AJC Slims Workforce by 8%
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the latest paper to announce major cuts amid the current advertising slump. The paper will cut its workforce by 8 percent, or about 189 jobs.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the latest paper to announce major cuts amid the current advertising slump. The paper will cut its workforce by 8 percent, or about 189 jobs.
Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post and Mortimer Zuckerman’s Daily News - bitter rivals for readers in the New York area - are considering making nice and combining some business functions to save costs.
Relish, the relatively new monthly food magazine distributed in newspapers, is increasing its circulation from 12 million to 15 million beginning with its January 2009 issue.
Yet another top executive is leaving the Los Angeles Times. Publisher David Hiller announced yesterday that he is on his way out, after less than two years on the job.
Ann Marie Lipinski, editor of the Chicago Tribune, announced in a memo to staff that she is resigning her post after seven years in the position.
Ad revenue for Spanish-language media grew 3 percent in 2007 over the previous year, a healthy rise when compared to the paltry 0.6 percent that the U.S. ad industry grew overall.
As expected, the Chicago Tribune is hacking away at its newsroom staff, planning to eliminate 80 positions by the end of August. Positions in other departments will be axed, as well, writes the Chicago Tribune.
Advertisers and agency media buyers are growing increasingly pessimistic about spending in all major media, according to Advertiser Perceptions‘ Media Economy Report, a survey of media-buying executives, reports AdAge (via MarketingCharts).
Gannett Co. has acquired full ownership of retail marketing and database services provider ShopLocal LLC, the Chicago Tribune.
Marcus Brauchli, former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal who left under pressure from new management, will become the executive editor of The Washington Post beginning Sept. 8. He succeeds Leonard Downie Jr., who is stepping down after 17 years on the job.
Pro Publica, the non-profit newspaper venture that plans to sell long-form investigative pieces to magazines and newspapers, has been poaching top talent from newspapers across the country. In its latest move, it has nabbed investigative reporters Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, who won a Pulitzer in 2005, from the Los Angeles Times.
WSJ.com’s traffic soared an impressive 94 percent in June compared to the same month last year, according to the company’s internal traffic numbers.
Working at the Los Angeles Times could be seen as a health hazard. Between oft-occurring layoffs, secret changes in editorial staff and planning, too much turnover among top editorial positions in too few years, and occasional public frays between management and owners, the stress level must be unbearable. Now, after the latest round of cuts, there will be significantly fewer employees to endure the anxiety.
The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News will soon share more than the same owners, presses and website. A team of managers has been appointed to consolidate some functions, like photographers and copy desk, in a bid to cut costs.
The value of 11 newspaper groups that have traded publicly since 2005 plummeted a combined $23.7 billion in the first half of this year.
Though U.K. advertiser investment committed for 2008 is staying put, discretionary spending is becoming shorter-term, at or slightly short of budget; still, WPP’s GroupM forecasts 4 percent growth in 2008 and 3 percent in 2009 for the U.K., thanks to internet advertising, reports MarketingCharts.
Scripps’ cable television and website assets have begun trading as a separate company, following the long-awaited breakup of the media conglomerate, which was announced in October, writes the Wall Street Journal.
The Tampa Tribune is laying off 11 newsroom staffers; the newsroom will eventually shrink by 50 employees under the current cost-cutting measures.
ZenithOptimedia has downgraded its forecasts for ad spend growth in 2008 from 3.7 percent to 3.5 percent for North America and from 3.9 percent to 3.7 percent for Western Europe, citing credit-crunch worries by investors, consumers and advertisers in Western markets, reports MarketingCharts.
The Sunday Times is relaunching on July 6 with more color, a new masthead, a new font and an updated slogan, in a move designed to make the paper bolder and brighter while maintaining its authority, says Sunday Times editor John Witherow.