Robert Decherd

The Providence Journal’s parent company, A.H. Belo, announced Wednesday that Robert Decherd will retire as its chairman, president and CEO on Sept. 11 and be succeeded by Jim Moroney, the Dallas Morning News’ longtime publisher and CEO.

Decherd, 62, will move to a new role as vice chairman of the board – and he’ll be richly compensated for doing so, according to a filing late Wednesday with the SEC.

Decherd will be paid $300,000 a year in 2014, 2015 and 2016 to serve as vice chairman of A.H. Belo’s board of directors, the company disclosed. Although Decherd will stop being CEO in September, he’ll still get his full $600,000 annual salary for 2013 and will be eligible for a full year’s bonus. Decherd earned $1.9 million in 2012.

(more…)

The Providence Journal’s advertising sales dropped again during the first three months of this year, as Rhode Island’s statewide daily newspaper reported losses in nearly every type of notice.

The Journal’s advertising revenue was down 15% between Jan. 1 and March 31 compared with the same period in 2012, parent company A.H. Belo disclosed in an SEC filing. Quarterly ad sales fell to $9.6 million, or $1.7 million below last year’s level.

Total first-quarter revenue at The Journal from all sources was down 9% from 2013, falling to $20.6 million, thanks to a 10% increase in its contracts to print and distribute other newspapers. Circulation revenue fell 7% to $8 million.

“In Providence we got off to a bumpy start for a variety of reasons,” A.H. Belo CEO Robert Decherd told investors in a conference call last week. He said some of The Journal’s promotional plans for the start of the year were hamstrung by the winter storms that hit Rhode Island.

(more…)

The Providence Journal’s Sunday print circulation fell 10% during the six months ended March 31, figures released Tuesday showed, as the newspaper’s parent company reported a first-quarter loss of $8 million.

The Journal’s print circulation on Sundays – the most lucrative edition of the week for most papers – totaled 109,516 copies, down by 12,763 since March 2012, the Alliance for Audited Media (formerly the Audit Bureau of Circulations) reported Tuesday morning.

The Projo sold an average of 79,244 traditional print editions on weekdays between Oct. 1 and March 31, a decrease of 6,252 from a year earlier and 45% fewer than in September 2007.

Saturday circulation dipped below 100,000 for the first time, falling by 10,484 to 98,651. Weekday circulation fell below 100,000 for the first time in 2010. The overall pace of circulation loss has slowed since 2009-10, when the annual rate of decline on Sundays peaked at 17%.

(more…)

Robert Decherd

The Providence Journal’s parent company gave its top executives pay raises and $1.7 million in bonuses in 2012 as they eked out an annual profit for the first time.

A.H. Belo awarded CEO Robert Decherd $1.9 million in 2012, up from $1.6 million in 2011 and $499,180 in 2009, according to a Securities & Exchange Commission filing.

Decherd’s compensation included a $567,692 salary, bumped up from $480,000 in 2011; $705,678 in cash bonuses; $487,500 in stock awards; and $127,139 in other benefits, including $7,920 for life insurance. Decherd is also A.H. Belo’s chairman and president.

In addition, the Dallas-based company said it paid Executive Vice President James Moroney $1.4 million in 2012, up from $1.1 million in 2011; Chief Financial Officer Alison Engel $805,490, up from $626,091; and Senior Vice President Daniel Blizzard $557,672, up from $424,991. Former executive John McKeon received $272,286 before his departure last April.

(more…)

Legendary alt-weekly newspaper the Boston Phoenix is closing its doors, but its Providence sister publication is safe for now.

Phoenix Media/Communications Group CEO Stephen Mindich announced Wednesday the Boston newspaper will cease print publication with the issue dated March 15, and will publish its last edition online March 22.

“The Portland Phoenix in Maine and the Providence Phoenix in Rhode Island will be unaffected,” the company said. “They will continue weekly publication.”

Mindich elaborated in a statement: “Because of their smaller scale of operations and because we believe that they remain meaningful publications to their communities, with some necessary changes to each, it is our intent to keep the Providence and Portland Phoenixes operating and to do so for as long as they remain financially viable.”

Providence Phoenix news editor David Scharfenberg described the Boston Phoenix’s demise as “heartbreaking,” writing on his blog: “I will say my faith in the importance of the Providence Phoenix to this city, and state, is unshaken.” Scharfenberg’s predecessor, Ian Donnis of Rhode Island Public Radio, called it “a sad day for anyone who cares about the news.”

