Friday, August 21, 2009
News Corp. Recruiting for Its Pay-to-Play Web Gang
The owner of The Wall Street Journal tries to convince other publishers join up and charge readers for online news. Tough job! Even tougher: Creating news worth paying for.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Los Angeles Times Staff: Fake News Story “Embarrassing and Demoralizing”
I was pretty blasé about the stunt that NBC and the Los Angeles Times pulled this morning: The paper ran an ad for a TV show in the guise of a fake news story on the front page. But then again, I don’t work there. Here’s the text of a petition that started circulating around the LAT newsroom this morning. I’m told that 100 members of the paper’s staff have signed it so far.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Is the L.A. Times a Charity Case? Yes, and I’ll Take It On, Says Billionaire Eli Broad.
One frequently floated solution to the newspaper industry’s woes: Find sugar daddies who are willing to fund them via an act of charity. Now, Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad says he’s willing to do that to save his hometown daily.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Two Newspaper Properties Not for Sale: Tribune Real Estate in Chicago, Los Angeles
Marketing a million square feet of office space occupied by a struggling newspaper company is a tough sell. So what does that mean for the New York Times’s effort to wring cash out of its Times Square building?
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Mark Cuban to Sam Zell: I’d Still Like to Buy the Chicago Cubs. Just Lower Your Price, Please.
Nothing like a billionaire with a blog: Mark Cuban uses his this morning to explain that he’s still in the market for the Chicago Cubs–just not for $1 billion cash. Also, he’d like more time to raise money to buy the team. Sam Zell, are you listening?
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
One More Newspaper Gives Up the Ghost: Spanish Language Hoy New York Goes Web-Only
Here’s another newspaper that’s giving up on newsprint and going all-digital: Hoy New York, a free Spanish-language daily, published its last print edition today. The move will cost 16 employees their jobs says John Paton, CEO of Impremedia, the publisher that owns Hoy and several other Spanish-language titles, including El Diario La Prensa in New York and La Opinion in Los Angeles.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Tribune Files for Chapter 11; Who’s on the Hook?
As predicted, Sam Zell’s Tribune Co. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In the company’s initial filing, it lists assets of $7.6 billion and $12.9 billion in liabilities. Much of that debt belongs to big banks, of course–J.P. Morgan has more than $1 billion by itself. But Tribune owes lots of money to lots of media companies, too.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Tribune Co. Headed for Chapter 11?
One of the country’s biggest newspapers may be headed for bankruptcy court. Tribune Company, which owns the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and a host of other media properties, has hired the Lazard investment bank and law firm Sidley Austin to try to stave off a Chapter 11 filing. But that may not be enough: Owner Sam Zell, who took on substantial debt to buy the company for some $8 billion last year, is reportedly preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing “as soon as this week.”
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About Peter
Peter Kafka has been covering media and technology since 1997, when he joined the staff of Forbes magazine. Most recently, he has been the managing editor of the tech and media Web site, Silicon Alley Insider.
Ethics Statement
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
