Ponderay Newsprint Mill May Go at Auction
Ponderay Newsprint mill (Washington state) may be sold at auction in April, according to court records, the Spokesman-Review reported.On March 18, a federal bankruptcy judge will consider a motion by Trustee John Munding to sell the property at an April 23 auction. The 927-acre property was listed for sale in late 2020 for $11.5 million, says the paper. The mill’s owners filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and shuttered the mill in June.
NYT: Tribune Publishing may Have New Suitor
Maryland hotel magnate Stewart W. Bainum Jr. has made moves toward bidding for all of Tribune Publishing, said three people with knowledge of the matter, The New York Times reported. That throws into question the deal that Alden Global Capital, the largest Tribune Publishing shareholder with 32 percent, had struck to buy the chain. In mid-February, Alden had reached an agreement to purchase the rest of the chain in a deal that valued the company at $630 million. Alden would have broken off and sold the Tribune-owned Baltimore Sun and two other Maryland papers at $65 million to a nonprofit run by Bainum. Bainum has asked the Tribune Publishing special committee, consisting of three independent board members, for permission to be released from a nondisclosure agreement concerning the deal, says the Times. He would then be able to look for other partners for a bid, says the Times.
Tampa Bay Times Press Makes Last Run as Paper Moves Printing
On March 6, the Tampa Bay Times completed the final press run of the company’s presses. The paper has a three-year deal with Gannett to print at Gannett’s center in Lakeland. The Times is selling the St. Petersburg plant that has been printing for more than six decades, the paper reported. https://www.tampabay.com/news/2021/01/06/tampa-bay-times-will-move-printing-to-gannett-plant-in-lakeland/
Some 150 are out of a job in the change. The presses will be stripped for parts and scraped, says the paper. Times Publishing Co. owns the paper. Among its brands are Florida Trend magazine and Tampa Bay Newspapers, which publishes the Beach Beacon, Belleair Bee and other papers.
Newsday Opens Multimedia Facilities, Launches Newsday Productions
Newsday has opened new multimedia facilities, including a state-of-the-art broadcast production studio and a multimedia space capable of live-streaming video productions with an audience, says the company. “This is a pivotal moment for us,” Newsday owner Pat Dolan said. “It’s the next step in our continuing transition to a digital multimedia future.” The broadcast studio is equipped with 4K/HD technology, four fully robotic studio cameras and a virtual set, including augmented reality that will allow Newsday to broadcast from seemingly anywhere on Long Island. The interactive multimedia space will be the new site for the Newsday Live series. Through the launch of Newsday Productions, Newsday’s new tech and production team are now being offered to external clients. Newsday Productions will provide services ranging from pre-production to distribution, says Newsday.
News Collective Launches in Jacksonville
The Tributary is a newly launched news collective in Jacksonville, Florida. Former Florida Times-Union journalist Andrew Pantazi has started the effort. https://thetributary.substack.com/p/leaving-the-times-union-to-build
Local Media Association is supporting the launch “in an effort to inspire a business model for other journalists feeling the impact of layoffs and buyouts,” according to Nancy Lane, LMA chief executive officer, says a press release from LMA. LMA will provide coaching, access to subject-matter experts and financial support of up to $35,000, says the release.
imPRESSions Worldwide Executes Creel Plan Liquidation Sale
imPRESSions Worldwide is on site at the Creel Printing Plant in Las Vegas, executing the liquidation of Creel’s printing and finishing equipment. The sale of assets comes after Creel announced the closing of their 300,000 square-foot facility earlier this month along with the sale to Mittera. imPRESSions is undertaking the sale of three SUNDAY2000 presses, a Harris M3000 and an 8-Tower Goss Magnum press. Other items available include an array of binding, finishing and folding equipment along with all of the plant support equipment. The massive removal job, inside of a critical timeframe, is under the control of VP Jimmy Easterly, says a news release from imPRESSions. “We will be going seven days a week now that the job is underway. Like so many of our projects, we are under the gun to finish fast. We will continue to populate this job site with craftsmen and equipment necessary to remove the equipment as work winds down over the next month,” said Easterly.
Roanoke Times Journalists Vote to Ratify Contract with Lee
Journalists at The Roanoke Times and Laker Weekly have voted to ratify a contract with owner Lee Enterprises. The vote was 37 to 1. The contract contains employee pay raises, stronger severance protections and a step toward diverse hiring, says the Timesland News Guild. Members of the Timesland bargaining committee spent eight months negotiating with Lee, says the union. The contract will be in effect for one year. The newsroom union formed in 2020.
Star Tribune Media Gets $10 million PPP Loan
Star Tribune Media Co. is among the operations that are taking advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program. In February, the company got a $10 million loan, the most available, from the second round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), says the Star Tribune. “Like many media companies, Star Tribune was hit hard by the disruption to our advertising base,” during the pandemic, said Mike Klingensmith, the company’s publisher, in a statement. Nearly 2,800 newspaper companies got paycheck protection loans and most were under $150,000, according to an October report from Pew Research.
Virtual.Drupa to Offer Two Lives Streams
From April 20 to 23, the Conference Area of virtual.drupa will feature a program focusing on the global trends of artificial intelligence, circular economy, connected consumer and platform economy, say organizers Messe Dusseldorf. Two parallel live streams will offer visitors the opportunity to participate flexibly in the conference presentations between 10:00 am and 6:00 p.m. Central European Time. These sessions will also be available 24/7 in a video library. The conference program will start with keynotes from three speakers on each of the four days: Two presentations by Wall Street Journal bestselling author and consultant Michael Gale will focus on artificial intelligence. In his keynote speech, the U.K.’s James Sommerville will illustrate the importance of product design in driving innovation and fostering growth. On World Earth day, lecturer, author and climate expert Gabrielle Walker will address sustainability issues.
Swift Communications Awards DCOS a Second Retrofit Project
Colorado Mountain news media, a division of Swift Communications located in Gypsum, Colorado, has awarded DCOS Automation – Sweden a contract to replace the drives and controls on their DGM press. This is the second DGM 440 press where Swift has changed their drives over to DCOS. The first was at their printshop in Carson City, Nevada, in 2019. DCOS will supply five new digital drives to replace the five existing Eurotherm drives that were installed when the press was originally purchased. The existing DGM consoles will be replaced with new DCOS consoles that integrate all press functions, ink presetting and remote inking control, dampening, splicers and infeeds to new touchscreen control. The existing fiber optic loop will be replaced with a new EtherCat star-network with direct communication to each drive.
More news
- The Chesterton Tribune (Indiana) is returning as a twice-weekly, the Chicago Tribune reported. Don Hurd, president of Hoosier Media Group, said he has agreed to buy the paper from David Canright.
- The Washington Post will begin reopening its newsroom in July, with most employees coming back in the fall, The Hill reported.
- The Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine) is moving printing to another Masthead Maine plant in South Portland starting the beginning of June, the paper reported. The Costello family sold the Sun Media Group to Reade Brower in 2017.
- The Floyd Press (Virginia) has announced a new location, at 204 B, Highway 221 North, in a building that used to contain Mary’s Little Dress Shop. The paper plans to open there on April 2. Lee owns the paper.
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