Plain Dealer to cut pages, sections

The Plain Dealer of Cleveland, Ohio, is cutting an average of 32 pages per week and eliminating four stand-alone sections, including Monday Business, said Managing Editor Debra Adams Simmons.
She said the page cuts would be different on different days but that the end goal was to reduce the weekly page counts.
The paper will also reduce its daily two-page opinion section to one page but will increase the Sunday opinion pages by two pages.
The changes were rolled out to subscribers in a two-page guide distributed with the paper on Sunday.
For an article with further comments by Simmons, click here.

ABC's new college progam

Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication is one of five schools that will host an ABC News multimedia bureau next September.
The company is launching ABC News on Campus, a partnership with top journalism schools across the country to educate and mentor talented college students.
The Redwood City Daily News recently interviewed Mark Lodato, the News Director and a Professor of Practice at ASU, to talk about the new program.
To read the interview click here.

Gannett reorganizes, loses two execs

Gannett Co. Inc. announced on Friday that it would be reorganizing its newspaper division, the U.S. Community Publishing Division, by reducing its number of regional divisions from five to four and will not be replacing two retiring executives, according to Editor and Publisher.
Senior Group President Barbara A. Henry, published of the Indianapolis Star, will run the new Interstate division until Aug. 1 when she retires. Denise H. Ivey will retire on Jan. 1. She is a group president of the Mid-South Group and president and publisher of The Courier-Journal of Louisville, KY.
For more information on the reorganization read here.

Augusta biz editor moves to PR

Damon Cline, the business editor of The Augusta Chronicle, is leaving the newspaper to become a public information specialist at the Medical College of Georgia’s Division of University Advancement, Office of Strategic Communications.
The decision to leave the newspaper was not an easy one for Cline, who has wanted to be a journalists since he was a child. His parents wanted him to be a welder, but he instead followed his heart.
Cline says his new job will involve important work. He will focus on publications for an institution that is, "not only crucial to the economy of the Augusta metro area but also crucial to future of health care throughout the region." In his column, "Scuttlebiz," he thanks readers and bids farewell.

"My favorite assignment, without a doubt, has been covering business news for The Augusta Chronicle during the past decade. Ten years is not long compared to many journalism careers – there are people who sit less than 50 feet from me who have been in the business nearly a half-century – but it is the longest tenure of any business reporter/editor in modern history at The Chronicle, a publication known as “The South’s Oldest Newspaper.”

The next crop of business journalists is ready to bring you the local financial news of the day. I leave the business section of this newspaper in the capable hands of senior business reporter Tim Rausch, who will be taking over in the interim while my full-time replacement is sought. Tim’s interim duties also include taking over this column, so, after I am gone, Scuttlebiz will live on."

Gilligan says farewell to Biz Buzz

Since May of 1993, Gregory Gilligan of the Richmod Times-Dispatch, has penned his "Biz Buzz" column, focusing on topics like the openings and closings of stores, the comings and goings of local businesses and the introductions and failures of products and concepts.
Now 15 years later, Gilligan is changing roles to become the paper's deputy business editor. He is passing the torch, and his column, to Louis Llovio who covers retail and advertising.
Today, Gilligan wrote his last column, a farewell note to his loyal readers.

"It has been a great run of columns -- roughly 780 of them. Many times, the news was ahead of the curve, often to the chagrin of those businesses or stores that tried to keep the information quiet. Sniffing out the news was tough at times, but it was fun.
In the past 15 years, I have received countless phone calls, letters and e-mails from readers thanking me for telling them about a new development, a new shop or a nugget of news about a local company or chain. Because my photo has appeared here every week, readers have stopped me in the grocery store, at the mall, in church and even in New York City to tell me how much they enjoy reading the column or to pick my brain."

For more click here.

Could the two big Philly papers share editorial functions?

Editor & Publisher reports that the owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News is exploring the possibility of sharing editorial functions of the two papers' newsrooms, a union official said Thursday.
Henry Holcomb, president of The Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia, said management is looking for ways to save money and improve efficiency. He said owner Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC hoped to avoid more layoffs.
A spokesman for the company didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
For the full story click here.

Lewis joins Dow Jones

Al Lewis, the award-winning editor/columnist, blogger and television commentator for The Denver Post, has joined the Dow Jones Newswires editorial team.
Lewis will begin his new role on June 30. He will write a wide-ranging new business column that offers an unconventional perspective on business, companies and the people who run them.
"Al Lewis will make an impressive addition to our roster of talent," said
Neal Lipschutz, senior vice president and managing editor, Dow Jones
Newswires. "He combines a thorough knowledge of business and finance issues with a personal and entertaining style. We are confident his commentary will provide real value to our customers."
For more click here.

LA Biz TV launches

Los Angeles Business TV, (LosAngelesBTV.com) a resource for companies doing business throughout greater Los Angeles, has launched.
One of the first interviews is with WeHo News founder and editor, Ryan Gierach and its one step toward the site's goal of creating a comprehensive business resource on the Internet.
The site will featurea series of weekly and updated interviews with business owners/managers and entrepreneurs.
For more click here.

Baltimore Sun Media Group to eliminate 100 jobs

The Sun reports that the Baltimore Sun Media Group, which publishes The Sun and community newspapers, will eliminate 100 jobs by early August to cut costs and stay competitive, Publisher Timothy E. Ryan told employees yesterday in an e-mail.
The company said it plans to reduce the 1,400-person work force through voluntary buyouts, layoffs, attrition and by closing open positions.
A majority of the cuts are expected to come from the newsroom.
"In the face of today's tough economy, adapting to consumer trends while maintaining our fiscal strength is proving to be even more difficult, yet even more critical," Ryan said. "By adjusting our business model and redesigning our core publication, we expect to stimulate readership growth and improve our financial performance."
To read more click here.

Possible sale of Tribune and LA Times headquarters

According to reports from the Associated Press, the Tribune Company is exploring the possible sale of its headquarters on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago and buildings in Los Angeles. The company, based in Chicago, said it had asked real estate firms to explore “strategic options for maximizing the value” of Tribune Tower, a Gothic landmark completed in 1925, and Times Mirror Square, the headquarters of The Los Angeles Times.
“Both Tribune Tower and Times Mirror Square are iconic structures, deeply intertwined with the history of this company,” the company’s chairman and chief executive, Sam Zell, told employees in an e-mail message. “But they are also underutilized,” he said, adding, “It’s in our best interests to maximize the value of all our assets.”

