Free Republic

Washington Post closing all US bureaus outside DC The Washington Post is closing its last US bureaus outside the nation's capital as the money-losing newspaper retrenches to focus on politics and local news. Published: 12:48AM GMT 25 Nov 2009 "At a time of limited resources and increased competitive pressure, it's necessary to concentrate our journalistic firepower on our central mission of covering Washington and the news, trends and ideas that shape both the region and the country's politics, policies and government," the newspaper's editor, Marcus Brauchli, wrote in a memo to employees that was obtained by Reuters. The Post will...

According to an informed source, the Washington Post will soon announce that it will close its news bureaus in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, as part of a cost-saving measure. It's unclear just when the closings will take place; however, the source says that the Post will not be laying off correspondents in those bureaus, but rather will be bringing them back to the mother ship, the better to focus on the Post's core mission of reporting on Washington. More to come. UPDATE, 5:03 P.M.: Memo from management---though correspondents are spared the ax, three news aides will lose their...

While U.S. newspapers are losing subscribers at a staggering rate, a few dailies stand out because their circulation is rising. But they aren't necessarily selling more copies. Here's why: Since April 1, new auditing rules have made it easier for newspapers to count a reader as a paying customer. These looser standards are especially helpful to a newspaper if it sells an "electronic edition." That can include a subscriber-only Web site, such as what The Wall Street Journal has, or it can be a digital replica of a newspaper's printed product. Several dozen publications, including USA Today, sell access to...

Pick out a pleasant outlook,Stick out that noble chin;Wipe off that "full of doubt" look,Slap on a happy grin!And spread sunshine all over the place,Just put on a happy face!Put on a happy facePut on a happy face! It is a scene that has been played out quite a bit recently. A newspaper publisher delivers a grim announcement of yet more employee cutbacks in the newsroom. So how should the remaining employees react when asked about the cutbacks? According to the former publisher of the Palm Beach Post, the employees should simply put on a happy face and deliver the...

Things seem to be going from bad to worse at the Washington Times. And the continued operation of the newspaper, which is owned by Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, seems to be in serious doubt. There's already been plenty of speculation that the paper might fold or go online-only. Sources at the Times said they fear major changes and that the Moon family feud that's driving the paper's turmoil could lead to the Times shutting down in the coming months -- with some suggesting that Preston Moon, the reverend's son who serves as chairman of News World Communications, the...

Multiple sources are reporting that several employees at washingtonpost.com are losing their jobs as part of the merger of the site with the main Washington Post newsroom. Several of dot-com's editorial staffers as well as some non-editorial workers are among those who've gotten the ax, according to the sources. City Desk is not printing names just yet. We've contacted several allegedly dismissed employees but have not yet received direct confirmation from them. When asked if the Web site has laid off employees, Washington Post spokesperson Kris Coratti responded with this statement: "As part of the work we’re doing to turn...

The economy may have rallied in the third quarter, but the newspaper industry did not, as total advertising revenues -- including print and online -- tumbled 28%, from roughly $10.1 billion in the third quarter of 2008 to about $6.4 billion this year. The third-quarter loss is on par with first and second-quarter declines of 28.3% and 29%, respectively. As in previous quarters, losses were spread evenly across all the main newspaper advertising categories -- including national, down 29.8%, retail, down 24%, and classifieds, down 37.9%. National advertising in particular reached a discouraging milestone in the third quarter, with total...

Last month we heard that the AP might need to make hundreds of layoffs before the end of the year. Some of those layoffs, we hear, could be coming today. A tipster tells us that the word amongst AP union members is that today could be the day for "70 or 80" layoffs. The rumors say that the layoffs will be spread across the company nationally. Although—ominously—we hear that New York staffers have been summoned to an "important meeting" this afternoon. We'll update if we learn more. In the meantime, if you have more details, email us. UPDATE: Another reporter...

With the resignation of executive editor John Solomon the Washington Times is now in full survival mode. From FishbowlDC Following the resignation of Washington Times Executive Editor John Solomon this evening, TWT Managing Editor David Jones addressed his staff via the below memo. Jones says that the newsroom will carry on "business as usual" but sources tell FishbowlDC that Times staff is expressing panic and fearing the worst.

Layoffs are not over at The Associated Press. AP CEO Tom Curley addressed staffers Thursday at a company-wide Town Hall forum, saying: "I know you all would like me to sound the all clear. I cannot do that." While many employees have been shown the door, there will yet be cuts in order to slash 10% from the payroll as planned. Curley and other executives discussed a number of iniatives aimed at bringing AP into the digital future. Included in the plans: * They want to create landing pages, curating news and linking to other users to drive traffic to...

