Severance Payments Denied At Tribune; Bonuses Approved

Tribune severance payments denied

A bankruptcy judge denied authorization for Tribune to make severance payments to employees laid off shortly before the bankruptcy filing but approved bonuses for other employees.

MediaNews will 'move away' from making print free on Web

MediaNews Group CEO William Dean Singleton and President Jodi Lodovic announced to employees recently a plan to provide less print content on the Web for free and differentiate Web site news from the print product.

Gannett's biggest shareholder sells nearly all shares

At the end of 2008, international insurance company AXA S.A. was the single-largest institutional holder of Gannett Co. stock with nearly 31 million shares, a 13.37% stake. Monday, it disclosed that it has sold nearly all of its holdings.

Is New York Times Co. headed to bankruptcy?

In an analysis posted on the Silicon Alley Insider blog Friday, the former star stock analyst Henry Blodget concludes The New York Times Co. is heading toward bankruptcy.

Metro to sell Seabay its U.S. papers

Swedish newspaper group Metro International SA said it agreed to sell its unprofitable U.S. papers.

No News Is Bad News in 'The Scarecrow'

Former LA Times reporter Michael Connelly chronicles the demise of newspapers in his new fast-paced murder tale "The Scarecrow."

• Excerpt: "The Scarecrow"

Denver Post now printing Fort Collins Coloradoan

The Denver Post today is printing the Fort Collins Coloradoan and the copies of USA Today that once rolled off the Coloradoan's press.

• U.K. Paper Says 'Sorry' to Readers
• S.F. Chronicle begins layoffs
• Globe publisher sees future for paper
• News Corp. papers to start charging for online content
• Union-Tribune cuts 192 positions
• NYT pub Sulzberger helps unveil, hails new Kindle

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Detroit Testing an Electronic Newspaper Reader

From Gannett Blog:

CEO Craig Dubow mentioned the Plastic Logic electronic display during Corporate's presentation Wednesday to Wall Street media stock analysts. Readers will use the Kindle-like device to access electronic editions of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, as they drop four traditional print editions in a step closer to web-only delivery.

Gannett Detroit CEO Dave Hunke has said the Detroit Media Partnership got 100 Plastic Logic displays for distribution as part of an evaluation. "The readers, which boast a display area of 8 inches by 11 inches, aren’t slated for commercial distribution until 2010," says the Newspapers and Technology trade site.

Detroit is working with Plastic Logic to develop a lease plan that would allow subscribers to rent the readers, Hunke says. The Detroit joint operating agreement partnership will use the next several months to work out prices, availability and other issues, he said. Sphere: Related Content

Detroit Papers Cease 7-Day Delivery

It's official: The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, will become the first major U.S. newspapers to cease seven-day home delivery. The news was announced by the Detroit Media Partnership, the agency controlling the interests of both the Gannett and Media News papers, at a press conference this morning in the Motor City.

The confirmation comes after several days of speculation, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, about a fundamental change in the business model for the struggling Free Press and News. The papers work together in all matters other than editorial under a Joint Operating Agreement. The change is expected to happen in the first quarter of 2009.

The highlights of the plan:

• Goodbye to every day delivery: Both papers will cease seven-day home delivery to all subscribers as they begin transitioning to more online delivery of news.

• Hello to three-day delivery: The JOA will instead focus on Thursday and Friday delivery of both papers and Sunday delivery of the Free Press only. Those days are the most lucrative for advertising and have often been considered in the newspaper world as the “money” days for both sales and circulation.

• Get it on the newsstand: The papers will offer single copy editions six days of the week; only the Free Press will publish a Sunday single copy edition.

• A new pricing model for subscriptions and a push to online: Seven days of access to an e-edition would also include the three days of home delivery. [Click for MORE]

> Detroit newspapers fewer days for home delivery; union says 9 pct. job cuts also planned

> Hunke says 'a day of reckoning coming'; In historic move, Detroit ends most home delivery

> Text of Detroit CEO Hunke's memo to employees

> Detroit News' story on the changes | Free Press' story
> Comments from Free Press editor Paul Anger
> Letter to News readers from the editor and publisher
> Doing the math on Detroit newspapers' big gamble

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