Arianna has a good one today. Seems the Times’ shareholders aren’t too happy with their underperforming stock and the general state of things:
According to Seelye, investors holding 28% of the company "withheld their votes for directors at the annual [shareholders'] meeting yesterday, registering their dissatisfaction with how the company is performing" (Morgan Stanley says it was 31%). By comparison, just 1% of shareholders withheld their votes last year.
The only dissenting shareholder to go public was Morgan Stanley, the Times’ fourth largest shareholder, with 5.8 percent of the stock. But sources close to shareholders tell me that the mutineers included the Times’ top two Class A shareholders: Bruce Sherman, of Private Capital Management, which controls 14.2 percent and T. Rowe Price, the investment house which controls 13.6 percent (Adding together all of Sherman’s, Price’s and Stanley’s shares produces a total of 33.6 percent of the stock. So the Times pegs the percentage of shares withheld at 28%, Morgan Stanley puts it 31%, and my math puts it at 33%. Whatever the exact the total, it’s more than a quarter of the company’s shares.)
Sherman’s no vote of confidence is particularly significant since his dissatisfaction helped force the sale of Knight Ridder last month .
[]
But having three of the four biggest shareholders in the company withhold their votes (and one of them publicly question the performance and salaries of top management) must put extraordinary pressure on the family to consider making a change in management – i.e. finally address its Pinch problem.
Besides having to deal with unhappy shareholders, I hear the Sulzberger clan is also getting an earful from friends on the dinner party circuit from New York to Paris (where a possible contender for Sulzberger’s job, Michael Golden, is now publisher of the International Herald Tribune). They are troubled by the Times Company’s plummeting stock price (down 47 percent since January 2004, 11 points worse than the industry average), the ongoing problems in the Times newsroom, and the ongoing Judy Miller/Scooter Libby embarrassment.
Bill Keller, from his recent online Q&A:
Sigh. I can’t imagine that there is anything to say about the Judy Miller episode that I have not already said, publicly and to The Times staff, over and over. At The Times, as in most of the media-watching world, we have registered the Miller saga as an important cautionary tale, and moved on. But the story has an afterlife in the impending trial of Scooter Libby, and, as our Q&A mailbag demonstrates, the subject has settled into some quarters of the blogosphere as a partisan obsession and an object of grassy-knoll conspiracy theories. The hard-core enthusiasts feed on blogs that have little to offer but harebrained speculation. (And they think Judy Miller was credulous!)
Would someone tell those credulous institutional stockholders to stop being such a bunch of conspiracy theorists? As Arianna notes, Pinch & pals seem to treat the likes of Morgan Stanley with the same respect they accord bloggers:
The problems are only exacerbated by the imperiousness of Sulzberger who, sources tell me, waited months before finally deigning to listen to Morgan Stanley’s concerns.
Geesh. Don’t they understand, the Times has moved on?
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IMPEACH!
FItz, my goodness
Fitz ‘em all !
Geesh. Don’t they understand, the Times has moved on?
For real I guess. I haven’t been able to get to their website for the last 15 min or so.
What’d you do Jane?
Have you been naughty……………
Thanks Bustednuckles – that’s the word I was trying to think of:
IMPEACH!
This is actually pretty bad. Bruce Sherman’s the guy whose thuggish moves forced Knight-Ridder to gut several of its newsrooms, including that of the Saint Paul, Minnesota Pioneer Press (which not too long ago had won a fistful of Pulitzers).
If Sherman has his way, the NYT won’t be made better, it’ll be made even worse. Real journalists will be jettisoned as too expensive, and the Times will rely on RNC press releases more than ever.
ditto Phoenix Woman. This is not about the Pinch problem, it is about the Prvda problem….
Money makes the vorld go around
The vorld go around, the vorld go around….
This Snottie letter to his replacement is kind of cute.
Phoenix Woman — I don’t see this as a good thing for news reporting by any means; only mean to point out that the Miller saga is an ongoing problem the Times does not want to address and bloggers aren’t the only ones concerned. They thought they could “hang tough” and obviously that is going to be a very difficult thing to do.
