March 15. However, it was quick to note that under the terms of the agreement, if the interest is paid before April 14, its creditors may not demand payment of the US$761 million loan.

Miami Herald to cut staff, reduce salaries

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 12, 2009 at 8:13 AM

Shortly after 24/7 Wall St. released it's list of top ten major newspapers headed for digital editions or folding, on which The Miami Herald came in at number three, the Florida newspaper announced it will cut its staff by 19 percent as well as cut salaries. An estimated 175 Herald employees will lose their jobs, Poynter Online reported.

Full time employees earning between US$25,000 to $50,000 a year will see a pay reduction of 5 percent, while employees making more will have a 10 percent salary reduction.

The layoffs at the Herald, which is owned by McClatchy, are part of an overall restructuring plan by the company that announced a plan to reduce costs and make 1,600 jobs redundant.

Quebecor pulls out of Canadian Press

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 12, 2009 at 7:50 AM

Quebecor Inc., owner of Osprey Media and Sun Media Corporation, which publish over 200 titles in Canada, is pulling its newspapers from the Canadian Press news co-operative, Reuters reported. The departure is part of the company's plan to cut costs and build on its own in-house news agency.

Quebecor, which is the largest newspaper publisher in Canada and Canadian Press' biggest media member group, will depart at the end of June 2010.

Singapore Press Holdings cuts wages amid recession

Posted by Simon Day on March 12, 2009 at 7:45 AM

Singapore Press Holding Ltd. is set to cut the wages of 3,000 employees and halt hiring in an attempt to reduce costs as the recession retains its hold on the island's economy, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

Beginning April 1, the largest publisher in Singapore plans to reduce wages by between 2 percent and 10 percent, with an overall 20 percent decrease in the cost attributed to staff wages. The cuts hit high income earners the most while staff earning less than S$2,000 (US$1,300) a month will not be affected. Moreover, all hiring has stopped and bonuses have also been cut, according to Bloomberg.

Yahoo newspaper consortium blossoms

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 11, 2009 at 2:16 PM

Yahoo has added The Boston Globe and St.Petersburg Times to its newspaper consortium, bringing the count of its media companies to 38, and the total number of newspapers to 793, TechCrunch reported Monday.

The consortium's success is due to helping increase traffic to newspaper Web sites; meanwhile, Google is ending its newspaper advertising partnerships. "Yahoo's newspaper strategy has seen success because, unlike Google, it never tried to get into the business of selling print ads," the TechCrunch article stated.

Yahoo helps drive traffic to newspapers by displaying article headlines across its properties. In the past year and a half, since the consortium launched, the links have sent 200 million views to partner newspaper sites, according to the TechCrunch article, posted by the Washington Post. Of the nearly 800 newspapers, 600 use HotJobs, and Yahoo works with 120 of them on managing their online ads.

Times and Sunday Times rise against overall circulation slump

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 11, 2009 at 12:04 PM

The Sunday Times and The Times in Scotland, were the only two newspapers to have posted sales increases between Feb. 2008 and Feb. 2009, allmediascotland.com reported Tuesday.

According to Average Net Circulation in Scotland, as reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, sales for The Times increased by 1.99 percent and by 4.8 percent for the Sunday Times.

YouTube premium music videos unavailable to UK users

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 11, 2009 at 11:51 AM

YouTube is sticking to its decision to make premium music videos inaccessible to UK users, following a stalemate in licensing discussions with the Performing Rights Society, BBC News reported Tuesday.

Since its acquisition by Google in 2006, YouTube has faced pressure to increase revenues.

Washington may cut tax for newspapers

Posted by Simon Day on March 11, 2009 at 11:30 AM

As newspapers around the United States continue to close their doors, cut staff, pages and wages, the industry in Washington state may receive relief as the House has approved a tax break for newspapers, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The House backed the bill in a vote of 91-5 on Tuesday night. It now moves to the Senate for consideration. If passed, the bill would cut state business tax for newspapers by 40 percent through 2015.

Mooter Media on verge of collapse

Posted by Simon Day on March 11, 2009 at 11:13 AM

Australian Internet advertising innovator, Mooter Media, is on the verge of collapse, having shed its last employee and effectively halted operations, as it seeks another financial lifeline, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The business developed technology that allowed publishers to synchronise advertisements with online content but has struggled after failed ventures into the U.S. and Chinese markets.

"The operations of the business are effectively at a standstill while we make sure we have the funding to do the next stage,'' Mooter Media Chairman Stephe Wilks told the Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday. The company was in discussions with investors hoping to secure up to AU$250,000 within four to eight weeks

Guardian Media locals downsize

Posted by Simon Day on March 11, 2009 at 11:07 AM

As Guardian Media Group opens new online doors in the form of an open source software platform, physicals doors continue to shut at the group's regional papers, according to paidContent.

