Here's what Jim Cramer had to say about Tribune Monday evening on his "Mad Money" TV show on CNBC: "I think Sam Zell's gonna find that 34 bucks. I think he's gonna do it, because he is a man of his word. Because of that, if I were an arbitrageur, I would be in the stock. But I don't recommend that, so that's why I've been saying sell it if you're an employee." TheStreet.com
Do you still hold Tribune stock??? (end of post)
More than ten years after the Internet began stealing ad dollars and eyeballs away from the daily newspapers, newspaper-publishing companies still struggle to figure out a business model that works in the new media landscape.
John C. Dvorak offered his commentary on the jam newspaper publishers are in. MarketWatch. "As more newspapers make the mistake of eliminating reporting jobs, they fall into the pit of redundancy with nothing special to offer. There are no foreign correspondents anymore. There are hardly any stringers on the site of breaking stories any more."
Tens of thousands of journalists have lost jobs during the past decade's industry upheaval, but thousands more have survived the calamity by developing multi-platform skills that enhance their expertise and value. Many publishers – Tribune Company included – are employing the new skills and expert talent of their print reporters, editors, designers, copy editors and photographers in the development and production of original content unique only to their site.
Building a loyal online readership is taking a long time — arguably too long. But some of our employers are well on the way to figuring out a new workable business model because a) they know the old one is no longer working, b) they know change has to happen and happen NOW, and c) they're including in the decision-making processes their workers' ideas and expertise and in some cases, placing them in crucial roles that will help effectuate the transition to new media.
With the advent of the television medium, radio feared its own demise. Like radio, newspapers will survive the transition to online by not only finding its own niche, but employing the top-flight seasoned journalists who can make it all happen. (end of post)
Columbia Journalism Review's Dean Starkman doesn't care how they do it but the Chicago Cubs must win the Pennant and the Series.
The greater the Cubs’s success, therefore, the higher the price the club fetches in a sale, creating a virtuous cycle of financial success and American progress. The lower the newly private Tribune Co.’s debt, the higher its chance of success, the more likely it will continue to publish, the more reporters and editors it will employ, the more information will emanate from the Tribune, the more enlighted our polity, the wiser our leaders, and the greater the spread of the American way of life throughout the world.Tribune generated cash flow of $1.3 billion last year. When the Zell Deal is complete, the company will initially have to meet annual interest costs of $1 billion. With revenues down and continuing to slide, there won't be much wiggle room.
The new 3-year agreement will go to 190+ union members for ratification next week with full recommendation from the bargaining committee, less than a week shy of the expiration of the current contract. The agreement includes a 1.5% wage increase for all Guild-covered employees in the first year; 2% in each remaining year. Employees' healthcare contributions will increase $5 per week in the first 2 years, $10 in the final year. (end of post)
Read More......Chairman Kevin Martin met privately with Tribune's editorial board yesterday prior to the FCC public hearing in Chicago. Timothy Karr wrote on Huffington Post:
Martin reportedly told his private Tribune audience that that he wants to relieve the strain placed on newspapers by the digital marketplace for news -- a claim that has been soundly disputed by a recent Free Press study on Chicago news diversity.Read Tribune media columnist Phil Rosenthal here.
"Many of the properties that Tribune owns date back to that original cross-ownership here in Chicago," he said, referring to the company's many local holdings -- including the Chicago Tribune newspaper and TV stations WGN-AM 720 and WGN-Ch. 9 -- which were exempted from the 1975 cross-ownership ban."
– [snip, snip] –
If Martin's FCC proceeds in lifting cross-ownership, the Tribune or any other single company could own the main daily newspaper, eight radio stations, three television stations and a major cable provider in the same town.
Classified ad sales slid on sharp real estate declines. Publishing revenue slipped 6.1% to $271 million, with ad revenue declined 7.2% to $210 million. AP More details. (end of post)
Read More......The union's bargaining committee will send the deal to to the membership with a recommendation to ratify. The agreement includes annual wage increases of 3% through 2009, compensation for jobs lost to outsourcing, and health care changes including new caps on out-of-pocket medical expenses. AP
"Obviously, this contract is not everything that we wanted and the Board believes it is short of the Quality Contract that you deserve as the people who, day in and day out, create one of the most trusted and respected products in the world," said union president Steve Yount in a note to members posted on the union's website. "But the Board also believes – at this time, under these conditions — this is the best package available."
One of the many differences between a company where employees have union representation and a company where employees are without voice and vote, is in the application of periodic salary increases. WSJ journalists will ALL receive the same percentage wage increase regardless of merit. That's not to say an employee can't request and receive an increase over and above the contractual rate nor are managers prohibited from awarding an individual a merit increase in recognition of a job well done. A union contract sets the MINUMUM wage rates — not maximums — and through collective bargaining, guarantees wage increases will be applied to all employees covered by the labor agreement.
UPDATE: "This is not the best contract we could have gotten"— The New York Observer We are nothing if not a democratic union and dissenting views are common. At the end of the day, the decision to accept or reject the tentative agreement lies solely with the voting members at the Wall Street Journal. (end of post)
Those close to the transaction wonder if they might not get a better price by selling the franchise in pieces, which would complicate the sale and likely delay its completion until next year, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Estimates of the value of the team, its historic home at Wrigley Field and Tribune's 25% share of Comcast SportsNet, a regional cable TV network, have rocketed to $1 billion and beyond.(end of post) Read More......
