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The premier resource for insight, analysis and technology integration in and hybrid operations and production.

Abernathy: Public must know what’s at stake u & Tech Staff Report : UNC Hussman School of and Media Hussman School Source: UNC across the political spectrum, the industry spectrum as well as on the very local level of what is re- ally at stake. And what is at stake is our grassroots democracy if we don't have the information to make informed decisions about issues that are going to affect our democracy and our society. What I have been pleased about over the last two years is I think Penny Abernathy there has been a real reckoning in the industry that we need to News & Tech had a chance in do things differently. We need to July to talk to powerhouse re- think about things differently. That searcher Penny Abernathy, au- much is at stake in terms of the vi- thor of “News Deserts and Ghost ability economically as well as a : Will tem,” says the report. socially for our news organiza- Survive?” The 2020 report, which documents Yet in a Pew Research Center survey re- tions. and analyzes the loss of local news and its leased last year, three-fourths of respondents What I think the coronavirus has also done implications for our democracy, is the fourth were unaware of the financial struggles lo- on the political level is really bring it home offering in a series from North Carolina’s cal media face. This troubles Abernathy. “My to local politicians, state politicians and con- Hussman School of Journalism and Media. main concern remains raising public aware- gressional politicians who rely very heavily Since the last report, “The Expanding News ness of what is stake,” she says. “That’s where on the local news organizations to get the Desert,” was published in 2018, 300 papers I think we really need to still do work.” message out. Those local news organizations have closed and print newspaper circulation Abernathy, a former executive with The can be anything from digital outlets, to news has dropped by 5 million, says the report. Wall Street Journal and The Times, organizations to local television stations. Amid laments from many inside the industry, has for 12 years been the Knight Chair in What I think is most concerning about consolidation has increased. Coronavirus Journalism and Digital Media Economics at this is that if you look at what was happen- has only sped the decline. the University of North Carolina. ing even before the coronavirus, we saw “All of this raises anew fears of an ‘extinc- that we were losing news organizations and tion-level event’ that destroys many of the News & Tech: “This is a watershed year, and newspapers as well as digital outlets. What survivors and newcomers, and leads to the the choices we make in 2020 — as citizens, we stand the risk of doing is accelerating that collapse of the country’s local news ecosys- policymakers and industry leaders — will de- loss, which was already beginning to gain termine the future of the local momentum in the last two or three years. news landscape,” says the re- port. What are you seeing in the News & Tech: In 2019, the Knight Founda- year so far concerning those tion pledged $300 million over five years to choices? support local news initiatives. What other Abernathy: There are some foundations are providing funding and what choices that need to be made general results have these efforts produced? at the community level, at the Abernathy: That was a very significant state level as well as at the na- pledge by the Knight Foundation of $300 tional level. One of the priori- million and there have been similar match- ties from me in doing this series ing pledges by Facebook and Google match- of reports is to raise awareness Abernathy continues on page 3 News & Tech July/August 2020 u 1 www.newsandtech.com

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Abernathy from page 1 mid-sized communities that do not have a have very much to do with the loss of ad- ing that. And Knight has committed to trying lot of philanthropic sources they can turn to, vertising caused by the coronavirus. Most to raise awareness among other foundations whether it’s the citizens who are economi- of the publishers I've talked to have seen of the very critical need right now to think cally struggling or whether it’s foundations anywhere from a 40 to 50% decline in ad- about news not just as a democratic need, that have not been set up or philanthropic vertising in the second quarter versus what but a cultural need for community founda- organizations that are strapped meeting oth- they expected. And of course, third quarter tions as well as family foundations. There er needs in those communities. is often a very slow quarter for newspapers, have been several who have not been able so without additional support from govern- to make as much of a contribution as Knight News & Tech: What trends do you see in ment, there's a real chance we're going to but have stepped up. For instance, the Gates government funding for media, particularly see a decline in newspapers. Family Foundation has stepped up in Colo- newspapers? The other thing is, not only is there a short- rado to look at how to bring various news Abernathy: I think over the last year a gen- term issue, but there are longer, deeper-term organizations together and some solutions, eral consensus is emerging in a bipartisan issues and we need to really have a holis- including looking at potentially local public way in Congress as well as interest among tic notion of what we want in terms of local funding of news organizations. There have the governmental agencies that we really news organizations and how we how we been examples of foundations being formed need to do something to think seriously get them back to a journalistic mission in at newspapers around the country, from about what is going to replace the print ver- which they are covering communities that community foundations that are set up to sion of the newspaper that we’ve relied on need them the most. That could be through take donations and contributions from other from almost 250 years in this country to increased public funding for initiatives that institutions and citizens to support newspa- keep us informed on the variety of issues. encourage partnerships or increased public pers. We’re going to have to see a lot of that. I'm delighted that there are a number of funding for initiatives that encourage report- My main concern in terms of philanthropy proposals before Congress that have biparti- ers to cover specific areas. We need to think gets back to the main concern I have about san support, some of them COVID-related. holistically about how we get through this where we have lost newspapers. A lot of We detailed a whole range of those in the transition period until we develop a variety the philanthropy tends to be centered on 2020 report. of business models that are going to carry the major metro areas and often where we I think that what we need to do is back newspapers specifically into the 21st cen- are losing news sources is in the small and up and say there are short-term issues that tury and beyond. p Tribune standardizes workflow across print sites u News & Tech Staff Report

— Let’s write the future. With retrofit solutions that give your press another ten years of life.

Kurt Moody, Sun-Sentinel production manager.

ABB’s retrofit solutions for newspaper presses will extend the productive life of Co. said it deployed the NewsWayX workflow sys- tivity capabilities for publishers around the world. Cloud-based, HTML- your press, improve print quality, reduce waste and improve efficiency — for a tem from ProImage across all six of its print production sites. The Tribune native NewsWayX will support the needs of Tribune, enabling remote fraction of the cost of a new press. Worried about the availability of spare parts for operates production facilities at the , the Hartford (Con- employees at disparate sites — and working from home — to log in your existing controls? With an ABB retrofit you know that spares will be available necticut) Courant, the Sun, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, remotely to run their daily operations. worldwide for ten to fifteen years. Whether looking for replacement drives, new and the . The new centralized, cloud-based system replaces 70 disparate serv- controls, conversion to shaftless or a complete press reconfiguration, ABB has the Recent months have underscored the importance of remote connec- ers spread across Tribune’s production sites. right solution for you. The key to the future of your printing business lies with ABB. Tribune continues on page 5 www.abb.com/printing News & Tech July/August 2020 u 3

ABB-Ad_Newsandtech_228x276_a.indd 1 21.07.2017 07:51:57 July/August 2020

contents Volume 32, No. 4 News & Tech Abernathy: Public must know what’s at stake 1 P.O. Box 478 Beaver Dam, WI 53916 Tribune standardizes workflow across print sites 3 p: 303.575.9595 www.newsandtech.com Check out Editor & Publisher One-on-One: Jim O’Rourke, CEO Rourke Media Group 6 Mary L. Van Meter [email protected]

Art Director Drupa 2021 shortened amid vendor cancelations 8 Violet Cruz [email protected] EDG upgrading Atlanta Managing Editor Mary Reardon Journal-Constitution presses 8 News & Tech’s new [email protected] Contributing Writer Manroland Goss Americas moves expanded coverage Tara McMeekin support to New Hampshire 9 [email protected] starting on page 25 of Contributing Writer Marcus Wilson Siemens partner completes Goss Magnapack upgrade 9 the digital edition at [email protected]

Webinar watch: Where are digital dollars going? 10 www.newsandtech.com PUBLISHING GROUP Published with appreciated support Daily Standard get new TSC press drive controls 10 over the years from James E. Conley Jr., the late president of Conley. Reports: Subscriptions grow, slow climb 11 PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Rhonda R. Smith Agfa releasing new version DIGITAL EDITION We’re In partnership with Olive Software, News & Tech of Arkitex for newspaper printers 13 is available as a digital edition, containing an exact replica of articles and advertisements. The Digital Edition is available free of charge on our Web site, Flip-Pay helps Irish paper, aims beyond legacy paywall 15 Overflowing! www.newsandtech.com DATELINE Each Monday, News & Tech distributes Dateline, an TownNews, BlueFrame partner 17 MORE: electronic newsletter that covers breaking industry news and events. To subscribe to the free newsletter, send a request to [email protected] Lamar Democrat uses Infomark to enhance print 18 People News SUBSCRIPTIONS Industry News Subscriptions are free to qualified industry Northwest Offset Printing has first run on pressline 22 personnel. To subscribe, visit our Web site at Mergers & Acquisitions www.newsandtech.com, or call 303.575.9595. ADVERTISING SALES To schedule advertising or confirm space Vendor News availability, please contact Mary L. Van Meter at Association News 303.575.9595 or email [email protected] News & Tech, ISSN# 2150-6884, is published bimonthly by Conley Magazines, LLC, P.O. Box 478 Education Beaver Dam, WI 53916. Phone: 303.575.9595; Fax: 303.575.9555. Copyright ©2020 by Conley Marketing Partners Magazines, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means, mechanical or electronic, without the expressed consent of the publisher. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, staff or advertisers of News & Tech. The return of unsolicited manuscripts or other material cannot be guaranteed. Periodicals postage paid at Denver, CO, and additional mailing offices. Free Marc Wilson 12 to qualified newspaper personnel. POSTMASTER: Please send 3579 for address correction request to News & Tech, 5139 Yank Court, Arvada, CO 80002

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4 t July/August 2020 News & Tech www.newsandtech.com Photo: Submitted Tribune from page 3 bune and ProImage in which prog- “We found ProImage to be very ress, pending issues, open items flexible, very user-friendly in the and action items are discussed. (user interface), and it is a well- “From a technical perspective, known product in the market,” Tri- the guys are knowledgeable,” Marte bune Technology Department Direc- said. “They are very dedicated and tor Jhon Marte said in a statement. work with us on testing, and solving Each Tribune site will have its own any issue that might come up.” local workflow that includes servers, RIPs, edition planning and output Production benefits management to the individual, local In addition to the obvious benefits CTP devices. A single cloud-based of a cloud-based workflow, News- hub anchors the six sites, and anoth- WayX offers many benefits for pro- er hub with a duplicate set of licenses resides at the Chicago Tribune. duction staff by offering a single view of status. A new dashboard with NewsWay integrates with Tribune’s own, pre-existing cloud, allowing Press Tree view increases efficiencies and timesavings, according to each print site to log into ProImage’s central system and manage its own ProImage. The dashboard presents a more efficient version handling production workflow remotely and independently from each other. and status tracking. “We can build our own custom dashboard and can see with a glance How it works where our different jobs are, track the jobs from one process to the next, Edition planning is centralized to import a layout file and automatically and RIP the publication for plate output,” said Sun-Sentinel Production create an edition plan for each print site. The centralized RIPs process Manager Kurt Moody. PDFs and create soft proofs of pages and plates. Custom impositions, NewsWayX’s normalization feature also helps to facilitate production unique furniture, text and barcodes are burned onto the plate image. Ink work by scaling templates to reduce the quantity of templates needed. presets are routed to the sites that need them. This reduces the time it takes to set up new jobs, ProImage said. The move also allows all of the sites to capitalize on ProImage’s Eco Moody said he’s been happy with the quick learning curve. ink optimization software, which some of the sites had already de- “We actually did remote training where Chicago gave us online ac- ployed. All sites will now benefit from improved image quality and re- cess and just showed us around for 10 minutes,” he explained. “Since duced ink consumption, ProImage said. the system is very intuitive, we were all set right away. This is one of the The deployment has been managed via weekly support calls with Tri- cleanest output systems I have been working with.” p

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News & Tech July/August 2020 u 5 www.newsandtech.com

One-on-One: Jim O’Rourke, CEO of O’Rourke Media Group u by Tara McMeekin Contributing Writer

