Nine Questions: New England Guilds, Tribune Fallout, San Diego Vacuum and the News Industry’s Most Successful Alumnus

While the San Diego News Network (Chris Jennewein's new hangout) is hardly a commercial threat yet in San Diego, the cratering of the Union-Tribune -- a one-time employer of 1422 people that will soon be paying only 572 -- leads to this question, in San Diego and elsewhere: How big a ...

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“Fair Share”: Google, Trust, Anti-Trust….and What Happens Next

On the other hand, Google is particular has become the gateway of our times. It is the number one sender of traffic to news sites -- 25-35% as a rule. In saying that news companies are free to tell Google not to index them, and that Google will be glad to comply, you can practically hear the ...

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Coming: The Newspaper Recovery Classified Stimulus Act of 2009

It's coming in the largest stimulus package in US history. $100 billion, are you kidding? $300 billion? How about $500 or $700 billion? That stimulus, combined with other economic recovery programs, gives newspaper companies a new shot at getting some growth in 2009. We could even think of it ...

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Slaughtering the Cash Cows a Bit Too Early

One big reason the numbers are declining is the product itself. In the last year, we've seen unprecedented cuts in the product -- and the customers are noticing. It looks like the amount of newsprint is down about 10-15%; some in stories, some in ads. Trusted bylines have disappeared overnight. ...

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APT Launches. Now Let’s Track the Yahoo Bump

Open your windows, and you can almost hear a muted "Yahoo!," wafting out of the windows of many newspaper buildings across the land this week. "Yahoo!," as in the long-awaited launch of the ready-for-newspaper-integration ad platform has begun. Though I have doubts that this ...

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9 Questions on GooglyHoo: WAN, the EU, ACAP, Joe Nocera and the Consortium

You got your East Coast news. You got your West Coast news. Something about the cratering US financial system going on out there on the isle of Manhattan, sources tell me. Meanwhile, here on the Left Coast, it’s round 74 of Google and Yahoo. GooglyHoo is giving lots of people a case of ...

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9 Questions: Business News Wars, Gary Pruitt, the Yahoo Bump and the New COOL

As I train down to D.C. for the Online News Association conference (moderating a panel hopefully titled, Optimize and Monetize, tomorrow; if you’re there, say hello), the dizzying news industry news of the last week raises more questions than answers. Here’s my top nine of the ...

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WSJ Engages NYT over Luxe Bucks

Yes, the rich are different. They may disproportionately affect which national newspaper "wins," as the Wall Street Journal increasingly targets the New York Times’ readership and advertising dollars. The latest shot in the war will be launched Saturday, as the Journal debuts ...

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Nine Questions on Newspapers’ 2Q Reports

So what do we make of the first half of 2008 in DailyLand? Bad and getting worse. I’ve listened to the CEO webcasts — so you don’t have to! — and must say that there were a couple of eerie echoes of my own suggested remarks, offered a couple of weeks ago ("Candidly, ...

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Beyond 2Q Revenue Declines: AdMan’s 9 Imperatives for New Growth

Last week’s Gannett’s 2Q report was an auspicious start, with the New York Times due Wednesday and McClatchy Thursday. Start with the fact that Gannett, as both the world’s and US’s largest news company, commands about one of twenty dollars worldwide in the news trade. Add to that, the ...

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