Biz editor changes at the NYT

Cision reports that International Herald Tribune business editor Liz Alderman will move to The New York Times as contributing business editor. She will relocate from Paris at the end of July.
Also The Times' deputy business editor Tom Redburn will join the IHT in Paris in July as an assistant managing business editor.
Both editors will work to coordinate international business coverage.

Brauchli finalist for Washington Post position

Marcus Brauchli, former managing editor for The Wall Street Journal, is a finalist for the editor position at The Washington Post. He is one of the two finalists who will succeed editor Len Downie, according to the Columbia Journalism Review. Many are skeptical of the baggage Brauchli would be bringing to the Post after his brief, unhappy and unproductive reign at the Journal after News Corp. took over.
Read more here.

Where have WSJ staffers gone?

It's been a little more than a year since Rupert Murdoch came onto The Wall Street Journal scene and his precence has brought many staffing changes.
The New York Obeserver takes a roll call of where staffers have went in the past 13.5 months.
Included in the mix are five staffers who took jobs at Portfolio magazine and three others who went to The New York Times.
This list comes in the wake of the recent announcement that there would be significant editorial changes at the journal.
Laurie Hays, former deputy managing editor, is heading to Bloomberg; Bill Grueskin, another deputy managing editor, is packing away for Morningside Heights and semi-retirement at the journalism school at Columbia University.
To see the full list of where former WSJ staffers are now working click here.

Study Shows Business Execs Turn to Internet Over Newspapers for Business Coverage

A new study conducted by Forbes.com and Gartner Study reported a 37 percent increase in the number of senior executives who choose Internet sources over newspapers for their primary source of business news. Consumption of newspapers as primary information source is down by 36 percent.
The study also found that C-Level executives are more likely to turn to Web sites rather than read the newspaper before the start of their working day.
For more on the study's findings, click here.

Hearst and Scripps Networks to launch new magazine

Food Network, owned by Scripps Networks, and Hearst Corp. are planning a new magazine that will focus on the cable channel's celebrity chefs and other personalities.
Test issues of the magazine are scheduled to appear this fall. The New York Post's former creative director for Page Six magazine Deirdre Koribanick has been hired to head up the new publication.
For more information read more here.

Monster partners with 19 newspapers

The online job search company Monster has launched co-branded services with 11 daily newspapers and will partner with eight more in the future.
Among the co-branded newspapers are The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Baltimore Examiner and The San Francisco Examiner.
For more information click here.

Dow Jones takeover coverage honored

At this year's Mirror awards, hosted by Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, stories that focused on the takeover of Dow Jones by News Corp. garnered recognition.
Mediabistro reports The New York Times' Joe Nocera won for best commentary. And The New Yorker's Ken Auletta won for best single article for his story titled, "Promises, Promises," a July, 2007 piece that looked at what might become of The Wall Street Journal, if Murdoch's bid was accepted.
The awards are presented to reporters, editors and writers who cover the media.
For more click here.

Is Google falling behind?

When the news came that Tim Russert had passed away, Google News was late with the story by about an hour, citing technical problems.
A story in The New York Times today analyzes if Google has fallen behind as a go-to site for breaking news. The story says, "six years after its start, Google News appears to be stuck in neutral and struggling to keep up with rivals."
“I’ve actually been surprised at how little it has evolved, at least on the surface,” said Dan Gillmor, director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at the journalism school of Arizona State University. “I’m guessing that Google isn’t so sure what to do with it.”
For the full story click here.

Who do you have on speed dial?

Stacy Hanna, a business reporter for the Battle Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, Mich.) shares some of the tips she's learned from covering the business beat.
Hanna started as a business reporter for the paper four years ago and her beat included covering Kellogg Co.
She learned to keep a good calculator at her fingertips and to have someone check her math. She made friends with companies' gatekeepers and to spent hours with small business owners.
But the most valuable lesson she learned during her two-year tenure on the business beat was have Jim Hettinger, the local longtime chief executive officer for economic development group Battle Creek Unlimited, on speed dial.
Having a key source, one who knows the ins and outs of your community can make all the difference for the depth of your coverage.

If there is a business deal brewing or speculation swirling, Hettinger knows about it. More likely, he's smack in the middle of it. Nobody knows more about local economic development than he, and whether or not you care for the presentation, his take generally is spot on.
If your job (as was mine) is to explain to readers the headache-inducing Tax Increment Finance Authority or the Michigan Business Tax — loathsome tasks I've tried to erase from memory — Hettinger's your best bet. Or if you simply want to talk about the Cereal City's dated dependence on Kellogg and the likelihood we'd recover in the wake of its departure, he's your guy

So ask yourself today, who's on your speed dial?
For the full story click here.

Washington Post Editor Leonard Downie Jr. Stepping Down

Leonard Downie Jr. is stepping down from his position as The Washington Post editor after 17 years at the helm. His last day will be Sept. 8.
During Downie's tenure the paper won 25 Pulitzer Prizes and other accolades for high-profile investigations, including one published in spite of objections by President Bush.
Downie will now become a Post Co. vice president at large, a title also given to Ben Bradlee, Downie's predecessor as editor.
"After 44 years, the notion of not working in the newsroom anymore brings a lot of emotions," Downie said in an interview. "I will really miss it . . . At the same time I'm ready to do this, because so much further change now needs to take place at the newspaper and Web site, and someone else should be tackling that."
Some names seen as possible contenders for the Post's top spot include Post Managing Editor Philip Bennett, former Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Marcus Brauchli and Jonathan Landman, a New York Times deputy managing editor.
For more information click here.

