The precarious state of local news giants

Even compared to this year’s other brutal weeks for American journalism, the past seven days have been particularly turbulent. Last Wednesday, the publishing giant McClatchy reported severe liquidity problems along with its third-quarter results; its share price has since collapsed from $2.28 to $0.40. Last Thursday, shareholders voted to approve the merger of two more media giants—GateHouse and Gannett—despite stock in GateHouse’s parent, New Media Investment Group, also having cratered since the merger was announced. The deal closed yesterday; the new company is just called Gannett. Also yesterday, Alden Global Capital—a hedge fund, notorious for cost-slashing at its media properties, that itself tried to buy Gannett earlier this year—acquired a 25-percent stake in Tribune Publishing Company, becoming its biggest shareholder. To simplify, the Wall Street types who increasingly control local news are playing with all their biggest chips at once. As Nieman Lab’s Ken Doctor told CNN last night, this week marks a “major turning point” for the industry. “At a time when local news is needed more than ever, it is the bankers who are deciding what will be defined as news, and who will be employed to report it.” From archives: Politico embarrasses WSJ by publishing transcript The closure of the Gannett–GateHouse deal was the least surprising of these new developments, and is probably the most significant. Prior to their merger, the companies were, respectively, America’s first... Continue reading at 'Columbia Journalism Review'

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2019-11-20 13:10:34 UTC ]
News tagged with: #senior editor #publishing giant

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The precarious state of local news giants'


Facebook will prioritize local stories in your News Feed

You may start seeing more posts from local publishers popping up in your News Feed. Facebook announced today that it will begin prioritizing local news, bumping it up higher in your feed if you follow a local publisher's Page or if a friend shares a... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2018-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #local publisher


BuzzFeed Will Get a Taste of the Chinese Market in a Deal With a Local Media Giant

A few years ago BuzzFeed Inc. posted a picture of a cocktail dress online and asked readers what colors they saw.The photo triggered a raging debate about colors and racked up millions of views for the online publisher. But one question gnawed at BuzzFeed's bosses: how the picture went viral in... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #licensing deal #chinese market #asked readers #facebook --


Facebook Is Testing a Separate Destination for Local News in Its Mobile Apps

Facebook began testing a feature aimed at providing a destination for local news, in addition to content that can already be found on News Feed and on publishers' pages. Mobile users in six cities--Billings, Mont.; Binghamton, N.Y.; Little Rock, Ark.; New Orleans; Olympia, Wash.; and Peoria,... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2018-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #local news #mobile apps #mobile users


Local digital news publishers are ignoring display revenue

Rather than compete for dwindling display ad revenue, local digital news publishers are pursuing branded content and consumer revenue instead. The post Local digital news publishers are ignoring display revenue appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2018-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #consumer revenue


Behind The Athletic’s plans to grow local sports news subscriptions

The local sports news publisher would like to have 100,000 subscribers by year-end. The post Behind The Athletic’s plans to grow local sports news subscriptions appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2017-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


How digital upstart Charlotte Agenda makes local news profitable

The local news publisher has focused on lifestyle coverage, diversifying its revenue and making itself a destination for local brand dollars. The post How digital upstart Charlotte Agenda makes local news profitable appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2017-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Facebook Aims to Promote Better Journalism, Fight Hoaxes and Work With Local News Outlets

In a blog post on Wednesday, Facebook laid out a fairly elaborate plan to promote better media reporting and consumption. Called the Facebook Journalism Project, it includes a local news initiative, new storytelling formats and fighting hoaxes, among other items. With the current debate about... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2017-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #menlo park #local news #independent media


Mobile is still a Missing Piece for Local Indie Online News Publishers

The LION Summit for local independent online news publishers took place in Chicago on Friday and Saturday. In two days of panels, there was plenty of focus on ad-selling strategies and other revenue-generating ideas, but one thing was large ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #missing piece


