Nippon, Union Sign Agreement at Washington Mill

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20130802/NEWS/308029976/0/SEARCH

Nippon Paper Industries USA union workers approved a six-year contract this week, averting a possible strike.

The agreement restores the $3 per hour that was cut from workers' wages in a contract Nippon imposed in March - one that prompted a five-day strike - and freezes wages at pre-strike levels for the foreseeable future, Darrel Reetz, vice president of Association of Western Pulp & Paper Workers Local 155, said Thursday.

Nippon employees had not had a wage increase since they received a 75-cents-an-hour increase in 2010, Reetz said.

Maine Forest Industry Supports DEP Proposal

http://www.pressherald.com/news/easing-of-smog-rules-backed-by-paper-mills_2013-08-01.html

The Department of Environmental Protection is seeking federal approval to change Maine's air pollution plan under the federal Clean Air Act. Critics say the change would undermine a 13-state agreement that has been credited with reducing smog in the Northeast.
The DEP's proposal would end a requirement that new or refitted plants meet the most stringent emission standards, known as the "lowest achievable emission rate." It also would end a requirement that such plants compensate for their emissions by buying "offsets" on a regulated market.
The proposed change, which needs approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was to have been submitted, without a hearing, after the public comment period ended Tuesday. But on Monday, three environmental groups and several legislators made formal requests for a hearing, and the DEP must comply under federal law.
The change would benefit Maine's pulp and paper industry because most plants are converting, or seeking to convert, their power source from oil to natural gas, Maine Pulp and Paper Association President John Williams told the Portland Press Herald.

New Time CEO Names CFO

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/new-time-inc-ceo-joe-ripp-taps-outsider-first-hire-151682

Newly named Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp won’t start until September, but he’s already made his first hire. It's Jeff Bairstow, who will be evp and CFO of the publishing giant as it prepares to spin off from Time Warner.

Bairstow and Ripp have a long history of working together, first at Dendrite International, a drug software company where Ripp was president and COO after leaving Time Warner and where Bairstow was CFO. In 2010, Ripp hired Bairstow as CFO at regional newspaper chain Journal Register Co. where Ripp was chairman.
For the past two years, Bairstow has served as president of Digital First Media, a two-year-old company that was formed to manage Journal Register Co. and MediaNews Group.

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296

Other New Hires:

Time Inc. and Time.com have hired three editorial staff. Ryan Sager hired from WSJ as editorial director, Time Ideas; Callie Schweitzer hired from Vox Media as director of digital innovation; Chris Wilson hired from Yahoo as interactive graphics designer. Also, Sam Mansour hired from Say Media, to be director of digital ad product experience (will “work across Time Inc.’s sales, creative, product, technology, and operations teams to accelerate our drive to be a premier provider of innovative and compelling display and video ad product solutions across desktop, tablet and mobile platforms”).

Preliminary H1 Newsstand Sales

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296

Final figures won’t be out for about two weeks, but this week’s New Single Copy reports MagNet-supplied preliminary estimates for first half. Estimates show 1H unit sales about -12%; retail sales about -9.7%. Q2 unit sales about -10%; dollar sales about -8%. Separately, NSC also reports that the delisting of 891 magazine titles from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) has actually been going on for several years, and that many of the titles listed for deletion were actually no longer published. (No direct content links; NSC site is www.nscopy.com.)

Hearst, Estee Lauder Join in Project

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296

Hearst Magazines Digital Media and integrated communications agency OMD have teamed with Estee Lauder for what they describe as the first Flipboard magazine created for a product launch. Set to launch today, the Estée Lauder Beauty Book highlights the science behind the Lauder brand’s newly updated Advanced Night Repair, and also offers fashion, beauty, health and lifestyle content from the editorial teams of Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and Marie Claire. Hearst also will create custom-developed content for the project.

Marketers Say Data is Most Underused Asset

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130805/DIRECT0101/308059999/report-marketers-say-data-is-most-underused-asset

Almost half of marketers said data is the most underused asset in their organization, according to a survey from Teradata Corp.

The study, “Teradata Data-driven Marketing Survey 2013,” was based on an online survey of more than 2,200 global marketers, conducted in May.

It found that less than 10% of respondents currently used the data they have in a systematic way to improve the customer experience.

Also, 75% that try to calculate ROI on marketing investment said they encounter problems, mostly in the lack of system integration.

According to the survey, 71% of respondents said they plan to implement a Big Data analytics solution in the next two years.