The City Sun Times in June became the most recent newspaper to join family-owned media company O’Rourke Media Group. Since 2019, up-and-coming newspaper and digital marketing solutions “We’re trying to company O’Rourke has acquired 14 newspapers in Vermont, Wis- consin, Minnesota and Arizona. create a fun work The City Sun Times marks O’Rourke’s first newspaper buy in the environment and western U.S. Founded in 2002, City Sun Times is a monthly publica- tion that covers local government, human-interest stories, entertain- culture that doesn’t ment, music, art, culture and local events in and around Phoenix. News & Tech recently caught up with CEO Jim O’Rourke to talk act like a dying about his group’s latest acquisition and what his company is doing to help his community newspapers survive and thrive. newspaper company.” — Jim O’Rourke

News & Tech: What made City Sun Times an attractive buy? O’Rourke: City Sun Times is a monthly print publication with content that’s different than a typical weekly or daily community newspaper, and a wide-ranging distribution footprint in area. The business has nice cash flow, and I’m intrigued with the opportunity to grow digital revenue and audience in this market, supported by targeted, monthly print, and possibly expanding this approach in other markets. proach newspapers you wish to purchase? O’Rourke: Yes. The family-owned sellers really care about their News & Tech: O’Rourke Media Group prides itself on retaining local people and the wellbeing of the business. It’s a huge selling point employees at a time when many other media conglomerates have when we tell the owner that we do everything locally and within our downsized or outsourced the bulk of work. What motivated you to company. And, early on, we can speak to proof that we actually do it. take this approach? O’Rourke: Our people at each level of the organization are News & Tech: For many newspapers, the coronavirus pandemic ex- the single biggest driver of our success now and as we build the acerbated existing challenges in advertising and subscriptions. What company. We go into a new business and market with a plan and measures have you taken to mitigate the negative impacts? expectation to grow and diversify revenue. This is what’s broken at O’Rourke: COVID-19 has created challenges in each of our mar- the company’s we’re acquiring. Cutting payroll expenses day one kets, but from a results perspective, we do have some positives: Sub- doesn’t address this issue; it actually makes revenue worse in many scription revenue is up to prior-year levels and has increased each cases. While we do place intense focus on operating discipline and month as a result of some aggressive marketing campaigns. That’s efficiency, it’s more strategic than just eliminating people or posi- particularly true in our weekly markets, where we’re posting double- tions. digit growth. Ad revenue was actually up to prior-year levels in April and May in our Vermont market, which I attribute 100 percent to our News & Tech: What are the advantages of retaining local employees team there. In several other markets, it’s been down 10-15 percent, vs. outsourcing to potentially cheaper alternatives? and while that’s not great, it’s probably better than most. O’Rourke: Because our strategy doesn’t call for maintaining or investing in printing operations and machinery, outsourcing printing News & Tech: What are some of these aggressive steps you’ve taken is still a must in most of our markets. Still, keeping as much work and to mitigate the fallout? talent as possible in each local market is a big factor in building the O’Rourke: We’ve been in attack mode with creating new pro- culture we want in our company. I can’t tell you how many projects grams to help local businesses, we’ve hired some new sales reps, I’ve been part of over the years where outsourcing work actually in- and we have grown our digital revenue run rate each month since creased cost and hurt efficiency. March. We didn’t lay off, furlough, or reduce hours or pay with any We retain local employees wherever possible, with a focus on of our employees in response to COVID-19. This is a decision I made consistent processes and systems in each market very early on. This at the beginning of March. allows us to maximize talent and efficiency because most employees We also learned how effective we could be working remotely and handle a variety job functions. with hybrid in-office/work remote schedules. I’m really proud of the work each team has done over the past three months. We expect to News & Tech: Has this business culture and mindset helped you ap- grow revenue by at least 10 percent in the second half of the year.

6 t July/August 2020 News & Tech www.newsandtech.com

News & Tech: What challenges are you facing in terms of morale, News & Tech: How do O’Rourke Media Group’s digital marketing etc., and how are you handling those? solutions complement its newspaper interests? O’Rourke: We’re trying to create a fun work environment and O’Rourke: We have strong, reputable brands and thousands of culture that doesn’t act like a dying newspaper company. We’re B2B relationships across our markets. Leveraging cash flow and re- working hard to make sure everyone knows where they stand at all sources to intelligently and profitably build digital marketing solu- times when it comes to job results and performance. Retaining peo- tions revenue is a critical component to our growth strategy. We’re ple and bringing in new talent is mission-critical, especially in the intentional and not doing anything stupid to expedite the death of sales, digital, and content areas of the business. print (i.e. exponentially increasing price and providing a worsened print product). News & Tech: Have you made changes to printing or production schedules of your publications as a result of the pandemic? News & Tech: How are your digital marketing services fulfilled? O’Rourke: We reduced our daily in Vermont from six days to O’Rourke: We fulfill a lot of what we’re doing internally with our five. This was a strategic change before COVID-19, and we ended up teams in Vermont, and we complement these efforts with strategic improving our product by giving readers more content and features white-label partners. Our sales teams represent the single biggest in five days than they were getting in six. Subscription revenue is competitive advantage, which is leveraging their relationships with up and we achieved significant cost savings. We were ready for the local businesses that need help with their marketing efforts. We ex- phones to light up after we announced the change to our readers, pect our digital marketing services to account for 30—35 percent of and it never happened. our total revenue within the next year. This is additional to the other Once the initial impact hit, we stopped printing three of our week- digital revenue that we’re building in each market. lies in Vermont. We didn’t cut any people or positions, and we actu- ally added a digital reporter. News & Tech: What technologies or methodologies do you believe are essential to the growth of your company in the coming years? News & Tech: Will any of those be permanent or do you hope to re- O’Rourke: Building and leveraging data across our markets. This turn to business as usual? requires the right people and technology. We also have to be the O’Rourke: The weeklies weren’t performing well financially be- best outside/inside selling organization in each market to position fore the pandemic. However, we are considering a relaunch of print ourselves to diversify and grow advertising revenue. Finally, content in these markets in October with a different approach, but it needs to publishing — engaging local news and information that we can ef- work for customers. Everything else print-wise in our company was fectively monetize across many revenue channels — is the center- unchanged. piece to our growth strategy. p

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2020PerrettaHalfPgAD.indd 1 4/15/20 11:09 AM www.newsandtech.com Drupa 2021 shortened amid vendor cancelations u News & Tech Staff Report Printing tech trade fair drupa will be shortened from eleven to Drupa had been set for June 16–26 this year but was put off until nine days and will be held from April 20–28, 2021, organizers an- April 2021 because of the pandemic. nounced. The move comes as a number of vendors announced they are pull- Koenig & Bauer still in ing out of the event, held at fairgrounds in Dusseldorf, Germany. Germany-based press manufacturer Koenig & Bauer has reaffirmed Among those that have canceled their participation at the event are its commitment to the event and says its stand in hall 16 will be re- Heidelberg, Manroland Sheetfed, Komori, Xerox and Bobst. Koenig tained. & Bauer says it will attend the event. “We continue to see drupa, the world's leading trade fair, as an “Although there is no way of knowing what the impact of corona important building block in the graphic arts industry and we see it as will be next year, Heidelberg has to make a decision now. So the our responsibility to support this industry," says Claus Bolza-Schun- company has decided to not participate in international trade fairs emann, Koenig & Bauer CEO and drupa president, explaining the next year and will thus not be taking part in drupa,” said a statement company's position. from Heidelberg. The decision to shorten the event is in response to the wishes of “In 2021, drupa will be a very different event — global travel re- partner association VDMA (Printing and Paper Technology Trade As- strictions and hygiene regulations mean significantly fewer visitors sociation) and many exhibitors to make their trade fair presentation and constraints on communication,” the statement said. “Traditional more efficient and to concentrate visitor traffic in a targeted manner, international trade fairs with busy booths and halls will very prob- say organizers Messe Dusseldorf. The move is also in reaction to any ably be difficult to implement and will likely lose their status as glob- continuing travel activities and restrictions, say organizers. al meet-up events for customers and manufacturers. As a long-time Despite the cancellations, current booking numbers remain high, partner to drupa, Heidelberg will be happy to continue to offer its with over 1,500 exhibitors on board, Messe Dusseldorf says. experience when it comes to bringing future trade fair concepts into “Many of our customers also see it as their own responsibility to line with new digital possibilities and customer requirements.” strengthen the industry” and provide input personally on site,” said “Exhibiting at drupa, or any other trade fair for that matter, makes drupa Director Sabine Geldermann. absolutely no sense during the current coronavirus pandemic,” said The trade fair’s practices are continuously adapted to the latest Rafael Penuela-Torres, group managing director of German printing coronavirus protection regulations and official requirements, says press builder Manroland Sheetfed. Instard of attending the fair, the Messe Dusseldorf. “The character of drupa in 2021, due to the pan- company will be holding a series of live webinars in the autumn. demic and hygiene regulations, will certainly be different from what “Bobst is reducing its presence at industry tradeshows and thereby we are used to, but it will continue to make a very important contri- dramatically reducing the environmental impact,” said a news re- bution to the economic recovery,” says Geldermann. p lease from the company. “As a result, we have decided not to attend drupa and other industry tradeshows in 2021, while maintaining a limited participation in Asia.” EDG upgrading Atlanta Journal-Constitution presses u News & Tech Staff Report Electronic Design Group has a contract to upgrade one press of DC and timing for every paste to facilitate creating a footprint for each drives and supervisors and 18 RTPs on three presses at the Atlanta reel, says EDG. Journal-Constitution print facility. The system comes with full remote support capabilities, a standard EDG has previously upgraded two of AJC’s presses with new DC feature of all EDG systems. EDG can connect from anywhere at any drives and a supervisor. EDG will apply the same solution on the time to diagnose issues or assist in troubleshooting. third press. The RTP upgrade modernizes the existing RTPs and also The upgrade should be done by the end of July, according to will tackle the removal of the mechanical PIV infeed and replace this EDG. with a readily available AC drive and motor. Electronic Design Group, which specializes in automation and EDG’s modernization of TKS static belt RTPs is a comprehensive drives and offers press drive retrofits, RTP upgrades and conveyor solution that includes the splice control and the tension control sys- modernization among its solutions, is based in New Hamburg, On- tem. A door-mounted graphical touch screen delivers diagnostics. tario, Canada. The system detects faulty conditions and warns the user in a timely Other recent EDG projects include an upgrade to 23 Ferag SIAs manner to prevent these situations from causing downtime, says a at the Chicago Tribune, which entailed new PLC, HMI and drives on the job. after upgrading their 15 Ferag conveyors; NP632 inserter control and “Running the web off the core should be a thing of the past,” says drives retrofit at Tribune Direct in Chicago; and a Ferag UTR con- the release. This operator interface also provides critical information veyor retrofit (two) at the Albany Times Union. p

8 t July/August 2020 News & Tech www.newsandtech.com Manroland Goss Americas moves support to

New Hampshire u News & Tech Staff Report Manroland Goss Americas, a subsidiary of web offset press manufacturer transition will have on our business,” said Dave Soden, managing director of manroland Goss web systems, has relocated its bindery and post-press equip- manroland Goss Americas. “By leveraging the experience and expertise of our ment service organization in Effingham, Illinois, to its Americas headquarters Durham-based engineering teams, we will be well positioned to provide tai- in Durham, New Hampshire. lored retrofits and support obsolescence management of our customers post- The new centralized structure will allow the Durham-based engineering press equipment, helping them extend the life of their assets and maximize and customer service teams to fully use the potential of the established man- overall equipment performance.” roland Goss service and support infrastructure, a news release from the com- “Consolidating our operations has resulted in a central location for our en- pany said. gineering, parts and service support teams,” said Jason Elliott, vice president The facility in Illinois was established in 1982 and served as manroland of sales. “This will increase coordination of our customer-related activities and Goss’s bindery and post-press service, rebuild and custom machining facility. improve our ability to address our customers’ needs around the clock.” “While we will dearly miss some of our teammates and our connection to Much of the talent from the previous location has been retained, the com- the Effingham community, we are very excited about the positive impact this pany says. p Siemens partner completes Goss Magnapack upgrade Recently bindery equipment and printing controller supplier ECS (Glas- The obsolete controllers on the machine were replaced with an ECS tonbury, Connecticut) needed to retrofit a Goss Magnapak inserter. ECS eNews Controller for monitoring and control of the hoppers, downstream serves many of the largest printers in the country. trackers and tracker control. Interface to the new controller over Profinet Turning to its partner on this project, Advanced Industrial Controls (AIC), was required to allow multiple systems and multiple sites to be interactively a St. Louis-area Siemens-authorized partner, ECS conducted an analysis and linked. Data downloads from a variety of open control interfaces on the determined that a complete electrical control and motion upgrade was re- line elements were necessary as well. These included Burt OCI, Omni-zone, quired, necessitating the replacement of obsolete and tech-incompatible SAMS, Prima, Flat File Format and DTI. p components, software and HMI.

