Pacific Northwest Daily Connection will debut July 2

July 2 has been designated as the official launch date of the PNNA Classified Advertising Network, to be known as the Pacific Northwest Daily Connection. With 23 member newspapers already in the fold and several more in the final stages of signing the participation agreement, the network will debut with well over 2 million readers. This will be sufficient to justify a place in the association network of statewide ad sales. In the coming weeks, the PNNA ad staff will be contacting each member newspaper to finalize logistics associated with actual ad placement. Pricing of the ads will begin at $400 for a 25-word ad. As more newspapers join the network, this introductory price per ad will be adjusted upward. As the date of the November annual meeting approaches, the network should become stable and decisions on how to allocate the newfound riches can be discussed. If your newspaper is not a member of the Classified Ad Network and would like to join, please visit www.pnna.com to access all of the information on membership. You may also contact Jack Bates at jack@pnna.com for additional information.

NEWS:

Post-Intelligencer and Seattle Times reach agreement

The Seattle Times Company and the Hearst Corporation have announced a resolution to their four-year legal dispute concerning the joint operating agreement under which The Seattle Times and Hearst’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer operate. Under terms of the agreement, both newspapers will continue to publish for the foreseeable future, The Seattle Times Company is buying back the guaranteed revenue stream to Hearst if the P-I is ever closed, and Hearst is paying the Times in exchange for an agreement that the Times will not issue further loss notices until at least 2016. Other elements of the agreement, aimed at fostering a renewed constructive business relationship between the two parties, include a provision to name a senior circulation executive dedicated to monitoring P-I circulation and efforts to try to slow or arrest the circulation decline of the P-I. The settlement also calls for all current litigation and claims to be dropped and specifies that any future issues will go to binding arbitration. Seattle Times CEO and Publisher Frank Blethen said both parties agreed that the settlement is the best chance to maintain two metropolitan newspaper voices in the Seattle market.

Report: Papers in Utah see rise in circulation

The Deseret Morning News reports that although fewer people are subscribing to U.S. newspapers, circulation in Utah is up, according to a report released in May by the Newspaper Association of America. In the six months ended March 31, The Deseret Morning News saw its weekday circulation increase to 75,026, up 1.3 percent from 74,065 during the same period a year ago. Weekday circulation at The Salt Lake Tribune rose a fraction of a percentage point to 128,186, up from 127,794.

AP steps up online copyright protection

The Associated Press reports that it will intensify its efforts to protect its copyrights on the Web. Under an agreement announced in May, the AP said it would subscribe to a service developed by Attributor Corp., to track how its stories are distributed across thousands of websites and help the media gain more control over digital content. The monitoring tools eventually will be expanded so the news cooperative will be able to keep tabs on the use of its photos and videos on the Internet as well. The Redwood City, Calif.-based startup, led by former Yahoo Inc. executive Jim Brock, so far has indexed more than 13 billion Web pages, providing the AP with a potentially powerful tool for better understanding how its content is being consumed online and, ultimately, detect copyright violations, said Srinandan Kasi, the news cooperative’s general counsel. The AP doesn’t intend to take a litigious approach in its enforcement of its copyrights and instead will try to negotiate licensing agreements consistent with its mission of keeping the public informed, Kasi said.

Yahoo! and newspaper consortium 
expand strategic partnership

Yahoo! Inc and a group of 12 U.S. newspaper companies announced a definitive agreement that expands a growing partnership combining the newspapers’ unmatched local news and advertising reach with the leading technologies and audience of Yahoo!, the leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. With the addition of The McClatchy Company and four other new members since November 2006, the newspaper group now stands at 12 newspaper publishing companies. The McClatchy Company is among the latest newspaper groups to join the consortium, other new members since November 2006 include Calkins Media, Inc.; Media General, Inc.; Morris Communications Company, LLC; and Paddock Publications, Inc. Consortium members announced last November include: Belo Corp.; Cox Newspapers; The E.W. Scripps Company; Hearst Newspapers; Journal Register Company; Lee Enterprises; and MediaNews Group, Inc.

