Media Union of BC

Jobs lost as PNG exits insert business

gary — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:19:58 +0000

The Vancouver Sun and Province are getting out of the insert business effective July 15, 2012, a move that will cost over 50 Local 2000 members their jobs.

Management informed the union about the move on Monday, saying that the insert business was on track to lose almost $1 million this year.

Only about 12 members will be eligible for relocation (severance) pay under Part E (the Mailroom Department) of our collective agreement.

PNG mailers are divided into three groups: Regulars, substitutes and day slippers. Regulars are guaranteed hours and operate the machinery that assembles the newspaper for delivery; substitutes fill in for regulars, but get the majority of their work when inserts are added to the newspapers; day slippers are called in as needed. Only the 12 regulars who will fall to the substitute “board” under the company’s plan, are eligible for relocation pay of up to one year’s pay. Even though some substitutes have over 20 years seniority, they are not eligible for severance of any sort, in these circumstance under existing contract language.

Discussions with the company are ongoing under Section 54 of the B.C. Labour Code.

Buffett snaps up 63 newspapers for $142-million

gary — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:52:58 +0000

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is making another bet on the newspaper industry, with a deal to buy the majority of Media General Inc.’s papers for $142-million in cash.

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Should journalists learn how to write code?

gary — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:06:01 +0000

This week’s debate in the software development community about whether everyone should learn to code shows that journalists aren’t the only ones who have religious wars. Developer Jeff Atwood started this one with his screed, “Please don’t learn to code,” spurred in part by “Code Year,” Codecademy’s yearlong effort to get people to learn programming.

Secrets of the CBC

gary — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:00:34 +0000

Richard Stursberg’s new book includes one particularly perceptive passage: “They would look at me as though confronted by the Great Satan himself. The stench of sulphur and charred flesh seemed to follow me everywhere. Employees looked aside when I came into view.”

The future of the newsroom

gary — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:57:19 +0000

“CUTE CATS”, robots and “numbers people” will play key roles in newsrooms in the years ahead, the Media Future conference in Dún Laoghaire heard yesterday, as journalists from Ireland and abroad discussed how their companies were adapting to the digital era.

NATO in the dock over Libya bombing

gary — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:02:00 +0000

On May 14, 2012, Human Rights Watch released an important report, Unacknowledged Deaths: Civilian Casualties in NATO’s Air Campaign in Libya. The 82-page report reveals conclusively that some of NATO’s ten thousand sorties flown over Libya resulted in the deaths of at least seventy-two civilians, including twenty-four children.

Glacier first-quarter profits up slightly on higher revenue

gary — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:48:29 +0000

Glacier Media Inc. says its first-quarter profits were up slightly as revenues rose 25 per cent compared to the year-earlier quarter. The Vancouver-based newspaper and trade information company other media company said Monday its profits grew to $2.9 million, or three cents per share, from $2.7 million, or three cents per share, during the same quarter of 2011.

FP Newspapers revenue rises, profit down

gary — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:40:48 +0000

The publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press, Brandon Sun and other Manitoba newspapers delivered higher revenue but lower profit in the first quarter. FP Newspapers Inc. says its first-quarter profit was down about 20 per cent from the same time last year.

Popular Seattle political website closes after losses

gary — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:30:51 +0000

The Seattle-based political news site PubliCola is closing, despite strong readership. As founder Josh Feit describes in a post, the site is quite popular, with “more than 400,000 monthly page views during the election season and currently more than 10,000 Facebook and Twitter followers.” But that doesn’t always equal commensurate returns. Feit writes, “We haven’t been successful as a business. Advertising revenue has been limited and inconsistent.”

Mexican candidate paid journalists for media ‘mentions’

gary — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:41:29 +0000

A Mexican presidential candidate paid thousands of pounds to journalists for “mentions” in the media. According to an article in the Mexican newspaper, Reforma, and another in the magazine, Proceso, a current presidential candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto, paid roughly £1.5m for journalistic “mentions” during his tenure as a state governor.