The Providence Phoenix was founded in 1979 as the NewPaper. Phoenix Media acquired it in 1988 and it was renamed the Providence Phoenix five years later.

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The Providence Journal’s revenue losses nearly stopped in 2012 as significant growth in the company’s contracts for printing and distribution helped offset dwindling advertising and declining circulation.

The Journal’s revenue totaled $93.8 million in 2012, according to an SEC filing by its parent company A.H. Belo. The 1.4% decrease compared with 2011 was the newspaper’s smallest in at least eight years. Total Journal revenue has plummeted 43% since 2005, when the paper pulled in $165.6 million.

(more…)

Don’t tell the owners of East Bay Newspapers their industry is dying.

The Bristol-based chain has launched a new free weekly, the Portsmouth Times, in the crowded Aquidneck Island media market. A 40-page first edition was published last Thursday, with an initial print run of 3,000 copies distributed at about 150 locations.

The Times joins EBN’s six other papers: the Barrington Times, the Warren Times-Gazette, the Bristol Phoenix, the East Providence Post, the Sakonnet Times and the Westport Shorelines.

“It’s nice after various years of contraction to be starting something new,” Scott Pickering, EBN’s general manager, told WPRI.com.

Portsmouth isn’t new territory for East Bay Newspapers: the company’s Sakonnet Times has covered the town, along with Little Compton and Tiverton, for 47 years. But Pickering said the company recently decided Portsmouth needed its own paper, though it will share regional stories with the Sakonnet Times.

(more…)

The Atlantic Wire’s David Wagner has taken on the thankless task of compiling “The 50 Worst Columns of 2012,” featuring his selection of the most misguided, boneheaded opinion pieces published this year.

Along with the usual media stars – Peggy Noonan, Dick Morris, Maureen Dowd – the list also features a Nov. 13 piece by Oliver Hudson, a Brown University undergraduate and a columnist at The Brown Daily Herald. Here’s Wagner’s writeup:

Oliver Hudson in The Brown Daily Herald on why voting rights are wrong Here’s one way to get everyone’s attention: attack a cornerstone of modern American democracy. “Most of us accept and celebrate our universal suffrage. But is it a good idea? In my view, no,” writes Brown undergraduate Oliver Hudson, who thinks voting rights should be determined by tax bracket (that’s not a joke). “If person A contributes 100 times more than person B in income taxes, person A should have 100 times more voting power than person B.” So basically, Donald Trump should get to handpick our presidents?

Hudson – who is also editor-in-chief of The Brown Spectator, an student-run conservative journal – certainly stirred up controversy, getting push back from the Brown Politics Memo and later publishing a reply to his “outraged readers.” Alas, the reply used a fake Jefferson quote.

The Atlantic’s list isn’t the only end-of-the-year roundup that Hudson’s column has made – USA Today College put the piece on its list of “4 Controversial Columns that Defined 2012,” too.

​(photo: Brown Daily Herald)

The Providence Journal laid off at least 23 of its roughly 460 employees this week as the paper struggles to stop a continuing decline in its circulation numbers and advertising sales.

The Journal said on its website 23 full-time workers lost their jobs Wednesday on top of the 11 who accepted a voluntary buyout in September. No reporters or columnists were laid off, and the paper said the cuts would have “minimal impact” on its news coverage. Three photographers reportedly lost their jobs.

Separately, Journal parent company A.H. Belo disclosed that the Providence paper’s total advertising revenue fell 13% compared with last year during the three months ended Sept. 30, to $10.5 million. The paper’s overall revenue rose 0.7% to $23 million as circulation and printing/distribution sales improved.

A.H. Belo CEO Robert Decherd told investors the Dallas-based company’s revenue picture worsened in October. “It’s been a little bit choppier in October and I couldn’t begin to tell you what will happen in November,” he said last week. “We’re definitely seeing a softer market in all three [A.H. Belo] markets – well, Providence and Dallas; Riverside is holding its own.”

(more…)

(Re-upping this in case you missed it during Sandy. -TN.)

Providence Monthly had a fun idea for its November edition – get a bunch of Rhode Island journalists together to talk shop and discuss where we think the battered media industry is going next.

