Here's an update on David Adams

David B. Adams, a Beacon Journal reporter from 1986 until 1999, is now Assistant Director of Global Risk Advisory Services for Ernst and Young in Cleveland.

After leaving the Beacon Journal website (www.Ohio.com) as an Online Content Producer, Adams spent 2.5 years being in charge of internal and external communications for Huntington Bank's Northern Ohio Region (including more than 60 bank branches), a Northern Ohio headquarters, a processing center and a private financial group center).

In January, 2007 Adams joined Ernst & Young's Global Risk Advisory business consulting practice in their communications, markets and business development team.

“Basically,” Adams writes, “”our team helps develop consulting solutions, educates both internal and external clients about those services, which range from climate control and anti-fraud, to internal control, internal audit, business performance improvement, IT security and enterprise resource applications (such as SAP).”

The practice has more than 14,000 employees in more than 40 countries.

“I'm running marathons, doing triathlons, spending loads of time with my two wonderful kids (Molly 9, and Charlie 7), thinking about writing a book, working on a blog, and even a fun column for a specialty publication (nothing salacious, mind you!)” Adams writes. “So, while now out of journalism, it still is the backbone of almost everything I do, and still powers my passions toward such endeavors as being a board member and communications committee chairman for the Cleveland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.”

It has been a few years since my Denise

Denise Warner, daughter of Debbie VanTassel, the Plain Dealer's assistant managing editor for features, and Stuart Warner, a PD writing coach, is the young woman in this photograph, shown at work at aol.com in New York City.

Denise, a graduate of Columbia,, has been working full time at AOL in New York since June 2006

The photo is used to illustrate an article which talks about all kinds of germs lurking in the workplace. Click on the headline to see the article.

Old time viewers of this blog might just remember a post written by the blog guy way back on January 4, 2005 about three young girls who used to visit my space in the BJ newsroom. The head on that post was “23 young visitors ‘all growed up.” Denise was one of the trio. Click here to reminisce.
~liggett

Buyout or we will sell, Star-Ledger warns

By JEREMY HERRON
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) Advance Publications Inc. (which owns the Plain Dealer) will sell The
Star-Ledger of Newark unless 26 percent of staff accept buyouts by October, the company told employees in a letter Thursday.

Star-Ledger publisher George Arwady said that if 200 of the paper’s 750 full-time employees do not apply for a buyout by Oct. 1, and if the company does not get new agreements from unions representing its mailers and drivers, the New Jersey paper will be sold.

Advance will also sell sister paper The Times of Trenton unless 25 staff accept buyouts, thepaper's publisher, Richard Bilotti, said in a separate letter to staff.

It is unclear how many people work at the smaller paper in the New Jersey capital.

"Athough we have implemented a variety of plans to reduce expenses and create new sources of revenue, our financial picture continues to deteriorate. We simply have been unable to offset the
unprecedented and continuing steep decline in advertising revenue," Arwady said in the letter sent to staff.

He said the paper had already retained JPMorgan Chase to “help us plan a sale.

Advance Publications said earlier this week it will close its Newhouse News Service in Washington in November.

Advance, controlled by the Newhouse family, owns 26 daily newspapers, including The Oregonian in Portland, Ore.; The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and The Times-Picayune in New Orleans. It also owns Conde Nast Publications, the second-biggest magazine publisher in the country.

Time cover for August 4 is portrait of LeBron

It sure caught the eye of BJ sports writer George Thomas. Here's his lead today:

By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sportswriter

With athletes prepared to march into Beijing, China, for the Olympics, it's hard to miss the cover of this week's Time magazine featuring an all-serious LeBron James on the cover.

Yes, that's the cover of Time. Not Sports Illustrated. Time. Not Sporting News. Time.

That is when you know you have made an impact. The magazine chose the Cavaliers superstar as its No. 1 athlete to watch at the Olympics. That makes sense, given that I'm probably not in the minority when I say that the only sport I'll follow religiously during this Olympiad is the basketball competition.

