Artnet Magazine, a widely read online publication devoted to the visual-art
market, is shutting down due to financial difficulties. The magazine's editor
said in a email statement Monday that "during its 16 years of digital
life, the magazine was never able to pay its own way."
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Author Says "No" to E-Book
Pulitzer
Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo has refused to allow his new novel to be
sold as an e-book.
The 62-year-old said Interventions, a collection of four volumes, is a
"tribute to the printed book" and would not be made available online.
The author, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2002 with Empire Falls, said he
wanted to encourage people to buy from local bookstores. "The rapid rise of e-books and online sales of printed books pose
threats to bookstores, the book publishing industry and the rise of new
authors," he continued.
Summit Business Media Names CFO
Summit Business Media Completes Executive Team With CFO Hire: Adam Marder, most recently the vice president and general manager for sales at EverydayHealth.com, has been named executive vice president and CFO of Summit Business Media. The appointment completes the new executive management team that CEO Steve Weitzner has been putting together since he joined the company in February.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Fourth Producer Cuts Pulp Price
Resolute
Forest Products (Resolute) announced to customers today that its paper grade
softwood kraft market pulp prices would decrease $20/tonne, effective July 1
until further notice, industry contacts told RISI.
Catalyst May Emerge in Near-Term
About
300 jobs at the Catalyst Paper mill in Port Alberni are safe after the
company's second attempt at restructuring was accepted by an overwhelming
number of creditors, Monday.
The
amended plan, which added pensioners to the creditor group, was voted in by 99%
of both secure and unsecure creditors.
Catalyst
should be able to emerge from creditor protection "in the near term"
according to CEO Kevin Clarke.
Help for Kruger
Finance Minister Tom Marshall says
Newfoundland and Labrador is willing to support the struggling Kruger newsprint
mill in Corner Brook with some sort of financing, even thought direct subsidies
have been ruled out.
Conference Board of Canada; Industry Outlook
The
steady shift in consumer preferences toward electronic information sources has
gone beyond print media and is now taking its toll on demand for paper to
produce books. As a result of this waning demand in North America, combined
with ongoing turmoil in the world economy, Canada's paper products industry
faces a weak outlook in the next few years, according to The Conference Board
of Canada's Spring 2012 outlook for the industry.
Two Sides; Changing Attitudes on Print & Paper
Two Sides launches largest sustainability campaign:
It is the biggest campaign ever to be put forward by the graphic communications value chain, believes Two Sides' Martyn Eustace.
It aims to change consumer attitudes towards the sustainability of print media based on research conducted by Two Sides and IPSOS. In September 2011, 5000 consumer interviews found that 80% media users preferred reading from paper than a screen.
It is the biggest campaign ever to be put forward by the graphic communications value chain, believes Two Sides' Martyn Eustace.
It aims to change consumer attitudes towards the sustainability of print media based on research conducted by Two Sides and IPSOS. In September 2011, 5000 consumer interviews found that 80% media users preferred reading from paper than a screen.
American Catalog Markerters Continue Fight
Hamilton
Davison, president of the American Catalog Marketers Assn. is trying to rouse
organization members living in Republican Congressional districts to hassle
their Congress people early and often enough to get them to pull that
underwater provision, part
of the bill calls for increasing the rates on
mail
categories that don’t bring in enough revenue to cover their mailing costs.
Analogue Dollars & Digital Dimes
Are You Swapping Analogue Dollars for Digital Dimes?: If you follow the traditional publishing business model in an ever more digital world, it is inevitable. The traditional magazine business model is based on creating content to attract eyeballs, and then to sell exposure (advertising) to them. This basic plan has kept magazine publishers profitable for over a hundred years. But this model faces harsh challenges in today's digital media world.
Ennis Reports Q1 Results
Ennis Reports Net Sales Decrease in Q1 2012: Our consolidated net sales were $142.5 million for the quarter ended May 31, 2012 compared to $143.3 million for the quarter ended May 31, 2011. Print sales for the current quarter were $87.3 million, compared to $67.1 million for the same quarter last year, or an increase of 30.1%. Apparel sales for the current quarter were $55.2 million, compared to $76.1 million for the same quarter last year, or a decrease of 27.5%.
