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Newspaper Deathwatch

Monday Jun 29, 2009

Breaking: OC Register Announces 5% Paycut

ocrlogo25022.gif
Sources tell us OC Register just announced a 5% paycut company wide. We're assuming that's for all Freedom Communications papers.

We'll post more information as we get it.

Monday Jun 15, 2009

June 7, 2009- Circulation of The LA Times Sunday Edition Drops Below One Million

LAT pressman Ed Padgett writes on his blog:

My career at the Los Angeles Times began on August 3, 1972, and the Sunday circulation of our newspaper always surpassed the million mark my entire career. This unfortunately changed on Sunday June 7, 2009 when circulation eased below one million copies.

Here's a headline from the Los Angeles Times Media Center:
1961 Sunday circulation breaks the one-million mark several times during the year.

Eddy Hartenstein
was brought on board as publisher of the Los Angeles Times on August 18th, 2008 to stem the bleeding at the newspaper. Just like his three Tribune Company predecessors, the blood flow has not stopped or even slowed.

With circulation and advertising descending on a daily basis at the Los Angeles Times will our publisher resort to cutting expenses by reducing the size of the workforce to increase revenue, one more time?

On Sunday June 7th, 2009 the Los Angeles Times distributed 584,310 West edition newspapers, 404,352 East Edition newspapers, for a total distribution of 988,662 Sunday newspapers.

Tuesday Jun 09, 2009

Former Publisher On The Firing Of LA Weekly Editor

Michael Sigman was publisher of the LA Weekly from 1990-2002. It was Sigman who originally hired Laurie Ochoa in 2001, and in a piece on today's Huffington Post he reminisces about his time at the paper and questions the current ownership's judgement:

The Weekly has cut way back on editorial spending for obvious reasons -- the Internet, Craigslist, the recession -- and by most accounts Laurie has done a brilliant job keeping the paper's quality as high as possible under the circumstances.

Was "parting ways" with Laurie -- a smart, sophisticated editor who knows L.A. like the back of her hand -- a good idea, especially with no replacement in sight? (Ah, but they're advertising for a new editor on Craigslist!) No. To paraphrase Freud, sometimes a mistake is just a mistake.


Previously on FBLA:
Editor-In-Chief Laurie Ochoa Leaving LA Weekly
LA Weekly Looking for a New Editor...On Craigslist
Media Criticism Via Facebook

Friday Jun 05, 2009

"The Year the Media Died"

Of course this whole fiasco would make a truly fab less than ten minute YouTube video. Fitting.

"The old ad boys are drinking martinis dry. Singing, 'Tech has taken us for a ride.'"

Produced by L. McDuff, lyrics by Don McLean and sung by Kevin Osbourne.

Via I Want Media

Thursday Jun 04, 2009

Newspaper Ad Sales In Sharp Decline

Our sister blog MediaJobsDaily brings our attention to this disturbing chart-

q1 2009 newspaper ad sales rate.jpg

More from Reflections of a Newsosaur:

In the worst quarter in modern history for American newspapers, advertising sales fell by an unprecedented 28.3% in the first three months of 2009, plunging sales by more than $2.6 billion from the prior year.

Statistics posted without publicity on the website of the Newspaper Association of America show that print ad sales fell by a historic 29.7% to $5.9 billion in the first period of this year and that online sales fell a record 13.4% to $696.3 million.

Wednesday Jun 03, 2009

Lauren Rich Fine on Newspapers Charging for Content

Former newspaper analyst for Merrill Lynch, Lauren Rich Fine gives her take on the state of newspapers and online content.

"Twitter is like a mall that forgot to charge rent," says Fine.

Via BeetTV

Monday Jun 01, 2009

Editor-In-Chief Laurie Ochoa Leaving LA Weekly

BREAKING: Just got the lousy news that editor-in-chief Laurie Ochoa is leaving the LA Weekly. No idea if she was fired or finally just lost patience with the tomfoolery of the paper's owners. Release is below:

For Immediate Release: LA Weekly, Editor to Part Ways

The LA Weekly is announcing that Editor in Chief Laurie Ochoa and the paper are parting ways after eight years.

A former intern, contributor, and special sections editor at the LA Weekly from 1984-1988, Ochoa returned to take over the editor in chief role in 2001.

LA Weekly wishes her luck in all future endeavors.

LA Weekly is actively searching for Editor in Chief candidates who will continue LA Weekly's legacy of journalistic excellence while expanding its online presence.

