New biz editor at Star-Bulletin

Dave Segal has named business editor at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, according to reports in the paper.
Segal, who spearheaded the paper's coverage of the Hawaiian and Aloha airlines bankruptcies and the fare war sparked by interisland carrier go!, was promoted from his role as assistant business editor and Sunday business editor. He succeeds Ken Andrade, who resigned to pursue a startup business venture. Jennifer Sudick will move into the position of assistant business editor.
For the full story click here.

New York Sun to shut down

The New York Sun has not raised the capital it needed to stay afloat. The paper's spokesperson confirmed the Sun's final issue will be published tomorrow. Seth Lipsky, the paper's founder, said he "held out hope for a favorable outcome as late as mid-afternoon today." 

Washington Post Co. buys Foreign Policy magazine.

Editor & Publisher reports that The Washington Post has purchased Foreign Policy magazine.

"Foreign Policy is a terrific magazine, and I'm pleased it will become a part of our company," said Donald E. Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of The Washington Post Company, in a statement. "We are committed to great magazine journalism, and I hope Foreign Policy will also become one more center of innovation that helps us expand our journalism in the online arena.

Susan Glasser, editor and foreign correspondent for The Washington Post, will leave her current position to become executive editor of the magazine.

Click here to read more.

Former Newsweek Editor Dead at 83

Osborn Elliott, 83, a former Newsweek editor, who began with the magazine as a business editor and later became a deputy mayor of New York City, died on Sunday.
Ellliott worked as an editor early on at Time, but in 1955, he was offered a job as senior business editor at Newsweek, a magazine that at the time was considered just a struggling competitor. But still, he took the job and soon became managing editor.
Newsweek reporters Adi Ignatius and Alec D.B. McCabe wrote a special Web exclusive about Elliott. They write:

As Newsweek’s top editor in the 1960s and 1970s, Elliott transformed a magazine that had been a faint rival of Time into a nimble competitor. While Time was slow to evolve from the conservative path laid down by its founder Henry Luce, Newsweek under Elliott pursued an ambitious, liberal agenda that gave the magazine a sharper identity and sense of mission. For those accomplishments, Elliott, known to his friends as "Oz," was among the first to be voted into the American Society of Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame. He also received the Frederick Douglass Award from the New York Urban League for his work in civil rights.

Read the full tribute here.

Asking the Dumb Questions

David Carr of The New York Times looks at the media’s role in the current financial crisis and touts the importance of asking so-called stupid questions in Sunday's “Daring to Say Loans Made No Sense." Carr writes, “Sometimes, if you want the real answer, you have to ask a dumb question.” In this case, the question, which came from radio producer Alex Blumberg and led to a one-hour radio special called "The Giant Pool of Money," was: “Why are they lending money to people who can’t afford to pay it back?”
Carr also spoke with Andrew Leckey, director of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism for the piece.
Carr writes:

After large-scale financial disasters, the press is usually criticized — often justly — for ignoring the problem, but it’s hard to make that case with the subprime mess. If no one saw this coming, they were not looking.
“This has been a very slow-moving train wreck,” said Andrew Leckey, director of the center for business journalism at Arizona State University. “But it came wrapped in the warm feelings of home ownership while the executives behind it used obfuscation and a lack of transparency to lie about how deeply they were in the subprime business.”

Read the complete story here.

Entrepreneur Media sues Lesonsky

The former editor of Entrepreneur Media, Rieva Lesonsky, is facing a lawsuit from the company, according to reports from FOLIO.
The report says, "the suit alleges that Lesonsky 'stole' its Franchise 500 ranking concept by creating the not-yet-launched Franchise 300 ranking for San Francisco-based online business site AllBusiness.com. In addition to Lesonsky, the complaint names AllBusiness.com and another former Entrepreneur staffer."
Lesonsky resigned as Entrepreneur editorial director in April.
To read the full story click here.

NYT reporter close to a book deal

The New York Observer reports that an auction is underway for a book on the financial crisis from The New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin. The report says that Sorkin is, "inches away from a book deal with Viking."
From the report:

Mr. Sorkin's book is just one of many spawned by the ongoing economic turmoil. The guy who sits next to him at The New York Times, Joe Nocera, is writing one of them, with Smartest Guys in the Room author Bethany McLean. That book was at auction as of yesterday. Whether it has sold at this point or not we don't yet know, but expect an update soon.

For more click here.

Lynch: news editor of DealBook

Cision reports that The New York Times has appointed Jack Lynch as its DealBook news editor beginning in October.
Lynch is currently an assistant business editor overseeing finance for the Web site. He has also served as continuous news editor and as a deputy editor in the Washington, D.C. bureau since joining the paper in 1987.
For more click here.

USA Today's Wilson heads to NPR

Cision reports that Kinsey Wilson, the executive editor of USA Today, is leaving the paper on Oct. 20 to join National Public Radio as vice president of digital media for the network.
Wilson previously served as editor in chief of USATODAY.com. and has also worked as a daily news and new media editor at Congressional Quarterly, Inc.

Advertising way down

U.S. advertising spending is downn significantly, to its greatest low in seven years, Bloomberg reports.
Consumers are spending less and the story says spending in the third quarter could be the weakest since 1991. In response, advertisers are investing in Internet, cable television and syndicated TV.
From the story:

"Total ad spending will fall below 2 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product next year for the first time since 1981, BMO Capital Markets analyst Leland Westerfield said this month. The Internet has hit newspapers especially hard, draining real estate and job-listing revenue from classified ad sections."

