Wednesday, July 31, 2019

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Quad, LSC cancel merger


Quad/Graphics and LSC Communications have mutually agreed to terminate their merger agreement, under which Quad would have acquired LSC, Quad announced on July 23.
The all-stock transaction was announced on Oct. 31, 2018, and was approved by shareholders of both companies in February. 
In June, the U.S. Department of Justice sued to block the acquisition, and in July the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois set a litigation schedule that includes a trial that would start in mid-November at the earliest and that would not result in a decision on the merits until 2020. 
The parties have determined that the added delay, uncertainty and cost of legal challenges would have likely eroded expected benefits of the merger, Quad said in a news release. 
As required by the merger agreement, Quad will pay LSC a reverse termination fee of $45 million. 
“We are disappointed by the Justice Department’s decision to sue to block the transaction and believe that the lawsuit does not reflect the dynamics of print today and the competitive effect of digital media,” said Joel Quadracci, Quad chairman, in the release. “However, rather than devote time and resources to prolonged litigation, we are choosing to focus on ensuring that our clients benefit from our Quad 3.0 growth strategy through exciting innovations in printing and integrated multichannel marketing solutions that reduce complexity, increase efficiencies and enhance marketing spend effectiveness,” he said.

Journalism: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)


The newspaper industry is suffering. That’s bad news for journalists — both real and fictional.



Gannett selling Milwaukee buildings


Gannett, owner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is selling the paper’s buildings, The Waukesha Freeman and others reported
The paper will relocate to a new downtown site, Gannett announced. The paper has around 260 employees. The move is expected to take place next year.
A group headed by developers Tony Janowiec and Joshua Jeffers is buying the properties, which are the six-story 1924 Journal Sentinel building at 333 W. State St., the 1919 ex-home of the Milwaukee Sentinel, a sports bar and a parking lot, Urban Milwaukee reported.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The newspaper buildings have been deemed historic properties by the Milwaukee Common Council, so the city’s Historic Preservation Commission would need to okay alterations to the structures’ exteriors, according to the Freeman. The site is expected to be redeveloped into mixed uses, including offices, retail and apartments, according to real estate sources, the Journal Sentinel reported.

Better Newspapers buys Mountain Echo


Better Newspapers, an Illinois-based company owned by Greg Hoskins, has bought The Mountain Echo (Ironton, Missouri), the paper reported
The ownership change was set to take place Aug. 1.
Publisher and Editor Randy Pribble was scheduled to retire at the end of July. Randy and his wife, Sue, have owned the paper for seven years, the paper said.  
Better Newspapers owns and operates 21 newspapers across Illinois and Missouri.  
Kim Combs, who manages the Wayne County Journal-Banner Piedmont and the Reynolds County Courier in Ellington, will now serve as general manager for The Mountain Echo, the paper said.

Today in Labor History July 31st

Pirate pitcher Luis Tiant reads about the end of the strike

Members of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) went on strike. The strike lasted only two days, but inaugurated the NFLPA as a real union. The new agreement won the right for players to bargain through their own agents with the clubs, and minimum salaries were increased to $12,500 for rookies and $13,000 for veterans. Also, players’ pensions were improved and dental care was added to the players’ insurance plans. Players also gained the right to select representation on the league’s retirement board and the right to impartial arbitration for injury grievance. – 1970
the NFLPA (National Football League Players Association) went on strike, Baseball players ended at 50-day strike, the Great Shipyard Strike of 1999 ended with huge gains for union members.CLICK TO TWEET
A crippling fifty-day baseball player strike ended. The strike divided the season into two as owners adopted a split-season format with increased playoff participants. Purists were enraged, as several teams whose first-rate records somehow failed to qualify the for the postseason.  – 1981
The Great Shipyard Strike of 1999 ended after Steelworkers at Newport News Shipbuilding ratified a breakthrough agreement which nearly doubled pensions, increased security, ended inequality, and provided the highest wage increases in company and industry history to the nearly 10,000 workers at the yard. The strike lasted 15 weeks. – 1999

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Former Los Angeles Times Press-Woman


I’ve learned through the grapevine that Denise Kolm is not feeling well, if someone has her contact information, give her a call or email, and let me know how she’s doing please?

Los Angeles Times Gathering this Sunday


This Sunday (August 4th) a group of former and current employees from the Los Angeles Times will gather at the Black Angus in Northridge at 1:00 P.M. and your invited.
We have reserved seats for sixteen, but can accommodate many more. Let me know if you would like to attend.
9145 Corbin Avenue
Northridge, CA. 91324
818-701-1600

Jet, Ebony archive sold


A large photo archive from Jet and Ebony magazines was auctioned off in late July and will go to the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture and to the Getty Research Institute, NPR and others reported. The public will have the opportunity to see over a million photos for the first time, the new owners say. 
The auction took place in Chicago.
The archive went for $30 million, money that will go to Johnson Publishing's bankruptcy debt, NPR reported.
The Ford Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the MacArthur Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation were the buyers.