Detroit News finance editor wins humor writing award

Who says finance can't be fun? In their annual conference on Saturday in New Orleans, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists awarded The Detroit News Personal Finance Editor Brian J. O'Connor with third place for humor columns in newspapers with more than 100,000 circulation.
Ruth Butler, a columnist and editor at the Grand Rapids Press, judged the contest. In her comments, Butler wrote that O'Connor, "makes finance fun. You're smiling and before you know it a potentially dry subject has become informative and entertaining."
O'Connor's columns run on Saturdays and Tuesdays in the business section of The News. He started writing the column in May of 2005.
Other winners in the category -- humor writing for newspapers with more than 100,000 circulation -- were Bill Ervolino of The Record in Hackensack, N.J., who took second place; and Lynn Yaeger of The Village Voice in New York, who won first place.
For more information on O'Connor's columns, click here.

Sacramento Business Journal redesigns site

Today the Sacramento Business Journal debuted a new home page, which features more print-only stories and photos.
The design change will allow the site to feature more breaking news, special reports and graphics.
A library of 1.7 million stories from American City Business Journals Inc.-owned newspapers, from Seattle to South Florida, will be available soon.
The Sacramento Business Journal was chosen as one of five test markets by American City Business Journals, the parent company of the newspaper, to launch the home page.
To read more click here.

CUNY, Columbia receive grants

The Tow Foundation announced significant grants to two journalism schools in New York City to enhance teaching and research for interactive journalism and new media.
The City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism will receive a $3-million challenge grant to establish the Tow Center for Journalistic Innovation, which will study new business models for journalism and create an incubator to help develop new journalistic products and services using Internet technologies. CUNY will be required to raise $3-million in matching funds.
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism will receive a $5-million challenge grant for curriculum development and new faculty for teaching interactive journalism. Columbia will be required to raise another $10-million on a two-for-one matching basis.
"I have become increasingly worried that the quality of mainstream journalism will decline before the transition is made to the new media formats," says Leonard Tow. "We want to help speed the process of evolution and help prepare the next generation of journalists for a new media environment. These two schools offer different approaches and I am confident that the work of the two centers will be complementary."
For the full release click here.

Thomson Reuters vs. Bloomberg

The New York Times reports that Thomson Reuters is going hard after Bloomberg L.P., which has long been the marquee name on Wall Street for financial information.
The companies are in a dead heat: Thomson Reuters has 34 percent of the market for financial data and Bloomberg 33 percent.
Thomson Reuters is a far larger, more diverse company: its strength is delivering electronic data and services to professionals, including lawyers, doctors and scientists.
It was Bloomberg, however, that defined the market by providing information unmatched in scope by any other company, married to a disciplined and customer-driven culture.
For the full story click here.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution moves features

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is moving around some features that will impact its business section, according to Angela Tuck, the paper’s Public Editor. She writes in her weekly column that Private Quarters, which gives readers an inside look at unique area homes, is moving from the business section to Sunday’s Living section.
Meanwhile, the Horizon page, which features growth and development news and had been running as the Monday business section, will move to Sunday. Also, Maria Saporta’s column will move to the Sunday business section. Tuck’s column did not say what will happen to the Monday business section.
See her column here.

Williams to moderate "Meet the Press"

The New York Times reports that Brian Williams, the anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” will be the moderator of “Meet the Press” this Sunday, taking the place of Tim Russert, who died last Friday.
Williams recently returned from Afghanistan and is being replaced on “Nightly News” for the rest of the week by Ann Curry. NBC News executives have not decided on a permanent replacement for Russert.
For more click here.

CBS plans to franchise 60 Minutes

CBS is looking to franchise its legendary 60 Minutes program with 60 Minutes Global, a new initiative designed to create versions of the show in new countries, and expanding the program’s presence online, according to reports from broadcastingcable.com.
Patti Hassler, currently executive editor of 60 Minutes, will take the helm of the initiative.
“I just really feel strongly that we can do more, and we need to have someone focus on that [expansion],” says Jeff Fager, executive producer of 60 Minutes. “Because of that success we realized that we translate well into so many more places. Every news organization is looking for new platforms and areas to get their content out there.”

WSJ's Hays moves to Bloomberg

Laurie Hays, a veteran news executive who helped manage award-winning reporting teams at The Wall Street Journal during the past decade, will join Bloomberg News as executive editor for company news starting Aug. 4.
In a press release, Matthew Winkler, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, said Hays will bring “exceptional experience in managing beat reporting to our 2,300 journalists in 65 countries."
During her 23-year career at the Journal, Hays was a Moscow-based correspondent, bureau chief in Atlanta and New York, national news editor and, most recently, deputy managing editor for investigative reporting.

USA Today names ad chief

Brett Wilson, former publisher of Money magazine, will become senior vice president of advertising sales for USA Today, the newspaper has announced.
Wilson replaces Jeff Webber, who will continue in his role as publisher of USATODAY.com and will maintain responsibility for USATODAY.com advertising sales.
For full story, read here.

Wall Street Journal names new deputy MEs

The Wall Street Journal has named three editors to run major news areas and is creating a central desk to further integrate Dow Jones' publications.
According to an internal memo from Editor In Chief Robert Thomson, the new team will be anchored by three deputy managing editors reporting to Thomson. Matt Murray will oversee U.S. corporate and general news; Nikhil Deogun will oversee international bureaus and correspondents; and Mike Williams will preside over a broadened page-one team responsible for investigative reporting, the paper's quirky "A-hed" features and long, page-one stories called "leders."
"The troika, who will become Deputy Managing Editors, will sit close together in what could prosaically be called a 'news hub', thus streamlining commissioning and editing decisions, and giving them a central role in the production and presentation of copy for the paper and the website," Thomson wrote in the internal memo.
For full story, read here.

Yahoo! News top site for news in May

Yahoo! News was the top current events news site for unique traffic in May, reported Editor & Publisher. Based on information provided by Nielsen Online, the E&P article by Jennifer Saba said Yahoo! News netted 35,845 unique visitors in May, ahead of MSNBC Digital Network, which drew 35,184 unique visitors, and CNN Digital Network, which drew 33,101.
NYTimes.com drew the most unique visitors for a newspaper web site at 21,340, putting it fifth among all sites and ahead of the Tribune Newspapers (16,238) and Gannett Newspapers (14,629), according to the article. The Gannett number did not include USAToday.com, which finished 10th among all brands or channels, or its broadcast property web sites.
AOL News finished fourth, with 22,524 unique visitors.
Most of the sites gained unique visitors from the previous year but the Associated Press lost ground with only 4.5 million unique visitors, down 45 percent from the same period a year ago. The Huffington Post showed the most dramatic gain with 4.7 million visitors, a 255 percent increase from the same period a year ago.
To see full E&P article, click here.