For more click here.

WSJ hires firm to help with creativity

The Wall Street Journal announced it will hire the McGarryBowen Agency to handle the creative aspect of future projects. In the last year, Dow Jones & Company has worked to attract a broader audience by launching new products and enhancing existing ones. New products include the redesigned WSJ.com, WSJ Mobile Reader, WSJwine and additions to the print edition.
This is not the first time McGarryBowen will work with the Journal. In Feb. 2007, the company successfully developed the Journal's brand campaign, "Every Journey Needs a Journal."
In a statement, Paul Bascobert, chief marketing officer for Dow Jones & Company, said, "We look forward to continuing our relationship with McGarryBowen and leveraging their creative talent to help us communicate all the product innovations and enhancements of The Journal brand in the marketplace."

Yahoo! launches online ad property with newspapers

Editor & Publisher reports that Yahoo! unveiled APT, its new advertising management platform, earlier today.

For the 784 newspapers involved in the Yahoo alliance, AMP gives publishers the opportunity to sell into Yahoo local inventory (say Yahoo San Francisco) and for Yahoo to bring national advertisers across several newspaper properties. APT's big selling point is its ability to target advertisers, known in online parlance as behavioral targeting (BT).

According to MediaNews Group CEO Dean Singleton, one of the benefits of the plan will be ad pricing. He says the amount newspapers charge for certain ads could triple now that the ads are more targeted.
He also expects to see more business from some advertisers who have been hesitant to use newspapers in the past.

Click here to read more.

Post-Gazette staff may face layoffs

The Pittsburgh Business Times reports that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has told its staff that it expects to soon implement layoffs due to ongoing revenue declines.
From the story:

The Post-Gazette is Pittsburgh’s largest daily newspaper, with a daily circulation of 212,714 and a Sunday circulation of 347,435. The paper's new plan to cut staff comes after the newspaper established a new three-year contract with its 14 unions in early 2007 that included job reductions, wage freezes and cuts, as well as a shift in some health care costs onto the employees.

For more click here.

Wired keeps "Found" -- with a twist

Wired magazine was working on a new back page feature to replace the six-year-old "Found," but the new version looks almost exactly like the old one, according to reports from Mediabistro's FishbowlNY.
Wired Deputy Editor Thomas Goetz told FishbowlNY: The acclaim for "Found" was pretty extraordinary. We got hundreds of letters, phone calls, telegrams, all bemoaning the page's disappearance. Not one to ignore the wisdom of the crowd, we decided to give it another run, this time with a twist: the future is your responsibility. Every month we'll offer a scenario for readers to take their shot at envisioning."
For more click here.

ASBPE offers ethics help

The American Society of Business Publication Editors has launched a new ethics advisory program.
The program will offer guidance for editorial or advertising issues.
Members can submit a questions and ASBPE ethics committee members will offer suggestions for the ethical dilemma within 10 business days.
One of the groups first reports addresses if public relations representatives should be permitted to review and article before publication.

Experimental international reporting site to launch soon

James Erik Ables has an article on Forbes.com about a new experimental news site, which will launch a test version later this fall.
The new enterprise would begin by deploying 72 correspondents around the world, who would in turn report to regional editors.

"We are journalist entrepreneurs, and we have to find new models for journalism in the digital age," says Balboni.

The biggest concern for the site will be generating enough international interest to sustain an ad-driven business model. This could be especially difficult considering that most readers of news look to sources within their own country to get it.
To read the full story, click here.

Another loss on the N&O biz desk

North Carolina's Independent Weekly has listed some of staffers who took a buyout from The News and Observer.
Among them is Vicki Lee Parker, a business reporter who covers technology and manufacturing and writes the Savvy Consumer column. She has been at the paper since 2000.
For the full list click here.

Need help with bank coverage?

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers will hold a conference call tomorrow at noon EST to dicuss covering bank stocks, panics and failures in light of the financial crisis.
Bernie Kohn, investigations editor at the Baltimore Sun, will moderate the call. Drew DeSilver, banking and public companies reporter for the Seattle Times, and Mark Davis, banking reporter at the Kansas City Star, will be on hand to answer reporters' questions.
For more information click here.

