American City Business Journals gets new CEO

According to Editor & Publisher, Whitney Shaw will be taking the place of his late father as chief executive officer and president of American City Business Journals, with his brother Kirk Shaw acting as vice president and chief financial officer.
The announcement was made on Monday. Whitney Shaw previously presided as ABCJ's senior vice president and president of ACBJ's sports publishing division.
Ray Shaw passed away July 19 after complications from a bee sting. He purchased ABCJ in 1989 and served as its chairman for 20 years. The news organization has 40 different print business journals and has published over 1.25 million business news articles since 1996.
View the story here.

Media General appoints former Trib CEO to board

The Board of Directors of Media General, publisher of 21 daily newspapers, appointed Dennis J. FitzSimons, former Chairman, CEO and President of the Tribune Company, to the board Thursday. FitzSimons will be a member of the Audit Committee.

FitzSimons, who stepped down as Chairman, CEO and President of Tribune Company in December 2007 after a tenure of 25 years, completed the sale of the company to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan and Sam Zell before he left.

FitzSimons currently serves as Chairman and Director of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. He is a Trustee of Northwestern University, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.

View more details here.

Gannett CEO takes medical leave

Gannett Inc. (GCI), Chief Executive Officer Craig Dubow will take an extended medical leave for a second round of back surgery, the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to Gannett spokeswoman Tara Connell, Dubow will likely be out for four months to address his persistent back problem.

However, she did say that he could return to work sooner than expected.
View the article here.

AP will lower newspaper fees and increase online revenue

The Associated Press hopes to negotiate more licensing deals with Web sites while lowering fees for U.S. newspapers, Chief Executive Tom Curley said Tuesday.

The AP is trying to find new sources of revenue to offset reduced income from newspapers and broadcasters.

In addition to having an increased interest in online advertising, the AP is again lowering its cost to U.S. papers next year.

The AP had lowered U.S. newspapers by $30 million this year. The AP will now reduce fees by a total of $45 million for newspapers and broadcasters next year, Curley said.

AP's actions are a response to a shift of more ads to less-expensive alternatives on the Internet. Its four largest online deals are now with Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. and AOL.

Get the full story here.

Murdoch foresees paperless future for WSJ, all newspapers

Media mogul and News Corp. chief executive officer Rupert Murdoch said Monday in an interview with FOX Business’s Neil Cavuto The Wall Street Journal could be paperless in 20 years.
Murdoch said he believes almost all news will be delivered either digitally via computer or on portable devices like Amazon's Kindle within 10 years.
While the newspaper industry is currently struggling to change its business model, Murdoch said he believes newspapers will endure. From the story:

“My feeling is that we hopefully hit a bottom here where things will be pretty stable from now on. Not as good as they were a little while back. It’s going to take time to climb out of it. That’s okay,”

View the story here.

What do you think of Murdoch's predictions and a potentially paperless WSJ? Tell us in a comment.

GM overview

Portfolio.com has a great overview of General Motors Corp. including:

• Its chief executive officer and contact information
• Recent news on the company
• The number of employees at G.M. and revenue per employee
• Quarterly and annual financial information
• Stock information

View the overview here.

Google thought about buying a newspaper

In an interview with the Financial Times, Eric Schmidt, chairman and chief executive officer of Google said that the technology giant has considered purchasing a newspaper, www.ft.com reported today.
Schmidt elaborated that Google has since decided against an acquisition or charitable donation to avoid a conflict of interest.
From the article:

"'Clever ideas about sheltering newspapers in non-profit structures had been suggested to the Google.org foundation but they are unlikely to happen without some massive, massive set of corporate bankruptcies”, Mr Schmidt said.

View the full story here.

TheStreet interim CEO to stay

TheStreet announced Tuesday that Daryl Otte, its interim chief executive officer, will be its official CEO.
Otte replaced Thomas Clarke, the previous TheStreet CEO for roughly a decade. Clarke stepped down in March amid speculation it was due to Jim Cramer's The Daily Show appearance .
View the story here.

Dow Jones trims benefits

Though The Wall Street Journal's circulation and site usage has increased, its parent company News Corp. is cutting back benefits in the face of economic woes.
Dow Jones Chief Executive Les Hinton announced the cuts in a memo Tuesday. The cuts will freeze the Money Purchase Plan and reduce health care subsidies for the retired.
Hinton said some of the money saved in the cuts would be put toward new health and wellness benefits.
Hinton said in the memo, "We want to give Dow Jones employees - whose ages, family situations, and career profiles are more varied than ever before - increased choice and enhanced coverage while providing individuals with better ways to manage health care costs."
Read the full story here.

Forbes to launch business magazine in India

Forbes Media will partner with TV18 to launch a business magazine in India, according to a report from Business Standard.
Steve Forbes, chairman, CEO and editor-in-chief, said TV18 is one of the most respected and fastest-growing media companies in India.
The new magazine adds to Forbes international ventures including Forbes Asia, Forbes China, Forbes Russia and Forbes Arabia.
“Our partnership with Forbes for a business magazine is another compelling testimony to the growing acceptance of the Indian growth story worldwide. Rapid economic expansion, change in consumer mindsets and deepening of the market economy in the country have led to an enabling environment for business brands,” said Raghav Bahl, managing director, Network18.
To read the full report click here.

Time Warner hires media analyst

Time Warner hired Douglas Shapiro, a former stock picker for Banc of America Securities, to become the company's head investor, according to a New York Times report.
Shapiro will work under Jeffery L. Bewkes, who within the next few weeks will replace Richard D. Parsons as Time Warner's chief executive.
The report states that "Major changes are likely under Mr. Bewkes that could result in a breakup of the media giant, whose assets include the Warner Brothers movie studio, CNN, Time Inc. and AOL."
To read the story click here.