Prediction: Local advertisers will spend 
$7.5 billion online this year

Clickz.com reports that the fifth annual “What Local Media Web Sites Earn: 2007 Survey” from media research firm Borrell Associates indicates the upheaval in local media has yet to settle, particularly for newspapers. “The days of easy online money for traditional local media are over,” declares the report on online local ad revenue. Local advertisers are predicted to spend $7.5 billion on the Web this year, up over 31 percent from last year, according to the report. Newspaper sites still command most of those dollars, accounting for almost 36 percent of local online spending in 2006. Many newspaper publishers, as well as other online arms of traditional local media operations, have ended the practice of upselling online media to buyers of print, TV or radio properties. Instead, they’re building online-only sales staff. Borrell reports the number of Web-only local salespeople grew 26 percent last year; firms such as Hearst-Argyle, Gannett and Fox Interactive Media either created new interactive divisions or added new interactive sales staff. Read more on the report here.

WAN publishes new reports on 
the global newspaper industry 

Five new strategy reports on some of the most important recent developments in the newspaper industry globally – increasing digital revenue development, advertising best practices, innovative management systems, newspaper company reorganization and the power of local focus – have just been published by the World Association of Newspapers. The reports focus on how publishers can benefit from the opportunities provided by these developments. See more on WAN’s World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum including podcasts and video clips from sessions here.

Incoming Pulitzer co-chair hopes 
more small papers will earn awards

Editor & Publisher reports that the incoming Pulitzer Board co-chair Mike Pride said he would like to see more small and medium-sized newspapers involved in the annual prizes, and he said the board will be looking at ways to entice them to compete. He said this year’s change to one of the 14 journalism categories, from beat reporting to local reporting, was done in an effort to attract more smaller papers, but did not succeed. Pulitzer officials have often stressed that the awards are aimed at honoring the best journalism of the year, and if that is from larger papers, so be it. The awards have purposely avoided creating categories based on circulation. Pride said he is not advocating circulation-level prizes. But he said having only larger papers win is not necessarily a good thing.

Oregonian, Post-Intelligencer journalists awarded 
2007-08 Knight Fellowships

Twelve U.S. journalists have been awarded John S. Knight Fellowships to study at Stanford during the 2007-08 academic year. The 2007-08 program marks the 42nd year that Stanford has offered fellowships for professional journalists. The 12 U.S. fellows will join eight international fellows who were announced in March. The 2007-08 U.S. fellows included: Rick Attig, associate editor, The Oregonian: environmental, economic and political issues of climate change; Ruth Teichroeb, investigative reporter, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: social change and the role journalism plays in fostering reforms in public institutions.

Nieman Foundation 2007-08 fellows announced

Thirty U.S. and international journalists have been named to the 70th class of Nieman Fellows at Harvard University. Established in 1938, the Nieman program is the oldest mid-career fellowship for journalists in the world. The fellowships are awarded to working journalists of accomplishment and promise for an academic year of study at the university. More than 1,200 journalists from 88 countries have studied at Harvard as Nieman Fellows. Dean Miller, executive editor, The Post Register, Idaho Falls, Idaho, will study the role of faith and pluralism in American communities. Miller is the Donald W. Reynolds Nieman Fellow in Community Journalism.

Advertising Executives Conference 
to be held in Seattle

Inland Press Foundation’s Advertising Executives Conference, scheduled for June 13 – 14 in Seattle, will provide newspaper advertising managers with a “big picture view” of the evolving advertising landscape. This year’s program, “New Directions in Advertising,” addresses the impact of new media on newspaper advertising packages and revenues. Speakers share tips on how to improve ad department operations by examining financial benchmarks and dealing with new operational realities. Other sessions address interactive sales, classified growth, the expansion of special sections and niche publications, and ways to develop standards for ad rep performance. The program also includes an idea exchange on the organizational structure of the advertising department. The conference will be held at the Red Lion Hotel Seattle Airport, 18220 International Blvd., Seattle.The conference registration fee is $300 for the first registrant from an Inland member newspaper plus $275 for each subsequent registrant from the same newspaper. Non-members may participate for $425 per person. Registration for the conference can be done online and more information can be found here.