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News & Tech July/August 2020 u 9 www.newsandtech.com Webinar watch: Where are digital dollars going? u News & Tech Staff Report

The giant webinar wave that crashed through American service and soft- • Pockets of healthcare, education, home services and technology are ware companies has seemingly dissipated. It may rise back up in the fall, as thriving in this pandemic. conferences that were scheduled for autumn go virtual. • In looking at advertising by industry, from April to May, the most growth Webinar enthusiast AdCellerant is among those continuing to provide we- among Adcellerant partners was in retail (+650), entertainment (+550) and binars and is presenting some nice sessions. tourism (+550). Cannabis came in at +77 and healthcare at +55. In the webinars, the Denver-based tech and digital advertising firm isolates • Vacations are being planned within driving distance, so media can mar- ad segments, spots trends and sells some of their solutions/services. ket to that. Trends are somewhat in flux, however, as we don’t yet know the direction • Nearly half of American small businesses do not have their own web- COVID-19 will take for the remainder of the summer and the fall. “Organi- sites. zations seem to be in a holding pattern,” one business development manager • Online sales are up 52% since the pandemic started. Consumers are told News & Tech. You would need a crystal ball to know when that pattern adopting and intensifying behaviors and will likely stick with many new will break up, he said. routines. The “new normal” (forgive the cliché) is starting to emerge. Here are some data points from one of Adcellerant’s recent presentations, • Feedback is paramount in this pandemic, says Earles. She suggests a late June webinar titled “Where are digital dollars being spent?” Presenting implementing a chat widget or conducting surveys in your business com- were Chris Van Zandt, director of training and strategic accounts, and Addie munity. Earles, director of sales. • Adcellerant suggests hosting an educational webinar in your commu- • One area of ad spend that has increased is digital video (i.e. preroll, OTT nity. p and YouTube). People are consuming media much more than ever before. Daily Standard gets new QIPC works with TSC press drive controls Chinese newspaper u News & Tech Staff Report The Daily Standard (Celina, Ohio) tapped The Siebold Company (TSC) for group a new TSC AC press drive control to replace its Fincor DC drive. The Fincor u News & Tech Staff Report press drive components are no longer available. The new TSC AC press drive will be equipped with a larger motor than the Fincor DC drive, which will Printing Branch, part of China’s Gansu Daily Newspaper Group, allow the paper to run all their printing units with a single drive, says a news has undergone a large-scale modernization. The updates include release from TSC. The new drive system was scheduled to be installed by TSC in June. an investment in new press automation, with a Q.I. Press Controls’ TSC's subsidiaries include Lion Web Components, DR Press Equipment, (QIPC) automatic color register system mRC-3D. Printing Branch does newspaper and commercial book printing DGM and Smith Pressroom Products. p and is the biggest newspaper printer in the region that includes Gan- su, a landlocked, northwestern province of China. Printing Branch currently prints more than 60 newspapers and Local journalism bill magazine titles, including -run Gansu Daily, People’s Daily, Global Times and Lanzhou Morning News. would provide credits to “We focus on our customers, consider green development impor- tant and give priority to quality,” says Lan Ning, deputy manager of subscribers, advertisers Printing Branch. u News & Tech Staff Report Printing Branch now has four QIPC installations: one on a 2010 Goss Magnum 45 press, one on a 2015 Goss Magnum 45 press and The Local Journalism Sustainability Act, introduced on July 16, is a two on a 2019 Goss CC system. bipartisan bill co-sponsored by U.S. Representatives Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ari- Netherlands-based QIPC remains very active in the Chinese mar- zona) and Dan Newhouse (R-Washington). ket. The local head QIPC-EAE office, in Shanghai, was closed in 2018 The legislation provides for tax credits for subscribing to a local paper, and replaced by partnering with local agents such as Gammerler. payroll credit for paying who provide local news and tax credits for advertising in local papers and local media. The order placed by Printing Branch more than a year ago was Joining Reps. Kirkpatrick and Newhouse as original cosponsors of the bill a result of that collaboration. “We still see a lot of potential in the are Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Thomas Suozzi, Peter Welch, Rodney Davis, Da- Chinese market,” says Erwin van Rossem, director of global sales and vid B. McKinley, Peter Visclosky, Colling Peterson, Josh Harder, Denny Heck, marketing at QIPC. “So we remain active there, even in this chal- Mark Takano, Andre Carson and Chuck Fleischmann. lenging period,” calling positive feedback from Printing Branch an America’s Newspapers provides some details on the bill. encouragement. America’s Newspapers, the Alliance and National Newspaper With headquarters in Oosterhout, Q.I. Press Controls develops and Association are applauding the bill. p delivers optical measure and control systems. p

10 t July/August 2020 News & Tech www.newsandtech.com Reports: Subscriptions grow, slow climb u News & Tech Staff Report Free trials and high demand for digital media led to a surge in new ing to their pre-COVID-19 baseline levels, it’s critical for subscription subscribers for media and publishers from March through the end of businesses to shift their focus from subscriber acquisition to subscriber May, according to subscription management platform provider Zuora. retention and take care of existing subscribers to grow those relation- Zuora released the newest edition of its Subscription Impact Report ships, says Zuora. designed to measure the economic impact of COVID-19 on subscrip- Silicon Valley-based Zuora provides a cloud-based subscription tion businesses from March 1–May 31, 2020, compared to the previ- management platform that functions as a system of record for subscrip- ous 12 months (February 2019—February 2020). tion businesses across various industries. The latest Subscription Impact Report found that half (50%) of com- panies are still growing but have not seen a significant impact to their ‘Slow climb’ subscription growth rates amid COVID-19, while 18% actually expe- The outlook from eMarketer was less rosy. “Signs of media buyer op- rienced an acceleration. And while 17% of companies experienced timism in early May seem to have been outliers, based on recent re- slower growth, they are still growing, and only 14% of the companies search from Advertiser Perceptions,” says the research firm, which is analyzed experienced a contraction in subscriber growth. owned by Axel Springer. OTT video streaming increased subscription growth by 400% while “We also anticipate that digital ad investments will continue to be digital news increased growth by 110%, says the report. Average rev- depressed through the end of this year. It's likely that a bottom will be enue per subscriber is still growing, though the growth rate slowed by hit in Q2, but we don't expect year-over-year spending increases to 59%, according to the report. return to pre-pandemic ballparks until at least 2021.” That prediction While S&P 500 sales in Q1 2020 contracted at a -1.9% annual rate, assumes that the pandemic will not greatly worsen, says eMarketer, subscription-based revenue continued to thrive, growing at 9.5% in who warns of a “slow climb to a new normal.” the same quarter, according to Zuora Chief Data Scientist Carl Gold. “2020 has been one of the most challenging years for the advertis- For most companies experiencing growth in subscriptions, revenue ing sector since the Great Recession of 2008,” says the 2020 Digital associated with each subscription did not grow as fast. While it’s typi- Video Advertising Spend Report from IAB (the Interactive Advertising cal to see average revenue per subscriber slow as subscription growth Bureau). However, among all the paused and cancelled campaigns, increases, the report findings point to a slowdown in upsells and ex- digital video remains relatively stable, driven by Connected TV (CTV), pansions amid COVID-19. As subscription growth rates begin return- it says. p

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Perhaps they’ll listen now u By Marc Wilson columnist One of the great friends and mentors of my Charles noted that racism was accentuated at the highest levels of life is Charles Pittman, the highest-ranked the news industry, including The Associated Press. Black newspaper officer of our generation. “They had pictures of all their past chairmen—all old white men— I’ve gone to him for advice many times, and that’s nothing to be proud of,” he said, noting that his old boss at and recently I asked him to help me under- Lee Enterprises, CEO Mary Junck, later broke the gender barrier by stand race relations in this country, and spe- becoming AP’s first female chairwoman. cifically in the news industry. Charles stresses that “I’m not angry or bitter, just disappointed that Before Charles retired and moved to Flor- the newspaper industry has fallen on such bad times—a problem ida, he worked for the daily newspaper in that might have been lessened had the industry been more inclusive Erie, Pennsylvania, Knight-Ridder in Char- of people of color.” lotte, and was a publisher and group vice president for Lee Enterpris- The lack of diversity caused some to be caught off guard es before becoming senior vice president of publishing for Schurz by the severity of the reaction to the death of George Floyd in Min- Communications. neapolis. His death caused widespread demonstrations and riots in He is one of the few Blacks to ever serve on the board of The Asso- many cities. The Black Lives Matter movement gained national mo- ciated Press, and he is the only Black executive to serve as president mentum, including efforts to take down statutes, especially those and chairman of the Inland Press Association. that honor Confederate War leaders. In 2008, he was the recipient of the Robert G. McGruder Award “A riot is the language of the unheard,” is a quote from Dr. Martin for Diversity Leadership presented by the Associated Press Managing Luther King that Charles circulated to a mailing list of friends scat- Editors association. tered across the country. He’s a winner. Without diversity, and newspaper executives are less Charles was an All-American running back at Penn State Univer- likely to hear the voices of the discontented. sity where he was a member of Coach ’s first recruiting Many people, Charles said, don’t understand the phrase “Black class. In his junior and senior years at Penn State, the Nittany Lions Lives Matter.” went 22-0. Charlie Pittman (as he was known there) never lost a “Too many answer, ‘all lives matter,’” Charles said. “They miss the football game that he started in high school or college. He still holds point. If there are two houses and one is on fire, you send the fire the record for most rushing yards at the Orange Bowl, where he is a trucks to the house on fire. You don’t say ‘both houses matter.’ If we member of the Hall of Fame. don’t put out the house that’s on fire, the fire is likely to spread to all He was drafted as the 58th overall selection in the 1970 NFL draft houses.” by the St. Louis Cardinals. He played for the Cardinals and his home- Charles, now 72, lives in retirement in Florida. town Baltimore Colts in a brief pro career. (Blacks made up 30 per- “I am one of only a few people of color in my neighborhood,” cent of the league’s players in 1970. Today Blacks comprise more he said. “If I forget to walk down and get my mail in the daytime, than two-thirds of the league’s players.) and walk down to the mail box at night I worry that the police may “In 1970, Blacks weren’t considered smart enough to play quarter- stop me and think I’m a burglar or thief—and God knows what will back, or middle linebacker or center,” Charles told me. “But the NFL happen to me. I truly worry about it, and that shouldn’t be that way learned its lessons and grew both its talent base and its audience, because my white neighbors do not have this concern.” as did major league baseball and the NBA—a lesson in the need for Charles agrees that many racial issues have improved in many ways diversity the newspaper industry unfortunately didn’t learn.” since he grew up in inner city Baltimore in the 1950s and 1960s. While Blacks comprise 13.4 percent of America’s population “But some changes—such as having a Black president and Black today, they filled just 7 percent of salaried leadership positions in sports heroes—have caused whites to fear their losing their suprem- America’s newspapers in 2019, according to a survey by the Ameri- acy, and that’s causing a whole new set of problems.” can Society of Newspaper Editors. (Whites held 78 percent of those Improving diversity in newsrooms is one of the best ways to help jobs, Hispanics 7 percent and Asians 5 percent.) society understand racial issues—and possibly help revive the news- For years, he added, Schurz—under his leadership—was the only paper industry. newspaper company actively financing minority outreach programs “I hope it’s not too late,” Charles said. “Although I’ve been critical, thru the Diversity Institute—recruiting, hiring and training people of I’ve always been the newspaper industry’s friend.” color to enter the news industry. My talk with Charles reminded me of lyrics from the song “Vincent”: Charles regrets that newspaper industry leaders didn’t listen to his …And how you suffered for your sanity oft-repeated pleas to diversify newsrooms and newspaper manage- And how you tried to set them free ment teams – especially as the number of persons of color grew in They would not listen, they did not know how. the . Perhaps they’ll listen now. p “My pleas to the industry fell on deaf ears, and now the industry is paying the price for not expanding its audience and its understanding Marc Wilson is chairman emeritus of TownNews. He worked as a reporter for three daily of society,” Charles said. “The time to act was when newspapers had newspapers and five bureaus of The Associated Press. He co-owned and was editor and 30, 40 and 50 percent margins, but the industry leadership didn’t publisher of the weekly Bigfork (Montana) Eagle for 14 years. His columns run regularly in recognize that its old business model was dying on the vine. When I News & Tech. talked about diversity, for the most part no one listened.”