Verlyn Klinkenborg had a nice piece in the Times yesterday in which he compares Hilaire Belloc’s observations in 1918 about the “Free Press” and the Official Press with what seems to be unfolding today with Blogs vs. Mainstream Media.
Worth a look. And coming from the inside . . .
Most “old” media organisations are still to catch up with the brave new world where their reputation is all they have left for competitive advantage over all the other news sources we have at our fingertips (as the cost of information delivery tends to zero) – that’s why Judith Miller, Deborah Howell, Bob Woodward, et al matter. I don’t bother reading the WaPo as I once did. Unfortunately, I don’t think many of them have much awareness of this, and some historical institutions are sadly going to die out. I can see a day in the future – not too far off – where there is no longer any recognized paper of record.
I’m going to go drown some more worms. Jane, Sincerely glad you are o.k.. That little two line blurb scared us. If you hear from Christy tell her from us that we hope she is having a good time on her well deserved vacation. Taylor has been doing a bang up job and I look forward to her a.m. post.Everyone have a good evening.
Will @ #11
It’ll be Firedoglake.com — the recognized Blog of Record.
troll
Normally I would be against entirely profit motivated investment banks and mutual funds exerting undue influence on companies that have, or should have, the public trust and dissemination of unbiased information, and not neccessarily profit, as a priority.
My question is, does this represent merely a disappointment in the fiscal management of the company or is there a link to the tarnishing of the brand the flagship enterprise of the corporation, the Times itself? Have the recent disasters, notably Judy Miller among others, upset institutional shareholders to the point where they feel that it has devalued the worth of the stock? As you mentioned Knight Ridder was forced to sell last month and they did some of the best reporting on the war, Bush and the misery and duplicity we’ve all been experiencing.
I find it a bit hard to believe that Morgan Stanley or T. Rowe Price’s main concern is more transparant reporting. On the other hand, if they feel that this adds to, or causes, lackluster market prformance they might be a force for good.
Of course, the main reason that the Times’ perfidy in the newsroom might cause them to underperform as a business is the attention given by the blogosphere, and people like you, Jane, holding their feet to the fire.
The bottom line is if we can cost them readers, and hence advertising revenue money, they will listen to us. I wonder how can we determine if this is, indeed, the case?
It’s really remarkable how much Judy Miller resembles a young Harriet Sansom Harris (currently on “Desperate Housewives”).
She’s my next piece of casting for “All the President’s Voices.”
troll
Not sure if this is good news or not. Usually the first impulse of management, when faced with lower profits, is to cut personnel in areas that don’t immediately affect the ability to produce a product. In a newspaper, this means investigative journalists, among other things. Usually about the last thing management will assume is that bad management is the problem.
Much like manufacturing companies that cut their R & D budgets, sometimes a short term windfall will lead to worse performance down the road.
These stockholders are bottom-line folks. They don’t care about quality, as long as the crap sells and it sells profitably.
The other thing to note is that the NYT is not alone in its troubles. WaPo and Gannett have both dropped in price over the last six months. PCM also owns a big chunk of Gannett.
Commenter TechPundit over at the HuffPo asked:
The answer to that question will be what matters.
But just on gut reaction, without more facts, I tend to agree with Phoenix woman.
Shareholders, especially the big ones you mention ain’t no gotdamn bloggers. Ya start flippin’ them off and the next thing ya know…
Yey gone cupcake.
I don’t see any connection to what is, from my perspective, what is truly gone wrong at the Times and elsewhere.
That is they lie for the oligarchy….
Consistently and in direct confrontation to the facts they lie and lie and lie and then they make excuses for themselves.
This has happened before in the history of the press in this nation. More than once.
But that makes it no less a serious matter for worry by every citizen. When an out of control President threatens people half-way around the world with nuclear armageddon immediately after committing several federal crimes we need the fifth estate to be ready to voice the truth.
Nixon would have died in office, of natural causes, if it were not for the WaPo and NYT as they existed then. It’s no coincidence that they remain mute now. That is by deliberate design of the Corporate Slave State.
