NWS said in content-sharing talks with Gannett

Regarding a new plan to centralize digital content contracting, the well-known Gannett Blog poster known as "My Boss" says representatives of Gannett, USA Today and News Corp. have been discussing a possible combination of news, advertising and other content operations. News Corp.'s properties include The Wall Street Journal.

I have now confirmed that these talks have, indeed, been underway. I do not know their current status, however. (Updated at 3:58 p.m. ET to reflect my source's belief that these talks cover subjects beyond news content development.) Following are key portions of My Boss' post:

"This is the first step in the eventual News Corp. and Gannett/USA Today paid content agreement. There are some big implications for digital sales for newspapers and USAT. Jack Williams has been meeting with Jon Miller at News Corp. to discuss one delivery mechanism for all local content and for USAT to combine news operations within WSJ and sales within News Corp."

Some context: Any such deal with News Corp. would come amid USA Today's flagging circulation and advertising sales, which have lagged other Gannett newspapers as the U.S. economy struggles to regain its footing after the Great Recession.

Know about a reported USA Today staff meeting on Thursday? 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 paper, Newseum]

Stock | Publishers dip in broad market retreat

Major newspaper publishers's stocks are following overall stock markets lower, on renewed investor worries over E.U. debt. Recent trading in stocks I follow:

• Gannett: $14.79, down 3.3%
• New York Times Co.: $8.52, down 6.5%
• News Corp.: $15.04, down 4.8%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 277 points, or 2.7%. The S&P 500 is down 33 points, or 3%.

The broad retreat is stocks, according to The Wall Street Journal, came on mounting worries over Europe's will to address its debt woes as unions went on strike in Greece and investors fretted that trading regulations like those introduced this week in Germany could be adopted in other countries.

Top Pop | Doubtful vet, Travolta dogs, health care

[Travolta]

Most popular stories right now on the websites of:

• The New York Times: Candidate’s words on Vietnam service differ from history
• USA Today: Dogs in Travolta's family killed at airport
• The Wall Street Journal: No, you can't keep your health plan

Stock | NWS outlook dims as E.U. bank fears build

After falling 2% on Friday, NWS shares resume trading tomorrow morning as fear in the financial markets is building again -- this time over worries Europe's biggest banks face strains that will hobble European economies.

"Bourses and bank shares in Europe plunged on Friday because of these fears," The New York Times says, with Wall Street following suit.

Shares were also down in Tokyo and Australia in early trading on Monday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 2.1% to 19,732.12, MarketWatch is reporting, falling back below the psychologically important 20,000 level; the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 2.9% to 11,254.22.

Related: the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the S&P 500 Index

Times said to start charging for Web in January

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that The New York Times will begin charging for access to articles on its website in January. The Journal cites remarks that NYT Executive Editor Bill Keller made at a dinner for the Foreign Press Association this last night.

The WSJ report notes the Times unveiled a plan early this year to begin charging for access to the Web version of its flagship newspaper. "Keller's comments helped pinpoint the timing of the plan,'' the Journal says.

Urgent: In broad market rout, NWS down nearly 5%

Company shares finally closed at $16.21, down 78 cents, or 4.6%, as stock markets overall plunged on growing worries over the debt crisis in Europe. News Corp.'s performance was worse than broader stock market indexes: The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both dived 3.2%. At one point, the Dow fell by nearly 1,000. (Updated at 5:25 p.m. ET.)

Stock | NWS pummeled in broad market selloff

News Corp.'s stock recently traded for $17.56 a share, down 82 cents, or 4.5%, as broader markets dived on renewed concerns over the European Union's bailout plan for Greece. NWS's plunge is greater than other market measures: The S&P 500 Index was recently down 2.5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is off 2.2%, or 248 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite has fallen 3.2%.

Stock | NWS, other newspaper shares get creamed

News Corp.'s stock closed moments ago at $17.98, down 62 cents a share, or 3.3%, as newspaper stocks swooned during a day when markets overall fell on worries over Europe's growing debt crisis.

The news stocks were hit harder, however. Gannett closed at $17.54, down 6%. Shares in the New York Times Co. fell more than 7.3%, to $10.45. The S&P 500 Index, a broader measure of overall stock market activity, fell 2.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 213 points, or 1.9%, Google Finance says.