12 t July/August 2020 News & Tech www.newsandtech.com Agfa releases new version of Arkitex for newspaper printers u News & Tech Staff Report Belgium-based Agfa has released Arkitex Production version 4.0. as be a supplier of aqueous inkjet inks for a range of novel applica- The new version focuses on tighter integration with press manage- tions. Its first target is the growing market of printing on decor paper ment systems for just-in-time plate delivery and incorporates multi- for the production of laminate floorings and furniture panels, where tenant capabilities as well as improved planning and tracking, the inkjet printing with Agfa’s water-based inks delivers a very cost- company says. effective solution, says Agfa. The second target is the promising As a result of worldwide declining run lengths, consolidating of market of inkjet printing on packaging, especially on corrugated print sites and increases in outside jobs, the number of press runs carton, delivering the most sustainable solution in terms of the ma- and the frequency of plate exchanges are up, Agfa notes. Features terial, as well as the printing process and ink, says Agfa. of the new version are in response to those changes, the company The new plant’s manufacturing capacity should cover the expect- indicates in its news release on the update. ed growth rates of ink volumes for the next five to ten years. “More than ever, a streamlined, reliable and automated work- • In June, Agfa announced that it plans to close its printing plate flow is absolutely crucial for newspaper print sites to deal with the factories in Pont-a-Marcq (France) and Leeds (the U.K.) Both daily challenges and keep their competitive position,” says Rainer plants produce Agfa’s Thermofuse printing plates. The market Kirschke, market manager newspapers at Agfa. “We are committed demand for this product declined more than for most other to supporting the newspaper printing industry.” Agfa printing plates, the release said. The decision impacts 175 jobs in Pont-a-Marcq and 76 positions in Leeds. In other Agfa news: • Agfa has introduced a plate-loading robot that streamlines and • In order to cope with growing volume demands, Agfa will invest speeds up printers’ prepress operations while reducing overall in the expansion of its inkjet ink production capacity, the com- cost, the company says. pany says. A new manufacturing plant will focus on water-based Agfa’s robotic plate loader frees prepress staff from heavy manu- inkjet inks. al, repetitive tasks such as plate-loading cassettes of autoloaders or The new production facility — at Agfa’s headquarters in Mortsel, fixing pallets on the base frame of skid loaders. Belgium — will enable Agfa to serve its current customers as well Agfa continues on page 14

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News & Tech July/August 2020 u 13 www.newsandtech.com

Agfa from page 13

Agfa’s robotic plate loader at work. (Photo: Submitted)

In a first phase, Agfa is offering its plate loading robot to printing Ron Ehrhardt companies using its Avalon VLF platesetters. [email protected] Scandinavian printed marketing solutions provider Stibo Com- 717 329 4231 plete is an early adopter of Agfa’s robotic plate loader. “Our plate loading robot saves employees from approximately 230 (metric tons) of heavy lifting per year,” says Svend Erik Grue Nielsen, operations and development manager at Stibo Complete. • Agfa has added a new cleaning module to its Attiro clean-out unit for violet newspaper printing plates, the company an- nounced. The module significantly reduces the maintenance frequency of the clean out unit, Agfa says. German newspaper printer Main-Post is an early adopter of the Attiro Cleaning Module. PrintSphere Disaster Recovery is another new module that pro- vides newspaper printers with a secure backup that guarantees their papers will get printed regardless of events, says Agfa. PrintSphere is a cloud-based, SaaS solution. WebPrint, Ireland’s largest independent newspaper printer, re- cently exchanged its traditional FTP servers for Agfa’s PrintSphere. Agfa has also introduced a new Energy Verve pre-heat printing plate, which achieves run lengths up to 1 million copies without baking, according to Agfa. • With the drupa trade fair postponed until 2021, Agfa organized a series of free webinars from June 18 to 26 to show printers how they can benefit from offset printing innovations. A newspaper- specific webinar was set for June 26. Agfa’s headquarters are in Belgium. The largest production and re- search centers are in Belgium, the U.S., Canada, Germany, France, the U.K., Austria, China and Brazil. Agfa is active worldwide through wholly owned sales organiza- AH Tensor International LLC 10330 Argonne Woods Dr. tions in more than 40 countries. p Suite 300 Woodridge, IL 60517 Phone: (630) 739 9600 www.ustensor.com

14 t July/August 2020 News & Tech www.newsandtech.com Flip-Pay helps Irish paper, aims beyond legacy paywall u News & Tech Staff Report Independent.ie, the website of the Irish Indepen- doubled it again within six weeks,” said Paul McCa- dent newspaper, went behind a paywall this spring rthy-Brain, Flip-Pay CEO. and tasked Ireland-based Flip-Pay to help with the switch. Rethinking The paper is owned by Independent News & Media, Flip-Pay is an Irish technology company based in the a subsidiary of Antwerp, Belgium-based Mediahuis. IFSC, the International Financial Services Centre, in “Last year INM embarked on the digital trans- Dublin. formation of independent.ie which encompassed Flip-Pay was founded in 2015 to rethink content a paid-for-content strategy across web, app and e- monetization. The three founders, Paul McCarthy- paper. We selected Flip-Pay as it offered us a rapid Brain, Martin Horecky and Eoin Gollogley, with in- route to market, agile scalability and the complete vestment from Irish financier Dermot Desmond, spent Screenshot of Flip-Pay’s website. suite of tools to manage our digital estate,” said the first couple of years in R&D mode, looking at the Henry Minogue, CIO of INM. INM is now deploying limitations of traditional paywalls and working with a Flip-Pay across all its titles. number of high-profile global publishers to understand the challenges faced. Besides the Independent, INM brands include , Sunday World, “The problem with legacy paywall solutions is that they are difficult and Belfast Telegraph, Sunday Life and . expensive to deploy, offering a poor user experience for the consumer, and The cloud-based platform provides subscription services across multiple they require the publisher to purchase lots of other tools to get the job done, channels, as well as Identity management, reporting, billing, payments, ad- making it an expensive proposition,” according to the company. vanced analytics and, where required, a complete helpdesk solution to man- The platform allows the publisher to move beyond simply deploying a age customer retention. paywall by creating “casual products that target different audiences and in- “We were delighted to be selected as INM’s technology provider for their creasing revenue opportunities.” digital transformation project and to deliver the most advanced solution of Since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, the company has seen a dra- its kind to Ireland’s largest publisher. INM had a first-year target for digital matic level of interest and its client base is expanding, says the company. p subscriptions, and we smashed that figure within the first three weeks and

News & Tech July/August 2020 u 15 www.newsandtech.com Royle Printing adds Norway’s Schibsted manroland press Trykk gets DCOS closed- loop inspection system With twenty-two Goss Colorliner 80S towers and five Quad-Former folders, Oslo-based Schibsted Trykk has the largest printing press in the Nordic region. Today three folders and 12 towers are in daily use, producing around 4.5 million copies every week. Schibsted Trykk decided in 2019 to take a closer look at upgrading its press with closed-loop density control. Schibsted has gone with DCOS for the project. DCOS will install a complete print inspection system (density, col- or register and cut-off) on one section plus digital presetting across twelve towers. has a Goss digital inking system (page packs) and the project involves a partial retrofit of an existing Honeywell digital inking control system. Installation was expected to be completed in June. DCOS Sweden AB was founded in 2004. Its specialty is automation Wisconsin-based Royle Printing has added a manroland Rotoman S, for printing houses. Praire Star reported. The press should be up and running by the end of this month, the paper said. “We are thrilled to have this press in our arsenal and after a long Burda Druck installs set-up period, our team is anxious to put it to work for our customers,” said Chris Carpenter, president and owner of Royle Printing. “This Gammerler systems investment is essential to our strategic direction and growth, further positioning Royle Printing as a key resource for the catalog and pub- Burda Druck has opted to install Gammerler systems at sites in France lishing markets.” and Offenburg and Nuremberg, Germany, according to a news release Royle is based in Sun Prairie and has facilities on South Bird Street from Gammerler. Germany-based Burda Druck does commercial and and in the Sun Prairie Business Park. Royle has 285 employees. magazine printing. Burda Druck is installing new Gammerler compensating KL/545-S stackers combined with the VM/500 blocking module at the three sites. At the Nuremberg site, Burda Druck invested in a complete double- Koenig & Bauer seeks stream postpress line including robotic palletizing. government loan German press manufacturer Koenig & Bauer is applying for a gov- Manroland Goss: 5,000th ernment loan of up to €120 million ($137 million) to supplement existing credit lines, the company announced. InlineDensity Control No dividend distributions will take place during the term of the loan. The loan is in tandem with the company’s Performance 2024 ef- camera installed ficiency plan. With a recent retrofit of a Lithoman press at Weiss Druck, manroland The company is requesting the loan through KFW, Germany’s Goss, together with grapho metronic, the subsidiary responsible for state-owned development bank. measuring and control technology, have installed the 5,000th inline Short-time working (a German unemployment program that ink density measuring camera on a printing press. “A world record for a includes reduced hours and pay) has been in place at different record-breaking product,” says a news release from manroland Goss. Koenig & Bauer locations since April 1. Under the current uncer- InlineDensity Control from manroland Goss/grapho metronic en- tain conditions, the impact on revenue and earnings in the 2020 sures fully automated, precise, standard-conforming ink density mea- financial year cannot yet be determined, the company says. surement, which improves the quality of the printed product, the re- lease says. Since the introduction of the product in the after-market sector in 2015, 50 webs have been retrofitted. Presses from competitors have also been equipped with InlineDensity systems and other control sys- tems, both on older and newer presses, the release says. Germany-based Weiss Druck is a long-term partner of manroland Goss.

