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The business managers of the Milwaukee Sentinel and Milwaukee Journal have decided to merge the two newspapers, creating anxiety as well as excitement in the newsrooms. About 200 full-time employees will be laid off during the merger, and management and editorial boards will be reduced. In addition, many jobs will be reassigned and titles will be changed. Senior management is excited about the chance to create a new paper, and marketers believe that advertisers will be happy with the new format and rates.

A study is conducted to examine how common stock price is affected by the placement of a company's commercial paper on Standard and Poor's (S&P) CreditWatch list, its removal from the list, and S&P rerating of the paper. Placement on the CreditWatch list means that S&P is reconsidering the rating of a security, while removal from the list means that the rerating process has been completed. The review process may result in a lower rating, a higher rating or an unchanged rating. The findings of the study suggest that financial markets obtain information from CreditWatch placements and S&P reratings. It is found that negative placements on the list and rating reductions result in a statistically negative stock price reaction.

A study is conducted to examine the costs, benefits and strategic value of the redistribution function in the industrial paper and plastics industry. Specifically, the study seeks to find out what the value-added of the redistribution channel is, how distributors should source their products, how manufacturing companies can use their channel management policies to boost their profits, and how inventory and stock control policies impact the aforementioned issues. Results offer an economic justification for the role of redistributor in the industrial paper and plastics industry. The existence of middlemen in the distribution system is found to be advantageous for all players in the industry. They boost the inventory turns of distributors and allow manufacturers to cater to small distributors. Without redistributors, the costs of distributors would soar.

VANCOUVER-BASED Macmillan-Bloedel reached a definitive agreement to sell its MB Paper Ltd. subsidiary for $850 million, Canadian, (U.S. $593.6 million) to an investment group led by Goepel McDermid Inc., also [...]

Research and development (R&D) within the pulp and paper industry of Finland and the US are compared. Chemical and equipment industries are major forces behind Finnish pulp and paper R&D. Contract research is declining because of financial instability within the industry. US pulp and paper R&D is more heavily influenced by environmental constraints than Finnish R&D. Developing technology is an important element in maintaining a competitive edge.

Purdue University's Purdue Exponent, a campus newspaper serving the University's Lafayette Ind. campus and Iowa State Daily, a campus paper from Iowa State University are competing against local newspapers for market share. Journal and Courier of Indiana launched Campus Weekly to target students on Purdue's campus. The paper failed because of increase in newsprint and students preferred the Exponent. The Daily Tribune of Iowa has launched several weeklies targeting students at the university. So far, the Daily Tribune seems to have the upper hand over the the Iowa State Daily.

An examination of corporate bond and commercial paper data covering a 131 year period was conducted to ascertain whether seasonal effects in the stock market could be discerned, particularly a January effect in common stocks. Research into fixed-income securities from January 1857 to December 1987 shows that there is a January effect for both classes of fixed income financial instruments for the entire period, but analysis reveals that the January effect is stronger for the period before 1915. Analysis indicates that results vary according to the time period and instrument chosen. Results reveal that the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, by replacing the National Banking System with the Federal Reserve System, eliminated a degree of seasonality. Except for the 1971-87 period, there is no discernible January effect after 1914 and a dampening of common stock price effects after 1914.

Newspapers plan to cope with growing costs by reducing web width, but several options could achieve comparable savings. Several papers have already reduced the size of their newsprint rolls from 55 to 50 inches, but the costs of initial modifications to printing presses may be prohibitive for many publishers. Instead, newspapers could switch to lighter-weight paper and save almost as much as they would changing web width. Newspapers could also eliminate pages while retaining content through reducing type size. Newspapers which have increased web size to cut costs are also discussed.

The Iowa State Daily and the Daily Tribune, which are newspapers published in Ames, IA, are staging a fierce battle to gain the Iowa State University of Science and Technology readership market. Both newspapers have launched free weekly newspapers. The Iowa State Daily, a student-run newspaper, has been worried about the Daily Tribune's decision to enter the university market. The Daily Tribune, a local paper, believes that the Iowa State Daily's decision to hire a professional editor would threaten their plans.

Attendees at the Newspaper Flexo Users Group (NFUG) Oct 1993 conference were encouraged by continued support for the industry as shown by new press orders and experimentation with better grades of paper. Since the London newspaper, Daily Mail, successfully used flexography to print on specially coated stock without a dryer, several other newspapers have begun similar trials. In other NFUG news, two past presidents, John Rodney and Samuel Jenkins, have departed the organization for unconfirmed reasons, leaving Charles Stroh as the new president.

The University of Nebraska's newspaper, the Daily Nebraskan, has been criticized by the university's football team and its coach, Tom Osborne, for being unnecessarily critical of the team and its members. The newspaper has covered different stories about team members and their dealings with the law. One was accused of attacking a woman and another was convicted of reckless driving and killing a young girl. The newspaper staff has upheld its right to be critical, but other parties believe that the school paper should support its team.