Charlotte Agenda’s local news formula: fewer advertisers, deeper partnerships

Local-news publishers are able to reach people cheaper and more easily on the Web than they can through legacy media. But few have nailed the revenue side of the equation, which has been harder to crack. North Carolina’s Charlotte Agenda is trying to solve that problem by eschewing low-CPM... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #legacy media #north carolina


BlockFeed’s geotagged approach to local news

There’s no shortage of challenges for local news publishers. Not only are the scale and monetization issues still unresolved, but now local news sites also risk being edged out on tech and data by their pure-play tech counterparts. Consider BlockFeed, a news aggregation app that culls geotagged... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #local news #monetization issues #growing trove


Facebook Publishing for Local News Outlets Could Arrive ‘in the Coming Months’

When Facebook on Wednesday unveiled its new Instant Articles feature that allows news organizations to publish directly to the social media platform—and, in the process, set off an avalanche of commentary and speculation about the future of ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #coming months #news organizations #publish directly


Programmatic Advertising Is Zooming In on Local — Will News Sites Be Ready?

The new Borrell Associates projections for the growth of programmatic ad revenue in local digital publishing are, in a word, big. It’s human nature to be hopeful about what’s new, especially if the emerging numbers on recent perfo ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #programmatic advertising #news sites


Borrell on Local News: Inform, but Help Businesses Thrive

We know what at least some community news publishers think about Gordon Borrell’s recent statement that the “good content that needs to be developed is basically advertising or consumer related.”   But did the CEO o ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #local news


Local News Sites Form New Trade Association

Next month, at the annual Block by Block conference for local news sites, around 100 independent publishers will celebrate the launch of a new nonprofit trade group that will offer support for the growing hyperlocal news industry.   Local Indepe ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #trade association


Media giant News Corp. considering breakup

News Corp. is considering a breakup that would put its 20th Century Fox film studio, Fox broadcast network and Fox News Channel in one company and its newspapers and book publishing assets in another.News Corp. is contemplating what once was unthinkable — splitting its entertainment and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing operations #separate companies


News Corp cuts driven by Murdoch’s mission to prop up news assets

Weeks after Fox merger scrapped investors say market value languishing because of underperforming businesses in portfolioThe shrinking of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation by 1,250 roles after a plunge in profits of almost a third serves as a stark reminder that the billionaire mogul’s abortive... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-02-10 16:37:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #rupert murdoch #news corporation #stark reminder #media empire #fox news #news corp


Peter Gleeson leaves News Corp’s Courier-Mail and Sky News after multiple instances of plagiarism

In one case the Courier-Mail columnist and Sky News presenter filled almost half a column with the unattributed reporting of a regional ABC journalistGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe Sky News presenter and Courier-Mail columnist Peter Gleeson has left... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-11-24 07:57:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #free morning #sky news #free app #guardian australia #news corp


News Corp again scoops the pool at News Awards as Walkleys reveal nominations | Weekly Beast

Story nominated for News gong branded ‘national disgrace’ by Indigenous reporters. Plus: SMH all wrapped up in The EverestFollow our Australia news live blog for the latest updatesGet our free news app, morning email briefing or daily news podcastThere’s one thing guaranteed at the annual... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-10-14 03:11:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #latest updatesget #lachlan murdoch #gala ceremony #top stories #guardian australia #news corp


News that stays news

For Christmas 1972, I was given a present that changed the way I viewed the world. It was a folder of facsimile documents called Tutankhamun & the Discovery of the Tomb. My family didn’t manage to visit the ‘Treasures of Tutankhamun’ exhibition at the British Museum that year, so my Jackdaw... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-27 01:02:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #british museum #jonathan cape


For Vice Media, bad-boy news culture is dead, long live news

Vice Media spent 2020 putting news more at the forefront of its brand, but it still has work to do positioning itself in the digital media landscape. The post For Vice Media, bad-boy news culture is dead, long live news appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2020-12-30 05:01:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #vice media #digital media