Ultimately it will be up to us The People of the United States to bring Bush and the rest of the criminals in his administration to justice.
I’m ready.
How about you?
Stephen Colbert:
Do we need three branches of government; the president’s got it covered.
IMPEACH
http://tinyurl.com/a6erq
IMPEACH
I forgot quotes, but I’m on Chardonnay.
As Eddie Murphy said in the great movie Trading Places:
“The best way to get back at a rich man is to make him a poor man.”
Economic pressure works. The best way to apply it, however, is to remind the Corporate Captains that they have to be true to their shareholders who, by the way, just want them to do their fucking jobs! If you are a newspaper, you report the truth. You don’t bury it. That doesn’t sell newspapers. In fact, if burying something has economic value (lost profits to the company or financial beneifts to a given person or class of persons/party), it could be considered an illegal campaign contribution. I can only pray for such a day.
In ‘ Three days of a condor’ the Robert Redford character goes to the NYTimes. Today he would have to go online. It follows inexorably that we don need no steenkin NYTimes.
You can’t go back to high school kid’s. We are the New York Times – better get used to it.
I don’t blame Nader — the American people got what they deserved to get: look at how eager everybody was for us to attack Iraq as long as the neighbor’s kids had to do the dirty work — moreover, Gore killed his own chances by acting prissy in running away from Clinton — never trust anybody who’s holier than thou
Jane have you seen #80 from the last thread? sombrero something or other.
I think it might be possible to cripple the major newspapers bottom lines. Is that ultimately a good thing? Is it throwing the baby out with the bath water?
I’m undecided for now. It is gratifying to see the NYT (aka Painted Lady) and Whiny the WaPooh see their financial life blood slowly leaking out on to the pavement. However, the general public seems incredibly lazy as to staying truly informed on the issues, are they going to get all the news thru the net. I don’t have faith that the regular folks in America will make the effort.
Bottom line: most people can only stand so much ‘Reality’. It’s depressing, you know, real reality.
Real news is what you arrive at after looking at an issue from a bunch of angles. No one is going to tell you the Truth, you have to balance things out for yourself and that takes time.
And I believe if Albert Einstein was here today, he would finally discover that Time is Money.
Firedoglake – All The News That’s Fitz To Print
not only is time money but america has run out of time & all the money’s gone to asia — americans have their head in the sand because they can tell it’s over — our news media have always been propagandists: it’s just that america used to have things to brag about
Jane, I saw your problem with the hazelnuts on the last thread. They are also known as “filberts”, and yes they look like a tiny acorn. I hope you are feeling better.
ALARM BELLS! Who is this guy and what is his agenda??
I can’t decide if my YKos t-shirt should say
“grassy-knoll conspiracy theorist”
or
“a jane hamsher of the left.”
Are you frightened RJJ?
Take a pill and go to sleep. It’s the American way
Haven’t had time to check this out at the WaPo site:
http://www.editorandpublisher……1002383158
===’Wash Post’ Criticized–By Ad On Its Own Web Site
By E&P Staff
Published: April 19, 2006 7:00 PM ET
NEW YORK Media Matters for America is taking its media criticism in one case right to the source–running an ad critical of a recent Washington Post editorial on the newspaper’s Web site.
The ad, the group states, asks “Do Washington Post editorial writers read their own newspaper?†It links to a Media Matters web page with more information about the April 9 Washington Post editorial, titled “A Good Leak,†that it asserts contained numerous false claims about the “Libby leak” and President Bush’s authorization of the disclosure of portions of a National Intelligence Estimate.
The organizations states that the Post’s own news reporting contradicts the editorial.
The New York Times responded to the Post with an editorial this past Sunday titled “The Bad Leak.”
===
Jane- just read about your “nut” experience. Hope you are doing okay. Thankfully filberts/ hazelnuts aren’t nearly as ubiquitous as p-nuts. Hope you don’t do *that* again!
Hey, when in the hell did the fever swamp turn into a grassy knoll? Is it the result of global warming? Did Gale Norton order it drained for a condo project? Was it evaporated in a Divine Strake strike? Converted into a more accomodating environment for a new Halliburton Relocation Center?