Denver Post biz columnist moves on

Al Lewis, longtime business columnist for The Denver Post, has resigned from the paper to become a national business columnist for Dow Jones Newswires.
In a staff memo, Denver Post Business Editor Steve McMillan said the paper is working to acquire exclusive rights to run Lewis’ new column in the local market.
Lewis has written a business column for the Post for the last five years. His columns have covered the problems of big business and other unconventional views on business topics. Recent column subjects have ranged from unions and Starbucks Coffee Co. to judging an airliner by its cleanliness.
He previously was the Post's business editor for nearly three years. Before joining the Post, Lewis was a business reporter at the Rocky Mountain News in Denver and business editor at The Gazette in Colorado Springs.
Lewis grew up in Northbrook, Ill., in suburban Chicago, and has a bachelor's degree in political science and journalism from MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill., and a master's in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield. He has been a financial writer or editor since 1985.
For more, read here.

DiNardo promoted to multimedia editor at The Boston Globe

Bennie DiNardo, currently the deputy business editor for The Boston Globe, was recently named the paper's deputy managing editor for multimedia.
DiNardo, 51, will replace John Yemma, who is leaving the newspaper to become editor of The Christian Science Monitor. He will oversee editorial operations at Boston.com and the development of online video and other new-media ventures.
"One need only look at the latest Globe 100 magazine, which he edited, to see how we can marshal all our talents to produce journalism that sparkles in print, video, and interactive graphics," editor Martin Baron said. "Day after day, Bennie and the Business section have embraced the Web's possibilities."
For the full story click here.

Hearst chief resigns after dispute

According to The New York Times, the chief executive of Hearst Corporation, Victor F. Ganzi, is stepping down from his position after a dispute with corporation's board of trustees over the company's future. Differences over how to adapt to a new Internet-savvy age has been a big issue for Hearst, but it has not been verified as the reason Ganzi resigned.
Ganzi will be leaving the publishing empire after nearly 30 years.
Frank Bennack Jr. will temporarily reassume the role as chief executive officer after stepping down in 2002 until a successor is found.
Hearst is a major owner of Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones & Company and publishes well-known magazine and newspapers, such as O, the Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, the Houston Chronicle and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Read more here.

Journalists play musical chairs with jobs

As newspapers cut pages and pinch jobs, journalists are busy jumping between publications, trying to find a secure position. The technology beat is more popular now than ever before and journalists are trying to attain these positions at some of the top national media outlets. According to AlleyInsider.com, Farhad Manjoo, who has held a machinist column for Salon.com, will be joining The Washington Post's Slate.com covering technology and new innovations. He will begin next month.
Other notable journalists to take new positions are Newsweek's Steve Levy to Wired, Forbes' Dan Lyons to Newsweek and Wall Street Journal's Rebecca Buckman to Forbes.

WSJ reporter to join Economist

Federal Reserve reporter Greg Ip has announced he will leave the Wall Street Journal next month to join The Economist. Ip will take on the U.S economics editor position and will be responsible for writing and reporting on the U.S. economy and economic policy, according to Reuters. Ip welcomes the new position as an opportunity to "share my passion for economics." He will join the The Economist by late July.
Read more here.

McClatchy publications feel the pinch

Fallout from the McClatchy Co.'s announcement that it plans to eliminate 1,400 positions, about 10 percent of its work force, is already showing itself in the company's publications.
For example, The News & Observer plans to cut 70 jobs, or about 8 percent of its staff. It's also combining its Business section with the City & State section Tuesday through Saturday.
For more click here.

Editorial changes at The Financial Times

Editor & Publisher reports that The Financial Times has promoted Saskia Scholtes to U.S. financial services correspondent and Nicole Bullock to capital markets correspondent.
Scholtes has been the FT’s capital markets correspondent since 2006. In 2008, she was honoured for her work by receiving the Harold Wincott Award for Junior Financial Journalist of the Year.
Bullock joins the FT from SmartMoney magazine, where she was a senior writer. Before that, Bullock was a reporter and deputy bureau chief at Dow Jones Newswire.

Quattro launches news sites designed for mobile phones

Quattro wireless announced today that is has launched 19 online news sites for Cox Newspapers Inc.
The new sites are designed with mobile phone browsers in mind, incorporating functions for breaking and local news and "Quick Search" features for finding restaurants, events, music and movie listings.
The Austin American-Statesman's Web site, Statesman.com, is one site that will be available in this new format.
Quattro bills the new format as a way to attract further advertising by offering a way to reach a targeted audience.
Quattro also solicits mobile advertising for Boston.com, Thestreet.com and CBS.


For more information, click here.

AP names new business editor

A founding editor of USA Today who helped launch the newspaper's Money section has been named business editor of The Associated Press. Hal Ritter will be responsible for global coverage of financial news.
Ritter, 56, replaces Kevin Noblet, who resigned.
Kristin Gazlay, AP's managing editor for financial news and global training, announced his appointment Monday.
Ritter began working for AP as a business-side consultant in February 2006, and became director of special projects in April 2007. He was one of the architects of AP's Money & Markets service.
Ritter joined USA Today three months before its 1982 launch as deputy managing editor of the Money section. He became managing editor of Money in 1985 and moved to the News section as managing editor in 1995. He left the paper in 2004.
Before USA Today, he was business editor and assistant city editor at the now-defunct Times-Union newspaper in Rochester, N.Y.
He has a journalism degree from the University of Kansas and an MBA from Stanford Business School.
Read latest AP story here.

AP to create story use guidelines for bloggers

The Associated Press announced today that it would create guidelines on how much of an article bloggers and Web sites can use without infringing on The A.P.'s copyright.
The move to set guidelines may contribute to a more coherent definition of "fair use," a vague doctrine which states that small portions of copyrighted material can be used in certain situations.
The decision to set guidelines comes a week after The A.P. sent a letter to the Drudge Retort demanding that the site remove seven items that posted sections of the wire service's articles ranging in length from 39 to 79 words. The A.P. withdrew its request Saturday because the measure was deemed too harsh by executives.

