Tag Archives: Barron’s
Dow Jones business journalists approve new contract
by Chris Roush
Business reporters at Dow Jones & Co. properties such as The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch have approved a new contract negotiated with the union.
Here is the text of the e-mail sent to members:
The IAPE Election Committee has been informed by TrueBallot Inc. that a majority of eligible voters have voted to accept the Dow Jones contract offer. The Committee declares the Dow Jones contract ratified.
Of 1,402 eligible voters, 921 cast ballots for a return rate of 65.69%.
831 — or 90.23% — voted “Yes, I accept the contract offer.”
90 — 9.77% — voted “No, I reject the contract offer.”
The new contract gives the journalists a 3 percent raise each year, including one retroactive to Feb. 1 of this year. If they had not approved the contract by Oct. 15, the raise would have been 2.75 percent for this year, 3 percent for the year beginning Feb. 1, 2008, and 2.75 for the year beginning Feb. 1, 2009.
Dow Jones journalists will start voting Thursday
by Chris Roush
Business journalists who work for Dow Jones & Co. properties such as The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch will vote whether to ratify a new contract with the company beginning Thursday, according to an e-mail sent to reporters and editors obtained by Talking Biz News.
The journalists — eligible members of the Independent Association of Publishers Employees in good standing on Sept. 28 — will receive their ballots by e-mail on Thursday.
The deadline to vote is 9 a.m. on Oct. 12. The ballots will be counted beginning at 11 a.m. that same day.
The union is recommending that its members ratify the contract, but Journal reporter Jim Browning stated last month that the contract was not the best deal that the journalists could have gotten.
Creating a sense of urgency is the fact that News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch will acquire the company by the end of the year.
FCC commissioner expresses concern about Dow Jones deal
by Chris Roush
Corey Boles of The Wall Street Journal writes Friday that Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps has expressed concern about the pending acquisition of Dow Jones & Co., the paent of The Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch, by News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch.
Boles wrote, “He expressed concerns over the impact on diversity in both the New York City and national media markets. Mr. Copps noted, however, that there didn’t seem to be any appetite on the part of Republican Chairman Kevin Martin to take a look at the Dow Jones sale.
“There is some question over whether the FCC’s local media ownership rules would apply to The Wall Street Journal, which is headquartered in New York where News Corp. owns two television stations. Those rules state that a company can’t own a television station and newspaper in the same market. Mr. Murdoch currently has a waiver from the rules in connection to his ownership of the N.Y. Post.
“Mr. Copps believes they should apply to the Dow Jones sale.”
Read more here.
Bloomberg editor: Murdoch's purchase of WSJ is a good for competition
by Chris Roush
Matthew Winkler, the editor in chief of Bloomberg News, said that News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch‘s acquisition of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch will be good as long as he can enrich the financial news properties he is buying, writes Peter Alford of The Australian.
Alford wrote, “Mr Winkler is in charge of Bloomberg LP’s global news operation, which is likely to find itself in even tougher competition with Dow Jones and News Corp as a result of the takeover, particularly in the areas of financial newswires and business television.
“‘It’s not clear what Mr Murdoch is going to do, except that he has said he wants to increase the participation of both the Journal and Dow Jones journalists in his television products, and that could be really invigorating – we’ll see,’ Mr Winkler said in Tokyo yesterday.
“‘I do hope he makes every attempt to make the Journal and the rest of Dow Jones better than it already is, because we sure could use the competition. We need it, and we’d all be poorer if it was diminished in any way.’”
Read more here.
Dow Jones insider trading case important to SEC
by Chris Roush
David Scheer of Bloomberg writes that the insider trading case against acquaintances of a Dow Jones & Co. board member who allegedly disclosed that News Corp. would make an offer for the parent of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch before it became public is an important case for the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Scheer wrote, “While the circumstantial evidence raised suspicions, the SEC has yet to prove the couple tapped inside information. The high-profile case underscores both the speed with which the agency is bringing lawsuits against overseas investors and the difficulty of backing up the charges.
“There’s a lot at stake: If the top U.S. securities regulators can’t demonstrate they have global reach, their authority may be undercut as international investing surges.
“‘There’s immense damage to their credibility if they misfire’ and lose a prominent case they bring too hastily, says James Cox, a securities-fraud expert at the Duke University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina.”
Read more here.
Record traffic for Dow Jones web sites
by Chris Roush
Dow Jones & Co.’s business news web sites reported higher traffic in August, according to data from Omniture Inc.
