By: E&P Staff In today's links, News Corp. porift surges on an asset sale, Tony Ridder gets a swell parting gift of $10 million from his sale of the newspaper chain his family founded, and San Franciscans voice worry over MediaNews' control of so many local newspapers.
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News Corp. Profit Doubles in QuarterThe globe-spanning media company controlled by Rupert Murdoch reported that profit doubled in the latest quarter on an asset sale as well as stronger results at its Italian satellite TV company, cable networks and broadcast TV units.
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Tony Ridder's $10 Million ParachuteThe Knight Ridder Chief Executive, who failed to turn around the ailing newspaper chain his family founded, will get nearly $10 million in severance as he turns over the reins to a new owner. The hefty payout is more than the $7.28 million severance previously estimated.
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Fighting Singleton's MonopolyEditorial: The implications are staggering. The deal sets the scene for an unprecedented level of local media consolidation ? and could lead to a scenario in which all the business, advertising, and even editorial functions of almost every Bay Area daily would be run out of one central office.
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Knight Ridder Execs to Get $57 Million From SaleWhen Knight Ridder is sold to McClatchy this summer, its top corporate executives will leave the San Jose newspaper company with nearly $57 million in incentive payments, according to a government filing made Wednesday. About $27 million will be paid to the top five Knight Ridder executives with the balance going to "other executive officers."
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'Stars and Stripes' Reporter Gregory Tyler Dies in JapanTyler, 46, was a native of Macon, Ga. When he wasn?t running the Sasebo News Bureau for Stars and Stripes or on the road covering Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni near Hiroshima, he wrote poetry and short stories.
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A Letter to Tony Snow"The danger is that someone in your administration may give you false information that you might convey to your audience as truth," writes John Hughes. "You can keep state secrets without lying. When a spokesman is consistently firm about what he will talk about and what he won't, reporters accept that. A spokesman caught lying forsakes the trust of reporters. Journalists say they're in on the making of history. So are spokesmen."
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From Journalism's Internet Frontier"I have no objections to anyone breaking into the guild of journalism without the credentials of journalism school or experience on a print daily," writes Molly Ivins.
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Alt-UpheavalThe granddaddy of alt-weeklies, the Village Voice, has for more than 50 years has proffered its downtown view of New York and the world. But last November, The Voice was acquired by the New Times chain of alt-weeklies. The Village Voice is used to turmoil, but, as Bob Garfield reports, this particular turmoil has raised questions about the sanctity of a cultural landmark and the future of alternative journalism itself.
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Chinese Rock Star Damages Newspaper OfficeOne of China's best-known rock musicians, singer-songwriter Dou Wei, was arrested after he smashed computers at a newspaper office and set alight a parked car, state media said on Thursday. Police arrested Dou on Wednesday evening outside the main offices of the Beijing News, where he also poured water over an editor and shouted at a newspaper reporter.
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Morocco Appeals Court Upholds Sentence Against Newspaper ReporterReporters Without Borders today condemned a Casablanca appeal court ruling on 9 May upholding a suspended sentence of a year in prison and a fine of 100,000 dirhams (9,000 euros) for Driss Chahtane, the editor of the Arabic-language weekly Al Micha?l, for allegedly libelling Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
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