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SEARCH RESULTS FOR "SINGLETON"
PRESS RELEASE
Alden tightens grip on MediaNews, Journal Register
New CEO to push digital business model
PR Newswire - 07 Sep 2011
Alden Global Capital moved Wednesday to consolidate management of its newspaper holdings, merging senior leadership of MediaNews and Journal Register Co. John Paton of Journal Register Co. will be CEO. MediaNews, known for slashing costs, owns the San Jose Mercury News, Monterey Herald and BANG-East Bay.
MEDIANEWS MONITOR
National MediaNews copy desk? Nope, says Singleton
But those who live in past have no future, he adds. Hmmm...
Media Workers Guild - 14 Feb 2011
Dean Singleton sent a message the other day. It wasn't exactly a valentine to the Guild. The executive chairman of MediaNews Group accused the Guild of issuing an "irresponsible" news release Friday revealing that he had dropped hints of a national consolidation of news production.
Consolidation seen as inevitable for Southern California's newspapers
James Rainey - The Los Angeles Times - 08 Feb 2011
Not so many years ago, it wasn't very hard to understand ownership of Southern California's newspapers. The Chandlers had the Los Angeles Times, the Hoiles family controlled the Orange County Register, the Copleys reigned at the San Diego Union-Tribune and MediaNews Group, a chain run by William Dean Singleton, owned a passel of suburban dailies.
What's ahead for MediaNews - and what's left behind
Gary Scott - decisive thoughts for precise living - 24 Jan 2011
In the best of possible worlds, the shakeup at MediaNews that left company president Jody Lodovic without a job and CEO Dean Singleton with a (severely?) diminished role would serve as an object lesson in how moral cheapness leads to downfall; a final judgment on mass consolidations and layoffs divorced from any sense of journalistic mission, ethics or service; karma for all the dedicated journalists told their dedication was a childish distraction, and for all the readers told they must accept lower and lower standards under the same brand name.
SHAKEUP AT MEDIANEWS
Singleton's loss of clout could set stage for new wave of news consolidation
Martin Langeveld - Nieman Journalism Lab - 22 Jan 2011
On the surface, this looks like a way for Dean Singleton to pursue his vision of consolidation, something he alluded to at the time MediaNews emerged from bankruptcy. But in reality, the shakeup robs him of nearly all his clout. So the question becomes, what will happen next?
Dean Singleton interview about stepping down as CEO of MediaNews Group
Michael Roberts - Westword - 19 Jan 2011
Dean Singleton is stepping down as CEO of MediaNews Group -- a position he's held for more than a quarter-century. But he's not retiring. He'll serve as MediaNews' executive chairman, as well as publisher for both the Denver Post and the Salt Lake Tribune.
Dean Singleton's departure marks new owners want for faster innovation
Ken Doctor - Newsonomics - 18 Jan 2011
Dean Singleton worked the deals in corners of the U.S. for decades, building from scratch a major chain, that by circulation (though, not revenue) is probably the second largest in the country. If he was once dismissed by his more patrician peers as Lean Dean, for his lower operating cost philosophy and practices, he did okay for himself, serving as chair of the Newspaper Association of America and now as chair of the Associated Press board.
CORPORATE NEWS
Singleton steps aside as MediaNews CEO
Lodovic retires as president; bankers in charge?
Media Workers Guild - 18 Jan 2011
Employees of the Bay Area News Group got word Tuesday that company CEO Dean Singleton was stepping down and President Jody Lodovic was retiring. Three positions changed on the corporate board, as well. Details were sketchy but speculation suggested that financiers were asserting more corporate control as revenues weaken and cost-cutting steps prove inadequate.
  Adam Singleton |
Dean Singleton, Denver Post publisher, looking to help son Adam Singleton learn family biz
Michael Roberts, - Westword - 26 Sep 2010
Is Dean Singleton, head of MediaNews Group and Denver Post publisher, looking for a successor, Kim Jong-Il style? Judging by a Thursday memo, he'd like to help his eighteen-year-old son, Adam, get a grounding in the news biz.
What the Christian Science Monitor can teach the Mormon Deseret News: The old church of news & stated religion
Ken Doctor - Newsonomics - 13 Sep 2010
Journalism. Values. Put those two words together, and you could have a conference snorefest or a lively debate, though I've got to admit the odds lean to the former.