In the Manchester area, 150 jobs are under threat at the Manchester Evening News, Channel M and 23 free and paid-for weekly newspapers published by Guardian Media Group. Further, all Guardian Media Manchester weekly newspaper offices will be closed and staff relocated to the media group's central Manchester offices.

24/7 Wall St. names top 10 major newspapers in crisis

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 11, 2009 at 8:22 AM

24/7 Wall St. has created a list of the 10 major U.S. newspapers it deems most likely to either go online only or shut down in the next 18 months or so.

Inspired by the recent financial troubles and closures that have plagued U.S. newspapers, such as The Rocky Mountain News closure, and possible closures of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and The San Francisco Chronicle, 24/7 Wall St. chose the titles based on the economic strength of their parent companies, how competitive their markets are and financial reports regarding loss in revenue.

Johnston Press reports biggest revenue drop in its history

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 11, 2009 at 8:21 AM

UK regional newspaper group Johnston Press has suffered its largest decline in revenue to date, Media Guardian reported Wednesday.

Johnston Press reported year-on-year drops in advertising revenue of 35 percent in the first months of 2009. Overall revenue fell by more than 12 percent last year. The decrease, which the company is calling its "greatest fall in revenue in its history," accelerated its rate by 54.8 percent in the last three months of 2008.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer will make it over hump day

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 11, 2009 at 8:18 AM

The Seattle P-I will live to publish another paper, and staff has been told that today's paper won't be their last, The Associated Press reported today.

Hearst Corp., the owner of the paper, has publicly been looking for buyers and announced that if no interested party is found in the next 60 days, the paper will be forced to shut down or continue as a Web-only edition.

Hearst has offered positions with the online edition to some staffers, but the majority of the P-I employees are expected to lose their jobs, according to the AP article, posted by Editor & Publisher.

Technorati launches 'most linked sites' index

Posted by Simon Day on March 10, 2009 at 4:05 PM

Blog search engine Technorati today released a list of main stream media sites with the highest number of blogs linking to them. The site provided a list of the 50 media sites that received the most links from blogs over the last 30 days.

At the top the list was YouTube, followed by The New York Times, BBC News, CNN.com and MSN.

NY Times sells building to raise cash

Posted by Simon Day on March 10, 2009 at 3:54 PM

The New York Times Company announced Monday that it had sold its headquarters to investment firm W. P. Carey & Company in a sale-leaseback agreement. The deal was used to raise US$225 million in order to pay down long term debts and create financial protection as the newspaper industry continues to suffer, The Times reported.

The lease term is 15 years and there is an option for the Times Company to repurchase the building for $250 million during the 10th year of the lease term. Both parties expect the term will be exercised. The rental payment will be $24 million for the first year and will escalate through the term of the lease.

Publishers try new tactics to increase revenue, save newspapers

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 10, 2009 at 3:50 PM

The family-owned Bakersfield Californian seems to be one of the rare newspapers that has managed not only to survive but to thrive despite a dark economic time for print media, Business Week reported.

The paper's success is credited to its 2005 launch of Bakotopia.com , an online social network that targets the youth market. An undeniable site for sore eyes given the current economic crisis, Bakotopia.com has inspired the bi-monthly publication of a free magazine composed of content from the Web edition. The magazine creates a link between the online social networking scene and the local social scene, reviewing area events and neighbourhood hotspots.

Chronicle takes step towards staying open

Posted by Simon Day on March 10, 2009 at 3:49 PM

The San Francisco Chronicle has taken a vital step towards preventing its sale or closure after it reached an initial agreement with its largest union on contract concessions, according to an official announcement reported by CNN.com.

The newspaper's publisher, Heasrt Corp., recently told staff that unless it could begin to drastically cut costs, the newspaper would have to be sold or closed. This would leave San Francisco as the largest U.S. city without a daily paper, and see the Chronicle as the oldest casualty of the economic and industry crisis.

MRI doubles participants in readership survey

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 10, 2009 at 6:15 AM

In order to allow marketers to ascertain the reach of specific marketing campaigns and their success in making contact with targeted demographics, Mediamark Research and Intelligence has doubled the number of people surveyed in their issue-specific magazine readership survey, reports Media Daily News.

MRI's research will yield more detailed and frequent data than its usual bi-annual overall survey of consumer magazines. Critiques say the decision to boost the number of participants is in response to clients who complained that the study wasn't large enough to produce the detailed data required by advertising clients.

New travel magazine will launch in September

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 10, 2009 at 5:24 AM

The San Francisco based travel magazine, Afar, is set to launch in September, reports Media Daily News. The magazine aims to "inspire and guide those who travel the world seeking to connect with its people, experience their cultures, and understand their perspectives."