NYT expands online biz coverage

Over the past six month The New York Times has hired more than a dozen journalists to focus on online business and technology reporting.
Now today the paper annouced its plans to significantly expand its online business coverage.
Changes include an Economy section and more coverage in Small Business, Personal Technology and Your Money sections. Also, the paper's site will introduce more journalists, deepen coverage within its DealBook franchise, and continue to add new tools and multimedia features throughout its online and mobile business pages.
"This is the beginning of a major reinvention of our online Business and Technology sections," said Lawrence Ingrassia, business editor, The New York Times. "We are hiring more Web journalists, bringing outside expertise to the site and strengthening our coverage. These enhancements will provide our readers with all the news, analysis, commentary and business tools they need in one place - on NYTimes.com."
Enhancements to the Technology section include:
-- Strengthened coverage: Sub-sections on enterprise technology, the Internet, venture capital and start-ups, and company-specific news.
-- New journalists: Vindu Goel, Sam Grobart, Claire Cain Miller and Ashlee Vance join the already strong roster of Times technology journalists including: Damon Darlin, David Gallagher, Saul Hansell, Miguel Helft, Laura M. Holson, Steve Lohr, John Markoff, David Pogue, Matt Richtel and Brad Stone.
-- Bits is spotlighted on the section front: The Bits blog, with an expanded staff, is now more prominently featured in the main section of Technology, becoming the anchor of continuous technology coverage.
-- New content providers: Blog posts from GigaOm, Venture Beat and ReadWriteWeb will be incorporated into the Technology section front in the coming weeks. Additionally, content from the IDG News Service is now more prominently displayed on the section front.
Features of the new online Economics section include:
-- Economix: A new blog written by David Leonhardt and Catherine Rampell will focus on both the global economy and the personal decisions readers make everyday.
-- Contributing Experts: The Economix blog will feature regular guest posts from Alan B. Krueger of Princeton University; Edward Glaeser of Harvard University; Bob McTeer, a former president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; Hung Huang, a Beijing-based entrepreneur; and Uwe E. Reinhardt of Princeton University.
-- Economic Tools: Economic indicator charts, calendars and increased interactive graphics will engage both experts and non-experts alike.
For the full release click here.

New publisher-CEO at Chicago Tribune

Chicago Business reports that Tony Hunter, 47, has been named publisher, president and CEO of the Chicago Tribune. Hunter has been at the paper since 1994. In his new position, Hunter will also oversee the Chicago Tribune Media Group, which includes RedEye, Hoy, Chicago magazine, MetroMix.com, ChicagoSports.com and TribLocal. 

Hunter replaces Robert Gremillion, the paper's interim publisher since June. 

Hunter was promoted to CEO from senior vice-president of circulation. 

For more click here. 

Dow Jones launches "Global Markets News"

Dow Jones announced today that it launched "Global Markets News."
The company calls the new initiative, "a comprehensive market-moving real-time news source, delivering exclusive analysis and commentary on companies, markets – equities, debt, currencies, energy and commodities – and the events that affect trades, portfolios and deals."
Dow Jones hopes the new news focus will provide an edge for financial professionals seeking timely and useful market information.
Elements of the coverage include:
* Heard On The Street – recently enhanced, this venerable Wall Street Journal column has been a staple in every business executive's daily diet since the 1960s * DJ Market Talk – streaming market comment on all asset classes from traders and insiders around the globe
* Money Talks – a focus on economics, markets and policy
* Big Picture – perspectives on economics trends
* Charting Money – technical analysis on the day’s most interesting financial instruments
For more click here.

Chapter 11 for newspapers?

Alan D. Mutter writes in his blog "Reflections of a Newsosaur" that bankruptcy court could be the next stop for some of the most precariously financed newspaper publishers.
He writes:

"As awful as the prospect sounds, it actually could be a good thing for the newspapers, because a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing enables a struggling company to restructure its debt, streamline its business and potentially put itself on a sounder footing for the future...While Chapter 11 provides a respite for a troubled company, it is only a respite. At some point, a business either has to emerge from bankruptcy as a going concern or go down the tubes. In the latter event, everyone loses."

To read more click here.

Politico continues to grow; adds big names

Editor & Publisher reports that Politico is expanding its coverage and plans to up its staff to more than 100 people.
As part of the expansion, in November Politico will launch a new White House team and a Web page called "POLITICO 44," which will offer details of the incoming 44th president.
Leading the team will be Mike Allen, a former Washington Post and Time reporter. Reporters Eamon Javers, formerly of BusinessWeek, Jeanne Cummings, formerly of The Wall Street Journal and bloggers Jonathan Martin, Ben Smith and Carrie Budoff Brown will help round out the team.
For the full story click here.

WSJ is it still a good name?

John Kelso wrote a column in today's The Austin American-Statesman asking if its time for The Wall Street Journal to consider a new name, possibly he says, to something that's a little more reputable.
From the column:

Now, it's not that I don't like The Wall Street Journal. I do. Reading it is kinda like going to El Paso. It's usually dry. But you tell me. What do you think of when you hear "Wall Street"? Do you think of anything cheerful and uplifting? No, not unless you think diving out a four-story window on your head is uplifting. These days, when you think of Wall Street, you think of crooked bankers, your rapidly disappearing 401(k), Americans losing their homes, asinine subprime mortgage schemes, abandoned neighborhoods and federal bailouts of huge corporations whose CEOs will retire to million-dollar homes in Greenwich, Conn., while their employees are put out of work.

I have yet to hear from Murdoch. He's probably too busy counting all the money he's lost on Wall Street. But he needs to do something about that name. Doesn't The Wall Street Journal have a marketing department?

For more click here.

Carney to lead new financial site

Mediabistro reports that DealBreaker's Editor-in-Chief John Carney is leaving the online business tabloid to launch a new financial news site with the people who produce Silicon Alley Insider.
Carney will be editing and writing a new financial new site called ClusterStock, which will blend humor, gossip, commentary and breaking news.
"It's a new era on Wall Street and I'm headed to a new site to cover it," he told Mediabistro via e-mail.
Click here for more.

Allison gives Wired a boost

Portfolio reports that Wired's August issue, the one with self-made celebrity Julia Allison on the cover, flew off the shelves.
In fact, the issue sold about 103,000 newsstand copies, the second-biggest selling Wired mag of the year. The issue was second only to a cover story about Apple and sold 105,000 newsstand copies.
For more click here.