Goss Names New CEO
Goss Appoints New CEO: Goss International Corporation (“Goss”) today announced a restructuring of management. The Board has appointed Mr. Richard Nichols as CEO of the Company, effective immediately, replacing Mr. Jochen Meissner.The Board expects that the Goss management team, headed by Mr. Nichols, will undertake active and effective measures to stabilize and expand the Goss leadership position in the industry.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
EURO-GRAPH Releases May Coated Ships
EURO-GRAPH reported May European shipments of coated mechanical paper fell -8.4% and demand was down -11.1% as compared to the same month last year. Exports rose +1.2%. Coated woodfree shipments declined -3.5%, demand decreased -1.1% and exports were down -12.4%. Supercalendered paper shipments fell -2.9%, demand declined -2.7% and exports decreased -3.6%
Most Sartell Workers Layed Off, Legislature Could Consider Special Aid
Officials from Verso on Monday acknowledged layoff notices had been given to
most of the work force at their Sartell plant in the wake of the Memorial Day
explosion and fire that rendered the plant inoperable. Meanwhile, state Senate Majority Leader David Senjem said another recent
disaster may open the door for legislators to discuss state aid for Verso. Senjem said recovery aid for the Verso incident, which killed one person and
injured four others, should be considered during a potential special
legislative session to mull flood relief for the Duluth area. Gov. Mark Dayton
has authority to call a special session, and has said one is possible to
provide state aid to the Duluth region after the severe floods that occurred
there last week.
Resolute Idles Catawba's PM 1
Resolute
Forest Products plans to shut its 150,000 tons/yr lightweight coated paper
machine PM 1 at Catawba mill in South Carolina indefinitely on Saturday. The
company said layoffs will start July 2.
Shandong Huatai Starts Paper Machine
China's
Shandong Huatai Paper has started up a 150,000 tonne/yr uncoated fine paper
(UFP) unit and a 150,000 tonne/yr bleached kraft pulp line at a new mill in
Anqing city, Anhui province.
Cataloguers Fight House Postal Bill
Cataloguers push back against postal legislation: The American Catalog Mailers Association is criticizing a postal reform bill that, if passed, would legislate rate increases, bypassing the typical process of rate approval via the Postal Regulatory Commission.
Hearst Plans Private Ad-Buying Marketplace
Another big magazine company is looking to ad tech to make its online ad inventory
more valuable.
Six months after Conde Nast launched a private ad marketplace to increase
the sell-through of its online ad space without opening it up ot public ad
exchanges, Hearst Magazines' digital unit -- Hearst Digital Media -- is
starting to work with an ad-tech vendor on its own exchange.
InfoTrends: Top Trends in Print
InfoTrends Forecasts Shift in On Demand Printing and Publishing Market: InfoTrends has identified the top trends in the U.S. print on demand market in its recently published U.S. Production Printing & Copying Market Forecast: 2011-2016. In this forecast, InfoTrends sees that the success of high-speed continuous-feed color inkjet devices foreshadows a clear shift in the on demand printing and publishing market.
Marketers Scale Back for June
Warc: Marketers see confidence, spending fall marginally: Marketing budgets and hiring worldwide were scaled back in June, according to a report from marketing services information company Warc, as confidence fell in response to the Eurozone debt crisis and an economic slowdown in China.
World Media Closes Newspaper Buys
Media General, Inc. today completed the previously announced
sale of 63 daily and weekly newspapers to World Media Enterprises, Inc., a
subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., for $142
million in cash, subject to adjustment for working capital and other items.
New York Times on Flipboard
The New York
Times’ subscribers will soon be able read the entire paper on the
aggregation/recommendation app. The news is important for Flipboard because it marks the first time the
start-up has convinced a big publisher to give it full access to its “premium”
content. Previously it has let users sample bits of stuff from magazines,
newspapers and the like.
First Full-Scale Green Liquor Plant
First full-scale plant for green liquor filtration in the world
Munksjö Aspa Bruk AB will install the first full-scale plant for green liquor filtration in the world based on the unique method developed by the Clean Flow AB. The process has been successful in operation and evaluated for two years at Aspa mill.
Munksjö Aspa Bruk AB will install the first full-scale plant for green liquor filtration in the world based on the unique method developed by the Clean Flow AB. The process has been successful in operation and evaluated for two years at Aspa mill.
RRD Introduces ProteusJet Multiweb Platform Apps
RR Donnelley Introduces Series of ProteusJet Multiweb Platform Apps: R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company today introduced a series of applications for its new ProteusJet Multiweb platform. ProteusJet enables sophisticated credit, telecom and cable, retail and insurance marketers to manage one-to-one communications to maximize revenues.
Monday, June 25, 2012
April Recovered Paper Demand Up 3%
http://www.paperage.com/2012news/06_25_2012recovered_fiber_afpa.html
The
American Forest & Paper Association released its May 2012 U.S. Recovered
Fiber Monthly Report today. According
to the report, total U.S. industry consumption of recovered paper in May was
2.54 million tons, 3% higher than April 2012. Year-to-date consumption in 2012
is 3% lower than during the same period last year.
