USA Today plans to cut 130 jobs in 'radical overhaul'

The United States second largest newspaper is planning a 'radical' overhaul in which, the Associated Press reports, about 130 jobs are expected to be cut. The newswire reports that the paper, which is owned by print giant Gannett, is planning to trim down its print division and focus more on digital endeavors.

The layoffs will result in around 9% of the company's 1500 employees. The publisher of the paper, who spoked with AP, said that he was not aware as to where the layoffs will occur.

USA Today is just one of many major US newspapers which have been dramatically altered financially in the last few years, as the internet and other ways of receiving news brush of the crumbs of 'old world' print media. However, the publisher of the USA Today remains positive and upbeat about its prospects.

"This is pretty radical," he said of the overhaul. "This gets us ready for our next quarter century."


"We'll focus less on print ... and more on producing content for all platforms (Web, mobile, iPad and other digital formats)," according to a slide show presented Thursday to USA Today's staff. The AP obtained copy of the presentation. [Via AP]

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New York Post displays penchant for objectivity in reporting on Obama's mosque defense

It was reported yesterday that President Obama had given his support in defense of plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York. Now, we can report that the New York Post - the finest damn tabloid on the East Coast - has yet again shown just how objective it can be in its reporting.

"Allah Right By Me", the headline reads. This is accompanied by a red box which proclaims "Obama Blesses Ground Zero Mosque".

Good thing we can trust good ol' outlets like the New York Post to keep peddling bias.

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News Corp plans a 'digital newspaper' - "We'll have young people reading newspapers"

News Corporation, the media and information behemoth governed by newspaper overlord Rupert Murdoch, is reportedly planning a 'digital newspaper' aimed at owners of tablet computers like Apple's new iPad, which is already transforming the small market that already exists for tablet-based computing.

The company, which owns such titles as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, is looking to compete directly with more liberal and upmarket titles such as the New York Times - especially as one of the company's more controversial properties, cable channel Fox News, continues to spew more embarrassingly conservative propaganda.

Murdoch seemed elated about the project in the company's recent conference call. "We'll have young people reading newspapers," the septuagenerian (near octogenarian) said. "It's a real game changer in the presentation of news."

Murdoch and his company have been at the centre of the media world's fight to have newspapers survive in the digital age. He fought a rather public battle with internet search giant Google over concerns regarding use of newspaper content in online aggregation services and has been an avid public promoter of the subscription-based web revenue model. 

Another News Corp company, News International - which owns the trashy tabloid The Sun, and the even less earnest News of the World - purchased a company which was developing its own e-reader device designed specifically for reading newspapers. 

Could this all be part of Murdoch's grand strategy?

The new digital newspaper will cater to a younger, more engaged audience. It has been said that the stories included in the publication will be shorter, 'snappier' and more suited to a digital-centric media metabolism. 

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Ol' Rupe wants White House to pay up on Wall Street Journal coverage

Rupert Murdoch's newly acquired Wall Street Journal may offer the world's greatest coverage of the banana museum industry, but nobody would think of paying $600,000 for such timely information.

That won't stop Murdoch, who has just jacked up the price his company is charging the White House to clip news from the paper, Politico reports.

It's unclear how Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation - WSJ's parent company - arrived at the figure of $600,000.

"But copyright laws," reports Politico, "would prevent the news-clipping service from widely disseminating Wall Street Journal articles without the parent company''s permission. [Politico]

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Conrad Black freed from prison on two million dollar bail

The former media mogul and newspaper proprietor - you may have heard of him, his name is Conrad Black - has been released on bail of two million dollars. Black and a number of his associates defrauded investors of around $6 million and he has been serving a 6 year sentence in a Florida prison. [NYT]

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Rupert Murdoch loves Steve Jobs as much as you do

In an interview with his noise channel, media baron Rupert Murdoch professed his profound love for Apple, Steve Jobs and the iPad. He also took time to note that the laptop is dead, and echo the belief of the tech industry on the fate of newspapers. [Via Fox News]

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News Corporation buys an e-reader manufacturer

Could this be the future of the newspaper? Rupert Murdoch has said before that the newspaper of the future will be electronic and will also update every hour or so.

Is this the first step to the realization of his vision?

Perhaps, for today News Corporation has purchased a fledgling young startup, named Skiff, that makes e-readers designed specifically for the newspaper market.
[See a Guardian article on the sale]

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Rupert Murdoch sets out to block Google

Rupert Murdoch, the powerful media mogul who claimed just over a year ago that he would block search engines like Google, who send news websites mountains of traffic every week, from indexing their content.

Murdoch, who owns the Times and the Sunday Times in London, has been looking to introduce pay-walls on all of his newspapers' websites, as the Wall Street Journal has done and the New York Times plans to this year.

The Times' website will not allow Google or other search engines to index the content, and will instead only allow them to index their home pages.

Plans include a two pound-a-week charge for users who wish to read the paper. This charge, we are told, will auto-renew, unlike a daily fee.

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New York Times to charge: who will actually pay?

When it was revealed that The New York Times would begin charging for full access to its popular news website, NYTimes.com, many people were left asking whether this was the iconic pay wall to save all newspapers that they had been waiting for, or merely another paid online news flop.

But, the editors and publishers of the Times are adamant - this one will be different.

The Times plans to charge based on a 'meter' model, according to the Wall Street Journal. Basically, a reader will have acceses to a certain number of articles for free, and will then be forced to pay for articles beyond that limit.

It's risky, but will it work?

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