How low will tronc go?

Thursday Afternoon in the Blogosphere

The Los Angeles Times from the parking structure

Tronc’s Faltering Age of the Machines - Ad Week

A fight for Tronc, media moves and more - LAObserved

What will Zell do with $2.1 billion in cash? - Chicago Business

The Guardian Continues To Pare U.S. Edition - Huffington Post

Tronc Board Dispute Said to Center on Soon-Shiong's Trades - Bloomberg

Major Tronc investor Oaktree revealed in an SEC filing - Service Corporate

Black Newspapers Pleading ‘Our Own Cause’ In America For 190 Years - NJG

Retired Operations Director Reflects on Industry Changes - Editor and Publisher

AdModX on a mission to help Black newspapers survive and thrive - Westside Gazette

Tronc Investor Patrick Soon-Shiong Ups Stake Again in Battle for Newspaper - The Street

Monday Morning in the Blogosphere

Sun-Times to welcome back Roger Simon - Robert Feder

The Top 7 US Corporate Investors In Media - Value Walk

Deciding who decides which news is fake - Editors Weblog

tronc, Inc.'s (TRNC) stock price is now at $14.12 - Hot Stocks Point

A power struggle emerges within Tribune parent's boardroom - Crain's

The Tronc’s buy rating reiterated at Noble Financial - Petro Global News

Facebook continues to be under fire for peddling fake news - Tech Crunch

The WaPo-NYT newspaper war that wasn’t - Columbia Journalism Review

Soon-Shiong Out as Vice Chair of LA Times Parent - Los Angeles Business Journal

Meeting Jimmy Breslin, the best bleeping newspaper columnist of all time - Poynter

Friday Morning in the Blogosphere

4th and Spring Streets, Los Angeles

Texas Monthly sold for $25 million - Poynter

Free Newspaper Breaks Boundaries in WNY - WKBW

Shoptalk: The Value of Newspapers - Editor and Publisher

R.I.P. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Newspaper Death Watch

List of defunct newspapers of the United States - WikipediA

Pope Francis' prayer intention for October is for Journalists - Vatican Radio

For long-time subscriber, daily newspaper is an old friend - Chicago Tribune

News Corp reveals multimillion dollar drop in newspaper revenues - Mumbrella

Media group threatens libel suit after former employees demand back pay - Myanmar Times

Landmark newspaper buildings are fading away in downtowns across the country - Dallas News

Thursday Afternoon in the Blogosphere

Tronc’s Data Delusion - Harvard Business Review

Tronc offers raises to newsroom employees - Politico

Tronc's star executives launch newsroom tour - Politico

U-T owner omits San Diego from video - San Diego Reader

Block 37 owner nears deal for Tribune Tower - Chicago Business

Top executive shows the world how to do unemployment right - Quartz

Jack Fuller, ex-Tribune editor and publisher, dies at 69 - Chicago Tribune

Steve Mosko Goes Shopping: Tribune Media Tops on His List - The Wrap

Drone journalism will be legally possible in any U.S. newsroom - NiemanLab

Why a major newspaper publisher renamed itself "Tronc" and released a silly video - Vox

Thursday Morning in the Blogosphere

"Tribune Publisher Says Kids Are Going to Start Reading Newspapers Any Day Now: 

Once this internet fad blows over."

Throw the (Chicago Tribune) Bums Out! - City Watch L.A.

Tribune Publishing CEO says he’s bullish on print - Poynter

CALIFORNIA LAWYER MAGAZINE FOLDS - Romenesko

Americans' Trust in Media Remains at Historical Low - Gallup

Austin Beutner’s L.A. Times Was a Blast from the Past - Zocalo

LA Times hires again, this time in Washington bureau - LAObserved

Kids Are Going to Start Reading Newspapers Any Day Now - Recode

Ex-LA Times Sports Writer Is Paranoid, Psychologist Testifies - Law360

The Los Angeles Times Buyout Boom 1993 - American Journalism Review

New York Times gains edge over Tribune Publishing with digital expansion - Moody's

The changing ownership of media companies

Ken Doctor’s thoughts on the many changes in newspaper ownership with spin-off public companies, private venture funds and local billionaires among the new owners. What are the implications for journalists and the future of journalism?

