Forbes reporter joins NYT

Cision reports that Claire Clain Miller has joined The New York Times as a venture capital reporter in the San Francisco bureau.
She also contributes to the Bits blog.
Most recently, Miller was a business reporter for Forbes.

Tech guru leaves Sun

After a quarter-century spent writing about technology, Mike Himowitz's last "Plug In" column appears today in The Baltimore Sun.
Himowitz, who has worked at the paper for 34 years, is one of dozens of Sun staffers leaving the paper this week as part of voluntary buyouts mandated by the Tribune Company.
Himowitz's friend and colleague David Zeiler writes about the reporter, who was universally known as the "Whizzz."

"He became a tech guru almost by accident, as he tells the story in today’s column. But by the mid-1980s he was writing a weekly column about computers for the Evening Sun. Sitting on opposite sides of the Mac/PC divide, we often engaged in good-natured verbal sparring matches over the years. After witnessing a few of these, Business Editor Bernie Kohn tried to persuade us to do a series of real-life “I’m a Mac, I’m as PC” segments either for this Web site or the Your Money & Business TV show that appears Thursdays on Maryland Public Television. Luckily for viewers, it never happened. Although I never succeeded in convincing Mike of the superiority of the Mac OS, he did at least like the iPod and more recently, the iPhone. Maybe if I’d had a few more years to work on him…."

To read Himowitz's last column click here.

Former Time Editor Dies at 97

Otto Fuerbringer, former managing editor for Time, lead the magazine in the 1960s at a time when political, business and social upheavals were daily issues.
The New York Times reported Fuerbringer died at his retirement home in Fullerton, Cali. on Monday.
Fuerbringer lead Time magazine for over eight years and was well known for his volatile cover stories.
He attended Harvard University and worked at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for 10 years before joining Time magazine.
Read more here.

Employees Cut at FSB Magazine

Time, Inc. announced employee cuts will be made at Fortune Small Business magazine.
New York Post reports the magazine is cutting 14 of its 17 editorial employees, including editor Dan Goodgame.
Goodgame will be succeeded by Brian Dumaine, who will now have to struggle to work with freelance reporters and the remaining staff at FSB to produce content for the magazine.
FSB was the only magazine to fold into Time, Inc. and become part of Fortune in the 1990s.
Read more here.

Sacramento Bee Unveils Redesign

The Sacramento Bee has unveiled its new format, including a new "Our Region" section that that combines the Business page with the Metro page.
The paper's new look can be viewed here.

Verve Wireless Wants to Help Save The Local Newspaper

Verve wireless, a company that provides publishers with the technology to deliver newspaper Web sites to mobile phones, thinks it can help preserve the local newspaper, albeit in digital form.
The New York Times reports that the company already has created mobile sites for 4,000 newspapers and 140 publishers, including McClatchy and The New York Times Company's Regional Media Group.
For the whole story, click here.

Newhouse News Service to Close Nov. 7

The Associated Press reports that Newhouse News Service, a wire service started in 1961, will close its doors on Nov. 7, after the election.
Newhouse has 24 employees, 11 of which are reporters who write for specific newspapers. The wire service provided stories as the Washington bureau of Advance Publications, Inc. of New York, to 26 daily newspapers including The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer and The Times-Picayune of New Orleans.
For further information, click here.

Gannett Invests in Live Internet Broadcasting

In a move to expand its multimedia capabilities, Gannett Co., Inc. announced today that it has made a minorty investment in Mogulus, a New York-based live internet broadcasting service.
The investment is an extension of a commercial agreement signed by the two companies three months ago. The agreement allowed three of Gannett's newspapers to test out live broadcast capabilities, including The Indianapolis Star's interview of Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, which drew more than 40,000 simultaneous viewers.
For more information on the new partnership, see Gannett's press release.

Financial Times Group Sales Up 11 Percent

The Financial Times has avoided the losses seen by almost every other newspaper, posting an 11 percent increase in sales and a 21 percent increase in profits.
Pearson, the FT's publisher, reported a 14 percent overall increase in sales due in part to a strong showing by Penguin books.
The positive results are attributed to an increase in the FT's cover price and the fact that the newspaper has maintained strong advertising revenues, reports The Guardian of London.
Pearson Chief Executive Marjorie Scardino said the downturn has also helped the FT because people have turned to the newspaper for coverage.

"It's not an easy downturn to understand and I'd say, immodestly, that the FT has done a great job of helping us interpret this - the credit crunch, commodity prices, the oil price."

For more information, click here.

International Newsprint Keeps Popularity in Europe

A recent European Media and Marketing Survey (EMS) showed that international publications remain popular with European audiences.
The Financial Times tops the list with 548,000, with The International Herald Tribune and The Wall Street Journal in second and third, respectively.
The most popular magazine internationally is National Geographic with 2.14 million readers followed by Time.
For more information, click here or here for Le Figaro's release in French.

A.H. Belo to Offer Voluntary Buyouts to 500

A.H. Belo Corp., publisher of The Dallas Morning News and three other daily newspapers, announced voluntary buyouts due to the "unprecedentedly adverse business environment facing the newspaper industry."
The announcement came after the company reported second quarter revenues of $163.3 million, a net loss of $3.2 million or $0.16 per share.
The Dallas Morning News reports that the publisher aims to shed 500 full-time positions, 14 percent of the workforce, for an estimated savings of $50 million. If it does not reach that goal, involuntary layoffs will follow.
A.H. Belo also publishes the Providence (R.I.) Journal, The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif., and the Denton Record-Chronicle of Denton County, Tex.
For more information, click here.