The bi-monthly print edition will be coupled with the online site afar.com. An initial rate base of 50,000 has been planned for the magazines first two issues, increasing to 100,000 by 2010.

John Sheehy, the former COO of Weider Publishing, will act as president and publisher for Afar Media. Claude Girard, former vice-president of integrated sales for Hachette, has been named executive director of travel, according to Media Daily News.

Study: Privacy a concern for 80% of online users

Posted by Simon Day on March 9, 2009 at 3:33 PM

Of more than 4,000 online users, 80.1 percent said they are concerned with the privacy of their personal information while using the Web, according to a Burst Media study published today. The survey was designed to understand the affect of online privacy on surfers and the its subsequent effect on advertisers.

Respondents to the survey cited concern over the privacy and the subsequent use of personal information including age, gender, income and online habits. The survey also showed the level of concern increased with the user's age. Sixty-seven percent of respondents aged 18-24 listed privacy concerns, this increased to 85.7 percent for those aged over 55, Burst Media reported.

McClatchy to restructure, cut 1,600 employees

Posted by Simon Day on March 9, 2009 at 3:06 PM

Early this year amid a US$21.7 million fourth quarter loss, declining revenue and an economy that has shown no signs of improvement, newspaper publishing firm McClatchy announced it was creating a scheme to reduce costs. Today the company revealed the details of this restructuring scheme, which includes job losses, pay cuts and bonus cancellations, according to a company press release.

Today the company announced that 1,600 full-time employees will be made redundant as the company plans to cut around 15 percent of its workforce. The staff cuts will begin at the end of the first economic quarter of 2009 and will occur through severance plans, amalgamation of the company functions and outsourcing of some of the business roles. This will come at an expected cost of $30 million in severance payouts.

South African newspapers launch new online platform

Posted by Simon Day on March 9, 2009 at 2:37 PM

Two of South Africa's most popular newspapers, The Herald and its sister paper the Weekend Post, today launched a new, dual entry online platform, reported The Herald, the country's oldest newspaper.

The papers, both published by Avusa Media Group, serve the Southern and Eastern Cape areas and are focusing on a user-friendly, interactive and dynamic online newspaper experience.

French Sunday paper unveils Saturday edition

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 9, 2009 at 11:32 AM

French Sunday paper Le Journal du Dimanche introduced a Saturday edition on Saturday, March 7, available in Paris as well as a handful of surrounding cities, Le Monde reported Friday.

Editor Christian de Villeneuve told Le Monde that the decision to launch a Saturday edition is because "Saturday is a big shopping day when a lot of consumers come in contact with newspapers, whether in newsstands or shopping centres."

The Sunday edition will continue to be published, with 15 of its pages being "refreshed" from the Saturday edition. The printing test will run until June 27 and will be adopted permanently pending positive results.

Italian journalists strike in response to job cuts

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 9, 2009 at 9:38 AM

Journalists at Italian newspaper L'Unita went on strike last week after the nearly bankrupt paper announced a restructuring plan that would result in a "drastic" staff cut, the staff stated on the newspaper's Web site, AFP reported last week.

Along with job cuts, the plan details the implementation of early retirement plans, cutting pay by up to 40 percent and not renewing short-term contracts. Other modifications included in the plan would result in the closure of regional offices and a reduction in the number of pages of the newspaper. The strike lasted from last Tuesday through today, according to Le Monde.

U.S. judge allows reporters to Twitter from court

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 9, 2009 at 8:50 AM

Usage of Twitter by the media continues to expand, and most recently was ruled legal by a Kansas court. In Wichita, District Judge Thomas Marten approved the use of the micro-blogging site in his courtroom by Wichita Eagle reporter Ron Sylvester, All Headlines News reported Monday.

Marten granted Sylvester the right to use Twitter to provide up-to-the-minute information regarding the racketeering gang trial he is covering. Attorneys involved in the court proceedings have expressed apprehension regarding the potential influence on the jurors that Sylvester's posts could have. However, Marten reminded jurors they are to avoid all media coverage of the trial throughout its duration, micro-blogs included.

In other Twitter news, UK broadcaster Sky News has added a so-called Twitter correspondent, while Facebook is adopting real time, Twitter-like updates, Editors Weblog reported Monday.

South Korea leads in broadband penetration

Posted by Erina Lin on March 6, 2009 at 2:16 PM

South Korea leads in broadband penetration, with more than 50 percent reach in 2005, according to ITU Information Society Statistics Database. It even beats Hong Kong and Japan, which each have more than 30 percent reach, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2008 reported.