As battle heats up, WSJ continues circ gains on NYT

The Wall Street Journal eked out a small circulation gain during the six months ended March 31 from a year ago, an industry group report says today, as the daily racheted up its competition with The New York Times with a new section devoted to New York City.

The Journal topped this morning's Audit Bureau of Circulations list of the nation’s largest-circulation daily newspapers, trade journal Editor & Publisher is reporting. The WSJ was the only daily among the 10 largest to gain circulation in the latest six-month period, E&P says.

The third national daily, USA Today, continued to see its circulation drop, although losses moderated from the the previous six-month period.

Top three dailies
USAT remained No. 2 among the 10 largest, E&P says:

The Wall Street Journal

• March 31, 2010: 2,092,523
• March 31, 2009: 2,082,189
• Change: +0.5%

USA Today

• 1,826,622
• 2,113,725
• -13.58%

The New York Times

• 951,063
• 1,039,032
• -8.47%

Related: The industry got some good news today -- well, sort of.

In early iPad reviews, good to 'game changer'

Among those published today for Apple's new tablet -- being released Saturday -- most influential-of-all technology reviewers Walter Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal raved: "I believe this beautiful new touch-screen device from Apple has the potential to change portable computing profoundly, and to challenge the primacy of the laptop."

The iPad is priced from $499 to $829, depending on features including whether it's equipped for Wi-Fi only, or fully mobile connections via AT&T's network. Here's a roundup, plus videos, with emphasis on the iPad's potential for helping publishers.



Mossberg
He writes: I was able to try a pre-release version of The Wall Street Journal's new iPad app (which I had nothing to do with designing), and found it gorgeous and highly functional -- by far the best implementation of the newspaper I have ever seen on a screen. Unlike the Journal's Web site, or its smart-phone apps, the iPad version blends much more of the look and feel of the print paper into the electronic environment. Other newspapers and magazines have announced plans for their own, dramatically more realistic iPhone apps.

David Pogue, The New York Times
He writes: There’s an e-book reader app, but it’s not going to rescue the newspaper and book industries (sorry, media pundits). The selection is puny (60,000 titles for now). You can’t read well in direct sunlight. At 1.5 pounds, the iPad gets heavy in your hand after awhile (the Kindle is 10 ounces). And you can’t read books from the Apple bookstore on any other machine — not even a Mac or iPhone.


Edward Baig, USA Today
He writes: You can change pages on the iPad by tapping the screen: The page turns naturally, like a book. On Kindle, you have to press physical buttons and wait an instant while the page refreshes. Rotate the iPad, and you'll see two pages side by side. Newspaper and magazine layouts look vastly superior on the iPad compared with Kindle. The iPad is backlit, so you can read in the dark. You have to supply a reading light with Kindle.

Related: iPad reviews in the news

What's your gut feeling about iPad's potential to aid our industry? 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 | Paper slow-mos RNC erotic club coverage

[Picture worth 1,000 words: Voyeur's homepage tells the story]

I watched The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today as the Republican National Committee mini-scandal unfolded yesterday over a nearly $2,000 night at faux bondage club Voyeur in Los Angeles. The WSJ appeared to be the last one to post a story, and their coverage seems anemic -- especially alongside the Post's Dan Eggen. That slow-mo coverage adds fuel to the perception that the Journal's Washington Bureau is now tinged with partisan politics.

But the biggest winner's got to be the club itself: Talk about free publicity!

Related: USA Today's story, and the NYT's

USA Today circulation reveals NYC battleground

[Top 10 USAT "print markets" -- not cities -- for paper sales]

As it wields a new trade campaign in the growing rivalry among the three national dailies, USA Today's marketing kit offers a glimpse at the stakes -- especially in the New York City area. That's where The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are battling for local supremacy, with some observers fearing Journal owner Rupert Murdoch aims to put the NYT out of business.

USA Today's fight is over national advertising and readers, rather than the New York metro alone. Nonetheless, circulation figures show the paper has plenty of readers to peel away there.

USAT's publicly available data doesn't reveal the exact number of New York City area readers. Still, the paper's New York print market -- which extends well north in the state -- is the single-biggest among 25 such regions in copy sales: Nearly 152,000, Monday through Thursday, or about 8% of the total 1.8 million sold nationwide those days. (See, graphic, above.)