Apple CEO calls NYT

Gawker reports that The New York Times got an interesting phone call recently from Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
The Times had already reported last week that Jobs underwent some sort of surgical procedure earlier this year and columnist Joe Nocera was preparing to report that Jobs was losing weight due to "ongoing digestive difficulty" and, possibly, due to a recent infection.
Well, Jobs had something to say about the speculation and after yelling, he would later offer details about his health "off the record."
The call began like this: "This is Steve Jobs,” he began. “You think I’m an arrogant [expletive] who thinks he’s above the law, and I think you’re a slime bucket who gets most of his facts wrong.”
But soon Nocera realized Jobs was telling him exactly what he wanted to know. "After he hung up the phone, it occurred to me that I had just been handed, by Mr. Jobs himself, the very information he was refusing to share with the shareholders who have entrusted him with their money," Nocera told Gawker.
To read the full story click here.

LA Biz coverage moves in print

Yesterday Editor Russ Stanton outlines some of the changes in the print edition of the Los Angeles Times.
Some changes on the business side include Dan Neil’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Rumble Seat” car column, has moved to Friday’s Business section. Next week, the Home section will move to Saturdays and will combine with Real Estate, bringing “Hot Property” and “Man of the House” together.
From Stanton:

"The future of the Los Angeles Times, in print and online, rests in our ability to meet the needs of our readers and deliver news and information that is unique, far-reaching and indispensable. In-depth journalism remains our hallmark and we are committed to that mission in the face of economic challenges to our industry and our nation as a whole."

To read the full letter to readers click here.

OC Register's update on subprime block

In September, John Gittelsohn and Ronald Campbell, reporters at The Orange County Register, penned a story that focused on one street in their coverage area where lenders were prompting Hispanic buyers to $19 million in loans.
The reporters determined the block on Camile Street in Santa Ana, Calif. had one of the highest rates of subprime mortgages in the nation.
Our Dick Weiss highlighted the story ""Street of Broken Dreams" in his blog "Dicks Picks" saying the piece, "crunches lots of numbers; it’s not a sob story about the homeowners some of whom maybe should have known better before taking out their loans. But the story goes a long way toward explaining how so many Americans – homeowners and lenders got into so much trouble."
Now almost a year later, the paper has published an update on their findings, giving readers another excellent look at the faces behind the subprime fallout.
To check out the update click here.

Fitzpatrick to cover biz for WSJ

The Wall Street Journal has named Dan Fitzpatrick a business reporter for their Atlanta bureau, according to reports from Cision.
Fitzpatrick, who most recently served as a business reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette covering airlines and banking, will begin his new role at The Journal on July 28.

A WSJ bureau chief's memoir on Iraq

Editor & Publisher reports that Farnaz Fassihi, formerly an Iranian-American correspondent in Iraq for The Wall Street Journal, has penned a memoir called "Waiting for an Ordinary Day: The Unraveling of Life in Iraq," which will be published in September.
Now based in Lebanon, she is the deputy bureau chief of the Middle East and Africa for The Journal.
In the forthcoming book, Fassihi briefly revisits a famous e-mail she sent in 2004.
In the private e-mail, which was written while she was a correspondent and was leaked to journalists, she said, "Iraq remains a disaster." It sparked anger from some readers who felt that journalists were withholding the truth about the war. Others felt the e-mail exposed her bias.
About the book:

"In the foreword, Fassihi promises that the book offers a look at what it was like to be a young, female reporter covering this war. It does all of that and more, chronicling her day-to-day life, friendships, dangerous assignments and disappointments, from her early arrival to her departure in December 2005. The title of one section says a lot: "If They See Me With You, They'll Kill Me."

For the full story click here.

Sellers to author Fortune's Postcards blog

Cision reports that Patricia Sellers, editor at large for Fortune, is authoring a new blog called Postcards.
The blog will focus on CEOs, executives and business leaders, with a eye on women in business. Sellers articles include prominent executives and commentary on career trends in business.
She joined Fortune in 1984 as a senior writer. Before that, she worked at the Washington Business Journal.
To check out Postcards click here.

Steiger: so far WSJ fears unfounded

In Portfolio's Mixed Media blog, Jeff Bercovici points out that, "the last managing editor of The Wall Street Journal not to work for Rupert Murdoch has nothing but nice things to say about what the News Corp. chief has done with the paper in the eight months since he bought it. Well, almost nothing but nice things."

"I think, as a reader, that the Journal is doing a terrific job," said Paul Steiger, who was responding to a question from the audience during last night's panel discussion on nonprofit journalism, hosted by Northwestern University's Medill Club. "I see no evidence, nor do my friends there report any evidence, of the bad Rupert showing up, trying to move the coverage in a way that advances his business interests. So, to me, my fears haven't been realized."

For more click here.