In almost half of the countries surveyed, DSL takes up the biggest part of the broadband market, while in some tech-advanced countries such as South Korea, Japan and Italy, mobile broadband is even bigger.

MediaNews Group tests printing scheme

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 6, 2009 at 12:39 PM

U.S. newspaper company MediaNews Group is testing a specially-developed home printer which could potentially be used for reduced printing and delivery, Bill Mitchell reported on Poynter Online. The Los Angeles Daily News, along with San Jose's Mercury News and The Denver Post, plan to conduct tests of the new printer.

MediaNews' paper The Detroit News is set to eliminate delivery four days a week starting the end of March. MediaNews exec Mark Winkler explained the decision, telling The Denver Post that the company's biggest expense is printing and delivering the paper, therefore "eliminating it four days a week would be significant." Winkler noted that 65 to 70 percent of the paper's revenues are from sales on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, which is why printing will continue on those days.

Home printing is just one of the alternatives to home delivery, MediaNews Group suggested, as customised news can also be sent to computers or cell phones.

WPP: 'Traditional media' ads to make comeback

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 6, 2009 at 12:30 PM

WPP, the world's second largest advertising and marketing company, will likely see revenues drop 2 percent by the end of 2009, CEO Sir Martin Sorrell said, Telegraph.co.uk reported Friday. Sorrell said he also believes "traditional media" advertising will make a comeback, as low ad prices have caused newspaper, TV and radio to look more inviting.

However, even though the company reported good results in 2008, it announced it will cut 2,000 jobs in offices around the world due to the impending income decrease in 2009. WPP owns Hill & Knowlton, Taylor Nelson Sofres and Ogilvy and Mather.

College newspapers suffer from weak ad revenue

Posted by Simon Day on March 6, 2009 at 12:28 PM

College newspapers across the United States are facing similar declines in advertising revenue and cost cutting measures as professional publications, USA Today reported Friday.

Newspapers at universities have traditionally relied on national, local and college sponsored advertising for income. This year all three categories have reduced their spending, according to Andrew Sawyer, the vice president of the youth orientated advertising agency Alloy Media and Marketing.

Crain Communications closes FinancialWeek.com

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 6, 2009 at 12:24 PM

Two days after closing its trade publication RCR Wireless, Crain Communications announced it will shut down FinancialWeek.com as well as fold European magazines Business Insurance Europe and Automotive News report, paidContent.org reported Thursday.

Crain Chairman Keith Crain stated in a memo published by Talking Biz News that the ailing economy has "dried up business for these titles and forced these actions," as there is not enough advertising to make Financial Week "viable," even online-only.

The closures will result in an undisclosed number of job cuts, following more than 50 layoffs by the company in December.

Metro Belgium launches weekend edition

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 6, 2009 at 12:06 PM

Metro Belgium on Friday launched a glossy luxury magazine, Newspaper Innovation reported. The magazine will be published in both Dutch and French.

The free weekly is one of a series of launches by Metro Belgium. The magazine, which is devoted fashion this week, is distributed Friday afternoon and found in the same bins as the free daily newspaper.

YouTube, Universal discussing music video site

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 6, 2009 at 12:00 PM

Video sharing site YouTube is in talks with Universal Music Group to launch a music Web site, "two people familiar with the situation" told The Los Angeles Times.

If a new partnership is created, Google-owned YouTube would be the technology provider for ads to go with music videos. However, a joint venture between YouTube and Vivendi's Universal is not on the cards, one of the sources told the LA Times. The talks were initiated as early as last year.

Insurance group launches liability protection for wider range of media

Posted by Simon Day on March 6, 2009 at 11:58 AM

The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies has launched MediaGuard, an errors and omissions liability insurance, in attempt to accommodate the growing mediums through which media distributes information, according to a MarketWire press release, posted by MSNBC. The insurance will be available in the United States and Canada and provides financial protection against a number of media specific vulnerabilities.

The insurance targets broadcasters, publishers, film producers, advertisers and advertising agencies. The policy covers third party liability against defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright and trademark infringement, misappropriation and advertising errors and omissions. It includes clauses for news media and multimedia errors and omissions, producers errors and omissions, Internet liability and news media subpoena defense costs.

2008 third year with 100 million new GSM mobile connections

Posted by Simon Day on March 6, 2009 at 11:56 AM

GSM-HSPA technology has continued to penetrate throughout the western hemisphere, with more than 100 million new connections in 2008, the third year in a row the figure has been surpassed, a 3G Americas report revealed.

North America, Latin America and the Caribbean dominate the market share. With 525 million subscriptions in the region, the Americas account for 70 percent of GSM users worldwide, according to Informa Telecoms & Media statistics. GSM-HSPA stands for Global System for Mobile Communications-High Speed Packet Access.