Forbes: billionaires beyond business

Forbes reporter Claire Obusan offers an interesting look at the at the contemporary art collections of members of The Forbes 400, some of which are worth $1 billion or more through "The Color of Money."
An accompanying photo collage looks at iconic pieces of art in the collections of six American billionaires, and a video package allows readers to visit famed auction house Christies to see what's ahead for the contemporary art market.
Fore more click here.

Biz reporter leaves The Business Press

Cision reports that business reporter Joseph Ascenzi is leaving The Business Press after accepting a buyout. The report says that other buyouts from the Press are expected in the coming days.
The Press chronicles new business developments, profiles newsmakers and keeps tabs on the booming Inland Southern California economy

NYT adds a business column

Reuters reports that The New York Times has picked up a business column that was dropped by The Wall Street Journal just last week. The column, Breakingviews, will run daily in the Times and the International Herald Tribune starting next week. The column is described as "one of several business opinion columns that is vying to provide readers with concise analysis on complex financial developments."
The Wall Street Journal stopped running Breakingviews last week in an effort to concentrate on its own column, Heard on the Street. The Wall Street Journal had a contract to run Breakingviews until 2009.

For more click here.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer biz reporters leave paper to launch site

CNET reports that longtime Seattle Post-Intelligencer Microsoft reporters Todd Bishop and John Cook have left the paper to launch a new technology news site focused on the Seattle area.
Bishop, who covered Microsoft, and Cook, who covered venture capital, will continue to blog about those areas and also help guide the site, which is backed by the Puget Sound Business Journal. The site is expected to launch in the next few weeks, with name and URL still to be decided. The pair promises guest columnists and interactive features to help create a "gathering place" for those interested in Seattle-area tech goings-on.
For the full story click here.

A biz reporter covers the economic crisis that affects her own life

Atanta's Fox 5 followed a story about an Atlanta business writer who knows what the uncertainly of the economy can mean to job security.
Maria Saporta recently took a buyout package from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, but she got lucky and so far has landed on her feet, working as a freelance business reporter. And this week, she works to cover the story that could affect her own life.
"With all the turmoil on Wall Street, Maria Saporta has spent the last 24 hours working the phones Just like every business reporter in the country," the story says.
For the full story click here.

New biz editor at Times-Union

The Florida Times-Union wants to enhance and broaden its business coverage. And they believe Wayne Ezell, currently the paper's reader advocate, is the person to lead the charge.
Ezell was recently named business editor at the paper.
"Wayne's becoming business editor opens an opportunity for us to be responsive to readers in different but highly effective ways," said Frank Denton, editor of the Times-Union.
Ezell, a longtime newspaper veteran, will begin his role on Sept. 22. "Northeast Florida's vibrant and growing business climate makes this an especially compelling job, and I look forward to what I know will be a rewarding opportunity," Ezell said.
For the full story click here.

WSJ.com Adds Crisis Blog

From Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac to Lehman and now the bailout of AIG, the Wall Street crisis is in full swing, with breaking developments and confusing topics galore. WSJ.com has responded with a new blog, aptly named Crisis on Wall Street.
The latest entry is a Q&A primer on the AIG debacle.
The blog's description reads: "Crisis on Wall Street offers news updates and analysis on the tumult in the markets following the sale of Merrill and the bankruptcy filing of Lehman."
The blog and the addition of a Wall Street Crisis quick navigation button on the site's top bar are signs of a timely response and perhaps an indication that the WSJ.com team thinks the crisis is far from over.
WSJ.com just unveiled a redesign on Tuesday, which promised changing "home and section pages.”

Read more about the redesign here.

McClatchy announces more job cuts, reduces dividend

The News & Observer reports that its parent, The McClatchy Co., will cut 10 percent of its workforce and reduce its third quarter dividend from 18 cents to 9 cents.  The move is the company's second mass job reduction in three months.

McClatchy predicts that the company will be able to save $100 million over the next four quarters through the job cuts alone. 

The most recent moves are part of the compnay's ongoing effort to cope with a slump in advertising revenue. 

In a statement, McClatchy Chief Executive Gary Pruitt reassured shareholders that "McClatchy is committed to remaining a healthy, profitable company positioned to meet current challenges."

For the full story click here. 

Star-Ledger to close in early 2009?

Editor and Publisher reports that Newark, N.J.'s The Star Ledger is facing a possible sale or closure.
In an email to employees, Publisher George Arwady said that if 200 employees did not accept previously-offered buyouts by the Oct. 1 deadline, the paper would be forced to put itself up for sale. Barring a sale, it would be forced to closed down on Jan. 5, 2009.
In addition to the buyouts, the paper says it needs to restructure union contracts with its drivers and mailers. Arwady said in the email that the mailers were making progress towards this goal, but that the drivers were not.

For more, click here.

MarketWatch columnist criticizes media coverage of financial turmoil

MarketWatch columnist Jon Friedman did not hold back when he expressed his dissatisfaction with the media's coverage of this week's Wall Street crisis.

Friedman pointed specifically to the press conference held by Ken Lewis of Bank of America and John Thain of Merrill Lynch  to discuss B of A's takeover of Merrill.  Friedman said "the event should have been regarded as a sorry state of affairs, yet another glaring sign of greed, stupidity and mismanagement on Wall Street." Instead, according to Friedman, the media showed a collective lack of "skepticism" or "outrage." He said the media's passiveness combined with their politeness and deference made the press conference "a victory lap for the financial services industry." 