Schmidt to lead IHT

William Schmidt, an assistant managing editor at The New York Times, has been appointed to take over as the top editor at The International Herald Tribune.
“Bill’s career is rich in both journalistic and management experience,” Bill Keller, executive editor of The Times, said in a statement. “He has reported from a variety of foreign and domestic bureaus — Moscow, Cairo and London, Chicago, Miami, Denver and Atlanta.
For the full story click here.

NYT to hike newsstand price

The Associated Press reports that the price of The New York Times at the newsstand Monday-Saturday will cost an extra 25 cents, raising the price to $1.50.
The price increase will take effect Aug. 18. The New York Times also recently announced a 4.5 percent increase in home delivery prices.
The price increases come a week after The Wall Street Journal said it would boost its newsstand price by 50 cents to $2 starting July 28 to reflect both new content and higher costs.

Fashion is back at Portfolio.com

Portfolio.com's fashion blog is back in action, boasting a number of guest writers with deep backgrounds in fasion journalism, according to reports from Women's Wear Daily.
The story says:

"Lauren Goldstein Crowe left her posting duties at Fashion Inc. in March, after her one-year contract expired. At the time, it was unclear how the Web site would cover fashion, with some claiming the magazine didn't want to invest heavily in the category. However, a spokeswoman said at the time: 'We will continue to cover fashion aggressively on the Web site — it's too important a business category not to cover. As the site has evolved, our needs have changed.'"

The banking industry and tough questions

Loren Steffy of the Houston Chronicle recalls one of his first assignments on the biz beat. He was attending a press conference for a story on the second failure of Dallas' Sunbelt Savings.
At that press event Steffy writes that, "Regulators overseeing the bailout fielded questions from reporters, and the busted thrift's chief executive, Tom Wageman, sat silently in the corner. When reporters tried to ask a question of Wageman, who'd served as Sunbelt's pitchman in its TV ads, the feds answered."
Now two decades later, he says, the government is still protecting the banking industry from tough questions.
He writes, "John Reich, who heads the Office of Thrift Supervision — a bureaucracy that inherited some of the FHLB's responsibilities — deemed media coverage of the banking burnout "reprehensible" in a speech to an industry conference in Florida this week."
To read more click here.

Fleming's 50 years on the auto beat

The Detroit Free Press reports that Albert Fleming, who spent 50 years covering the auto industry, passed away on Saturday at age 78 after a battle with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
From the story:

David Smith, a former business editor at the Free Press and currently editor at large of the monthly Ward's Auto World in Southfield, remembered Mr. Fleming for the biting satire and humor in his writing. Mr. Fleming wrote a weekly column for the Free Press more than 30 years ago when Smith was with the paper. "Got me in trouble a few times, quite a few times," Smith said of Mr. Fleming's writing. "He loved to cast barbs in every direction." Mr. Fleming of Bloomfield Hills often poked fun at the heads of the Detroit area's automotive companies at a time when the industry took itself very seriously, Smith said, noting that Mr. Fleming was not only a witty writer but also a good reporter.

To read more click here.

How to impress biz book editors

Want to get your business book published? Former Vice President and Publisher of McGraw-Hill’s trade business books division, Jeffrey Krames, offers some tips to impress the editors.
One of his tips is to have mounds of “actionable” research.

"Many of the bestselling books are built on a multi-year study that has produced tons of data/research. "Good to Great" is the most visible example in the business category, based on a six-year research study. Portfolio’s "Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls" by Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis is another terrific example. That book is based on dozens of interviews in the field with people like Jack Welch (former CEO, GE) and Jim McNerney (CEO, Boeing). The key is that the data be prescriptive. Data for data’s sake is useless."

For the complete list click here.

Ad Revenue Up At Community Newspapers

Community newspapers appear to be a bright spot in the newspaper industry as preliminary numbers show that advertising revenue rose 0.5% in 2007.
The data was gathered by Suburban Newspapers of America.
Community newspapers make up a total circulation of 12.5 million and about $2 billion in annual advertising revenue.
For more information, click here.

Nielsen: Global Ad Spending Grows 4% From 2007

In the latest figures released yesterday by The Nielsen Company's Global AdView Pulse report, global advertising spending increased by 4 percent, largely due to increases in Africa and the Asia Pacific region.
North American advertising grew by 1.2 percent despite a sluggish national economy. Much of that grow came from the 6.9 percent increase in television advertising. Newspaper advertising spending grew - barely - by 0.4 percent while magazine advertising spending dropped by 0.9 percent.
For the full report, click here.

NY Times and LinkedIn Partnership Designed to Attract Bussiness Leaders

The Guardian of London reports that The New York Times has inked a deal with LinkedIn that will allow the newspaper to send targeted web stories to business and technology users.
In the deal, NYTimes.com will display five relevant headlines in a right-hand box, with stories selected on the basis of the information provided in each user's LinkedIn profile.
The move is designed to strengthen the newspaper's audience in the business and entrepreneurial community - also a valuable audience for advertisers.
For more information, click here.

Former Journalists Provide "Parting Thoughts" at Columbia Journalism Review

With layoff reports coming in weekly from newspaper across the country, the Columbia Journalism Review has created a venue for journalists who felt forced to leave the profession to provide their "Parting Thoughts."
The two current notes are by Jim Spencer, a former journalist for the Denver Post, and John Sugg, a 38-year newspaper veteran who wrote and edited for newspapers such as The Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post.
To read CJR's "Parting Thoughts" column, click here.