Swiss Publishers announce 'strategic rapprochement'

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 5, 2009 at 5:00 PM

Swiss publishers Edipresse and Tamedia announced they will implement a "strategic rapprochement," followthemedia.com reported. The first phase of the strategy consists of Tamedia buying 49.9 percent of Edipresse Swiss holdings, followed by 0.2% more in the coming years.

The move is in keeping with Tamedia's recent trend of buying various media companies, extending its reach into the radio and online industry.

Layoffs continue, but media is not hardest hit

Posted by Simon Day on March 5, 2009 at 4:41 PM

While media company job losses for the first two months of 2009 sit at 7,453 in the United States, and Sony Pictures prepares to cut another 300, media is not nearly the most affected U.S. industry by the global recession, according to a Thursday Hollywood Reporter article.

Based on jobs loss data from a report by consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the retail and automotive industry has suffered the most at the hands of the economic crisis. Retailers have cut 72,727 staff and the automotive industry has slashed 70,058 jobs, according to the article by Hollywood Reporter, posted by Reuters.

The Challenger report analysed 25 different industries. In 2008, with 28,083 job losses, the media sector had the 14th most lay offs. The 2008 figure for January and February of last year was 5,544, which is 34 percent lower than the first two months of this year.

Canada refuses more foreign involvement in media

Posted by Simon Day on March 5, 2009 at 4:39 PM

Despite the media sector's ongoing struggle with the global recession, the Canadian government has no plans to unfasten restrictions on foreign control of media groups, according to Minister of Industry Tony Clement, Reuters UK reported Wednesday.

While a parliamentary bill loosening laws on foreign ownership in the airline and uranium industries has reached Ottawa, the media sector is not expected to see similar changes.

Community newspapers coping better than larger peers

Posted by Simon Day on March 5, 2009 at 4:32 PM

Although suffering from the stagnant economy, community newspapers are faring better than the rest of the industry, according to data from Suburban Newspapers of America and the National Newspaper Association. While advertising revenue for community papers in the fourth quarter of 2008 was down 6.6 percent from a year ago at US$428.7 million, this is against an industry wide decline of 21 percent for the same period, with many larger companies revealing even larger figures.

This result comes as community newspapers had less significant declines across all financial quarters last year. SNA reported declines of 2.7 percent for the first quarter of 2008 against the same quarter of 2007; a decline of 2.4 percent for the second quarter and a decline of 1.7 percent for the third for community papers. Industry wide figures for the same economic period sat at much higher levels according to NAA figures of 12.85 percent, 15.11 percent and 18.11 percent for the respective three quarters.

Next Media to launch two TV stations in Taiwan

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 5, 2009 at 4:13 PM

The publisher of the Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily announced it will launch two television stations in Taiwan next year, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Next Media Ltd., based in Hong Kong, will allocate about US$200 million for the stations, and expect them to become profitable within two years after they launch, Chairman Jimmy Lai told Bloomberg.

FT staff to protest job cuts

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 5, 2009 at 3:48 PM

In light of the 11 percent rise in profits at the Financial Times in 2008, FT staff will announced they would hold a strike ballot in protest of 80 job cuts and a pay freeze Media Guardian reported Wednesday. The staff also said on Thursday they would discuss the matter in person with Marjorie Scardino, CEO of FT's parent company, Pearson.

Shareholder dividends are up 7 percent, yet employees are taking pay cuts, said David Crouch, acting father of the FT's chapel for the National Union of Journalists. "Does Pearson value its staff less than its shareholders? If staff are being asked to share pain, why are shareholders not included?" he wrote to the FT's managing editor, Dan Bogler.

E-commerce growth to increase when economy improves

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 5, 2009 at 2:59 PM

U.S. retail commerce will fall to US$133 billion in 2009, registering a 0.4% decline, before improving along with the economy, eMarketer Senior Analyst Jeffrey Grau predicted Thursday.

However, by 2012, e-commerce will likely decline, as online buyers grow and close in on saturation point, he wrote. Using U.S. Department of Commerce figures, e-commerce sales increased 4.6% in 2008, with most increases recorded in Q1 and Q2, before nose-diving in Q3, eMarketer reported.

CBS and CNN will not merge news operations

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 5, 2009 at 12:59 PM

CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves said the company will not merge its news operations with Time Warner's CNN. Although CBS Corp. is open to collaborations with CNN, he said that nothing manageable has emerged from multiple discussions, Broadcasting & Cable reported Monday.

Time Warner has also discussed a partnership with rival broadcast network ABC, he said.