Ultimately, Friedman had a strong message for business journalists: "Don't treat these CEOs like heroes." 

For the full story click here. 

Blogosphere Breaks Lehman Story

MediaBistro's FishbowlNY interviewed Dealbreaker’s John Carney about how the blog beat mainstream media on the Lehman Brothers story.
From the post:

We mentioned last week how Dealbreaker beat the MSM to the initial Lehman Bros. story, but this happened more than once as the week progressed, yes?
Yes. First, we scooped everyone with the story that the Fed and Treasury were working on the Lehman problem. The Washington Post reported this story five hours later. Second, we were first, I believe, to report that there would be no government funding for a Lehman rescue. Third, not quite reporting, the we did explore the possibility of there being no deal to rescue or acquire Lehman on Friday, when everyone was still assuming the deal would happen.

So, other than the coffee man, how did you do it?
We've built a network of readers at both the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department and on Wall Street. Basically, these readers have come to trust us to provide information to them quickly. It's kind of your basic Web 2.0 strategy, where an involved online community creates two-way communications of information. They send us emails and text messages about the developments, while we post to the Web site. The directness and immediacy of the Web have allowed us to build up the kind of reporter-source relationships that might otherwise take years.

Read the entire story here.

The new WSJ.com to be unveiled Tuesday

The Wall Street Journal's Web site, The Wall Street Journal Online (www.wsj.com), has undergone a "significant redesign" and is expected to make its debut Tuesday. According to a press release, the new design will feature the following:

- Overall new look and feel with modern design and streamlined, horizontal navigation as well as a more varied home and section pages; 

- Expanded content is small business, technology, U.S. and world news, politics, personal finance and lifestyle categories;

- The introduction of the "Newsreel," a visual and text-driven tool atop all story pages highlighting the most important stories in each major section of the site with direct navigation among them;

- New video player, photo slide show viewer and interactive graphics;

- Redesigned "story pages" provide related analysis, additional content, video, audio, graphics and more;

- The newly launched WSJ.com Mobile Reader for BlackBerry smartphones.

The redesign will also feature new content and improvements that will be available only to WSJ.com subscribers. 

The new Web site will be an ongoing effort as changes will be rolled out regularly over the next few months. 

For more click here. 

  

Gannett's ad revenue falls nearly 17% in August

Gannett's publishing division ad revenue fell 16.8 percent in August compared with the same period a year ago, Editor & Publisher reports.
Hardest hit was classified advertising, where real estate ads fell 40 percent, another sign that the housing crisis is having wide-ranging effects. Retail ad revenue was also down 6.9 percent.
The news wasn't all bad, however, as the company's broadcasting ad revenue rose 20.7 percent.

Click here for more.

The Slate Group unveils new business coverage site

MarketWatch reports that The Slate Group has launched a new business coverage Web site called The Big Money. The site includes analysis and commentary, but also experiments with various forms of social media and user interaction.
Jacob Weisberg, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of The Slate Group, explains the drive behind the site:

The creation of The Big Money lets us build upon Slate's approach to business news with more detail and incredible speed and interaction, with the goal of making business journalism just as innovative, engaging and addictive as other kinds of media.

For more, click here.

The Daily News of Galveston hit hard by Ike

Much as The Times-Picayune of New Orleans did earlier this month, Galveston County's The Daily News is offering its Friday and Saturday print editions online, Editor and Publisher reports.
In a blog post today, The Daily Times Editor Heber Taylor said that the news staff will keep reporting the news throughout the duration of the storm.
Delivery of the paper will be disrupted for some time, however, and the paper's offices are currently closed.

Read more here.

Sacramento Bee loses another 87 employees

The Sacramento Bee reports that 87 of its employees have accepted buyouts. The offers follow a round of layoffs and buyouts in June, which affected 86 employees.
McClatchy, which owns the Bee, has seen overall revenue fall 15 percent in 2008 so far, and its stock has fallen 85 percent over the past year.
Sacramento Bee Publisher and President Cheryl Dell said it was not certain whether or not more staff cuts would be needed.

To read more, click here.

The financial woes of Missouri's j-school paper.

The International Herald Tribune reports that the Columbia Missourian, the student-run newspaper at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, is facing some tough financial choices even as the school celebrates its centennial anniversary.
The paper has lost over $1 million in each of the last two years, leading university officials to seek changes.

Click here for more.

New York Times Co. shares up on news of new billionaire stakeholder

MarketWatch reports that Carlos Slim, a Mexican billionaire and, according to Forbes, the world's second-richest man, has acquired a 6.4 percent stake in New York Times Co. Shares of the company rose 9.1 percent on news of the purchase.
Slim now owns 9.1 million Class A shares. Class A shares come with voting rights that allow shareholders to vote for four board directors. New York Times Co.'s Class B stock, which entitles shareholders to vote for the remaining nine directors, is owned primarily by the Ochs-Sulzberger family.
As the company struggles to recover from losses in print revenues, private-equity firms have taken an active interest in the struggling New York Times Co. over the past year. In some cases, investors have purchased shares in an effort "to pressure the company to take more aggressive actions to placate shareholders during a difficult time for newspapers."

