Dow Jones lawsuit claims 'brazen' content theft

Dow Jones & Co. says in its suit today against Briefing.com that in just one two-week period, the investment website copied a "substantial portion" of at least 100 articles, and republished more than 70 headlines within three minutes of their initial publication on Dow Jones Newswires. The complaint claims Briefing.com cut and pasted Dow Jones content and included the pirated material in its cheaper product, according to a just-moved story on The Wall Street Journal.

Related: News Corp.'s statement about the suit

A first? Dow Jones trumpets Greece exclusive

In a statement distributed early this afternoon over PRNewswire, the company brags that on March 18, "Dow Jones Newswires released exclusive news that Greece may seek financial aid from the International Monetary Fund. Following the news the euro quickly tumbled by 0.4% against the U.S. dollar, and assets as varied as the pound, the Australian and Singapore dollars and shares in Japanese exporters all declined with suggestion of a possible jolt to the stability of the entire European Monetary Union and the prospect that the euro zone might not be able to handle its first debt crisis."

The statement continues: "Nearly an hour later, rival news organization Bloomberg, as well as Greek media, picked up the Dow Jones story. Reuters was two hours behind. The Dow Jones story was discussed in a flurry of analysts' research reports in Asia and Europe."

Question: Is this a new tactic, spotlighting hot news stories via press releases?

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Dow Jones | Union reaches tentative contract

The Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, which represents about 1,700 Dow Jones & Co. workers, says it has struck a tentative, four-year agreement with management that the union is recommending be ratified. "While not the contract that any of us would have written if we could have written it alone, we're convinced this is the best deal we can get with Dow Jones right now,'' negotiators say in a note on the group's website. "Given the generally dismal condition of the news business — and the discouraging pattern of recent contract agreements across the industry — we're convinced this is a deal that must be ratified."

Dow Jones appoints new top public relations chief

As chief communications officer, the company said in a statement today, Bethany Sherman "will be responsible for all aspects of communications strategy for the global news and business information company, including public relations, media relations and internal communications." Her appointment is effective March 29.

Sherman has been senior vice president for corporate communications for the past eight years at stock exchange Nasdaq OMX Group.

Deals | Dow Jones sells indexes unit for $608M

CME Group of Chicago agreed to buy 90% of Dow Jones Indexes in a deal announced today that allows Dow Jones & Co. to retain ownership of the brand itself, Reuters says. The brand was created in 1896 by Charles Dow (left), a company founder.

Dow Jones Indexes creates and licenses indexes that investors and others use to measure the performance of markets, including stocks, bonds and real estate, Reuters says. The business offers more than 130,000 equity indices, according to its website.

Under the deal, Dow Jones will "retain a key role in the management of the Dow Jones Industrial Average,'' parent News Corp. said in a statement.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

In minor saber-rattling, limits on union signs

Amid contract talks with the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, Corporate has told Dow Jones & Co. managers to be vigilant for pro-union signs posted in unauthorized spaces.

"In past years," says a nearly 300-word memo sent Thursday, "we’ve seen IAPE encourage its members to 'show their support' by posting flyers and other union-related materials around the office. Please take note of the rules for this behavior and please make every effort to uniformly enforce our corporate policy." (Full text, below.)

Citing company policy, the directive tells managers that IAPE notices can only be placed on official bulletin boards, "and not affixed to walls, windows, doors, or other common spaces not generally used as bulletin boards."

A reader gave me a copy of the memo. "The company officials we talked to during a negotiating session said IAPE signs that were recently distributed were affixed to places they shouldn't be," the reader said. "As far as I remember, they didn't really say exactly. This was really the first week the signs were available."

Contract talks began Jan. 7 for a new agreement that would cover 1,700 Dow Jones workers in most of the company's locations, I'm told. Those employees include editorial, including at The Wall Street Journal, plus sales, information technology, technical support and printing operations.