The Cubs, after all, are among the biggest draws in the major leagues. About 3.1 million fans flooded into Wrigley last year, keeping the stadium 93% filled despite the team's poor on-field performance. The Cubs finished in last place in the National League's Central Division, although they've come back this year and held on to first place by a slim margin going into Friday night's game with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Employers that unilaterally impose policies without negotiating with the union over the potential impact such policies will have on the terms and conditions under which union-covered employees work violate federal law.
Confirmation of that came yesterday when the Northern California Media Guild announced that the National Labor Relations Board has found that MediaNews Groups ANG Newspapers' imposed policy restricting employees' use of the company email system is illegal. Businesswire.com
The NLRB panel ordered the company to rescind its illegal policy, post notices that it would cease violating the law and bargain in good faith with the Guild before imposing any more such rules.
Why is this important? Because left unchallenged, employers could impose or change rules regarding personal breaks, lunch breaks, telephone use, days off — you name it — perhaps for only one, or only a few ...
Most of our Guild employers respect the rights of their employees to have Guild representatives bargain on their behalf over any new rules. And usually, the employer and the workers come quickly to agreements that satisfy the needs of both sides. As it should be.
MarketWatch editor-in-chief David Callaway, whose first full-time job as a reporter was in 1987 for a Murdoch-owned Boston tabloid, explains in his commentary today that "as long as there are Enrons and Worldcoms out there; hedge funds and pyramid schemes; crimes and wars and corrupt leaders, there will be journalists who will find platforms to report on them — whatever the technology."
Back in 1987, it was widely assumed that newspapers were dying. The post-Watergate rush to become a reporter was over. Circulations were down. And new technologies were threatening. At one point, the hot new thing was to deliver news by fax machine, and papers were going to die because readers would be able to get news quicker by fax. They would even be able to tailor the type of news they wanted to receive. Imagine that?Callaway is a former member of The Newspaper Guild (end of post) Read More......
[snip ..snip]
.. this is not the beginning of the end for journalism. It wasn't 20 years ago either. It's a bull market for those who can write a sentence and tell a story and know how to do it across the mediums of print, Web, audio, video and mobile. The stories are there for the taking."
Finalists for the 8th Annual 2007 Online Journalism Awards include:
Though ad revenue will continue to decline through 2008, the fall in advertising revenue is cyclical and initiatives to charge for online content are paying off better than some might expect. AP
BTW: Tribune closed at $27.51. (end of post)
Plans are in the works to outsource some finance dept. work to Costa Rica, India and Chicago. The Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild (WBNG) says 11 folks in the advertising credit and collection sections of the department could be impacted. Details of the plan aren't clear because the union hasn't yet met with the company to discuss alternative options for the effected employees.
“Under our contract, people can’t be laid off because of outsourcing,” [WBNG president Bill] Salganik said. “So they might be offered buyouts, might be retrained or moved elsewhere.”We find that most employees would rather have an opportunity to remain with the company even when buyout or severance packages are offered. It isn't surprising that people would rather be offered opportunities and training in other departments of the organization these days.
Salganik said employees were informed of the move in a Wednesday letter, which did not give a specific reason for the decision. Thomas called the move “an effort to improve service to advertisers and reduce costs.” The Tribune Co. is in the midst of a private buyout, and Salganik said he was not aware of any further impending job cuts. Examiner.com
In an editorial in yesterday's The Seattle Times, FCC member Michael Copps (left), makes his case for democracy and against media consolidation that does not serve the public interest.
We have a system that has been buffeted by an endless cycle of consolidation, budget-cutting, and bureau-closing. We have witnessed the number of statehouse and city hall reporters declining decade after decade, despite an explosion in state and local lobbying. As the number of channels has multiplied, there is far less total local programming and reporting being produced. These days, if it bleeds, it leads.Note: The Seattle Times is exploring the state of American democracy and the news media in a series of editorials and essays titled 'The Democracy Papers." The series began yesterday.
[snip]
If technology and changes in the economics of the news business have made the old ways impossible, then we need to find new ways to develop a media system that can serve democracy.
Salary increases have already been allocated; the money is in the county budget. Yet California court interpreters had to take to the streets today in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, left with no choice but to strike in protest of their low wages. The 400+ interpreters have been negotiating over pay issues since May.
"Interpreters have only had two cost-of-living increases in eight years," said Silvia Barden, who heads the California Federation of Interpreters (CFI). "We're excluded from the salary step system other employees have that provides regular increases based on years of service."
The CFI, affiliated with our parent union Communications Workers of America, seeks salary standards similar to those of thousands of other court employees.
The pay disparity has caused problems with retaining qualified interpreters. "The population we serve includes the most victimized people in society and our services open the doors of justice for them to make their cases in the courts," said Barden.
Union members' decision to strike is a painful one and almost always the least popular action workers will take to get a fair contract. A strike requires careful consideration, strategic planning, unity in execution and tremendous sacrifice.
The California interpreters are absolutely united in their fight for equity and fairness. We hope they are back to work and the bargaining table very, very soon.
* UPDATE: Workers at L.A County courthouses pledge to stay out indefinitely. Widespread disruption of legal system results. LAT (end of post)
