Posted on 10/27/2006 6:00:39 AM PDT by abb
As Philadelphia is finding out, local ownership of big city newspapers isn't a panacea.
With a local group considering making a bid to buy The Boston Globe from The New York Times Co., media specialists warned that newspapers, regardless of ownership, face huge challenges as readers and advertisers move online, and the industry seeks a financial model to support extensive newsgathering operations.
In Philadelphia, a local group earlier this year bought the broadsheet Inquirer and tabloid Daily News from the McClatchy Co. chain, sparking hope within the community and the two papers for an end to the relentless cost-cutting under its longtime corporate owner, the defunct Knight Ridder chain. (Knight Ridder sold itself to McClatchy, which in turn sold some of the papers it acquired.)
Last week, however, the new owner said layoffs were "unavoidable" because revenue was falling so quickly that the company would not be able to meet its debt payments next year. Meanwhile, with the company pushing for deep concessions in union contracts that expire next week, members of the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia, which represents editorial, advertising, and other workers, last night authorized union leader s to call a strike.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
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Welch sets his sights on the Boston Globe
By Joshua Chaffin in New York and Rebecca Knight in Boston
Published: October 27 2006 03:00 | Last updated: October 27 2006 03:00
Jack Welch became one of corporate America's most celebrated managers for transforming General Electric from a rusting bureaucracy to an entrepreneurial giant during his long tenure as chief executive. Now, Mr Welch, known as "neutron Jack" for the widespread job cuts at GE, may be poised to attempt a similar turnround in another beleaguered American industry: newspaper publishing.
This week, it was revealed that Mr Welch and fellow Boston native Jack Connors, an advertising executive, had held discussions about launching a bid for the Boston Globe, aiming to return the struggling paper to local ownership. The retired executives are reaching out to other civic-minded Boston-ians as they lay the groundwork for a possible effortto pry the daily away from the New York Times Company, which bought it in 1993 for $1.1bn.
The prospect of Mr Welch's managerial prowess being applied to a newspaper that is bleeding readers and advertisers may be tantalising to some. But the question many are asking in Boston is whether Mr Welch's skills would be suited for the newsroom of one of the US's most prestigious papers - where results are not measured purely in profits. "It, possibly, is a good thing," said Louis Ureneck, chairman of the journalism department at Boston University. "But we really need to know more."
Chiefly, Mr Ureneck and others are wondering what Mr Welch's financial expectations would be for the Globe. Would he and his partners be running the paper to maximise their return on investment, for example, or more as a matter of civic duty?
"Tying promotions and incentives to performance is good, but should we have an annual culling of the [under-performers] in the editorial department?" one Globe reporter wondered, referring to Mr Welch's practice at GE of removing the bottom 10 per cent of employees each year.
Another matter was whether a group of prominent investors - people who regularly appear in the Globe's pages - would respect the independence of the newsroom. Mr Welch himself became the subject of nasty headlines a few years ago after a bitter divorce fight led to the airing of his generous GE retirement package.
Those same questions are surfacing at other US cities as deep-pocketed local figures increasingly put themselves forward as potential saviours for their hometown newspapers. Three wealthy Angelenos - David Geffen, Ron Burkle and Eli Broad - have expressed interest in buying the Los Angeles Times from Tribune. Papers in New York, Baltimore and Hartford have also drawn suitors.
These efforts are all predicated on the notion that local owners are more in touch with their community than distant corporations. Furthermore, at a time when newspapers are struggling to adapt to the internet and suffering from consolidation among their key advertisers, they would be willing to settle for lower returns than Wall Street fund managers.
A person familiar with Mr Connors' plans said he believed any investment would be more civic-minded than financially motivated. Yet he noted that discussions were so preliminary that these and other issues had not yet been ironed out.
Still, one Boston media executive was sceptical. "These are guys who have a somewhat romantic vision of what running a newspaper means. They remember the good old days of newspapers and they have a dream of owning their hometown paper," he said. "But the reality is going to hit them when they look at the numbers and drill into the business and realise that they are going to have to make some severe cuts and go head-to-head with unions."
Those realisations already seem to be dawning on Brian Tierney, a public relations executive who assembled a team that bought the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this year. In spite of early optimism, Mr Tierney last week sent a memo to staff warning about cash flow problems and future job losses.
Mr Welch is no stranger to the media business. During his tenure at GE, the company acquired NBC, one of the largest US broadcast networks. Some NBC News executives complained about Mr Welch's meddling, even to the point of having a weather reporter on the Today show plug GE light bulbs. But others say he kept his distance while cutting costs.
In retirement, Mr Welch has also joined the ranks of the ink-stained wretches. Along with his third wife, Suzy Welch, a former editor of the Harvard Business Review, he pens a regular column for BusinessWeek magazine. While that experience may have enriched Mr Welch's understanding of journalism, it also throws up more questions.
"I don't think he's buying the Globe so his wife can be editor," Mr Ureneck said. "But who knows?"
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Try printing the truth, ALL the truth, not omitting the truth, and not distorting the truth.
Lets encourage the elite super wealthy liberals and the wealthy unions to buy these Dinosaur fishwraps.
The money they will use to buy and keep these dinosaurs alive in the financial ICU's will never be used to campaign against us.
[The union,] which represents editorial, advertising, and other workers, last night authorized union leader s to call a strike.
This is the problem with unions, and we see it in almost everywhere there is a union and a struggeling company (auto manufacturing, airlines, etc). The only thing the unions care about is the here and now. Do they not consider that if they strike, they cause further harm to a company already in serious trouble? Maybe it's just my upbringing but the way I see it, but when things are tough, we have to work together instead of looking out for #1. It would benefit everybody in the long run.
Who says there is no good news :
"pushing for deep concessions in union contracts that expire next week..."
I guess it's like beating a dead dinosaur.
Here is great plan ( for us ) : using the unions' pension money to buy the dying old media junk
"Here is a great plan ( for us ) : using the unions' pension money to buy the dying old media junk."
Liz and I have been cheer leaders whenever the elite left wing thugs and union thugs use their capital to buy losing liberal companies and throw money into that cess pool to keep it operating.
This simple operation weakens the rats short term re money to be spent buying these losers, and in the future as their capital is wasted keeping these loser organizations operational.
Oh, rapture. Union goons strike because there aren't enough holes in the sinking ship already. Let's you and him fight! Huzzah!
"The retired executives are reaching out to other civic-minded Boston-ians"
Gag. I can't read or hear 'reaching out' without reaching out for the inflight vomit bag. I'll be glad when the days of 'sharing' and 'reaching out' are over.
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