After the Bell: Tepid Day on the Street

Jen: Another lukewarm day of trading for the broader market and the newspaper sector. The Dow eked out some gains up 44 points and newspapers turned in about the same performance.

To the ones that closed up first. And by up, we mean small percentages.

The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) led the sector with the largest percent increase, up 3.6% or 32 cents closing at $8.99. The other stocks that advanced today were neck-and-neck. Shares of Media General (NYSE: MEG) closed up 1% to $9.60.  Gannett (NYSE: GCI) rose 0.9% to $11.23.

Investors had it in for smaller cap newspaper companies. McClatchy (NYSE: MNI) lost 0.9% closing at $3.04. Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) shed 2.4% at $3.53. And finally shares in A.H. Belo trading on the Big Board as AHC declined 2.8% to $4.75.

Happy Days at Hearst?

Jen: Zowie! Some company out there has some serious change on hand. It's not an investment bank and it is a media company! I didn't know such things existed, media companies with money.

According to Keith Kelly, Hearst has $1 billion in it coffers and it's in a spending kind of mood. It just hired Mitchell Scherzer as CFO to start cutting some checks. Writes Kelly: "The move is seen to signal a more aggressive acquisition strategy by company Chairman and CEO Frank Bennack, who wants to fulfill the Hearst family mandate to find new revenue streams in digital and non-traditional media" (NYP)

McClatchy Opens the Door to Possibly Charge for Content

Jen: Say it ain't so! Two change of terms of service agreements landed in my in-box over the past couple of days -- one from the Sac Bee and the other from the KC Star. I had registered eons ago with both sites.

Turns out McClatchy changed its terms of service across all its sites. The company wanted to emphasize that it could possibly, just maybe start charging for content should the fancy strike them, among other things. 

Here's the section about cost under the agreement:

From time to time, and at KansasCity.com's sole discretion, there may be certain content available via subscription or surcharge, and such content will be clearly marked. Because this is an advertising-supported service, we encourage you to patronize the advertisers that help to make this service possible. Note that currently most news articles remain available for 30 days in the pages of KansasCity.com. The Kansas City Star's electronic archives may carry a fee per full-text article downloaded.

Christian Hendricks, McClatchy's vice president of interactive media, cautioned not to read too much into it. The notifications went out with such language so they don't have to keep pinging readers about service updates.  McClatchy, he said, has not made any decisions on whether to charge for content (or some content.) "Nothing is imminent. We are studying it like everybody else."

I should add, the Sacramento-based company has done a bang-up job selling online advertising across its properties and making the most of its alliance with Yahoo. In Q3, McClatchy reported that online revenue represented 17% of total revenue. Yes, print ad revenue's slice is shrinking, but still. McClatchy's ratio is way better than its peers.

That said, it doesn't look like the advertising revenue is going to bounce back anytime soon in general. This puts McClatchy is a perilous position as it tries to pay down its debt and not trip up covenants.

Wednesday Morning Links

Ed Jones is "charged up" about the newspaper business. He's no Debbie downer. Jones believes newspapers are here to stay. Then he cites the Newseum. (Fredericksburg.com)

Consumers just don't seem to want to pay for content no matter how little they are expected to shell out. (LAT)

Video is taking front and center on many big league content sites like CNN and ESPN. Not coincidentally, video ads are booming. (NYT)

Chris Harte has left the building. The Minneapolis Star Tribune's new owners are still searching for a chief. (Braublog@MinnPost)

The most shocking aspect of the complaint against the New York Post filed by a former employee is that editor Col Allan passed up a scoop, writes John Cook. (Gawker)

When really good companies do really bad things: More layoffs TK in the newspaper industry. (The Earl Blog)

After the Bell: Newspaper Sector Stuck in Neutral

 
Jen: It was slow going with newspaper stocks today. When shares closed up it was on very modest gains. On the flip side, those that closed down didn't lose much. So let's just call it a wash.

With one exception: Over in the pink sheets, GateHouse Media (GHSE.PK) ran away with percentage gains with shares increasing 36% to 30 cents. Of course, when your stock is trading in the cents any movement is bound to make waves. Volume was very light. 

The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) gained some sofa change, up 4 cents closing at $8.67. Gannett (NYSE: GCI) lost 4 cents -- bread and butter! -- closing at $11.12.

Over at McClatchy (NYSE: MNI) shares were up 8 cents closing at $3.07. Shares of Lee Enterprise (NYSE: LEE) shot up a dime to $3.62.