-GSD
P.S. Any truth to the rumor that Herr Bush is meeting with Hu Jintao to get some pointers on internal suppression tactics? I hear Bush is really itching to see an American version of the Beijing Tank Massacre.
Jane, please take care. We need you
Bush has murdered and maimed nore folks than Hu ever will
Jane, I’m glad you’re feeling better. Allergies can sometimes be more than a nuisance.
As for myself, I’m allergic to wingnuts.
Morris Sheppard (15) — it’s all of that and more at NYT. The lack of transparency in reporting, the lost credibility, the failure to successfully migrate to a newer product mix of both online and brick-and-mortar or reformulate a newer internet-relevant business model…all this stuff has damaged the NYT, cutting into volume and margins.
With the tighter cycle time demanded by an internet-mediated readership, both transparency and authenticity are absolutely essential; damage to either of these cuts into cycle time and chews up pipeline with corrections or adjustments that are not value-generating product. Miller (and Blair and Raines before her, and Pinch ultimately) have all hurt the bottom line. Investors don’t have to be partisan in any way to understand this.
Valley, nice catch.
Link has a view of the Media Matters ad.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com…..aunch.html
OT — BTW, did you folks catch these?
1) U.S. Comptroller General said in a speech yesterday at Mercatus Center/GWU that U.S. economic conditions are far worse than billed, and that we have two choices: go the way of New Zealand and reformulate how we do government, or the way of Argentina…in other words, he implied we’re bankrupt. This isn’t the first time he’s said this, if memory serves. Probably can catch the speech at C-SPAN online.
2) Libby dox said Rove “a subject“, per Sidney Blumenthal…yum.
I just pulled this of the WaPo’s blog:
“Hello? Is this blog dead? You should remove the link off the homepage if you’re not going to update in at least once a week.
Here’s a suggestion for things you could write about: how about responding to all of the people who have taken time to write their concerns and questions here?
I don’t know, dead blog, ignoring your comments. I think it’s begining to smell in here.
Posted by: Beth | April 19, 2006 05:23 PM “
Blumenthal also says the Grand Jury met today. Can anyone confirm that?
Completely OT- but the stock thing is kinda related. Delta Airlines, my part of the world… any thinkers out there on buying in at $0.65 a share? Not compeletly OT, tho, imo, in that this has something to do with fuel prices. Just asking, bec. I know that FDLers are an awesome bunch. (And at least I’m not the rolling troll).
it’s no secret that america’s bankrupt, but all countries are competing in trying to devalue their fiat currencies, which are all destined to go to zero — that’s when all countries will get together in order to create a new financial system — meanwhile it’s the job of the federal reserve bank to pretend to be fighting inflation when in reality it’s printing enough dollars to keep inflation going — the game works as long as the public falls for it, but some day folks will wake up
Sorry if the link to Verlyn Klinkenborg’s piece doesn’t work (#10). The NYT website is being flaky this afternoon/evening, and I can’t access the article to check the link.
NYT owns the Boston Globe. I abhor this situation of ownership on strictly parochial grounds. I’m not certain that the Globe online (or otherwise) is any more tranparent than NYT, but they do have an attempt at interactivty. Plus, the site is kinda ‘merged’ under and with the regional cable network NECN.
AND (more abhorently to me) NYT also owns 19 percent of Boston Red Sox Baseball Club. I would think that would be filling their coffers a bit.
Anyone seen this:
Guantanamo Detainee List Released
JC #42- I just checked out the link, and there was a different ad. If you see it again, any chance you could make the ad /save the ad as an image file? Oh… just tried that on a “sample ad”- couldn’t figure out how. Someone who has the ability to save pages as .pdfs would have to do that.
Jane, please be careful with allergic reactions to food! We can’t have you going into anaphylactic shock and keeling over dead before the Preznint has been driven from office! Unacceptable. Won’t have it. Is this clear? You are too important to the revolution to die from eating Ferrero Roches!
Beside, what would Kobe do without his mommy?