The roundtable was earlier this month, and it was interesting to hear where all of us agree, disagree and aren’t sure. The group Providence Monthly brought together was Tim White and me (WPRI), Ian Donnis (RIPR), Erika Niedowski (AP), Dan McGowan (GoLocal), Tim Murphy (Projo) and Dave Scharfenberg (Phoenix).

The full conversation is here in five parts. A sample:

John T: We have seven reporters seated at the table and only one representing a print daily, which is quite a change from if we had had this conversation ten, fifteen, twenty years ago. What is the changing nature of this profession as the era of the traditional beat reporter gives way to this new media landscape? What does the beat reporter of the future look like? Who does the next generation’s Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein work for?

Ted N: I think it’s interesting, because we’re at a time where you can jump in in different ways. My job was just an experiment by Channel 12. They never would have had a writer when it was just a TV station; there was nowhere to put the writing. Now everyone has a website. Erika’s stuff used to be primarily available inside a newsroom until it got into a paper. Now the AP has a mobile site. I don’t like to make predictions anymore – not that I ever did and I haven’t been in it that long – but I never predict where it’s all going. I think a lot of it is just trying to keep an eye on where things are moving and sort of get there along with the readers – not wait until you realize that people have migrated, and then you’re left behind. You’re not in the place where people want to be. But hopefully the standards can remain the same.

The Providence Journal’s print circulation fell 7% during the six months ended Sept. 30 as subscriptions to its new electronic edition rose past 4,000.

The Journal sold an average of 83,733 traditional print copies on weekdays between April 1 and Sept. 30, a decrease of 6,352 from the same period a year earlier, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported Tuesday.

The Journal said its total average weekly circulation was 114,303 when “branded editions” are included, which would include its free ProjoExpress publication. The Audit Bureau changed its rules in 2011 to count those.

The Projo’s print circulation on Sundays – the most lucrative edition of the week for most papers – totaled 117,784 copies, a drop of 11,240 since the September 2011 report. Saturday circulation fell by 9,117 copies, from 115,892 to 106,775.

ProvidenceJournal.com had 1.2 million unique visitors as of March 31, up from 868,693 in the six months ended March 31 and matching the audience for the old Projo.com a year ago, the Audit Bureau said.

The Journal reported 4,224 subscriptions to its e-edition, broken out as 1,398 on weekdays, 1,411 on Saturdays and 1,415 on Sundays.

(more…)

Providence Monthly had a fun idea for its November edition – get a bunch of Rhode Island journalists together to talk shop and discuss where we think the battered media industry is going next.

The roundtable was earlier this month, and it was interesting to hear where all of us agree, disagree and aren’t sure. The group Providence Monthly brought together was Tim White and me (WPRI), Ian Donnis (RIPR), Erika Niedowski (AP), Dan McGowan (GoLocal), Tim Murphy (Projo) and Dave Scharfenberg (Phoenix).

Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here. A sample:

John T: We have seven reporters seated at the table and only one representing a print daily, which is quite a change from if we had had this conversation ten, fifteen, twenty years ago. What is the changing nature of this profession as the era of the traditional beat reporter gives way to this new media landscape? What does the beat reporter of the future look like? Who does the next generation’s Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein work for?

Ted N: I think it’s interesting, because we’re at a time where you can jump in in different ways. My job was just an experiment by Channel 12. They never would have had a writer when it was just a TV station; there was nowhere to put the writing. Now everyone has a website. Erika’s stuff used to be primarily available inside a newsroom until it got into a paper. Now the AP has a mobile site. I don’t like to make predictions anymore – not that I ever did and I haven’t been in it that long – but I never predict where it’s all going. I think a lot of it is just trying to keep an eye on where things are moving and sort of get there along with the readers – not wait until you realize that people have migrated, and then you’re left behind. You’re not in the place where people want to be. But hopefully the standards can remain the same.

The Providence Journal is set to lay off more than a dozen employees during the first week of November, according to the president of the newspaper’s largest union.

Providence Newspaper Guild president John Hill told WPRI.com he was informed late Wednesday by Journal executives that the paper had “a dismal October revenue experience” and they’ve decided the only option is to reduce headcount permanently.

“The advertising market is so uncertain,” Hill said Friday. “They do not have confidence in their ability to predict revenue at this point.”

Journal executives are still seeking $1.2 million in savings, which the Guild estimates will require the elimination of roughly 16 of its members’ jobs. The terms of its contract gives the publisher “complete discretion” over the size of the paper’s staff, he said.

