Schurz subsidiary acquires Burlington Telecom

Schurz Communications subsidiary Champlain Broadband has closed a transaction to acquire Burlington Telecom in Vermont, Schurz announced. 

Burlington Telecom has been a municipally owned and operated advanced fiber optic network serving the city of Burlington, Vermont, since 2003. The company will continue to be managed locally in Burlington and operate under the name Burlington Telecom.

With roots in publishing and broadcasting, Schurz Communications has evolved its business strategy with the purchase of cable, telco, broadband companies starting in 1968, according to a press release. In February 2018, Schurz Communications announced that it had acquired leading compliant hybrid cloud provider Online Tech. An additional investment in the cloud infrastructure assets of Neverfail was announced in December 2018 and highlighted the company’s interest in expanding Online Tech’s presence on a global scale, according to the release.

Privately held Schurz announced in January its intention to sell its publishing division to GateHouse Media. GateHouse Media is expected to assume ownership during the first quarter of 20 regional papers and several special publications in Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania and South Dakota.

News and Tech

Today in Labor History – March 31st

Cesar Chavez

U.S. President Martin Van Buren issued an Executive Order, “finding that different rules prevail at different places as well in respect to the hours of labor by persons employed on the public works under the immediate authority of himself and the Departments as also in relation to the different classes of workmen…hereby directs that all such persons, whether laborers or mechanics, be required to work only the number of hours prescribed by the ten-hour system.” – 1840

300+ cowboys went on strike at five large ranches in Texas.  The new closed-range cattle ranching industry that became dominant after the Civil War denied cowboys the right to be paid in cattle, start their own herds, or have access to open land.  Ranchers insisted that cowboys work exclusively for wages (which averaged only $40/month), and the cowboys responded by going on strike. – 1883

Cesar Chavez was born on this day in Yuma, Arizona.- 1927

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps to help alleviate suffering during the Depression. By the time the program ended after the start of World War II, it had provided jobs for more than six million men and boys. The average enrollee gained 11 pounds in his first three months. – 1933

Wisconsin state troopers failed to get scabs across the picket line to break a 76-day Allis-Chalmers strike in Milwaukee led by UAW Local 248. The plant remained closed until the government negotiated a compromise. – 1941

Federal judge Sonia Sotomayor, later to become a Supreme Court justice, issued an injunction against baseball team owners to end a 232-day work stoppage. – 1995

Today Cesar Chavez Day was celebrated as an official state holiday in California, Colorado, Oregon, and Texas and unofficially throughout the United States.CLICK TO TWEETThe day honors the life and work of farmworkers’ advocate, union activist, and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez. – 2013

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Los Angeles Times Pressroom Retirees Breakfast

​
To all LA Times Pressroom Retirees, Hello again, no I haven't forgotten about our Retirees Breakfast. Its that time that we get together again, its been awhile. I hope you all can make it to talk to your fellow press people so please mark your calendar and be sure to be there. We look forward to seeing you. As far as I know its still $13.99 plus your drink and a tip. Hopefully we'll see some new faces there,if you can please bring somebody that hasn't attended one of our breakfasts, I'm sure they will enjoy it, I look forward to seeing you there. You know the place. Please let me know if your able to attend by e-mail or call me, I would appreciate it.

Emmett Jaime

Marie Callenders Restaurant

3117 E. Garvey North Ave. West Covina

626-339-5491

April 29th @ 9:30am 

Nashes acquire Creswell Chronicle

Husband and wife Noel Nash and Denise Nash have bought the Creswell Chronicle, an Oregon weekly, from Scott and Jeanne Olson. 

The OIsons published the Chronicle for seven years. 

Along with the paper, the company publishes a number of bi-annual lifestyle magazines known as Emerald Valley Magazines as well as thecreswellchronicle.com.

New publisher Noel Nash has a newspaper background in Florida, Alabama, Nevada, Utah and Texas and also served as vice president, Stats & Information Group, during a stint with ESPN.