16 t July/August 2020 News & Tech www.newsandtech.com TownNews, BlueFrame Press Control Solutions partner u News & Tech Staff Report For Any Press. TownNews and BlueFrame Technology have formed a partnership that will give the more than 2,000 local media websites using Town- News’ digital publishing platforms access to BlueFrame’s live sports Print is always on the move. In dynamic markets, and events video streaming services. The arrangement enables TownNews to supply its client network printers need to adapt to new conditions, sometimes with live sports and event streaming. In turn, TownNews customers without the investment of capital equipment costs. Our can offer the same services to their local school districts at a signifi- retrofits and upgrades for any press controls platform cantly reduced cost or free, according to a TownNews news release. can make presses of any brand new again, and provide “What will high school sports look like in the fall of 2020? Will the tools to develop new business models for a more in-person events be held at all and, if so, will coronavirus fears keep people at home?” said Rick Rogers, chief revenue officer at Town- profitable future. News. “These are the questions that are keeping district athletic di- rectors up at night, and there’s a lot riding on the answers.” www.manrolandgoss.com As athletic departments grapple with these issues, Kentucky-based BlueFrame’s sponsorship, advertising, and content monetization op- portunities extend a new revenue stream, the release says. There are a number of revenue opportunities that come as a result of the deal, including in-video ad and sponsorship positions, stan- dard local website display advertising spots and access to the Town- News iQ programmatic ad network, says TownNews. Live streams will be broadcast on the news organization’s Town- News-hosted website, driving significant traffic and enhancing rev- enue potential for both the media partner and the school districts it covers, says the release. “If parents, grandparents, students, and alumni are not able to sit in the stands and watch their favorite athletes compete, they’re going to figure out a technological way to watch the games,” Rogers said. “This partnership empowers the news organizations we serve, along with school districts, to provide a solution for their communities, while potentially making up for lost gate revenue.” Video streams can be sold on a per-game basis, as a season pass, or provided for free, at the discretion of the school district. “BlueFrame is incredibly excited to partner with TownNews to sup- port local journalism,” said Bent Kant, CEO and co-founder of Lex- ington, Kentucky-based BlueFrame. Also from TownNews: • News Nirvana, a new service from TownNews, identifies news des- erts, partners with capable local publishers and editors and pro- vides them with the tools, resources, and consulting to make their new digital news initiatives successful, says a news release from TownNews. Qualifying news start-ups will be equipped with a website that includes editorial tools, subscription/membership support and site analytics, TownNews says. Participating sites will have the ability to distribute their content on the TownNews Content Exchange, a network of more than 600 participating publishers nationwide. According to the University of North Carolina’s usnewsdeserts. com, the U.S. has lost more than 2,100 newspapers since 2004, leav- ing many communities with no local coverage. The first site to launch on the new platform will be Link 2 Lee's Summit, covering Lee's Summit, Missouri. p

News & Tech July/August 2020 u 17 www.newsandtech.com Lamar Democrat uses InfoMark to enhance print u News & Tech Staff Report photos, URLs and other digital files that expand the content. InfoMark also gives users the ability to save their history of Marks to go back to. Users can create accounts at InfoMark.com or the InfoMark app or access all the digital content anonymously. “User experience is everything in newsprint. Our industry has been stagnant much too long,” said Renee Reeves, publisher of The Lamar Democrat, in a news release. “Simply creating a website is not good enough. We sought technologies to increase our unique content and advertising value and that is print. The Lamar Democrat will soon be loaded with new valuable digital content not only to its articles but also its advertisements, giving greater value to both. Also, with new full Amazon Alexa capabilities we will soon be reaching new audiences that have been fading away from news- print.” In an email to News & Tech, Reeves said she started by creating an InfoMark for one of the paper’s regular advertisers. Placing the spe- cial code in the ad gave Reeves a way to make the customer’s sales circular available to the newspaper’s digital subscribers. Previously, they were excluded from seeing the monthly insert. Of course, print subscribers can use the Mark also, she notes. “It solved a true need InfoMark is partnering with The Lamar Democrat (Vernon, Ala- perfectly,” she said. bama). The paper is using InfoMark tech to tie its newsprint to the Writers and editors can create accounts at infomark.com or the digital world with audio, video, photos and other digital content. InfoMark app to begin. Millions of Marks are available and are free InfoMark, launched in November 2019, uses alphanumeric codes for the first year. After that each Mark is $10 per year, the company that when placed in print give users access to PDFs, audio, video, says. p

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News & Tech July/August 2020 u 21 www.newsandtech.com Northwest Offset Printing has first run on pressline u News & Tech Staff Report Photos: Submitted Northwest Offset Printing completed its first run on its “new” press- line on June 1 as scheduled. The eight-tower Goss Magnum Press was supplied, delivered and installed by imPRESSions Worldwide. Last year, NWOP built a 75,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to house the 22” cut-off Magnum press and will assume the printing of The Spokesman-Review in the near future. The move to the single- wide with a heat set option will broaden the ability to provide ex- panded commercial printing, said a press release from imPRESSions. The new plant will provide prepress, printing, packaging, direct mail and transportation services. The five-month installation project began in January and has re- mained on track. The press has the ability to run a three-section news- paper on one folder, plus quarter folded heatset jobs on the other folder. Automation includes upgraded AVT remote ink and Baldwin Vision auto register. p

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News & Tech July/August 2020 u 25 News You May Have Missed

Maryland to provide funds for Capital Tribune vice president of philanthropy, in June. Gazette memorial It’s been over two years since the June 28, 2018, Capital Gazette HoldTheLine campaign launched to support shooting that saw five people killed. Ressa The state of Maryland has approved $300,000 to build a memo- The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International rial called “Guardians of Free Speech” in Newman Park in An- Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and Reporters Without Borders napolis, Gazette reported. (RSF) have launched the #HoldTheLine campaign in support of The design has five stone pillars in front of a carving of the First Filipino-American Maria Ressa. Ressa is known for Amendment, the paper said. covering Southeast Asia for CNN and founding the Philippines It will stand in honor of murdered employees Gerald Fischman, news website Rappler. On June 15, she was convicted of “cyber- John McNamara, Rob Hiaasen, Wendi Winters and Rebecca libel” with former Rappler colleague Reynaldo Santos Jr. They Smith. face up to six years in prison. Annapolis provided the land and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The conviction involves a story from 2012, before the law was Committee in Anne Arundel County raised $10,000 to bring on enacted. The case involved a 2012 piece by Santos involving Phil- the designer, the paper reported. ippine Chief Justice Renato Corona. That same year, Corona was The project is scheduled to be completed in 2021. impeached and removed from office. He died in 2016.

Lee, Best Agent Today partner Washington state paper returns to Best Agent Today, a communications platform for real estate agents, and Lee Enterprises have formed an alliance to bring real estate services to all of Lee's digital brands across the country. Beginning with the June 13 edition, the Whidbey News-Times- “By partnering with Best Agent Today, Lee helps consumers South Whidbey Record (Washington state) will be produced as easily source the best real estate agent to assist them in the home a broadsheet, the paper reported. The move to broadsheet is selling or home buying process. In addition, Lee now provides happening more than two decades after the paper changed to a agents with unique, cost-effective showcase promotion and tabloid format. deep-data insight, enabling agents to generate new home sale The paper’s sister newspapers, The Herald, in Everett, and Pen- listings,” said a press release from -based Best insula Daily News, in Port Angeles, are . “When those Agent Today. papers came off of the press that we all share, enormous rolls of “Today's announcement marks a major step forward in our newsprint needed to be traded out. That may not sound like a national strategy. Media alliances help us solidify and grow big deal, but consider the fact that a roll of newsprint can weigh our presence in the regions where these organizations are upwards of 900 lbs. and are moved with forklifts,” says the paper. based,” said Peter Newton, CEO, Best Agent Today. The paper said the coronavirus pandemic pushed it to look at Lee reported second-quarter results June 18. expenses. Also, the News-Times has returned to 800 S.E. Barrington Drive in Oak Harbor after a lease in Coupeville ended. The paper is on Salt Lake Tribune launches hybrid the second floor of the building, which is owned by parent com- subscription model pany Sound Publishing. The Salt Lake Tribune has a new hybrid subscription model that lets readers donate money and pay for access to the digital edi- Brainerd paper going to two print days tion at the same time, says the paper. The Brainerd Dispatch (Minnesota) is going to a two-day-a-week The system lets subscribers buy basic access to its online offer- print schedule, the paper announced. The paper had been pro- ings for $7.99 a month or $79 for a year, then add a tax-deductible ducing print six days a week. gift to support the paper, if they want. Beginning July 15, the paper will print a Wednesday and Satur- Monthly supporting subscribers can pay $15 or $25, with the day weekend edition and will do e-editions on Monday, Tuesday, $25 choice providing access to exclusive events, newsletters and Thursday and Friday. other extras. People purchasing a year’s access can increase their Forum Communications owns the paper. Forum has cut print subscription to $150, with the same extras. days for other papers it owns, including in Fargo, North Dakota, The basic subscription options are still offered and people can and Duluth and Willmar, Minnesota, the Brainerd paper said. see seven articles free every month, the paper says. Beginning July 15, Dispatch sister paper Journal (Pe- Since the program started, around half of the paper’s new digi- quot Lakes, Minnesota), also owned by Forum Communications, tal subscribers have gone to the new model, said Fraser Nelson, will become a weekly with a Wednesday publication date, the

26 t July/August 2020 News & Tech www.newsandtech.com News You May Have Missed

paper announced. papers to get into new newsrooms in 2021. Editors in Miami and Charlotte had notes for their readers on Layoffs at Honolulu Star-Advertiser the move. There were fewer layoffs at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser than initially anticipated in June, the paper reported. drops print Initially, as many as 29 received layoff notices. Then the union The Glasgow Daily Times (Kentucky) has gone digital. The June representing journalists at the paper and management came to 9 edition was the last print edition to be produced and sent to an agreement that sees 12 journalists laid off and others taking subscribers’ homes and newsstands, Publisher Bill Hanson wrote furloughs, the paper reported on June 29. in a note to readers. “I sincerely appreciate the efforts by the Pacific Media Workers The paper will continue to produce Barren County news on its Guild and its local negotiating committee members for helping website, glasgowdailytimes.com. to achieve an amicable solution to reduce our payroll costs,” Den- “The conversion from print to digital only for is nis Francis, president and publisher of the Star-Advertiser, told necessary due to major losses of advertising revenue during the the paper COVID-19 emergency on top of burdensome print delivery costs, “COVID-19 has impacted our advertising business model newsprint and ink expenses, and the production outlay required greatly and we also recognize the significant impact it has had to run the presses,” Hanson’s note said. economically, not only to our own employees but to our many Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. (CNHI) owns the paper. advertising clients as well,” he said. “Fortunately, this deal will allow us to retain virtually all of our reporters who are widely Companies form Dan’s Independent Media recognized as some of the best in Hawaii.” Dan’s Hamptons Media and The Independent have joined to form one company, Dan’s Independent Media, the company an- Local journalism bill would provide credits to nounced. subscribers, advertisers It’s a “seismic shift on Long Island’s East End,” writes the New York Post. Ron Perelman-owned weekly The Independent will The Local Journalism Sustainability Act, introduced on July 16, is stop its print edition and merge with Dan’s Papers, once known a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by U.S. Representatives Ann Kirk- as the Montauk Pioneer. patrick (D-Arizona) and Dan Newhouse (R-Washington). Terms of the deal weren’t made public. The legislation provides for tax credits for subscribing to a local Richard Burns, owner of Dan’s Papers, will be chair of the paper, payroll credit for paying journalists who provide local board. Perelman will be vice chairman, but represented by Josh news and tax credits for advertising in local papers and local Vlasto, a former chief of staff of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Post media. reported. Joining Reps. Kirkpatrick and Newhouse as original cospon- Perelman purchased The Independent three years ago from sors of the bill are Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Thomas Suozzi, Peter advertising’s Jerry Della Femina, the Post said. Welch, Rodney Davis, David B. McKinley, Peter Visclosky, Colling Peterson, Josh Harder, Denny Heck, Mark Takano, Andre Carson and Chuck Fleischmann. News-Times adopting digital format, America’s Newspapers provides some details on the bill. subscribers to get iPads America’s Newspapers, the News Media Alliance and National WEHCO Media has announced that the El Dorado News-Times Newspaper Association are applauding the bill. (El Dorado, Arizona) will be adopting a digital format in August and all subscribers will be able to claim an iPad to access the McClatchy taking journalists out of seven digital replica. The News-Times will also continue to have a Sun- newsrooms day print edition each week. WEHCO Media Publisher Walter E. Hussman Jr. said moving McClatchy is removing journalists out of newsrooms in seven of to a digital format is the only viable way to continue producing its 30 markets, Poynter reported. every day for Union County residents. The move is aimed at cutting expenses as the company is in The WEHCO-owned Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock) Chapter 11 bankruptcy. announced an iPad program in 2018. The paper produces print By late summer, McClatchy will drop newsrooms in Miami, only on Sunday. Little Rock-based WEHCO operates daily and Charlotte, Washington, Columbia (South Carolina) and Modesto, weekly papers, magazines and cable television companies in six Merced and San Luis Obispo, California, Poynter said. The space states. WEHCO, pronounced WAY-CO, is an acronym for Walter for those newsrooms is leased. E. Hussman Company. Work for the papers will be done remotely. The aim is for the