Things seem to be going from bad to worse at the Washington Times. And the continued operation of the newspaper, which is owned by Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, seems to be in serious doubt. There's already been plenty of speculation that the paper might fold or go online-only. Sources at the Times said they fear major changes and that the Moon family feud that's driving the paper's turmoil could lead to the Times shutting down in the coming months -- with some suggesting that Preston Moon, the reverend's son who serves as chairman of News World Communications, the...

The Star Tribune is cutting another 100 jobs companywide to further shave costs after bankruptcy. The company's operating committee announced the cuts this morning, saying that the "cracking of our historical economic model and the current Great Recession have forced us to move quickly to make meaningful and difficult adjustments over the next few months." About 30 of the cuts will come from the newsroom and editorial staff -- about a 10 percent reduction -- Star Tribune Editor Nancy Barnes said. The company said most of the cuts would be completed by the end of the year, but that the...

The state of New Hampshire last week agreed to guarantee 75 percent of a $250,000 loan from an Upper Valley bank to the new owner of the Eagle Times, an unusual deal because it involves a daily newspaper and the government it covers. The Executive Council on Wednesday unanimously approved without debate the “working capital loan guarantee,” which would be administered by the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority. Under the deal, the BFA and the state would be liable to pay up to $187,500 to Connecticut River Bank if Eagle Printing & Publishing LLC defaulted on the $250,000 line of...

The London Telegraph has the bombshell report on Ft. Hood jihadist Nidal Hassan’s ties to the September 11 terrorists. Question: Why is it that we have to read British papers to get the unvarnished truths about the Ft. Hood Muslim mass murderer?

Once something no longer serves a purpose, or fails at it's main function, it deserves to die... There was a time when newspapers championed the people of America.....they were a valued 4th estate that protected America from the arrogance and contempt of crooked politians and meglomaniacs who saw the American people as dups and fodder for thier own political dreams.....in those days headlines like: Congressional Arrogance Deaf Congress Presidential Imperialism would have been everywhere....Everyone knows America doesn't want this bill....millions of Americans have demonstrated their opinion on this only to be ignored by power mad idiots who only serve "the...

The historic campus of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., has offered instruction in journalism for well over a century — but probably never quite like this. On Friday, the twice-yearly Washington and Lee Journalism Ethics Institute will hear from its latest keynote speaker: Jayson Blair, the former New York Times reporter who triggered the greatest scandal in the newspaper's history. "Getting Jayson Blair obviously was a departure," says Edward Wasserman, the Knight professor of journalism ethics at Washington and Lee. Indeed. The keynote address is typically reserved for people like Lowell Bergman or Toni Locy, journalists who withstood...

Newspaper publishers are running out of costs to cut, and they need to show some real ad-revenue gains soon. Executives from major publishing chains have clung to a slight moderation in their ad revenue's year-over-year rate of decline from quarter to quarter this year as a sign of improvement. But that probably has more to do with the mathematics of easing comparisons to last year's economic decline than it does with any actual improvements in this year's ad performance. The reality is that newspapers are suffering severe declines in ad revenue this year on top of the double-digit percentage declines...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other newspapers owned by the Tribune Co. plan to cut back on use of the Associated Press (AP) next week to test whether they can do without content from the US news agency. The Chicago Tribune said the plan to "utilize as little content from the Associated Press as practical" was aimed at determining whether the Tribune Co., which declared bankruptcy in December, can sever ties with the AP. The Chicago-based Tribune Co. has been looking for ways to cut costs and in October 2008 it gave the AP the...

The Tribune Newspapers will cease operations on Dec. 31, the parent company Freedom Communications said Monday. Read the company's news release (PDF) Freedom officials made the announcement to Tribune employees Monday morning, citing the economic recession and changes in the newspaper industry that have cause many publications to close and others to file for bankruptcy protection. Freedom, which itself is operating under Chapter 11 reorganization, had been attempting to sell the Tribune, but no acceptable offers have come forward, said Interim Chief Executive Burl Osborne. “We have received a number of inquiries, but none at a level we would remotely...

