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NEWS OF MEDIANEWS & THE INDUSTRY MediaNews Group: We're not on brink of bankruptcy MediaNews Group late Wednesday denied a report in an investors newsletter that it is arranging a pre-packaged bankruptcy -- or readying any change in ownership of the Denver-based publisher controlled by William Dean Singleton and Richard B. Scudder. A closer look at MediaNews Group's debt When the Rocky Mountain News was put up for sale in December (a move that prefigured its February closure), employees clinging to hopes of a last minute reversal of fortune repeatedly pointed to the debts burdening MediaNews Group, owner of the Rocky's rival, the Denver Post. Because MediaNews, chaired by Post publisher Dean Singleton, isn't a public company, however, it was mighty difficult to quantify the depth of that debt. But a new article offers some tantalizing clues. St. Paul Pioneer Press lays off in newsroom, ad sales The St. Paul Pioneer Press laid off nine newsroom employees and two more in advertising sales and production today, according to a report by the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. Pocantico signals new networked future for 'watchdog' news sites Pocantico once served as one of the Rockefellers' family estates. Stately, 45 minutes north of Manhattan, it speaks to the wealth of an earlier industrial era. The Rockefellers, of course, built their fortunes on oil, but their brethren, like the Hearsts and the Pulitzers built them on paper and ink. The kinship is palpable as we move into the era of digital publishing and renewable energy. Top 30 news sites for May -- some biggies stall Two top news sites grew monthly unique visitors the most in May: Fox News Digital Network, up 49% and the New York Daily News Online, also up 49% year-over-year, according to new data from Nielsen Online. New Detroit Daily: Nature (and entrepreneurs) fills gaps Ah, even the name is a rebuke: Detroit Daily Press. Entrepreneurs Mark and Gary Stern announced today that, within 60 days, Detroiters will once again be able to get a newspaper delivered to their door seven days a week, though it will have neither the Detroit Free Press nor Detroit News name attached to it. SPECIAL REPORT Facing pay cuts, furloughs to avoid layoffs When owners of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News asked guild members last fall to give up a $25-per-week raise, most were agreeable to the idea. Shelly Richards, a member of the Philadelphia Newspaper Guild executive board and an advertising customer services employee, says they all knew the company was in dire straits, with ad revenue and circulation plummeting. BANG-EB UNIT BULLETIN East Bay approves first contract by near unanimous vote Fifty-seven in favor, two opposed in ratification meetings Members of the Bay Area News Group-East Bay Unit of the California Media Workers Guild voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to approve their first Guild contract since organizing last June. The vote was 57 in favor, 2 opposed, in ballots cast during ratification meetings held in Walnut Creek and in Oakland. The tally did not include absentee ballots, which were too few to have affected the outcome. BARGAINING BULLETIN First contract up for member vote Tuesday Negotiators for the Bay Area News Group-East Bay Guild Unit reached a tentative agreement with company management Thursday for a new labor contract. The proposed labor agreement would be the first for the 180-member BANG-East Bay Unit, which organized in June 2008. Guild members now get to vote whether to ratify the accord. Meetings are being scheduled in Walnut Creek and Oakland for Tuesday June 2. Details will be announced soon. Singleton founded MediaNews Group in 1983 and in its 26th year, MediaNews is one of the nation's largest newspaper companies, currently publishing 61 daily newspapers and twice as many non-daily publications in 12 states. Charging for online: Salvation or suicide? The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is a rarity among large U.S. newspapers -- it's selling more weekday copies than a decade ago. In Idaho, the Post Register's circulation has remained stable, while many other print publications have lost readers to the Internet. How can this be? Pioneer Press seeks $2.4 million in givebacks The financial pain punishing Twin Cities newspapers struck deeper into the St. Paul Pioneer Press Wednesday when management met with newsroom union leaders to ask for $2.4 million in annual cuts -- or else. |
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