More cracks???
http://www.harpers.org/sb-cia-wehrmacht.html
De-lurking with slightly OT:
Valerie Plame To Attend White House Correspondents Dinner
“E&P has confirmed that she is slated to attend this year’s gala, along with her husband Joseph Wilson…
to be held on April 29th.
She and Wilson will be guests of ABC News.”
http://www.editorandpublisher……1002382755
Just FYI — blogger ethiAnnouncing the following conference papers at SSRN:
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL SYMPOSIUM ON BLOGGERSHIP: HOW BLOGS ARE
TRANSFORMING LEGAL SCHOLARSHIP – APRIL 28, 2006
Web logs (”blogs”) are transforming much of American society, including government, politics, journalism, and business. In the past few years, blogs have begun to affect the delivery of legal education, the production and dissemination of legal scholarship, and the practice of law. We are delighted that twenty of the nation’s leading law professor bloggers have agreed to join with us for the first scholarly conference on the impact of blogs on the legal academy. The conference is sponsored by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School with the online proceedings provided by SSRNcs forum:
And, of course, Glen “fact free” Reynolds will be yammering at this conference. It’s in my neighborhood so maybe I’ll go throw rotten fruit.
VG,
Delta?
Here are two mutual funds that have been awesome for me.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=PRIDX&d=t
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=PRNEX&d=t
Disclaimr: Past performance is no guarantee of future earnings ; )
BTW, I just checked out the link in the A article: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=NYT
MAJOR DIRECT HOLDERS (FORMS 3 & 4)
DRYFOOS, JACQUELINE H
Anyone know who this person is? Holds a lot more direct shares than SULZBERGER, ARTHUR JR or
GOLDEN, MICHAEL F.
“There’s an SS group within the agency that’s willing to do anything and there’s a Wehrmacht group that is saying, ‘I’m not gonna touch this stuff’.â€
Holy shit. That is scary.
-GSD
But it also shows that there are many, many, many soldiers and Generals that are loyal to the Constitution. Take heart, if things get ugly, we won’t be alone!
“Would someone tell those credulous institutional stockholders to stop being such a bunch of conspiracy theorists?”
I don’t get this. You think the stockholders are upset about the Miller fiasco?
The reason I’m upset with the New York Times has very little to do with the reasons that the stockholders are. And if the Times responds to this shareholder action the way other news organizations respond, we’re going to end up with shorter, dumber stories. The best paper this country has (not good by any means, but the relative best) is going to look a lot more like cnn.com. That doesn’t seem to me like something to celebrate.
If the Times does what I want it to do — publish serious news analysis that I can’t get elsewhere, break important news stories, unlock the Times Select pages, ask tough questions of this administration, and use its editorial page to call attention to the sham and the shamble of our times — it’s going to scare off every advertisers it has, and next year you’ll see a 75% shareholder revolt.
What Arianna thinks the shareholder revolt has to do with the problem in American journalism today is a mystery to me.
Dick Cheney bad for business. Except the ones he feeds directly from the public trough.
Blast from the past:
You went into jail in the summer. It is fall now. You will have stories to cover – Iraqi elections and suicide bombers, biological threats and the Iranian nuclear program. Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them. Come back to work – and life. Until then, you will remain in my thoughts and prayers.
–
“I don’t know.” — Helen Thomas, when asked by White House spokesman Scott McClellan, “Are we at war, Helen?”
Coz- thank you so much for the info. I will check it out. Looks like 2003 would have been a good year to put money down on those!!! ;)
Zenn,
Notice what country is shockingly missing a large contingent of ‘terrorists’? The hotbed of terrorism that is now the epicenter of the GWOT.
If I can recall, there was one Iraqi in the sweep-up of terrorists.
Also:
“Lesser-known detainees on the list include Muhammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi who reportedly was supposed to be the 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 terror attacks.”
Wouldn’t that make old Zack Moose-awee the “21st hijacker”?
-GSD
Valley, the ad is still showing up for me, so it must be a regional thing.
When I clicked on the ad, here’s what I got.
http://mediamatters.org/washposteditorial/
VG,
Those are my two best, out of five.