(more…)

The Providence Journal’s executives are seeking about $1.2 million in concessions from their workers to deal with falling advertising revenue, a person familiar with the matter told WPRI.com on Thursday.

It’s estimated reaching that level of savings would require around 15 layoffs, but it’s unclear whether those will be ordered or if the paper’s union will get the chance to make an alternative offer, the person said.

Messages were left with Providence Newspaper Guild President John Hill seeking more information. The Journal’s work force has shrunk by a third since 2008 to an estimated 468 employees, about 220 of whom are members of the Providence Newspaper Guild.

Update: The Providence Phoenix’s Dave Scharfenberg has more information.

• Related: Union: Providence Journal to disclose plan for layoffs Tuesday (Oct. 5)

The Providence Journal is exploring a $10 million sale-leaseback deal for its historic headquarters on Fountain Street, executives disclosed last week.

Dallas-based parent company A.H. Belo has valued The Journal’s “non-core” real estate holdings in Providence at $18.85 million, executives said last Thursday in a presentation at its annual investor day.

The Journal currently occupies the entire five-story 75 Fountain St. building, which was built in 1932 and has 160,000 square feet of space that could be rented. The company wants to sell the building for about $10 million, then lease half of it to run the newspaper.

“A recent space-planning study confirmed that The Journal could fit on the top two floors, thereby freeing up the lower two floors for redevelopment,” Dan Blizzard, A.H. Belo’s senior vice president, told investors. “The building is currently being offered for sale on a sale-leaseback basis to a select group of potential buyers.”

The Journal is also trying to sell three parking lots worth a combined $4.85 million and a vacant inserting facility worth $4 million. Blizzard said the paper’s production plant is not for sale. In 2010 the company tried to get the city to buy the Fountain Street building for $9.75 million or lease it for $1.17 million annually.

Separately, Journal publisher Howard Sutton briefly summarized the paywall system the paper launched last February, noting that it differs significantly from that of sister paper The Dallas Morning News.

Sutton said the strategy has three goals: to “stabilize print circulation; increase value for subscribers by launching the e-edition and other value-added products; [and] maintain a vibrant online community.” He didn’t offer any details on the impact of the paywall thus far.

• Related: Union: Providence Journal to disclose plan for layoffs Tuesday (Oct. 5)

(photo: A.H. Belo)

An earlier version of this story incorrectly described The Journal’s building as four stories.

The Providence Journal’s top executives will disclose on Tuesday how many employees they’re looking to lay off to deal with its falling advertising revenue, according to the president of the paper’s largest union.

Providence Newspaper Guild President John Hill told WPRI.com he’s been told management will call him Tuesday and provide the number of layoffs it’s expecting to order to reach a certain level of savings.

“And the question will be, how do we achieve those savings?” Hill said. “Do they achieve it by laying people off or do they achieve it by bargaining concessions?” Hill has said repeatedly he wants to sit down with the paper’s management to discuss alternatives to layoffs before they make a move.

“If it’s a number that’s worth five jobs or if it’s a number that’s worth 35 jobs – that’s a completely different conversation,” he said. “We don’t know what we can or should do until we know what that is.” The Guild is surveying its members to see what they would be willing to give up to forestall layoffs.

Hill described the mood inside the newsroom as anxious. “Everybody’s stretched like a snare drum on this,” he said. But he also expressed hope that this morning’s better-than-expected employment report could be a sign the national recovery is picking up steam, which will eventually boost Rhode Island as well.

The Journal’s work force has shrunk by a third to an estimated 468 employees since 2008.

• Related: Projo union may offer concessions to avoid newspaper layoffs (Sept. 14)

One of Rhode Island’s largest newspaper chains is under new leadership.

WPRI.com has confirmed Jody Boucher replaced Nanci Batson on Monday as publisher of Rhode Island Media Group’s Southern Rhode Island Newspapers division, which includes nine daily and weekly newspapers in Rhode Island including the Kent County Daily Times.

Boucher has been the group’s advertising director for seven years. “Jody has a number of years of solid newspaper, print publication, and media industry leadership and experience, [and] her appointment to the position of publisher of our southern group of newspapers is a positive step for all of the communities our newspapers serve,” Melanie Radler, Rhode Island Media Group’s president, said in a statement.

