JOUR M02 Writing and Reporting for the Media: 1/18/09

Saturday, January 24, 2009

A screen grab from store.latimes.com last Monday, the day after the Los Angeles Times ran a full-page ad urging readers to pre-order "inauguration collectibles." This page, for a set of coffee mugs, did not show images of the mugs

By Jon Regardie

Downtown News

When you think of the Los Angeles Times, what is the first thing that pops to mind? (Please, no profanity.) Is it the 38 Pulitzer Prizes its journalists have captured? Is it the 128-year history that has made it a Downtown Los Angeles institution? Is it the team-building and inspirational speeches of cuddly owner Sam Zell?

Perhaps it is any and all of the above, but last week, the Times was hoping that its readers would instead think instantly of Barack Obama holographic mouse pads. And commemorative T-shirts. And refrigerator magnets. [Click for MORE] Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Tribune Set to Name Ricketts Family as Cubs Buyer

Sam Zell and Tribune Co. are set to name the Ricketts family as the prospective buyer of the Chicago Cubs baseball team after a committee overseeing the company's bankruptcy court proceeding gave the proposed deal the green light, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The bid, led by Chicago financier Tom Ricketts, son of J. Joe Ricketts, the founder of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., is valued at nearly $900 million, according to two people involved in the bidding process.

Mr. Ricketts's main selling point was offering 50% of the purchase price in cash, with the rest financed. The other offers included more debt. [Click for MORE]

Sphere: Related Content

Tribune Co. Files With SEC So It Can Stop Filing With SEC

Tribune Co., which went private more than a year ago and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six weeks ago, said Thursday that it filed a "Form 15" document with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The filing will have the effect of "deregistering" the Chicago media company's debt securities and will release the company from its obligation to file such regulatory documents as the 10-K annual report and the 10-Q quarterly report. [Click for MORE]

> Source: Ricketts is preferred bidder for Cubs
> Many newspapers are healthy — some owners, not so much
> Whither the New York Times? Whither journalism?
> What Journalism Owes to Charles Ponzi
> Arizona State Journalism Professor Estimates Only About 800,000 Attended Obama Inauguration
> Inside the New York Times' Billionaire Bailout Sphere: Related Content

Tribune Co. Picks Favorite in Chicago Cubs Bidding

Tribune Co. executives have chosen a favorite among three bids for the Chicago Cubs and have given that recommendation to the unsecured creditors committee in the company's bankruptcy case, a source close to the situation said Wednesday.

Tribune Co. and its investment banker, JPMorgan Chase & Co., removed the names from the bids, referring to them by number. The committee will review the offers and other Tribune Co.-related business at a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday. [Click for MORE] Sphere: Related Content

2008 Total: 15,554+ Journalism Jobs Lost

Erica Smith, blogger at Paper Cuts and newspaper and multimedia designer at the St Louis Post-Dispatch, has mapped the job losses across the US newspaper industry.

Pins in the Google map are color-coded to show how many jobs lost in each instance and can be clicked for more details.

The total in the first few days of 2009 is 554 and rising, the blog says.

Depressing viewing, but the map gives a good snapshot of the state of the industry.

Sphere: Related Content

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Publisher Rethinks the Daily:
It’s Free and Printed and Has Blogs All Over

Amid the din of naysayers who insist that newspapers are on the verge of death, a new company wants to start dozens of new ones — with a twist.
The Printed Blog, a Chicago start-up, plans to reprint blog posts on regular paper, surrounded by local ads, and distribute the publications free in big cities.

The first issues of this Internet-era penny-saver will appear in Chicago and San Francisco on Tuesday. They will start as weeklies, but Joshua Karp, the founder and publisher, hopes eventually to publish free neighborhood editions of The Printed Blog twice a day in many cities around the country. [Click for MORE]

> New Media Venture Turns Bloggers Into Print Journalists

> Media Firms Team Up to Test Online-Video Ad Formats

> Russian Tycoon Buys U.K. Newspaper

> Google to End Print-Ad Sales

> Long Beach Guild members ratify contract

> Tribune’s Los Angeles Times to cut more jobs by March

> Mexican billionaire invests in NY Times Company

> NYT called potential savior a 'thief'

> The Trib as a tab -- a first-day review

> Hedge fund wins control of Chicago Sun-Times parent

> Reporters not allowed at Zell's UCLA biz school talk

> The last time the newspaper biz got this gothic was 1765