News and Tech

Private group plans to save dying Bastrop newspaper

Saturday Morning in the Blogosphere

Another beautiful day in Southern California

Private group plans to save dying Bastrop newspaper - Knoe

Is Apple News Plus good for journalism? - News@Northeastern

Printing Company Growing in Seymour - Inside INdiana Business

2 in custody after shots fired at man delivering newspapers - 9 News

Bastrop newspaper closure strikes close to home - Minden Press-Herald

AP says the percentage sign now OK when used with a numeral - Poynter

Waynesville joined more than 1400 other cities to lose a newspaper - Blade Empire

The Financial Times Is Buying Another Media Startup: Deal Street Asia - Tech Crunch

Marshall Project Launches Print Publication to be Distributed in Prisons - Marshall Project

Newspaper carrier summons help for man locked out of Vancouver home - The Columbian

Reading Eagle Co. files for Chap. 11, seeks loan

The Reading Eagle Company (Pennsylvania) wants to borrow $1.5 million for expenses during its bankruptcy process, the Reading Eagle reported. 

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week.

A motion filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court says the company aims to get a loan from BWH Media, a subsidiary of Reading Eagle Company President and CEO Peter D. Barbey's Black Walnut Holdings. The company owes BWH around $17 million, the paper says. BWH is the media firm’s biggest creditor.

The company says it needs the loan to keep running, the motion says, according to the paper.

The Reading Eagle Company includes the Reading Eagle, WEEU 830 AM, the South Schuylkill News, Pretzel City Productions and its commercial printing subsidiary REP. The media company has 236 full-time workers and 20 part-time.

News and Tech

Today in Labor History – March 30th

Harry Bridges

“The most important word in the language of the working class is ‘solidarity’”. – Harry BridgesCLICK TO TWEET

Chicago stockyard workers won an 8-hour day. – 1918

30,000 unemployed people marched in New York City. At the time, there was virtually no formal or institutional aid available for the unemployed or poor. Even the AFL did not support unemployment insurance, as it saw itself as the representative of skilled workers only, and could care less about the unskilled and factory workers. Another reason for the lack of government support for the unemployed was that working conditions were so terrible the ruling elite feared that workers would choose the dole over work if given the choice. In New York, police attacked the marchers. – 1930

Construction began on the Hawks Nest Tunnel. 3,000 mostly African-American migrant workers were hired to complete the project. To save time and money, they were not provided with proper safety equipment to work on cutting rock that had been discovered to have a high silica content. The official death toll from silicosis was 476, with estimates as high as 700 to 1,000. It was considered to be one of the worst industrial disasters in U.S. history. – 1930

The federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act was enacted. – 1970

The United Farm Workers signed the first table grape contract with two growers. – 1970

Harry Bridges, Australian-born dock union leader, died at age 88. He helped form and lead the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) for 40 years. A Bridges quote: “The most important word in the language of the working class is ‘solidarity’”. – 1990

Leaders of the Screen Actors Guild announced that the membership had voted to merge with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, creating the 150,000-member SAG-AFTRA. – 2012

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Newspapers Allegedly Clog Storm Drains and Pile up in Driveways, Residents Say

JOPLIN, Mo. - "People that are away on vacation, all the sudden all the papers that they don't even subscribe to are advertising that no ones home."said Robert Woodard Webb City resident.

Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People Preview | American Masters | PBS

Discover the man behind the prizes. A journalist who became a media mogul with an outspoken, cantankerous editorial voice and best-selling newspapers, Joseph Pulitzer championed what he regarded as the sacred role of the free press in a democracy.

Reports highlight audience trends

Nielsen has released its Total Audience Report: Q3 2018. 

According to the measurement firm, Americans spend more than 10 hours daily on their phones, watching TV, and scanning the net.

Other highlights include:

Sixty-seven percent of users will watch again a program they watched on broadcast media when it’s streaming.

Forty-three percent of viewers want local programming and 35 percent want live sports.

Internet-connected smart TVs are now in 68 percent of U.S. households.

Another report, the 2019 Mobile Internet Phenomena Report from Sandvine, says that YouTube attracts 35 percent of worldwide mobile traffic. 

Facebook has 8.4 percent and Snapchat has 8.3 percent, the report says.

