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19 Jun 2009 15:55

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Biz, Politics: Thoughts on the news industry in light of a recent crisis

  • What happened? A group that our site has personal ties with, the Society for News Design, lost its president in an ugly and public way. Other sites have covered it much better than we can and will, but suffice it to say, a professional newspaper organization with a long, storied history and thousands of members will struggle to regain its formidable swagger. And honestly, it sucks.
  • Why is this? Ultimately, SND’s problems are a microcosm for the rest of the news industry. They’ve lost members in the wake of massive news-industry layoffs, and many former members complain that the organization focuses too much on big picture surface details at the loss of its rank and file. News companies do the same thing; they’re laying off their future right now.
  • What happened? A group that our site has personal ties with, the Society for News Design, lost its president in an ugly and public way. Other sites have covered it much better than we can and will, but suffice it to say, a professional newspaper organization with a long, storied history and thousands of members will struggle to regain its formidable swagger. And honestly, it sucks.
  • Why is this? Ultimately, SND’s problems are a microcosm for the rest of the news industry. They’ve lost members in the wake of massive news-industry layoffs, and many former members complain that the organization focuses too much on big picture surface details at the loss of its rank and file. News companies do the same thing; they’re laying off their future right now.
  • What do we change? Ultimately, SND – and the news industry in general – has to function with the Internet instead of around it. Most newspapers are organized around themselves. The Internet doesn’t cluster to walled gardens – it clusters to smart little ideas here and there. Find ways to play inside the new rules. The old rules don’t work. The structure of news needs a redesign.

19 Jun 2009 14:47

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Biz, U.S.: Line up ten Californians. More than one of them is jobless.

  • 11.5% of Californians don’t have jobs; that’s a record source

19 Jun 2009 09:33

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Biz, U.S.: Everybody’s favorite ponzi schemer, R. Allen Stanford, in custody

  • He surrendered to FBI agents while hanging at hs gf’s place. Stanford, who’s on the hook for $8 billion in freaking fraud, was arrested last night in the case. According to his attorney, Dick DeGuerin, here’s how it went down: “Federal agents in black SUVs surrounded his girlfriend’s house this afternoon, and just sat there. I told him to walk out and introduce himself. So he did, and he asked them, ‘If you’ve got a warrant, take me into custody. If you don’t, I’m going to Houston.’ And they did, so they arrested him.” He’ll be in court today. source

18 Jun 2009 10:49

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Biz: This jobless number sounds good, but don’t be fooled

  • Unemployment insurance rolls dropped for the first time since January, dipping 148,000 – the biggest dip in seven years. source
  • Keep in mind that many of the people falling off the jobless rolls could merely be out of unemployment benefits. Oof. source

17 Jun 2009 11:08

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Biz: FedEx’s losses are massive. We blame the arrow in their logo.

  • $876 million FedEx’s loss in the fourth quarter, which ended May 31. Their shares dipped 3% today. source

17 Jun 2009 09:08

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Biz: The recession is managing to keep down the price of goods

  • +0.1% The consumer price index increase in May, kept in check by recession-influenced inflation woes source

16 Jun 2009 23:45

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Biz: Six Flags shows how to handle a bankruptcy/PR crisis well

  • Not only for the three plus years that I’ve been here, but really since Premier Parks bought Six Flags from Time Warner, the word ‘debt’ has been associated with the Six Flags name and we’re looking to disconnect that.
  • Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro • Regarding the amusement park company’s decision to go into bankruptcy. Here’s why this quote is notable, guys. After we posted about their bankruptcy, the company got a hold of us and numerous other bloggers offering the opportunity to join in a conference call. (That’s right, specifically for bloggers!) We couldn’t take part ourselves, but many other bloggers did and asked some great questions. Best part? Rather than simply looking to sugarcoat the details, Shapiro was honest, detailed and often blunt. The company will not close any parks and was profitable last year, but hopes to ease out of bankruptcy by the end of the year. More companies need to do this. Seriously. • source
 

16 Jun 2009 23:25

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Biz, U.S.: What Obama’s doing to fix flaws in financial oversight

  • Cutting back As predicted a couple of weeks ago, the Office of Thrift Supervision, which supervises savings and loan programs and allowed the AIG fiasco, is going away completely, along with the charter that allows savings and loans to exist. source
  • Cutting back As predicted a couple of weeks ago, the Office of Thrift Supervision, which supervises savings and loan programs and allowed the AIG fiasco, is going away completely, along with the charter that allows savings and loans to exist.
  • Streamlining In an effort to prevent future financial crises while allowing breathing room for financial firms, the Federal Reserve will have more oversight over wide-scale economic risks that require longer-term planning to avoid. source
  • Cutting back As predicted a couple of weeks ago, the Office of Thrift Supervision, which supervises savings and loan programs and allowed the AIG fiasco, is going away completely, along with the charter that allows savings and loans to exist.
  • Streamlining In an effort to prevent future financial crises while allowing breathing room for financial firms, the Federal Reserve will have more oversight over wide-scale economic risks that require longer-term planning to avoid.
  • Obama’s take “Whether it’s on the consumer protection side, the investor protection side, the systemic risks … It’s going to be a much more effectively integrated system than previously,” he said. Congress needs to weigh in, BTW. source

16 Jun 2009 18:12

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Biz, Tech: MySpace’s layoff misery is like a money pit of bad puns for us

  • 30% Percentage of employees who will no longer be friends with Tom source

16 Jun 2009 11:10

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Biz: With the Saab sale, Konenigsegg is about to get much bigger

  • 45 number of employees the luxury sports-car maker currently has source