WSJ Sketches Get Gloomier Along With Economy

The Columbia Journalism Review reports that the "hedcut" drawings used by The Wall Street Journal have taken the previously cheery drawings of two leaders and literally wiped the smile off their faces.
The portrait used of Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit in a June 7 article shows a grinning Pandit while one on June 12 was accompanied by a sterner look.
Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's portrait has also soured from a previously neutral image.
To see the pictures in questions, click here.

Women, Minorities Make Advances in Local Broadcast News

A report released Monday by the Radio-Television News Directors Association documented a rise in the number of journalists of color and women working in local newsrooms during 2007.
Minorities made up 23.6 percent of local television news staff, increasing from 21.5 percent in 2006.
The number of women in the television news workforce remained fairly steady at 40.2 percent but the number of women news directors rose to 28.3 percent, an all-time high.
For more information, click here.

Gawker on Newspaper Comments: Get Rid of Them

Gawker, a blog dedicated to Manhattan media news and gossip, came down against allowing comments on newspaper Web sites in a recent post, citing the ignorant nature of of most comments.
The writer argues that if a comment about an article online would not be publishable in a letter to the editor then it shouldn't be publishable online.
The one exception would be newspaper blogs which, by their very nature, should encourage comments.
For Gawker's full argument against comments, click here.

Sac Bee Overhauls Business Section, Combines With Metro in Our Region

The Sacramento Bee business editor Wayne Davis announced today that the Business and Metro sections of the paper will be combined to create an "Our Region" section. The new section will first appear on July 29.
The section will be highly local in focus, looking at personal finance and how Sacramento citizens are impacted by issues.
Within the section there will be a Business "front" inside which will contain news about the national and state economy as well as Sacramento-area businesses.
There will continue to be a standalone Business section on Sundays.
Bucking the trend, The Bee will beef up daily stock listings from 300 to 750 stocks and will also double the number of mutual fund listings.
The paper also plans to introduce a toll-free telephone service that will allow subscribers to track the performance of their individual stocks and portfolios.
For more details about the changes, click here.

NYT expands online biz coverage

Advertising Age reports that The New York Times is expanding its online business coverage, introducing a "a slew of pages on subjects including the economy, energy, small business, personal finance and enterprise technology," according to Vivian Schiller, senior VP-general manager of NYTimes.com.

Built on the model of DealBook, Andrew Ross Sorkin's popular blog for the business section, each one will include original reporting and commentary from a dedicated staffer, news aggregated from elsewhere, relevant tools, e-mail newsletters, mobile applications and more.

For more click here.

CNBC and the rise of Burnett

CNBC's Erin Burnett, 32 , is the youngest person on television to anchor three hours of business news every weekday.
A story from The New York Times' details Burnett's rise to the spotlight, detailing how networks work to transform hots into household names in order to stay competitive.

"Ms. Burnett’s “overnight success” isn’t an accident. Competing with the Internet and the fledgling Fox Business Network, CNBC has been trolling for new stars, and the network has meticulously managed and promoted Ms. Burnett’s ascent. Because of the seismic changes roiling the media business and the huge number of choices that business news devotees now have when searching for information, anchors are no longer only news readers. Their bosses and handlers emphasize their personalities as much as their acumen in an effort to carve out niche followings."

To read the full story click here.

Chicago Tribune Mulls Entertainment-Heavy Redesign

Crain's Chicago Business reports that the Chicago Tribune is ready to release a redesign prototype within the next few weeks.
In one new format, the front page will be dominated by entertainment and consumer-oriented news stories. A second section will combine local, national, international and business news.
The sports section will be formatted into tabloid form.
It is unclear how many of the changes will make it to the final redesign.
For more information, click here.

Penton Media head steps down

John French, chief executive of trade magazine empire, Penton Media, Inc. has announced he is stepping down, reports New York Post.
French became chief executive for Penton in February 2007, after its merger with Prism Business Media Holdings Inc.
He will remain chief executive and still hold his position on the company's board until a replacement is found.
Penton is the third largest publisher of business magazines in the country.
Read more here.

Newsweek president resigns

Newsweek President Greg Osberg will leave the magazine in the fall, according to reports from The Washington Post.
Osberg "oversaw the tremendous growth of Newsweek.com and took a liking to the digital sector," Newsweek said. "He has been a leader expanding the site's reach and visibility, and we will miss him."
The magazine, owned by The Washington Post Company, said it has no plans to replace Osberg.

Gannett profits down 36 percent

Bloomberg reports that second-quarter profits at Gannett Co., the largest U.S. newspaper publisher, declined 36 percent sending the stocks to their lowest level since 1985.
The decrease has much to do with USA Today, Gannett's flagship paper where ad sales fell 27 percent in June, the steepest monthly decline this year. That's worse than the 16percent drop reported for all Gannett publications.
"The weakening economy had a dramatic impact on our results," Chief Executive Craig Dubow said in the statement.
Click here for the full story.

AP focuses on core biz beats

The Associated Press says it will realign its Business News department to focus around 12 core beats.
The beats include financial markets, economy, retailing, technology, Media, entertainment, leisure and lodging, health care, autos, airlines, energy, manufacturing, personal finance and real estate.
“Our goal is to improve everything we do so we can be more successful in an increasingly competitive market for business news,” said Business Editor Hal Ritter. “Building these beats will allow us to deepen our coverage of spot news, break more news and produce more outstanding enterprise.”
For the full release click here.