I don’t do individual stocks anymore. I used to “day trade”, but… (I got killed) ; )
Goodness/Gracious…’The Real Baby Jesus’ created a sweet piece “I’m The Decider” over at HuffPo.
“Brilliant!”
Summaried the whole enchilada in 3 minutes of musical satire.
Lennon would be proud to have his piece ‘paraphrased’ like that.
Damn, can you imagine a sudden ‘technical difficulty’ of a preemptive strike on Rush’s network and running THAT instead of Rush’s mutilated mumblings. Too kewl.
(It should be required listening for all Americans, anyway.)
Well, well, well. Now, a few days back I wrote a comment to a FDL article about the Post that ms. Hamsher & Smith ought to consider writing a book entitled Death Of An American Newspaper. Looks like….right idea, wrong paper? (chuckle)
As to this Hamsher article, interesting news! I do think, however, that the institutional investors are only concerned about P&L numbers….I doubt that they care too much about ethical issues at the NYT. Perhaps the broader question here is “what is the future of newspapers in general?” Of course, ethical issues are probably a contributing factor to the decline of the NYT.
This could break either way…..the NYT might do the tried and true budget-cutting ploy….or maybe sense that bad management has been the problem, and thus axe mgt.
But I do see some fissures and cracks forming in the NYT. The only thing “any” newspaper has going for it these days is ad revenue vs. a news blog. The notion that reporters on a major newspaper are smarter, etc. has now seen that sun start to set.
And, since we’re in mid-April, places like Wapo and NYT sorta remind me of the builders and crew of that ole Titanic. Lots and lots of warning signs, from construction thru operation of that ship at speed thru ice flows….lots of warnings were out there which, if listened to could have averted disaster. They didn’t listen, except to their own hubris. These once venerable newspapers have be having a similar hearing problem.
Ghostman
Coz- but back to Delta- bec. it does have to do with the economy and fuel prices. WTF is going to happen to the airlines? Delta is the third largest carrier, major hub in Atlanta, biggest Sun Belt airline, non-union (right to work state). I see a big transportation mess on the horizon. Thoughts?
VG – look for stocks of those companies that are on one of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes or KLD’s Index – these balance socially responsible corporate behavior with financial results. Funds such as Domini or Pax World for example are managed with these goals in mind. The DJSI rates companies based on most responsible policies and practices against other companies in their industry and I work with a number of companies who are changing behavior specifically to get onto that index.
A great source of info on socially responsible investing is http://www.socialfunds.com (I used to work for a company they started – disclaimer) – they provide great info for individuals on the whole area – and the info is free.
This also follows the approach Al Gore is leading with the new Generation Fund.
Wow! Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson at this year’s Correspondent’s Gala?? That should be quite an interesting event. And if Alex Trebeck is also in attendance, does that mean everyone gets to play Jeopardy? Wild night, for sure.
anybody here going to wh correspondants dinner?
Coz- I think I can find a way to figure out your email addy. If so, would you mind if I sent you an email to discuss this offline?
“These once venerable newspapers have be having a similar hearing problem.”
These once venerable newspapers seem to be having a similar hearing problem.
[I can think, but I can’t type!]
prof rat – I was thinking about 3 Days of the Condor on my drive home. I don’t think there really is a workable threat that could be made these days. The net is something, but not the same thing. And the older concept of “the American people won’t stand for it” is out the window with torture memos and mass spying and AG’s that basically fib through confirmation hearings. These days, if a paper printed a revelation it would be buried in before context of DOJ white papers on how “legal” it is and after context of Sen-s Kyle and Sessions and Bill Bennett’s conclusions that anyone who talked about any covert programs, no matter how illegal or immoral, is traitor.
immanentize – mention to them that they should have The Other Glen on the panel as well. ;-)
Re: Blumenthal’s piece, he was quoting from a Libby brief that said “even if” Rove was a subject of ongoing investigations … That was in the context of the Spec. Pros. not wanting to turn over some docs on the basis of ongoing GJ investigations, and it seems probable that he is, but the brief was making an argument about why they should get access “even if” : But Libby insisted that he was entitled to “disclosure of such documents” in Rove’s files “even if Mr. Rove remains a subject of a continuing grand jury investigation
http://commentisfree.guardian……plank.html
I don’t know if that is the same thing as saying Rove “definitely” is such a subject. I think he is, but I don’t think you can say that the Libby brief “proves” it.