Boucher described herself as “very excited” about the new job. “Our position in our markets is definitely positive as we continue to be the dominant news source for our communities,” she said in an email. Boucher’s previous experience includes two stints in the Chicago Sun-Times’ advertising department.

Rhode Island Media Group is the operating name of Marion, Ill.-based R.I.S.N. Operations Inc., which paid $7.6 million in 2007 to buy the Woonsocket Call, the Pawtucket Times and Wakefield-basked Southern Rhode Island Newspapers from the Journal Register Co. R.I.S.N. stands for Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers.

• Related: Seven employees laid off at Kent Co. Daily Times, sister papers (March 13)

More than half a dozen Providence Journal employees are ready to accept a buyout offer from the company and depart their jobs on Sept. 30, according to the newspaper’s largest union.

Journal management has informed the Providence Newspaper Guild that four of the union’s members requested buyouts – two editorial staffers and two advertising staffers, union president John Hill told WPRI.com. The deadline to apply for a buyout was 5 p.m. Monday.

Management also said more than four managers who aren’t Guild members requested buyouts, but the company won’t release the number until Tuesday morning after taking time to review whether any of them are essential to the paper’s functions, according to Hill.

Though no specific target was set, Journal management told the union earlier this month the paper needed “significantly more” than eight employees to volunteer for the buyouts in order to avoid layoffs.

The union isn’t releasing the names of which employees took the buyouts, and Hill cautioned his colleagues about what they’re hearing. “Until things are officially announced, they’re not official – there’s a lot of rumors going around and a lot of them are not correct,” he said.

The Journal’s work force has shrunk by a third to 468 employees since 2008.

• Related: Projo union may offer concessions to avoid newspaper layoffs (Sept. 14)

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The Providence Journal’s largest union says it may consider offering contract concessions such as temporary pay cuts in order to avoid layoffs if too few employees accept the voluntary buyout offer put forward last week.

In a letter sent Friday, the Providence Newspaper Guild asked Journal management for a chance to discuss other ways of saving money before the company moves forward with layoffs. Employees must volunteer to take the buyout by Monday and have been warned layoffs could follow if too few accept it.

Guild president John Hill acknowledged it would be new territory for his union to reopen a contract that was already ratified, and he emphasized that no offers can be made until he formally surveys his roughly 220 members to see what they would be willing to accept.

“We want to see if there’s something we can do,” Hill told WPRI.com. Journal management has indicated that it won’t be able to respond to the Guild with specifics until the first week of October, he said. The union would need to vote to approve any deal on concessions.

Hill described the mood in the newsroom as “tense and anxious” with a few days left before Monday afternoon’s deadline to volunteer to leave with a buyout. “The people who are most vulnerable [to layoffs] are some of our best – we’re going to build a future on these guys,” he said. “We’ll lose the seed corn if this goes through.”

(more…)

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The Providence Journal will cut an undetermined number of employees this month through buyouts or layoffs, according to the largest union at Rhode Island’s statewide daily.

The Providence Newspaper Guild said Friday management has told union officials the paper will offer “a new round of buyouts, and warned layoffs are possible if enough employees don’t accept them.”

The deadline for workers to request a buyout is Monday, Sept. 17. Eligibility will be determined by seniority, though exceptions may be made for workers in key jobs. The Journal’s work force fell by a third to 468 employees between 2008 and 2011.

Union president John Hill told WPRI.com he’s pressed executives to put a specific number on how many staff members they need to shed, but Journal management has only told him they want “significantly more” than the eight cuts they targeted in last December’s buyout round.

That “is making it difficult for us,” Hill said. “A number would help us communicate the seriousness, the magnitude of what we’re confronting.” Journal publisher Howard Sutton did not respond to a request for comment.

(more…)

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – A growing number of contracts for printing and distribution gave The Providence Journal a slight bump in revenue during the first half of this year despite a deep drop in springtime advertising revenue.

The Journal’s total revenue rose to $46.7 million during the six months of 2012, an increase of $597,000 or 1.3% compared with the first half of last year, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week by its parent company A.H. Belo.

The share of total Journal revenue that came from advertising fell below 50%, a symbolically important milestone in light of newspapers’ historic reliance on advertisements to pay the newsroom’s bills. Printing and distribution contracts’ share of revenue jumped to 13% and circulation accounted for 37%.

The Journal is one of many papers with a changing revenue mix, said Ken Doctor, a media analyst with Outsell. “All are seeing rapidly increasing percentile contributions from circulation – or what we should call reader revenue,” he told WPRI.com. “Projo is at the leading edge of change, probably due more to ad decline than [its] digital circulation program.”

