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I'm told an informal Star-Bulletin staff meeting was held in anticipation of the Advertiser's release last week of audited circulation numbers for the first 15 weeks following the the dissolution of the papers' joint operating agreement.Staffers were told the Star-Bulletin won't turn a profit any time soon, but the losses in this development period are being covered by the profits from sister publication MidWeek and the chain of military base newspapers, also owned by the Star-Bulletin's parent, Oahu Publications.
But S-B brass also guessed that Gannett's Honolulu Advertiser is also facing its own financial bind, the result of losing advertising revenues to the Star-Bulletin, increased costs of its new PM edition (including a second cycle of home deliveries), and higher labor costs coupled with pressure from Gannett's nationwide profit squeeze.
An interesting spin on interesting times.
Just noticed. MidWeek now lists itself as a publication of MidWeek Printing, Inc., which was incorporated January 22, 2001, "to engage in the business of printing and publishing newspapers and other related products." Sole officers Donald Kendall and David H. Black. I haven't checked their articles of incorporation yet, so don't know the technical relation between MidWeek Printing and Oahu Publications, which owns the Star-Bulletin.
And from someone close to tomorrow's slack key festival at Kapiolani Park:
Bankoh, who have sponsored the Ki Ho'alu Festival since the beginning, for almost 20 years, pulled out this year, leaving the fest in jeopardy. The withdrawal of financial support for a popular and traditional Hawaiian cultural event did not make the new and improved Bank of Hawaii any friends. Star-Bulletin's willingness to sponsor it shows a real commitment to community involvement which we should all celebrate.
Good thing this week is almost over, or I'd have to declare an emergency moratorium on celebrating. Just a couple of more events to go. I'll probably be crashed alongside Mr. Lindsey before the weekend's over.
Mr. Lindsey
New photos were posted in the Photo Gallery yesterday afternoon--just click on its banner at the top of the page.
I've heard that the Star-Bulletin hit a minor single-day milestone recently, when its automotive classified ads exceeded those of Gannett's Advertiser by a column inch for the first time. It's another welcome sign of movement in the right direction and an especially important one, since it will be difficult to survive in the long run without a successful classifieds section.S-B staffers also say there's anecdotal evidence that the move to a 4-section format has boosted single-copy sales at key locations. Even though the number of pages hasn't necessarily increased, people feel like they're getting more for their money with the multiple sections.
And the Star-Bulletin/MidWeek are among the sponsors of a free slack key concert on Sunday, according to this item from Ben Wood's column last weekend:
The 19th Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival is scheduled Aug. 19, from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., at Kapiolani Park Bandstand. The lineup includes George Kuo, Ray Kane, Dennis Kamakahi, Willy K, Al Kaai, Bobby Moderow and Maunalua, Makana, Ozzie Kotani, Brother Noland, Native Hawaiian Band, Jeff Peterson, David Kahiapo and Maui's Donald Kaulia. The music is great and it's free.I don't know whether this kind of thing actually sells any newspapers, but it sure puts the S-B in good company.
From an exchange earlier this week about the Supreme Court's decision on freelance copyrights:
MW: Thanks for clarifying Tasini in your diary. I started to dig through the mountain of analysis on the ruling, and also got the feeling that publishers were over-reacting. Probably a bluff game -- putting the fear of God into librarians and researchers, to my mind not the strongest lobbying group one could enlist, but hey.Ian: Actually, the American Library Association has a pretty prodigious lobby, from what I hear.
MW: That may be true, but how much impact can they have when they all whisper?
And, from the chorus just offstage...Happy birthday to me....
Yesterday's Star-Bulletin ran a large photo on page A-6 of President W, who apparently wandered off from his Texas ranch and ended up clearing brush in Colorado on his way to a $1.4 million GOP fundraiser. There's a headline--"THE PRESIDENT GETS HIS HANDS DIRTY". I chuckled, since it's obvious in the picture that W's wearing gloves. No dirty hands there.