Click on the headline to read the rest of George.

McClatchy earnings fall in second quarter

Culled from Editor & Publisher:

The McClatchy Co. reported its second-quarter net income per share fell to 24 cents from 42 cents in the year ago period, with one-time gains from unusual events unable to offset a continuing slump in ad revenue.

McClatchy's net income for the quarter included a gain on the sale of its interest in SP Newsprint Co., a gain on paying off debt, charges related to its plan to reduce employment by 10%, and the write down of certain Internet ventures, including the sale of its stake in ShopLocal.

McClatchy said revenue for the quarter fell 15.6% to $489.7 million.

Ad revenue was down 16.8% from the year-ago quarter, with online ad revenue up 12.5%. Online accounted for 11.8% of total ad revenue in the quarter, up from 8.6% for all of 2007.

McClatchy said retail ad revenue was off 7.9% for the quarter, while national declined 20.4%.

Classified ad plunged 28.1% on big declines in real estate (down 37.1%), employment (down 39%), and automotive (down 17.8%). McClatchy has been hit especially hard from the housing downturn because it publishes papers in the Florida and California where the collapse of the housing bubble was steepest.

McClatchy said ad revenue for its California papers was off 26.8%, and ad revenue for its Florida properties fell 23.2%.

Circulation revenue fell 5.2% for the quarter, McClatchy said.

Click on the headline to read the E&P story.

Ken Wrght undergoes surgery at Clinic

A message from Ken Wright intercepted:

Just thought I would update you on my condition. Had surgery Tuesday, July 15, at Cleveland Clinic. Was suppose to take 3 hours, took 6 1/2 hrs. Surgeon said because of previous radiation, some of the organs are sort of fused together and makes surgery difficult. They took out my kidney, uritor (tube that goes from kidney to bladder) and the bladder. Also took out the prostate while he was at it. The other thing they do is cut a 3 in. piece out of my small intestines, sew the back together, then use that piece to make a stoma (attach good kidney to the piece of intestine, stick it through your stomach, then sew it in place). Spent next six days in the hospital. I got home Monday afternoon. Getting along very well (everyone tells me), and I guess it's true. I have a very, very sore stomach and it hurts to get up or down, but once I'm up I can walk around pretty good. June is taking good care of me but it wears her out sometimes. I go back Tuesday 29th to see the doctor. Will get biopsy report and future treatment schedule. Won't be doing a lot for about 6 weeks.
Ken

Kudos a bit late for Knight Ridder Washington Bureau

John Walcott wins the first I.F. Stone Medal
John Walcott, Washington bureau chief of the McClatchy Co, is the first recipient of the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence. Walcott is being honored for leading his team of reporters in their probing, skeptical coverage of events during the run-up to the Iraq war at a time when most U.S. news organizations failed to question the motives and rationale for the invasion of Iraq.

Established earlier this year, the I.F Stone Medal recognizes journalistic independence and honors the life of investigative journalist I.F. Stone. The award is administered by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard and the Nieman Watchdog Project and will be presented annually to a journalist whose work captures the spirit of independence, integrity and courage that characterized I.F. Stone’s Weekly, published 1953-1971.

In 2002, Walcott, then Knight Ridder Washington, D.C., bureau chief, and two of his top reporters, Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel, produced dozens of stories that refuted the Bush administration’s claims about the need for war and exposed the serious reservations many intelligence, Foreign Service and military officers had about the rush to invade Iraq. [Click here to review some of the stories.]

The Knight Ridder chain was sold to the McClatchy Company in 2006. Walcott is now McClatchy’s Washington bureau chief; Landay and Strobel are senior correspondents.

In announcing the award, Nieman Curator Bob Giles said “This is belated recognition of the powerful work done by Walcott in directing his colleagues in developing stories that were unappreciated and almost totally unnoticed at the time. Because so many journalists fell short in their pre-Iraq war coverage, there’s a real need to recognize this dogged editor who went about his business in a resolute way to challenge many of the justifications for the war that proved to be false.” [Giles is a former Beacon Journal managing editor and executive editor.]