(more…)

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The Providence Journal’s finances brightened during the first three months of this year, as the paper used higher circulation revenue and more third-party printing work to offset another sharp drop in advertising.

The Journal’s revenue totaled $22.7 million in the three months ended March 31, up 3% from $22 million in the same period last year, according to a regulatory filing. That performance helped offset weakness elsewhere within its Dallas-based parent A. H. Belo, which said companywide revenue slid 7% in the first quarter.

The Journal’s first-quarter contract work nearly doubled to $2.8 million year-over-year as the paper distributed more national and local newspapers and landed new commercial printing jobs. The paper’s circulation revenue also posted a healthy gain of nearly 6%, rising to $8.6 million.

Advertising is no longer the bedrock of The Journal’s business that it once was, contributing only 49.5% of total revenue in the first quarter. Ad sales through March 31 fell to $11.2 million, down nearly 10% from a year earlier, with declines in all categories. Digital advertising on ProvidenceJournal.com slipped 7% to $1.5 million compared with 2011.

(more…)

The Providence Journal’s print circulation fell almost 7% during the six months ended March 31 as it sold fewer than 300 subscriptions to its new electronic edition.

The Journal sold an average of 85,496 traditional print copies on weekdays between Oct. 1 and March 31, a decrease of 6,311 from the same period a year earlier, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported Tuesday.

The Journal said its total average weekly circulation was 114,013 when “branded editions” are included, which would include its free ProjoExpress publication. The Audit Bureau changed its rules in 2011 to count those.

The Projo’s print circulation on Sundays - the most lucrative edition of the week for most papers – totaled 122,279 copies, a drop of 8,380 since the March 2011 report. Saturday circulation fell by 7,676 copies, from 116,811 to 109,135.

ProvidenceJournal.com had 868,693 unique visitors as of March 31, down from 1.2 million for the old Projo.com in the six months ended Sept. 30, the Audit Bureau said. That echoes other estimates showing traffic down by about a third.

(more…)

The Providence Journal’s parent company, A.H. Belo, shaved its top executives’ compensation in 2011 after more than doubling their pay in 2010, according to a Securities & Exchange Commission filing.

A.H. Belo awarded CEO Robert Decherd $1.6 million last year, down 14% from $1.9 million in 2010, and up 222% from $499,180 in 2009, the filing said.

Decherd’s pay included a $480,000 salary, $899,997 in stock awards, a $168,474 cash bonus and $61,441 in other benefits. Decherd’s salary rose to $600,000 a year effective this month, a separate filing said.

The Dallas-based company awarded Executive Vice President James Moroney $1.1 million in 2011, down from $1.3 million in 2010; Chief Financial Officer Alison Engel $626,091, down from $800,001; Senior Vice President Daniel Blizzard $424,991, down from $575,000; and departing executive John McKeon $891,788, down from $1.3 million. The first three executives’  base salaries also increased this month.

A.H. Belo posted a net loss of $10.9 million in 2011, compared with a net loss of $124.2 million in 2010, as revenue fell 5% to $461.5 million. The company’s stock is down almost 3% this year based on Tuesday’s closing price of $4.62 a share, after declining 45% in 2011.

• Related: Projo parent AH Belo’s board awards big raises to top bosses (March 20)

(chart: DailyFinance)

They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Does that hold true for criminal charges?

If so, former Mass. Treasurer Tim Cahill’s corruption indictment earlier this month may be a boon to GoLocalWorcester, Josh Fenton’s new GoLocalProv spinoff site for Central Massachusetts.

Cahill, who says he’s innocent of any wrongdoing, was a columnist – or, in GoLo parlance, a MINDSETTER™ – when the site launched in February, and that hasn’t changed: Cahill published a new piece Tuesday about the Ann Romney motherhood contretemps.

“Tim Cahill has been a widely read contributor since we launched in mid-February,” Fenton told WPRI.com in an email. He described the 2010 gubernatorial candidate’s columns as “very consistent” and said: “From a reader’s perspective, he gives great insights into government and politics.”

GoLocalWorcester racked up more than 1 million page views during its first 60 days, which was more than 400% higher than what GoLocalProv achieved in its initial two months, according to Fenton.