When Editors Are Outsourced

Jen: Maybe it's not such a good idea to outsource 100 editors as the Toronto Star announced recently. Toronto Star Publisher John Cruickshank sent out a memo about the move and one editor just couldn't help herself (or himself) and edited the bejesus out of the thing. Click here to see the glorious mess via torontoist. (h/t: Dead Tree Edition)

Newspapers Need to Lose the Pack Mentality

Jen: Alan Mutter perfectly summarizes what's wrong with the newspaper industry in this profile of Alan Jacobson and his effort to get the very cool Tween Tribune off the ground. Namely it's this: No publisher wants to be the first out of the gate to try anything. Newspapers are just a bunch of lemmings.

Observes Mutter: "Innovation is a dirty word at newspapers. When confronted with a potentially game-changing idea, the first question publishers always ask is, 'Who else is doing it?' That phrase could well stand as the industry's epitaph."

Jacobson has been trying to convince newspapers for the past year or so to give his new venture, Tween Tribune a whirl. It's an excellent project, an updated and fun spin on Newspaper in Education program -- and I'm talking waay better than e-editions, which frankly, I just don't get. Tween Tribune is interactive, has a social aspect, a print edition and room for advertising. It's something for the kids, not just in the classroom, but a safe place they can interact with each other when they go home or over the weekend.

After knocking on too many newspaper's doors -- some have signed on, including the Valdosta (Ga.) Daily Times -- Jacobson decided to go directly to teachers. Tween Tribune page views soared.

On a related matter, economist Robert Picard takes newspapers to task over the very same subject. Newspapers should be ever-vigilant for opportunity, they should take a risk, they should get in quick and cheap, and if it's a failure, who cares. Move on and try again.

Forrester Research Covers Online Video

Jen: Beet.TV's Andy Plesser sits down with Forrester Research senior analyst Bobby Tulsiani who just wrote an extensive report on online video. In this video interview, Tulsiani covers what advertisers are looking for in video and different vendor solutions particularly those geared around the mid-tier market (not huge media companies but not self-publishers).

Tuesday Morning Links

The former chairman of Shaw Newspapers, Eustace K. "E.K." Shaw, died on Friday. He was 84. Shaw started at his family's newspaper as a "flyboy" described this way: "he took newspapers off the press, swept up metal from under the linotype machines for reuse, melted the lead, painted, and did other tasks." (The Chronicle)

Check out what readers are saying about the San Francisco Chronicle's new look with glossy paper. (SF Gate)

Rupert Murdoch may be rethinking his thoughts on pulling News Corp. content from search Web sites. WSJ.com gets 25% of its traffic from Google search. In a related piece of news: Jeff Bercovici will wear a newspaper dress -- specifically the one that graced the first cover of WSJ the magazine -- if Murdoch carries through with it. (MediaPost, Daily Finance)

The Minneapolis Star Tribune is readying for a major site redesign. Just right after it rids itself of 100 employees. (Braublog @ MinnPost)

FYI: HuffPost's thinking on L.A. (LA Observed)

After the Bell: Modest Gains Almost All Around

Jen: The Dow ended the day at its highest level all year. Take of that what you will given how lousy this year has been so far. Newspapers caught the fever regardless and investors sent the sector's stock up as well.

The biggest percentage increase of the day: Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE), which jumped 11.3% or 36 cents ending at $3.52.

The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) and Gannett (NYSE: GCI) both experienced modest gains up 5.6% and 6.0% respectively. Shares of NYT closed at $8.63 while GCI topped off at $11.16. 

Let's turn to A.H. Belo (NYSE: AHC). For whatever reasons investors -- or an investor --  were sour on shares. The stock was off 2.3% or 11 cents closing at $5.06.

Monday Morning Links

Texas Tribune, the recently launched non-profit from the Lone Star State, decided not to cover the Ft. Hood shootings. Instead, the site went with 50 highest paid state employees. Also: One editor who joined the news org. said his paper tried to talk him out of making a "risky" decision. Weeks later the paper had a big round of buyouts.  (NYT)

Richard Perez-Pena checks in with the once-high flying circ gainer New York Post. The tabloid trades money for volume as a price hike has affected its numbers.  Some at the NYP are wondering if Rupe's attention has turned fully to the WSJ and are nervous about the Journal's new metro desk. (NYT)

A new paper is born in Portugal, remarkably. (NYT)

When News Corp. takes the plunge and decides to put its newspapers' content behind a paywall, it will also pull its content from Google. (Media Week UK, not our sister)

David Brauer is amazed that Sunday's St. Paul Pioneer Press contains not one, but two front page banner ads-- a first he thinks for the industry. Good for them. Has anyone else out there done this?  (Braublog @ MinnPost)

NYT Chief Marketing Officer Denise Warren tells David Kaplan "signs that things are looking up." (Paid Content)

After the Bell: What Job Losses?