The latest newspaper circulation numbers, measuring copies sold from April through September of this year, show a 10.6 percent decline in daily newspaper sales, the first double-digit drop in circulation ever. Newspaper readership is now at its lowest level since before World War II. The biggest losers during this six-month period, as reported by NewsBusters's Tom Blumer, were the San Francisco Chronicle (down 25.8 percent daily), the Newark Star-Ledger (down 22.2 percent daily), and the Boston Globe (down 18.5 percent daily). The New York Times's sales during the period fell to 927,861, the first time the paper sold less...

snip It is not only the demise of big-name papers that should raise concern; the rapid decline of the newspaper industry is playing out quietly, with small, reasonably responsible dailies in cities and rural regions across the country disappearing without widespread notice. Dozens of daily and weekly newspapers have closed this year. Cities that once enjoyed the fruits of newspaper competition (Denver, Seattle) are starving. "Surviving" publications -- and many have filed for bankruptcy -- are cutting reporting staffs to the bone (this month, the New York Times said it would cut 100 more newsroom jobs). International bureaus, statehouse bureaus...

Jayson Blair, who was at the center of a major journalism scandal as a New York Times reporter in 2003, will be the featured speaker at Washington and Lee University’s 48th Journalism Ethics Institute on Friday, Nov. 6. The title of Blair’s talk is “Lessons Learned.” The public is invited to the presentation at 5:30 p.m. in Stackhouse Theater, Elrod Commons. Blair resigned from the Times after an investigation found that he had plagiarized and fabricated major portions of stories that he had written during four years with the Times. Some of the stories that he covered in this manner...

No surprise that Americans are dropping their newspaper subscriptions, as a new batch of numbers from the Audit Bureau of Circulations showed yesterday. But before you file this under “death of newspapers”, do ponder this for a second: Declining circulation might not be the worst news in the world. Tough times have forced many papers to rethink their circulation strategies. An obvious conclusion: Much of the money publishers were spending to print and deliver dead trees has gone to waste. New strategy: Print fewer copies, and charge more for the ones you do sell. That’s a tactic, not a strategy,...

"NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The plunge in U.S. newspaper circulation is accelerating, according to the latest figures released on Monday, as more people cancel their subscriptions and publishers cut distribution and sales of discounted copies."

The latest FAS-FAX for the six months ending Sept. 30 is here in a matter of moments and some numbers are already trickling out. We already know about the massive 17% drop at USA Today and now there's this: Compared to the same six-month period ending September 2008, daily (Monday-Friday) circulation at The New York Times is down 7.2% to 927,851. Sunday fell 2.6% to 1,400,302. Los Angeles Times reported daily is off 11% to 657,467 and 6.7% on Sunday to 983,702. The San Francisco Chronicle lost more than a quarter of its daily circ, down 25.8% to 251,782. Sunday...

Former CBS news anchor Dan Rather urged American news consumers Thursday to take action to address the declining state of the journalism industry. More than 750 Austinites, including students, professors and journalists, attended the fifth annual Mary Alice Davis Distinguished Lecture in the Union Ballroom to hear Rather reflect on his more than 60 years as a journalist, including 24 years with CBS Evening News as an anchor and managing editor. “When we speak of the future of journalism, let us fully understand that quality journalism of integrity is currently in decline and in peril,” Rather said. He cited corporatization,...

The New York Times Co. said Thursday that it lost $36 million, or 25 cents a share in the third quarter, compared to a loss of $106 million, or 74 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Earnings per share from continuing operations, excluding severance and special items, were 16 cents. Revenue fell 17% to $571 million from $687 million. Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated, on average, a loss of 2 cents a share and sales of $576 million.

Having worked in, on, and around newspapers for over two decades, I can say with some authority that the vast majority of reporters, editors, and publishers are about as sharp as a pound of wet leather. The general consensus amongst their fraternity is, quite simply, that readers are too addle-brained to know what is good for them. The conventional wisdom within the hallowed swamps of journalism is that your garden variety reader doesn’t know what is important, that they are a wrong-thinking lot who put on their shoes and socks in that order. Journalists, as a rule, feel that the...

In case the latest ZenithOptimedia ad-spending forecast wasn't depressing enough, the outlook for newspapers and magazines is especially bad -- even relative to the grim state of advertising in general. Among the gloomy predictions: while overall ad spending is expected to rebound somewhat in 2011, newspapers and magazines will continue to decline due to secular factors, including Internet competition. ZenithOptimedia expects total ad spending in developed markets to drop 9.9% in 2009, followed by a further 2.9% decline in 2010, thanks to continuing structural economic problems. After this, the Zenith forecast has ad spending in developed markets growing 1.5% in...

