Tag Archives: GateHouse Media

City Council, City of Peoria, Peoria Journal Star

“Save the Journal Star” news conference Monday

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From a press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PEORIA MAYOR JIM ARDIS AND OTHERS TO CALL FOR FAIR NEGOTIATIONS AT THE JOURNAL STAR DURING 9 A.M. NEWS CONFERENCE MONDAY, APRIL 9, AT PEORIA CITY HALL

It’s time to save the Journal Star.

As downstate Illinois’ largest newspaper, the Journal Star continues to be highly profitable. However, New York-based owner GateHouse Media continues to push for the slashings of jobs and salaries of the people who write, create and deliver the paper.

Why? GateHouse recently lavished a $800,000 bonus on CEO Michael Reed, who makes a salary of $500,000 a year. Further plump bonuses to other executives pushed the total to far over $1 million.

While GateHouse continues to try to slash the Journal Star, readers might ask questions. How does a smaller local staff make for a better local paper? How do continued cuts at the newspaper make for a better value for readers?

We ask the same questions. We are Peoria Unit 86 of the United Media Guild, which represents those targeted employees. We want only reasonable contract negotiations and a fair settlement. We just want to do our jobs as Peoria’s public watchdog.

Please join us at 9 a.m. Monday, April 9, in front of Peoria City Hall, 419 Fulton Street. Mayor Jim Ardis will present a letter signed by the City Council urging GateHouse to reach a fair settlement with the Guild.

We also will present a similar letter from the head pastors of two of the largest churches in Peoria – who requested to meet with Journal Star publisher Ken Mauser, but were denied – urging justice and moral fairness in ongoing contract negotiations.

In other Journal Star news, Managing Editor John Plevka is leaving the paper to head up the student newspaper at ISU.

Peoria Journal Star, State Journal-Register

Springfield paper offers exclusive content ‘first in print’

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The State Journal-Register is now publishing some of its content in print before it publishes it on the web. The lag time is unspecified.

Called First in Print, the move aims to increase the value of the print edition for readers, many of whom pay to read the newspaper. Many of the articles appearing first in the print edition will appear on the newspaper’s website after a delay….

The First in Print effort is a change from how the newspaper traditionally has treated publication of news items. For years, nearly all of the newspaper’s content has been placed on the website where it could be read for free.

“That meant that readers of the print edition, who pay for information, got less advantage for their investment,” Broadbooks said. “This change means that those readers who pay for the paper have the opportunity to see select features first. We believe it enhances the value of the print edition.”

The Springfield paper is owned by GateHouse Media, the same company that owns the Peoria Journal Star. I wrote to the Journal Star’s managing editor John Plevka to ask if his paper will be following suit. I received no response.

Personally, I think “First in Print” is a good idea. Right now, I receive no added value as a subscriber of the Journal Star. Non-subscribers get all the same content for free over the internet, while I’m paying over $200 a year for it. So why shouldn’t I cancel my subscription?

Come to think of it, I might just do that.

Peoria Journal Star

Psst! Hey, Journal Star staffers, past and present!

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Have you heard about this story?

Cathy Gilbert, the managing editor of a small newspaper in South Carolina . . . not only quit, she also took her entire staff of employees with her to start a competing paper in Manning, S.C., according to a WLTX, a TV station in Columbia.

Just imagine if all the Journal Star employees — those still working as well as those who have been let go over the past several years — all banded together and started their own cooperative newspaper to compete with the Journal Star. It’s so crazy it just might work. Who wouldn’t abandon the GateHouse-Media-ravaged Journal Star for a superior new paper with all the knowledge, experience, and contacts of established beat reporters, editors, printers, sales agents and webmasters? Who wouldn’t want to pick up a paper that is locally-owned and customer-focused? Who wouldn’t want a paper with enough reporters to adequately cover the tri-county region and beyond? I think the community would flock to it.

A revolt would be good. GateHouse can’t compete against you. Start having some secret meetings, put a business plan together, and set a date for the big departure. Peoria deserves a better newspaper than GateHouse is providing. The men and women at the Journal Star deserve a better employer than GateHouse. Don’t say it can’t be done. You can do it!

Peoria Journal Star, Peoria Times-Observer

How long will Times-Observer last?

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GateHouse Media, which now owns both the Journal Star and the Times-Observer, has consolidated the two newspapers’ offices:

TimesNewspapers’ office at 1616 W. Pioneer Parkway, Peoria, will be closed Friday.

The TimesNewspapers’ office, which houses the Peoria Times-Observer, will move to a new location at 1 News Plaza, Peoria, 61643.

Could this be the beginning of the end for the venerable Times-Observer? Given GateHouse Media’s financial woes, including a $10.3 million loss in the first quarter of 2009, I think it’s just a matter of time before the Times-Observer is discontinued. Mike Reed, GateHouse Media’s Chief Executive Officer, said recently, “Our cost controls were very good in the first quarter. However, we will be even more aggressive over the next couple of quarters, as we weather this economic downturn. We remain highly focused on liquidity and improving our cash position.”

If I were a betting man, I’d bet that GateHouse will discontinue the Times-Observer by the end of the year, but retain DeWayne Bartels as a reporter/columnist for the Journal Star. I’d be happy if my prediction didn’t come true, however, and the Times-Observer continued as a separate publication. But I can’t help but feel like the handwriting is on the wall.