Tuesday Night in the Blogosphere

UCLA's Royce Hall

World history through newspapers - University Concordia

What The Media Gets Wrong About Guns - Advice Goddess

Newspapers and the new Common Core - The Durham News

Teamsters approve two-year pact with newspapers - Philly.com

Tribune names Eddie Lazarus as general counsel - Kevin Roderick

California Unions’ Growth Bucks National Trend - Frying Pan News

Iran's Newspapers Silent on Mass Arrest of Journalists - Global Voices

How Two Newspapers Wound Up Staging The Same Sob Story - Deadspin

NYT to work alongside startup companies as part of new initiative - Poynter

Mugging Thrusts LA Times Editor Into Challenging New Realm - Fishbowl LA

Friday Morning in the Blogosphere

 Washington Post suspends William Booth - Poynter

CEOs’ Club: Raise Retirement Age to 70 - Frying Pan News

2013 brings layoffs, uncertainty at area newspapers - Newsworks

60 Minutes gullible in saying newspapers are dead - Tucson Business

Flinty Adviser to Millions as Dear Abby, Dies at 94 - New York Times

Keep in mind: Reporters are no longer given time to report - Romenesko

American Society of Magazine Editors Under Fire From Industry - WWD

New Tribune CEO Peter Liguori sees opportunity to grow - Los Angeles Times

Toray Technology Wins Newspaper Printers Top Recognition - WhatTheyThink

Tribune’s New CEO: Not A Newspaperman, Or A Hatchetman - Wall Street Journal

Garmin Nuvi 50LM 5.0" GPS 010-00991-21 (Google Affiliate Ad) 

Wednesday Morning in the Blogosphere

Newspapers being spit out of the printing press folder

End of dailies - Striaght Goods

Don't write off newspapers - The Herald

TMZ Founder Jim Paratore Dead at 58 - Fishbowl LA

GPS distribution chief Brad Jones is leaving - Gannett Blog

Pretending Everything’s OK at Maine Newspapers - Downeast

Morning Call owner may sell off newspapers - The Express Times ‎
 
Falsely Accused Of Rape, Jailed, Then Found Innocent - Advice Goddess


Most major newspaper groups are now experimenting with paywalls - Poynter

Saints owner to Times-Picayune: We need you in print every day - Romenesko

Dolores Huerta Honored with Presidential Medal of Freedom - Frying Pan News

Tuesday Afternoon in the Blogosphere

Pressman Richard Ontiveros

The (not so) daily news - Jeff Jarvis

‘I am still a newspaperman’ - Romenesko

Why Buffett Is Buying Newspapers - Daily Finance

Is Philanthropy Print Journalism's Last Hope? - The Atlantic ‎

Why the New Orleans paper dropped editions - Gannett Blog

“Fit to Print” on Closeup Film Blog at The Chicago Tribune - Fit to Print

Times-Picayune to shift focus to digital and away from print - Philadelphia Inquirer

Cal/OSHA Cites American Reclamation for Unsafe Conditions - Frying Pan News

LAT Database Producer Archives Newspaper Website Home Pages - Fishbowl LA

Ugly Truth About the Continuing Meltdown at The NY Times - Broadcast Union News

Friday Morning in the Blogosphere

Romel Aspiras doing what he did best, producing newspapers.

Photo by:Danny Koval

• Do we still need editorial boards? - Poynter
• How Biased Is Your Media? - Freakonomics
• Newspapers are Hard to do Business With - WKNO
• Newspaper biz shows biggest job loss - Mark Lacter
• Small Kentucky newspaper rises from rubble - Janet Patton
• Louisville | Press fire delays delivery for 105K - Gannett Blog
• Journalism Jobs founder: ‘It’s been a great ride’ - Romenesko
• Pew Report Depicts An Industry in Paralysis - Newspaper Death Watch
• US newspaper publishers can’t find a digital business model - Fit to Print
• Clear Channel’s Discourse Just Doesn’t Stop at Rush, John & Ken - Dr. Samad
  

Monday Morning in the Blogosphere

The Union Station Clock Tower Los Angeles

• Big redesign is prelude of more to come - Gannett Blog
• Chicago Tribune Pulled Friday’s ‘Doonesbury’ - Romenesko
• Happy Birthday: Bob Marley (1945-1981) - Electronic Village
• Defending Workers Against Discipline - Broadcast Union News
• Newspaper's duty to question on behalf of its readers - Courier Mail
• Sacramento Bee fires Bryan Patrick for photo manipulation - Poynter
• Will relationship building cost newspapers too much? - Econsultancy
• Lee Enterprises updates annual report to reflect refinancing - Reuters
• Old Newspapers Give Santa Monica Museum View of the Past - Lookout
• LAT Reporter Laughs Off Nevada Caucus ‘Spy’ Mix-Up - Richard Horgan