New York Times makes archives accessible to Web designers

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 5, 2009 at 12:14 PM

The New York Times has announced it will make its 2.8 million articles published since 1981 available to outside Web developers to use on their own sites, Poynter Online reported last week. The results of such searches will contribute to the content of the developers' sites as well as the spread of The Times journalism and influence on the Web reports.

The API allows Web developers to search archives by section, article title, byline, and publication date among other categories, in order to create customised catalogues of information. Sites could then synthesise the data into visual representations and references to news stories.

Taiwan afternoon title to launch online edition

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 5, 2009 at 11:01 AM

The Taiwanese newspaper Formosa Post will launch an online version in early July, the Taipei Times reported Monday. The decision to launch an online version rather than print is in response to the financial difficulties that plagued the intended launch of the print edition. Former vice president Annette Lu says she plans to initiate the electronic version of her paper, which will eventually be followed by a weekend paper edition.

Lu said she hopes to raise NT$600 million (US$17.14 million) to establish the company on March 22.

McClatchy doubtful over $5.3 million owed by newspapers

Posted by Simon Day on March 4, 2009 at 5:38 PM

Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co. is doubtful its will recover US$5.3 million owed for newspapers it sold to companies who have recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Although not revealing the identity of the debtors, three newspapers formerly owned by McClatchy have filed for Chapter 11 protection this year. These are the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, both owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings, and the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, run by Avista Capital Partners.

Coming soon: Twitter ads

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 4, 2009 at 11:35 AM

Micro-blogging site Twitter will soon enable users to embed text ads at the end of their tweets, thanks to a partnership between Twitter and ad sharing network Adjix, BizReport reported Wednesday.

Twitter users choosing to display ads will be referred to as "linkers," and will be able to earn ad revenue on the ads they run. This will also help advertisers reach target audiences.

Philadelphia Media to combine Daily News with Inquirer

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 4, 2009 at 10:31 AM

The Philadelphia Daily News will become an edition of the Inquirer beginning March 30, Editor & Publisher reported Monday. Philadelphia Media Holdings owns both titles, and decided to combine them, rather than fold the smaller Daily News.

CEO Brian Tierney said the decision should yield savings on wire service fees as well as increased advertisement revenues without requiring cutbacks in staff.

MediaNews Group Inc. and Adicio form partnership

Posted by Simon Day on March 4, 2009 at 10:29 AM

Adicio, developer of Web-based classified advertising, is to operate online real estate classifieds for 12 of MediaNews Groups Inc. sites, the groups announced Tuesday in a press release. NewsGroup is the fourth largest newspaper company in the United States, serving 1.9 million readers a day across nine daily newspapers.

Adicio is to develop the real estate classifieds for MediaNews group sites: LowellSun.com, Homes in York, TwinCities.com and the Los Angeles Newspaper Group: the Los Angeles Daily News, the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrence Daily Breeze, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, San Bernardino Sun, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, Whittier Daily News, and Redland Daily Facts. The LA newspaper network reaches 2.7 million unique visitors a month.

Genahowski nominated to head FCC

Posted by Simon Day on March 4, 2009 at 9:28 AM

U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Julius Genachowski as the next head of the Federal Communications Commission, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Should he be confirmed, Genachowski will be charged with the transition of the FCC into a higher profile, higher speed era whilst facing some difficulties. He will be in charge of bringing broadband Internet to rural and low income areas within 12 months and smoothing the United States' troubled transition from analog broadcast to digital amidst an economy reluctant to invest in the high tech industry.

United Business Media 2008 results 'resilient'

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 4, 2009 at 9:04 AM

United Business Media announced on Tuesday its results for 2008 were healthy, and the last quarter was "satisfactory and resilient," Media Guardian reported Tuesday.

The UK-based company attributes part of its financial success to cutting 1,000 jobs since June 2007 as well as its decision to distance itself from the weakening print media sector.

Thomson Reuters to launch paid video news service

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 3, 2009 at 6:19 PM

Thomas Reuters plans to launch a broadband video platform this summer for financial services clients such as traders and investors, Reuters reported Monday. The content not supported by advertising would be behind a paid wall, which clients with paid subscriptions would be able to access.

The service will not be live all day, but viewers will be able to select which videos they want to watch on-demand.

Gawker Media relishes despite recession, smaller sites

Posted by Simon Day on March 3, 2009 at 6:18 PM

Despite the global economic crisis and February being a traditionally very slow month for the network, online media company Gawker has fared much better than expected in both revenue and traffic, according to founder and owner Nick Denton's staff memo, paidContent reported. Ad revenues are up by 20 percent on this time last year and online traffic to the company's blogs reached nearly 300 millions views for February, a 34 percent increase from 2008.

