MEDIA MARKET DATA - World Association of Newspapers

14.9 percent. Ad sales at the unit rose 18 percent. While the company continues to battle highnewsprint expenses, it has also undertaken several cost-cutting measures in the past year.Chief Executive Richard Zannino, who took over the position earlier this year, has alreadychanged the company's structure and announced about 20 executive job cuts. The structuraloverhaul is expected to save about $14.5 million annually. The company has also redesignedits European and Asian editions of The Wall Street Journal, making them tabloid size to trimcosts. Looking ahead, the company said it expects second-quarter profit per share, excludingone-time items, to be in the low-to-mid 30 cents per share range, below analysts' averageestimate of 38 cents. Second-quarter profit will include losses of about 6 cents per share fromthe Weekend edition, 2 cents per share from interest expenses from a legal settlement, and 1cent per share from stock-based compensation.http://abcnews.go.com/Business/print?id=1854186; April 18, 2006United States of AmericaOn July 1, if all goes as planned, the McClatchy chain will swallow Knight Ridder andbecome the nation's second-largest newspaper company, with 32 dailies stretching fromMiami to Anchorage. Among the 20 newspapers it would acquire: The Olympian and TheBellingham Herald. The mammoth takeover would reshape the newspaper landscape,nationally and locally. It was a hot topic, at the podium and in the hallways, as the country'stop editors gathered Tuesday in Seattle for the annual convention of the American Society ofNewspaper Editors. The transaction would push the number of daily papers McClatchy ownsin Washington from two to four, solidifying its position as the state's No. 2 newspaperpublisher in daily circulation. It also would give the Sacramento-based company a big stake inNo. 1: McClatchy would inherit Knight Ridder's 49.5 percent share in The Seattle Times Co.,which owns two Eastern Washington dailies in addition to its namesake. Altogether, nearly500,000 copies of newspapers in which McClatchy has an interest would fly off Washingtonpresses each weekday. That's almost half the combined daily circulation of all the newspapersin the state. McClatchy officials aren't offering many details about their plans while theKnight Ridder deal undergoes federal antitrust review. But, from what they have said,newspaper readers and advertisers probably won't notice much difference when the company'sNorthwest footprint expands. Robert Weil, the vice president who oversees McClatchy'sNorthwest operations, said last week there's no plan from Sacramento to consolidate anynews, advertising or production operations at its Washington newspapers. "The decisions areall going to be made locally," he said. "That's really a hallmark of McClatchy." Weil also saidMcClatchy intends to be "a passive, minority investor" in The Times Co., leavingmanagement decisions to the local Blethen family, owner of the remaining 50.5 percent.Knight Ridder Chief Executive Tony Ridder chafed in that role, contending the Blethensignored him, mismanaged the company and didn't make enough money. McClatchy and theBlethens, in contrast, are saying nice things about each other. "We really admire the Blethens.Family ownership is something we value," said Maloney, a major shareholder and great-greatgrandsonof McClatchy's founder. McClatchy was founded 149 years ago by a disciple ofnewspaper pioneer Horace Greeley who came west during the California Gold Rush. He andhis descendants imbued their Central Valley newspapers with a passion for scrappy,enterprising journalism. McClatchy still enjoys a reputation for quality. "I have not known ofa paper they acquired that they did not improve," said Ben Bagdikian, retired dean of theGraduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. McClatchy wentpublic in 1988, following the lead of several other newspaper chains.http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002953673_mcclatchy26.html?syndication=rss11