In a Thursday note to members on its websites, the IAPE said: "Thursday, Jan. 28th, was another day at the bargaining table for IAPE and Dow Jones. No breakthroughs, but we didn't expect any today (it's still very early in the process.) We had discussions on shift differentials, telephone monitoring and premium pay — and we expect to follow up on each item at next Thursday's talks."

Memo's full text

From: Corporate Affairs
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 12:01 PM
To: Corporate Affairs
Subject: A note to managers from Corporate Affairs regarding union signage

In past years, we’ve seen IAPE encourage its members to “show their support” by posting flyers and other union-related materials around the office. Please take note of the rules for this behavior and please make every effort to uniformly enforce our corporate policy.

Our policy has always been to maintain a professional and neat working environment. IAPE notices, announcements, and signs should be confined to IAPE bulletin boards where provided, and not affixed to walls, windows, doors, or other common spaces not generally used as bulletin boards. IAPE signage should not be placed on tables in conference rooms, cafeterias, rest rooms, or other “common areas,” nor displayed on filing cabinets, office equipment, or countertops. If you see improperly posted material – whether related to the union, negotiations, or otherwise – please remove and discard it.

Employees are generally free, within established local guidelines, to decorate their work space with personal photographs, knick-knacks, calendars, and similar items. Employees are generally permitted to display union-related signs in personal work space – again subject to established office rules. (For example, a reception desk may have restrictions different from a back-office cube, and exterior cube walls are generally treated differently from interior-facing walls.) We want our office space to be inviting to business guests, and therefore we don’t generally put work-related signs, notices, or other distracting material on walls, cabinets, or other places in public areas where they would be seen by visitors. The same applies to union-related signage. (Note that IAPE representatives should not place signage on chairs, work desks, computer monitors, or elsewhere in the office without the permission of the individual who occupies that particular space.) The union has been notified of this policy, which has been the same for many years.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Image: today's WSJ, Newseum]

McClatchy to stay focused on ad-supported model

McClatchy Co. isn't following The Wall Street Journal's paywall lead anytime soon. CEO Gary Pruitt says MNI is willing to experiment with charging readers for online content. But the newspaper publisher, reporting fourth-quarter earnings this morning, remains focused on a business model based on advertising sales, he tells Dow Jones Newswires.

McClatchy is the first of the major publishers to report fourth-quarter results. Overall revenue fell 17% to $393 million. Advertising revenue was down 20.5%, compared with a 28.1% decline in the third. Citing continued progress in January, the company says it expects ad revenue to decline this quarter by a percentage in the low to mid-teens, according to The Associated Press.

Stock | In a bad market week, NWS fared worse

News Corp. shares fell 7% during the past five trading days, more than the 5% decline by the S&P-500 index, a widely watched barometer of broad stock market activity. Shares of major newspaper publishers I watch, with their change over the last five trading days, based on today's just-reported closing prices:

• Gannett: down 5%
• News Corp.: down 7%
• New York Times Co.: down 11%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: down 5%
• S&P-500: down 5%

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Stock | New NYT paywall doesn't rally investors

Stock markets are broadly lower in trading so far today. But major newspaper publishers are suffering even more -- despite the New York Times Co.'s announcement that it has settled on a pay model for its flagship paper. Among stocks I follow, recent prices and change:

• Gannett: $15.83, down 3%
• News Corp.: $15.37, down 3%
• NYT Co.: $13.14, down 4%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: down 2%
• S&P-500: down 1%

Stock | Newspaper shares now in broad selloff

Updated at 4:14 p.m., with closing prices: Following a strong year-to-date rally, newspaper stocks were down sharply today, with several companies faring worse than broader stock market indexes. Companies I follow, with closing prices moments ago:

• Gannett: $16.40, down 5%
• New York Times Co.: $13.86, down 6%
• News Corp.: $15.89, down 4%

Compare that with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, off less than 1%, and the S&P 500, down 1%.