And a good time was had by all on our thirty-something anniversary, beginning with sunrise on the beach, and then with a day-long run that took us through various thrift shops, a couple of antique/junk stores, the Hawaiian Historical Society library, the Academy of Arts, etc., then back home for another feast before collapsing in bed, where three of the eight cats were eagerly waiting. I'll get a full report with photos posted later.
Year 30+ --YestedayAfter a bottle of wine, we succumbed to a brief fit of anniversary nostalgia and dug out a few albums containing pictures of ourselves from past lives along with former beloved cats. Then there was this photo, taken on our first anniversary. Two friends of ours by coincidence chose our anniversary to get married in a big production at the Kahala Hilton. That's us, along with one of my old friends, Scott Johnson. This is a rare photo, taken during the only period (a short one) since 1968 when I have not had a full beard.
Year 1--1970
When we got back home after yesterday's run around town, we received the best possible anniversary present, a telephone message from a friend who just a week ago had been diagnosed with an unusual form of breast cancer and was beginning a flurry of further exams while rapidly confronting choices about the various forms of painful treatment. But in the midst of this, she had the sense to ask--no, demand--a second opinion, which resulted in recheck of her lab results and the admission from the pathologist that it was all a mistake. A big and costly mistake, but one that spread lots of happiness in its wake.It helps to put all the other stuff we worry about in perspective.
A Honolulu Advertiser story this morning claims a 38 percent increase in audited daily circulation since the end of the joint operating agreement and the sale of the Star-Bulletin to Canadian publisher David Black. The story is based on a special audit done by the Audit Bureau of Circulations for the 15 week period following March 15.According to the Advertiser story: "Daily home delivery of The Advertiser increased 61 percent to 106,253 as of July 1, up from 65,950 on March 14. Single copy sales--newspapers sold from coin boxes, stores or street vendors--rose 5 percent to 40,790 in that period."
Tempering the enthusiasm is the admission found midway through the story:
Most of The Advertiser's gain in circulation came from subscribers who previously took only the Sunday edition and have now signed up for all seven days. The newspaper is counting about 30,000 new daily subscribers thanks largely to a promotion that allowed Sunday-only subscribers to add either the daily morning or afternoon edition for the same price they were paying for Sunday, said Mike Cusato, vice president of circulation.In other words, most of this initial increase has come from giving away free papers.
Some folks down the street at the Star-Bulletin say the special audit was done early to take a snapshot of circulation while it's inflated by the giveaway policy. Apparently because the free papers went to households already paying for the Sunday paper, the package of 7-day delivery could be counted as paid/discounted rather than free.
But even with these caveats, these numbers can't be good news to the Star-Bulletin, except in the sense that it could have been worse.
The real test, it seems to me, is going to be the circulation figures next summer, when the Advertiser's union contract expires and is being renegotiated, and about the new Star-Bulletin's 2nd birthday in early 2003. Those will be the one's to watch.
It's also interesting that the Advertiser story ran without a byline. That often means something. In this case, though, its significance, if any, is still unknown.
It's the middle of a special week of personal celebrations that began with the Perseid meteor shower over the weekend and runs through our anniversary (today) and my birthday (Friday).
On Saturday, I marinated a couple of giant pork chops in garlic, lemon juice, and hot peppers, then threw them on the grill along with some sliced potatoes. Served the meat sliced, with one of Meda's specialty salads. It was a great meal with a whole leftover meal for Monday.
And last night it was pasta, while I experimented with low-fat chicken-garlic-whatever sausages from Foodland, which turned out to be far superior to the ones I've been buying at Safeway.
And the week's only half over!
Let the feasting begin!
Following yesterday's note about the impact of the NYT v. Tasini decision, several people pointed out that the Star-Bulletin has had the identical notice in its online edition for the last month and a half, and has cut the work of most freelancers from its online edition (click here for a few examples).It appears to me that publishers are overreacting, perhaps out of caution while waiting for legal opinions, but nevertheless it seems to be taking an unnecessary toll on freelance writers. For example, some of those dealing with the issue believe the Supreme Court's decision says an electronic publication is in essence different from the print edition. One is printed on paper, the other on the phosphors of VDT terminals and available worldwide.