Part one of an iPad series
Nine questions on the tablet and the news industry future
Ken Doctor - Newsonomics - 31 Mar 2010
The countdown clocks are winding down. The iPad is almost here. THE big question: Can news companies rise to this occasion, taking advantage of the new platform that will plainly be popular with audiences trained by the iPhone, their appetites whetted.
Singleton's MediaNews Group emerges from bankruptcy
Mark Fitzgerald - Editor & Publisher - 20 Mar 2010
MediaNews Group's holding company said Friday it is out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. On Jan. 22, the parent of The Denver Post and 53 other dailies filed a so-called prepackaged bankruptcy that had been approved in advance by its lenders.
Pioneer Press overlords emerge from bankruptcy with nice payday
David Brauer - Minnpost - 08 Mar 2010
In a blistering six weeks, Denver-based Affiliated Media -- the holding company for MediaNews Group, which owns the Pioneer Press -- has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
MediaNews Group holding company cleared to exit bankruptcy
Mark Fitzgerald - Editor & Publisher - 04 Mar 2010
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge approved Affiliated Media Inc.'s prepackaged reorganization plan Thursday, clearing the way for the MediaNews Group holding company to emerge from Chapter 11 protection.
MEDIANEWS BANKRUPTCY
Affiliated Media responds to objection, says Chapter 11 delay would hurt business
Renee McGaw - Denver Business Journal - 04 Mar 2010
Any delay in confirming the bankruptcy plan of Affiliated Media Inc. -- parent of Denver Post publisher MediaNews Group Inc. -- will hurt the company's business, its chief financial officer warned in a court filing.
Zippy the Pinhead axed -- along with 21 other Denver Post comics
Michael Roberts - Westward - 02 Mar 2010
Nothing fires up newspaper readers like changes to the comics section. That's something former Rocky Mountain News editor John Temple acknowledged in "The Funnies Aren't Funny Anymore," our 2007 state-of-the-art critique.
More objections filed in MediaNews Group parent's bankruptcy case
Renee McGaw - Denver Business Journal - 02 Mar 2010
Two more objections were filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in connection with the pre-packaged reorganization plan offered by Affiliated Media Inc., parent of Denver-based newspaper chain MediaNews Group Inc.
MediaNews Group reportedly worried its phones will be shut off
Michael Roberts - Westward - 28 Jan 2010
In its reporting about the impending bankruptcy filing by Affiliated Media, the holding company of MediaNews Group, its owner, the Denver Post left the B-word out of the headline -- and its published version of an Associated Press story about the filing left out intriguing info included by other papers, including details of MediaNews boss Dean Singleton's salary.
Next for MediaNews: Rolling up ailing dailies
Alan D. Mutter - Reflections of a Newsosaur - 26 Jan 2010
Ailing newspapers in Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul and San Francisco eventually could shrink or shut down after MediaNews Group emerges from bankruptcy. The prospect of future seismic shifts in the newspaper industry from Salt Lake City to York, PA, were signaled last week when Affiliated Media, the parent of MediaNews, filed for bankruptcy to eliminate all but $165 million of its $930 million in debt.
  Dean Singleton |
MediaNews Group bankruptcy story reads differently in Denver -- which doesn't run info about Dean Singleton's salary
Michael Roberts - Westward - 26 Jan 2010
A blog published last week noted that the Denver Post had managed to report about an impending bankruptcy filing by the holding company of its parent firm, MediaNews Group, without using the word "bankruptcy" in the headline -- a neat example of spin.
MediaNews Group makes it official: Files 'prepackaged' bankruptcy
The Associated Press - 22 Jan 2010
NEW YORK The holding company for newspaper publisher MediaNews Group filed for Chapter 11 protection Friday and expects to emerge from bankruptcy in a month or two. Affiliated Media Inc., the privately held parent company for the owner of The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News and 52 other daily newspapers, had said Jan. 15 it would be making the move. It said it had a deal with creditors that will cut its debt to $165 million from $930 million.
Pioneer Press the only MediaNews paper losing money
David Brauer - Minnpost - 21 Jan 2010
When Pioneer Press holding company Affiliated Media announced a pre-packaged bankruptcy Friday, the press release noted that of its 54 dailies and more than 100 non-dailies, "all but one of our newspapers is profitable." Turns out the unprofitable one is the Pioneer Press.
