In looking at the pile of headlines to catch up on regarding the daily newspaper industry, it’s obvious that December was another horrendous month for the daily newspaper business. Unfortunately, it’s going to be even worse in 2009 for them. But here’s one last pile of stories for 2008…
• The Seattle Times is freezing non-union [...]
FitchRatings, which forecasts economic activity of the world’s major economies, released a report on the United States that predicts the U.S. economy is in for a rough year in 2009 (what a shock!) with GDP declining by 1.2%. Of particular note in the report is the brutal environment surrounding advertising, which Fitch estimates will be [...]
In anticipation of the day that the Minneapolis Star Tribune stops publishing (which could happen any week now), I’ve decided to take steps to prepare for life without a local daily. I am also interested in determining how hard it would actually be to wean myself off of an increasingly irrational addiction to a local [...]
Down 93% from it’s 52-week high, McClatchy stock hit an all-time low yesterday, dropping 13% to $.89 per share. The company now enjoys a robust market cap of $73 million. The stock is down 99% from December, 2004, making for one of the all-time great stock charts to snowboard down. Now, if we could just [...]
The Journal Register, whose stock price is now $.0039 per share, announced that it will close 16 of its Connecticut weeklies and might shut down 2 of its dailies, the Bristol Press and New Britain Herald, in January if it cannot sell them by January 12th. In no way do Bristol or New Britain qualify [...]
This appeared in yesterday’s taste section of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Apparently a few critical people in the Strib’s workflow are no longer with the daily newspaper…
• Gannett is planning for more layoffs, and we all get to watch the demise in slow motion thanks to the web and the world of instant communication. Similarly, thanks to the web (and Cheezhead’s tenacious monitoring of all things recruitment), the world knew about layoffs at CareerBuilder before the company had even announced them.
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The deluge of notable stories has surpassed by ability to keep up, so once again, I am forced to simply list the highlights…
• Will Google buy the New York Times? Despite the fact that the Sulzbergers have indicated they are not interested in selling, I would say the odds are getting better and better every [...]
Chicago and the Tribune Co. have won the 2008 D.I.D. (Daily Insolvency Derby) by a nose, narrowly beating out Minneapolis and the Star Tribune. It was a close race all year long, with many lead changes. As of last Friday, it looked like Minneapolis had it won with a seemingly insurmountable lead heading down the [...]
As exciting as any horse race you’d ever see at Churchill Downs or Saratoga, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Tribune Co. are neck and neck in the much-hyped D.I.D. (Daily Insolvency Derby). The old-time Norris Division/’Black & Blue’ NFC Central rivals Chicago and Minneapolis have rounded the 4th turn and are heading down the stretch [...]