The WSJ Digital Network, which includes the websites WSJ.com, MarketWatch.com, Barrons.com and AllThingsD.com, attracted nearly 17.9 million unique visitors, an increase of 21 percent from the previous year. The sites generated 424.7 million page views in total, an increase of 40 percent from the previous year.
WSJ.com increased page views by 22 percent and unique visitors by 31 percent year-over-year. Coverage of presidential election politics and technology-related news spurred the growth, as did traffic generated by blogs covering these subjects. Interactive graphics connected to real estate and technology stories were also popular, the company said.
MarketWatch.com increased page views by 45 percent and unique visitors by 23 percent from the previous year. News of the economy, interest rates, subprime lending, hedge funds and Apple’s new iMacs were among the traffic drivers.
Barron’s Online increased page views by 181 percent and unique visitors by 291 percent year-over-year, as the site’s redesign and additional daily video from Barron’s journalists resonated with users. Eric Savitz‘s Tech Trader Daily blog drew higher traffic amid heavy activity in the technology sector.
The company did not provide specific visit and page view data for each site.
Disagreement among WSJ union leaders
by Chris Roush
The New York Observer’s Felix Gillette writes Monday that there is disagreement among the leaders that represent business journalists at The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch as Journal reporter Jim Browning sent out an e-mail Monday stating that the contract that the union leaders voted to accept this weekend is not the best contract that they could have gotten.
The e-mail that Browning sent stated, “This is not the best contract that we could have gotten. But the union board had little choice. Unfortunately, our union president concluded some weeks ago that there was no point in fighting further. Although he and I disagreed heatedly, I was unable to change his mind. As company negotiators realized where he stood, it became impossible for the bargaining team to win any further concessions.
“I told the union board on Saturday that this is the best contract we can get without stronger leadership at the top. It is not possible for us to fight against the company and the union president at the same time.
“The task you face now is to decide whether you can mount credible opposition to this deal. We can not fight for a better deal unless we are totally united and determined and prepared to take risks. That is not the case now.”
Read more here.
Union recommends Dow Jones journalists ratify contract offer
by Chris Roush
The union that represents business journalists at Dow Jones & Co. properties such as The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch is recommending that its members ratify the latest contract offer.
In an e-mail message, the union stated, “The IAPE Board of Directors has voted to send the Dow Jones contract offer , as amended September 14, 2007, reflecting a change in the formula for the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), to the membership with a recommendation that the package be ratified.
“Obviously, this contract is not everything that we wanted– and the Board believes it is short of the Quality Contract that you deserve as the people who, day in and day out, create one of the most trusted and respected products in the world. But the Board also believes– at this time, under these conditions– this is the best package available.
“The fact that this contract is better than any other contract recently negotiated in the newspaper industry is a testament to the incredible hard work of the IAPE bargaining team and the resolve of countless IAPE members across the country.”
Dow Jones and union close to agreement
by Chris Roush
Richard Perez-Pena of The New York Times writes Friday that the union representing business journalists at The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch is close to an agreement with parent company Dow Jones & Co., on a new contract.
Perez-Pena wrote, “The board of the union, the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees, is scheduled to meet tomorrow and may be ready then to endorse a deal and schedule a vote by the membership, the officials said.
“The union represents about 2,000 Dow Jones employees, who have been without a contract since January. They include most of the reporters and copy editors at The Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, as well as workers at various Dow Jones properties in a number of other fields, like technology and finance.
“‘We had another bargaining meeting yesterday, and things got close,’ said E. S. Browning, a Journal reporter who heads the union’s bargaining committee. ‘We’re not quite there yet. We’re waiting for a couple of pieces still to fall into place.’”
Read more here.
NYTimes biz editor pulls Dow Jones book proposal
by Chris Roush
Keith Kelly of The New York Post writes Friday that New York Times business editor Larry Ingrassia has pulled his proposal about the News Corp. purchase of Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, from the market.
Kelly wrote, “According to sources, Ingrassia, a 20-year veteran of The Wall Street Journal before he became the Times’ business editor, had been obsessed by the deal. His brother, Paul, also happens to be a longtime Dow Jones executive, though he recently said he would leave the company in January.
“However, eventually Nocera – who didn’t cover the Dow Jones story regularly for the Times but had written about the company during his days at Fortune – dropped out of the book plan, leaving Ingrassia in the hunt by himself.
“Ingrassia, when reached yesterday, would not confirm that the proposal had been pulled. ‘You’ll just have to go with what you heard,’ he said, declining further comment.”
Read more here.