MediaNews, bankruptcy and the fog of media war
Ken Doctor - Content Bridges - 19 Jan 2010
Who will be next? And is the mating of banko companies the look of the next year? Dean Singleton bit the bitter bullet last week. After staving off bankruptcy for all of 2009, telling MediaNews execs that the company would not need to take that route, the company succumbed. MediaNews is following Morris into bankruptcy, both taking the neater, pre-packaged route, allowing quicker movement through the courts and, importantly, a continuity of leadership.
Singleton's next chapter: Can he steer MediaNews to a digital future?
Martin Langeveld - Nieman Journalism Lab - 19 Jan 2010
In August 2006, as part of a deal that netted MediaNews Group the Contra Costa Times, San Jose Mercury News, and the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Hearst Corporation agreed to make a $300 million equity investment in MediaNews. At that point, the peak of MediaNews' company's expansion and with revenue and cash flow at an all-time high, the holdings of the principal stockholders -- the Singleton and Scudder families -- net of debt, were arguably worth more than $500 million each.
Singleton, Lodovic to control MediaNews after 'prepackaged' chapter 11 filing
Editor & Publisher - 17 Jan 2010
Lenders to MediaNews Group, the nation's second-biggest chain of newspapers, will get the great majority of its equity but not control of the company when its holding company files a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy pact lets Singleton cut debt
Aldo Svaldi - The Denver Post - 16 Jan 2010
Affiliated Media Inc., the holding company for MediaNews Group, and its lenders have agreed on a plan to restructure $930 million in debt, the Denver-based company announced Friday. The agreement swaps debt for equity, retains the current management team and excludes all of the company's media properties.
MediaNews holding company to seek bankruptcy protection
Mike Spector and Shira Ovide - The Wall Street Journal - 15 Jan 2010
The holding company of MediaNews Group Inc., the publisher of dozens of newspapers including the Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News, said Friday that it plans to seek bankruptcy protection, the latest in a string of troubled newspaper companies to seek refuge from creditors amid unsustainable debt loads.
Singleton praises Pioneer Press, but cuts still loom
David Brauer - Minnpost - 22 Dec 2009
Like employees throughout Denver-based MediaNews Group, Pioneer Press staffers received a cheery end-of-year memo from CEO Dean Singleton and President Jody Lodovic. The big news: Debt-racked MNG pledges a late-winter 2010 financial restructuring.
SINGLETON MESSAGES STAFF
MediaNews nearing debt deal with banks
Singleton asks patience of employees
Media Workers Guild - 18 Dec 2009
MediaNews CEO Dean Singleton and President Jody Lodovic said Thursday that the company is close to an agreement with its banks on a debt restructuring plan. Once the plan is completed toward the end of the first quarter of 2010, they added, the company expects to have a "manageable level of debt" and will look forward to "a changing but exciting future."
Don't bet newspapers will get rich shunning Google
Michael Liedtke - The Associated Press - 01 Dec 2009
There's an intriguing idea floating around the media: Microsoft Corp. wants to undercut Google so badly in Internet search that it might pay newspapers to withhold their content from Google.
MediaNews Group, A.H. Belo following Murdoch out the door at Google?
Editor & Publisher - 25 Nov 2009
Two more newspaper chains are echoing News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch's rumblings about blocking content from Google's search index.
Anschutz, Singleton partner to sell newspaper ads in California
Denver Business Journal - 12 Nov 2009
Philip Anschutz's Clarity Media Group and William Dean Singleton's MediaNews Group Inc. -- both based in Denver -- have launched a partnership to sell newspaper ads in northern California.
MediaNews to launch partial pay walls at two newspaper sites
Joe Strup - Editor & Publisher - 03 Nov 2009
MediaNews Group plans to put up pay walls at two of its newspapers in early 2010, but with only some content requiring a fee.
News Corp. pushing to create an online news consortium
The media giant, advocating a model that would charge for news distributed online and on portable devices, has met recently with major publishers
Dawn C. Chmielewski - The Los Angels Times - 21 Aug 2009
As newspapers across the country struggle with declining readership and advertising revenue, News Corp. executives have been meeting in recent weeks with publishers about forming a consortium that would charge for news distributed online and on portable devices -- and potentially stem the rising tide of red ink.
Denver Post circulation meets Dean Singleton's goal -- for the first month
Michael Roberts - Westward - 10 Jul 2009
After the February 27 closure of the Rocky Mountain News, Dean Singleton, chairman of MediaNews Group and publisher of the Denver Post, said he wanted to retain 80 percent of Rocky subscribers.