WSJ creates new 'corporate' news reporting group

In another bid to promote more cooperation between Dow Jones & Co. divisions, The Wall Street Journal said today that it's creating a new "corporate group," responsible for coverage of big companies and topics, including General Electric, IBM, Procter & Gamble, telecommunications, New York retail and fashion, and recruiting and management.

Andrew Dowell, who has been global news editor of Dow Jones Newswires, was named to lead the new group, according to a company statement. Dowell will report to Matt Murray, deputy managing editor of national news for the WSJ, and Gabriella Stern, senior editor of global news coverage for Dow Jones Newswires. His new role is effective immediately.

"We formed the New York corporate group to focus on the importance and raise the visibility of the main corporate beats that the Journal covers. This group will also help to strengthen the cooperation between Newswires and Journal reporters," said Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones & Co. and managing editor of the WSJ.

This latest move comes two days after a consolidation of top-level management duties within Dow Jones & Co.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

WSJ, Dow Newswires consolidated in single unit

In a bid to flatten the management structure, Dow Jones & Co. has merged The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires and Factiva into a single division, with a new chief at the top, the company said yesterday.

In the new structure, Todd Larsen has been named president of Dow Jones, with responsibility for commercial operations, according to a company statement. Meanwhile, Stephen Daintith has been named Dow Jones' chief operating officer, with oversight for strategic guidance; he retains his chief financial officer duties as well

Larsen had been chief operating officer of the Consumer Media Group, which includes the WSJ, Barron's and MarketWatch.

In the switch, Clare Hart has resigned as president of what had been the Enterprise Media Group, the division that comprised the Newswires, Factiva, Financial Information Services, and other operations.

The new structure unites Enterprise Media and Consumer Media within a single division; the company statement does not identify the new division's name, however. Remaining a standalone unit: the Local Media Group, comprising eight daily newspapers and 15 weeklies in six states.

Apparently anticipating suggestions that Hart had been pushed out, Dow Jones' CEO Les Hinton says in the statement: "This isn’t about personalities, and it’s not about costs. It's about the best way to operate an information business at a time when technology provides new tools for delivering news and new opportunities for keeping businesses and individuals informed."

In a story today on the move, the WSJ says: "Since News Corp. bought Dow Jones more than two years ago, it has pushed the staffs of the Journal, Dow Jones and MarketWatch to work more closely together. The business-unit merger announced Monday immediately unites the news operations fully under Robert Thomson, managing editor of the Journal and editor-in-chief of Dow Jones." Thomson had shared oversight of Dow Jones Newswires with Hart.

The combination doesn't involve any layoffs among Dow Jones’s roughly 6,000 employees, a spokesman, told The Associated Press in a story published by The New York Times.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Bulletin | News Corp. jumps 66% from a year ago, as newspaper publishers pull back from deep lows

[Roller-coaster year from 52-week low of $5.61; bigger view]

Capping a second consecutive year of tumultuous change, stocks of major newspaper publishers today staged a huge comeback from a year ago, with company shares soaring well above broader stock-market averages.

News Corp.'s stock rose 66%, ranking it No. 6 among companies I follow, according to preliminary closing figures moments ago. Shares finished the year at $15.92 -- a huge turnabout from their 52-week low of $5.61. The rankings:

• Lee: up 746%
• McClatchy: up 343%
• E.W. Scripps: up 215%
• Gannett: up 86%
• New York Times Co.: up 69%
• News Corp.: up 66%
• Washington Post. Co.: up 13%

For comparison, here's the performance of major stock-market indexes:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: up 19%
• S&P-500: up 23%
• Nasdaq: up 44%

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

[Source: Google Finance]

Murdoch: 'No regrets' on Dow Jones purchase

Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council, CEO Rupert Murdoch told attendees: “I have no regrets about [purchasing] the Wall Street Journal, even though the accountants made me write it down by about 50%." News Corp. completed its purchase of the WSJ in 2007 before the financial crisis hit in earnest and the stock market tumbled." Watch Murdoch and big New York Times Co. investor Carlos Slim in this video.