Mike Allen: Olbermann Refused On-Camera Mea Culpa

Mike Allen of POLITICO reports today that MSNBC sources said that Keith Olbermann was suspended because he refused to deliver an on-camera mea culpa, which would have allowed him to continue anchoring “Countdown.”

Olbermann told his bosses he didn't know he was barred from making campaign contributions, although he is resisting saying that publicly. Olbermann may not hold as many cards as he thinks. He makes $7 million a year and MSNBC's prime time is not as dependent on him as it was before the addition of Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell, who make considerably less.

U.S. News & World Report to Shut Monthly Print Issue After December

U.S. News & World Report will cease printing its monthly print magazine in 2011, according to an internal memo from editor Brian Kelly posted on Romanesko.

It's a magazine that has been struggling for years. The once weekly had morphed into a monthly over the course of two years. Its circulation plunged last year to 1,269,260 from 1,721,377 the year before, Magazine Publishers of America estimated.

Here is the memo:

From: Kelly, Brian
To: INSIDE
Sent: Fri Nov 05 15:31:30 2010
Subject: Digital Strategy

To: U.S. News
From: Bill and Brian
RE: Completing Our Shift to the Digital World


Colleagues, We're finally ready to complete our transition to a predominantly digital publishing model with selected, single-topic print issues. This will allow us to make the most of the proven products, useful journalism, and great audience growth we've been sustaining. Thanks to all your great work, we've been able to maintain our core values of creating high-quality content while establishing a new, healthy business model. This puts us in a strong position to continue building the U.S. News brand in the new media world. As you know, we've been a leading innovator in adapting to the changing environment -- and we don't intend to give up that lead.

The December issue will be our last print monthly sent to subscribers, whose remaining print and digital replica subscriptions will be filled by other publishers. Going forward, our non-subscription print offerings will be for newsstand sale and targeted distribution. They'll include the college and grad guides, as well as hospital and personal finance guides. In addition, we’ll publish four other newsstand special editions, focusing on history, religion and some of the other subjects that have been a success for us in the past. And of course we’ll continue to expand our audience and products on the various usnews.com channels and grow the digital U.S. News Weekly.

All of us at U.S. News Media Group have been aggressively responding to the changing habits in the media marketplace, and these latest moves will accelerate our ability to grow our online businesses and position ourselves to take advantage of the emerging platforms for distributing information such as the iPad and Android tablets. We'll discuss this in more detail in meetings starting next week.

With an average unique audience of 9 million and counting, we've become a significant publisher in the digital space, creating content that people want and an audience that advertisers will pay for. Each of our channels -- Politics & Policy, Education, Money, Health, Autos, and Travel -- are now fully-formed business units that are developing on their own best course. By working both in the vertical channels and horizontally across them, the company has diversified its revenue beyond display advertising to include e-commerce products, lead generation, licensing and other sources.

Our emphasis on rankings and research content is the right path, making us an essential information source in a commoditized marketplace. We provide information that helps people make important decisions. Whether they're picking a college or voting for a senator, it's clear from the response of our users that accurate, searchable information is something they value highly. The proof is in the audience. People come to us every day, all day, for information they can’t get anywhere else.

We can't sit still. We have to keep improving the existing products while selectively creating new ones. In addition to upgrades in college and hospital rankings, we’ll refine and expand the data and tools that allow consumers to evaluate mutual funds, high schools, cars, online education, health plans and more. Travel is getting ready to come out of beta. Politics & Policy is developing its extensive database allowing citizens to examine the records of every member of Congress and is part of an expanding group of public policy tools. The iPad and the next generations of tablets and mobile platforms will create a brand new set of opportunities for us. We know that the creative energy and team spirit of everyone at U.S. News will continue to keep us ahead of the pack.

Bill and Brian

MSNBC Suspends Keith Olbermann Without Pay Over Political Contributions

UPDATE, Nov. 5 at 4:49 p.m. Eastern: Brian Stelter of The New York Times just tweeted "MSNBC now says Chris Hayes will *not* be the sub tonight. No word yet on who will be."

------

Keith Olbermann has been suspended without pay from MSNBC because of his contributions to three political candidates.

The unusual move happened this afternoon after POLITICO reported that he had contributed to the campaigns of three Democratic candidates.

MSNBC President Phil Griffin released the following statement: “I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay."

Usually journalists are bound by ethical standards not to contribute to political campaigns or to be aligned with any political party or movement. Ethic rules concerning partisan commentators on cable TV networks  and political advocacy have been debated for some time now. Many believe they are held to the same standards of new reporters. Others have felt that they are advocates, and do not fall under the same guidelines.

Indeed, journalists have contributed thousands to political campaigns and efforts and not faced suspension. MSNBC published a list of 143 journalists who gave to political campaigns. On that list, published on July 15, 2007, was Joe Scarborough, NBC's "Dateline" correspondent Victoria Corderi, MSNBC.com's Rachel Schwanewede, senior editor of TodayShow.com, and MSNBC.com's Joel Widzer, travel columnist. I cannot find any report that they suffered the same penalty that Olbermann did today.