Re: the GJ, Blumenthal said: The federal grand jury considering his evidence began meeting again this morning. I think we had heard before that this GJ is being used for other matters (IOW, it’s functions are not limited to considering “his” evidence) and its normal meeting days are Wed and Fri, so again, I’m not sure if the article is actually saying that Fitzgerald met with them. Maybe he did, but it seems as if it would be hard for him to stay that undercover. ? fwiw
Thanks, Siun! How’s the work for the kos event coming along?
Coz- I think I can find a way to figure out your email addy. If so, would you mind if I sent you an email to discuss this offline?
Sure, go ahead
Coz- thanks. May take a few days…
VG- more info:
http://www.sustainability-index.com/default.html
http://www.kld.com/
and given our past discussions you might like Calvert’s approach a great deal. They take women’s issues very seriously and their senior management includes very amazing women:
http://www.calvert.com/
(and I do not own any stock or have any other financial interests in these companies ;->
Valley Girl, I put up a quicky temp post with a graphic of the Media Matters ad on Wapoo for you, click on pic to enlarge (I reduced it from orginal size too)
http://humorhasit.blogspot.com…..oo_19.html
VG,
“Coz- thanks. May take a few days…”
LOL OK
VG – just posted a little more info but it’s in moderation coz there are 3 links so look for it later.
on YKOS – I’m very excited about the work. Gina, who is the lead organizer is great – wonderful attitude, unflustered in the face of such an enormous project and really smart. I’m be working on credentialing and media arrangements which is fun because it is very new ground in the media relations world – and there’s lots of media interest! In fact, I’m taking the next 2 days off (mostly – I never am far from work email it seems) and just hunkering down with the planning which I’m really looking forward to. It’s going to be a blast!
Can anyone foresee a merger between the New York Times and the Washington Post? Not as unthinkable as you might imagine. They might have to do that to avoid being swallowed by Mr. Murdoch. Then I guess they would become the New York Post…hey wait a minute…oh, never mind.
Declining readerships
Stagnant or declining ad revenues
Tarnished prestige
Declining or stagnant share price
Failure to come up with a profitable new business model that takes into account new technologies, such as the web.
Unwillingness to woo the informed, interactive users of the internet
Poor editorial direction
Fumbling leadership
It’s a mystery to me why anyone would mount a revolt against either the NYT or print media in general.
VG 25 LOL! I hope Olberman has them on that night.
Zennurse – thanks for the link. LA odds are that “Commander Chaman” was captured in Area 51. Don’t tell the Powerline guys.
GSD – I believe that 20th hijackers are lesser in number only to al-Qaeda second in commands.
The Harper’s link confirms a bit of Risen’s take – that some people in the CIA weren’t really all that keen on the job change to offshore jailors and torturers. Some probably even worry that it might be illegal or something, but I think they are at “not to worry” on that front. DOJ has everyone comfy and cozy that its all legal, all the time.
Unless, of course, any of them plan on doing something really shocking – like taking up baseball and using steroids.
TalkLeft says:
“Rumor: Fitz Met With Plame Grand Jury Today Re: Rove”
Oh, let it be..
Two or more above remarking on whether Rove is a target…
Wild speculation here, but when the FBI lead on the case retired I’m pretty sure that ended the investigation. Everything needed is in hand. About the same time (probably the same week) Card tendered resignation.
Now the pieces have been put together in the WH. And the fact that they have been put together is documented in the memories of people there, at the very least. Not being sure of the alligences of the leaving rats, plan “save Bush’s ass, and the November election” is kicking in. Because those two things are probably the same.
Its distancing from Rove. New guys don’t have any better feel for where the neofascists want to go than Rove did. Really doesn’t make sense other than distancing, and apparently WH knows its going to get worse before its ever gets better.