This increase is attributed to larger ads and fewer, more concentrated sites. Last year Gawker sold four of its online properties - Gridskipper, Idolator, Wonkette and Consumerist. Operations were also tightened and staff cut at Valleywag, Defamer and Fleshbot sites.

Debate over online content ownership heats up in Australia

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 3, 2009 at 6:17 PM

A conflict is rising between digital media buyers and online publishers following the proposal of new trading terms by GroupM's digital agencies, The Australian reported Monday. The terms and conditions stipulate that all user data yielded by the communication service's online campaigns belongs to the agency or the advertiser and not the publisher, whose site runs the advertisements.

While the new terms have already been agreed to by publishers in the United States, Australian publishers such as Fairfax, News Limited and Ninemsn want access to and control over data created by campaigns running on their Web sites. Among the dissenters, Fairfax plans to change its trading terms to ban advertisers from tagging its audience while Ninemsn is updating its terms to ban ad-tagging unless the advertising has obtained the publisher's written consent.

Yahoo newspaper consortium proving to be profitable

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 3, 2009 at 6:16 PM

Through a partnership with Yahoo, newspaper ad salespeople sell advertising packages to local businesses that let them reach both visitors to the newspapers' Web sites and visitors to Yahoo in that area. After launching in 2006 with 176 daily newspapers, the newspaper consortium is currently close to 800. Newspapers are looking at the numbers, and many, if not most, are seeing the partnership as a positive in an otherwise negative advertising and economic environment, The New York Times reported last week.

However, the alliance is not expected to solve the problems of the newspaper industry or Yahoo, which is not expected to outpace its closest rival Google any time soon.

Martin Agency helps fund employment of laid off staff

Posted by Simon Day on March 3, 2009 at 6:15 PM

Last week, advertising group The Martin Agency, cut 5 percent of its staff, as a result of client cutbacks. However, the 24 redundancies came with a severance payout and a unique offer: Martin Agency is willing to pay potential employers one half of the laid off employee's first month's salary, up to US$4,000, if hired before May, Advertising Age reported.

"We're trying to think creatively about how we can get the employees we let go hired by someone else, and hopefully incent them to get them on their payrolls right away," Beth Rilee-Kelley, partner at Martin and director of human resources, told Advertising Age. "We believe that it's important that if you are faced with a layoff situation, you think of creative ways to help our employees land on their feet."

Reuters analysis: Media will be left to starve as economy strengthens

Posted by Simon Day on March 3, 2009 at 6:13 PM

Once the economy stabilises, the media industry will likely be one of the sectors left to continue suffering, according to an analysis by Chelsea Emery for Reuters UK.

Investors specialising in purchasing debt and the assests of troubled companies are beginning to secure capital and are willing to invest when the economy steadies. However, media companies struggling for survival and desperate for investment are likely to be avoided as investors focus on those industries with obvious growth potential and easily liquidated assets.

Philadelphia newspapers allege secret recording by creditors

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 3, 2009 at 6:00 PM

Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, the owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News, has has filed a request to hire a law firm for "(i)nvestigation of certain incident(s) involving the unauthorized recording of confidential pre-petition meeting(s) between the Debtors and their senior secured lenders," Philly.com reported Tuesday.

Recording of such conversations without the parties' consent is illegal in Philadelphia.

Metro Moscow rebranded by Metro International

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 3, 2009 at 6:00 PM

Beginning this week, free daily Moscow Metro, will hit the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg with an estimated circulation of 700,000, after ending a franchise deal with the owners of the Moscow Mempo in December 2008, Newspaper Innovation reported Sunday.

Metro International will now rebrand the paper as an international Metro edition. Both the Moscow and St. Petersburg editions are accessible online and can also be downloaded from the Metropoint Web site.

Study: Newspaper readership down, despite online increase

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 3, 2009 at 5:58 PM

Growth in online readership is not enough to offset the drop in print readership, the Pew Research Center reported in a study last week.

The report follows Pew's 2008 news media consumption survey in which 39 percent of participants claimed to having read a newspaper (either print or online) the day before, showing a drop from 43 percent in 2006. Meanwhile, readership of print newspapers fell from 34 percent to 25 percent in that time period.

Hearst Corp. to charge for digital content, release e-reader

Posted by Simon Day on March 2, 2009 at 4:40 PM

Hearst Corp., a New York-based print media group, is set to begin charging for some of its newspapers' online content. In a staff memo, President of Newspapers Steven Swartz also outlined further novel approaches to income generation including the development and introduction of an e-reader, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The company has not decided how much content will remain free and how much will go behind a paid wall. "Exactly how much paid content to hold back from our free sites will be a judgment call made daily by our management, whose mission should be to run the best free Web sites in our markets without compromising our ability to get a fair price from consumers for the expensive, unique reporting and writing that we produce each day," Swartz stated in a memo to staff.