The New York Times (NYT.N) plans to cut 100 newsroom jobs by the end of the year through buyouts and might resort to layoffs as it reels from the advertising revenue drop that is imperiling U.S. newspapers. The news, delivered in a memo to employees by Times Executive Editor Bill Keller on Monday, comes after the newspaper's workers already took a 5 percent pay cut for most of this year and a similar program last year. "When we took our 5 percent pay cuts, it was in the hope that this would fend off the need for more staff cuts...

Cost cutting produced a solidly profitable third quarter for Gannett Co. But the latest financial results for the country's largest newspaper publisher show another big decline in ad revenue. Gannett owns USA Today, more than 80 other newspapers and 23 television stations. Its earnings Monday follow a similar report last week from McClatchy Co., another big newspaper owner that has managed to profit even as its main revenue source withers. Gannett's ad sales in its publishing division dropped 28 percent from a year ago. That follows a 32 percent decline in the second quarter and a 34 percent decline in...

The NYT is calling Marcus Brauchli, the executive editor of the Washington Post, a liar. The NYT has reported this morning -- in a brief, buried "postscript" in the corrections column -- that it now has evidence that Brauchli lied last July when he told the NYT that he didn't know the paper's controversial corporate-sponsored dinner parties would be off-the-record. The NYT doesn't state flatly that Brauchli lied. But the juxtaposition of the two Brauchli statements in the postscript make clear the NYT's position that he misrepresented the truth in interviews with the NYT. [UPDATE: In an email to The...

Can you do journalism and not be a "journalist"? Do people declared "journalists" get special speech and press rights that other American citizens do not enjoy? Can anyone enjoy the right to free speech and free publication, even if that individual is not a full-time professional reporter? These are some of the important legal questions that American politicians and bureaucrats must confront now that the Internet has made possible for people other than employees of major media companies to reach large and widespread audiences. In recent weeks, federal officials seems to be favoring a view that certain individuals enjoy more...

NEW YORK — The Wall Street Journal has surpassed USA Today as the top-selling daily newspaper in the United States. The Audit Bureau of Circulations won't be releasing its latest figures until Oct. 26, but the Journal said Wednesday that it gained about 12,000 subscribers in the April-September period, compared with a year earlier. That puts its average Monday-Friday circulation at 2.02 million. The Journal claimed the top spot last week after USA Today released its circulation figures early, but had not given out specifics until Wednesday. USA Today, which has long been No. 1, said last week that it...

Some things to ponder in the wake of today's news that the New York Times Co. won't be selling the Boston Globe after all (Herald story here, Globe story here, entire memo to follow): 1. Given the speed with which the Times Co. decided to reject the bids assembled by Steve Taylor and Platinum, it seems--at least from the outside--like not a lot of deliberation was required. When did the Times Co. make up its mind not to sell? And what was the determing factor? 2. The elimination of lifetime job guarantees earlier this year paved the way for some...

Congratulations to the staff of The Wall Street Journal! Despite the national trend, the WSJ continues to gain circulation. Americans don't like being lied to. Reporting the truth without the liberal spin has paid off for the Journal. As the state-run media continues to lose viewers and readers due to their biased and inaccurate reporting the Wall Street Journal is now the top-cirulating newspaper in the United States.

One year ago, the Newhouses were threatening to close down their treasured jewel, The Star-Ledger, unless the paper’s union made a series of concessions, which included cutting the newsroom by 40 percent. They got what they wanted, and it seemed like things could go back to normal, albeit with fewer deckhands on the ship. Yet on Monday, George Arwady, the publisher of the The Star-Ledger, wrote in a memo to staff that “the revenue situation at our newspaper has worsened this year, and we expect a further significant revenue decline next year.” Now, the paper needs to cut 50 more...

The Newark Star-Ledger, the Newhouse-owned newspaper where 150 newsroom staffers took buyouts last year, is about to suffer even deeper cuts. According to a memo sent to out by publisher George Awady (see below), executives will be seeking another round of buyouts, and if that doesn’t work, involuntary layoffs. For many years, the Newhouse newspapers kept unions at bay by promising lifetime employment, but the implosion of the industry has swept those promises into the dustbin of history. The newspaper, long admired for its comprehensive coverage of the chronically corrupt northern New Jersey region it covers, did manage to lure...

Sometimes a news story is so bad and filled with such dark clouds that there's no way to find much of a silver lining. That's the case with GateHouse Media, owner of many small-market newspapers in the United States. The staff of Editor & Publisher, one of the two main trade publications in journalism, write this about GateHouse Media: "The Street stopped believing the GateHouse Media story long ago, forcing it into the Pink Sheets as a penny stock. Now comes Moody’s Investors Service declaring Thursday its “over-leveraged capital structure to be unsustainable.” This is based on the decision by...