For the full story click here.

Google faces scrutiny over United story incident

MarketWatch examined the potential limitations of Google's search technology in light of this week's resurfacing of a 6-year-old bankrupcy story concerning United Airlines that sent the company's stock plummeting. MarketWatch posed the following question: "Could "Google" eventually come to mean stumbling accidentally and disastrously onto misleading reports and information?"
From the story:

Some analysts say the scenario with the United story shows the limitations of automated search technology- based on tools called "bots" and "scrapers" - and highlights the need for a more precise system for identifying information, especially news reports.

Ed Keating, vice president of the Software Information Industry Association, said that while Google has sufficient technology in place, "it's just an algorithm, and the algorithm did not go to journalism school."
Crawford Del Prete of the International Data Corp. said that while he believed Google's "bots" and "scrapers" are able to "capture" information in an efficient manner, " we still have a long way to go to filter out the timely and relevant from the not timely and relevant."
Google stands by its technology and says each individual media organization is responsible for keeping track of its information and must ensure and verify its accuracy and completeness independently.

For more click here.

United Airlines Bankruptcy Story Sorted Out

After a bit of detective work, Tribune Co. and Google believe they've discovered how a six-year-old story came to be treated like breaking news, causing problems for United Airlines as well as the news sources that reported it.
Poynter Online's Steve Myers has the in-depth story, which involves Google's news crawler, an undated article, and a higher-than-expected traffic count.
To get the full story, click here.

Batten: the new editorial page editor at the Observer

Editor & Publisher reports that Taylor Batten has been named the new editorial page editor of The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer.
From the story:

Taylor, 39, joined the Observer in 1995 as a business reporter, and was the lead reporter in John Edwards’ election to the U.S. Senate in 1998. He has since served as night city editor, government editor, copy desk chief and was the newsroom’s night captain in charge of Page One. Before coming to the Observer, he was a reporter for the Associated Press and interned at The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

Bloomberg's Winkler to focus on print

Reuters reports that the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg's news operation is scaling back his responsibilities.
Matt Winkler, who started Bloomberg LP’s news operation nearly two decades ago, will give up control of the the TV, Internet and radio operations at Bloomberg but retain control of print.
From the story:

Matt Winkler is more than the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg’s news operation; he is its creator and keystone, and largely responsible for its hard-charging, hard-working work ethic that has been described by nearly everyone who writes about the business news wire as “take-no-prisoners.” Still, even top editors like to take a break every now and again.

Here’s what Winkler said in a phone interview with Reuters on Tuesday, following a video presentation to Bloomberg employees: "This will free me up to spend more time with reporters and more time with our customers — more time thinking about the kinds of things we want to do, but haven’t done yet. A good part of my day, every day, when I’m not on the road, has been in story meetings. There are at this point better ways for me to spend my time."

For more click here.

New column at Atlanta Biz Chronicle

Cision reports that Maria Saporta will write a column on the business leaders for The Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Saporta, who most recently worked as a business columnist for more than a decade at The Atlanta Journal Constitution, will launch her column on this Friday.

Murphy named head of editorial at Harvard Business Press

MarketWatch reports that Jacqueline Murphy has been named Editorial Director of Harvard Business Press.
Murphy, who joined Harvard Business Press in 2001, will oversee the editorial direction and "lead the expansion of the Press's portfolio mix to include new digital product and delivery formats, more global content, and the development of new community-based initiatives."

"Jacque is an outstanding editor, an effective leader, and an incisive thinker," said David Goehring, Vice President and Director of Harvard Business Press. "Her demonstrated skills have served the Press well, and I am confident that in her new position she will guide the Press to even greater success."

For more click here.

Gannett to cut 100 management positions

Editor & Publisher reports that Robert Dickey, Gannett's U.S. Community Publishing President, informed employees in a letter today that roughly 100 department head positions will be cut.
Dickey attributes the need for the cuts to the effects of the recession on the company. The move follows the buyouts of 1,000 employees in August.

To read more, click here.

NYT media reporters on the move

The New York Observer reports that media reporters from The New York Times' business desk's are moving to a new workspace.
Reporters that include Tim Arango, Richard Perez-Pena and Brian Stelter, will move to the third floor of the times into a media desk, which will be shared with reporters from the Cultures team.
Leading the operation is Bruce Headlam, the business team's media editor, who will report to Business Editor Larry Ingrassia and Culture Editor Sam Sifton.
To read the memo click here.

The breakdown on an old story's release

A story in today's The Washington Post details the chain of events that led to a six-year-old-article's re-release about the 2002 reported bankruptcy of United Airlines.
As the story made it's way onto the Internet, it "triggered a massive sell-off that nearly obliterated the company's stock in a matter of minutes."
From the story:

The light-speed wipeout is a powerful reminder of how quickly bad information can spread via the Internet to a trigger-happy Wall Street that is willing to dump millions in stock before checking the facts. It exposed how Bloomberg's influential brand name is vulnerable to bogus content -- the old article was posted to a Bloomberg subscription service by a Florida investment adviser, one of Bloomberg's many "third-party content-providers." Moments later, it popped up under United Airlines company news as a headline only: "United Airlines files for Ch. 11 to cut costs." And it showed how the imperfect technologies of Internet search combined with human failure can cause ruinous results.