Student newspapers dying at Washington's community colleges

The Seattle Times reports that the student newspaper The Challenge at Tacoma Community College ceased print publication last year after nearly four decades, while the new online version has struggled to attract readers. The Challenge is one of several student papers across the state that recently have ceased publication or are in danger of disappearing. But the trend doesn’t appear to have spread to four-year universities; rather, it may be particular to community colleges. Instructors cite multiple factors: declining enrollments due to strong work-force hiring; a lack of commitment from administrators and students; journalism programs that are small and struggling; and increased publishing costs. Instructors say it’s a challenge to train and engage busy students who typically graduate after just two years. Read more about this trend in the full article here.

Biz Wire founder Lokey donates 
$58.4 million to University of Oregon

Larry I. Lokey, the veteran California Bay Area journalist and public relations executive who sold his Business Wire to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in 2005, has given a total of $58.4 million to the University of Oregon. Although Lokey didn’t attend the UO, he grew up in Portland and credits longtime former UO journalism dean George Turnbull with finding him his first job as a night wire editor at United Press in Portland, according to a press release from the university. Turnbull was Lokey’s professor for a year at Stanford University, where Lokey earned a degree in journalism in 1949.

Washington state student-press bill dies; 
Oregon bill awaits review

First Amendment Center Online reports that a Washington state bill to protect student press freedom failed to earn a vote before the legislative session ended on April 13, but not before similar bills appeared in legislatures across the country. Student-press bills also await action in Oregon, Illinois and Michigan. The Washington bill (H.B. 1307) would have protected student journalists in public high schools and colleges and would have made Washington the first state to offer protection for both in one bill. Introduced by Democratic Rep. Dave Upthegrove in January, the bill also offered journalism teachers protection from wrongful discipline or termination. The Student Press Law Center reports that a similar bill in Oregon, modeled after Washington state bill, was submitted and approved by the Oregon House of Representatives. The Oregon Senate voted Monday to approve the student free speech bill. The bill passed after a representative changed her vote to break the tie. The bill now goes back to the house for concurrence. The Senate version of the bill deleted language protecting student media advisers. Rep. Larry Galizio, sponsor of the bill, is optimistic that
it will end up on the governor's desk in a few weeks. Meanwhile, the governor’s office has said it will sign the bill.

Bill Gates: Reading will go completely online

This Microsoft blog at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports on a recent speech Bill Gates gave where he talked about the print to online transition and how he believes all reading will eventually be online. Bill Gates offered his take on the future of media and advertising during his address at Microsoft’s Strategic Account Summit online advertising conference in Seattle.

Commentary: What the mainstream media 
can learn from Jon Stewart

The American Journalism Review’s managing editor, Rachel Smolkin, says mainstream media can learn from Jon Stewart by being more “bold and to do a better job of cutting through the fog.” Read the full article here.

PEOPLE:

Idaho Press-Tribune appoints Weaver publisher;
Pressly moves to Bozeman Daily Chronicle

The Idaho Press-Tribune hired Rick Weaver as its new publisher to lead the newspaper starting in July. Weaver, 54, has been the publisher and president of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, in Bozeman, Mont., for the last nine years. Weaver replaces Stephanie Pressly, who served the Press-Tribune for four years. Pressly will take over Weaver’s post at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Craven named circulation director 
at Yakima Herald-Republic

The Yakima Herald-Republic has hired Ann Craven as circulation director. Craven, 38, had been at The Baltimore Sun, where she served as director of circulation operations for the past three years. The Massachusetts native has more than 15 years experience in newspaper circulation. She has served in the circulation departments of the Idaho State Journal in Pocatello and was with Maine’s Portland Press Herald.

CALL TO READERS : Send stories to the editor Kristen Lowrey.

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