WSJ cuts 50 jobs

As part of the continuing realignment for The Wall Street Journal, 50 editorial positions have been cut, announced Managing Editor Robert Thompson.
The job cuts are part of the ongoing effort at the Journal to facilitate cooperation for its print and online editions, reported KTAR.com.
The cuts primarily affect the Journal's New Jersey office.
Read more here.

WSJ Plans Another Raise in Cover Price

Another raise in cover price is in store for The Wall Street Journal, one of the many new changes Rupert Murdoch has made since inception.
The price raise, starting July 28, will increase from $1.50 to $2.00, and will put it at equal price as competitor, Financial Times.
The predicted outcome of the sales increase is bleak, considering the paper's average single copy sales last year fell by nearly 8 percent, after the paper increased its cover price from $1 to $1.50.
Read more here.

Fox Anchor May Leave Show

The New York Times reports, Brit Hume, political anchor and Washington managing editor of Fox News Channel is considering leaving his nightly newscast show.
Hume's show, "Special Report," attracted 1.34 million viewers in the second quarter of 2008, remaining Fox's fourth most popular program. His leaving will be the biggest change for the company in 12 years.
Hume has been in the industry for over 35 years, working with ABC News for 23 years and then moving to Fox News in 1996, covering President Bill Clinton's impeachment and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Hume, 65, is expected to remain involved with Fox News company, possibly as a political analyst.
Read more here.

Rhoads Named Reuters Managing Editor for the Americas

Earlier today Thomson Reuters announced that Brian Rhoads, 42, currently North Asia Editor for Reuters, will take over the duties of Managing Editor for North, Central and South America effective Sept. 29, 2008.
He will move to New York from his current post in Beijing after the Olympics. He will report to Global Managing Editor Betty Wong, 44, who was previously the Americas Managing Editor.
For more information, click here.

Former Deseret News editor says biz section cuts are difficult to accept

Greg Kratz, a former business reporter and editor for Salt Lake City's Deseret News, says the reduction of the paper's business section and the fact that it will be combined inside the A section is "hard for him to take."
He recently wrote a column for the paper detailing his views on the changes to the business section he helped mold for almost a decade.

"I admit that I'm not sad to see the stock page eliminated. I know some readers love having stocks in the paper, and I'm sure they will miss the listings. (At least I don't have to worry about taking those calls!) But there are many options for stock information these days, and the Internet — including the deseretnews.com Web site — is a far more up-to-date source of stock quotes. Still, losing the stand-alone nature of the section is hard to contemplate. For the editors and reporters who have worked over the years to build the paper's business coverage, it's almost like there's been a death in the family."

To read the full story click here.

Several changes for Traverse City's Sunday biz section

This weekend readers were introduced to several changes in The Traverse City (Mich.) Record-Eagle's Sunday Business Section.
The paper expanded its stock and mutual fund reports, local business coverage and added a column from the Associated Press called "Money & Markets Extra," which highlights financial news and trends over the previous week and looks at some of best and worst performances among stocks and mutual funds.
As for local business news coverage, the paper will run its Business Memorandum column, which details new businesses in the area, promotions and personnel announcements, and will have continued commentary on its Consumer page.
For more click here.

E&P to provide digital magazine

Editor & Publisher, which covers all aspects of the newspaper industry, is planning a digital electronic addition of their magazine, according to reports from MarketWatch. The group teamed up with Pressmart Media Ltd. to provide the digital magazine.
In a joint statement E&P Publisher Chas McKeown said "the Pressmart state-of-the-art solution will provide our readership access to Editor & Publisher on multiple digital distribution channels including eEditions; Podcasts; Mobile devices and eArchives."
For more click here.

WSJ Trims Newsroom Staff

The Wall Street Journal has given buyout packages to about six staffers, according to Portfolio.com's media blog. Those leaving the newsroom include Carol Hymowitz, who writes the management column "In The Lead," Terri Cullen, who writes the personal-finance column "Fiscally Fit," and Tom Weber, co-writer of the Buzzwatch blog.
Several will continue to work at the paper until mid-August but more cuts - this time to the copy editing staff - might be on the way.
For more information, click here.

L.A. Times Publisher Resigns

In a tumultuous day for the Tribune Corp., Los Angeles Times publisher David Hiller announced his resignation hours after
Ann-Marie Lipinski announced she was stepping down from her role as the editor of the Chicago Tribune. Both newspapers are owned by the Tribune Corp.
Hiller's 21-month tenure at The Times was marked by the resignation of two top editors and most recently by the largest layoffs in the newspaper's history. His successor has not yet been named.
For more information, click here.

Washingtonpost.com adds new features to online biz section

Washingtonpost.com is adding new features to its business section, including blogs and videos, from HarvardBusiness.org and BigThink.com.
The additions include a blog from Scott Berinato called "The Intelligent Leader," which will track top executives moves, such as CEO ousting, to uncover the stories behind their leadership. Other features from HarvardBusiness.org include "Management Tip of the Day"-- ideas for becoming a more effective manager.
BigThink.com will add an original video interview series, "Voices on Leadership." The videos will ask some of the nation top CEO's and the heads of fast-growing companies what it takes to be a successful leader in today's marketplace.
For the entire story click here.
To see the new content on washingtonpost.com click here.