News Corp Australia to replace Melbourne facility


News Corp Australia has sold its print facility in Melbourne, Australia, GXpress reported 
The company will be replacing the site and is looking for a location, according to GXpress. The company is believed to have purchased one double-width press for the center and has selected a second. Used Ferag mailroom pieces have apparently been gotten from another company, GXpress said.
The company’s Westgate Park facility, where six manroland Newsman 40 presses are found, was sold in spring, reportedly for $55 million (around $38 million U.S.) in a sale-and-leaseback arrangement.
News Corp Australia declined to comment to GXpress on the story.
The company has purchased a flexible Goss Uniliner T90 double-width press from Queensland for a new site. 
A second press, a manroland Geoman, is reportedly coming from a News Corp facility in Chullora, Australia, GXpress said.

GDPR may mean less money for websites, report says


A working paper from three academics puts forward the notion that websites are seeing less revenue because of the EU’s General Data Protection Rule (GDPR), MIT Technology Review reports
The authors, from Northwestern University, Boston University and the University of Colorado at Boulder studied data from Adobe Analytics and looked at numbers before and after GDPR in 2018 with numbers from same dates in 2017.
GDPR took effect in spring of last year. Under GDPR, people need to provide permission to be tracked.
The data involved 1,500 online companies (including 128 of the biggest 1,000 worldwide sites) and included content sites that profit from page views and e-commerce sites that profit through sales.
The data showed that recorded page views and revenue dropped by about 10 percent for EU users, amounting to around $8,000 less weekly revenue for the median site.
The number is most likely not as high as 10 percent, however, according to MIT Technology Review. Data from Adobe Analytics is also affected by GDPR, “meaning that just as fewer people are sharing data with other websites since May 2018, fewer are sharing data with Adobe Analytics,” according to MIT Technology Review.

Today in Labor History July 30th

Automobile tycoon and fascist Henry Ford was born on this date in Dearborn, Michigan. His introduction of the assembly line and other mass production techniques revolutionized profit-making not only by dramatically increasing worker productivity, and therefore reducing labor costs, but also by de-skilling the workforce and weakening the power of the workers. – 1863
President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare Act, providing federally-funded health insurance for senior citizens. – 1964
Henry Ford was born on this date, the Medicare Act was signed, Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, and United Airlines agreed to offer domestic-partner benefits.CLICK TO TWEET
Former Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa disappeared. Presumed dead, his body has never been found. Hoffa was a union activist with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from a young age, and was an important regional figure with the union by his mid-twenties. By 1952, Hoffa had risen to national vice-president of the IBT, and served as the union’s general president between 1958 and 1971. He secured the first national agreement for teamsters’ rates in 1964. During his term as leader, Hoffa played a major role in the growth and development of the union which eventually became the largest (by membership) in the U.S. with over 1.5 million members at its peak. – 1975
United Airlines agreed to offer domestic-partner benefits to employees and retirees worldwide. – 1999

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Ogden Newspapers buying two Ohio papers


Ogden Newspapers is buying the Norwalk Reflector and the Sandusky Register, the Register reported
Ogden will buy the two Ohio newspapers from Sandusky Newspapers, a family company. The sale is expected to close in late July, the Register said.
“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to inherit the legacy of their impressive work, and we look forward to publishing great community-focused newspapers and running vital media platforms to serve a region as important as Sandusky and Norwalk, home to destinations such as Lake Erie and Cedar Point,” said Ogden Newspapers CEO Robert Nutting.
“We’re fortunate to be able to turn the papers over to another family company, owned by the Nutting family, who have demonstrated a record of editorial independence and local emphasis, and have a long-standing commitment to quality community journalism,” said David Rau, CEO of Sandusky Newspapers. 
Ogden Newspapers is based in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Today in Labor History July 25th

After striking for seven months, New York garment workers won the right to unionize and secured a closed shop (a shop where everyone must join the Union) and the firing of all scabs. – 1890
Fifteen “living dead women” testified before the Illinois Industrial Commission.  They were “Radium Girls,” women who died prematurely after working at clock and watch factories, where they were told to wet small paintbrushes in their mouths so they could dip them in radium to paint dials.  A Geiger counter passed over graves in a cemetery near Ottawa, Illinois still registers the presence of radium. – 1937
NY garment workers will the right to unionize after a 7-month strike, Radium Girls testify before the Illinois Industrial Commission, and Teamsters and SEIU break from AFL-CIO and for the Change to Win coalition.CLICK TO TWEET
The Teamsters and Service Employees unions break from the AFL-CIO during the federation’s 50th convention to begin the Change to Win coalition, ultimately comprised of seven unions. They said they wanted more emphasis on organizing and less on electoral politics. – 2005

