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NYT earnings good industry sign

Dick Taffe — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:58:45 +0000

Despite plunging ad revenue, The New York Times Company reports a surprising 85-percent increase in 2Q profits. Professor Lou Ureneck, the Journalism Department chair and former Philadelphia Inquirer deputy editor, says the numbers bode well for an industry recovery.

“It’s too early to end the alarm over newspaper earnings, but it seems to indicate that newspaper publishers have mostly gotten control of the downward spiraling plane through serious cost controls.”

Contact Lou Ureneck, 617-353-4095, lureneck@bu.edu

Bay State Banner gets reprieve

Dick Taffe — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:40:06 +0000

Boston’s only newspaper aimed specifically at the African-American community, the Bay State Banner, was to have been shut down last week for lack of finances. But a group of a dozen investors have been tapped to keep the 44-year-old paper in business. College of Communication Dean Tom Fiedler, a former executive editor of the Miami Herald, can discuss the impact of newspapers on communities of color.

Contact Tom Fiedler, 617-353-3488, tfiedler@bu.edu

Bay State Banner shutting down

Dick Taffe — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:27:21 +0000

Unless an angel investor steps forward, the Bay State Banner – Boston’s only newspaper exclusively covering the African-American community since 1965 – will fold after tomorrow’s edition. College of Communication Professor Lou Ureneck, the Journalism Department chair and authority on the business of newspapers, says the whole industry is in trouble and ethnic-niche papers are particularly vulnerable in this recession.

Contact Lou Ureneck, 617-353-4095, lureneck@bu.edu

USA Today may push mobile

Dick Taffe — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:50:33 +0000

As the newspaper industry struggles with falling ad revenue, USA Today’s new publisher says that paper’s strategy could be a paid-for electronic edition for mobile phones and portable reading devices. College of Communication journalism Professor Sasha Norkin, an expert in new media, can talk about the industry’s e-options.

Contact Sasha Norkin, 617-353-5804, norkin@bu.edu