What Are They Thinking? Apollo’s Acquisition of Digital First Media

Apollo Global Management has almost won its two-horse race with Cerberus Capital Management to acquire Digital First Media’s 75 daily newspapers and more than 100 non-dailies, or as DFM likes to put it “800 multi-platform products reach 64 million Americans each month across 14 states.” The two ...

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The Newsonomics of 50/50 and The Unchaining of the U.S. Press

Follow Newsonomics on Twitter @kdoctor   First published at Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab   Asked last week whether he was buying the Star Tribune for business or altruistic reasons, Glen Taylor said a lot in a two-word answer: “50/50.” News observers have parsed and poked at ...

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New Hollywood Sequel: Aaron Kushner’s L.A. Register

Why, I asked, Aaron Kushner, is he announcing the new L.A. Register as we’re winding down toward the end of the year? Given that the big questions about it — when will it launch, how will it be staffed — are as yet unannounced, why put the news out now? “We were ready to ...

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New Detroit Daily: Nature (and Entrepreneurs) Fills Gaps

Yes, SDNN is an online site, while the Detroit Daily News in a print product, with some secondary digital presence to come. Both, though, point to an emerging reality: The rapid shrinking of daily newspaper companies is beginning to leave vacuums in local markets and marketplaces. Entrepreneurs ...

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Yahoo and Newspapers: Playing with Fire

As Yahoo burns, the newspaper industry watches, hoping it won’t get singed. The Google/Yahoo search ad agreement has drawn lots of comments over the past couple of weeks, but its impact on newspaper consortium members has gotten little attention. The deal itself, if implemented, ...

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What’s Wrong With Tribune’s Math

So, it’s clear, that Randy Michaels knows how to draw attention. His 50/50 ad/news plan isn’t exactly revolutionary, but it’s become a lightning rod for the news industry, as it comes to grip with near-death experience. Two weeks ago, Rupert Murdoch opined that print would ...

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