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.

Oji Cutting 10% of Staff, Reviewing PMs

http://www.ojiholdings.co.jp/english/index.html

Japan's Oji Holdings is planning to reduce its workforce by 10% come March 2016, and may follow this with the closure of some paper and board machines.

The move is part of a scheme to restructure the business further and focus on the Indian and Southeast Asian markets.

The staff cuts will mean some 2,000 job losses from the current workforce of around 20,000. 

Oji said it has already closed, or announced plans to shut, 14 printing and writing paper machines, a board unit and two specialty paper machines since 2008, although it did not specify how much capacity this removed from the market.

As part of its strategy to expand in India, Oji recently agreed to form a joint venture with the local firm JK Paper and another Japanese outfit Marubeni.

The jv will build a corrugated packaging plant in Neemrana, Rajasthan state, for startup in January 2014.

Supreme Court: AbitibiBowater Not Responsible

Supreme Court decision: AbitibiBowater not responsible for environmental cleanup costs in Newfoundland and Labrador:
The Supreme Court of Canada has sided with AbitibiBowater (now Resolute Forest Products) over the environmental cleanup of its operations in Newfoundland and Labrador, including the former Grand Falls-Windsor mill.
AbitibiBowater/Resolute Forest Products will not be responsible for any environmental clean-up in the the province.

CMPC to Spend $2.1 Billion on 1.3 Million mtpy Pulp Line

http://www.paperage.com/2012news/12_06_2012empresas_cmpc_guaiba_expansion.html

The board of Chilean pulp producer Empresas CMPC announced today that it has approved investing $2.1 billion on a new 1.3 million tonnes/yr bleached eucalyptus kraft (BEK) pulp line at its Brazilian Guaíba facility, in Rio Grande do Sul state, southeast Brazil. The Guaíba facility currently produces 450,000 tonnes/yr of BEK.

The company expects the new line - Guaíba II -to begin pulp production in the first quarter of 2015, and be 100% self-sufficient in terms of pulpwood supply.

Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Union Votes on Strike

Union has a 99.4% strike vote at Howe Sound Pulp and Paper:
CEP Local 1119 at the Howe Sound Pulp and Paper mill in Port Mellon, British Columbia has a solid strike mandate.
82% of the over 400 workers in the Local voted on November 29.
99.4% of the votes cast endorsed strike action.

USPS & UPS Green Partners

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/12/06/5036070/blue-and-brown-make-green-public.html

In a video address to a global audience, U.S. Postal Service Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Donahoe, and UPS Chairman and CEO Scott Davis announced a unique partnership designed to offer better service to customers, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and optimize operational efficiencies. -->
"We've named our partnership 'Blue and Brown Make Green,'" said Donahoe. "By working together, the Postal Service and UPS are able to reduce costs, serve our customers better and achieve sustainability goals, such as reducing our carbon footprints.

Whole Living Magazine Shuttered

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/readers-staffers-mourn-whole-livings-demise-145784

Martha Stewart is shutting down Whole Living magazine, spurring hundreds of readers, staffers and fans to take to Twitter to mourn the magazine’s demise, praising everything from its team of editors to great recipes and “visually elegant” content.

MSLO had been in talks to sell the magazine to former Hachette Filipacchi CEO Jack Kliger and TV Guide owner OpenGate Capital for $2.5 million, but they apparently fell through. MSLO told staffers yesterday afternoon that Whole Living was kaput.

New Bay Media Buys Intent Media

http://www.foliomag.com/2012/newbay-plans-european-expansion-intent-media-acquisition

NewBay Media, publisher of brands in the video, audio and music markets, has acquired London-based Intent Media. The deal adds 19 titles, more than 20 events and related assets to NewBay's product lineup.
It also sets up a bidirectional product expansion opportunity: NewBay titles can expand internationally and Intent Media brands can be developed in the U.S.

World Assoc. of Newspaper: 2.5 Billion Readers

http://www.wan-ifra.org/press-releases/2012/11/29/just-published-world-press-trends-2012

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) today published the 2012 edition of World Press Trends, its annual report on the state of the global newspaper industry.
Some key points:
2.5 billion people read a newspaper in print regularly.
Newspaper circulation grew by 1.1 per cent globally last year, to 512 million copies, and 4.2 per cent between 2007 and 2011. The growing newspaper business in Asia has more than offset circulation losses elsewhere in the world.