'Boston Globe,' 'Newsweek' Sales Follow Years Of Declines

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/206110/boston-globe-newsweek-sales-follow-years-of-d.html#axzz2b7goLyIC

The separate sales of The Boston Globe and Newsweek, announced over the weekend by The New York Times Co. and IAC, respectively, offer benchmarks for charting print’s dramatic decline over the last decade, as both audiences and advertising revenues have dwindled to a fraction of their former size.
  NYTCO announced Saturday that it was selling The Boston Globe and other properties in its New England Media Group, including the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, to Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry for a total $70 million. Henry beat out other bidders, including Robert Loring, owner of The Tampa Tribune, and Ben and Steve Taylor, members of the family which owned the Globe before NYTCO.
That price represents a 93.6% discount over the $1.1 billion paid for the newspaper in 1993, although the new price tag doesn’t include expenses in the form of liabilities like future employee benefits and debt.

New York Times Co. Sells Boston Globe

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/new-york-times-co-sells-boston-globe-151671

The New York Times Co. has sold The Boston Globe to Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry for $70 million. The deal marks a big step in the Times Co.’s sale of its noncore assets to focus on its eponymous New York Times brand. It also underscores the deep drop in value that newspapers have seen since the Times Co. bought the Globe for $1.1 billion in 1993, a high water mark for newspaper prices.

Along with the rest of the U.S. newspaper industry, the Globe has suffered declining advertising and circulation in recent years. Nonetheless, the Globe is still considered a plum newspaper property, having had some success getting paying online subscribers, and its sale attracted widespread interest from other would-be buyers, including a group led by ex-Time Inc. CEO Jack Griffin that included the Globe’s former owners and the owner of the U-T San Diego.

Wired and Bon Appétit Collaborate

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/wired-and-bon-app-tit-collaborate-food-issue-151652

Bon Appétit and Wired might seem like strange bedfellows. But when you consider the ever-growing intersection of food and science (think molecular gastronomy, hotly debated GMOs), the magazines’ plans to team up on food editorial content starts to make sense.

The idea was hatched, fittingly, over lunch. Wired editor in chief Scott Dadich was planning a feature about MSG and umami and had been toying with the idea of building a food-themed issue around it.The magazine had done food issues before but from a strictly scientific viewpoint; this time, Dadich wanted to add a service component to help readers “enjoy the process of cooking and eating.

Newsweek Sold to IBT Media

http://www.foliomag.com/2013/newsweek-sold-ibt-media#.Uf_qpFOYyKw 

It was announced this weekend that IBT Media has agreed to purchase Newsweek from IAC.
IBT Media is the New York-based, digital-only publisher of flagship brand International Business Times, as well as ten other online news sites.
The deal splits Newsweek from The Daily Beast, which will remain with IAC. IBT will relaunch the brand under its former Newsweek.com URL.
IBT launched in 2006 and its platform reaches a combined 30 million unique visitors.
Terms of the deal were not released, but it's expected to close within a week.

RRD Closing Missouri Plant

http://www.newstribune.com/news/2013/aug/02/community-employees-react-rr-donnelleys-decision-c/#.Uf8JV2RASjo
RR Donnelley, Jefferson City’s 12th largest employer, told its employees Thursday that the Jefferson City operations will be shut down later this year.
In notices to state and city officials, required by federal law, the company said 475 people will lose their jobs “during a 14-day period commencing on Oct. 1, 2013.” 
The facility was established in Jefferson City in 1964, as a part of the Von Hoffmann Press company. RR Donnelley acquired the plant, 321 Wilson Drive, just south of Industrial Drive, in 2007 for $400 million.

H1 Commercial Print Shipments Down

http://blogs.whattheythink.com/economics/2013/08/june-2013-us-commercial-printing-shipments-down-1-6-first-half-of-2103-down-1-5/

The US Commerce Department released commercial printing shipments data for June 2013. In current dollars, shipments were $6.33 billion, down -$100 million (-1.6%) compared to 2012. After adjusting for inflation, shipments were down -$213 million after inflation adjustment (-3.3%).
For the first half of the year, shipments were $39.3 billion in current dollars, down -$579 million (-1.5%), or -$1.19 billion (-2.9%) after inflation.

Graphic Arts Association Names President

http://whattheythink.com/news/64745-melissa-jones-named-graphic-arts-association-president/

The Board of Directors of the Graphic Arts Association has appointed Melissa Jones President of the GAA upon retirement of Marge Baumhauer.  

Jones is a resident of Swedesboro, NJ and has served as the Vice President of Membership and Marketing for the past year as well as Director of Membership from 2001 to 2005. This has given her wide contact with the GAA members and the opportunity to visit numerous plants in the Tri-State region. The Graphic Arts Association is a not-for-profit regional print trade association and manages PA, DE and NJ for the Printing Industries of America. It currently serves over 240 member companies.