One other distinction could be that NBC News policy does not prohibit making political contributions, just that you need prior approval from NBC executives to do so. It is possible that Scarborough and the others did receive such prior approvals and Olbermann did not.

Olbermann made campaign contributions to two Arizona members of Congress, Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords, and Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway. Conway lost his bid to Republican and Tea Party candidate Rand Paul. Olbermann made the legal maximum donation of $2,400 to each.

What might be the troubling point to MSNBC brass is the fact the Olbermann made the donation to the Arizona candidates pair on Oct. 28 — the same day that Grijalva appeared as a guest on Olbermann’s “Countdown” show.

POLITICO is also reporting that Chris Hayes, the Washington editor for The Nation and a previous fill-in for Rachel Maddow, who will fill in for Olbermann tonight has also made contributions to political candidates. POLITICO reports that he gave $250 to the congressional campaign of a good friend, Alabama Democrat Josh Segall.

Gannett Blog: Cincinnati Enquirer Publisher Announces Seven Employees Laid Off

A reader of Jim Hopkins' Gannett Blog sent him an email yesterday that Cincinnati Enquirer Publisher Margaret Buchanan appeared in the newsroom about 5 p.m. Wednesday and announced there had been seven people laid off, two of those in the Local Information Center. She blamed a drop-off in retail advertising that she said began in June and has continued unabated. She said she has not heard anything about a first-quarter furlough.

Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss., Terminates 15 People

The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss., laid off 15 people yesterday.

WLBT reports that the 15 people include managers, photographers and a sports reporter. The Gannett newspaper laid off 20 people in July.

Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer Plans to Lay Off 56 in Production Department

Fifty-six people will lose their jobs as the Ledger-Enquirer newspaper in Columbus, Ga., cuts its production department.

The paper said today that 56 will be laid off within three months, which is the equivalent of one-third of its workforce.

President and publisher Valerie Canepa was quoted in an article written by the paper's Tony Adams, syaing that the printing of the newspaper will be outsourced to the Montgomery Advertiser, while the commercial work will be done at Gannett Offset in Atlanta.

“It creates operating cost savings and it gives us more flexibility,” Canepa said after informing affected employees Thursday afternoon of the decision to shift the production work elsewhere by Jan. 24.

The printing flexibility includes the ability to have more color pages, additional sections, improved presentation and a variety of page widths, she said.

There also will be what the publisher calls “cost avoidance,” with the large printing press being idled and portions of the Ledger-Enquirer building at the corner of Twelfth Street and Front Avenue being closed off to reduce power bills.

“We save on utility costs because the press uses a lot of power,” she said, noting through September the newspaper’s electricity bill was 13 percent higher than the year before. “We save on property tax. We have all of these benefits.”

Of the 30 daily newspapers owned by Sacramento, Calif.-based The McClatchy Company, eight now outsource their production work. They include papers in Bellingham, Wash.; Boise, Idaho; Bradenton, Fla.; Macon, Ga.; Modesto, Calif.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and Olympia, Wash.

The shift in production will come at a steep price, however, with 56 of the 63 employees in the production department losing their jobs. Seven staffers will be retained, Canepa said, with the newspaper needing transportation and circulation personnel to truck the printed products from Montgomery and Atlanta to Columbus.

The company plans to contact the Georgia Department of Labor and other local businesses to help impacted workers with their search for new jobs, said Regina Torbett, the Ledger-Enquirer’s human resources manager.

Those being laid off will be eligible for severance packages, Canepa said in a memo to Ledger-Enquirer staff, while a job bank and outplacement center will be set up at the newspaper. The Montgomery Advertiser also is expected to add workers for the new business, the memo said, with former Ledger-Enquirer employees being given “first consideration” during hiring.

“I’ve been in HR for 23 years and have a lot of contacts,” said Torbett. “We are very dedicated to assisting our employees with their job search.”

Once the production jobs are eliminated, the Ledger-Enquirer will have 109 people on its payroll. That’s down from a work force of 245 in April 2006, before the proliferation of mostly free news on the Internet and a national recession began to cut deeply into the U.S. newspaper industry’s advertising and circulation revenue.

The Ledger-Enquirer, which dates to 1828, has gone through a handful of buyouts, layoffs and operating cost cuts over the last 28 months to manage through the tidal shift in business — remaining profitable the entire time. McClatchy has cut more than 4,000 jobs companywide in that period.

“The Ledger-Enquirer has a long and proud tradition of serving this community, and this move will not affect our mission,” Canepa said in her note to employees Thursday.

“I know that weathering this recession has been exceptionally hard for all of us, but we continue to be successful because of our ability to adapt to a constantly changing economic environment,” she said.

TALENT AVAILABLE

The Ledger-Enquirer is eliminating its production department by Jan. 24. Here are skilled positions being cut and soon to be available to other employers:

-- Manager/supervisors

-- Press operators

-- Machine operators

-- Forklift operators

-- Maintenance

-- Machinist/maintenance

-- Pre-press operators

-- Plate makers

-- Mailers/inserters

Fox is Even a Bigger Winner Tuesday Than the GOP By Trouncing CNN, MSNBC

Fox had its biggest midterm election night ever, reports Brian Stelter of The New York Times, by clubbing its competitors by about 300 percent.