Since 1978, LA Weekly has been decoding Los Angeles for its readers, infiltrating its subcultures, observing and analyzing its shifting rhythms, digging up its unreported stories and confronting the city's political leaders. LA Weekly has won more awards from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies than any other paper in the country, and in 2007 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for criticism by food writer Jonathan Gold.

Friday May 29, 2009

Turning Empty News Boxes Into Flower Beds

A street artist named Posterchild has recently taken to turning unused newspaper boxes in Toronto into planters for flowers. He's planted five guerrilla gardens so far, which he chronicles on his blog Blade Diary. Maybe we could start something similar in Los Angeles. We've certainly got the real estate.


2009-05-25-F_3.jpg

2009-05-28-C.jpg


continued...

Wednesday May 27, 2009

Of Course LAT Would Have to Cover 'Embitterment Disorder'

bitter-beer-face.jpgThe whole idea of the newspaper industry covering the story about psychiatrists discussing re-classifying bitterness as a mental illness is our happy thought of the day.

LAT's Shari Roan's piece includes the sentence:

Revenge is not a treatment.

Pshaw.

Embittered people are typically good people who have worked hard at something important, such as a job, relationship or activity, Linden says. When something unexpectedly awful happens -- they don't get the promotion, their spouse files for divorce or they fail to make the Olympic team -- a profound sense of injustice overtakes them. Instead of dealing with the loss with the help of family and friends, they cannot let go of the feeling of being victimized. Almost immediately after the traumatic event, they become angry, pessimistic, aggressive, hopeless haters.

Sounds like every journo cocktail party we've 'covered' this past year.

Friday May 22, 2009

Police Union Wants Union-Tribune Editorial Writers Sacked

uniontribune33.jpgJoel Rubin at LAT's LA Now writes:

The union representing Los Angeles police officers is pressuring the owner of San Diego's main newspaper to change the paper's editorial stance on labor issues or to fire its editorial writers.

The feud is rooted in the recent purchase of the San Diego Union-Tribune by Platinum Equity, a private Beverly Hills firm.

Platinum relies on a $30-million investment from the pension fund of Los Angeles police officers and fire fighters, along with large sums from other public-employee pension systems around the state, to help fund its acquisitions of companies. As League President Paul M. Weber views it, that makes the League part owner in the flagging Tribune and League officials are none to happy with the paper's consistent position that San Diego lawmakers should cut back on salaries and benefits for public employees in order to help close gaping budget deficits.

"Since the very public employees they continually criticize are now their owners, we strongly believe that those who currently run the editorial pages should be replaced," Weber wrote in a March 26 letter to Platinum CEO Tom Gores.

It just occurred to us how weird it is that the Union-Tribune is anti-union. Just as weird if Paste falls apart.

Previously on FBLA: SD Union-Tribune Bought by Investment Firm with Tom Jones Look-a-Like CEO, Union-Tribune, Co-Winner of Worst Person in the World, 192 Jobs Cut At San Diego Union-Tribune


Previously

New Michael Connelly Novel Depicts LAT Meltdown

Huffpo Investigative Fund to be Run by WaPo Editor

Tucson Citizen: Dead or Online?

The Grey Lady Debates on How to Charge for Web Content

David Simon On The Downfall Of American Newspapers

Clay Shirky Breaks Down the Newspaper Meltdown

192 Jobs Cut At San Diego Union-Tribune

Gibbs Sez Prez Sez No Bailouts for Newspapers

Two Reporters Get Canned as They Were Covering a Baseball Game

Mega-Downsizing at Newspaper Association of America

Prof at Anneberg Said Sac Bee Outsourcing Governor Race Coverage to College Paper

Warning Of Layoffs At Los Angeles Daily News

Ben Affleck on the State of Newspapers (Spoiler Alert: It's Bad)

Zell Admits Tribune Deal A Mistake, Still A Delusional Ass

Salon Talks Newspapers Going Non-Profit

LAT Runs Story On Controversial Front Page Ad

Hostile Newsrack Takeover

Freeze On Vacation Time For Daily News Employees

Obituary For CityBeat

Saving Newspapers: The Musical

SF Chronicle Gets Plenty of Applications for Buyouts

LA CityBeat Mourned In The Blogosphere

Erica Smith is Miffed at CNN for Misquoting Her Stats

Layoffs at San Francisco Chronicle

Huffpo Announces Its Ripping Off ProPublica's Idea With A Fraction of the Money

Are You Still Employed? Then Ignore This Post

BREAKING: LA CityBeat Has Folded

Even The New York Times is Doling Out Salary Cuts

Layoffs And Paycuts At Bakersfield Californian

LAT And Chicago Tribune Foreign Desks To Merge

Newspaper Layoffs Hit 6,000 This Year - in March - Mid-March

Eric Holder Now Says He Also Is For Adjusting Antitrust Policy to Save Newspapers