Irish News increases circulation, charges online

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 2, 2009 at 4:17 PM

Northern Ireland's Irish News, is one of the few UK newspapers to see an increase in its paid subscription circulation, and the only UK regional to do so in the second half of 2008. Meanwhile, the paper also charges for its online content, Press Gazette reported Monday.

The newspaper's circulation went up by 0.1 percent to 47,819.

Twitter and Facebook at a stalemate

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 2, 2009 at 3:56 PM

Rumours that Facebook tried to buy Twitter are true, but the deal did not go through, as both parties could not agree on price or what the company would look like after the deal, Media Guardian's Jemima Kiss reported in an article posted by paidContent.

Over a year ago, Microsoft's proposal valued Facebook at US$15 billion, while Facebook's valued itself at $3.7 billion. Investor Peter Thiel told BusinessWeek that for the deal to go through, it was necessary to determine the value of Facebook's stock.

Harsh new anti-monopoly law issued for Ethiopian media

Posted by Simon Day on March 2, 2009 at 2:48 PM

The Ethiopian government has passed new laws preventing newspaper and magazine publishers and owners from taking on the role of editor or deputy editor, Kenya's Daily Nation reported Sunday. Under the new regulation, an individual holding more than a 2 percent share of a media house cannot also hold either editorial position.

The new laws are a product of the Ethiopian Broadcasting Association. Initially a regulator of the broadcasting industry, the EBA now legislates for all Ethiopian press.

UK online readership figures reach record highs

Posted by Soraya Kishtwari on March 2, 2009 at 1:30 PM

Non-profit auditing organisation ABCe last week released its official audit figures, placing the Guardian Online at the top of the pack in the United Kingdom.

All of the seven major newspaper Web sites studied showed a significant increase in traffic, with the Guardian.co.uk leading the trend with almost 30 million users during the first month of the year. Events such as the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, U.S. President Barack Obama's inaugural ceremony and the continuing economic depression have been credited for making January a particularly busy news period, in turn, leading to a boost in online news followers.

Kent Messenger may outsource functions, cut more jobs

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 2, 2009 at 12:32 PM

As UK-based Kent Messenger Group enters "phase two" of restructuring plans, in which it may outsource printing, distribution and mailroom, more than 150 jobs will be cut, Press Gazette reported Friday. The first phase of restructuring included cutting 59 jobs, of which 30 were editorial.

As a family owned enterprise for more than 150 years, the recent restructuring results in a break from the company's tradition. Chairwoman Geraldine Allinson said in a statement that the proposal to outsource printing "was a particularly difficult one to make with the company's long and successful history of printing our own titles."

U.S. media mergers and acquisitions down from 2008

Posted by Simon Day on March 2, 2009 at 12:00 PM

After 2008 saw US$150.8 billion in mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. media and entertainment industry, 2009 is predicted to see a significant drop, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers research, The Hollywood Reporter reported Sunday.

Traditionally the entertainment and media industry is one of the more consistently active M&A sectors, despite flailing economic conditions. However, pending mergers and acquisitions as of Dec. 31 were down by more than $90 billion, at $6.7 billion, for the same time a year earlier.

Independent journalists may strike against redundancies

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 2, 2009 at 11:00 AM

Journalists for the Independent and the Independent on Sunday voted to take industrial action in response to proposed layoffs following the Independent News & Media's failure to find enough volunteers for redundancy, Media Guardian reported Friday. In November, INM announced 90 jobs were to be cut, of which 60 would come from editorial staff.

In a vote by members of the National Union of Journalists, 80 percent of more than 150 members were in favour of industrial action and 64 percent supported striking against the proposals. The vote has resulted in a mandatory chapel meeting for union members on Friday March 6, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. - peak production times for the paper.

ASNE cancels annual convention

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 2, 2009 at 10:54 AM

The American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) has decided to cancel its annual convention this year, due to "challenging times," Reuters Blogs reported Friday.

ASNE President Charlotte Hall stated in a memo that "it became increasingly clear in recent weeks that our attendance would be low because editors need to be in their own newsrooms during this difficult time. The board of directors will meet soon to deal with the financial implications of canceling the convention and map strategy for the coming year."

Pearson projects healthy 2009 earnings

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 2, 2009 at 10:29 AM

Excluding potential benefits from its key education business, Pearson, owner of the Financial Times, announced it projects its 2009 earnings will be equal to or more than last year's levels, the Financial Times reported Monday.

The company said it expects U.S. President Barack Obama's stimulus package will aid its U.S. education business, but is not relying on it due to uncertainties over how much it will help.

March 2009 Archives

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