Link is here, but the bottom line is that the Post-Intelligencer will be trying to fly solo as an online paper, where most of the other online-only papers still have a connection to some print publication.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008823971_onlinepapers07.html
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
An offer they can't refuse?
Seattle P-I staffers being offered lower-paying positions at online-only edition:
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=67955853853&h=3wxz-&u=JOwXm
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=67955853853&h=3wxz-&u=JOwXm
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Cuts in pay and jobs, too
That's what they're facing at the Bellingham (WA) Herald.
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/03/02/daily40.html?s=smc:3
About 10 jobs are gone and the suviviors are taking a 5% pay cut.
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/03/02/daily40.html?s=smc:3
About 10 jobs are gone and the suviviors are taking a 5% pay cut.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Racist Rush
No, really.
I missed this at the time, but apparently Rush Limbaugh once called Halle Berry and Barack Obama "Halfrican Americans."
http://mediamatters.org/items/200701240010
Limbuagh has skirted the edge of racism for years, of course, but I didn't know he had made such a blatant reference. Jeesh, why not call them mulattos or half-breeds?
Halfrican?
W.T.F.
I missed this at the time, but apparently Rush Limbaugh once called Halle Berry and Barack Obama "Halfrican Americans."
http://mediamatters.org/items/200701240010
Limbuagh has skirted the edge of racism for years, of course, but I didn't know he had made such a blatant reference. Jeesh, why not call them mulattos or half-breeds?
Halfrican?
W.T.F.
Monday, March 2, 2009
45 jobs gone in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus Dispatch announces 45 layoffs: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/03/02/dispatch_staff.html?sid=101
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Did Blogs kill newspapers?
Computerworld's Dan Tynan wonders. http://blogs.computerworld.com/blogosphere_newspapers
In the great food chain of news reporting, daily newspapers are like plankton -- the thing on which everything else feeds. TV and radio news? Aside from covering staged events or natural disasters, they get many of their stories from papers, then distill it into the bare essentials for broadcast. Magazine editors may be reluctant to admit this, but many articles are "inspired" by stories in the paper. And blogs? Don't get me started. I'd guesstimate a fraction of one percent of blogs feature original reporting; the rest regurgitate news from the mainstream media, mostly newspapers.
If daily newspapers disappeared tomorrow, 100 million bloggers would wake up and have nothing to say. Even the news aggregators would be in deep kimshee. For example, easily 75 percent of the stories on the front page of today's Drudge Report are from newspapers or the wire services that supply newspapers.
I don't think blogs, per se, killed newspapers, but I do think the Internet has.
When TV came out there was widespread belief that the new media would kill off newspapers. It didn't of course, largely because they are complementary media, really. What TV does well, newspaper can't do. But newspaper can do far more than TV can, because TV is enslaved by the need for images and, frankly, most news stories don't have good images.
On the other hand, the Internet is directly competitive to both TV and newspapers. It can do both about as well as either can, and has the advantage of being able to incorporate the best of the other medium directly into the same platform. Got great video to go with your story. Embed YouTube. Got a need to cover a word-heavy story? Internet can not just have the story, but ti can include links to primary documents.
Blogs, themselves, are just a small part of the problem. The news aggregating sites are the largest part. What they will do once the newspapers disappear is a very good question, though.
In the great food chain of news reporting, daily newspapers are like plankton -- the thing on which everything else feeds. TV and radio news? Aside from covering staged events or natural disasters, they get many of their stories from papers, then distill it into the bare essentials for broadcast. Magazine editors may be reluctant to admit this, but many articles are "inspired" by stories in the paper. And blogs? Don't get me started. I'd guesstimate a fraction of one percent of blogs feature original reporting; the rest regurgitate news from the mainstream media, mostly newspapers.
If daily newspapers disappeared tomorrow, 100 million bloggers would wake up and have nothing to say. Even the news aggregators would be in deep kimshee. For example, easily 75 percent of the stories on the front page of today's Drudge Report are from newspapers or the wire services that supply newspapers.
I don't think blogs, per se, killed newspapers, but I do think the Internet has.
When TV came out there was widespread belief that the new media would kill off newspapers. It didn't of course, largely because they are complementary media, really. What TV does well, newspaper can't do. But newspaper can do far more than TV can, because TV is enslaved by the need for images and, frankly, most news stories don't have good images.
On the other hand, the Internet is directly competitive to both TV and newspapers. It can do both about as well as either can, and has the advantage of being able to incorporate the best of the other medium directly into the same platform. Got great video to go with your story. Embed YouTube. Got a need to cover a word-heavy story? Internet can not just have the story, but ti can include links to primary documents.
Blogs, themselves, are just a small part of the problem. The news aggregating sites are the largest part. What they will do once the newspapers disappear is a very good question, though.
Friday, February 27, 2009
No 2009 convention for ASNE
The American Society of Newspaper Editors, citing tough times, has cancelled its annual convention.
http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=7268
http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=7268
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Rocky Mountain News RIP
And the end comes for the Rocky Mounatin News: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/26/rocky-mountain-news-closes-friday-final-edition/
The paper has been moved from endangered to deceased.
A handful of newsroom staff (about 10) will ove over to the Denver Post, the rest will lose their jobs.
The paper has been moved from endangered to deceased.
A handful of newsroom staff (about 10) will ove over to the Denver Post, the rest will lose their jobs.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle may close
Heart Corp. said it will impose big cuts on the S.F, Chronicle in an effort to stem more than $50 million in losses and will either sell the paper or close it if no buyer can be found.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/02/25/MNO2164F73.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/02/25/MNO2164F73.DTL
Hartford Courant lays off 100
And just like that, a hundred jobs are gone at The Hartford Courant: http://www.courant.com/business/hc-web-courantcuts0225,0,7696606.story
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
And another bankruptcy
This time in Philadelphia: http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20090222_Inquirer_owner_files_for_bankruptcy.html
Perhaps less dire than JRC, this one is mostly about debt.
Perhaps less dire than JRC, this one is mostly about debt.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
And there goes JRC
Journal Register Corp. has filed for bankruptcy.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iuX8HrEMBhwkQH2BzYHwkKN7mVTgD96GAE6O1
What will emerge from the wreckage is hard to say. The company owns some 20 dailies and more than a 100 weeklies, so no doubt there's something of value buried in there.
Given that JRC is, arguably, the absolute worst of the newspaper chains that emerged from the chain era, I can't say I am sorry to see it go. The AP story mentions that the company's stock was recently trading at less than a penny, down from more than $20 a few years ago.
As the entire purpose of the chain was to suck as much profit out of local communities while returning the bare minimum in journalistic service, expect there to be no tears shed among journalists over the demise of the operation. Yes, I know that this is a "reorganization" bankruptcy, but the chain will not emerge from this reorganization intact or with the same management.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iuX8HrEMBhwkQH2BzYHwkKN7mVTgD96GAE6O1
What will emerge from the wreckage is hard to say. The company owns some 20 dailies and more than a 100 weeklies, so no doubt there's something of value buried in there.
Given that JRC is, arguably, the absolute worst of the newspaper chains that emerged from the chain era, I can't say I am sorry to see it go. The AP story mentions that the company's stock was recently trading at less than a penny, down from more than $20 a few years ago.
As the entire purpose of the chain was to suck as much profit out of local communities while returning the bare minimum in journalistic service, expect there to be no tears shed among journalists over the demise of the operation. Yes, I know that this is a "reorganization" bankruptcy, but the chain will not emerge from this reorganization intact or with the same management.
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