Friday Afternoon in the Blogosphere

My son Nathan (from left) myself, and grandsons David and Bentley

• Could you recap the Rudd Davis saga? - Gannett Blog
• Miami Herald to build a new printing plant - Miami Herald
• Lee Enterprises refinancing takes effect January 30 - Reuters
• Mary Melton on What’s Wrong With the Times - Frying Pan News
• The day Facebook became concerned about privacy - Romenesko
• LA Times Loses NY Bureau Chief Geraldine Baum - Pandora Young
• Adam Jacobi says CBS fired him over Paterno death report - Poynter
• NY Times Struggles After Janet Robinson's Departure - Huffington Post
• Couture Planet produces bags from recycled newspapers - Boston Globe
• Brian Williams sends off George Lewis on 'Nightly News'- Kevin Roderick

Media News

Billionaires and Broadsheets
It was just a market anomaly—the kind which opportunity is made from—that newspapers were suddenly worth much less to mere mortal shareholders than they were to a new, assertive, patriarchal class of multi-billionaires.

More Layoffs -- This Time in Ad Department -- Hit Philly Papers
Less than a week after about 70 newsroom employees were laid off at the Philadelphia Inquirer, at least 34 advertising positions - including 16 part-timers - are being cut today at Philadelphia Newspapers, which handles business operations for the Inquirer and Daily News.

Tribune deal speculation pointing to management
As the auction for Tribune Co. winds down to its Jan. 17 bid deadline, a key question emerging from the situation is what role, if any, Tribune Co. management will play in a possible deal for the company.The question gained new currency on Thursday, when two foundations with close ties to the company announced they had hired New York's Blackstone Group to advise them as they consider alternatives for their combined 13.1 percent stake in Tribune stock.

Who will the journalistic competition poach while the Tribune Co. fiddles?
Journalists jump from paper to paper all the time, so who knows why they left. But it's undeniable that the Tribune Co.'s endless demands for staff cuts—which ultimately forced Editor John Carroll and his successor, Dean Baquet, to exit—have created a dangerous atmosphere of uncertainty in the newsroom.

Blogger-media distrust comes to a head in Iraq
A running six-week battle between bloggers and the Associated Press over the wire service's report of sectarian violence in Iraq has ended — for now. The feud, which got plenty of traffic on the Web but very little coverage in mainstream news outlets, came to an abrupt halt Thursday.

ABC Radio silences Web site of KSFO critic
The blogosphere is buzzing about the news that ABC Radio, owner of conservative KSFO-AM 560, has succeeded in shutting down the Web site of a liberal blogger who was critical of the station.

ABC/Disney unable to suppress bloggers
But, as MediaPost Online Media Daily observed, the blogosphere united over the weekend and made sure that Spocko's audio files were available on a number of other sites. "[L]ess than 48 hours after Spocko's case was brought to light on the progressive news blog The Daily Kos, several new Web hosts, including YouTube, Blogintegrity and Firedoglake, stepped up to provide access to audio files from KSFO.

Wednesday Night Linkage

Another Potential Tribco Bidder
... frustrated with the muted interest that the auction of Tribune has so far generated, the Chandlers are exploring the idea of leading a private equity consortium as a way to either create value in a leveraged buyout of the assets or to possibly start a bidding war.

Two pair of journos dish
Waxman concluded that the LAT staff is so battered by years of Tribune Company mishandling that they are looking for a knight: "They'll take a flawed knight."

Union blasts Wall Street Journal's deal with Breakingviews
Dow Jones announced Tuesday that the Breakingviews column -- produced by non-employees -- will appear daily the Wall Street Journal instead of once a week. The newsroom union says of the deal: "Is this the formula for the WSJ of the future -- homogenized news, prepared by outsiders who don't ask for healthcare or retirement, and who can't talk back?

Pioneer Press is target of Save Journalism Day rally
Minnesota Newspaper Guild organizers planned the rally in coordination with similar demonstrations nationwide, as Guild members observed Save Journalism Day in protest of layoffs and cutbacks – 44,000 in the past five years – that they say compromise newspaper standards.

How Baquet Brothers Survived Setbacks in L.A. and NOLA
The ballroom crowd applauded furiously as Dean Baquet stepped back from the podium, soaking up the response he'd received following one of the most important newspaper industry speeches of the year in late October. He didn't know at the time that it would also hold fateful consequences for his own career.

Santa Barbara News-Press CFO Fired
Randy Alcorn — the News-Press’ chief financial officer for 23 years, but disgusted by the paper’s dysfunctional chaos — was planning to resign. But owner Wendy McCaw beat him to it.