News and Tech

Friday Morning in the Blogosphere

Pudding-stone Lake, San Dimas, California 

The U.S. Census could be the next target for online fakery - Poynter

Joseph Pulitzer documentary shows power of newspapers - STL Today

Time in Market is Indicator of Digital Subscriber Conversion Rate - INMA

Condemnation as Maria Ressa arrested and charged again - Editors Weblog

Newspapers will die without support of readers, advertisers - Northside Sun

New investors Sacks, Wirtz fortify Sun-Times ownership group - Robert Feder

Circa, Sinclair’s Millennial-Focused News Site, is Shutting Down - Nieman Lab

Newspapers Allegedly Clog Storm Drains and Pile up in Driveways - KSNF/KODE

Norm Pearlstine’s one-year deal with the LA Times replaced by ‘multiyear contract’ - NYP

‘Apple News+ Brings Us to a Broader Audience’: Dow Jones CRO Josh Stinchcomb - Digiday

Tallahassee Democrat moving printing

The Tallahassee Democrat is shutting its production facilities and will move its printing and packaging to the Panama City News Herald, the Democrat reported. The shutdown is happening in May. 

Some 46 workers at the Gannett-owned plant will be affected by the change. Some could be looked at for open positions at the Panama paper, the Democrat says.

The first Tallahassee Democrat will come from the Panama City press May 20, the paper reported. The News Herald runs a 2005 Goss press. The Democrat’s press is a 1968 model, the paper said.

“While Gannett has made a logical business decision, it is still painful because of the production employees in Tallahassee who have been best in class,” said Democrat Publisher Skip Foster.

News and Tech

Today in Labor History – March 29th

Ohio made it illegal for children under 18 and women to work more than 10 hours a day. – 1852

Sam Walton, founder of the huge and bitterly anti-union Wal-Mart empire, was born on this date in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. He once said that his priority was to “Buy American”, but Wal-Mart is now the largest U.S. importer of foreign-made goods, often produced under sweatshop conditions. – 1918

The U.S. Supreme Court, in West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, upheld the constitutionality of minimum wage legislation enacted by the State of Washington, overturning a decision in 1923 that held that federal minimum wage legislation for women was an unconstitutional infringement of liberty of contract. The case was brought by Elsie Parrish, a hotel housekeeper who lost her job and did not receive back wages in line with the state’s minimum wage for women law. – 1937

The “Battle of Wall Street” occurred as police charged strikers lying down in front of stock exchange doors. 43 were arrested. – 1948CLICK TO TWEET

The National Maritime Union of America merged with the National Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association. – 1988

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WSJ, Vox to join Apple’s paid subscription service

Apple has attracted The Wall Street Journal to its new paid subscription news service, according to two people familiar with the plans, The New York Times reported.

Apple also has a deal to bring Vox onto the service, Bloomberg reports.

The New York Times and The Washington Post have so far passed on the service, according to the paper.

Some publishers are rejecting the terms Apple is offering with the service, the paper says.

WSJ and Apple are set to announce their plans to work together Monday from Cupertino, California, site of Apple’s headquarters.

The service, nicknamed a “Netflix for news,” will provide a new paid section on the Apple News app with articles from hundreds of participating magazines and news outlets. A free section will remain on the app.

Apple is also expected to tout a new streaming service to go up against Netflix, Hulu and other services.

News and Tech

Watch CNBC's exclusive interview with LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong

LA Times owner and executive chairman, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, joins CNBC's "Squawk Alley" to discuss the newspaper's partnership with Apple News+ and whether consumers are ready to pay for content again.

PressReader, Turkish Airlines offer papers, mags in flight

Turkish Airlines is partnering with PressReader to bring passengers access to digital content, PressReader says.

Passengers flying with Turkish Airlines have 48 hours of free access to PressReader’s catalog, starting 24 hours before their flight. They’ll also get access to PressReader in certain Turkish Airlines lounges around the world when connected to lounge WiFi.  

When connected, passengers can choose from more than 7,000 titles from more than 120 countries in 60 languages, according to PressReader. They can download as many publications as they’d like to read offline, and keep those issues saved for as long as they’d like, the company says.

Air Canada, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia and Virgin Australia have previously added the digital newspaper and magazine platform as a customer perk, according to PressReader.

