April 20, 2024
In five languages (English, Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian) and two U.S. printing, “Newsonomics: Twelve Trends That Will Shape the News You Get” is the first Ken Doctor book. Sign up here for notice of the new Newsonomics Readers.
While it still requires some deal jiu-jitsu, Tronc looks to be on the brink of being broken up. Will Wyatt’s new Donerail Group, several confidential sources tell me, has now gotten the financing in place to do a deal to buy Tronc. Donerail would purchase Tronc’s 10 daily newspaper properties, ...
Read MoreAttention. Attention! The digital cognoscenti long ago figured out that consumers of “digital” services paid not in dollars but in attention. We laughed about the monetizing of eyeballs. We joked about the devilish bargain we’d made with “the platforms,” even as some conjectured that those ...
Read MorePeople have been forecasting the “death of newspapers” for more than a decade now. They see a kettle of vultures amid the ever-darkening clouds of print advertising collapse, slowed digital advertising, and the difficulty of signing up new digital subscribers. Now the battle is heating up on ...
Read MoreCompanion piece: Newsonomics: GateHouse’s Mike Reed Talks About Rolling Up America’s News Industry GateHouse Media claims to serve 219,000 small- and medium-sized businesses in its hundreds of markets. Like most of its newspaper chain peers, GateHouse expanded its ad selling to ...
Read MoreThe news shocked long-time newspaper observers two months ago: “Tampa Bay Times to be sold to GateHouse Media in $79M deal.” Had GateHouse devoured yet another storied publisher? No: It was a FloridaPolitics.com April Fool’s prank played out to a near-incredulous audience. Mike ...
Read MoreIt might only seem that the walls are tumbling in at The Denver Post. Or it might be reality. In a stunningly quick series of events, the Post has continued to shed staff — not by firing or layoff, but by what might best be described as resigned resignation. At the same time, I’ve learned, a ...
Read MoreIs there any chance Alden Global Capital might change course? The majority owner of Digital First Media — publisher of The Mercury News, The Denver Post, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, 11 Southern California dailies, and 49 others from California to Michigan to New Jersey — has faced a rising tide ...
Read MoreTronc doesn’t do anything by the book. Even as much of the company’s turbulence looks to be clearing, new questions are emerging about who will next lead the big metro chain. Softbank and Apollo Global Management have reportedly expressed real interest in buying the company, but much more ...
Read MoreIn Los Angeles, Soon-Shiong had been expected to close his close-to-$600 million deal for the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune by now. That expectation had been set by Tronc itself and others involved in the agreement. Sources say that the deal will soon close and that it’s been ...
Read MoreMichael Ferro has left the room. Tronc announced Friday that Merrick Media, the Ferro-led, Chicago-based investment firm had sold its 25% stake in Tronc. The hometown Chicago Tribune tries to tell us more about Sargent McCormick, the buyer of Merrick’s stake. We do know of his interest in the ...
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