Jen: What a cold, cold heart Mr. Wall Street must have because today he practically shrugged off the very grim news that unemployment is officially up in the double-digits. The Dow Jones Industrial average even gained a few points -- 17 of them.

However, investors nicked newspaper stocks. Every company Fitz & Jen covers in this series closed down with the exception of Media General (NYSE: MEG). It gained 36 cents (+3.9%) closing at $9.38.

Most stocks were down only a tad. Lee Enterprises was the day's biggest percentage loser with shares (NYSE: LEE) trading down 5.6% (or 19 cents) to $3.16.

The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) was off 9 cents or (-1%) closing at $8.17. Its  peer Gannett (NYSE: GCI) was off about the same in terms of percentages, down 16 cents to $10.52.

Meet Your New Owner: The Reluctant Bank

Jen: J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is finding itself in a rather awkward position. The bank has canceled "big chunks of corporate loans" in exchange for equity in companies including newspaper companies, reports Mike Spector and Peter Lattman in The Wall Street Journal. Specifically: Journal Register Co.  and Freedom Communications.

J.P. Morgan doesn't really want to own these companies -- it's not like they relish the chance to roll up its sleeves and turnaround a troubled asset. According to the WSJ: "J.P. Morgan executives say they intended to hold their ownership positions, but instead became reluctant investors when companies were unable to repay debts."

J.P. Morgan and its peers are off the hook after five years. Banks are only allowed to hold stakes -- "debts previously contracted" -- for that amount of time  and then must sell them.

Geoff Dougherty Joins Fitz & Jen in Latest Podcast

Our latest podcast is up and we are pleased to present our special and timely guest Geoff Dougherty. Dougherty is the founder of the now defunct Chi Town Daily News -- an online news start-up in Chicago that took on a non-profit structure for its business model.

Dougherty explains the trials and challenges of operating as non-profit. He's not deterred though and has started a new venture that covers Chicago politics. This time around the site is for-profit and, drum roll please ... includes print. The Chicago Current launches on Nov. 9.

Is Paid Content Losing Steam?

Jen: Steve Myers of Poynter checks in with Journalism Online to see how the company is coming along convincing publishers and content providers to sign up with its pay system -- which can handle a myriad of ways charging for content. Journalism Online co-founder Steve Brill tells Myers that anywhere from five to 15 magazines, newspapers, online-only news organizations, and blogs spanning the globe are part of the beta test using the company's system. Though none of them are named. (What's up with that?!)

Brill emphasized that the changes would be so slight that consumers will barely notice. It's a way to appease publishers who are still skittish about putting a price tag on any content.They are loath to scare off readers turned off by having to pay. The gentle pay system is also a way not shock readers who might flee once they have to pony up.

It's a real fear. But I'm not sure that gingerly installing some kind of pay method to the point where consumers won't even notice is not going to help things. Isn't the idea to get revenue? And enough revenue to make all this worth while?

Myers wrote that Journalism Online is pitching a variety of different methods to reap revenue though some of the suggestions are troubling including charging for content --my guess is time sensitive content -- and then setting it free later. This will only train readers to game the system or go elsewhere for breaking news.

As I've said numerous times, I don't think charging consumers for online content is going to be the answer. Cut your losses newspapers. Concentrate on what's ahead like mobile apps and digital readers. Start charging for that. And I should add, Journalism Online's system can manage subscriptions across multiple channels.

Friday Morning Links

Read the remarks of E.W. Scripps executives during a Q3 earnings call. Bonus: Craig Huber is called "persistent." (Seeking Alpha)

The Doctor is in with 9 questions to ponder this Friday. (Content Bridges)

A group of newspapers in Illinois is asking a county circuit judge to reconsider his decision to seal search warrants in a grisly family murder. (The State Journal-Register)

Newspaper carriers in North Hampton, Mass., rally together to protest The Daily Hampshire Gazette owner's hiring of an outside distribution company. (News22 WWLP.com)

Former Editor of the Buenos Aires Herald in Argentina Robert Cox was honored by the Buenos Aires Legislature for his actions reporting on the "desaparecidos" -- the disappeared -- in the 1970s. Said Buenos Aires legislator Sergio Abreyaya: "The Herald was the only newspaper to speak out against the disappearances, and Cox's courageous defense of human rights and democracy saved many lives." (The Post and Courier)

Frat boys at the University of Arizona stole 10,000 campus newspapers to prevent an item coming to light about a woman who was allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted. (Washington City Paper)

McSweeney's presents The San Francisco Panorama. It's a broadsheet, you see.

The AP is here to help you build mobile apps. (Paid Content)