The 2008 I.F. Stone Medal Selection Committee was chaired by journalist and author John R. (Rick) MacArthur, president and publisher of Harper’s Magazine. The committee also included Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Roger Wilkins and award-wining journalist, novelist and author Patricia O’Brien. They made their selection from recommendations presented by anonymous nominators, all distinguished journalists.

McClatchy profit drops over 40 percent

NEW YORK, (Reuters) - Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co reported a more than 40 percent drop in quarterly profit on Thursday as advertising revenue plunged, but shares shot up 5 percent after the company said it still will be able to pay its debt.

The results, along with EW Scripps Co and Lee Enterprises Inc) which also reported financial results on Thursday, are the latest sign that a weak economy and fundamental changes in how people get their news continue to hammer U.S. newspaper publishers.

McClatchy, publisher of The Miami Herald and The Sacramento Bee, said it expected advertising and revenue to remain weak in the near future.

"We are committed to doing more if revenues decline further in the second half," Chief Executive Gary Pruitt said. "Our board will meet during the third quarter to consider dividend policies and we will look at additional cost-saving measures as necessary."

McClatchy expects to continue meeting its debt obligations, however, an issue that has been a growing concern on investors' and employees' minds as revenue falls. McClatchy had about $2.1 billion in debt on its books at the end of the quarter, much of that related to its purchase of newspaper chain Knight Ridder.

Second-quarter net income fell to $19.7 million, or 24 cents per share, from $34.5 million, or 43 cents, in the same quarter a year ago.

Memorable story: O'Connor on Phil Dietrich

There is no regular schedule. On occasion, however, you will find a memorable story, either from the past or present, reprinted on the BJ Retirees website.

It’s time again. This time the memorable column is by Bill O’Connor. It was published in the Beacon Journal on April 3, 1997 and was one of a series of columns called “O’Connor’s Side Streets.”

The column was about Phil Detrich, a legendary Beacon Journal sports writer, who was then 90 years old. As O’Connor explains, Dietrich was not so much a writer of any particular sport, but rather a chronicler of people and how well they played the game.

Dietrich died eight years later at the age of 98. His obituary by Tom Gaffney was posted on this blog on September 7, 2005.

Click on the headline to read O’Connor’s memorable story.

See the Dietrich obit by Gaffney.

The Changing Newsroom: A Pew Report

Meet the American daily newspaper of 2008.

It has fewer pages than three years ago, the paper stock is thinner, and the stories are shorter. There is less foreign and national news, less space devoted to science, the arts, features and a range of specialized subjects. Business coverage is either packaged in an increasingly thin stand-alone section or collapsed into another part of the paper. The crossword puzzle has shrunk, the TV listings and stock tables may have disappeared, but coverage of some local issues has strengthened and investigative reporting remains highly valued.

The newsroom staff producing the paper is also smaller, younger, more tech-savvy, and more oriented to serving the demands of both print and the web. The staff also is under greater pressure, has less institutional memory, less knowledge of the community, of how to gather news and the history of individual beats. There are fewer editors to catch mistakes.

Despite an image of decline, more people today in more places read the content produced in the newsrooms of American daily newspapers than at any time in years. But revenues are tumbling. The editors expect the financial picture only to worsen, and they have little confidence that they know what their papers will look like in five years.

This description is a composite. It is based on face-to-face interviews conducted at newspapers across the country and the results of a detailed survey of senior newsroom executives. In total, more than 250 newspapers participated. It is, we believe, the most systematic effort yet to examine the changing nature of the resources in American newspaper newsrooms at a critical time. It is an attempt to document and quantify cutbacks and innovations that have generally been known only anecdotally.