Hollywood Reporter eliminates 10 positions
As the entertainment world heads into its annual winter frenzy of awards shows, the 75-year-old Hollywood Reporter has cut 10 positions, including editorial director Howard Burns, as part of what publisher John Kilcullen described as "a significant transformation."

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Chandlers reportedly mulling Tribune Co. bid

By David B. Wilkerson, MarketWatch


CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Tribune Co.'s largest shareholder, which has pushed the newspaper publisher and broadcaster into a possible sale, is considering making a buyout offer of its own, according to a published report Wednesday.

The Chandler family, which owns 20% of Tribune (TRB) shares, is mulling a plan to head a consortium of private-equity firms that would either acquire the company's assets in a leveraged buyout or fuel a bidding war, the New York Times reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the situation.

The company owns 11 newspapers, including such publications as the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and Newsday, as well as 26 television stations, most of which are affiliated with the new CW Network formed when the WB and UPN networks were shut down prior to the current television season. The company also owns the Chicago Cubs baseball team.

Since it began to solicit potential bids in September, the offers that have come in have been disappointing, according to various reports. As a result, the Chandlers are "frustrated" by the process, the New York Times said.

Tribune late last month extended a self-imposed deadline to complete its strategic review, a move that analysts said was an indication that it was struggling to attract bids that offered a significant takeover premium.

The company now expects a special board committee to submit a final recommendation to the full board during the first quarter of 2007. Previously, Tribune had said it planned to complete its review by the end of 2006.

The Chandler family would still prefer to see Tribune acquired by an outside bidder, the Times reported Wednesday.

In July, the Chandlers demanded that Tribune take dramatic steps to lift its stock price, which had lost more than half its value since early 2004. The family said Tribune should either sell its broadcasting division, pursue tax-free spinoffs of its newspaper assets or try to sell the company as a whole.

The Chandlers' ultimatum came just weeks after Knight Ridder was sold to McClatchy Co. (MNI) in a deal that was forced by angry Knight Ridder shareholders. McClatchy's winning bid of $6.5 billion was historically low by the standards of previous buyouts in the newspaper industry.

Newspapers are besieged by a variety of difficulties. More readers are using the Internet to get their news, depressing print circulation, particularly in tech-savvy large metropolitan markets. Online revenues are rising as a result, but not nearly fast enough to offset print losses.

The Do Not Call registry, implemented three years ago, has blocked newspapers from one of their most traditionally reliable sources of new subscriptions -- telemarketing calls.

Meanwhile, some of the biggest traditional newspaper advertisers, such as automakers and airlines, have fallen on hard times in recent years, causing them to curtail ad spending. Consolidation among major retailers has also had an impact.

Tribune's shares were up marginally in Wednesday trading at $32.52.
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Newspaper News

New York Times adds sharing tool
It marks the first time that the country's third-largest newspaper has added a news-sharing tool to its Web site, allowing readers to develop conversations and post comments about specific stories. Readers will be able to add headlines and a small portion of text to the social media sites by clicking on the logos of Digg, Facebook and Newsvine. Those logos began appearing next to The Times' stories this morning in the same box as the print and e-mail tools, although they're initially hidden until users click the "Share" link.

Newspaper Killer
Craigslist President and Chief Executive Jim Buckmaster isn't nuts. He just sounds that way, particularly to anyone who thinks that the point of running a business is, you know, to make money. And that was enough to make his appearance last week at the UBS Global Media & Communications Conference feel like a dizzying trip through Lewis Carroll's looking glass.


Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism Honors Los Angeles Times
New York, December 11, 2006—The Graduate School of Journalism has recognized the Los Angeles Times’ project “Altered Oceans,” an 18-month investigation into the health status of the oceans, as the 2006 winner of the John B. Oakes Award for distinguished environmental journalism. The award honors Times reporter Kenneth R. Weiss and his team for making an exceptional contribution to advancing public understanding of environmental issues. An award ceremony and an open discussion of the project will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. at the journalism building located at W. 116th St. and Broadway in New York.

Now journalists are sharing the pain of industries they've been covering
On Monday, journalists and others in the news industry are holding a so-called "Day of Action." The event is being coordinated by the merged union I belong to, the Newspaper Guild/Communications Workers of America. In truth, there won't be much action. Mostly, journalists will try to explain why it matters to the rest of you that thousands of newspaper employees nationally have lost their jobs in the past five years so that corporate entities can hit profit-margin targets.