PressReader also works with global hotels, including AccorHotels, Marriott, and Scandic.

News and Tech

Is Print Journalism Dying, Or is it Already Dead?

Newspaper Slump (2009): With the advent of the internet it seems that printed journalism may be on its last legs.

Dumont subsidiary buys Commander CL from Koenig & Bauer

Halle, Germany-based DuMont subsidiary MZ Druckereigesellschaft is buying a Commander CL from Koenig & Bauer, continuing a partnership that has lasted for more than 180 years, according to Koenig & Bauer.

It is a little over two years ago since the company’s last investment, also a Commander CL. “Our current press offers all the essential prerequisites for success: A high level of automation, reliability, exceptional flexibility and fast makeready. It was clear that we would continue along the chosen road with Koenig & Bauer at our side,” says MZ Managing Director Bernd Preusse. The new Commander CL will enter production in the fourth quarter of 2019. Since the initial market launch just a few years ago, Koenig & Bauer has now sold 27 presses of this type to users in Germany, France, China and the U.S., and it is currently the most frequently ordered newspaper press, according to Koenig & Bauer. 

Alongside the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, with a circulation of almost 200,000 copies, the 115 employees at MZ produce advertising supplements, brochures, booklets and other print products in the Rhine and half-Rhine formats. Other activities include extensive mailing and logistics services. 

News and Tech

Thursday Morning in the Blogosphere

Will Local Newspapers Survive? - 24/7 Wall St.

Changing the Face of Disability in Media - Ford Foundation

The Times is Growing its Staff and Online Presence - The OFS

Digital publishers see Apple News+ as a testbed, not savior - Digiday

Bulletin's parent company lists papers, real estate for sale - Bend Bulletin

You can now search really old AP Stylebooks and guides online - Poynter

OSHA investigates PJS; newspaper suppresses story - The Community Word

America's Newspapers Brace for Another 5% to 10% Revenue Drop - 24/7 Wall St.

Post-Star puts downtown newspaper headquarters up for sale - Albany Times Union

Inside the new L.A. Times, a 100-year vision that bets on tech and journalism - Ken Doctor

DCOS contracted for Norwegian press project

Norwegian newspaper Sunnhordland Trykkeri, located in the town of Leirvik on the island of Stord on the Norwegian west coast, has contracted with DCOS for an extensive press addition and upgrade project. Sunnhordland Trykkeri is a privately owned newspaper and printshop and one of the few in Scandinavia that is independent from larger groups. The closing of printshops in the surrounding area of Stord has enabled Sunnhordland Trykkeri to attract more contract work. 

DCOS will install three Goss Community 4-high towers and a Tensor H50 folder to the existing Goss Community/Global press in a multi-phase installation, while maintaining daily production at the facility.

DCOS will perform a complete electrical retrofit, replacing existing drives and controls with new drives and controls, a new control console, and converting the shafted drive system to a group shaftless drive configuration of 1-motor per 2-4 High towers. Other DCOS upgrades include adding remote inking and register motors to all current manual 4-high towers.

“Our acquisition of Tensor now allows us to be heavily involved in the mechanical aspects of a project, like the removal and reinstallation of equipment, adding remote inking, along with the traditional DCOS capabilities such as drive, controls, and automatic press registration and density control equipment upgrades,” said Mattias Andersson, managing director of DCOS.

DCOS will complete the project in April 2019.

News and Tech

Today in Labor History – March 28th

Emma Goldman

Emma Goldman was arrested for giving a lecture on contraceptives. Goldman believed that knowledge of and access to contraceptives was key to women’s ability to control their own bodies and thus their social and material well being. – 1915CLICK TO TWEET

Members of the Gas House Workers’ Union Local 18799 began what was to become a four-month recognition strike against the Laclede Gas Light Company in St. Louis. The union later said the strike was the first ever against a public utility in the U.S. – 1935

Martin Luther King led a march of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Police attacked the workers with mace and sticks. A 16-year old boy was shot and 280 workers were arrested. He was assassinated a few days later after speaking to the striking workers. The sanitation workers were mostly black. They worked for starvation wages under plantation like conditions, generally under racist white bosses. Workers could be fired for being one minute late or for talking back and they got no breaks. Organizing escalated in the early 1960s and reached its peak in February 1968, when two workers were crushed to death in the back of a garbage truck. – 1968

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ImPRESSions Worldwide gets order from Philippines

Panay News, a daily paper in Iloilo on Panay Island in the Philippines, will be adding a Goss Community SSC 22-3/4” tower, one mono unit and an SSC folder, all purchased from imPRESSions Worldwide.