The study, by journalist Tyler Marshall and the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, captures an industry in the grips of two powerful, but contradictory, forces. On one hand, financial pressures sap its strength and threaten its very survival. On the other, the rise of the web boosts its competitiveness, opens up innovative new forms of journalism, builds new bridges to readers and offers enormous potential for the future. Many editors believe the industry’s future is effectively a race between these two forces. Their challenge is to find a way to monetize the rapid growth of web readership before newsroom staff cuts so weaken newspapers that their competitive advantage disappears. In recent weeks—after this survey was completed—a new round of newsroom cutbacks, made against a backdrop of steadily deteriorating advertising revenues and rising production costs, intensifies the difficulty of the challenge.

The Key Findings:

* The majority of newspapers are now suffering cutbacks in staffing, and even more in the amount of news, or newshole, they offer the public.
* Papers both large and small have reduced the space, resources and commitment devoted to a range of topics. At the top of that list, nearly two thirds of papers surveyed have cut back on foreign news, over half have trimmed national news and more than a third have reduced business coverage.
* The culture of the daily newspaper newsroom is also changing. New job demands are drawing a generation of young, versatile, tech-savvy, high-energy staff
* Newspaper websites are increasingly a source of hope but also of fear. Editors feel torn between the advantages the web offers and the energy it consumes to produce material often of limited or even questionable value. A plurality of editors (48%), for instance, say they are conflicted by the trade-offs between the speed, depth and interactivity of the web and what those benefits are costing in terms of accuracy and journalistic standards. Yet a similar plurality (43%) thinks “web technology offers the potential for greater-than-ever journalism and will be the savior of what we once thought of as newspaper newsrooms.”

Click on the headline to read this comprehensive report by

Good news from Brian Windhorst

The following note from Brian Windhorst was posted last evening on his Care Page:

"I've been coherent for about a week and read a lot of messages from this site. Those messages and postings have been very uplifting, especially during this difficult time.

I was moved from ICU the other day and have started my full-scale rehab. My doctors are very confident that I can make a full recovery in a couple months.

I look forward to speaking with many of you in the near future, getting back to covering the Cavs and returning to the business of life.

Thanks again for all your prayers, well wishes and good thoughts. It has meant a lot to me and my family."

Bob Pell remembered 'Next time'

The late Robert R. Pell, a printer at the Akron Beacon Journal for 37 years, left his mark in life with dates most all of us remember. He was born on Pearl Harbor Day in 1928 and died the day before the Fourth of July lin 2008.

Bob also is remembed as the person who took care of things. He was the regular retiree at the monthly Beacon Journal Retirees luncheons. He was the regular at the Wadsworth Eagles Lodge which named a park pavilion for him because of his service for more than 30 years as treasurer and publisher of a four-page newsletter for the lodge which he put together six times a year for eleven years.

He also is fondly remembered by Beacon Journal friends and by a nephew, D. B. Atkins of Douglasville, GA. Atkins put his memories into words you can read on the Beacon Journal Retirees website. Just click on the headline to read his story about Uncle Bob which he titled "Next time."

Everything you need to know about BJ: Part Two

This is Part Two from the booklet titled 'Everything you ever wanted to know and more about...The Beacon Journal." Part One was posted Friday. The 7.25 X 8-inch booklet was apparently printed about 1992, according to Ken Krause who noted that the circulation figures in the booklet jibed with circulation for that year. Keep that date in mind as you read this part. Another Pulitzer was added in 1994 for "A Question of Color" and much more has changed to make a rewrite of this BJ history necessary..

The History of Akron Beacon Journal Knight-Ridder, Inc.
The Knight-Ridder story is deeply based in the tradition of two dedicated and talented families.

The Knight group of newspapers began in 1903 with Charles Landon Knight's purchase of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Founded April 15, 1839 (The Summit Beacon).

Went from a weekly to daily publication, December 6, 1869.

In 1888, the paper moved into a building at the corner of Main and Mill Street.