The Post's Rob Pegoraro also tackle's the issue in his Fast Forward column reminding journalists of the old saying, "if your mother says she loves you, check it out."

BusinessWeek tries to break "traditional media mold"

BusinessWeek announced it will launch Business Exchange, a personalized service that will give business professionals the ability to find, create, and track business topics that are "relevant and meaningful to them." The service will facilitate interaction between BusinessWeek writers and editors, industry leaders and business professionals. 

The program will rely heavily on the participation of BusinessWeek writers and editors who will regularly submit content and share their insights with participants. 

Keith Fox, President of BusinessWeek, called Business Exchange "a clear and unique step into the future of the media industry. We are breaking the traditional media mold by bringing together our users, readers, writers and editors and drawing on collective wisdom." 

For more click here. 

Old story resurfaces, shocks traders

Reuters reports that the resurfacing of nearly a 6-year-old story from the Chicago Tribune on the 2002 bankruptcy filing of UAL Corp, sent the airline's shares plummeting briefly when traders believed the report was current news.
From the story:

"UAL, parent of United Airlines, and several news organizations involved were blindsided by the resurrection of the Chicago Tribune article. UAL, which exited bankruptcy more than two years ago, demanded a retraction by the Florida Sun-Sentinel, where the out-of-date report first appeared. UAL shares fell 76 percent to $3 after the article was posted on the Bloomberg financial news service. The magnitude of the decline may underscore the lack of confidence investors have in UAL and the troubled airline industry in general."

For more click here.

Lipinski to join Univ. of Chicago

The former editor of the Chicago Tribune, Ann Marie Lipinski, is slated to become vice president for civic engagement at the University of Chicago, according to reports from the paper.
The report says that Lipinski will be "charged with advancing, coordinating and articulating the university's ambitious efforts" in many areas, including elementary education, community health, local economic growth, business and job creation, and programs for children at risk, among others.
For more click here.

NY Times eliminates 550 local-distrubution jobs

The New York Times reports that it will shut down its local-distribution operation, City and Suburban Delivery Systems, in January. The cost-cutting move will affect some 550 jobs and 200 publications.
In place of the service, the New York Times Company will rely on independent distributors as well as the company's own trucks and drivers.
Click here to read more.

282 newspapers form ad network with Zillow.com

Editor & Publisher reports that eleven companies, which own a combined 282 newspapers, have struck a deal with the advertising website Zillow.com to form a national web-based real estate ad network.

According to Omniture numbers provided by Zillow, the site reported 5.4 million unique visitors in August, up 24% year-over-year. With the addition of newspapers, the network will reach more than 63 million monthly uniques.

The move will allow advertisers to significantly increase the number of potential customers they are reaching, as well as enable them to target specific markets.
Click here to read more.

A.H. Belo allows 412 to take buyouts

Editor and Publisher reports that A.H. Belo Corp. has allowed 412 employees of its three newspapers to take buyouts. The Dallas Morning News was the hardest hit - it will lose 270 employees to the voluntary severances.
Belo chairman, CEO, and president Robert Decherd said in a statement that the moves are part of a plan to restructure to papers' operations towards new print and online products.

Click here to read more.

NYT will reduce number of sections to save money

In an effort to cut costs, The New York Times reports it will consolidate some sections printed in the New York metropolitan area edition of the paper, and completely eliminate its freestanding Metro section.

The Metro report will become part of the newspaper's A section, which also contains the International and National reports, and the Editorial and Op-Ed pages, on Mondays through Saturdays, and possibly on Sundays, as well. The Sports report will go into the section that begins with Business Day, on Tuesdays through Fridays, while Sports will remain a separate section on weekends and on Mondays.

The new format, which will debut on Oct. 6, "will not reduce the number of pages devoted to the Metro and Sports reports."
While one may wonder about the potential impact this move may have on loyal readers, editors say "the physical arrangement of the paper matters less in an age when a growing proportion of its audience is online."
There will be no changes made to the National Edition.

For the full story click here.

CNBC partners with LinkedIn

Reuters is reporting that CNBC and professional networking site LinkedIn will now share content.

Community-generated content such as survey and poll results from LinkedIn will be broadcast on CNBC, while the latter will provide LinkedIn with its programming, articles and blogs, and financial data and video content.

The CNBC "alliance" is LinkedIn's latest effort to gain market share in the social networking arena. The company entered into an advertising deal with the New York Times in July and partnered with BusinessWeek last year.

For more click here.

Entire newsroom offered buyouts

Forbes reports that The News & Observer, a McClatchy Co. newspaper in Raleigh, N.C., has offered voluntary buyouts to about 40 percent of the newspaper's employees, including the entire news staff. However, only a small percentage of the 320 employees who were offered buyouts is expected to accept them.
The move is the third cost-cutting effort by the newspaper in the last five months. The News & Observer offered similar voluntary buyouts to 230 employees in April and in June the paper laid 0ff 70 employees. In addition, a company-wide, one-year wage freeze was put into effect Monday.

For the full story click here.

NYT futurist is moving on

Portfolio reports that the person in charge of helping craft the future of The New York Times is leaving the paper.
Michael Rogers, the paper's future-in-residence, is going back into the consulting world. For the last two years, he has helped the Times understand new media challenges.

