Newspapers Most Likely to Shut Down or Go Online Only

This video showcases the U.S. daily newspaper power rankings published each month by Scooping the News. The rankings reflect which metro dailies are currently performing the best in terms of readership stability both in print and online. One exclusive feature found on this video is a list of newspapers most likely to shut down or go online only next. Sphere: Related Content

To Beat Antitrust Rap, Papers Take Cues From Songwriters

Ailing news organizations seeking to make money from both online readers and the Web sites that republish their stories are looking at the way music publishers collect a fraction of a cent for every song played in public, from the corner bowling alley to the stage of "American Idol."

That model, a major topic of discussion at a private meeting of newspaper executives last week, raises an important question: Can newspapers band together to demand payment from Web sites that use their content?

The answer is yes, provided they are careful about the law. [Click for MORE]

Sphere: Related Content

'Zell May Be a Genius in Other Lines of Work, But He Is an Idiot in Terms of Journalism'

Sam Zell, who made his fortune in real estate, engineered a takeover of the Tribune Co. in 2007, a deal that saddled his new acquisition with about $13 billion in debt.

I could wear my underwear over my trousers and Tribune would think that’s innovation. Everybody else would think I was wacko." Michael Waller, former publisher of The Baltimore Sun

“Zell may be a genius in other lines of work, but he is an idiot in terms of journalism,” John Carroll, former editor of the Los Angeles Times, said.

Michael E. Waller, a former publisher of The Baltimore Sun, also had choice words for Tribune’s business practices.

“Tribune management confuses innovation with idiocy,” he said. “I could wear my underwear over my trousers and Tribune would think that’s innovation. Everybody else would think I was wacko.”

Waller is not optimistic about the future of some newspaper companies, especially Tribune.

“If this ownership continues its ways, it will be forced to liquidate,” he said.

But he is not willing to give up on the industry overall.

“The real truth is that about 80 percent of the daily newspapers in this country are making money, and most of the real problems are in the big city papers,” he said. “That’s not a dying industry.

“Some of the big papers are going to die because they are being mismanaged, but a lot of newspapers will be fine.” [Click for MORE] Sphere: Related Content

Los Angeles Channels 4, 5 and 11 Pool Resources

KNBC, KTLA and KTTV will begin a local news service share, Mediaweek reports. Each station will contribute photographers and assignment editors. “It’s an efficient way to help us put on a better newscast, ” said KTTV GM Kevin Hall. Not only is it efficient, but it is cost effective in these tough economic times. The arrangement will cover 7 days a week but not overnights and is set to start on June 15.

Hat tip: SoCal Media Scoop Sphere: Related Content

Not That Long Ago, the Los Angeles Times Was Raking in the Profits. What happened?

By Mark Lacter

Los Angeles magazine, June 2009

The Los Angeles Times took a while to sink so low—go back ten years, to the issue of October 10, 1999, and its ills were already beginning to show. In the world of journalism, the Sunday edition is still remembered for devoting the entire magazine to the soon-to-be-opened Staples Center—a package that turned out to be wildly controversial because the Times had agreed to share advertising revenue with the owners of the new venue. This was a serious breach of the long-established division between editorial and advertising, and it became a cause célèbre in the newsroom. “Respect and credibility for a newspaper is irreplaceable. Sometimes it can never be restored,” wrote former publisher Otis Chandler in a scathing letter directed to senior executives that was read in the Times newsroom.

But for all the attention the Staples scandal attracted, the paper’s future was telegraphed that Sunday in less obvious ways. The classified section was noticeably smaller than it had been a few years earlier, department store ads were being consolidated thanks to the mergers of several big chains (Robinsons, May Company, the Broadway), the TV magazine was getting competition from electronic listings on cable (the magazine was dropped in 2007), and the business section had page after page of stock quotes that were available from other sources two days earlier. “I can tell you, on the staff level we knew,” says Neil Kaplan, who had been a senior executive handling classified advertising and strategic planning in the late 1990s before moving on to several Internet ventures. “There came a time when we looked at each other and came to the realization that the fundamental economic structure of this industry was gone.” [Click for MORE]

Sphere: Related Content

L.A. Mayor Is Dating Local Newscaster

KTLA

Lu Parker is general assignment reporter and weekend anchor for KTLA Channel 5.

Villaraigosa has been seeing Lu Parker of KTLA Channel 5 since March. An affair with another newscaster broke up his marriage two years ago.

A Los Angeles television reporter is dating Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, about two years after his extramarital affair with another local newscaster led to the breakup of his 20-year marriage.

KTLA-TV Channel 5 reporter Lu Parker, a former Miss U.S.A., has been dating Villaraigosa since March, station officials confirmed Monday. On Sunday, while working as a weekend anchor, Parker announced a story about the likelihood of Villaraigosa running for governor in 2010. [Click for MORE]

Email Picture

Sphere: Related Content