In 1897, the Akron Journal and the Summit Beacon, which by now had changed ownership several times and had survived three fires, merged to become the Akron Beacon Journal. The first edition of the newspaper appeared on June 7, 1897.

In 1911, the Beacon Journal moved to the corner of East Market and Broadway where it continued to grow. A new modern plant was constructed on the corner of East Market and Summit Streets in 1927.
President Calvin Coolidge, in Washington, pressed a button to start the newspaper's presses on the first day of operations in the new building on October 10, 1927.

Upon c.L. Knight's death in 1933, John S. Knight succeeded as editor and publisher. He bought the Miami Herald in 1937, which was the start of a series of purchases making the Beacon Journal the flagship of one of the largest newspaper groups in daily circulation in the United States.

In 1938, he bought the Times-Press and moved the Beacon Journal operation into its plant at the corner of High and Exchange streets. This plant was expanded in 1954 with the new edition more than doubling overall space.

During the next 33 years, the Knights purchased 15 more newspapers and became a public corporation.

The Ridder group began in 1892 when Herman Ridder purchased the Staats-Zeitung, the leading German language newspaper in the U.S.

In 1926, Ridder Publications purchased The Journal of Commerce in New York and in 1927, The St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch. Subsequently, 13 papers were purchased. Ridder Publications went public in 1969.

In 1974, Knight Newspapers and Ridder Publications merged to form Knight-Ridder, Ine.

Today, the company is a worldwide communications and information company with 28 daily newspapers, cable TV operations, business services and other subsidiaries.

AWARDS Our company thrives because of its high standard of excellence.

The excellence of writing and editing has won the Beacon Journal a number of honors.

Collectively, Knight-Ridder professionals have won 57 Pulitzer Prizes, the highest honor in American Journalism.

The Beacon Journal itself has won three Pulitzer Prizes for the following:

John S. Knight won a Pulitzer Prize in 1968 for his "Editor's Notebook," a weekly column he wrote for nearly 40 years.

The Beacon Journal won another Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the Kent State University shootings on May 4,1970.

Then in 1987, another Pulitzer Prize was won for coverage of the attempted takeover of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

Our news, photo and art departments have won numerous other industry awards, including the top excellence awards in statewide competitions.

Baltimore Sun cuts 100 jobs, 55 in newsroom

The Baltimore Sun says it has eliminated about 100 jobs in its latest round of job cuts.

Union leaders said the cuts included 55 newsroom jobs.

Baltimore Sun Media Group spokeswoman Judy Berman declined today to give an exact number of eliminated jobs but said the company had met its goal for cutting the work force by about 100 with a minimum of layoffs.

Local union leader Tanika White said 43 newsroom employees accepted buyouts, two reporters agreed to voluntary layoffs and nine other news employees were laid off involuntarily. She said one manager was transferred to The Sun's community papers.

The 171-year-old newspaper had about 280 newsroom employees before the cuts. It is owned by Chicago-based Tribune Co.

Everything you need to know about BJ: Part One

Just uncovered in our pile of Beacon Journal memorabilia is this 7.25 X 8-inch booklet titled "Everything you ever wanted to know and more about...The Beacon Journal. The booklet naturally is undated. It cannot be too old because the phone listings carry the 996 exchange, the same as today. It also cannot be too recent if it is true as some say that young folks don't read newspapers today.

We are posting the first part of the information today

GENERAL INFORMATION
Our mission as a newspaper is to provide news, information and editorial opinion to our community of readers, and to offer advertising, printing and distribution services that benefit both the reader and advertiser.

The Beacon Journal serves an area located in the heart of Northeast Ohio. The primary service area includes Summit, Portage, Medina, Wayne and Stark Counties.

The Beacon Journal has almost 700 full-time and parttime employees.

There are 130 reporters, photographers, artists and editors staffing our newsroom.

We have approximately 1,350 carriers, supervised by 50 district managers.