News & Tech July/August 2020 u 27 News You May Have Missed

Tribune Publishing extends standstill, adds to Billings Gazette staff vote for union board Billings Gazette journalists have voted to unionize, the paper reported. They are affiliating with the Denver News Guild. Tribune Publishing has a new arrangement with its largest share- The vote happened by mail. Twenty staffers were eligible to holder, hedge fund Alden Global Capital, the Chicago Tribune vote, and 18 did, all voting yes, the paper said. reported July 1. Negotiations between the bargaining unit and The Billings The deal extends an ownership standstill agreement until next Gazette will be forthcoming, the paper said. year and adds Randall Smith to the company’s board. Smith is “We certainly plan on following the law and bargaining in good the New York-based hedge fund’s co-founder. The changes were faith with the union’s representatives in order to reach a contract approved at a special board meeting July 1. that is fair and equitable to all parties,” Gazette President Dave With Smith, Alden has three seats on the seven-member board. Worstell said. With the new deal, Alden’s stake will stay fixed at 33% until af- Lee Enterprises owns the paper. ter Tribune Publishing’s next annual shareholder meeting, which can happen no later than June 15, 2021, a company spokesman said and the Chicago Tribune reported. U.K.’s Audit Bureau of Circulations The moves come amid industry speculation about the future offers opt-out of Tribune Publishing, with much of the speculation not terribly The U.K.’s Audit Bureau of Circulations has announced new data flattering toward Alden. reporting options for national papers in the U.K. The Chicago Tribune Guild has started a "Save Our Tribune" ABC releases data for the UK media industry to use when sell- campaign and a Pulitzer-Prize-winning reporter has left as Alden ing print, digital and event advertising. ABC normally publishes increases its presence. data monthly. Meanwhile, Tribune Publishing put out its earnings report for On May 21, the organization said national newspaper publish- the first quarter June 5. The company had delayed the report. ers can now opt for public or private reporting. Also, optional Some details: metrics can be reported in addition to mandatory metrics and • Total revenues were $216.5 million, down from $244.5 million there will no longer be a monthly Newsbrands report. in the first quarter of 2019. This addresses publisher concerns that monthly ABC circula- • Net loss from operations was $44 million in the first quarter tion reports provide a stimulus to write a negative narrative of of 2020, compared to a loss of $4.7 million in the first quarter of circulation decline, while continuing to ensure the data is avail- 2019. able for agencies and advertisers who use it to buy print advertis- • Loss from operations was $62 million, substantially due to ing, the agency says. non-cash impairment charges of $51 million, compared to a loss With the public option, arrangements remain as they currently of $7.4 million in the first quarter of 2019. are. This means ABC will publish a title’s certificate on its website • Adjusted EBITDA was $13.3 million, a decrease of $8 million and include it in the Data Hub and data feeds as usual. compared to the first quarter of 2019. With private reporting, publication of circulation figures will be • Digital-only subscribers increased 30.7% to 370,000 at the end under the control of the publisher. of the first quarter 2020, up from 283,000 at the end of the first The U.S.-based Alliance for Audited Media is making changes to quarter 2019, and related revenue was up 42.4% compared to the its reporting as well. The organization is offering two options for first quarter of 2019. the March 2020 filing period: simplified reporting with projections or normal filing with optional simplified ZIP code reporting. Herald to publish three times a week On June 16, the Fort Bend Herald (Rosenberg, Texas) will start Outplacement firm: Newsroom cuts top a three-day-a-week printing schedule, the paper reported, and 11,000 this year will have a new focus on digital news coverage and features, said According to outplacement and business coaching firm Chal- Clyde C. King Jr., publisher of the Herald and chairman of parent lenger, Gray & Christmas, newsrooms have announced 11,027 job company Hartman Newspapers. cuts this year, up 169.8% from the 4,087 cuts announced in the Print editions will be distributed to subscribers in the mail and first half of 2019. to single-copy readers at newsracks and retail locations on Tues- Through June, newsroom cuts are at their highest point since days, Thursdays and Saturdays. Challenger began tracking them in 2003. The COVID-19 pandemic was behind the moves, the paper “Newsrooms have had a rough few years, as revenues de- said. clined and consolidation in the industry decimated news teams.

28 t July/August 2020 News & Tech www.newsandtech.com News You May Have Missed

Coupled with a hostile environment for many journalists, news first standard and 18 months from July 1 on the second. has become an increasingly difficult career path,” said Andrew Failure to satisfy the conditions of the cure period could lead to Challenger, senior vice president. a delisting.

Virginian-Pilot moving print; 132 jobs lost Erie-Times News sells building The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk) is moving its printing from its The Erie Times-News is selling its building at West 12th and Sas- Virginia Beach plant to a Richmond Times Dispatch facility, the safras streets, the paper reported. The paper will stay a tenant paper reported. The move will cut 132 full-time and part-time in the 88,623-square-foot facility under a deal with Erie business positions, according to an email to staff from Tribune Publishing Logistics Plus. executive Par Ridder, the paper said. Logistics Plus, whose headquarters is near the building, has a Chicago-based Tribune Publishing owns the paper. deal to purchase -News building and will use part of it The change is set for July, the paper said. as warehouse space. “Because we must find cost savings to mitigate the sharp rev- The Times-News offices will stay in the facility along with an- enue declines we are experiencing, this is the necessary route,” other tenant, MCPc, a data-protection company. Both will have Ridder wrote. “Going forward, we do not expect ad revenue to long-term leases. return to the same levels from before the pandemic so we must The price was $2 million and the sale was set to close later in continue operating with reduced overall costs.” May, said Logistics Plus founder and CEO Jim Berlin, according The company plans to sell the property in Virginia Beach, the to the paper. paper said. The company may get working space in the building, owns the paper. Ridder wrote, the paper said. In January, Richmond-based developer the Monument Cos. Aspen Daily News raises funds bought the Virginian-Pilot’s headquarters, at 150 W. Brambleton Numerous papers are raising money through donations. Ave., from Tribune Publishing. TownNews cites a case in point: their client Aspen Daily News. When TownNews announced the Support Local Journalism 500 to 1,000 may be cut at News Corp initiative, David Cook, the paper’s publisher, took swift action to Australia participate. “We contacted TownNews customer support and the next day we started collecting donations from our community. News Corp Australia was set to slash hundreds of jobs, the Syd- “The support has been unbelievable! We've raised over $42,000 ney Morning Herald reported in late May. Between 500 to 1,000 from more than 600 donors in just six weeks (as of May 12),” positions could be cut, the paper said, citing sources close to Cook said. “We've proven we truly are an asset to the community News Corp. by finding new ways of communicating, doubling down on our The cuts were aimed at moving more to digital and are also a methodology of storytelling, and just being direct with our read- reaction to the drop in advertising from the coronavirus pan- ers.” demic, the paper said. News Corp declined to comment to the The paper also launched two multimedia features. paper. The Upload weekly podcast is presented by a local sponsor and The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald had reported that recaps the week's news. News Corp brought on consultants Deloitte to help the com- The Daily Update is a series created by the video news team pany reshape its newspaper division. News Corp is planning to with guests including elected officials and area health experts. reshape its regional newspaper business and intends to start a The paper runs a full-page ad thanking people by name for newswire service as it quit as a shareholder of Australian Associ- their donation. ated Press, the Morning Herald reported.

Lee gets letter from NYSE Gannett reports Q1 earnings Gannett posted a net loss of $80.2 million in the first quarter, On May 18, Lee Enterprises said it received a letter from the New including $78 million due to depreciation and amortization and York Stock Exchange indicating that Lee wasn’t compliant with $34 million in cash charges tied to the company’s recent merger, these listing standards: Issuers maintain an average closing share USA Today reported May 7. The company had first-quarter rev- price over a 30 trading-day period of at least $1.00; and issuers enues of $948.7 million. maintain average global market capitalization over a consecu- Same store revenues decreased 10%, approximately in line with tive 30 trading-day period of at least $50 million and, at the same Q4 2019 performance, including the negative impact of approxi- time, its shareholders’ equity must exceed $50 million. mately $17 million related to the COVID-19 pandemic, a May 7 Lee said it plans to notify the NYSE of its intent to return to company earnings release said. Paid digital-only subscriber vol- compliance within the cure period, six months from July 1 on the

News & Tech July/August 2020 u 29 News You May Have Missed

umes now total some 863,000, up 29% year-over-year, the release against California-based Trend Offset Printing Services. said. “The impact on our business from the pandemic came fast and • Cloud platform Selligent announced on July 8 that Ac- is significant,” said Michael Reed, Gannett chairman and CEO, celeration, ONE Marketing and Reply were winners of the 2020 in the release. “However, we continue to execute on our operat- Selligent Partner Awards. ing and integration plans from the acquisition of legacy Gan- nett last year. The realization of synergies remains on track and • The News Media Alliance has a post here on the Com- debt pay down remains ahead of schedule. We have also moved munications Decency Act, housing Section 230, and liability aggressively to manage through the current economic crisis by protection for Big Tech. “Facebook, Google and other digital taking measures to preserve and increase liquidity and financial platforms continue to be shielded by laws that are over two performance, including further cost reductions, limits on capital decades removed from the rapidly advancing technology, and we expenditures, and the suspension of our quarterly dividend.” are seeing the disastrous effects from years of inaction to correct Cutting paper print days is “not part of our plan today,” Reed this oversight in the law,” it says. told USA Today. Poynter and others reported layoffs at Gannett round the • is pulling out of Apple News, the country in late April. paper wrote June 29. Gannett owns more than 260 daily publications. • Gannett has shuttered The Edinburg Review (Texas) and New York Times reports Q1 earnings Valley Town Crier (McAllen, Texas), the Rio Grande Guardian re- ported June 9. “Yesterday was our last publication. It is very sad,” The New York Times Company reported first quarter results May 6. Publisher Yvonne Gomez told the Rio Grande Guardian. Operating profit decreased to $27.3 million in the first quar- ter of 2020 from $34.6 million in the same period of 2019 and • The Press & Journal (Middleton, Pennsylvania) will adjusted operating profit decreased to $44.3 million from $52.4 publish its last edition July 1, the family-owned newspaper an- million in the prior year, as higher digital-only subscription and nounced. “Within weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak, our advertis- other revenues were more than offset by lower advertising rev- ing revenue plummeted. Ironically, our readership soared,” wrote enues and higher costs. owners Joe and Louise Sukle in a goodbye note. Unfortunately, it “In the first quarter, we added 587,000 net new digital sub- wasn’t enough to save the paper. scriptions, resulting in the highest number of net new subscrip- tions in a quarter in our history. This was despite the fact that • The Mesabi Daily News and Hibbing Daily Tribune (Min- we are allowing audiences to access the majority of our coverage nesota) are combining into one six-day paper, the Mesabi Tri- related to the coronavirus outside of our pay model,” said Mark bune, on July 8. Adams Publishing Group owns the papers. Thompson, president and CEO. “Of the 587,000 net adds, 468,000 were to our core news prod- • The GrenadaStar () is set to have new owner- uct, with 119,000 to our other digital products. As of the end of ship July 1, the paper says. Publisher Joseph B. Lee III and co- April, The Times now has more than four million subscriptions owner Brenda R. Lee are selling the paper to Wyatt Emmerich of to our digital-only news product; more than five million digital- Emmerich Newspapers. only subscriptions in all; and more than six million total sub- scriptions across digital and print,” Thompson said. “We saw advertising fall rapidly towards the end of the quar- • The proposed purchase of Kodak’s paper and chemistry ter and believe that advertising in the second quarter will fall business by Chinese company Sino Promise Holdings between 50% and 55% compared to a year ago with limited vis- was made known internally in early July, says a Kodak ibility beyond that,” he said. Alaris insider, Inside Imaging reported. More news • The U.S. Small Business Administration has released detailed loan-level data regarding the loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The disclosure covers each of the 4.9 million PPP loans that have been made.