Read more here.

FCC chief supports satellite radio merger

The chief of the Federal Communications Commission is recommending approval of a proposed merger of the nation's two satellite radio broadcasters.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin recommended Sunday approving the $3.8 billion deal between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s and rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. He did so after receiving concessions, including turning 24 channels over to noncommercial and minority programming. A final vote that could occur after Martin's recommendation is shared with fellow commissioners.
The provision on noncommercial and minority programming along with several others -- including a three-year price freeze for customers -- persuaded Martin to support Sirius’ buyout of XM. The deal would affect millions of subscribers who pay to hear ad-free music, news, sports and talk programming.
Read more here.

McClatchy to cut workforce by 10 percent

McClatchy Co. announced today that it will cut its workforce by 10 percent, axing 1,400 jobs through layoffs, employee buyouts and attrition.
The Sacramento-based publisher owns 30 daily newspapers including the Miami Herald and the Sacramento Bee.
This is the first time McClatchy has resorted to across-the-board layoffs. The decision comes at a time when the publisher has seen its May revenue fall by 15.1 percent and its ad sales fall by 16.6 percent.
The number of jobs lost varies from paper to paper. The Sacramento Bee will cut 8.1 percent of its staff, the Miami Herald 17 percent and the Charlotte Observer 11 percent. The cuts appear to be coming from every department, including news staff.
The measure will save the company $70 million a year, contributing to the long-term goal of cutting total operating costs by $95 million to $100 million a year.
McClatchy currently has $4 billion in debt from its 2006 purchase of Knight Ridder.

For more information read articles here and here.

'Meet The Press' host Tim Russert Dies

NBCs Tim Russert, acclaimed journalist and host of 'Meet the Press' died Friday afternoon after collapsing in studios. He was 58.
Russert was a senior vice president at NBC and was the networks Washington bureau chief. In 2008, Time magazine also named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Read more here.

Tribune's Publisher steps down

Chicago Tribune Publisher Scott C. Smith will be leaving the company, only a week after a redesign of Tribune Co.'s papers and a reduction in the number of pages was announced by Chairman Sam Zell and Chief Operating Officer Randy Michaels.
Smith joined the finance department for the Tribune in 1977 and played various roles in the company until his first run as Chicago Tribune publisher in 1997. He has had more than 30 years experience with Tribune and has been credited for making the Chicago Tribune a national leader among major metropolitan dailies in reader-to-revenue ratio.The Chicago Tribune has continuously held a good reputation for business news coverage.
The redesign and elimination of pages came in response to declines in publishing revenues for Tribune.

Read more here.

Forbes loses two veterans

Dan Lyons, tech editor at Forbes magazine, is moving to Newsweek, according to Keith Kelly of the New York Post.
Lyons, who runs a blog under the pseudonym "Fake Steve Jobs," will replace former Newsweek tech writer Steven Levy, who jumped to Wired.
Kelly writes, “It's the first significant hire since Newsweek went through its massive downsizing that slashed the staff by 111 people, including about 30 on the editorial side.
Lyons’ blog of makes fun of Apple Inc. co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs. He also published a book, "Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs."
A 10-year veteran of Forbes, Lyons worked out of his home near Boston.
He begins his new gig Aug. 1.
He’s not the only Forbes writer moving on. Erika Brown, an associate editor who wrote about venture capital firms and oversaw the annual Midas List of hot Silicon Valley performers, is now becoming a venture capitalist. She will join Matrix Partners in Menlo Park, Calif., beginning June 16.

Wholesale changes at Entrepreneur magazine

Two more high-ranking editors from Entrepreneur magazine have departed, according to a FolioMag.com report. Executive editors Maria Valdez Haubrich and Karen Axelton have moved on, Folio reported. Their departures follow the announcement that longtime editor Rieva Lesonsky has left and been replaced. Earlier this week parent company Entrepreneur Media named Amy Cosper vice president and editor-in-chief, replacing Lesonsky. Cosper is former WiesnerMedia business development vice president. The company also named Charles Muselli director of business development, replacing Chuck Fuller, who has left the company.

NY Times' Bailey to go Freelance

Jeff Bailey, who covers the airline industry for The New York Times, is leaving the paper to launch a free-lance writing career. He plans to write for national business magazines on mostly business topics.
“I’ve had newspaper jobs for the past 31 1/2 years,” he said. “It’s been a wonderful time. I had some great work. Now I’m looking forward to doing this.”
Prior to joining the Times in 2005, Bailey spent 20 years working for The Wall Street Journal, where his assignments included banking, environmental business, editing and writing a small business column.
“Happily, I’ve met many people who are editors of magazines and I didn’t piss them all off,” he said. “So I think I’ll be able to get some work.”
For insight into Bailey’s reporting mindset, see a Q&A he did with BusinessJournalism.org earlier this year.

New Editor at Western Michigan's Business Review

B. Candace Beeke has been named editor of Business Review Western Michigan.
In an article about Beeke's new role (which oddly enough and somewhat concerning is written by Beeke) , publisher Matt Sharp said, "Our mission at Business Review is to be the source of local business news and information across Michigan. To accomplish that we need a strong editorial leader that understands the key drivers of the economy in western Michigan. Candace has proven her ability to do that over the past seven years, covering commercial real estate, development and manufacturing. We're very excited about where she will take our coverage and our team."
Beeke, formerly associate editor, helped launch Square Footage, the newspaper's monthly commercial real estate and construction publication.

Read the full announcement here.

Possible disposal of Page One staff at WSJ

Gawker.com reports that the Wall Street Journal is looking to make more changes at the paper.
The Page One staff may be condensing with the news desk, creating less hierarchy for WSJ employees, such as Page One editor, Mike Williams. The change would be the newest of a line of changes, new editor Rupert Thompson has brought to the paper.
Gawker.com received this email stating:

"Watch for announcement today or soon that page one staff - what used to be the backbone of the WSJ and its strong features - will be merged with news desk and current editor Mike Williams will be roving feats editor; that nik deogun will move up to run foreign and become a
deputy ME; bussey may get something big too. So the post-revolutionary shakeout continues to be revolutionary. Lots of confusion and uncertainty inside paper. Olf guard... bemused by three column lead stories about wachovia ceo's and Libor studies and disappearance of stories that appeal beyond the circle of murdoch's friends in the global elite."