“At the Panay News, we are committed to ink on paper. Our father's final wish was that we reinvest in a printing press,” according to brothers Daniel Farjardo II and John Dan Elijah Farjardo, managing directors, Panay News. “Our family has provided impactful local news for generations and with this investment that will continue.”  

The press will be delivered in “ready to run” condition. The ship date is set for April 2019 and installation, start-up and training will be provided by imPRESSions technicians and electricians. ImPRESSions Worldwide has headquarters in Burlington, Washington, and a service facility in Tupelo, Mississippi.

News and Tech

Wednesday Morning in the Blogosphere

To Live and Die at the L.A. Times - Alta Online

Is Digital First’s takeover bid for Gannett just a ploy? - Poynter

How Reuters Is Training Reporters to Spot ‘Deepfakes’ - Digiday

Local News Is Dying, and Americans Have No Idea - The Atlantic

Three Views on the Ways to Provide Better News to Everyone - Medium

Public Sees an America in Decline on Many Fronts - Pew Research Center

BNP Media Shutters Five Magazines, Laying Off Numerous Staffers - Folio

Pew research finds that broadcast is the favorite source for local news - Poynter

Alden cuts costs by putting one editor in charge of scores of California papers - DFM Workers

Tribune Tower owner sells Michigan Avenue offices for $72 million - Crain's Chicago Business

America East summit first week of April

The America East News Media & Technology Summit is taking place April 1–3 at the Hershey Lodge & Convention Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The summit will feature a series of interactive roundtable discussions on topics including tips for smaller dailies and non-daily publications, helping executive leadership navigate through this time of industry transition, proven ideas to build revenue and an open discussion about the challenges and solutions facing print operations.

New single-day sessions tracks are focused on specific areas of concentration, including business/management, advertising, digital, print production and editorial.

The Vendor Solutions Center offers attendees the opportunity to gather information about the latest in news media technology, products, and services, and interact with industry experts, according to organizers. Members of all media organizations may visit the Vendor Solutions Center on April 3 at no charge.

The keynote speech on April 1 is an engaging TED Talks-style forum moderated by News Media Alliance President David Chavern. Top newspaper executives will share ideas and initiatives that have brought success to their publications. 

To learn more, visit the America East website.

News and Tech

Today in Labor History – March 27th

Mother Jones

 

Mother Jones was ordered to leave Colorado, where state authorities accused her of “stirring up” striking coal miners. – 1904CLICK TO TWEET

This day marked the start of the 8-month Northern railway strike in Canada by the IWW. Wobblies picketed employment offices in Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Tacoma and Minneapolis in order to block the hiring of scabs. – 1912

Fellow workers pay attention to what I’m going to mention,

For it is the fixed intention of the Workers of the World.

And I hope you’ll all be ready, true-hearted, brave and steady,

To gather ’round our standard when the red flag is unfurled.

CHORUS:

Where the Fraser river flows, each fellow worker knows,

They have bullied and oppressed us, but still our union grows.

And we’re going to find a way, boys, for shorter hours and better pay, boys

And we’re going to win the day, boys, where the river Fraser flows.

For these gunny-sack contractors have all been dirty actors,

And they’re not our benefactors, each fellow worker knows.

So we’ve got to stick together in fine or dirty weather,

And we will show no white feather, where the Fraser river flows.

Now the boss the law is stretching, bulls and pimps he’s fetching,

And they are a fine collection, as Jesus only knows.

But why their mothers reared them, and why the devil spared them,

Are questions we can’t answer, where the Fraser River flows.

(Lyrics by Joe Hill, 1912, to the tune of “Where the River Shannon Flows.”)

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that undocumented workers do not have the same rights as Americans when they are wrongly fired. – 2002

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