Average Circulation:
*158,882 Daily
*227,512 Sunday

Average Paper Size: 50 Pages Daily 100 Pages Sunday

The main building has a total of 217,545 sq. ft. of space with another 55,000 sq. ft. in the Erie warehouse across Broadway.

The parking deck has five levels and covers 137,000 sq. ft. with spaces for 372 cars.

Including Erie we occupy approximately 6.5 acres.

Newsprint costs fluctuate between $300-$600 per ton and we use an average of one ton of newsprint per page. Thus, if the paper for a given day is 60 pages, it requires 60 tons of newsprint.

A roll of newsprint is approximately six miles long, or about the distance between downtown Akron and downtown Cuyahoga Falls.

* Source: ABC Publisher's Statement for six months ending March 31, 1992.

A roll of newsprint weighs approximately 1,500-2,000 pounds.

Our presses run approximately 22 miles per hour and we change the rolls of newsprint without stopping the press.

We have installed $6.2 million in new press and platemaking equipment. The new presses print with a water- based ink which has much less "rub off" than the old, oil -based presses.

Sixty-five trucks and 50 district manager automobiles are used for distribution of The Beacon Journal.

Our fleet of trucks combined put on an average 1 million miles each year.

On a typical day, we use 20-25 trucks and Sunday, we use 40-45 trucks, each making many runs.

We use 6,758,400 kwh. of electricity and 1,013,500 cu. ft. of water each year.

A good bookmark for unclassified documents

If you are interested in political documents, the Pennsylvania State University books page is a good bookmark. You need Adobe Acrobat to read the files.

http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/document.htm

The Political Documents page has been updated with the following titles:

1. U. D. Department of Justice Memo of 14 March 2003 on Torture (4 files);
2. A Review of the FBI's Involvement in and Observations of Detainee Interrogations in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq;
3. Report on Whether Public Statements Regarding Iraq by U. S. Government Officials Were Substantiated by Intelligence Information;
4. Report on Intelligence Activities Relating to Iraq Conducted by the Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group and the Office of Special Plans within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.

NOTE: These are declassified government files

Retiree Abe Zaidan writes to VOP

You should check the website once in a while. We shy away from using commentary on this blog, bujt have several spots on the website which indicate opinon is involved.

Today, for instance, there was a letter from Abe Zaidan in the BJ's Voice of the People (letters to the editor columns). We have stashed under Random Observations but you can just click on the headline above to go straight to it.

In cutting and pasting these little gems for your pleasure, we often learn interesting stuff.
For instance, did you know if you type the word "Zaidan" in the Ohio.com search box, you are asked the question, "Did you mean Satan?"

George W. Ball, Ad & PR official, dies at 86

George W. Ball, 86, passed away at home on Tuesday, July 15, 2008.

A resident of Akron since 1958, he was born November 9, 1921 in Lisbon, Ohio to the late Clarence and Ursilla. George graduated from Mount Union College in 1943 and completed his academic requirements at the Syracuse University Graduate School, School of Journalism in 1949.

A World War II veteran, he served in both Europe and Japan and was awarded the Purple Heart medal.

George worked in advertising and public relations his entire career. From 1946 to 1957 he served in various positions at Syracuse University, Mount Union College, and his own public relations business. In 1957 he joined The University of Akron as Director of University Relations and later served as Executive Director of University Relations and Development and Executive Director of University Relations and Communications. He was Assistant to the President and Secretary, Board of Trustees at the time of his retirement in 1987. His career at the university spanned its growth from a municipal institution to the third largest university in Ohio.

George was a member of numerous professional organizations including Sigma Delta Chi Public Relations Society of America, and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

He was a member of the Akron Rotary Club, the Akron Salvation Army Advisory Board and numerous other community, civic and service organizations. He was a Life member of the United Methodist Church, serving on nearly all lay committees at the First United Methodist Church of Akron, including Chairman of the Board of Trustees. George worked diligently with other church officers and committee members to rebuild the church after a fire in 1994.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 51 years, Doris; he is survived by son, Eric Ball of Copley; daughters, Cynthia Ball of Akron, Carolyn (Dion) Garner of Indiana; grandson, Patrick Garner.

