Other News

Quebecor profit soars

Canadian Press
March 10th, 2010

Quebecor Inc  had a $73.8-million profit in the fourth quarter, as the Montreal-based media company benefited from growth in its telecommunications segment and productivity improvements in its news media.

Kill Shaw’s Canwest TV deal, Goldman asks court

Canadian Press
March 10th, 2010

Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs has asked an appeals court to kill the sale of Canwest Global Communications’ television assets to cable operator Shaw Communications.

‘Streamlining’ the news

Editor & Publisher
March 10th, 2010

The Daily Press of Newport News, Va., is further streamlining its copy editing and production processes and is outsourcing some of those functions to its sister paper, the Chicago Tribune. Chicago will mostly handle the layout, copy editing and some story selection for most of the paper.

Leisure reading key to online success, Google says

The Guardian
March 10th, 2010

The key to most newspapers’ survival online is engaging more with readers, rather than seeking to charge them directly, Google argues. The case was put by its chief economist, Hal Varian, yesterday at a workshop of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington on “The Future of Journalism”.

Reuters reporters take to the street

Union City
March 9th, 2010

Facing massive cutbacks and “unconscionable” slashes in compensation, Reuters reporters took to the streets at noon March 5 in downtown Washington, DC, determined to win their fight for a fair contract.

U.S. online ad spending set to exceed print

The Guardian
March 9th, 2010

Spending on digital marketing will overtake that of print for the first time in 2010, according to a new forecast. Last September it was announced that the UK was the first major economy where advertisers spent more on internet advertising than on TV advertising, with a record £1.75bn online spent in the first six months of 2009.

National Enquirer gets some respect

New York Times
March 9th, 2010

he call came into The National Enquirer’s Los Angeles tip line — the kind advertised in the supermarket tabloid with the promise “We’ll Pay Big for Your Celebrity Gossip” — in late September 2007. The message was that a woman named Rielle Hunter had been hinting at an affair with John Edwards, then a candidate for president.

Chilean newspapers short of newsprint after quake

Editor & Publisher
March 8th, 2010

he earthquake that devastated Chile last week left several newspapers unable to publish because of damage to their offices or production facilities. But now even newspapers that escaped the worst damage face another problem — a shortage of newsprint.

Today is deadline day

Winnpeg Free Press
March 5th, 2010

TODAY is the deadline for offers to purchase the assets of Canwest Limited Partnership, the Canwest unit that owns digital media and newspapers across the country, in a separate court-supervised process. The Big Five Canadian banks, which are Canwest’s senior secured lenders, have put in an initial bid of about $925 million to get the auction going. But they hope to get a higher offer of more than $1 billion so they can get their loans repaid.

Will Leonard hang on?

Globe and Mail
March 5th, 2010

Leonard Asper has resigned as chief executive officer of CanWest Global Communications Corp., but is not yet willing to let go of the company founded by his father.