Many members of Congress were quite concerned when the Washington Post ran a series of articles based on documents in which the late US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall discussed the inner-workings of the Court. Some legislators felt the papers should not have been released until all involved members of the court were gone. However, Marshall had stipulated that release of his papers after his death, according to the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington. Previous revelations about the Supreme Court have not deterred other justices from donating their papers to research institutions.

The American Forest and Paper Association announced that recycling capacity has grown beyond expectations, despite below-average industry growth overall. With more paper in the US now headed for reuse rather than landfills, recycled paper is now responsible for one-third of total fiber use. The number is expected to double by the year 2000.

56th annual promotion contest draws entries from 225 papers S.F., Fort Worth, Seattle papers win |bests' Twelve countries were represented in the over 1,700 entries received from 225 newspapers for [...]

The Audit Bureau of Circulations' (ABC) FAS-FAX report documented a continued decline in circulation of the country's largest newspapers. 'USA Today' is a remarkable exception, with an increase of over 111,000 in daily sales and a separate Friday count that is larger than any US Sunday paper. The New York 'Daily News' gained back circulation lost during a 1990-1991 strike but was exempted from the ABC audit. Statistics from various metropolitan markets demonstrate that newspaper shut-downs or mergers cause many subscribers to drop out of daily reading rather than switch to another paper.

Lower selling prices and a litigation settlement (see above) contributed to $88 million (Canadian) in second-quarter net losses on just under C$1 billion in net sales for Montreal-based Abitibi-Consolidated. Net [...]

Pacific Press of Vancouver, BC, is completely redesigning its newspaper plant, combining printing operations for the Vancouver Sun and the tabloid Province. The combined plant will use MAN Roland Colorman S offset units to print both papers. Pacific will be the first North American newspaper publisher to use 124 print couples in a single-line, 165-yard configuration. This arrangement cuts the number of units needed to print two papers.

Color is helping small, suburban newspapers compete in Pittsburgh, PA. The North Hills News Record, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the North Hills News Record have all tried color in different ways. The Post-Gazette has invested about $20 million in KBA-Motter Inc's seven five-color, flexographic press and other press and prepress equipment. The newspapers are also encouraging advertisers to use color, which is more affordable when used on a regular basis.

The American Forest and Paper Association has forecast a 5.8% growth rate for recovered paper products through 1997 based on planned consumption. Consumption of recovered paper will continue at a growth rate greater than underlying capacity. The paper industry plans to expand production capacity by 7.6 million tons in the period from 1994 to 1997. The only planned expansion of newsprint production capacity during this period will be for recycled product.

The launching of the New York Blade News in the New York, NY, market has led to a battle for market share with the city's other gay newspaper, LGNY. The New York Blade News plans to report the news as fairly as possible to enable its readers to form their own opinions about important issues facing the gay community. However, LNGY charges that being a gay newspaper implies that advocacy journalism should be used. LNGY also charges that the Blade's ownership is not part of the gay community and would not be qualified to report on such issues.

Competitive Media Reporting, which monitors advertising sales for 120 newspapers, ranked the nation's newspapers by advertising inches carried. The Dallas Morning News sold the most retail advertising inches for daily papers, while the Miami Herald ranked first in retail ads for a Sunday paper. The Los Angeles Times sold the most national advertising daily, and the New York Times topped the Sunday category.

Montville, CT, and Rand-Whitney Group Inc. (Rand-Whitney) have established a closed-loop wastewater treatment facility that will process all the water from Rand-Whitney's paper mill. The $5.5 million facility is capable of processing 4.5 million-gallons of wastewater daily. After treating Rand-Whitney's wastewater, the facility will pump the processed water to the paper mill for reuse.

Printers will continue to get faster, sharper and less expensive. PC Magazine publishes an issue that evaluates printers each year and is quite good. A person should decide which qualities are important to them and then select a printer based upon evaluations. Maintenance requirements, noise, size and power consumption are issues to consider.

Brooklyn Eagle Ltd. and Eagle Inc. are involved in a lawsuit over the rights to the Brooklyn Eagle trademark. Brooklyn Eagle Ltd. owner Ed Weintrob claims that Eagle Inc. owner Dozier Hasty violated the trademark when he began publishing the Daily Eagle 'on or about' Aug 23, 1996. Hasty could challenge Weintrob's application for the trademark by proving he began using the name first.

Most Florida newspapers managed to conduct business as usual as Hurricane Erin hit on Aug 2, 1995. The hurricane only reached Category 1, compared to the Category 4 Hurricane Andrew that did so much damage in 1992. The papers had prepared for a worst case scenario, changing press times and sending workers home early. Several papers suffered power outages and one paper experienced flooding when a sign blew down and punctured the roof of its building.

Swiss pressmaker Wifag's heatset offset press can be used to produce high-quality color photographs and advertisements in newspapers. Four-color photos are printed on newsprint rolls, rewound, then sent to the newspaper where text and black and white art are printed. The insetting process can produce magazine-quality color, but requires a substantial capital investment.

