News

Journalists in Manipur have resolved not to yield to threats issued by militants. This (the resolution) came following a meeting between various journalists' organisations and a number of civil society groups of the state in Imphal on Tuesday. The meeting was organised as a follow-up to the recent threat issued by a militant organisation to newspapers to publish their points of view or face...

The number of blogs on the internet is doubling every five months, according to blog-tracking site Technorati. The total is now around 20 million, with around 1.3 million posts made each day. Most are no more interesting than overhearing another person's telephone call, but there are exceptions that can have a remarkable impact. An example was posted on a Monday evening by Windows guru Mark...

A growing number of Canadians consider the Internet a very important source of information, even though less than half of them consider it accurate, according to a new survey. The survey was conducted by the Canadian Internet Project (CIP), a research organization that studies the role of the Internet in society. IT released the results of the survey Wednesday, and compared them with data from...

To the list of challenges faced by newspapers -- declining circulation, rising newsprint costs and increased competition from more up-to-the-minute media -- add another: rising pressure from investors to make more money and reverse sliding stock prices. On Tuesday, newspaper giant Knight Ridder Inc.'s largest shareholder demanded that the company either seek a buyer for the entire company or sell...

NEW YORK: The news that Knight Ridder's largest shareholder, Private Capital Management (PCM), sent a letter to the board urging a sale of the company set off rampant speculation in the industry. While the stocks enjoyed a rally on the news of a potential takeover (similar to the Dow Jones rumor), most analysts weighing in think the sale of Knight Ridder is unlikely. Goldman Sachs is staying on...

NEW YORK: Deutsche Bank Securities upgraded its rating on Knight Ridder Wednesday from "sell" to "hold" based on Tuesday's news that Knight Ridder's largest shareholder, Private Capital Management (PCM), is pushing for a sale of the company. The firm's analysts think the probability of a transaction is "high." Additionally, the research firm expects other major shareholders -- including...

Noted journalist and former editor of Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi,VK Madhavan Kutty, died in New Delhi Tuesday night. Kutty, who was also the founder director of satellite channel Asianet and a renowned author, is survived by his wife and two daughters. Kutty was admitted to a hospital on Saturday after he developed asthmatic complications. He was subsequently shifted to another hospital where he...

With many Knight Ridder employees still emptying their desks in the wake of the latest round of layoffs and buyouts, company executives found themselves faced with potential pink slips of their own this week, courtesy of the company's biggest shareholder, Private Capital Management. PCM warned the Knight Ridder board Tuesday that if it fails to take its advice and sell the company, PCM will likely...

Time Warner today posted an 80 per cent increase in profits, boosted its share buyback plan to $12.5 billion from $5 billion, and confirmed it was in talks over its AOL internet arm with "a number of strategic partners". It had already been a busy week for the media conglomerate. Separately, the company today said its Time Inc unit had received a writ from a federal grand jury in connection with...

Controversy-dogged Google has hired an experienced lawyer and international policy activist to defend its efforts to extend the reach of its internet search engine. Elliot Schrage, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, will be joining Google as it re-embarks on its ambitious plan to digitise the contents of a number of leading university libraries and make the...