MediaNews Group: We're not on brink of bankruptcy
Mark Fitzgerald - Editor & Publisher - 02 Jul 2009
MediaNews Group late Wednesday denied a report in an investors newsletter that it is arranging a pre-packaged bankruptcy -- or readying any change in ownership of the Denver-based publisher controlled by William Dean Singleton and Richard B. Scudder.
A closer look at MediaNews Group's debt
Michael Roberts - Westword - 01 Jul 2009
When the Rocky Mountain News was put up for sale in December (a move that prefigured its February closure), employees clinging to hopes of a last minute reversal of fortune repeatedly pointed to the debts burdening MediaNews Group, owner of the Rocky's rival, the Denver Post. Because MediaNews, chaired by Post publisher Dean Singleton, isn't a public company, however, it was mighty difficult to quantify the depth of that debt. But a new article offers some tantalizing clues.
SPECIAL REPORT
Facing pay cuts, furloughs to avoid layoffs
Joe Strupp - Editor & Publisher - 05 Jun 2009
When owners of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News asked guild members last fall to give up a $25-per-week raise, most were agreeable to the idea. Shelly Richards, a member of the Philadelphia Newspaper Guild executive board and an advertising customer services employee, says they all knew the company was in dire straits, with ad revenue and circulation plummeting.
Singleton interviewed
Jody Hope Strogoff - The Colorado Statesman - 28 May 2009
Singleton founded MediaNews Group in 1983 and in its 26th year, MediaNews is one of the nation's largest newspaper companies, currently publishing 61 daily newspapers and twice as many non-daily publications in 12 states.
  Dean Singleton |
Q&A with Dean Singleton
Michael Roberts - Westward - 19 May 2009
As the chairman of MediaNews Group, which owns more than 100 publications and media properties across the country, including the Denver Post, Dean Singleton is a divisive figure in many quarters. But like him or loathe him, he's a true believer in the daily newspaper, and his attempts to safeguard the form could have a profound impact on the medium as a whole.
MediaNews' plan to save newspapers: More separation between print and Web
David Kaplan - paidContent - 13 May 2009
In the latest new media survival plan, MediaNews Group wants to create more distance between its traditional print properties and its newspaper websites.
MediaNews will 'move away' from making print free on Web
Joe Strupp - Editor & Publisher - 12 May 2009
MediaNews Group CEO William Dean Singleton and President Jodi Lodovic announced to employees recently a plan to provide less print content on the Web for free and differentiate Web site news from the print product.
Denver Post reduces print copies in outlying areas
The Associated Press - 01 May 2009
The Denver Post says outlying parts of Colorado will no longer get the print edition of the newspaper Monday through Saturday.
Denver Post claims 95% retention of Rocky subscribers
The Associated Press - 28 Apr 2009
The Denver Post says it retained 95 percent of home-delivery subscribers to the Rocky Mountain News in the first month after the News folded.
Attributor 'Fair Syndication Consortium' completes newspaper trifecta
Ken Doctor - Content Bridges - 22 Apr 2009
With today's announcement of Attributor's "Fair Syndication Consortium," we see the third piece in what's emerging as a new news industry reckoning with the Web as a major distribution point.
Google, trust, anti-trust....and what happens next
Ken Doctor - Content Bridges - 12 Apr 2009
Maybe we've found an answer: get Dean Singleton, Rupert Murdoch, Eric Schmidt, Jeff Jarvis, Nick Carr, Mathew Ingram and Danny Sullivan in one room, charge admission and use the proceeds to pay for American journalism. Last week may have shed as much heat as light on the trials and tribulations of the American press.
AP targets online theft, changes rates and notice requirements
The Associated Press - 07 Apr 2009
The Associated Press Monday announced a string of changes that included a new effort to protect content from online theft, a further reduction in some rates, and a change in the notice requirement for members to drop the service, from two years notice to one.
Prophet motives
Alternative ownership buzz raises flagging hopes
Mark Fitzgerald - Editor & Publisher - 25 Mar 2009
Alternative ownership ideas are all the rage as the traditional newspaper business model falters. The one that may have the most buzz is called the Low-Profit Limited Liability Company, or L3C, a corporation that qualifies as a charity under IRS rules but runs as a for-profit business. In Peoria, Ill., the Newspaper Guild is in hot pursuit of a new L3C owner to rescue the Journal Star from the GateHouse chain.
Forget newspapers' local-local: Think location, location, location
Ken Doctor - Content Bridges - 23 Mar 2009
Two newspapers on the block, about as far away from each as they can be.