Top editor at Chicago Tribune resigns

Another top editor is leaving one of the nation's largest newspapers.
Editor & Publisher reports that after seven years as editor of the Chicago Tribune, Ann Marie Lipinski has decided to resign.
From the Lipinski's memo to her staff:

"That decision was difficult and a long time coming and it would be inaccurate to attribute it to any one event. I began my editorship seven months before 9/11 and in the seven years since have become accustomed and even comfortable with editing and managing through crisis and change. But professionally, this position is not the fit it once was. Personally, my family and I believe it is time."

For the full story and the memo click here.

New columnist at Dow Jones Newswires

Kathleen Madigan, former writer for BusinessWeek, has been named "Big Picture" columnist and economics writer for Dow Jones Newswires.

Daily moves online, drops daily print editions

The Daily Telegram, based in Wisconsin, has announced it will move to a more focused Web-based reporting approach, offering news online and print editions only two days a week.
The move is a part of the effort to adapt to a growing trend of readers migrating to the Web for their news.
According to the Telegram's Web site, the paper will provide daily breaking news in addition to the print edition news and photos that would typically run in the paper.
With print advertisements declining or also moving online, producing a daily newspaper has hit hard financially for some newspapers

Ad sales at business magazines decline

A recent report, compiled by the Publishers Information Bureau, shows the magazine industry was battered in the second quarter, with magazine ad sales falling 8 percent, reports The New York Times.
News and business magazines took one of the biggest hits from the ad slump, dropping 14.8 percent at BusinessWeek, 12.6 percent at Forbes, 22.4 percent at Newsweek and 21.2 percent at Time magazine.
Fortune and The Economist were successful, showing small gains in ads.
The decline for ad sales only fell .08 percent for the entire year in 2007, but fell 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2008. Magazine ad sales are predicted to be headed for a 10 percent decline by the end of 2008, but still continue to do better than newspaper ad sales.
Luxury goods and service ads fared the best for magazines, while computer and vehicle ads showed the steepest drop in ads.
Read more here.

No More "Fake" Steve Jobs

Daniel Lyons, a former Forbes reporter, has written the blog The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs for the last two years, but on Wednesday, Lyons announced he was moving on to a new url.
The New York Times reports that Lyons, known as the "fake" Steve Jobs, is moving on with his professional life, moving to Newsweek as a technology columnist this fall. Reporter Brad Stone writes, "Mr. Lyons said that he had grown tired of his fictional creation, but mainly he was worried about making fun of a real person whose health has been a recent topic of speculation."
Lyons is quoted as saying, "I tried transitioning to other voices, like Jerry Yang’s, but it just didn’t work.”
Lyons published the blog anonymously until The Times revealed his identity last summer

Read the complete article here.

Most Credible: Biz Mags or Wikipedia?

A win for the business journalism industry, but also a loss?
The "Edelman Trust Barometer 2008," an annual survey of trust related issues, reveals that Americans, ages 24 to 35, feel that business magazines are the most credible source for information about companies. Biz magazines hold the top spot over the number two most credible source, Wikipedia. A scary thought indeed.
The report also indicates that fewer Americans under 35 (50%) get information about companies from newspapers than in any other country surveyed.

Read the full survey report here.

Sun-Sentinel Assistant Business Editor Loses Cancer Battle

A loss for the business journalism community today as the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Lynn Gomez, an assistant business editor at the paper, died Tuesday after battling cancer for five years. She was 61 years old.
According to the post on the paper's Web site, "Gomez joined the Sun-Sentinel in the mid-1980s, doing computer graphics for the newspaper. After working for Reuters in London and New York, she moved back to Florida to be closer to her family in 1994. She joined the Sun-Sentinel again as a graphics editor and later became an assistant business editor."

To read the entire article, click here.

Fox Business Adds Wall Street Journal Columnist to Schedule

The Wall Street Journal's personal technology columnist Walt Mossberg will soon be a regular contributor to The Fox Business Network despite the paper's contract with CNBC.
According to an article in The New York Times, News Corporation announced the arrangement on Tuesday, making Mossberg, who writes two columns for The Journal, the most prominent person from the newspaper to contribute regularly to the cable channel.
This is in the face of a 15-year contract, which concludes in 2012, between CNBC and the paper. The Time's article quotes Kevin Magee, an executive vice president at Fox News, as saying, “As long as we stay away from branded, regularly scheduled segments of business news, we’re safe. Breaking news is fine and nonbusiness news is fine.”

For the complete story click here.

A Study of The Sun's Standalone Demise

The Daily Record takes a look at The Baltimore Sun's plans to shutter its standalone business section beginning July 25.
Reporter Danielle Ulman writes, "When The Sun launches its redesign, Bernie Kohn, assistant managing editor for business, told his staff that business coverage will shrink to two pages inside a new general news section. In an e-mail to his staff on June 30, Kohn said daily business coverage will focus on local stories, with theme pages moving to the overhauled features section."
The news of the plans came just after The Sun announced it would cut 60 newsroom jobs.
In her report, Ulman also queried journalism insiders and experts, including Andrew Leckey, director of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, on the changes.
Leckey said standalone sections traditionally existed to display stock tables. He is quoted: "Where the section is isn’t as important as the content. The other trend that’s underway is that more of the business news has made it into the main news section over the last five years. That said, the more business coverage, the better. I think we know from the Internet that we can’t think of things spatially as we have. All words are being delivered differently."

