Sappi/Union Reach Agreement

Sappi Fine Paper North America and the United Steelworkers reach...:
Sappi Fine Paper North America and its Cloquet Mill (Minnesota) employees represented by the United Steelworkers (USW) yesterday announced the ratification of a new labor agreement.
In a statement, Sappi said, "With contract negotiation now complete, the Cloquet mill can continue to concentrate on producing world-class paper and completing the $170 million capital project to convert the pulp mill to specialized cellulose."

Appleton Happy with Commerce Ruling

http://www.paperage.com/2012news/12_07_2012koehler_paper_price_fixing.html

Appleton Papers issued a response today following a preliminary determination by the U.S. Department of Commerce that Papierfabrik August Koehler AG and Koehler America, Inc. (collectively Koehler) deliberately coordinated with multiple parties to structure its sales, pricing and shipping procedures in a manner that would enable it to manipulate its sales prices of lightweight thermal paper (LWTP) reported to the Commerce Department. The Commerce Department also found Koehler's actions consistent with the company's pattern of price manipulation to evade antidumping duties.

Mill Closings Change Way of Life

http://www.jsonline.com/business/182612951.html

In Wisconsin, mills that produce publishing-grade paper have been closing at an average of one a year since 2006. Each shutdown means a loss of 300 to 600 jobs, in turn draining hundreds of millions of dollars from the region and creating an economic drag that rivals the days of automaker shutdowns in Michigan.
An industry that thrived for generations on a tight, homegrown loop - from the forest to the mill to the printer and often back to the mill for recycling - finds itself at the mercy of Wall Street hedge funds and equally unforgiving global economic and political forces.

Renewable Fuel Growing Faster than Fossil

http://www.eia.gov/pressroom/releases/press379.cfm

The Annual Energy Outlook 2013 (AEO2013) Reference case released today by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) presents updated projections for U.S. energy markets through 2040. These projections include only the effects of policies that have been implemented in law or final regulations.

Renewable fuel use grows at a much faster rate than fossil fuel use. The share of electricity generation from renewables grows from 13 percent in 2011 to 16 percent in 2040.

Magazine Closures Down 50%

Magazine Closures Down 50 Percent:
Magazine closures were down nearly 50 percent from last year, while launches declined 5 percent, according to a recent report released by online periodicals database Mediafinder.com.
Only 82 magazines shut down in 2012, compared with 152 in 2011. Conversely, 227 magazines opened, down slightly from the 239 launched last year.
Focusing on the second half of 2012, volume slowed on both ends as 34 magazines closed and 94 began publication.

New Look for Good Housekeeping

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/good-housekeeping-gets-facelift-145820

Women browsing the magazine racks at the supermarket checkout line are in for a big shock: The iconic Good Housekeeping logo is no more. The nearly 130-year-old monthly is getting a major face-lift with its January issue, featuring a new layout, new content and, yes, a very new cover. As far as magazine revamps go, this isn’t subtle.

NBCU/Hearst May Launch Esquire Channel

http://www.adweek.com/news/television/nbcu-nears-deal-hearst-esquire-channel-replacing-g4-145835

Well, that was fast—just as NBCU finished jettisoning G4's most valuable properties (when the company canceled Attack of the Show, you knew something was up), multiple sources said it would be reuniting with Hearst Corp. to create an Esquire channel focusing on "the modern male."
It will probably have to focus on the modern middle-aged male, since young men are a notoriously hard demo to pin down. (Esquire's male readers have a median age of 44.3, per GfK MRI.)

Omnimedia Closes Everday Food

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/188794/omnimedia-shutters-whole-living-everyday-food.html#axzz2EfhzItU0

In the same announcement in which it announced the closing of Whole Living, MSLO revealed that it would also cease publication of Everyday Food, laying off around 12% of its workforce of 600.
Like many peers in the consumer magazine business, Everyday Food and Whole Living have suffered from declining print ad pages. In the first nine months of 2012, Everyday Food saw ad pages slump 8.7% from 232 to 212, while Whole Living fell 11.1% from 394 to 350, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. In the same period ad pages at Martha Stewart Living tumbled 32% to 498.

Bloomberg Considers Buy of Financial Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/business/media/weighing-the-financial-timess-worth-in-the-digital-age.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Not long ago, The Financial Times would have been the crown jewel of any media company, instantly conferring prestige and influence on its owner. Now, given the likely bidders, one of the world’s most respected and distinctive financial newspapers could end up as a trophy to help sell more computer terminals.
Michael R. Bloomberg is weighing the wisdom of buying The Financial Times Group, which includes the paper and a half interest in The Economist, according to three people close to Mr. Bloomberg who spoke on the condition of anonymity to divulge private conversations.

Transcontinental Gets Payment from Hearst

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/109310--transcontinental-pockets-windfall-after-amending-california-printing-contract

Transcontinental has secured a US$200-million windfall from the Hearst Corp. after it agreed to amend its 2006 deal with the newspaper giant due to lower circulation at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Ebony Looks Forward

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/fashion/ebony-looks-to-its-past-as-it-modernizes.html?pagewanted=all

In early November, Ebony.com introduced The Ebony Collection, an online shop that sells framed prints of 2,000 photos selected from the magazine’s million-image archive. Reprinted from the original negatives stored in a climate-controlled room, the images were selected by Ms. Johnson Rice, who spent months poring over her father’s original commissions. “We kept everything,” Ms. Johnson Rice said. “Every major event that’s happened to African-Americans since 1945, with Ebony as a repository for all those photographs and as a voice for all that happened."

Direct Mail Engaging with Mobile Features

Direct Mail with Mobile Features Is Changing Holiday Shopping: Direct mail remains a medium of choice for holiday shoppers and marketers alike. And enhanced with mobile and Web technologies, such as Quick-Response (QR) codes, personalized URLs and augmented reality, it’s engaging consumers like never before.

Small Town People Rely On Print, TV for News

A Third of Small Town Americans Rely Solely On Traditional Media for News: A third of small town and rural residents rely solely on traditional forms of media (print newspaper, local TV) for their local news than those in larger cities and suburbs.
Three in 10 residents (34%) in less populated areas rely exclusively on traditional sources of information such as print newspaper and local television broadcasts (31% and 34%, respectively), compared with 21% of residents of large cities and 16% of those living in suburban communities.