Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Dark Days for Journalists

Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor
Employees of The Monitor looking through a prototype of a weekly newsmagazine that will supplement the Web site.

The paperless newspaper now a reality


The original opening of the TV show "Lou Grant" began with a bird in a tree, the tree chopped down, the wood turned to paper, paper delivered to a publishing plant. Newspapers came off the presses, were delivered, read and then used to line a bird's cage.

That was 31 years ago. If it seemed quaintly inefficient then, it still is, only more so—last night's stories put in your hands this morning at great effort and expense, then disposed of shortly thereafter.

So the Christian Science Monitor's announcement Tuesday that it is largely abandoning print for the Internet in April—giving up daily press runs in favor of a beefed-up Web site, complemented by daily e-mail editions and a weekly print magazine—is intriguing. [Click for MORE]
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The Monitor Ends Daily Print Edition

After a century of continuous publication, The Christian Science Monitor will abandon its weekday print edition and appear online only, its publisher announced Tuesday. The cost-cutting measure makes The Monitor the first national newspaper to essentially give up on print.

The paper is currently published Monday through Friday, and will move to online only in April, although it will also introduce a Sunday magazine. John Yemma, The Monitor’s editor, said that moving to the Web only will mean it can keep its eight foreign bureaus open while still lowering costs. [Click for MORE] Sphere: Related Content

Corporate Leveraged Loans Face Shaky Future


A rash of downgrades of the underlying collateral on the loans - such as the recent downgrade of loans associated with billionaire Sam Zell's acquisition of Tribune Co. last year - can trigger a round of sell-offs as rating agencies limit the amount of low-rated debt that can make up the instrument. [Click for MORE] Sphere: Related Content

Monday, October 27, 2008

Another 75 Kicked to the Curb at the L.A. Times

Circulation at the Los Angeles Times is down another 5%, to 739,147 daily and 1,055,076 Sunday.


From: Stanton, Russ
To: yyeditall
Sent: Mon Oct 27 08:31:50 2008
Subject: Newsroom job cuts

Colleagues,

The growing economic downturn is forcing us to undergo another round of job reductions and cost cuts. I deeply regret to report that today, 75 of our friends, colleagues and capable staff members in Editorial will be told that they are losing their jobs. This is about 10% of our total staff and these cuts are comparable in scale to those made on the business side of The Times last week.

The severance terms being offered to our colleagues are similar to those offered in the other reductions we've faced this year.

I appreciate your patience, understanding and cooperation during this difficult period. Your department heads and the senior editing team, including John, Davan, Meredith and I, are available to hear your concerns and answer any questions.

Russ Stanton
Editor
Los Angeles Times


> List of L.A. Times departures Sphere: Related Content