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February 2004
- Electronic Arts is closing its Origin Systems
division, the developers of Ultima Online. Up to 100
staffers could be laid off as a result. However, Ultima Online, a
multiplayer online fantasy role-playing game, will continue
despite the future of Origin according to an IGN article.
Source: GameSpot.com, IGN 2-28-04
- Capital City Press, the publisher
of The Advocate
(Baton Rouge, LA), is closing an in-house printing division and laying off its nine employees.
Source: The Advocate 2-28-04
- Teen Magazines Sales Plummet
Teen magazines sales are plunging. Newsstand sales
of some top teen magazines have dropped 20-40% since
2001.
Source: New York Daily News 2-20-04
- B-to-B Ad Recovery: Not Yet
Industry executives are wondering is there really will be
a b-to-b advertising recovery after January ad volume
at the Wall Street Journal dropped over 5%.
Source: btobonline.com 2-20-04
- Webmonkey, a website that helped web developers with
coding dilemmas, is being shut down. Webmonkey's
closing follows recent layoffs at Terra Lycos. Lycos
laid off 20% of its U.S. workforce.
Source: Wired, Slashdot 2-20-04
- Matt Drudge Criticized For Reporting Rumor
Matt Drudge, who runs the DrudgeReport.com website, is
being criticized for his posting of a rumor about presidential
candidate Senator John Kerry
having an affair that turned out not to be true. Most major
media outlets did not cover the story because there was no
evidence to support the claim. However, Drudge continued
to report on the affair rumor despite the lack of evidence.
Aly Colón, a director at the Poynter Institute, told
USA Today that "The idea that because something is 'out
there' it needs to be reported is not a compelling reason
to go with a story. Then we could just be putting out
garbage." Those defending Drudge say he was only reporting
on what the media was doing.
Source: USAToday.com, WWForums.com Discussion 2-19-04
- The Herald Mail Star will cease being publishing as a
stand alone edition on March 1.
The 125-year-old Mail-Star will become a local news section
in the the Halifax Chronicle-Herald.
Source: Canoe 2-18-04
- Glitch Reveals Self Promoters on Amazon
It has long been rumored that some authors were posting reviews
of their own books on Amazon.com's websites but a recent glitch on
Amazon's Canada website (amazon.ca) made this practice all too visible.
The glitch displayed the actual names of posters that were supposed
to be left anonymous. Some authors were able to defend the self-promotional
practice by saying they were trying to rebuke vicious trash reviews
from anonymous posters.
Sources: CNN, New York Times, Slashdot 2-15-04
- Lycos Lays Off 20%
Lycos has laid off 20% of its U.S. workforce -- about 90 employees.
Lycos is also leasing unused office space at its Mountain View,
California office.
Source: News.com 2-11-04
- Tower Records has filed for bankruptcy protection. The
company claims the financial problems are the result of
overexpansion but critics believe Tower Records' financial
troubles are the result of the Internet and consumers
purchasing less CDs.
Source: SFGate.com 2-11-04
- Internet Eroding TV Viewership
Another study, this time by the UCLA, has found that the Internet
is decreasing television viewership. The UCLA study found that
regular Internet users watch 28% less television.
Source: AdAge.com 2-9-04
- Possible Layoffs at Christian Science Monitor
Financial difficulties might bring about editorial job cuts at the
Christian Science Monitor in the near future. The publisher,
First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, is also considering
charging for online access to the popular news resource.
Source: Boston Globe 2-6-04
- Washington Post Forgets to Renew Domain
The Washington Post lost email access for a day after
failing to renew their washpost.com domain name.
Source: Washington Post 2-5-04
- Bad News For Literary Fiction
The literary fiction world may be in for a shock as
Bill Keller, the new editor of the New York Book Review,
plans more coverage of mainstream nonfiction and
mass-market fiction.
Source: Salon.com (subscription) 2-5-04
- CBS will delay the broadcast of The Grammy Awards
with a five minute delay to avoid problems like when
Janet Jackson's breast was exposed during the Super Bowl
Halftime Show. The FCC has
already launched an investigation
into the Janet Jackson and Jason Timberlake incident and CBS
wants to avoid a repeat at the Grammy Awards. Critics
argue that both the FCC investigation and the five minute delay
planned by CBS are overblown and unnecessary.
Sources: USA Today, Media Cynic 2-3-04
- Oxford University Press has laid off 35 employees as part of a
reorganization.
Source: Publishers Weekly 2-3-04
- Borders Group Inc. has laid off 30 employees from its
Waldenbooks division in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Source: Detroit Free Press 2-2-04
- Martha Stewart Living saw a 34.6% drop in ad pages in 2003.
The drop came as advertisers left the magazine because of Martha
Stewart's legal problems. The number of subscribers to the magazine
also fell, but not by as much. The rate base for Martha Stewart Living
was cut 22% to 1.8 million.
Source: AdAge.com 2-2-04
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