Shaping the Future of the Newspaper Blog - Ownership and Regulations

Monster's HotJobs buy may move 200 newspapers out of Yahoo's consortium

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:57:55 -0600

MonsterWorldwide has made a deal to acquire Yahoo's HotJobs, a competing recruiting site, which could mean up to 200 of the 800 newspapers Yahoo works with will be cut out of Yahoo's Newspaper Consortium, Editor & Publisher reported today. Yahoo is receiving US$225 million in cash for the purchase.

When members join the consortium, they can choose one of two contracts - one for the display side, which includes search and display advertising, content distribution and its APT ad platform, or the other, which includes recruitment ads through HotJobs, according to paidContent. Six-hundred of the 800 consortium members have the HotJobs contract, while about 200 smaller newspapers rely on the group's recruitment services for job ads revenue.

Pearson buys macroeconomic intelligence firm Medley Global Advisors

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:59:00 -0600

UK publisher Pearson PLC announced Wednesday it has bought Medley Global Advisors, which advises hedge funds, investment banks and asset managers, as it aims to focus on subscriptions over advertising, Reuters reported.

Pearson, which publishes the Financial Times, is looking to diversify its business model. In 2008, it bought an online news and discussion service aimed at fund managers called Money-Media, for example. It has also bought several data providers, such as MergerMarket, to cut down on reliance on print and advertising for revenues, according to the Daily Mail.

WPP chief executive: Governments might prop up media

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:58:30 -0600

Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of marketing group WPP, said governments might need to subsidise newspapers such as the Guardian, if they continue losing money and reach a point that could terminate their businesses, Media Guardian reported.

Sorrell said in an interview with Arabian Business that "governments probably have to decide whether consolidation and media titles going out of business is the right thing from an editorial point of view... The electorate is going to say whether they believe there should be more subsidies for traditional media."

CBN: Google China online ad sales drops on exit plan

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:56:55 -0600

Google's plan to review its operations in China has caused a decline in online advertising orders this month, Bloomberg reported.

An unidentified external sales agent for Google said new orders from advertisers have dropped about 50 percent after Google released the possible exit plan, as customers are concerned about the uncertainty of the Internet company's operations in China.

French Publishers Association continues battle with Google

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:48:38 -0600

The French Publishers Association (SNE, Syndicat National de l'Edition) is going forth with its battle against search engine giant Google, which has been publishing numerous books online in violation of copyright laws, Le Figaro reported Wednesday.

Last month, the SNE and publishing group La Martinière celebrated a "big victory against the American giant" when a judge ruled in their favour on December 18, said SNE President Serge Eyrolles. The case will be transferred to American Judge Denny Chin before January 28.

Chinese government: 'No exception' for Google

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:09:22 -0600

Following Google's announcement last week that it may leave China, the Chinese government has fired back, calling Google's action a "corporate maneuver," paidContent reported.

According to a statement by Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu, "there is no exception for Google" in observing China's laws and shouldering its social responsibilities, China Daily, a state-run publication, reported. "Foreign companies in China should respect the laws and regulations, respect the public interest of Chinese people and China's culture and customs and shoulder due social responsibilities."

Canwest may have buyers for three bankrupt newspapers

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:02:42 -0600

Core newspapers in Canwest Global Communications Corp.'s bankrupt newspaper unit have piqued the interest of bidders, the Financial Post reported yesterday. Following the newspaper chain's bankruptcy filing, secured lenders are selling off the newspapers or, if that should fail, may spin the division out into an independent public company, according to FP.

Expected to bid on the Montreal Gazette, the National Post and the Ottawa Citizen is a group headed up by Jerry Grafstein, a former Canadian senator. The group also includes Ray Heard, a former media executive, and Beryl Wajsman, owner of community newspapers, The Globe and Mail reported.

Google stands up to China

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:59:05 -0600

Google announced on Tuesday it is rethinking how it does business in China, following the breach of Gmail accounts belonging to Chinese human rights activists. The "highly sophisticated" cyber attacks originated from within China.

"These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered - combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web - have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China," David Drummond, senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer of Google stated in a Google blog post.

