Star reporters protest layoffs with byline ban

Reporters at the Toronto Star withheld their bylines from the newspaper’s Wednesday edition in a show of protest against upcoming layoffs and restructuring. Where a byline should be in the paper, it simply reads Star Staff.   National Post    Previous post 

Competition Bureau OKs Bell's Astral takeover

It looks like it's one down and one to go as Bell Media gets approval from the Competition Bureau to buy Astral Media if it complies with requirements from the bureau to sell off some of  Astral's assets. Since nothing is forever, we can be sure that Bell will find this arrangement just fine and press on with getting approval from the CRTC as well. According to the Competition Bureau's ruling, media giant BCE (Bell's parent company) must divest itself from several of Astral's specialty and pay channels if the $3-billion deal is to go through. The bureau also prohibited Bell from imposing "restrictive bundling requirements on any provider seeking to carry the Movie Network or Super Ecran as part of its consent agreement with Bell."  Just incidentally, have you noticed how there are no more snarky references to Ma Bell in the media these days.

Toronto Star plans to out-source page production

The Toronto  Star will lay off 55 employees and is making plans to out-source what is known in the newspaper business as page production. This process involves the fabrication of the plates bearing the information from which the newspaper pages are printed. The layoffs come as no particular surprise with the Star, like newspapers everywhere, facing a revenue squeeze caused by the Internet revolution. Those who follow the economics of newspapers will understand that the flight of paid classified advertising to cyber platforms where it is published free, sinking subscription revenues and the many alternatives for display advertisers are threatening the very existence of large daily papers.  

Wallin, Duffy’s chased down halls by media

Hill Times 

Warren Buffett says strong local newspapers with web strategy will remain viable

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett devoted several pages of his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders to explaining why he’s been investing in newspapers lately. Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, said the company has bought 28 daily newspapers over the past 15 months for $344 million. He prefers papers to be locally oriented and likes them even better if they are monopolies, he said. “If you want to know what’s going on in your town – whether the news is about the mayor or taxes or high school football – there is no substitute for a local newspaper that is doing its job,’’ Buffett wrote in the letter released Friday. The key will be who figures out how to successfully charge online for their content, Buffett said. He cited the Wall Street Journal as having adopted a pay model early on. Among local newspapers, he said the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, published by Walter Hussman, Jr., has been successful at getting subscribers to pay for access online. “Whatever works best – and the answer is not yet clear – will be copied widely,’’ Buffett said. More