To read the entire article, click here.

It's Busch v. Busch in the Battle for Budweiser

Coverage of the possible takeover of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. by Belgian brewing giant InBev has been extensive and many reporters have picked up on the fact that one of the proponents of the takeover is a Busch himself. In June, Adolphus Busch IV wrote a letter to the company's board of directors, urging them to look on the bid favorably, even as nephew and Anheuser-Busch CEO August A. Busch IV is fighting tooth and nail to ward off InBev's advances.
The Deal's Maria Woehr posted a few insightful tidbits about the relationship between Adolphus and the family company. It's short on juicy details but there are plenty of interesting factoids - Adolphus once worked for Coors - that shed a little more light on the family feud that might be brewing over Budweiser.
For the story, click here.

Magna, ZO decrease expectations for 2008 ad-spending

Citing worsening economic conditions, IPG's Magna Global has decreased it's North American advertising growth estimate to just two percent ($285 billion), half of what the company originally forecasted, reports Ad Week.
The revision comes just a week after Publicis Groupe's Zenith Optimedia modestly decreased its ad growth forecast to 3.5 percent ($195 billion) from four percent. ZO's estimate is for major media, which is defined as newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, cinema, outdoor and the Internet.
The revised forecasts could signal a bumpy road ahead for many newspapers already suffering from an decrease in advertising revenues. Competition from online advertising has decreased the demand for more traditional newspaper advertisements.
For more information about the estimates, click here.

Gannett buys out ShopLocal LLC

Today Gannett said in a press release that it had acquired all of the ownership stakes in ShopLocal LLC from The McClatchy Company and the Tribune Company.
At the time, Tribune owned 42.5 percent of ShopLocal and McClatchy owned 15 percent.
ShopLocal is the top company for multi-channel shopping and advertising services, working to connect advertisers with consumers both online and in the store. Gannett plans to use ShopLocal in conjunction with PointRoll, also owned by Gannett, to create more dynamic advertisements.
PointRoll is the industry leader in online rich media.
For more information, click here.

Washington Post Names Marcus Brauchli Executive Editor

Katharine Weymouth, publisher of The Washington Post, announced this afternoon that Marcus Brauchli, former editor of The Wall Street Journal, will take over as the Post's executive editor. He will officially ascend to the top editor's post on Sept. 8, succeeding current Post editor Leonard Downie Jr. who announced his retirement last week. Downie led the paper for 17 years.
The return to the top was swift for Brauchli who was ousted three months ago during Rupert Murdoch's takeover of The Wall Street Journal.
In a statement announcing Brauchli's selection, Weymouth said;

"Marcus brings a wealth of experience, both as a journalist and as an editor, that will help us navigate the new world of media - honoring and building on the standards of journalism blazed by Ben Bradlee and Len Downie - and move us forward to a new and bright future."

For more information about the Post's new editor, click here.

Merrill Mulls Sale of Bloomberg Stake

Merrill Lynch & Co. is considering a sale of the company's stakes in news provider Bloomberg LP and financial firm BlackRock, as the company attempts to raise cash to make up for $6 billion in coming write-downs, reports The Wall Street Journal.
For its 20 percent stake in Bloomberg, Merrill is likely to seek about $5 billion, a price that might be lower than its open market value.
For more information, continue reading here.

NBC to Use Olympics as Proving Ground for Viewership Measurement

This year, when NBC Universal measures its coverage of the Olympics, it won't just be the number of viewers that tune in via television, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The company plans to use a more comprehensive measure of viewership that will include users who watch via video-on-demand, cellphones and the Web.
NBC will offer the new system to advertisers at the start of the new fall season. They hope their Olympic trial-run will convince advertisers to increase their advertising presence on newer media, such as VOD and cellphone video.
The move to launch a new system to track viewership stemmed from NBC's dissatisfaction with the methods currently available to measure usage on different outlets.
Nielson Corp.'s Nielson Media Research is the dominant firm for tracking viewership. The company currently has a method of measuring viewership of newer media but is expected to roll out a more advanced system later this year.
For more information on the new system, continue reading here.

Carnegie-Knight to Give $11 Million for New Journalism Education Initiative

More than $11 million will be given to support three more journalism school and bolster programs at eight other schools through a partnership by the James S. and John L. Knight Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The initiative contains two familiar goals: to enhance the journalism curriculum and to expand the existing News21 fellowships for journalism students. But it also aims to appoint a task force to address the "sea of change" that is sweeping across newsrooms and the journalism industry.
The three new schools to be funded under the initiative are Arizona State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
The foundations currently support journalism education at University of Southern California; University of Texas at Austin; University of Maryland; Northwestern University; Columbia University; University of Missouri; Syracuse University; and University of California at Berkeley.
The Joan Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government is also supported by the initiative.
For more information, click here.