One in San Diego, the Union-Tribune, finally sold after nine months on the market. The other, or really others, Blethen Maine Newspapers, still sits on the market after a year, but are being pitched to all kinds of would-be buyers.
Bruce Sherman, retire in peace
Ken Doctor - Content Bridges - 19 Mar 2009
So Bruce Sherman's out of the game. Failure apparently has its price, eventually.
MediaNews chief Singleton says San Francisco newspaper consolidation 'might be a smart thing'
Denver Business Journal - 18 Mar 2009
The potential of lifting antitrust barriers to consolidating all the major newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area sounds like a good idea to MediaNews Group Inc. CEO William Dean Singleton, who already publishes almost all daily papers in the region except the struggling San Francisco Chronicle.
Pioneer Press owner's goofy print-at-home plan
David Brauer - MinnPost - 06 Mar 2009
I literally had to read this story twice to make sure I wasn't being spoofed: PiPress owner MediaNews Group will test a proprietary device that prints a customized newspaper in your home. The trial, bearing the H.G. Wellsian label "Individuated News" or I-News, will be tested in L.A. this summer.
With Rocky folded, MediaNews picking up all of Boulder Daily Camera
Editor & Publisher - 05 Mar 2009
While the closing of the Rocky Mountain News -- the biggest U.S. daily ever to fold -- made headlines around the globe, a related development was little noticed outside of Colorado: MediaNews Group will soon take complete control of The Daily Camera in Boulder and two other dailies.
  David Milstead |
Q&A with David Milstead about the death of the Rocky Mountain News
Michael Roberts - Westword - 05 Mar 2009
The most dogged and enterprising journalist to write about the Rocky Mountain News' closure saga came from the Rocky's own newsroom. Business columnist and reporter David Milstead broke story after story.
MediaNews CEO talks about sharing ad sales, content between Camera and Denver Post
Alicia Wallace - The Daily Camera - 27 Feb 2009
The new owner of the Camera on Friday reiterated that employees and readers should not see a significant impact as a result of the paper's publishing company now being fully owned by Denver-based MediaNews Group Inc.
Other Colorado papers go to MediaNews
Ann Schrader - The Denver Post - 27 Feb 2009
As part of the closure of the Rocky Mountain News, the E.W. Scripps Co. announced that its interest in Prairie Mountain Publishing will be transferred to Denver Post owner MediaNews Group later this year.
Singleton on Rocky closing: 'Sad day'--but will help his paper
Joe Strupp - Editor & Publisher - 27 Feb 2009
William Dean Singleton, whose Denver Post will soon be the lone daily paper in that city, said he is sad that the rival Rocky Mountain News will close after Friday. But he is not surprised.
Singleton watching SF Chronicle situation 'sith interest'
Joe Strupp - Editor & Publisher - 26 Feb 2009
William Dean Singleton, whose company owns nearly every daily newspaper in the Bay Area outside of the San Francisco Chronicle, remained mum on whether he would be interested in the Chronicle following Hearst's announcement that it may sell or close the paper.
Hearst, MediaNews: You can invent the future in San Francisco
Martin Langeveld - Neiman Journalism Lab - 26 Feb 2009
See that bridge? When finished in 1937, it was not an incremental step. It was a leap into the future.
Wouldn't it be a terrific idea to search for the boldest, most imaginative solution to your problems in California?
Chronicle crackdown prompts question: Where's the Bay Area online super startup?
Ken Doctor - Content Bridges - 25 Feb 2009
We knew that Hearst's moves in Seattle -- saying in early January that it would sell or close down the Post-Intelligencer -- was just a dry run for San Francisco. After all, the Hearst-owned Chronicle has bled more than a quarter of a billion dollars by most estimates since Hearst bought it in 2000. Now that's pre-recession loss. If we say the storm of recession is taking down the weakened trees, we'd have to say that it will of course taken the fallen timber with it.
More bad news for the news biz
Richard Brenneman - The Berkeley Daily Planet - 16 Feb 2009
The California newspaper business continued its precipitous descent into an ever-growing pool of red ink last week, beginning with news of further layoffs.
MediaNews announces furloughs in New Mexico and Texas
The Associated Press - 08 Feb 2009
MediaNews Group Inc. said Friday that employees at its New Mexico and Texas newspapers have been asked to take one-week furloughs to avoid layoffs.