Catalyst Announces Plan Update
Catalyst
Paper today announced an update on the further amended plan of arrangement
(Amended Plan) under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. Catalyst Paper
has reached an agreement in principle with certain additional holders of its 7
3/8% senior notes due March 1, 2014 (Unsecured Notes) on the terms of a
settlement and support agreement (Agreement) to be entered into with respect to
the Amended Plan. These additional holders, who voted against the prior Plan of
Arrangement, hold approximately US$120 million aggregate principal amount of
outstanding Unsecured Notes.
CEP Votes ‘Yes’ on Kruger’s Offer
CEP Locals vote ‘yes’ to Kruger’s latest offer in Corner Brook:
The CEP Locals at Corner Brook Pulp and Paper have voted in favour of Kruger‘s latest contract offer. CEP Local 96, the electrician’s local, was the only one of the five CEP locals to reject the offer. Lodge 1567 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers also vote against the offer earlier in the week. The new collective agreement will be effective immediately.
The CEP Locals at Corner Brook Pulp and Paper have voted in favour of Kruger‘s latest contract offer. CEP Local 96, the electrician’s local, was the only one of the five CEP locals to reject the offer. Lodge 1567 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers also vote against the offer earlier in the week. The new collective agreement will be effective immediately.
The RISI Top 50 Power List 2012
The RISI Top 50 Power List 2012: Now into its fifth incarnation of the movers and shakers of the global pulp and paper industry, the Power List continues to name the well known, not-so-well known and the offbeat who (or which) all contribute to our industry. Moving into the top spot in 2012 is Domtar's John Williams. Thus far, most of what the company touches turns, if not to gold, then to "green". It is in the forefront of much of the innovation going on today within the industry. Staying in the Number 2 position is Teguh Ganda Wijaya of APP. Constantly in the headlines, good and bad, APP has a knack for making waves around the world and has been very active on the acquisition scene.
International Paper's John Faraci is a perennial selection, always near the top for his business acumen. UPM's Jussi Pesonen is another pioneer who has moved up a few rungs on the ladder for his leadership in bringing UPM more into the "bio" sphere.
Penton Buys Highline
Penton Buys U.K.-Based Highline: Penton announced today that it has acquired Highline LP, a company based outside of London that provides data and sales information for the business and commercial aviation markets. The two companies have been partners for about sixteen years, with Highline providing its data for Penton's AC-U-KWIK brand, a directory of airports, fixed-base operators (FBOs) and the various suppliers that support the aviation market—fuel suppliers, maintenance, catering and so on.
Response to Catalogues & Direct Mail 30 X Email
Despite all the hype about its impending
death, direct mail still pulls, even if the medium is not quite as big as it
once was. According to the Direct Marketing Association’s annual response rate report,
response rates for direct mail sent to house files ranges from 3.4% for
letters up to nearly 4.3% for catalogs. And that’s more than 30 times the rate of
email (0.12%).
IDC:80% Say Reduced Supply Chain Costs Top Goal
IDC Manufacturing
Insights today announced the results of the 2012 US Supply Chain
Survey, which examines the state of the supply chain, how manufacturers are
adapting and improving their supply chains, and how technology plays a role in
enabling manufacturers to be more successful. Based on a survey of 350 US
manufacturers, a new report, 80% of
respondents rate reducing overall supply chain costs as the number one supply
chain priority in the coming year. Nearly 55% suggest supply chain agility is
second and 52% suggest improving product quality and safety is the third most
important priority.
Houghton Mifflin Emerges from Bankruptcy
Global education leader Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt (HMH) today announced that it has completed its financial
restructuring and emerged from its chapter 11 reorganization, 32 days after its
initial “pre‐packaged” filing on May 21, 2012.
Wired & The New Yorker Off Flipboard
Wired
and The New Yorker are suspending efforts to sell ads on the platform and
replacing their robust Flipboard feeds next month with spartan versions that
summon their own websites if readers want whole articles.
Top 5 Reasons to Personalize in Print Over Email
Top 5 Reasons to Personalize in Print Over Email (Digital Nirvana):
Reason # 5. People like to go to the mailbox.
Reason # 4. People change email addresses a lot more frequently than home addresses.
Reason # 3. Print is more likely to get personalization right.
Reason # 2. Print supports the forest products industry rather than the electricity-hogging, mountaintop-removing e-media industry.
Reason # 1. You can’t pin a computer to the wall.
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