Union-Tribune Finds a Buyer...A Foreign One (Hint: Canadian)

Tucson Citizen Has Two 'Interested Buyers'

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Published Final Issue Today

Pelosi Wants to Help Bay Area Newspapers Through Antitrust Laws

Kathleen Parker Agrees with FBLA

Arizona's Oldest Newspaper, Tucson Citizen to Fold

Newspaper Publisher McClatchy To Cut 1,600 Jobs

SF Chronicle May Cut Half Their Staff

The Copy Editor's Lament: The Layoff Song

What Do You Think of the 'iTunes Model' for Newspapers?

Newsday and SF Chron Will Start Charging

LAT Memo: 'We Will Have to Be More Selective About Which Stories Appear in Print'

Breakdown Of The LA Times Layoffs

SF Chronicle Up for Sale or 'Close It Altogether'

Pressmen Protest At The LA Times

LAT Memo: Sure We're Having Layoffs and Drops in Revenue - But You Guys Are Doing an Awesome and Important Job

Memo From LA Times Editor Russ Stanton

LA Times 70+ Layoffs To Come In Phases

LA Times Loses Another Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist

Yet Another Person Thinks Almost No Theater Critics in LA is Bad

It's Official: Newspaper People Don't Have Any New/Viable Ideas

LAT Finally Discovers Spot.us Calls in 'New' in A Headline and Wonders Why Print Media is Failing

Not The LA Times Takes on California Section

Time Magazine Thinks Newspapers Are In Trouble

LA Times Lays Off Printing Press Workers

Newspapers Are Not Dead...Just Laying Very Very Still

LAT Announces 300 Will Be Laid Off, Then It's Stalled Because of Chapter 11

Tahoe Daily Tribune to Only Publish 3 Days a Week

TheWrap Says It's Been a Hell Week for Print Media

Paper Cuts Hits 1000 for the Year...Already

FBLA Spots Stupidity Paradox on NBCLA

Village Voice Media Drops All Syndicated Cartoons

Unease At The LA Times

Alt-Newsweekly Deathwatch Continues...

Printed Blogs? How Are Those Not Newspapers? Or Magazines?

Marc Cooper's LA Weekly Autopsy

Village Voice Media Brass Got Pay Cut

Been There? Got the T-Shirt?

Jeff Jarvis: Stop the Press(es)!

Alternative Business Models for Newspapers...Because Uhm....We Need Some

Your Subscription Has Run Out

Ann Coulter Celebrates Opposite Day

Tribune Company Gets Approval to Pay "Vendors"

Bankrupt Round-Up

Jon Stewart Takes on the Death of Newspapers

Tribune Bankruptcy Reactions

BREAKING: Tribune Files for Bankruptcy

Fewer Local Newspapers Next Year?!

LAT's Interview with Craig Newmark of Craigslist

FBLA Exclusive Interview with David Cohn

Community Funded Reporting? Funded Reporting?!

Andy Rooney Gives a Shout Out to Newspapers

FBLA Checks in with Erica Smith

Zell Doesn't Want LAT "People" In Charge

Newsrooms In A Pinch: Limit Election Night Pizza Slices To Two Per Reporter.

Rob Tornoe: The 'Real' Beginning of the End

LA Observed: Layoffs At LA Weekly Confirmed, Daily News Layoffs Rumored

BREAKING: 110 Layoffs At The Register

Sign Of The Times: Christian Science Monitor Shifts to Weekly Print Publication

BREAKING: L.A. Times Announces 75 Editorial Job Cuts Today

BREAKING: Confusion At the Orange County Register

OC Register Layoffs Clarification

Michael Sigman Decries Newspaper, Magazine Layoffs

Russ Stanton: 'Leo and I did not agree'

Freedom Communications May Have Violated Loan Agreement

Rob Tornoe Skewers LAT

UPDATE: L.A. Times Lays Off 75 Staffers

BREAKING: LAT Expects 75 Newsroom Cuts Today

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