WSJ.com readership jumps 94 percent, boosts online subscription model

In a bit of good news for the newspaper industry, readership of The Wall Street Journal's Web site reached 16.2 million unique users in June, an astounding 94 percent increase versus the same month last year. Total page views increased as well, rising 45 percent to 150 million in June.
The increase is a boost to The Wall Street Journal's online philosophy, with some content being available for free while other content requires a subscription.
Last August, speculation was rampant that the newspaper's purchase by Dow Jones Corp. would lead to a subscription-free WSJ.com. While the company has allowed more individual articles to appear for free on the site, the move away from subscriptions never occurred.
For more information, read here.

Pandey joins LA Times biz desk

Swati Pandey is switching roles at the Los Angeles Times, moving from the editorial pages to the business desk.
Swati, who has distinguished herself with editorials on immigration, foreign affairs and other topics, will be a entertainment general assignment on the business team.
From the announcement:

"A 2004 graduate of Yale University, Swati has been with "The Times for just over two years, and has been a stalwart contributor to the editorial pages during that time. Initially a researcher and fact-checker, she has steadily expanded her range with varied and literate articles for the editorial pages and other departments, notably Calendar. Most recently, she produced a lovely Column 1, a first-person piece that ran last week to great acclaim." -- Managing Editor Davan Maharaj and Editorial Pages Editor Jim Newton

For more click here.

Wired Magazine headed back to UK

Wired magazine is headed back to the United Kingdom.
Nearly a decade ago, former Wired magazine owner, Wired Ventures Inc, shut down the U.K. version of the magazine. Conde Nast bought the magazine from Wired Ventures in 1998 and has now announced its plans to launch another UK version of the magazine, with an accompanying Web site, in the first quarter of next year. Conde Nast also plans to launch the magazine in Italy in early 2009 before the UK version is released.
Wired is a monthly technology magazine that covers how technology affects culture, business, the economy and politics.
Read more here.

Loeb Awards recognizes WSJ journalists

The Loeb Awards recognized Daniel Hertzberg, deputy managing editor for The Wall Street Journal, for the 2008 Gerald Loeb Award for lifetime achievement. Loeb also honored a team of WSJ journalists for coverage on the meltdown at Bear Stearns Cos.
Sponsored by G. and R. Loeb Foundation, The Loeb Awards honors accomplishments in business, finance and economics.

The Sun cuts its business section

Newspapers deciding to cut and condense business sections has become commonplace this year. And its not over yet.
Now the Baltimore Business Journal reports that The Baltimore Sun is also planning to eliminate its daily business section on July 29 and move the coverage to the "Maryland" section of the newspaper.
From the story:

"A redesign of the Sun, slated to take affect by the end of August, will feature two pages a day focusing on business. The business stories will be folded into what business news editor Bernie Kohn, in an e-mail to staffers outlining the changes, described as a new "uber-news" section, which will focus on local, national and world news coverage. The changes come in the wake of Sun management announcing a new round of buyouts and layoffs in the newsroom."

For the full story click here.

Clay Felker, founding editor of New York magazine, dies at 82

Clay Felker, founder and former editor of New York magazine, The Village Voice and many other New York publications, died in his home today. He was 82.
Felker will be remembered by the journalism community as a "visionary editor who was widely credited with inventing the formula for the modern magazine," reads The New York Times obituary.

Mr. Felker edited a number of publications besides New York magazine. There were stints at Esquire, The Village Voice, Adweek, Manhattan, inc. and others. He created an opposite-coast counterpart to New York and called it New West.
But it was at New York that he left his biggest imprint on American journalism. He founded it as a Sunday supplement to The New York Herald Tribune in 1964. Four years later, after the newspaper closed, he and the graphic designer Milton Glaser reintroduced New York as a glossy stand-alone magazine.

For the full obituary read here.

Two new editors for Vanity Fair

Women's Wear Daily reports that Vanity Fair is adding two new contributing editors. Both hires -- Vanessa Grigoriadis and Joe Hagan -- hail from New York Magazine.
Grigoriadis won a National Magazine Award in 2007 for a profile of Karl Lagerfeld in New York and Joe Hagan wrote high-profile stories on media and finance.
For more click here.

Appelbaum leaves Globe for Post

Binyamin Appelbaum, a business reporter at The Boston Globe, is leaving the paper to join The Washington Post, according to reports from The Phoenix.
Appelbaum garnered respect from reporters and was picked up by the Globe after he penned an award-winning series, "Sold a Nightmare," for The Charlotte Observer.
The series, which foretold of the subprime mortgage crisis from a local perspective, was a finalist this year for the Pulitzer Prize and clinched a Polk Award.
Recently Appelbaum examined housing projects in Barack Obama's former Illinois state senate district, and detailed Obama's relationships with the developers who've renovated and operated those project.
It is still unclear exactly why Appelbaum decided to leave the Globe and what he will cover at the Post. From The Phoenix's reports:

"One Globe staffer who spoke with DQM linked Appelbaum's departure to the Globe's worrisome financial arc. A second disagreed, saying that the Post has had its eye on Appelbaum ever since his coverage of sketchy homebuilder Beazer Homes USA garnered The Charlotte Observer a Polk Award and a Pulitzer-finalist slot. I tried to reach Appelbaum earlier today, but haven't heard back; if I do, and if he's willing to discuss the reasons for his departure, I'll post them here".