2009 Loeb Award winners announced

The Loeb Awards, established in 1957 by the late Gerald Loeb to recognize journalists who make contributions to the understanding of business, finance and the economy, held the 2009 awards banquet last night, where winners were announced.

The awards include two special awards for career contributions: the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was given to Bill Emmott, former editor-in-chief of The Economist; and the Lawrence Minard Editor Award, which went to Lawrence Ingrassia, business and financial editor of The New York Times.

There were awards given in 12 additional competition categories such as online, breaking news, magazines and beat writing.

See the list of 2009 Loeb Awards recipients here.

Guild talks resume at the Boston Globe

Talks have resumed between the Boston Newspaper Guild and The Boston Globe, according to The New York Times.
Last week, the Boston Newspaper Guild rejected an offer from The Boston Globe that would have cut guild members' total compensation by 23 percent.
The resumed negotiations have been seen as an indicator that an agreement may soon be reached between the guild and the newspaper. The guild has scheduled a contract vote for July.
To view the blog post, click here. For an overview of the situation between the newspaper and the guild, click here.

Boston Newspaper Guild rejects concession package, cuts ensue

With a 277 to 265 vote, The Boston Newspaper Guild rejected a package of concessions that included $10 million in wage and benefit cuts.
New York Times Co., which owns The Boston Globe , has said it will now have to impose a 23 percent pay cut on Globe union staff beginning next week in order to keep the paper functioning.
Said guild president Daniel Totten said of the vote:

"With today's vote, members of the Boston Newspaper Guild have said that The New York Times Company must do better than the offer that was presented. Globe workers and the New England community understand that the quality of The Boston Globe, an institution so vital to the life and culture of the region, depends on the fair treatment of the men and women who work so hard to produce it."

View the story here.

What do you think of the Guild's vote and New York Times Co. cuts? Comment and give us a piece of your mind.

Golden: NAA meeting not a secret

Editor & Publisher reports that Michael Golden, vice chairman of The New York Times Co. and chief operating officer of The New York Times Regional Media Group, defended Thursday's Newspaper Association of America meeting in Chicago, saying there was nothing secretive about it.
From the article:
"The characterization in The Atlantic that this was a 'secret meeting' was inaccurate," Golden, who attended the event, told E&P Friday. "If it were secret, there wouldn't have been a sign on the door saying 'NAA meeting.' This was a meeting that had been planned for weeks -- you can't get these people together without planning it over a period of time."

View the full story here.

NYT ad revenue way down

Bloomberg reports that The New York Times Co. listed a 27 percent drop in first-quarter advertising revenue, expanding its net loss to $74.5 million.
From the story:

Times Co. cut jobs, slashed pay, halted its dividend and sold assets to help preserve cash after ad revenue slipped 13 percent last year. It’s seeking to sell its minority stake in the Boston Red Sox baseball team and is negotiating additional pay and job cuts with unions. “It’s clear from these results that it’s a very, very bad environment for newspapers,” Edward Atorino, a New York-based analyst at Benchmark Co., said in an interview. “There’s no sign of relief.