• Flint CPS Inks North America, the North American sub- sidiary of Luxembourg-based Flint Group, filed a lawsuit in July

30 t July/August 2020 News & Tech www.newsandtech.com Mergers & Acquisitions

Chatham wins McClatchy auction Canadian Press reported. McClatchy said July 13 that the auction held as a part of its court- NordStar Capital LP’s bid was approved July 21. The deal needs supervised sale process has concluded with Chatham Asset Man- regulatory and court approvals to go forward. agement the successful bid. The deal also needs approval from the Torstar Voting Trust, Under terms of the proposed agreement, which will need to be controlled by five families and a majority of class B non-voting finalized and filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court McClatchy will shares. “transition out of Chapter 11 as it entered it: in its totality, as one The rival bid was from Canadian Modern Media Holdings. company serving 30 communities across America,” said an an- Entrepreneurs Jordan Bitove and Paul Rivett are the core of nouncement from Sacramento-based McClatchy. NordStar. The proposed agreement positions McClatchy to exit Chapter With the NordStar plan, Torstar will delist its shares from the 11 protection in the third quarter of 2020, having achieved a reso- Toronto Stock Exchange and the business will be run by the exec- lution and restructuring of the company's complex legacy debt utive team that’s in place now, according to The Canadian Press. and pension obligations, McClatchy says. The company continues Torstar company publishes more than 70 papers, including the to expect that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) Toronto Star, and operates dozens of digital businesses. will assume McClatchy's qualified pension plan, The McClatchy Company Retirement Plan. McClatchy is contributing an estimat- Advance buys Ironman Group ed $1.4 billion in pension assets to the PBGC. Advance has bought The Ironman Group from Wanda Sports The agreement will be subject to court confirmation, currently Group. The transaction was first announced in March. Orkila scheduled for a hearing on July 24, as well as customary regula- Capital, an equity firm focused on the media, entertainment and tory approvals and other closing conditions. consumer sectors, partnered with Advance as a co-investor in the New Jersey-based hedge fund Chatham is McClatchy biggest transaction. creditor. The Ironman Group operates a portfolio of events that includes The auction was on July 10. Federal judge Michael E. Wiles shot the Ironman Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series, down a challenge by a second hedge fund, New York based Alden mountain bike races, road cycling events and other races. Capital Group, to Chatham’s bid. New York-based family company Advance’s portfolio includes Among McClatchy’s papers are the , Charlotte Conde Nast, Advance Local, Stage Entertainment, American City Observer, Kansas City Star, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Sacra- Business Journals, Leaders Group, Turnitin, 1010data and POP. mento Bee. Advance is also among the largest shareholders in Charter Com- munications, Discovery and Reddit. Better Newspapers buys Douglas County New York-based Orkila Capital was formed in 2013 by Jesse Du Herald Bey and Taylor Storms. Better Newspapers, based in Mascoutah, Illinois, has bought the Douglas County Herald (Ava, Missouri) from owner Sue Jones Bauer Media to make change to U.K. titles Curry and other shareholders, the paper reported. Bauer Media plans to shutter, combine or sell 10 of its U.K. maga- Better Newspapers is a family-owned company that operates zines due to fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, Campaign in Illinois and Missouri. It now owns 25 papers in Illinois and Mis- reported. souri, including the Ozark Horse Trader, the Mascoutah Herald, The brands involved in the changes are Mother & Baby, Golf the Fairview Heights Tribune, the Troy Time-Tribune, the Scott World, Practical Photography, Sea Angler, Planet Rock, Q, Car Air Force Base Flier and the Nashville News. Mechanics, Modern Classics, Simply You and Your Horse. Greg Hoskins, owner of Better Newspapers, will be the publish- Bauer Media UK is part of the Bauer Media Group, based in er of the Douglas County Herald. Hamburg, Germany. Now in its fifth generation of family owner- Herald Editor Michael Boyink will fill the role of general man- ship, the Bauer Media Group operates in 15 countries including ager. the U.K., Germany, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. and has 11,000 employees worldwide. Torstar shareholders approve bid Torstar shareholders voted yes on a $60 million (around $44 mil- lion U.S.) deal to sell the company, bypassing a larger offer, The

News & Tech July/August 2020 u 31 Vendor Insight

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News & Tech July/August 2020 u 33 Industry People

Peter Marsh has died following a battle with will continue his service on the board as a foundation cancer trustee. Formerly vice president of marketing at Naviga (once David Dunn-Rankin, president of D-R Media in Ven- called Newscycle Solutions), he died May 22 after bat- ice (Florida), was re-elected vice chair, and Charles tling an aggressive brain tumor. Hill Morris, regional manager of Morris Multimedia in He joined the then-Newscycle in 2013 from Atex, Atlanta, was re-elected treasurer. where he was senior vice president of global product The board also elected three trustees for new three- management. With more than 30 years' experience in year terms: Dunn-Rankin; David Woronoff, publisher of the media industry, he was previously chief executive The Pilot in Southern Pines (North Carolina); and Paul of 5 Fifteen, founder and chief executive of Deadline Tash, chairman and CEO, Tampa Bay Times. Data Systems and vice president of web development at Other SNPA Foundation trustees are Patrick Dorsey, Ebsco Publishing. He held a bachelor of science degree, publisher, Austin American-Statesman, and regional summa cum laude, from University's College of vice president, Coastal Publishing Group, Gannett; Eliza Communication. Hussman Gaines, managing editor, Arkansas Democrat- He also served as chairman of the board of directors Gazette, Little Rock; and Les High, publisher, The News at Samaritans, a non-profit organization dedicated to Reporter, Whiteville (North Carolina). suicide prevention, based in Boston. Edward VanHorn, retired executive director of SNPA and the SNPA Foundation, serves as the foundation’s Paul Bascobert out at Gannett secretary. Bascobert and Gannett have ended Bascobert’s stint as Programs endorsed by the SNPA Foundation include CEO of its operating company, Gannett Media Corp., as America's Newspapers, which was created in the merger the board has eliminated the position, the company an- of the original SNPA organization and Inland Press As- nounced June 18. sociation. SNPA Foundation-supported programs are “Bascobert’s departure is not the result of any inap- intended to spotlight the critical need for ethical jour- propriate action by Mr. Bascobert, any violation of nalism, explore sustainable business models and pro- company policy, any accounting irregularity or any mote the value that newspapers bring to communities material deterioration in the business of the company,” they serve, according to the organization. said an announcement from Gannett. The move is part of an effort to streamline the operating structure of the Andreas Plesske has been appointed management company, the announcement said. board spokesman (Vorstandssprecher) for Germany- Michael Reed, chairman and CEO of Gannett, has as- based Koenig & Bauer, effective Jan. 1, 2021. The com- sumed Bascobert’s responsibilities. pany’s board appointed him to the position, which he Bascobert came on with Gannett as president and will hold until the end of 2025. Plesske succeeds Claus CEO in August, before the Gannett/GateHouse merger, Bolza-Schunemann, who is leaving the board on Dec. 31 which was completed in November. after reaching the designated retirement age.

SNPA Foundation announces officers slate John Phillipp Graf, former owner and publisher of The board of trustees of the Southern Newspaper Pub- the weekly Galesville Republican (Wisconsin), has died lishers Association Foundation elected a new slate of at 69. Graf sold the paper in 2011 to News Publishing, officers for 2020–2021 at its meeting on June 17. which merged it with the Whitehall Times and Arcadia P.J. Browning will be the new chair, succeeding Tom News-Leader to form the Trempealeau County Times. Silvestri. Browning is the president and publisher of The Post and Courier in Charleston (South Carolina). Kendra Majors has been named regional publisher Silvestri, who retired on Dec. 31 after 15 years as presi- of The Andalusia Star-News, The Atmore Advance, and dent and publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Brewton Standard and associated print and digital

34 t July/August 2020 News & Tech www.newsandtech.com Industry People

products. All three newspapers are affiliates of Boone Grand Island Independent since August. Newspapers, headquartered in Tuscaloosa, . Charles F. “Chuck” Champion has been named presi- Robert Granfeldt has been named general manager of dent and CEO of the California News Publishers Associ- the Midland Reporter-Telegram and Texas Panhandle ation, a newly created position. Champion is the former properties for Hearst Communications. The Panhandle publisher of papers in Santa Clarita and Pasadena and properties include the Plainview Herald, Muleshoe Jour- a top executive with large circulation papers in Chicago nal and Canyon News. (Sun-Times), Philadelphia (Inquirer), Orange County (Register) and Los Angeles (Daily News). He was head of Tricia Miller has been named editor and publisher of CNPA’s board when he was asked to assume the respon- The Missourian (Washington, Missouri). Miller will re- sibilities of long-time executive director Tom Newton, place Bill Miller Sr., who has retired after 67 years with who retired after 30 years. the paper. She comes to the paper after 33 years with the St. Louis Business Journal. Dan York, former chief content officer at DirecTV and MediaPlay News “Digital Driver,” has been named CEO Better Newspapers announced the promotions of Scott of Cox Media Group. York will be responsible for all as- Hoskins to MetroEast regional manager, Katrina pects of managing the company’s media platforms and Crabtree to corporate business manager, and Emilee will oversee CMG’s long-term strategic priorities. Hutman (of Scott Air Force Base) to corporate account executive. Better Newspapers is headquartered in Mas- The Chicago Sun-Times boosted two top bosses with coutah, Illinois, and is made up of 24 weekly publica- the promotion of interim CEO Nykia Wright to CEO tions in Illinois and Missouri. and editor-in-chief Chris Fusco to executive editor.