Plans for a one-newspaper town
David Milstead - The Rocky Mountain News - 05 Feb 2009
Staffers at the Denver Newspaper Agency have drafted a letter for advertisers that says, "Effective March 1, 2009, only one major daily newspaper will serve the metro Denver market - The Denver Post."
MediaNews Group unpaid furloughs spreading
Joe Strupp - Editor and Publisher - 31 Jan 2009
Unpaid one-week furloughs that have already struck MediaNews Group dailies in Californian may be heading east as one of the chain's Pennsylvania papers confirms plans for the mandatory week off and another is bracing for a possible directive.
Scripps accuses MediaNews of violating Denver JOA
Editor & Publisher - 29 Jan 2009
E.W. Scripps accused its Denver joint operating agreement (JOA) partner, MediaNews Group Inc., of improperly borrowing from the JOA to cover the newsroom payroll at The Denver Post, the Rocky Mountain News reported Wednesday.
Scripps says Post violates JOA
Letter alleges improper payment of newsroom costs
David Milstead - The Rocky Mountain News - 28 Jan 2009
The Denver Post violated its agreement with Rocky owner E.W. Scripps when it borrowed $13 million from their jointly owned operating agency to cover The Post's newsroom payroll, Scripps wrote in a letter to Post executives last month.
"We request that this practice cease and that the Post find a way to fund its editorial payroll without resorting to this . . .," Scripps executives Rich Boehne and Mark Contreras wrote.
Newspaper joint operating agreements are fading
David Milstead - The Rocky Mountain News - 22 Jan 2009
The newspaper industry may not be dead, but joint operating agreements, designed to preserve two-newspaper towns, are failing.
Newspaper agency, Post unions OK talks on contract givebacks
Rocky reps push for delay until its future known
Jeff Smith - The Rocky Mountain News - 20 Jan 2009
The Denver Newspaper Agency's largest union decided Monday to begin contract concession talks after an auditor determined the agency needs to cut costs to avert possible bankruptcy.
Strib bankruptcy: Pulling the pin...and let's see what happens
Ken Doctor - Content Bridges - 17 Jan 2009
As long anticipated, the Star Tribune filed for bankruptcy today, now the second company (after Tribune's big splash) to do that. Expect more.
Scripps mum on bids for Rocky
Jeff Smith - The Rocky Mountain News - 17 Jan 2009
E.W. Scripps, owner of the Rocky Mountain News, gave no word Friday on whether it had received any bids for the 149- year-old newspaper.
My rejected Rocky column
Jason Salzman - bigmedia.org - 07 Jan 2009
I know I’ve written some bad columns for the Rocky Mountain News over the years. But I didn’t think the column I submitted Thursday was so bad that it would be rejected.
  Dean Singleton |
Denver Post confirms pension freezes, union negotiations
Michael Roberts - Denver Westword - 06 Jan 2009
In mid-December, news broke that MediaNews Group head Dean Singleton (pictured) asked unions to open negotiations on new contracts early in the hope of saving a combined $20 million at the Denver Post and the Denver Newspaper Agency.
Denver Newspaper Agency deadline for union concessions approaches
$18 million of givebacks sought by Jan. 16
Jeff Smith - The Rocky Mountain News - 06 Jan 2009
The Denver Newspaper Agency is running out of time to get $18 million of union concessions by its stated Jan. 16 deadline.
Only the Teamsters, which represents two of the six unions involved, has started looking at the agency's books after signing a nondisclosure agreement, said Tony Mulligan, president of the newspaper agency's six-union council.
Denver newspaper unions want to see the books
Management demanding $20 million or else
Jeff Smith - Rocky Mountain News - 20 Dec 2008
The Denver Newspaper Agency has issued an ultimatum to its six unions: Agree to $20 million in wage and benefit concessions by Jan. 16 or face even worse consequences. New labor contracts need to be concluded so the DNA can reshuffle its $130 million debt. Not so fast, said Tracy Simmons, AO at the Denver Newspaper Guild, noting the unions have asked to look at the DNA books.
McClatchy stock plunges 30 percent for all-time low
David Kaplan - paidContent - 19 Dec 2008
The McClatchy Company's stock ended down again on Thursday, finishing at $1.05. That's a 30 percent decline and a new low for the newspaper publisher's share price, coming just days after Monday's announcement that November total revenues fell 19.4 percent with ad revenues plummeting 22.4 percent.