But that's not what the court ruled. The court pointed to the difference between distribution of microfilms of newspapers, which publishers are allowed to do under current copyright law, and distribution via computer databases like Lexis-Nexis, which is not allowed, at least in the absence of a freelance contract explicitly granting electronic publication rights.
The difference is that in a microfilm, an article is presented in the original context, the court said. It appears in the newspaper, alongside other articles as it did in the original paper version. The database version, on the other hand, strips away all of the original context and presents each article in isolation. The court said that context was the key difference, not electronic technology per se.
But there's an underlying issue that ties back to the unpleasantness currently surrounding the Honolulu Weekly, and that is freelance pay rates. While the Weekly has is being criticized for paying the same 10 cents a word that it did a decade ago, it's really only part of the overall 40-year slide in freelancers' pay across the nation.
According to a review by the National Writers Union, which backed the original Tasini case: "In real dollars, freelance rates have declined by more than 50 percent since the 1960s. And while rates have gone down, publishers are getting more for their money."
Again, here's the National Writers Union: "As an example of the generation-long losses, in 1966 Cosmopolitan reported offering $0.60 a word, while in 1998 they reported offering $1 a word. In the meantime, the buying power of the dollar fell by a factor of five. So Cosmopolitan's real rates fell by a factor of three. Good Housekeeping reported offering $1 a word in 1966 and the same $1 a word in 1998- &emdash; a full 80% decline in real pay. "
And the following comment came in response to yesterday's chicken photo: "By the way, there's something about a guy with a laptop, wireless Internet access, a lanai, a lush tropical surrounding, an obviously comfortable chair, etc. -- that is a little irritating."
Derek Ferrar notes that Honolulu Weekly's web site now contains only the following message:Note to readers: Because of the June 25, 2001, ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the New York Times v. Tasini case, honoluluweekly.com has suspended posting material by freelance writers and photographers &emdash; meaning nearly the entire editorial content of our newspaper &emdash; until legal agreements stipulated by the ruling have been signed. We will resume posting these stories and photographs as soon as the necessary agreements have been reached. We regret the inconvenience this poses, and ask for your patience.If you know of other local publications hit by this ruling, please let me know.
Out here in Kaaawa it's always something. If it's not the cats, or the morning walk dogs, it's the chickens.
I retreated yesterday afternoon to a shady spot on the front deck with my laptop and wireless internet access, and found myself with a pair of observers. I don't think the chickens were wondering about their email. They were just checking to see if there might be any stray handouts coming their way. We used to feed them regularly, but discovered that well-fed birds reproduce at an alarming rate. Now they're more or less on their own, and the neighborhood population is relatively stable.
Click for larger photo
And speaking of dogs, I added a few more updated photos of our dog pals. Click on the "Mornin' Dogs" banner to check them out.
Don't miss Dan Nakaso's story on the broadcast news wars in today's Honolulu Advertiser. A very good look at what's shaking up television news in Honolulu these days, and predictions of a shakeout in the future. Too much news for the size of our market, one national expert told Nakaso.And the battle of words continues to swirl around the Honolulu Weekly as a result of its decision to spike a somewhat critical essay by two former editors. To its credit, the Weekly did print its own relatively straightforward version of the controversy in a column entry this week, and included a link to the blackballed essay as well as subsequent comments, many less than flattering. The essay and comments are available on a site hosted by H. Doug Matsuoka.
Labor economist Lawrence "Bill" Boyd provides some detailed comments regarding the anti-labor views of frequent Weekly contributor Robert Rees, who Boyd criticizes as "a company spy" who works far too closely with the governor's office.
A box of supplies arrived yesterday, including a dozen little fake mice, complete with tails, little pink ears, etc. The first one out of the package became an immediate hit with Leo, then with Lizzie, and later Harry, who treated it as if it were a real mouse.
Several hours were spent chasing this furry thing around, tossing it into the air, all the things they would love to be doing to other little victims.
I had to carefully place the rest of the package, along with several other catnip treats, high in a closed closet to keep them away from prying paws.
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