Read more here.

Business journalist taking on new subject

David Jackson, business and real estate reporter for the Chicago Tribune, has decided to test the waters with new subjects.
Jackson is the recipient of the prestigious Nieman Foundation for Journalism program, awarding him a year of study at Harvard.
Jackson will study the lives and social impact of elementary school pupils who are often absent, suspended or truant that they have effectively dropped out of school by the eighth grade.
Read more here.

McCracken to start Technologizer

CNET reports that veteran tech journalist Harry McCracken is launching Technologizer, an online destination for general technology news and analysis.
McCracken, who recently left PC World magazine, plans to have the site up this summer in conjunction with advertising start-up Federated Media Publishing.
For the full story click here.

ProPublica officially begins

ProPublica, an independent non-profit newsroom, is ready to roll. The project will produce investigative journalism that will then be available for publication at newspapers across the country.
Today on ProPublica's site, the project's top guns, Paul Steiger, former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and Stephen Engelberg, a former managing editor of The Oregonian and former investigative editor of The New York Times welcomed visitors.
The pair also outlined some key initiatives the ProPublica staff has set into motion.
“Breaking on the Web” will be an aggregate of investigative journalism produced in the U.S. and a feature called “Scandal Watch” will track the top five investigations at any given moment.
From Steiger and Engelberg's welcome:

Five months ago, ProPublica was an idea, a rudimentary Web site and a nearly empty office in Lower Manhattan. Today, we take our first concrete step in building an investigative publishing platform that will produce original stories focusing on betrayal of the public trust and abuse of power. Our goal is to do stories that would otherwise escape notice and to follow up on work done by others that demands change or is being overlooked. This is the beginning of what we see as an experiment and we invite your comments and suggestions on stories, or on how we can make our organization more useful to readers. We have nearly completed our hiring (more than 20 out of perhaps 27 news staff) and reporters are at work on some promising avenues of inquiry. You will see those results in the months ahead. In the meantime, we offer what we hope will be a thorough, thought-provoking look at investigative stories that are breaking elsewhere.

To check out the project click here.

FiLife ready to launch

Reuters reports that FiLife, a personal finance venture from IAC/InterActiveCorp and Dow Jones & Co, will open its site to a public test on Wednesday after a year in development and much media speculation over its future.
The aim is to help consumers who want to improve their financial situation figure out how they stack up against their peers when it comes to income, household debt and savings.
FiLife's potential audience will likely include people who do not frequent finance sites, but would listen if someone suggested ways to pay less in bank fees or earn more interest.
The site's tools allow a user to compare their personal financial situation, based on eight parameters, against those of people in their state, city or even closer to home. Once that data is entered, the site responds with suggestions such as how to ask for a raise or how to put aside more savings.
For the full story click here.

The Dallas Morning News to launch free, quick-read newspaper

The Dallas Morning News has created a new quick-read morning paper to be delivered free of charge to current non-subscribers.
Briefing, which will launch on Aug. 27, is designed to increase readership and boost flagging advertising revenue, a problem plaguing most daily newspapers nationwide.
The new publication will start with a circulation of 200,000 and will be delivered on Wednesdays through Saturdays in certain areas of the city. It will be in broadsheet format and roughly the size of one of the newspaper's regular sections.
John McKeon, president and general manager of the The News said the paper is designed for people who are engaged in the world around then but cannot fit the traditional newspaper into their schedules.
"They're familiar with The Dallas Morning News, but they just don't feel they have the time to get everything out of it they need to get out of it," he said when announcing the new publication Monday. "So a shorter, more concise version of The News was something that the research indicated they were interested in."

Read more here.

Klein leaves Post for Medill

Alec Klein, an award-winning investigative business reporter for The Washington Post, is leaving the newspaper for a tenured faculty position at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
A veteran reporter for almost 20 years, Klein has worked at papers that include The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot, The Baltimore Sun, The Wall Street Journal and the Post. At Medill, Klein will teach business journalism, drawing on his previous teaching experience at American and Georgetown Universities.
"The Washington Post is the best of all newspapers, but I'm excited about moving to Medill; it's one of the great journalism schools in America, I love teaching, and I look forward to working with Dean John Lavine to shape the next generation of journalists," Klein said.
Klein’s work for the Post includes an in-depth investigation into the murky merger between AOL and Time Warner. The yearlong reporting project uncovered that AOL improperly reported at least $190 million in advertising revenue, ultimately forcing top AOL executives to resign and prompting an investigation of the company by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Klein is also the author of the bestseller "Stealing Time: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Collapse of AOL Time Warner."

Cosper to lead Entrepreneur

Amy C. Cosper was named the new vice president and editor in chief for Entrepreneur Media Inc. She will oversee content and partnerships for the media company's magazine and online properties, including Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur.com, and WomenEntrepreneur.com.

"As its editor in chief, Cosper will continue to fuel Entrepreneur Media's 30-year legacy as the leading provider of content for and about the entrepreneurial market. She knows the market well as a result of having catered to it for five years through the insurance vertical segment. In addition, her strength as a business development strategist, her expertise in technology, and her extensive knowledge in new media will invigorate an already dynamic readership."

To read more click here.

Change of control at LA Times Magazine

Control of The Los Angeles Times' magazine will now sit with business operations instead of the newsroom and the change includes replacing the magazine's editorial staff, according to reports from The New York Times.

"The arrangement would flout the tradition at most newspapers, which keep business operations, like advertising and circulation, completely separate from the editorial department, which controls decisions about the contents of news and feature pages. The plan for the magazine was set in motion months ago. A new editor and others were hired, future issues were planned, and mock-up covers were made — all without the knowledge of anyone in the newsroom, including the top editor, Russ Stanton, the executives said. Mr. Stanton and other high-ranking editors learned of the plan last week, they said."