MediaNews sees bad timing on newspapers, not bad bets
Richard Pérez-Peña - The New York Times - 15 Dec 2008
Dean Singleton expanded his newspaper empire at the worst possible time, in the worst part of the country he could have chosen, and he has been paying the price ever since in plummeting advertising and shrinking papers. Yet somehow, even in today’s adverse climate, he professes optimism.
Denver Post owner Singleton seeks new labor deal
Mark Harden - Denver Business Journal - 13 Dec 2008
The Denver Post's principal owner has asked labor unions at the paper and at the agency that publishes the Denver daily to reopen their contracts with an eye toward cutting expenses by $20 million, the Rocky Mountain News reported Saturday.
Moody's: Denver Post owner has higher risk of loan default
John Rebchook, - The Rocky Mountain News - 13 Dec 2008
Moody's Investors Services on Thursday said that William Dean Singleton's MediaNews Group faces increased risk of defaulting on its loans, as it downgraded almost $1 billion of the debt for the parent company of The Denver Post.
The Rocky Mountain News is going down
Michael Roberts - Westword - 11 Dec 2008
The Rocky Mountain News began marking its sesquicentennial months before the actual date — April 23, 2009 — with the launch of a planned 150-part series spotlighting its coverage of notable historic events that took place during its life span.
FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS
California dailies headed for a wave of consolidation?
What Trib bankruptcy could mean for Chronicle, LAT
Louis Freedburg - California Media Collaborative - 09 Dec 2008
The announcement that the Tribune Company, owner of the LA Times, has filed for bankruptcy could have far reaching implications for the California newspaper industry -- and more importantly, on how news is reported on and delivered in the state and nationally. Speculation has increased that LAT and the OC Register may combine, while others point to a MediaNews-Hearst combination in the Bay Area.
Singleton memo reveals death plan for Rocky Mountain News
MediaNews-Scripps in talks since Nov. 19 on JOA's fate
9news.com - 05 Dec 2008
Dean Singleton, publisher of the Denver Post, said in an internal memo that the owner of the Rocky Mountain News plans to close the paper as soon as practical. Singleton's memo said MediaNews Group had been talking with Rocky owner E.W. Scripps Co. about pension and other JOA cost issues, which have yet to be resolved.
Singleton: Rocky sale not going to happen
Editor & Publisher - 05 Dec 2008
MediaNews Group CEO and Denver Post Publisher William Dean Singleton sees no chance that his Denver joint operating agreement (JOA) partner E.W. Scripps will find a buyer for the Rocky Mountain News.
Rocky Mountain News 'sale' shows peril of crossing profit line
Ken Doctor - Content Bridges - 04 Dec 2008
As daily newspapers become less than daily -- witness the East Valley Tribune's move into the world of four-day-a-week dailiness in January -- why would we expect a metro area to support two daily newspapers?
Rocky Mountain News for sale
The Rocky Mountain News - 04 Dec 2008
The Rocky Mountain News is on the sale block, facing an uncertain future as Colorado's oldest newspaper approaches its 150th anniversary.
How Gannett newspapers got into this fix
Paul Oberjuerge - Oberjuerge.com - 04 Dec 2008
Or, we could subtitle this post, “the numbers at Gannett leak out, and they reinforce what Gannett veterans already knew.â€
That is, Gannett never has owned newspapers. By its own preferred corporate-speak, it has owned “profit centers†— and the greedy bastards who ran the company were bold enough to call it just that.
Broker Priskos buys S.L.Tribune building, plans condo conversion
The Salt Lake Tribune - 13 Nov 2008
The old Salt Lake Tribune building in dowtown Salt Lake City has been sold to a limited liability company managed in part by downtown commercial real estate broker Vasilios Priskos.
San Jose Mercury News, Mumbai edition
Ken Doctor - Content Bridges - 07 Nov 2008
The gallows humor of MediaNews' Bay Area operation took a cartographic turn recently. Remember MediaNews CEO Dean Singleton talking about how outsourcing would become essential in the newspaper industry, when he said, "In today's world, whether your desk is down the hall or around the world, from a computer standpoint, it doesn't matter," after his speech at the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association?
AP suspends pricing plan, to review its structure
Anick Jesdanun - The Associated Press - 24 Oct 2008
The Associated Press suspended plans Thursday for a new pricing structure that drew complaints from many of its member newspapers facing unprecedented financial hardships. It promised another $9 million in savings on top of $21 million previously announced.
Singleton outsourcing comments draw fire
Joe Strupp - Editor & Publisher - 23 Oct 2008
Several unions representing workers at MediaNews Group newspapers in California reacted angrily to CEO William Dean Singleton's announcement this week of likely further consolidation at his newspapers, particularly among copy desks.