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Meredith, New York Times Co. to produce special edition magazines


Meredith Corporation’s Special Interest Media Group and The New York Times Company are introducing a series of Times-branded special edition publications that will be available at Meredith’s Magazine Store, Amazon and on retail newsstands nationwide beginning July 26. 
The inaugural “Summer of ’69” issue will coincide with The New York Times coverage of the 50-year anniversary of that summer. As part of the collaboration, there are plans for five subsequent issues devoted to other historical events, significant milestones and cultural subjects, according to the Times.
“Combining the extraordinary, authoritative content from The New York Times with our broad scale and retail expertise is an unbeatable combination in the marketplace,” said Doug Olson, president, Meredith Magazines. “We’re thrilled to be collaborating with the Times on this first-ever collaboration that will expand our premium content offerings for a new and existing passionate group of readers.”
The venture marks The New York Times’ first standalone magazine on newsstands. The issues will each have a retail price of approximately $14.99.

The News Blues

Local newsrooms in Southern California are shrinking at an alarming rate. The Los Angeles Times may have found its savior in Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, but other newsrooms in Los Angeles are looking to be rescued. 

Goss Graphic Systems China, imPRESSions partner


Goss Graphic Systems China has signed an agreement with imPRESSions Worldwide to provide sales, parts and service of their single- and double-wide press lines. Along with the single-wide Compact tower, imPRESSions Worldwide will market the company’s commercial 16-page heatset press, book and variable repeat packaging presses. ImPRESSions Worldwide will serve as the agent of choice to assist in sales for the U.S., Canada and South America.
A subsidiary of Shanghai Electric Group, Goss China is a supplier of new presses for the newspaper, book and packaging trades. At their new 400,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Shanghai, the company is fulfilling orders for new presses at a rate of over 40 presses sold last year, according to news release from imPRESSions.
“ImPRESSions was built on Goss products, making this relationship an obvious fit,” says imPRESSions Worldwide President Tom Loesch.

Houston Chronicle begins magazine delivery with Doorfront Direct


The Houston Chronicle has begun magazine delivery through magazine and catalog delivery network Doorfront Direct.
Houston is the 39th market to join Doorfront Direct, which through its affiliates delivers more than 750,000 magazines across the country each month, according to the company.
“As we look to the future of our delivery operation, it’s important that we diversify and expand the services we offer,” said Mike Houser, vice president of distribution for the Houston Chronicle. “Delivering national monthly magazines to our local market is a logical next step in this evolution. The service provides an additional revenue stream for carriers and increases route profitability.”
As an affiliate of Doorfront Direct, the Houston Chronicle is delivering national monthly magazines to local readers with their home-delivery carrier force, the same independent contractors who deliver the daily paper. 
Doorfront Direct is a partnership of Gannett Publishing Services, Quad and ACI Last Mile Network.
Hearst Newspapers owns the Chronicle.

Today in Labor History July 24th

The United Auto Workers and the Teamsters formed the Alliance for Labor Action (ALA), later to be joined by several smaller unions. The ALA’s agenda included support of the civil rights movement and opposition to the war in Vietnam. It disbanded after four years following the death of UAW President Walter Reuther. – 1968
The U.S. minimum wage increased to $6.55 per hour. The original minimum, set in 1938 by the Fair Labor Standards Act, was 25 cents per hour. – 2008
The U.S. minimum wage rose to $7.25 per hour, up from $6.55. – 2009

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cutting print editions


The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reducing its print edition to three days from five, according to newsroom sources, the Philadelphia Inquirer and others reported
A memo given to staff said the print paper would be produced only for Wednesday, Friday and Sunday editions, newsroom sources said, the Inquirer reported. The new schedule will start at the end of September, the Inquirer said.
In June 2018 the paper had announced its decision to become a digital new organization.
Family company Block Communications owns the paper.

Merger talks ongoing between Gannett, GateHouse


Gannett and GateHouse are well into negotiations to merge, USA Today, the New York Post and others reported
USA Today is Gannett’s flagship publication. Gannett also owns over 100 local news outlets in the U.S.
Gannett and GateHouse are the two biggest newspaper companies by circulation.  
The financial details of a possible deal have not been made public, USA Today reported. Both companies declined to comment on the possible deal, USA Today said.
One sticky wicket may be GateHouse/New Media’s taking over of Gannett’s pension liabilities, according to a source, the Post reported.
New York state-based GateHouse Media is part of New Media Investment Group, which is managed by Fortress Investment Group, owned by Japanese company SoftBank. GateHouse owns 156 dailies.
Gannett recently rejected a takeover move by MNG Enterprises. Besides the possible GateHouse deal, Gannett may be looking at other arrangements, including with Tribune Publishing Co., USA Today said.
Gannett has not announced a new CEO since the recent retirement of CEO Robert Dickey.