Rodney Mahone, who as publisher of the McClatchy- Anne Brennan has been named executive editor at the owned Charlotte Observer also oversaw some of the . Brennan worked for more than three company’s South Carolina papers, was named president years in the Framingham area as editor-in-chief of the of the company’s Georgia markets. Mahone will lead MetroWest Daily News, and 14 sales teams across McClatchy’s 30 markets, driving weekly newspapers in the Boston metropolitan area. revenue to support essential local journalism not only in Georgia, but company media properties such as the William J. Keating, who spent three decades as an Miami Herald and Kansas City Star. He will no longer Ohio newspaper executive after leaving Congress in be the Observer’s publisher. Editor Sherry Chisenhall the 1970s, has died. He was 93. He was a judge, a city was named president of the Observer and the (Rock councilman, congressman, publisher of the Cincinnati Hill) Herald, and will remain as editor. She’s the former Enquirer and chairman of The Associated Press. He also editor of the Wichita Eagle. worked with Gannett, where he served as general coun- sel, a regional newspaper president and helped with Steve Coffman, executive editor of the McClatchy- the joint operating agreement between Detroit’s major owned Fort Worth Star-Telegram, will remain in that dailies. position while also taking on the role of company presi- dent. Bill Atkinson, publisher of (Missis- sippi), has left the paper to devote more of his time to Terrie Baker has been named regional publisher for sister newspapers in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. Lee Enterprises with responsibility for the Grand Island Independent, Kearney Hub and Lexington Clipper-Her- ald (Nebraska). Baker has served as the publisher of the

News & Tech July/August 2020 u 35 Vendor Insight

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36 t July/August 2020 News & Tech www.newsandtech.com Vendor News

Google to pay publishers for news content price or product availability depends upon obtaining ac- On June 25, Google announced a licensing program to curate data,” says a news release from FTI. pay publishers for “high-quality content” for a news FTI has more than 5,500 employees in 27 countries. It experience launching later in 2020. The program will help has executive headquarters in Washington, D.C. participating publishers monetize their content through an enhanced storytelling experience that lets people go Legacy.com has 20 new local news deeper into more complex stories, stay informed and be partnerships exposed to a world of different issues and interests, says Google. The program is starting with local and national Legacy has launched more than 20 new obituary partner- publications in Germany, Australia and Brazil. ships with local media organizations this year, the com- The product will launch first on Google News and Dis- pany says. cover. Google plans to sign more partners in the coming “Now more than ever, local news publishers are a vital months, says giant. lifeline of information for their readers,” says Legacy CEO Nieman Lab has an analysis piece on Google’s move Stopher Bartol. “We believe Legacy’s memorial experi- with the headline “’Google paying publishers’ is more ence helps our new media partners unite their communi- about PR than the needs of the news industry.” ties with a central place to remember, grieve and honor their loved ones, and to find the right local providers for memorial planning and other important services.” Ponderay Newsprint closes Among the news 2020 partners are the North Dallas Ponderay Newsprint has closed its paper mill in Usk, Gazette, Ogle County News (Dixon, Illinois), The Times Washington, The Spokesman-Review (Spokane) reported. (Ottawa, Illinois)/The Small Newspaper Group, Wyoming Ponderay is a partnership between Lake Superior For- Tribune Eagle (Cheyenne) and the Greeley Tribune (Colo- est Products, a subsidiary of Quebec-based Resolute rado). Forest Products, and five major U.S. publishers, says the The company provides support and obituary-related Ponderay website. The mill produces newsprint for pub- services to more than 1,500 newspapers and 3,500 funer- lishers along the West Coast and in the Midwestern U.S. al homes in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and the U.K. and exports to markets in Asia and South America. Legacy.com is headquartered in Chicago. The mill opened in 1989. More than 130 people have worked there, according to the Spokesman-Review. Norske Skog to enter European packaging FTI Consulting, ForMotiv partner markets Business advisory firm FTI Consulting and ForMotiv, Norske Skog will take a step in its transformation to- a developer of digital behavioral data capture software wards a growing and high-margin business by converting and services, have formed a partnership to deliver data- two newsprint paper machines into renewable contain- capture capabilities and advisory services to insurers and erboard production, the company announced June 17. other financial services companies, FTI announced. The conversions at Golbey (France) and Bruck (Austria) Philadelphia-based ForMotiv is the creator of a digital will introduce 765,000 metric tons of competitive con- behavioral intelligence platform capturing a digital DNA tainerboard capacity to meet the growing demand for of applicants and web users. renewable packaging, the company says. The ForMotiv solution provides new insights related Norway-based Norske Skog will continue to be a sup- to web session data-entry form behavior not currently plier of all publication paper grades after the planned available with other software methods, says FTI. Organi- conversions. Newsprint capacity will be reduced, balanc- zations are using new data on actions such as hesitation, ing the market for Norske Skog’s remaining European field re-entry, corrections, cut-and-paste and hover times publication paper capacity. to improve their predictive models. “The combination of Norske Skog plans to invest approximately 350 million this data capture and the financial services industry ex- euros (nearly $392 million) in the conversion project over pertise of FTI Consulting will deliver significant value to an 18-month period starting in the second half of 2021. insurers, lenders, credit-card issuers and any firm whose “This is a milestone in Norske Skog’s strategy to be-

News & Tech July/August 2020 u 37 Vendor News

come a leading European packaging producer through range of other markets. Across all countries, most people conversion of publication paper capacity. We will con- are still not paying for online news, even if some publish- tinue to optimize our broad asset base to diversify within ers have since reported a coronavirus bump. high-growth fiber segments, and maximize cash flows from the publication paper business,” says Norske Skog • In countries with higher levels of payment (e.g. the U.S. Chairman John Chiang, who also represents the largest and Norway) between a third and half of all subscriptions shareholder, Oceanwood. go to just a few big national brands. But in both these Final investment decisions are planned in the first half countries, a significant minority are now taking out more of 2021 and the start of containerboard production in the than one subscription, often adding a local or specialist first half of 2023. publication.

Highlights from the Reuters Institute Digital • In most countries, local newspapers and their websites remain the top source of news about a particular town or News Report region, reaching four in ten (44%) weekly. But the insti- Here are some details from the Reuters Institute Digital tute finds that Facebook and other social media groups News Report 2020, released in June. are now used on average by around a third (31%) for local • The coronavirus crisis has substantially increased news and information. news consumption for mainstream media in all of the countries where the institute conducted surveys before • Across age groups, use of Instagram for news has and after the pandemic had taken root. Television news doubled since 2018 and looks likely to overtake Twitter and online sources have seen significant upticks, and over the next year. more people identify television as their main source of news, providing temporary respite from a picture of The research was conducted by YouGov using an online steady decline. Consumption of printed newspapers has questionnaire. fallen as lockdowns undermine physical distribution, almost certainly accelerating the shift to an all-digital Flint Group Packaging Inks raising prices future. Flint Group Packaging Inks is raising prices for all its • The use of online and social media substantially products sold in the U.S. and Canada. The increases were increased in most countries. WhatsApp saw the biggest set to take effect July 15. The move is aimed at alleviating growth in general with increases of around ten percent- raw material cost increases, the company says. age points in some countries. Supply across a number of raw material categories has tightened and costs have risen due to a more constrained • Global concerns about misinformation remain high. market, the company said in a news release. Solvent costs, Even before the coronavirus crisis hit, more than half of notably isopropyl alcohol, have risen to a level that man- the institute’s global sample said they were concerned dates the company pass along a portion of the increase, about what is true or false on the when it comes says Flint. Additionally, the market has seen significant to news. Despite this, the survey shows that the majority cost increases in other raw materials such as polyamides, (60%) still prefer news that has no particular point of view resins and carbon black, the release said. and that only a minority (28%) prefer news that shares or Flint Group local sales representatives will be in contact reinforces their views. Partisan preferences have slightly with all customers to discuss how this price increase will increased in the U.S. since the institute last asked this impact each business. question in 2013 but even here a silent majority seems to Headquartered in Luxembourg, Flint Group employs be looking for news that at least tries to be objective. some 8,200 people.

• The survey sees significant increases in payment for online news in a number of countries including the U.S. 20% (+4) and Norway 42% (+8), with smaller rises in a

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A&M Printing turns to Fujifilm for corrugated board printing u News & Tech Staff Report As the digital large format print shift business priorities and produce business continued to increase due to personal protective equipment to more customization and shorter runs, support COVID-19 response. A sig- A&M Printing, headquartered in the nificant number of customers (54%) San Francisco Bay area, needed to reported applying for Paycheck Pro- address current customer needs for tection Program or operating loans. larger runs on corrugated boards. Expanding the variety of produc- The company added the capability tion capabilities was key to business of printing on corrugated boards with continuity plans for print service pro- the high-flow vacuum table on the Fu- viders, as the reported production jifilm Acuity F series high productivity volume impact from COVID-19 was UV flatbed printer, Fujifilm says. significant, with 83% of the respon- The Acuity F67 with a double bed dents reporting declines in produc- supplied A&M additional print capac- tion volume up to 40% or more since ity with higher speed, Fujifilm says. the start of the pandemic. This statistic This is the first Acuity F with a high- excludes businesses deemed essential flow vacuum table installed in the U.S. Staff around the Fujifilm Acuity F67 with the high-flow vacuum table during the shutdown, including news/ The Acuity F is the most produc- at A&M Printing, Pleasanton, California. (Photo: Submitted) print media, whose performance re- tive printer in the Acuity series, with mained flat during this time. a maximum print speed of over 1,600 Across segments, despite lower or- square feet per hour activating six printheads per color channel with a total der intake in April, there has been a significant increase in demand for con- of more than 27,000 nozzles. sumable products in May that correlates closely with states re-opening and Five years ago, Leo Lam, A&M’s president, saw growth in their clients’ an increased level of business activity across the country. need for large format print related to trade shows, POP graphics and winery “The customer data points have provided us with quite a bit of insight into promotional items. the market and the individual situations at each customer,” said Todd Zim- The high-flow vacuum provides more than 15x the standard airflow, and merman, division president, Fujifilm North America Corporation, Graphic is engineered to draw down and hold down distorted, warped sheets of rig- Systems Division. “This has helped us with our production planning to be id media like corrugated boards. Its pneumatic registration pins minimize sure we have inventory available as markets recover. We are as anxious as operator involvement and allows for quick, easy and accurate positioning our customers for a return to more normal business conditions.” of material and loading in perfect register, maximizing productivity says “As of today, we are not seeing any additional negative feedback. Our Fujifilm. “Before we bought the Acuity F67, we actually had to run three sales saw a little growth in the month of June over what we saw in March, shifts around the clock in order to keep up with those demands,” said Lam. April and May so that reinforces that the industry is beginning to see some A&M prints on multiple types of corrugated boards with different flute and positive movement. But, we all know that could change in a day or two and board sizes. “Some materials come in really warped, curvy or curled. It’s so we are watching that very carefully,” said Marketing Director Gregory Pas inconsistent,” added Lam. in a July 7 email. The high-flow vacuum eliminates the need for taping materials down, The interviews were conducted between April 15 and May 15, 2020, with making the printing process more productive and efficient. Fujifilm Graphic Systems customers across the U.S. • In late June, longtime Fujifilm customer and print communications com- In other news involving Fujifilm: pany Direct Edge Media launched #BringBackRetail by investing money • Fujifilm North America Corporation, Graphic Systems Division, an- into its business partners’ brands and reimbursing Direct Edge employ- nounced results from interviews with more than 1,100 customers in- ees who make purchases at select retailers. Direct Edge, with locations dicating an encouraging outlook for print service providers despite the in California and Denver, is inviting everyone to join the #BringBack- recent COVID-19 impact. Retail initiative in support of retailers during these trying times amid the The highest number of responses (32%) projected a return to normal busi- COVID-19 pandemic. Visit www.BringBackRetail.com for more info. ness conditions in the July/August 2020 time frame and 24% projected a Fujifilm Holdings Corporation is located in Tokyo. Fujifilm Holdings return to normal business conditions in September/October 2020. Overall, America Corporation, in Valhalla, New York, is the regional headquarters for a total of 72% of the customers expressed optimism about a return to normal the Americas. Fujifilm North America Corporation, a marketing subsidiary business conditions by October. of Fujifilm Holdings America Corporation, consists of four operating divi- In regard to staffing, the highest number of respondents said staffing levels sions and one subsidiary company: Imaging, Electronic Imaging, Graphic remained unchanged for 36% of respondents, while some accounts reported Systems, Optical Devices and Fujifilm Canada. decreases of between 1% and 26%. Some respondents reported retention For the year ended March 31, 2020, the company had global revenues of of staff and use of material cutting and sewing capabilities to successfully $21 billion. p

42 t July/August 2020 News & Tech