We Were Print » Uncategorized

Atlanta Journal-Constitution May Move

4thestate — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:34:33 +0000

The Atlanta Business Journal reports that the publisher of the AJC has said operating the paper in the current downtown location is too expensive.

Here’s the story link:

http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/08/10/daily50.html

Is Miami Herald for Sale?

4thestate — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 05:06:20 +0000

From today’s NY Times:

The Miami Herald Is Said to Be for Sale

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

The McClatchy Company, burdened by debt and a steep slide in newspaper advertising, wants to sell one of its most-prized properties, The Miami Herald, according to people briefed on the company’s plans.

McClatchy, the nation’s third-largest newspaper chain, has approached potential buyers for The Herald, said these people, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue. But they said they knew of no serious offers for the paper, reflecting the evaporation of major investors’ interest in buying newspapers.

The company refused to discuss the matter. Elaine Lintecum, the treasurer, said, “We do not comment on market rumors.”

The Herald is one of the largest of McClatchy’s 30 daily papers, with daily circulation of 210,000, and arguably the most prestigious, having won 19 Pulitzer Prizes. But it is not clear what kind of bids it might fetch, if any; with newspaper profits shrinking fast, the economy contracting and credit tight, many newspapers have been on the block for months without selling.

The people briefed on the company’s plans say The Herald generates a very slim operating margin and that the most attractive part of any deal could be its prime waterfront real estate. But the Florida real estate market is in deep recession — one of the reasons for the struggles of the paper, which used to benefit from heavy real estate advertising.

The bid to sell The Herald continues the fallout from McClatchy’s $4.5 billion purchase in 2006 of Knight Ridder, the newspaper chain that had owned the Miami paper. Largely as a result of that deal the company has about $2 billion in debt, payments on which eat up much of its cash flow.

Some Wall Street analysts warned at the time that McClatchy, based in Sacramento, had overpaid, but even they did not expect the steep decline in newspaper advertising that began months later and has accelerated this year.

The drop has been most pronounced in Florida and California, states where McClatchy has a major presence. Through the first 10 months of this year, the company’s ad revenue fell 14.7 percent in other parts of the country, and 22.5 percent in California and Florida.

McClatchy reported third-quarter income of $4.2 million on $451.6 million in revenue. The company’s stock price, which topped $75 a share in 2005, closed on Friday at $2.20.

Survey of Displaced Journalists

4thestate — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:46:15 +0000

The American Journalism review is conducting a survey of newspaper journalists who are out of work, have been laid off, bought out or otherwise separated from their jobs.

American Journalism Review Survey

Have you been forced out of a daily newspaper job in the last 10 years? Were made to leave under circumstances that were other than totally voluntary? American Journalism Review is doing a survey to find out what people in your situation are doing now and how they were treated as they were shown the door. Please go to www.ajr.org and click on the link to the survey. And tell your
friends.

Franklin Promoted; Grand Junction Publisher for Post

4thestate — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:15:17 +0000

Today’s developments — a letter from Doug Franklin, soon to be ex-publisher of The Palm Beach Post.

Dec. 3
Folks,

Today, Cox Enterprises is announcing it is bringing together its TV, radio and newspaper businesses under one umbrella group named Cox Media Group. Sandy Schwartz will lead the new group and Sandy has asked me to lead the newspaper group. As part of the transition, I am pleased to announce we are appointing Alex Taylor, currently publisher of Grand Junction, Colorado Daily Sentinel, to succeed me here at PBNI. Alex will begin in his new role here at the beginning of the year and I will begin work at CEI in Atlanta. Sandy will be sending out an e-mail later this morning with further details.

This announcement is somewhat of a surprise to many of us, including me, considering my short tenure here at PBNI. We have talked about the rapid changes we must make to adapt to the new realities of our business which includes management changes from time to time.

Two important points—first and foremost, you will be getting an outstanding publisher in Alex Taylor. Alex’s passion for our business, employees and journalism is unmatched. I am confident you will enjoy his leadership. Secondly, Alex will report to me and both of us will work hard to make a seamless transition and remain on course to turnaround PBNI.

Alex comes to the company at an important juncture in our rebuilding efforts. Many difficult decisions had to be made this year to position the company for future success. Now that these major efforts have been implemented we can focus more effectively on growing our digital and niche business while reinvigorating our print newspapers.

Next year you will hear about more exciting efforts to engage you in teamwork, communication, product development, marketing and sales. We are truly becoming a sales and content company. You along with Alex will help shape our future.

Make no mistake about it, we are in the midst of the most difficult period for newspapers ever and next year appears to be equally challenging for our economy and advertising sales. We will have to remain nimble, flexible and creative to achieve our goals. I am confident you are up for the challenge.

Lastly, my personal thanks to all of you for the kindness, respect and support I have received. This was a short, tumultuous run and I am impressed with your resiliency, graciousness and professionalism throughout this year. Thank you for your outstanding work and I know Alex will enjoy the same support.

Doug

Doug Franklin
Publisher
The Palm Beach Post

Newspaper Light Bulbs in Short Supply

4thestate — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 13:02:52 +0000

Telling It Like It Is

Bad Sign: Only Two Slices of Pizza on Election Night

Matt — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:40:03 +0000

In reading Lisa Griffis’ Blog yesterday, I was reminded that one of the things I miss the most about working at a newspaper is being a part of history… and the food.

If things were going great (elections, Super Bowls, Y2K, etc.), there was food. If things were going lousy (9/11, exploding Shuttles, elections, etc.), there was food.

This was the first election since I was old enough to vote that I didn’t spend the night at the newspaper working. I was somewhat sad until I read that the Raleigh News and Observer was limiting their staff to two slices of pizza on election night.

The executive editor eventually rescinded the two-slice maximum but the psycological damage and message is clear: when pizza is rationed, you job isn’t safe.

Job Board of Interest

4thestate — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:35:38 +0000

This job board is area-specific. Thanks to MKL for her link.

www.southfloridamediajobs.com

Job Fairs, Training Ops

4thestate — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 02:00:29 +0000

Videography class

Palm Beach Community College plans to offer a videography class starting Sept. 23 — an evening class for 12 weeks.

Many ads for journalists, writers and other media positions call for this skill. It’s at the Lake Worth campus and will be taught by Michael Kintzel.

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FAU to host Career Day

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Florida Atlantic University’s Career Development Center will host the Career Day and Technical Fair on Thursday, Sept. 11 at FAU Arena on the Boca Raton campus.
Students and alumni are invited to “Make the Connection” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information and to see the lengthy list of employers who will attend, click here. FREE for FAU students/alumni and the community.

Note: Business attire is required.