Asked whether everything he's learned has made him more or less pessimistic about the Times' prospects, he says, "I've become more worried about some newspapers but less about what the Times is doing. They're doing all the right things. We're looking at quite a shakeout over the next five to eight years, but I think many companies are positioning themselves properly to get through it. I think the Times is doing more than most any other media company I've worked with in the past."

For the full story click here.

Baltimore Sun biz desk changes

Cision is reporting seveal staffing changes at The Baltimore Sun.
Don Schiller has moved from assistant business editor to night metro editor.
Both business reporter Laura McCandlish and Paul Adam, who covered covered public utilities, energy and manufacturing, have left the paper.

NY Sun needs millions to stay afloat

Bloomberg reports that The New York Sun, a paper which was launched as an alternative to The New York Times, has never made money.
And now if the newspaper can't raise "tens of millions" of dollars by the end of September, it may shut down.
In the report, Editor Seth Lipsky says the original backers of the paper are ready to invest more money, but more investors are needed.

Lipsky wouldn't disclose the size of the Sun's losses or say who the Sun had approached for more funding. He said the money needed would cover a ``medium-term business plan.'' The Sun has boosted print advertising in recent years, he said. The five-day-a-week newspaper has a print readership of 113,000, focused on ``affluent, educated'' New Yorkers, and 2 million monthly Internet visitors, according to its media kit for advertisers.

For more click here.

Future of The New York Sun uncertain

The New York Sun may be forced to shut down by the end of September if it does not secure additional investor funds. The paper, which was first published on April 16, 2002, has been unable to make a profit and meet the financial goals of current investors. According to the paper's editor, Seth Lipsky, "keeping the Sun alive and moving it toward self-sufficiency will require broadening the base of investors beyond the original group." While Lipsky said the paper is in talks with potential investors, nothing has been solidified.

For more click here.

Veteran business journalist joins New York House

Nancy Meyer has been appointed editor of New York House. Meyer brings 18 years of experience in business journalism and management expertise to the monthly publication.

The magazine's main specialization is in "residential and multifamily real estate, construction, design and green living in New York."

For more click here. 

WSJ. -- It's finally here

After months of speculation about what it could look like, feel like and what type of content would be inside, The Wall Street Journal has finally released its glossy lifestyle magazine WSJ.
The magazine, which has a global circulation of 960,000 and a premiere issue with 104 pages, was launched today. It's available on newsstands and will also be delivered to Journal subscribers in 17 of the largest geographic markets as part of their Saturday Weekend Edition.
From Dow Jones' release:

WSJ. is a celebration of the lifestyle of its readers, and it will serve as the inside track on how to live life to the fullest. From cars to fashion, from property to philanthropy, from personalities to travel, and collecting to investing, the magazine will explore the smartest, most sophisticated choices worldwide.

For more click here.

Senior biz reporter leaves Register

Cision reports that business reporter, Steve Dinnen, has left the Des Moines (Iowa) Register after covering personal finance, investments and banking at the paper for the last eight years.
Before joining the Register, he covered business for the now-defunct Family Money magazine and the Indianapolis Star.

Gannett buys 10% of CareerBuilder stock from Tribune Co.

CNN Money reports that Gannett has become the majority shareholder of CareerBuilder, buying 10% of the company's shares from Tribune Co. to bring their total stake to 50.8%.

The move signals a retreat for Tribune Co. from sharing the role of majority owner with Gannett... It comes as Tribune is trying to turn itself around amid a nearly $13 billion debt load. The debt has pushed the company to sell assets, including Newsday, its Long Island, N.Y., daily, which sold in May.

Click here to read more.

New Orleans daily forced to go online to reach readers

As it was for three days during Hurricane Katrina, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has been forced to take its daily operation online because of the effects of Hurricane Gustov. The paper's office is currently using generators to provide enough electricity to create and upload PDF copies of the paper to their website.

Peter Kovacs, a managing editor at the newspaper, said a print edition was possible Wednesday, though a PDF version was likely regardless because residents remained scattered.

“We're hopeful that we're going to have power back today,” he said. “Power and the ability of people to return to the city are sort of the two challenges right now. We can publish a newspaper with the people who are in the building right now.

The paper's circulation has taken a hit since Katrina, while their online audience has grown. That trend may continue in the aftermath of the current storm. Click here to read more.

Vanity Fair profiles Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch has opened up to Vanity Fair's Michael Wolff in a series of interviews conducted over the course of nine months. The interviews give a glimpse into the life of the 77-year-old mogul and expose his views on everything from his purchase of The Wall Street Journal to his family. 

Wolff describes Murdoch as a man who "acknowledges no rules" and who "does it, without mercy, his way." Yet Wolff emphasizes that Murdoch's "lack of restraint" seems "fun" rather than "threatening." He characterizes Murdoch as "the anti-corporate man." 

For the full story click here. 

Antunes named editor of Crain's NYB

Crain's New York Business has a new editor, according to the paper.
Xana Antunes, former executive editor of CNNMoney.com and editor of the New York Post, will become Crain's new editor on Oct. 6, replacing editor Greg David who is moving to editorial director.
Antunes will lead the paper's 33 editorial staffers in both print and online.
“Crain’s New York Business has a great team of journalists and the addition of Xana will make us even stronger,” said Crain's Publisher Jill Kaplan. “The search has taken some time because we all knew it wouldn’t be easy to find someone to succeed Greg, but we are convinced we have found the best person to do so because of her powerful combination of online and business print experience.”
For more click here.