Fox pulled in 6.96 million viewers in prime time, while CNN averaged 2.42 million viewers, and MSNBC averaged 1.94 million viewers. That's 287 percent more than CNN and 358 percent more than MSNBC.

Stelter reported that the Nielsen Co. would not have comparison numbers against the broadcast networks until tomorrow, but early indications are that Fox would beat them, too.

Among viewers 25 to 54 years old, Fox News averaged 2.43 million in prime time, Stelter writes. CNN averaged 1.03 million among that demographic and MSNBC, 669,000.

Fox averaged 3.06 million viewers during the midterms in 2006, when there was a Democratic wave, Stelter reports. Fox has grown significantly in popularity since then.

CNN, by contrast, has shrunk — it had averaged 2.97 million viewers in the midterms in 2006. MSNBC’s prime-time averages were almost the same in 2006 and 2010.

(On the night of the presidential election in 2008, CNN averaged 12.3 million viewers in prime time, Fox averaged 9 million, and MSNBC averaged 5.9 million.)

The cable news channels’ ratings were inflated all day because of the election, but Fox ratings were inflated more than the others. Fox averaged 3.02 million viewers from 6 a.m. Tuesday to 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Belo, Owner of the Dallas Morning News, Reports $4.6 Million Net Income in 3Q of 2010

A.H. Belo Corp. today reported net income of $4.6 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2010 compared to a net loss of $5.8 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2009, a company release said.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) was $14.2 million, an increase of $20 million compared to the third quarter of 2009. Third quarter 2010 EBITDA includes pension expense of $1.6 million; a $1.1 million bonus accrual; a $1.4 million gain on two real estate transactions in Dallas; a $1.2 million reversal of an accrual for workers’ compensation insurance; and $1.1 million of insurance proceeds.

When pension expense is added to EBITDA (“Adjusted EBITDA”) in both periods, the resulting Adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter of 2010 was $15.8 million, an increase of $21.6 million compared to the third quarter of 2009.

“The Board and Management Committee are very pleased with the progress reflected in A. H. Belo’s third quarter performance," chairman, president and chief executive officer Robert W. Decherd said in the release. "Our corporate and operating unit teams have worked intensely for the past two years to reach this relative stability in an industry environment that continues to change at a rapid pace.

"Third quarter total revenue decreased 6.1 percent compared to 2009 and was only 100 basis points below the company’s 2010 Financial Plan for the third quarter.

"Expense containment and cost reductions remain top priorities across the entire organization.

"As of Sept. 30, the company had approximately $81.3 million of cash and cash equivalents, no borrowings outstanding under its bank credit facility, and remained in compliance with bank covenants.

"The addition of $21.3 million of cash and cash equivalents during the third quarter further strengthens the company’s ability to maintain and enhance the quality of its local content and make decisions in the long-term interests of the company, its shareholders and its employees.”

Fed to Buy $600 Billion in U.S.Bonds to Try to Jump Start the Economy

The Federal Reserve sailed into uncharted waters today by committing to buy $600 billion more in government bonds (at a rate of $75 billion per month) by the middle of next year to give the U.S. economy a jump start.

This is the full text of the statement from the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee issued on Wednesday following a two-day meeting on monetary policy:

"Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in September confirms that the pace of recovery in output and employment continues to be slow. Household spending is increasing gradually, but remains constrained by high unemployment, modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Business spending on equipment and software is rising, though less rapidly than earlier in the year, while investment in nonresidential structures continues to be weak.

Employers remain reluctant to add to payrolls. Housing starts continue to be depressed. Longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable, but measures of underlying inflation have trended lower in recent quarters.

Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. Currently, the unemployment rate is elevated, and measures of underlying inflation are somewhat low, relative to levels that the Committee judges to be consistent, over the longer run, with its dual mandate. Although the Committee anticipates a gradual return to higher levels of resource utilization in a context of price stability, progress toward its objectives has been disappointingly slow.

To promote a stronger pace of economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate, the Committee decided today to expand its holdings of securities. The Committee will maintain its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its securities holdings.

In addition, the Committee intends to purchase a further $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of the second quarter of 2011, a pace of about $75 billion per month.

The Committee will regularly review the pace of its securities purchases and the overall size of the asset-purchase program in light of incoming information and will adjust the program as needed to best foster maximum employment and price stability.

The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate for an extended period.

The Committee will continue to monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and will employ its policy tools as necessary to support the economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate.

Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; James Bullard; Elizabeth A. Duke; Sandra Pianalto; Sarah Bloom Raskin; Eric S. Rosengren; Daniel K. Tarullo; Kevin M. Warsh and Janet L. Yellen.

Voting against the policy was Thomas M. Hoenig. Mr. Hoenig believed the risks of additional securities purchases outweighed the benefits. Mr. Hoenig also was concerned that this continued high level of monetary accommodation increased the risks of future financial imbalances and, over time, would cause an increase in long-term inflation expectations that could destabilize the economy."