:: LNR Journalism ::

Gannett acquires social media marketing specialist Blinq

VentureBeat :: You know what they say: If ya can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em! Or at least that’s what the folks at Gannett are saying today. The traditional media titan has just snapped up Blinq, a social media marketing shop.

A report by Jolie O'Dell, venturebeat.com

Gannett will buy BLiNQ Media for up to $92m

TechCrunch :: On the heels of Google buying Wildfire and Salesforce nabbing Buddy Media, we have heard from two very reliable sources, plus a third anonymous source, that Gannett Co., the media giant that owns USA Today and other properties, is buying BLiNQ Media. The price for the Facebook advertising software and service is up to $92 million over a period of three to four years, with a quarter of that amount, $23 million, coming up front.

A report by Ingrid Lunden | Josh Constine, techcrunch.com

Gannett Co., Inc. reports second quarter results: Earnings, revenue fall

Finance Yahoo :: Gannett Co. , a leading international media and marketing solutions company, today reported second quarter financial results. Earnings per diluted share, on a GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) basis were $0.51 for the second quarter of 2012 compared to $0.62 for the second quarter of 2011. Excluding special items in 2012 and 2011, second quarter earnings per diluted share were $0.56 compared to $0.58 for the same quarter last year.

Press release here PR Newswire, finance.yahoo.com

(Via Gannett blog) Webcast / conference call, Monday, July 16, 2012 10:00 a.m. ET - Gannet & Wall Street Earnings Conference Call, a public webcast

Further details and discussion:

"Urgent: second-quarter earnings and revenue fall; but results are better than expected; stock is flat" - Summary here Jim Hopkins, gannettblog.blogspot.com

"Gannett beats on profit, but ad sales still weak" - A report by Jennifer Saba, www.reuters.com

Don't panic yet: The Detroit Free Press isn't closing, but a major change is afoot

Nothing "transcendental"? "Don't panic yet"? Does Bill Shea wants readers not to panic yet, or his colleagues?

Crain's Detroit :: A visit to the Detroit Free Press, or Freep, last week by a handful Gannett corporate executives prompted the latest round of existential newspaper angst within the walls at 615 West Lafayette Boulevard. However, I'm assured by Rich Harshbarger, the Detroit Media Partnership's vice president of consumer marketing, that there is nothing transcendental in the immediate offing for the Freep.

"Not closing, but cuts, etc." - Continue to read Bill Shea, www.crainsdetroit.com

Gannett's Detroit Free Press to lay off reporters, cut newsroom

Motor City Muckraker :: Gannett's Detroit Free Press plans to sizably reduce its staff of reporters, and one of its top editors is leaving, Editor and Publisher Paul Anger told trepidation newspaper employees today. Anger said the cuts “won’t be tiny,” according to three reporters and an editor who were at the meeting.

Continue to read Steve Neavling, motorcitymuckraker.com

HT: Andrew Beaujon, Poynter

.@Ona receives $50,000 Gannett grant to continue free digital training

Journalists.org :: The Online News Association, the world’s largest membership organization of digital journalists, today announced its fourth year of free digital training, thanks to a renewed grant from the Gannett Foundation. The $50,000 in funding enables ONA to continue one of its most popular and valued programs, ONACamp, which so far has visited nearly 1,000 journalists in communities throughout the United States to update their media skills.

Via Jim Brady, Editor-in-Chief at Digital First Media and President of The Online News Association, ONA:

Thanks to Gannett for its $50K grant to @ONA to support free digital training for journalists: journalists.org/2012/04/27/ona…

— Jim Brady (@jimbradysp) April 29, 2012

Continue to read journalists.org

Ryan Thornburg: Pay walls and social media could shift the public agenda

Mediashift | IdeaLab :: If conversations around digital journalism have been dominated by anything in the first quarter of 2012, it's probably been about subscriptions, also known as pay walls. Walls are going up at the L.A. Times and Gannett papers, and getting higher at The New York Times. And the editor of The Guardian asked his readers, "What would you give the Guardian? Money, time or data?"  The conversation all this time has been focused on whether the shift toward digital subscriptions will save the news business. But the more interesting and important question is whether and how it will change the news content and public discourse.

Continue to read Ryan Thornburg, www.pbs.org

Digital-print divide: Gannett profit falls 25pc on newspaper ad decline

Associated Press | New York Times :: The Gannett Company reported a 25% decline in first-quarter profit on Monday, as advertising in its newspapers continued to decline. The company, which owns 82 newspapers in the United States, including USA TODAY; 23 broadcast television stations; and several digital media properties, said it earned $68.2 million, or 28 cents a share, in the quarter, down from $90.5 million, or 37 cents a share, a year earlier.

[Gannett, First Quarter Results:] The company’s continued focus on digital solutions for its advertisers drove an increase of 12.5 percent in Publishing segment digital revenues (included in all of the categories above). Online revenues were up 13.5 percent at domestic publishing operations while at Newsquest they were 6.4 percent higher, in pounds. Digital revenues at U.S. Community Publishing were 11.2 percent higher driven by increases in auto, employment and retail. USA TODAY and its associated businesses reported digital revenue growth of 25.3 percent.

Continue to read Associated Press, www.nytimes.com

Gannett Reports First Quarter Results 04/16/2012, www.gannett.com, (PDF direct link)

As Gannett’s brand morphs, print still top of mind

Reuters | MediaFile :: For a handful of years now, several newspaper companies have attempted to re-brand themselves into something — anything! — that doesn’t associate them with newspapers. Gannett is one of the latest examples trying to put some distance between itself and the industry despite the fact that it is still the largest newspaper chain by circulation in the U.S., it still derives the heft of its revenue from ink on paper, and it still is a bellwether for other companies that count big iron as an asset.

Continue to read Jennifer Saba, blogs.reuters.com

David Hunke named chairman of USA TODAY, will retire in September

Market Watch :: Gannett Co. announced today that David Hunke, president and publisher of USA TODAY, has been named chairman of USA TODAY. He will serve as chairman until the end of September 2012 when he will retire from Gannett. As chairman, he will work on strategic projects for USA TODAY and help with the transition to new leadership. Gannett is conducting a search for a publisher to succeed Hunke, which will be coordinated with the current search for an editor in chief for USA TODAY.

Hat tip: Jim Hopkins, Gannett Blog

Continue to read www.marketwatch.com