USA Today is using trade publications such as Advertising Age to get more advertising buyers to consider the paper. In New York City, the WSJ is aiming for some of the NYT's bread-and-butter: Big display advertisers such as Bergdorf Goodman and Bloomingdales. The Journal is set to open a New York City bureau next month, staffed with about 36 reporters, editors and other journalists. The paper also is beefing up its sports coverage of New York area professional teams.

How much are USAT ad rates?
Cost of a full-page ad, Monday through Thursday: $119,600 (black and white); $189,400 (color); Friday (when circulation is higher): $146,000 and $231,000.

Total readers, including pass-along: 3.7 million


• Male/female: 70%/30%

• Median age: 49

• College graduate+: 38%

• Professional/managerial: 25%

• Median household income: $74,949

How is USA Today's audience different than yours? 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 paper, Newseum]

Mutter: How to value your paper; plus, ABC data

Blogger Alan Mutter explains how the value of Florida's Daytona News-Journal sank by 93% in just four years -- and what that means for your newspaper. Plus, he offers a link to a handy Audit Bureau of Circulations database, where you can look up your paper's most recent circulation figures.

WSJ | Signs Tea Party coverage tilts right?

The Wall Street Journal has been described as shifting its Washington coverage toward the right. Against that backdrop, a comparison of Tea Party coverage yesterday, featuring relevant passages; the Journal's coverage lacks reference to the racial and anti-gay invective:

• WSJ: Amid chants of “kill the bill,” Republican congressmen urged the crowd to punish Democrats at the polls in November. “This weekend will, I believe, mark the end of the liberal ascendancy in Washington, D.C.,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R., Ind.).
• The New York Times: While most of the invective was directed at the health care bill itself, several House members said there was an ugly tone to comments made by some demonstrators against three black lawmakers: Representatives André Carson of Indiana, Emanuel Cleaver II of Missouri and John Lewis of Georgia, all Democrats.
• USA Today: House Minority Leader John Boehner, speaking this morning on Meet the Press, said the anti-gay and racial epithets directed at Democratic members of Congress Saturday were "reprehensible."
• The Washington Post: Members of the Congressional Black Caucus said that racial epithets were hurled at them Saturday by angry protesters who had gathered at the Capitol to protest health-care legislation, and one congressman said he was spit upon. The most high-profile openly gay congressman, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), was heckled with anti-gay chants.

By the numbers | Sizing up a top advertising rival

[His nickname: "Zuck"]

From today's Wall Street Journal story about Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's slow-mo plans to sell shares to the public. The twenty-something owns more than 25% of the giant social media company he started in a Harvard dorm room, the WSJ says. Other numbers:

2

in billions of dollars, possible 2010 revenue

3

board seats Zuckerberg controls

5

number of board members

10

in billions of dollars, Facebook's recent valuation

25

Zuckerberg's age

400

in millions, number of users

1,200

number of employees

2004

year Facebook founded

How many times a week to you visit Facebook? 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 | Bloomingdale's said in new NYC section

Bergdorf Goodman, too, according to a new Advertising Age story that says the two retailers' plans for The Wall Street Journal's new New York City section illustrate the threat that metro expansion poses for The New York Times' hometown advertising base.

"Both traditionally spend far more in the Times than in the Journal,'' the trade publication says. "Bloomingdale's, for example, spent $17.9 million in the Times last year while devoting less than $1 million to the Journal, according to estimates from Kantar Media."

Ad Age notes that the NYT "has a solid base and probably a great many loyalists that won't be easy for the Journal to poach. But it also means the Times has something to lose, while the Journal is looking at tremendous opportunity."

[Image: Bloomie's iconic brown shopping bag]

'Anonymity is no guarantee in online postings'

Excerpts from a Chicago Tribune story published today, where I was interviewed about the pitfalls of posting anonymous comments on blogs and other websites:

Write something threatening or defamatory and the mask of anonymity can be removed. It's technologically simple to track the source of a comment; the more difficult question is when it should be done. Add to the complicated stew of issues an Internet culture of free-wheeling commentary, and the results can be unpredictable.

"There are purists who think the Internet is a fundamentally different medium and that the old rules — that is, vetting letters to the editor — should not be applied to comments," says Jim Hopkins, a former reporter based in San Francisco who runs several media blogs. "I've been hit with the same criticism. If you limit these comments in any way, (critics say) you're engaging in censorship."

In a departure from past practice, I now review all comments before they get published, sometimes rejecting those that are unsuitable. How do you feel about that policy? 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 Tribune, 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%