Will this idea never die?
American Copy Editors Society - 21 Oct 2008
Once again, a powerful name in journalism is floating the idea of consolidating and outsourcing copy editing. This time it's MediaNews CEO Dean Singleton.
MediaNews CEO: Outsourcing should be considered
"In today's world, whether your desk is down the hall or around the world, from a computer standpoint, it doesn't matter" -- Dean Singleton
Matt Sedensky - The Associated Press - 21 Oct 2008
Newspaper publishers should consider consolidating and outsourcing news operations — even overseas — to save money as revenues continue to shrink, the head of a major U.S. newspaper company said today.
MediaNews wants one copy desk for entire chain
Singleton sees no limit to outsourcing
Matt Sedensky - Associated Press - 21 Oct 2008
MediaNews Group Inc. CEO Dean Singleton, who also serves as chairman
of the board of The Associated Press, told the Southern Newspaper
Publishers Association that his company was exploring outsourcing in
nearly every aspect of their operations. "One thing we're exploring is having one news desk for all of our newspapers in MediaNews ... maybe even offshore," he said during the speech.
Guild: Indy Star should have sought layoff volunteers
Joe Strupp - Editor & Publisher - 09 Oct 2008
Should The Indianapolis Star have asked for volunteers before announcing specific layoffs last August? The Indianapolis Newspaper Guild thinks so.
At least 7 groups look into purchasing Union-Tribune
Thomas Kupper - The San Diego Union-Tribune - 09 Oct 2008
The proposed sale of The San Diego Union-Tribune has attracted interest from a number of newspaper companies as well as investors from outside the industry.
MediaNews among potential buyers in San Diego
Union Tribune details latest shopping
Thomas Kupper - SignOnSanDiego.com - 09 Oct 2008
The proposed sale of The San Diego Union-Tribune has attracted interest from a number of newspaper companies as well as investors from outside the industry. In recent weeks, representatives of Los Angeles Times owner Tribune Co. and San Jose Mercury News (and BANG-EB) parent MediaNews were among those who visited the paper's Mission Valley offices for presentations on the business.
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MediaNews chairman blasts Bush, McCain in letter to editor
San Francisco Peninsula Press Club - 02 Oct 2008
At a lot of newspapers, if the owner wants to give the readers his opinion, he can simply write an editorial or a column. Apparently things are done a little differently at MediaNews Group.
Editors on Singleton: Sure, we’re concerned about costs—but we’re the ones getting whipped
David Kaplan - paidContent - 02 Oct 2008
William Dean Singleton, CEO of Denver-based publisher MediaNews Group and chairman of the AP board, shared a few thoughts with me in an interview about newspapers’ woes that ran on paidContent this week: the economy (the downturn, not the internet, is where the pain stems from), convergent ad sales teams (print and online should not be sold separately) and the reason some AP members are up in arms over the coming changes in its price structure (faced with cutting more staff or cutting the AP, desperate editors opt for the latter). I asked a number of industry observers and editors who decided to cancel their membership for reaction to Singleton’s view of the wire service and why some are considering turning their backs on the AP.
It's not the stupid economy, newspapers
Alan D. Mutter - Reflections of a Newsosaur - 01 Oct 2008
“The biggest thing we need right now is an improved economy, because at least 60% of the revenue problem we’re facing today is a good, old-fashioned economic recession,†says William Dean Singleton.
Dean Singleton sounds off on newspaper woes
Editor & Publisher - 01 Oct 2008
MediaNews Group CEO Dean Singleton believes the woes of the newspaper industry are due to the downturn in the economy. Singleton told PaidContent's David Kaplan, "at least 60 percent of the revenue problem we're facing today is good-old fashioned economic recession."
MediaNews-Hearst shopping in San Diego?
Union Tribune may be in play but unclear who's in the game
Don Bauder - San Diego Weekly Reader - 26 Sep 2008
William Dean Singleton, founder of Denver-based MediaNews Group, has been prowling the halls of the Union-Tribune, reporters say. Hearst Corp. owns 31 percent of MediaNews outside of the Bay Area. In 2006, Copley sold the Daily Breeze to Hearst, with the idea that ownership would eventually go to MediaNews. Hearst, however, has lost a bundle on the Chronicle in San Francisco and is reportedly hesitant to buy big daily newspapers.
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