Executives of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch decided to turn the paper's lagging Saturday broadsheet into a tabloid to boost sales. The approach met board resistance but finally prevailed. Research by Urban & Associates Consultant Chris Urban found that the best prospects for additional Saturday readers were Sunday-only readers who did not have time to take the paper seven days a week, and sports fans.

Afternoon Star-Bulletin breathes its last Halloween Eve Citing declining circulation and revenues, Liberty Newspapers Ltd. announced Sept. 16 it will stop publishing its afternoon Honolulu Star- Bulletin Oct. 30. The [...]

Newsprint consumption by U.S. daily newspapers rose 2.8%, to 728,000 metric tons, in December, but fell 1.4%, to 8.43 million tons, for all of last year, according to preliminary figures [...]

Supermarket tabloid Star Magazine broke the news of presidential aide Dick Morris's affair with a call-girl, but only the New York Post immediately picked up the story. Most mainstream dailies either ignored or buried it. The story detailed political adviser Morris's year-long association with Sherrie Rowlands, the prostitute who volunteered her story to the Star and became a paid source. Paying sources and other tabloid-like practices have become more common occurrences for the mainstream press, whose credibility as 'ethical gatekeepers' has been significantly undermined.

Information on technologies that are enabling on-demand worldwide newspaper delivery was presented at the Newspaper Assn of America's inaugural Operations SuperConference, which took place in Mar 1996 in Miami Beach, FL. Scitex Corp's PressPoint system uses satellite transmission and other technologies to make remote, multicolor printing on white paper possible. Information on an upgrade to Adobe's Acrobat software and on Aware's Wavelet compression technology is included.

Delegates at the fall 1993 meeting of the Newspaper Flexo User Group discussed a number of issues related to equipment supplies. W.R. Grace and Co plans to sell off its print products division, which manufacturers the only US source of flexographic plate cushions. However, the company expects to sell the division to a high-caliber business that will continue to manufacture print products for many years. Newsprint suppliers such as Bowater Inc urged users and manufacturers to work together to solve paper problems. Information on flexographic inks and de-inking is also provided.

Computer-assisted research at newspapers became an important aspect of reporting in 1991. Computer databases are an important tool for reporters in 1995. The investment by newspapers in online database usage is uneven. There are some newspapers that utilize databases heavily and others that use databases sparingly. Databases are important information sources for reporters who know how to use them.

Abitibi-Consolidated agreed to withdraw its appeal of a judgment against it by the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Alabama. The newsprint giant will pay to Alabama River Newsprint [...]

The "free" daily newspaper program that dramatically increased readership among Pennsylvania State University students could spread to campuses nationwide now that the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) says the papers [...]

An speech at Kean College by Nation of Islam official Khalid Abdul Muhammad led to widespread scrutiny of the campus newspaper, the Independent. Muhammad's address led to a national controversy when the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith published some of his statements against Jews, the pope and South African whites. The Independent published Jewish protests against Muhammad but did not publish his comments. Several faculty members suggested student journalists had been coerced by faculty not to publish Muhammad's words.

Plain paper laser typesetting offers several advantages. It costs 10 cents per foot. The same footage for phototypesetting is 75 cents. Plain paper producers foresee the use of their product as a trend of the future. Not only is the cost lower, but plain paper use is more environmentally sound. Since the chemicals used in phototypesetting are no longer needed, there is no chemical wastes to discharge into the sewer systems. Plain paper is now available that can accommodate 1000 dots per inch as opposed to 300 dots per inch. Thus less paper is needed.

How is your paper more relevant for today's reader? Change has invaded the newspaper business and the search is on for innovations that will tighten the hold on tenuous customers, [...]

The Kennesaw State College newspaper, 'The Sentinel', did not print an anti-Holocaust advertisement sent to this college and many universities in the US by Visalia, CA-based Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust Dir Bradley R. Smith. The newspaper sent the ad and its payment back to Smith. Kennesaw Student Publications Coordinator Ed J. Bonza had considered placing the ad in the newspaper but decided against it and decided not to print any information about the ad.

Newspapers are expanding their marketing efforts to appeal to broader geographic areas. Since the Minneapolis Star Tribune became the Star Tribune, Newspaper for the Twin Cities, other newspapers have seen the benefits of adding broader geographic identifiers that appeal to more people. The Sun Sentinel added South Florida to its name in order to appeal to the areas near its Fort Lauderdale base. The former Herald-News in Passaic, NJ is now the North Jersey Herald & News

Cooperation is replacing competition among some prominent regional newspapers in Maine and New Hampshire. When the Bangor Daily News and Lewiston's Sun-Journal began sharing news stories and features this summer, [...]

Dailies hold less, use more; Abitibi mulls mill's fate In a market that remains oversupplied even as mills continue to take dowtime and users continue to consume modestly higher volumes [...]