A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m., Saturday at the First United Methodist Church of Akron, 263 E. Mill St., Akron with Rev. Douglas G. Meek officiating. Inurnment at Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery. Friends may call 5 to 8 p.m., Friday at the Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel, 85 N. Miller Rd., Akron 44333. If desired, memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church of Akron, the University of Akron Foundation or the Rotary Camp for Children with Special Needs. (Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel)
[Beacon Journal, Akron, OH,Thursday, July 17, 2008, page B5, col. 2]

A MUST READ: Betting on David Black

Just posted today on Seattle.com is a MUST READ story by Don Ward on Publisher David Black.

The article is headlined “Betting on David Black."

The subtitle asks the question:

Major dailies are shedding employees, hemorrhaging cash, and losing advertisers to the Web. So why is David Black swimming in ink?

Black owns 32 papers in the Puget Sound area, Most people couldn’t tell you who David Holmes Black is. “But this month, around a million households in Washington will have a Black-owned newspaper land in their front yard, or those householders will pick one up at the local 7-Eleven so they can see which local kid won the Soap Box Derby or check the classifieds for a '77 Camaro.”

Wikipedia has only a single 94-word entry on the 62-year-old Canadian publisher.

David Black admits he prefers anonymity. "We're not a publicly held company," he demurs. "There's no reason to interview me."

Situated in his office in Victoria, B.C., Black works nine-hour days, a good deal fewer than when he was younger, giving him more time to indulge his hobbies: sailing, golf, and tooling around in his old Jaguar. In person, a poker player would be stumped by Black's demeanor, because he lacks any tells. Munching on a cookie at his desk, Black downplays his past triumphs, giving the impression that it's no great accomplishment that his media empire is not only profitable but expanding while other newspaper chains are currently bleeding red ink.

"Where else are you going to get an organization where the CEO answers the phone himself?" says Manfred Tempelmayr, president of Black-owned subsidiary Sound Publishing, who has known Black for two decades.

The supposed decline of print media is not in fact an industry-wide phenomenon. Community newspapers have generally been profitable ventures for some time, and over the past decade have attracted the attention of media giants looking for publications that can positively contribute to the parent corporation's bottom line.

Click on the headline to read the full story.

Atlanta JC to cut 189 jobs, junk insert sections

As reported on Atlanta.com:..

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will cut its workforce by 8 percent, or about 189 jobs, and eliminate all of its geographically targeted news sections as part of a cost-cutting plan announced Wednesday.

The moves come amid an advertising revenue slump that has ravaged the newspaper industry and has been made worse by rising costs for fuel and newsprint, executives said.

The daily Gwinnett News section, as well as the weekly NorthSide, CityLife and NorthWest sections — all inserts in the main Journal-Constitution — will disappear starting in August, the company said.

Publisher John Mellott said the AJC will maintain news bureaus in Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb and North Fulton, adding that the daily newspaper's metro and sports sections will expand to handle coverage from those areas.

He said cost of producing the separate community sections has become "prohibitive," citing a 35 percent jump in newsprint costs over the past year. The AJC last year eliminated similar sections for news in south metro Atlanta counties, and it also has cut the daily paper's circulation area.

Mellott said the latest moves also include elimination of the standalone Better Health and Buyer's Edge sections, now produced once a week, with their content rolled into expanded Living sections on Wednesdays and Sundays, beginning in August.

Job cuts, which will occur between August and October, will mainly affect the news and advertising departments at the company, Mellott said.

They will be accomplished through voluntary buyouts, layoffs and job eliminations.

The AJC also has cut jobs in other departments. The company currently has about 2,300 full-time employees.

Despite the latest cuts, Mellott said the company's "transformation to a multi-media company is working."

Click on headline for this and related memos