So Bush is creating the firewall at Cheney. Realization is that Fitz is protected by those around him. Cheney and Bush transcripts will come out one way or another. Reviewing those transcripts has lead Bush to believe he has to through Cheney under the bus. Its the only parsing they can go with.
Wild speculation.
Live Vote
Should the Senate open a Watergate-style investigation of President Bush’s conduct in office? * 20130 responses
Yes, this administration has hidden and manipulated information at every turn. It must be called to account.
92%
No, this administration has been making its best effort to deal with many bad situations. We don’t need a Senate witch hunt.
7.8%
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12361506/
Shez— great!!! thanks for the link, and the graphic! At least I know that the ad wasn’t scrubbed, tho I couldn’t find it. I hope you will email Jane the graphic and the addy, in case it might come in handy.
I told my wife that after she caught me with the hookers last Christmas. I keep telling her, “But Honey, I’ve moved on.” She just doesn’t get it.
And if Alex Trebeck is also in attendance, does that mean everyone gets to play Jeopardy?
Well, if Judy Miller is there, they can certainly play double jeopardy.
If a foreign government purchased the Times and nobody noticed…
What would it say about present-day management?
There’s a pointed message for the Dems here from the Corporate media implosion. Change or die.
Is the DLC an endangered species?
It’s really remarkable how much Judy Miller resembles a young Harriet Sansom Harris (currently on “Desperate Housewivesâ€).
Interestingly, Harriet Sansom Harris (born January 8, 1955) is younger than Judy Miller (born January 2, 1948).
Excellent comments by Rayne (41 and 43). Sounds like Rayne is an NYT insider to me, making the thoughts particularly salient. It would be great to bring the economic issues into fuller view.
Richmond (94) — flattered, but no, I’m only a businessperson, can see that the NYT has lost its way in terms of branding. Ditto WaPo, and I hope it’ll hurt the bottomline just as badly, but I’m afraid our chattering about WaPo might actually drive up readership. NYT’s putting the best and brightest behind a paid-access firewall was a big mistake; those op-ed should have been seen as loss-leaders that drove up readership, making online ad space more valuable. But NYT isn’t grokking the transition from traditional MSM outlet to internet-mediated model. WaPo is only just beginning to shape an increasingly internet-mediated model; their late adoption may have saved some of their bacon.
As for the economic news…[sigh] I get ill every time I hear talking heads saying, Garsh, we don’t get it, why aren’t Americans happier? The economy’s going great guns!! Ask any American that while they’re pumping gas these days; citizens get it firmly in their wallet every day.
Here’s more ideas that Pinch can ignore: Get rid of the firewall around the OP/ED writers. It’s killing their reach. If you wanna make money online, charge for a basic subscription to *all* of the news. And while you’re at it, make it real news by getting rid of the Adam Nagourney, Jody Wilgoren and Elizabeth Bumiller triumvirate. They give sycophancy a bad name. If there is no news at the WH, that’s what they should report. Not some puff pieces about how dreamy Dubya is and how cool the new communcations team is.
Take care you guys don’t let Schadenfreude distract you from Bruce Sherman. WHO IS THIS GUY AND WHAT THE HELL IS HE UP TO.
I don’t know the answers but he worries me. I suspect he may be the Chainsaw Al of the Fourth Estate.
It would be tragic if Putz Sulzberger’s failings/shortcomings condemned the NYT to the tender mercies of a right wing wrecking crew. It would be ironic if liberals, drunk on spite, cheered as it came down.
The real theater of war is the Finance Sector.
Let’s get serious. The NYT shareholders aren’t unhappy about the way the paper handles the news. They care what they do or don’t print. They want to them make more money and pay more dividends. If they have their way, the NYT would look a lot like a print version of Fox News, a real money maker.
Let’s get serious. The NYT shareholders aren’t unhappy about the way the paper handles the news. They do not care what they do or don’t print. They want to them make more money and pay more dividends. If they have their way, the NYT would look a lot like a print version of Fox News, a real money maker.