Management

Wednesday 20 August 2008

Murdoch’s salary down by 14% since last year

News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch earned US$27.5 million in the past fiscal year, which ended on June 30 – a 14 percent pay cut from the $32 million he earned in 2007, Gipp.ru reported Wednesday.

Murdoch’s base salary is currently $8.1 million, but his cash bonuses surged to $17.5 million, as opposed to last year’s $15.8 million, according to an article posted by Brand Republic Wednesday.

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Tuesday 5 August 2008

Newspaper Consortium names executive director

Longtime Tribune Co. veteran Michael A. Silver will be the first executive director of the Newspaper Consortium, a joint venture between 30 newspaper companies and Yahoo!, MarketWatch reported Monday.

Silver will report to the Consortium's Board of Directors and Executive Committee to “begin developing new opportunities for the Consortium across the digital media landscape, as well as to grow the Consortium's existing relationship with Yahoo across content and advertising,” the announcement stated, Editor & Publisher reported.

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Monday 28 July 2008

Kerry Stokes pursues shareholding in West Australian Newspapers

Media giant Kerry Stokes' Seven Network spent AU$ 41 million on Thursday to invade West Australian Newspapers' (WAN) share register. The firm's stake in WAN rose from 19.4 percent to 22.4 percent, the Herald Sun reported Friday.

An anonymous media analyst predicted that Seven will continue "creeping up WAN's share register" instead of proposing a "full-blown takeover offer," according to the Herald Sun.

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Tuesday 15 July 2008

Top management leave Tribune Co. newspapers

Chicago Tribune Editor Ann Marie Lipinski on Monday announced her resignation from the newspaper, which she called “the love of my life,” 30 summers after she started at the Tribune for a summer internship. Los Angeles Times Publisher David D. Hiller also resigned Monday, after presiding over plans for the largest staff and production cuts, as well as resignation of two editors.

The departure of the two Tribune Co. key players comes amid the largest advertising revenue decline in history, as well as sales and huge cutbacks across Tribune Co. newspapers.

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Thursday 3 July 2008

French online-only news site gets new investors

Over one year after being launched, French online-only news site Rue89 increased its capital by acquiring new investors, such as Verdoso Media and Hi-Media.

This venture may allow Rue89 to evolve and to proceed with its status as an independent news agency, according to the company's press release.

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Friday 13 June 2008

O'Brien's INM board revolt fails

Denis O'Brien has failed to block Independent News and Media board resolutions, The Australian reported Thursday.

Following an annual meeting Wednesday, the rebel investor failed to attract shareholders to support his attempt to block all board resolutions, and votes against proposals ranged from 22 percent to 37 percent.

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Thursday 12 June 2008

New York Times hires new About Group chief

The New York Times has appointed Cella M. Irvine as chief executive of the About Group, the newspaper reported Thursday.

The appointment was announced Wednesday, and will be effective July 28. The About Group includes information and advice site About.com.

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Tuesday 10 June 2008

News International may cut managing director positions

News International may cut managing director roles across its newspapers, which could lead to mergers in the future, Brand Republic reported Tuesday.

It is thought that James Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation Europe & Asia, is looking at possibly creating three separate units across Times Media and News Group Newspaper, creating commercial digital and operations divisions.

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Friday 6 June 2008

NYSE warns Media General to replace member

Media General Inc. has received a warning from NYSE Regulation Inc., because its independent audit committee is short one member, following its April board of directors election, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported Friday.

Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange must have three independent members on their audit committees. Media General lost a member when three of the company's supported members were not re-elected, and shareholders instead elected three Harbinger Capital Partners candidates.

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Thursday 5 June 2008

Washington Post launches new unit to develop Web-based magazines

The Washington Post Co. Wednesday announced that it is launching a new unit to produce and run a family of Web-based magazines, Reuters reported.

According to a company statement, the Slate Group is planning to embark in other new media ventures, which it develops on its own or through acquisitions.

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Wednesday 4 June 2008

New president and publisher named for Fort Collins Coloradoan

Kim Roegner, display advertising director of The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., has been appointed president and publisher of the Fort Collins Coloradoan, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

According to Bob Dickey, president of U.S. Community Publishing for Gannett Co. Inc., which owns of the Coloradoan and other 84 papers in the country, “Kim has shown great leadership in all of her roles. She will do an excellent job as president and publisher at the Fort Collins Coloradoan.”

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Monday 2 June 2008

The Aberdeen Independent closes after 12 years

The Aberdeen Independent decided to shut down after 12 years, HoldtheFrontPage.co.uk reported Monday.

The management at the Scottish weekly still hopes to find a buyer, although several tries in the past month were unsuccessful.

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Wednesday 21 May 2008

Murdoch appoints new Journal managing editor

Robert Thomson, former Times editor, was appointed managing editor of the Wall Street Journal Tuesday night, the Guardian reported Wednesday.

Thomson will have the top editorial position at the Journal and he will be replacing Marcus Brauchli, who quit in April over disapproval over the rapid changes taking place following Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation's US$5.2 billion takeover of the paper in December.

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Wednesday 14 May 2008

Johnston Press plans to raise £250 million

British regional newspaper group Johnston Press unveiled plans to raise more than £250 million to fight against falling advertising revenues, partly through issuing new cut-price shares, the Guardian reported Wednesday.

The publisher, which owns more than 300 regional and local papers, including the Scotsman, the Yorkshire Post and the Sheffield Star, hopes to raise £212.3 million through a deeply discounted rights issue.

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Friday 9 May 2008

Sun-Times Media to be delisted from NYSE

The Sun-Times Media Group said Wednesday its shares are expected to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange because its price doesn't meet the minimum, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and other newspapers in the area disclosed in late March that the NYSE had notified it that its shares were in danger of being delisted.

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