For media, this is the best of times and the worst. The best because the cost to publish news, make a video or distribute a song has never been lower. But also the worst because it's hard to find a company, new or old media, that has emerged with a sustainable business model. Consumers are left wondering how much longer their favorite sources of news and entertainment will be around. The most recent stark contrast was between the $1 billion valuation for pre-revenue startup Twitter and the shutdown of the iconic Gourmet magazine. A new book provocatively entitled "The Curse...

After listening carefully to readers and thinking deeply about the modern role of a newspaper in elections, the AJC Editorial Board is taking a new approach to election coverage, beginning with this November’s elections. Going forward, our board will use its unique position to work for readers in pursuing with candidates the issues that are critical to the future of our community. The board will provide readers with clear, concise information about candidates’ positions and records. The AJC will no longer endorse political candidates.

NEW YORK (AP) - USA Today is expecting to report a 17 percent decline in circulation. That would be its largest drop ever. While most large newspapers are struggling to keep print subscribers and newsstand sales, USA Today is also being slammed by the slump in travel. Many of the newspaper's sales come in hotels and airports. USA Today's publisher, David Hunke (pronounced HUNK'-ee), told staff about the circulation plunge in a memo Friday. From April through September, the average daily circulation at the Gannett Co.-owned newspaper was 1.88 million. That amounted to 398,000 fewer copies than in the same...

When the Audit Bureau of Circulations releases the latest numbers on Oct. 26, it will show that USA Today's circulation fell 17% to 1.88 million for the six months ending September 2009, a drop of about 390,000 copies. The decline could also threaten USA Today’s position as the No. 1 newspaper in the country by circulation. To put that in perspective, the reduction of copies represents roughly the entire daily circulation of The Arizona Republic the 10th largest paper in the U.S. as of spring. The loss was an expected one at the Nation's Newspaper, which implemented a price increase...

BEIJING — The leaders of two of the world’s major news organizations said Friday that it is time for search engines and others who use news content for free to pay up. The comments from Tom Curley of The Associated Press and News Corp. [NWS]’s Rupert Murdoch come as the media industry struggles in the Internet age. Many news companies contend that sites such as Google have reaped a fortune from their articles, photos and video without fairly compensating the news organizations producing the material. "We content creators have been too slow to react to the free exploitation of news...

It all sounds so innocent and good-governmenty: The Federal Trade Commission will hold a workshop Dec. 1 and 2 concerning "How will journalism survive the Internet age?" An assembly of editors, owners, government officials, consumer advocates, advertisers and others is scheduled to discuss a dozen topics. Three ought to make the hair stand up on the necks of every journalist and anybody else who cares about the survival of freedom of the press: » Are new or changed government policies needed to support optimal amounts and types of journalism, including public affairs coverage? » Should the tax code be modified...

The most recent six-month period for measuring newspaper circulation ended last Wednesday. It takes a month or so to assemble the results, so watch for actual numbers around Halloween. I'm sticking my neck out only a little in predicting they will be a veritable house of horrors. Here's why this six-month period is likely be be even worse than the period ended March 31, which saw average losses of 7 percent daily and 5.3 percent Sunday compared to the same period in 2008: This is the first six-month period likely to show the full effect of the recession on customers...

In France, in order to reverse the trend that, from one generation to the next, young people are less likely to read newspapers, free subscriptions (with strings) are being tried successfully. According to the World Association of Newspapers' recent report on the French government's decision to give free, one-day-a-week newspaper subscriptions to every 18- to 24-year old in the country as a way to encourage newspaper reading and civic participation, the publishers say it works, though the free giveaway is not the only factor.

The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post are breaking up their news service after 47 years, making it the latest casualty of the media upheaval driven by the array of alternative information and entertainment sources on the Internet.

A new study by the National Newspaper Association has found that subscriber cancellations have dropped from previous levels. From FishbowlNY In an effort to survive their recent economic struggles, newspapers across the country have increased home delivery and single copy prices

Nobody in their right mind believes the future of the news business involves paper and ink rather than pixels on a screen. We all know where the news business is headed, and what's more, we've known it for at least a decade. So why on earth are people talking about a bailout for newspapers? Why is President Obama saying he'd consider it? Why is Congress holding hearings and considering "The Newspaper Revitalization Act" in a bid to save these ailing old rags with tax breaks and other handouts? It's like introducing legislation to save horse-drawn carriages, or steam engines, or...