Legislation could exempt search engines from UK copyright infringement

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:01:49 -0600

Amendments tabled to the Digital Economy Bill by Lord Lucas could protect search engines from copyright liability in the United Kingdom, PressGazette reported yesterday. However, this would not apply to content on a Web site that used technology to block crawlers, such as robots.txt.

"Brilliant. Immediately all of the rows and back-and-forth between ill-advised newspapers and publishers is given a clear legal footing. It would be legal to be a search engine, and you can tell them to keep out if you wish. A few sentences saves millions of pounds of court costs and clears the headaches of everyone involved," Ian Douglas wrote for Telegraph.co.uk.

CanWest CEO tried to halt sale of newspapers

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:56:10 -0600

As court documents have been filed, details of arguments between Canada's largest newspaper company and the group's secured lenders have emerged, The Toronto Star reported today. According to these documents, it appears the CEO of Canwest Global Communications Corp. and CanWest Media, Inc. was asking lenders for more time, noting a stabilising economic outlook.

Leonard Asper also wrote that he "profoundly disagrees" with the lenders' move to push CanWest LP (which holds the company's major newspapers) into an "early filing," which could cost the newspaper group as much as C$45 million in fees that would go to "advisory groups that are driving the process." He also asked for six months to find a plan that would be best employees, suppliers and unsecured lenders.

Investors ask FCC to ease media ownership rules

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:26:04 -0600

Investment representatives told the U.S. Federal Communications Commission today at a workshop that media ownership rules should be relaxed to allow owners to consolidate and draw funds to the industry, the Wall Street Journal reported.

FCC officials are discussing what should be done to help newspapers, as well as TV and radio stations, as advertising dollars continue to migrate to digital. The workshop is one in a series the FCC is holding with media.

Dubai to leverage more control with new media office

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:15:20 -0600

In an attempt to more tightly control its image following news of Dubai's US$26 billion debt, the Gulf Arab emirate's leader has established a new media office to handle all government-related media, Reuters reported Sunday.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum has announced a new law "to establish Dubai Media Office, which will be annexed to the ruler's court," and handle all media relations for the ruler, crown prince and government officials, by combining existing government public relations units: Dubai Press Club, Falcon & Associates and Brand Dubai, according to a statement.

CanWest's newspaper group files for bankruptcy

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:00:02 -0600

CanWest Global Communications, Canada's largest media group has put its newspaper division under bankruptcy protection while it searches for a buyer for the group, the BBC reported today. The division includes 10 dailies and 26 community papers, including the Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun and Calgary Herald.

The group is C$1.3 billion in debt. Lenders led by five of the largest banks in Canada have taken over ownership of the titles, and announced today that "substantially all" of the 5,300 newspaper employees will be kept on, according to The Globe and Mail.

Currently there are "no obvious buyers," but because CanWest has integrated its publishing arm so fully, "piecemeal sales" would be unlikely, The New York Times reported.

Hyperlocal media becoming popular M&A targets

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:16:44 -0600

Today's media industry has been shuffling, while traditional print is facing challenges, Web sites that report news and also carry content in the neighborhoud, or "hyperlocal" level, are prosperous, and becoming major M&A targets, The Deal reported.

Google Inc., in December, tried a US$550 million bid to buy Yelp Inc., a user-generated review site, though it failed. In 2009, MSNBC.com purchased EveryBlock.com for undisclosed terms, while AOL Inc. bought Patch Media Corp. and Going Inc.

Apple buys mobile ad network Quattro Wireless

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:24:01 -0600

On Tuesday technology giant Apple acquired mobile advertising company Quattro Wireless for almost US$300 million, "according to a person briefed in the deal," The New York Times reported. The venture is expected to spark more competition between Apple and Google, which recently acquired mobile ad firm AdMob, itself Quattro's rival.

Analysts say Apple may be more interested in apps than ads, making the iPhone the best device for applications to be built for, rather than focusing on ad revenue, The Times pointed out. Piper Jaffray Senior Research Analyst Gene Munster told The Times that 80 percent of three billion downloads from Apple's App Store are free and that an opportunity to sell ads may aid developers in making money.