There was some debate on Monday about whether Democrat Anthony Gemma had made an unusual choice in refusing to answer questions from reporters at his campaign announcement on Sunday, so I put the question to retired Projo columnist M. Charles Bakst, who’s seen his fair share of political kickoffs:

I would call it extremely rare for a kickoff. I do remember that heading into the 1990 Democratic primary for governor, Providence Mayor Joe Paolino announced in a paid TV commercial, but, even so, he made himself available that day (or night) for press questioning. The point is that kickoffs (breakfasts, rallies, news conferences, etc.) are almost always moments of great promise and good cheer; the candidate projects confidence and indeed hungers for and savors every opportunity he or she can get for publicity for the announcement.

This is a contrast to a very different kind of event you sometimes encounter in politics: when an officeholder or candidate is under pressure or lacks confidence or, certainly, wants to keep tight control of the message. In such cases, he or she will make a statement and then either walk out or simply refuse to respond directly to questions. For example, a candidate under fire in a combative race may hold a news conference on a position paper – say, job development. But reporters – possibly because the candidate can’t intelligently discuss the topic at hand – may instead start asking about an attack ad the guy is airing. And the candidate might then say, “We’re not here to talk about that.”

Bakst noted that another candidate launched a 1990 campaign in a low-key fashion – Republican hopeful Trudy Coxe, who lost a U.S. House race to Jack Reed. She “issued a statement and spoke with reporters at her home in Cranston’s Edgewood neighborhood,” Scott MacKay reported in the Projo on March 20, 1990.

(photo: Projo.com)

The Taveras administration is escalating its attack on startup news site GoLocalProv, with the mayor describing the outlet as “unethical” in a letter mailed to thousands of Providence retirees late last month.

In March, the mayor’s staff inadvertantly released a PDF document containing nearly 3,000 city retirees’ Social Security numbers in response to a public records request by GoLo. The city says the numbers were blacked out, but GoLo said it was able to change the color back and display the Social Security data.

“As you may have read, the online journal that filed the public information request admitted in court to taking measures to manipulate those materials,” Mayor Angel Taveras wrote retirees in a March 28 letter that did not use GoLocalProv’s name. “Through that manipulation, they exposed retirees’ Social Security numbers.”

Josh Fenton, GoLo’s founder and a former city councilman, told WPRI.com city officials went to court after his staff informed them about the disclosure, in an effort “to block us from reporting that they had released the information. The judge rejected their request to cover up their error.” GoLo published a story the next day.

(more…)

Josh Fenton has opened the kimono at GoLocalProv and offered a peek at the startup news site’s strategy.

In two separate articles on NetNewsCheck, Fenton declined to disclose the numbers everyone wants to know – revenue and profit – but said GoLo “went functionally cash flow positive in Providence after about eight months” and is benefitting as advertisers shift their spending from print to digital.

According to Fenton, GoLo gets an average of 115,000 unique visitors a month; its dominant demographic is women between the ages of 30 and 50; it has 10 full-time employees; nearly half of its revenue comes from display advertising; and 20% of its unique visitors arrive via social media.

“You have to get to a point where you’re competing for the news cycle,” Fenton told NetNewsCheck. “That has always been our strategy – to invest in the level of reporters and research that allows you to break the biggest stories in the marketplace.”

Fenton also pointed with pride to the fact that GoLo doesn’t subscribe to a wire service such as The Associated Press. “There’s no third party content on our site,” he said.

Top executives at The Providence Journal’s parent company, A.H. Belo, are getting big pay raises despite a 45% decline in the publisher’s stock price during 2011, the fourth straight year it lost money.

The compensation committee of A.H. Belo’s board of directors awarded the largest increase to CEO Robert Decherd. His annual base salary will jump 25% to $600,000 in April, the Dallas-based company said in an SEC filing. Decherd is chairman of the board.

In addition, A.H. Belo said Dallas Morning News publisher Jim Moroney’s base salary will increase 15.5% to $540,000; Chief Financial Officer Alison Engel’s will increase 8.3% to $325,000; and senior vice president Daniel Blizzard’s will increase 12% to $280,000. Their total compensation for 2011 will be reported later this spring.

John Hill, president of the Providence Newspaper Guild union, said the four executives “should be ashamed of themselves” for taking more money less than a year after laying off and buying out Journal staffers. The paper’s work force fell by a third between 2008 and 2011. The Guild signed a new contract in February 2011.

(more…)