Americas

In days of meltdowns and dipping circulations, this does not happen all that regularly anymore. But on Wednesday, newspaper circulation soared. To the extent that many sold out all copies, others went in for extra copies. The November 5 editions proclaiming Barack Obama's White House victory disappeared off the stands faster than anyone ever thought. The largest daily in the US, USA Today, boosted...

The media coverage of the US presidential elections concentrated more on opinion polls than actual issues, says a report by a media analysis firm. The American media had been even clear on stating that Republican candidate John McCain would loose his own state Arizona, which he won by a 9 per cent margin. "We need to change the way how the media publishes and interprets polls," said Roland Schatz...

The struggling US News & World Report is getting out of print and will gradually shift operations to the Web, according to reports. While it will publish one print edition each month, according to staffers briefed on the decision, these will be entirely devoted to consumer guides—such as its annual rankings of colleges and hospitals—and contain no other news, the Washington Post reported. Some...

The Seattle Times on Monday announced plans to cut its staff by 10 per cent through a combination of layoffs and buyouts, the Associated Press (AP) has reported. The cuts of 130 to 150 jobs are the third staff reduction announced by the 112-year-old, family owned newspaper this year. The company hinted in an email to staff Monday morning that there could be further cuts as the 2009 budgeting...

Gannett Company, the largest newspaper chain in the US, is slashing about 3,000 jobs and the 100-year-old Christian Science Monitor is ending its print edition, the latest cost-cutting moves in a beleaguered US newspaper industry. Last week, the Los Angeles Times announced its decision to lay off 10 per cent of its news staff, while the Star-Ledger newspaper in New Jersey said about 40 per cent of...

It was the the fear of newspapers' backlash that forced the Associated Press (AP) last week to retract its plans of new fees. News agency AP, which is owned by its US member newspapers, has said its board of directors has asked the management to complete a sweeping review of the news cooperative's membership policies by next April. A note to staff said some job cuts are likely. [ Link] "It is time...

Circulation figures of daily newspapers in the US have dropped again. The country's Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), citing preliminary figures, said on Monday that the circulation for 507 daily newspapers fell 4.64 per cent in the six months ending September to 38.16 million copies from 40.02 million in the same period last year. The Associated Press gave some figures about specific newspapers...

The debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden drew nearly 70 million US television viewers, far more than the John McCain-Barack Obama bout, making it the most watched vice presidential debate ever, Reuters has reported quoting ratings issued on Friday. Some details: The television audience for the Republican Palin and Democrat Biden also was the biggest for any nationally televised political...

A judge dismissed a libel lawsuit against a reporter who wrote about workplace conditions at the Santa Barbara News-Press, the the Associated Press (AP) has reported. The September 24 ruling by Orange County Superior Court Judge H Warren Siegel in the case of journalist Susan Paterno was made under a California law geared to prevent the silencing of critics through lawsuits. Some backgrounder: "It...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) is asking for the judge to show clemency for journalist Jason Nicholas, independent photographer for the New York Post, currently in jail in Rikers Island, New York for parole violation. Jason Nicholas is scheduled for another parole hearing in front of an administrative judge on October 15. He was one of over 40 journalists arrested while covering the Republican...