The New York Times Co. reflected the economic difficulties caused by plunging advertising revenues across the newspaper industry by cutting its quarterly dividend by 74 percent from 23 cents to 6 cents a share late Thursday, MarketWatch reported.

The trust for the founding Ochs-Sulzberger family stated that even though the move was “very difficult for all shareholders, it is the appropriate and prudent business response given the extraordinary challenges of the current economic environment.” The slash is one of the company’s actions that serve to “decrease debt” and optimise its liquidity, said Chairman Arthur Sulzberger.

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UK regional newspaper publisher Newsquest has signed up for new Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic (ABCe) six-month certificates. The move will allow the group to release overall Internet traffic numbers for its sites and to also focus on individual figures for larger Web sites such as its Swindon Advertiser and the Lancashire Telegraph, Journalism.co.uk reported Monday.

In the past, the publisher announced its ABCe data in an informal manner. Its unique users/browsers per month added up to an average of 5,124,715. The ABCe figures will now account for daily, weekly and monthly unique users/browsers, an ABCe release reported.

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The Knoxville News Sentinel, of Knoxville, Tennessee, showed off a new design Monday that cuts costs by merging four sections – local, national, sports and features – into two sections, for two editions each week, the Associated Press reported.

Editions on Tuesday through Saturday will still have four sections. However, other standard features are changing, such as stock tables now being available on the newspaper Web site only.

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The Crossroads Journal, a locally owned monthly newspaper in Browns Summit, has just ended all print editions and is now only available online, the Greensboro Telegram reported Sunday.

The tabloid-style newspaper has been printed since 1999, serving U.S. communities in the North Carolina counties of Guilford and Alamance counties.

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French regional newspaper group Dauphine Libere has launched its second free title, a free weekly, in Avignon, Newspaper Innovation reported Tuesday.

AVIGnews.com appeared at the end of October with a circulation of 25,000.

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The New York Post, which has already doubled its newsstand price for weekday editions in May, is now raising its price by 25 cents on the weekend. The paper blamed the increase on "higher production costs," according to a note to readers Friday morning, Portfolio reported.

The Post has invested a lot into its Sunday edition this year, including adding a glossy supplement, Page Six Magazine, and a books and opinions section, PostScript.

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Bhutan Today, the first daily newspaper in Bhutan, was launched Thursday as an eight-page morning newspaper. It is part of the small Himalayan country's plan to create a free press, and will be delivered across the country's mostly remote regions on horseback and on foot, Reuters reported.

It may take up to a week to reach different parts of the country, as the country's roads are largely undeveloped. Bhutan Today's cover price is about 10 cents, or five ngultrum.

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Northcliffe Media Group, the regional newspaper arm of publishing group Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT), announced that it is slashing its operating divisions in half, the Guardian reported Tuesday.

The group will combine its six regional divisions into three larger ones, Midlands and North, South West and Wales, and South East.

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The Christian Science Monitor will stop publishing its print newspaper next year after 100 years of publication to focus on its Web site and a weekly news magazine, which it plans to launch in April 2009, the publication announced Tuesday. The move is expected to save the paper US$1.5 million to $2 million a year.

The Boston-based newspaper has been considering closing down its print edition for about two years, and made the decision this month. The Monitor will be the first national U.S. newspaper to close its print version in favour of its Web site, the paper stated in an article on its Web site.

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Standard & Poor's credit rating agency Monday lowered its Washington Post Co. ratings outlook from "stable" to "negative," pointing out concerns over continued downturns in circulation and ad revenue in newspaper and magazine divisions, the Washington Post reported.

Though rating the Post Co.'s long-term debt as A1, Moody's also downgraded the company's ratings outlook from stable to negative.

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The New York Times Company's profits dropped 51.4 percent in the third quarter of 2008 compared to the same time last year, the company announced, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The U.S. publisher stated will write down the value of its assets in its New England Media Group, and may also cut its dividend. Janet Robinson, company's chief executive, said in a statement that the board of directors will go over the current dividend policy before the end of 2008 “to determine what is most prudent in light of the overall market conditions.”

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McClatchy revenue for July through September dropped 16.4 percent year-on-year to US$451.6 million, according to a company announcement Tuesday.

Total ad revenue declined 19 percent to $370.1 million. Total net income from continuing operations totaled $4.2 million, Media Post reported.

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The India-based Tribune has launched its sixth new edition in five years with the unveiling of its Dehradun edition Monday, Exchange4Media.com reported Tuesday.

The Dehradun edition is printed in Chandigarh. Previously, new editions appeared in Jalandhar, Bhatinda, Jammu, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

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A French-language newspaper has launched in Vanuatu and New Caledonia, Radio Australia reported Monday.

L'Hebdo Du Vanuatu will be published by the area's newspaper, the Daily Post.

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To deal with the current media environment and its impact on newspapers, publishers should prepare themselves for a hurricane, Force 5, Verdens Gang (VG) CEO Torry Pederson said at the annual Readership Conference of the World Association of Newspapers in Amsterdam Friday. Pederson also talked about how to manage the company’s profits in such a tough times.

VG’s print circulation has dropped over 20 percent since 2002. However, profit increased from 270 million Norwegian krone (€31 million) to 365 million krone (€41 million).

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