To read the full story click here.

More details on WSJ.

Women's Wear Daily offers some sneak peak details of The Wall Street Journal's new glossy magazine WSJ.
The magazine's editor Tina Gaudoin told WWD that she has been "translating the DNA of the paper into a magazine," but with more visual flair, and said that in commissioning pieces, she has drawn about 60 percent from Journal staff and 40 percent from outside freelancers.
Journal reporters have been told they can have "a little more freedom in terms of how they write" to adapt to magazine style, Gaudoin said. And in keeping with the magazine's dual audience, fashion and beauty coverage will be split between male and female perspectives, often on the same page.
For WWD's full story click here.

Gannett Co. plans $3 billion in pretax write-downs

Gannett Co., the largest newspaper publisher in the United States, will take as much as $3 billion in pretax write-downs for the second quarter. The write-downs are linked to Gannett’s poor stock performance, with the price falling 50 percent in the past year.
The slumping economy has resulted in much lower advertising revenues at virtually all newspapers nationwide. Many newspapers have also seen declining subscription rates.
Gannett and Co. publishes 85 daily newspapers including USA Today, The Arizona Republic and The Indianapolis Star. It also has nearly 900 non-daily publications and 19 publications in the United Kingdom under the name of Newsquest Media Group.
Read more here.

Yemma leaves Globe to lead Christian Science Monitor

John Yemma, most recently the deputy managing editor for multimedia at The Boston Globe, was named editor of The Christian Science Monitor.
Yemma worked at the Monitor from 1979 to 1989 as a Washington correspondent, a Middle East correspondent, and a business editor. He spent almost 20 years at the Globe, where he held various positions including foreign editor and Sunday editor.
"We are delighted a journalist of John Yemma's professional stature and multi-media experience is returning to help launch the Monitor into its second century," said Mary Trammell, editor in chief of The Christian Science Publishing Society and a member of The Christian Science Board of Directors.
For the full story click here.

Clarifying biz changes at the Sac Bee

The Sacramento Bee's top Editor Melanie Sill recently wrote to her readers about the exact changes in the works for business coverage at her paper.
And she wants everyone to know: Business columnist Bob Shallit is not leaving The Bee, the paper is not eliminating national or world business coverage, and they are not going soft on business reporting.

"To recap: With the redesign we will move The Bee's daily business report into a new Our Region section that combines the current Metro and Business sections. Bob Shallit's regular column on local business is a strong asset in the Business section and will remain so on the cover of Our Region. The new section is still taking shape, but I can tell you already that it will expand space for local and regional news. It also will be organized so that people can easily find the news they seek. That will include dedicated pages for stocks and a national and world business report.On Sundays, we will continue to publish a freestanding business section."

For the full story click here.

Beef Co. or church ladies: Who is responsible for the bad meat?

Reporter Andrew Martin wrote an interesting business story for Sunday's New York Times , one that details how beef served at the Salem Lutheran Church in Longville, Minn has led to a court battle.
The beef, which was served as meatballs at a church gathering, was stricken with E. coli bacteria, leaving one woman dead and 17 people sick.
But Nebraska Beef, based in Omaha, is saying that it is not responsible for the bad meat. The company claims the church volunteers who prepared the food are responsible.
What ensues in Martin's story is a tangled mess, a drama that pits church-goers against a beef company. A truly unique business story gem.
To read the story click here.

BW Chicago shuts down

BusinessWeek’s first city-focused publication, BW Chicago, is shutting down.
The monthly magazine was forced to cease publication after eight issues because of slow ad sales.
According to Crain's Chicago Business, BW Chicago, which was run out of BusinessWeek’s Chicago bureau, was a prototype for what was envisioned to be a series of city-based supplements to the national magazine.
That plan is now dead.
The report says the magazine, typically 52 pages long, was included as a supplement for Chicago-area BusinessWeek subscribers and was not available on newsstands.
For the full story click here.

Harvard Business Review's editor resigns

Folio reports that Thomas A. Stewart resigned as editor and managing director of the Harvard Business Review.
Stewart joined Harvard Business Review in 2002 after serving as editorial director of now shuttered Business 2.0. A spokesperson declined to comment other than to say that Stewart was leaving the magazine "for personal reasons."
Harvard Business Publishing, the magazine's parent company and a subsidiary of Harvard University, says it will begin searching for Stewart's replacement.
For the full story click here.

Cut backs in plan for Tribune Co.

Tribune Company plans to reduce costs by printing fewer papers and hiring fewer journalists, an article in The New York Times reported.
The news comes the same day the Labor Department reported unemployment rates increased 5.5 percent last month, the largest one-month increase in 22 years.
Randy Michaels, the Tribune's chief operating officer, said the cut backs could mean the elimination of 500 pages of news a week across all the company's 12 papers but would save 25 percent to 30 percent of the newspaper's operating costs.
The announcements were reveleaved by Michaels and Samuel Zell, chairman and chief executive of Tribune, during a conference call with Wall Street analysts.

Read more here.

WSJ to cut ties with BreakingViews.com

The Wall Street Journal has ended its arrangement with syndicated daily financial column BreakingViews.com, a year and a half sooner than the column was contracted to end. WSJ has also indicated plans to offload its 7 percent stake in the business.
It has been rumored that WSJ publisher and editor-in-chief Robert Thomson, is bolstering the paper's long-running Heard on the Street column to compete with BreakingViews.com.
BreakingViews.com column employs 27 writers in Europe and the United States and has 15,000 direct subscribers to its Web site, making it popular among the global financial elite. The column has run in the WSJ Europe for eight years and just began running in the United States in early 2007.

Read more here.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Drops Stocks

Another daily is dropping stock tables.
Joining the long list is the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and in the change notice, the paper says it is simply following the trend.
"Across the country readers are turning to online sources of information on the stock market. Our changes echo that trend."
Starting next week, stock quotes and detailed market data will be available only at post-gazette.com's Business page.

Read more here.

