|
Homepage
| Archives
| The Dead List
The UnDead
| Report a Passing
| Search
Click here to return to
The Editorial Dead ZoneTM
Homepage.
September 2003
- Barnes & Noble Abandons the Future
Barnes & Noble has now sold its print-on-demand facility to
Lightning Source. Last month BarnesandNoble.com also deleted
its ebookstore -- despite the fact that ebook sales continue
to rise. What's next for the book retailer who seems
determined to step back in time? No word yet on the rumor that
that soon clerks will write up sales by hand, after all those
newfangled computerized cash registers are removed.
Source: Publishers Weekly 9-25-03
- UCLA Anderson Forecast is forecasting Hollywood jobs to
steadily decline over the next couple years. A lot of
local production jobs are being moved outside of California.
Source: Variety 9-24-03
- The Wall Street Journal has laid off twelve editors
as it begins to combine news operations in Asia,
Europe and the United States.
Source: AdAge.com 9-23-03
- Ashcroft: Patriot Act Critics are "Hysterics"
U.S. Attorney general John Ashcroft has called some
Patriot Act Critics (which includes librarians and the
American Library Association) "hysterics" and accused
them of seeing FBI agents as being "like in the X-Files".
In one speech Ashcroft also said that the FBI just
doesn't care what people read.
Later, the ALA responded to John Ashcroft's remarks in a
written statement by ALA President Carla Hayden.
Source: Publishers Weekly, JS Online, Newsday 9-19-03
- Book distributor Baker & Taylor has laid off
150 of the 800 people working at its Momence, Illinois
warehouse.
Source: Publishers Weekly 9-22-03
- Buy.com, an online retailer, is ceasing publication
of the print edition of BuyMagazine and moving
the content to the Web at
buymagazine.com.
BuyMagazine had over 600,000 subscribers, but only 200
paid subscribers.
Source: DMNews.com 9-19-03
- Time Warner Removes AOL From Name
AOL
Time Warner has become Time Warner.
The board of the company voted to remove
the "AOL" portion of the name. AOL will continue
to be part of Time Warner.
Source: CNN/Money 9-18-03
- Adweek Magazines has laid off five more editorial
employees due to the weak economy.
Source: Mediaweek 9-17-03
- Editor & Publisher Reduces Publishing Frequency
Editor & Publisher is moving from a weekly
schedule to a monthly publishing schedule.
No layoffs will result from the frequency change.
Source: BizReport.com 9-16-03
- Mugabe Closes Zimbabwe's Only Independent
Zimbabwe's only independent newspaper, the Daily News,
has been shuttered by the country's ruler,
President Robert Mugabe. The U.S. is demanding that
Mugabe let the paper resume publishing immediately.
Source: Voice of America 9-16-03
- New Millennium Files, Publishes Jayson Blair
New Millennium Enterprises has filed for Chapter 11.
Despite the filing the company will be publishing a new
book by Jayson Blair, the reporter who made up stories
while working for the New York Times. Many larger
publishers passed on Blair's book.
Source: Publishers Weekly 9-15-03
- Context Books, an
independent publishing house in New York City,
has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Source: Publishers Weekly 9-15-03
- Simon & Schuster has put its interactive game unit,
Simon & Schuster Interactive, up for sale. Some staff
were also laid off.
Source: Publishers Weekly 9-15-03
- American Media (AMI), publisher of tabloids like the
The National Enquirer and health magazines like
Shape and Men's Fitness, has laid off
70 employees. AMI blamed the layoffs a drop in
newsstand sales. Most of the layoffs came from AMI's
editorial department.
Source: American Media, Maimi.com,
New York Post 9-12-03
- Music Industry Targets Young Girl, Grandfather
In the pursuit to stop illegal music downloads, the
Recording Industry of America (RIAA) has served 261
people with lawsuits. Among
the lawsuits were a 12-year-old girl and a 71 year-old
grandfather. The grandfather did not even make the downloads
himself -- his grandchildren had visited and used his
computer.
Source: BBC News,
WWForums.com Discussion 9-10-03
- BarnesandNoble.com Deletes Ebookstore
BarnesandNoble.com has deleted its online ebookstore --
despite the fact that ebook sales are increasing each year
and that ebooks promise to be the format of most books in the
future. The company said its ebook sales were low
and also blamed publishers for not having enough electronic
versions of books and for pricing them to high. Meanwhile,
Palm Digital Media told PW Newsline they were now selling
over 1,500 ebooks per day.
Source: Fool.com, News.com, Publishers Weekly, Slashdot 9-9-03
- Media Recession Continues
Despite some positive news on ad spending gains through
the first half of the year, the media industry is still
in a recession. The job market remains a disappointment and
opportunities for ad growth are dismal.
Source: AdAge.com 9-9-03
- Barnes & Noble Cuts 1/4 of Community Reps
Barnes & Noble has fired 25% of its 400 community relations managers.
Community and event responsibilities will be turned over to the
store managers at stores no longer employing a community relations
manager. Borders eliminated the community rep position in 2001.
Source: Publishers Weekly 9-8-03
- Big Idea Productions, the creators of the Veggie Tales
video series, has filed for bankruptcy protection. Big Idea
is also selling its assets to Classic Media LLC. Recent layoffs
have cut Big Idea's staff from 200 employees to only 44.
Source: ChristianityToday.com, Beliefnet.com 9-4-03
- A&E Television's Biography Magazine will
cease publishing monthly and be removed from newsstands
this December. In 2004 the publication will become a quarterly
membership publication for a new biography club. Layoffs are
also expected in the near future at Biography Magazine.
Source: AdAge.com 9-4-03
- Dateline NBC has laid off about 15 producers. The show is also
being cut from three nights to just two nights per week.
Source: TelevisionWeek 9-1-03
- There are more women attending journalism schools, but so far
the amount of women with journalism jobs has not increased.
About 64% of journalism undergraduates are women, but only 33% of
journalism jobs are held by women.
Source: The Boston Globe 9-1-03
Archives Homepage:
Click here to
return to the Archives homepage.
|
|