Going Green Goes Down

Green purchases are taking a hit.
In an article today at MediaPost.com, Sarah Mahoney writes, "For months now, marketing experts and activists alike have maintained that consumers' commitment to the environment could withstand a lousy economy. But a new survey finds that more consumers are cutting back on often-pricier green purchases, and plan to spend even less in the coming year."
According to the piece, the 2008 Image Power Green Brands Survey found that the environment has taken "a back seat to the economy" for more than 75 percent of Americans.
Does this call for a shift in coverage of green business? A deeper study of buying habits and the long term effects? Perhaps.

Read the entire article here.

Manning leaves Post for ASU

Jason Manning, the political editor for washingtonpost.com, will soon join Arizona State University as the new director of Student Media.
Manning will direct The State Press, the university’s independent campus daily with a circulation of 17,000; the ASU Web Devil, the online operation of The State Press; the weekly State Press Magazine; and Channel 2, a student-operated campus cable TV channel.
Manning has a deep background in digital media. Since January 2006 he has served as political editor at The Washington Post’s Web site, supervising teams of reporters, videographers, producers, bloggers and interns. Washingtonpost.com is third among all U.S. newspaper Web sites in usage.
“The Cronkite School is leading the way with innovation and forward thinking,” Manning said. “The opportunity to teach courses at Cronkite means rubbing elbows with some of the brightest faculty and most enterprising students in the country. I am thrilled to take part in what is going on here.”

Marr adds biotech coverage to Post beat

Cision reports that Kendra Marr, a regional business reporter for The Washington Post, has added biotechnology to her coverage.
Marr currently writes about businesses and aviation in Loudoun County (Md.) and now she'll add the implementation of new biotechnology in a number of industries to her beat. She'll touch on topics such as pharmaceutical manufacturing and green technology.

Grueskin to leave the WSJ

Editor & Publisher is reporting that Bill Grueskin, deputy managing editor for news at The Wall Street Journal, is leaving the paper to become become dean of academic affairs at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism.
This next departure comes about two months after The Journal's Managing Editor Marcus Brauchli left the paper. He was replaced by Robert Thomson.
To read the memo to staffers click here.

Grading newspapers' Web sites

It's common knowledge that newspapers across the country are struggling to keep readers and increase revenue.
And since newspapers' Web sites are key to their future growth, the site 27/7 Wall St decided to grade the sites of the top 25 newspapers.
The sites were judged on strength of content, ease of use and navigation, use of new web technology including comments sections, message boards, and multimedia, lay-out, presence of a strong set of current advertisers, and the size of their audiences.
The sites were then given grades of "A" through "F."
The New York Times and The San Francisco Chronicle received an A while The Atlanta Journal Constitution and The Detroit Free Press scored an A-. The Chicago Tribune, The Newark Star-Ledger and The Sacramento Bee were all in the D grade range.

"The most important conclusion from this review of online newspaper sites is how uneven the quality is from property to property. Some of the smaller papers which probably have modest resources have done an extremely good job of engaging readers, using the best tools of the internet, and putting up content which adds to the experience of the subscriber to the physical newspaper. Some of these sites are likely to draw multiple visits from the same person throughout the day, the Holy Grail of online content behavior. Other sites seem to be designed to keep readers away. There is clearly not much benchmarking going on in the online part of the newspaper industry, and with the increasing risk that more newspapers will fail,not using a standardized measurement of excellence for improvement is a real shame."

For the full list click here.

Aaron Brown is back

Aaron Brown, a former CNN anchor and professor at Arizona State University is back on air next month to host a PBS documentary series. But that's not all he's doing.
New York Magazine talked to Brown who mentioned his other recent ventures --pitching a public radio show and appearing in an upcoming Kevin Costner movie as himself.
It's official, Brown is back.
To read the interview click here.

Segal to lead biz coverage at Star-Bulletin

Dave Segal, who recently spearheaded coverage of the Hawaiian and Aloha airlines bankruptcies and the fare war sparked by interisland carrier go!, has been promoted to business editor at the Star-Bulletin (Honolulu, Hawaii).
The paper reports that Segal, 52, has been with the Star-Bulletin for 10 years after working as an editor at publications that include Pacific Stars and Stripes and the Alameda Newspaper Group.
Jennifer Sudick, who has worked at the Star-Bulletin since March 2007, most recently as a business reporter, will move into the position of assistant business editor.
For the full story click here.
*Photos credit: the Star-Bulletin.

Portland Biz Journal wins awards

The Portland Business Journal announced that it won nine awards from the Oregon/Southwest Washington Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. They include:
* Staff writer Andy Giegerich won a first-place award in the Sports reporting category for a story on Portland State University's athletic department budget.
* Managing Editor Matthew Kish won a second-place award in the News Feature category for a story on sustainability in Oregon. Kish also shared a second-place award in the Comprehensive Coverage category with Editor Rob Smith for stories about Freightliner's possible relocation plans.
* Smith won a second-place award in editorial writing.
* The newspaper won a second-place award for headline writing.
* Giegerich won a third-place award in Business news for a story on the state investigating a nonprofit organization.
* Aliza Earnshaw won a third-place award in the feature writing category for her story on the challenges of a soldier returning from Iraq. Earnshaw also won honorable mention in the Lifestyle/Home category for her story on a business executive's house.
*The newspaper received an honorable mention in the General Excellence category.

Sac bee to fold biz section into a new section called "Our Region"

The early speculation turned out to be true.
The Sacramento Bee confirmed that it will move its daily business section into "Our Region," which replaces the current metro and business sections.
The Bee's top editor, Melanie Sill, recently explained to readers that the change is not part of a reduction in business coverage, but instead it will provide room for expansion.
Here's an excerpt from Sill's letter to readers:

"Some readers will reject this change out of hand. The new section will have to prove itself, and I'm confident it will. Business stories will join other local reports on the cover, and Business will claim several pages (including an updated stocks report) inside Our Region.A growing list of newspapers across the country have dropped business sections or combined them with other coverage.One reason is that papers have stopped publishing comprehensive stock listings, which took two to four pages, on average. With the stocks gone, the sections seemed much thinner – even when local coverage didn't diminish. Our Business section often is just four pages. With Our Region, as with other changes we'll share in the next two months, The Bee is aiming to add depth as well as breadth."

For the full story click here.