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In “Cut down to Si(ze): Newhouse, clan dig deep to fill Condé money pit” reporter KEITH J. KELLY informs us that the Newhouse family is digging deep into its own pockets to stem the company’s financial losses.

Excerpt:

For the first time in nearly two decades, the Newhouse family is personally having to underwrite the losses at Condé Nast, a source told The Post.

It’s one of the reasons for the intense cost-cutting at the glitzy — and historically profligate — magazine publisher run by billionaire Chairman S.I. Newhouse Jr.

“It’s not just Si now,” said the source, who is close to Condé Nast. “It’s the family trust.

“Si hates to lose money, and Si hates to lose money that he wasn’t planning to spend.”

Some industry observers predict losses at Condé Nast may hit $200 million this year, as the company is reeling from an advertising-revenue shortfall of more than $400 million.

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That’s gotta hurt.

The story notes that Conde Nast magazine mogul S. I. Newhouse’s wealth has plunged to a mere $4.5 billion from $8 billion since the economy cratered. Donald Newhouse, who heads Advance Publications — which owns ACBJ — has seen his wealth “slip” by a half billion to a paltry $8 billion, according to the story.

Excerpt:

After months of speculation, the carnage came to Condé Nast earlier this week. The company, one of the nation’s three biggest magazine publishers, announced it would close four magazines, including Gourmet, one of the industry’s most iconic publications.

A NEWSWEEK analysis of industry data provides new evidence of the financial toll that drove that decision: based on estimates of publishing data, Condé Nast could see its ad revenue drop by $1 billion in 2009.

Through August, ad dollars already have plunged by about $600 million from the similar eight-month period in 2008 when revenues also were depressed. Of Condé Nast’s two dozen magazines, among them some of publishing’s glossiest titles, all suffered declines, most stretching into the double digits.

The grim analysis, based on data from the Publishers Information Bureau, provides the starkest rationale yet for Condé Nast’s decision to shutter titles and lay off nearly 200 people this week. The closures are only part of the company’s effort to trim perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars of expenses, likely to include more layoffs on top of those caused by the closures. Under corporate edict to slash budgets by 25 percent, each of the surviving 20 titles must comply by early November, according to a senior Condé Nast insider who wouldn’t be identified discussing internal matters. Condé Nast’s titles include Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, GQ, Vogue, and Wired.

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“Willse added that the newspaper’s past year of cutbacks and buyouts did not push him to retire any sooner than he would have. But he did want to make sure the paper was on an “even keel” before he left.”

The Sept. 29 story by E&P reporter Joe Strupp says Willse will retire in about a month.

Willse Had Successor Chosen, Firm Plan to Leave
By Joe Strupp
NEW YORK &38212; When Editor Jim Willse of The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., told the paper’s owners he planned to retire, he offered a plan that included his replacement, Managing Editor Kevin Whitmer, and a firm decision that he would not stay, according to Steve Newhouse, one of the top executives at Advance Publications.

“We tried to talk him out of it,” Newhouse, chairman of Advance.Net, said about Willse’s initial notice of retirement. “But he had his plan and someone in mind and when he decided to make a change for himself, he had everything laid out. He came to us with his decision and his plan.”

That plan included Whitmer, a Star-Ledger veteran since 1996, a choice owners gladly agreed with, Newhouse said.

Newhouse made his comments Tuesday, a day after Willse announced he would retire in about a month after 14 years at the paper. Asked Monday about his decision to leave and his replacement, Willse said he was not asked to retire, adding only that Newhouses made the final decision on Whitmer. He also said he agreed with the choice. He would not say if he was asked to stay on when he informed them of his decision to retire, calling it a personal matter.

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The report by The Star-Ledger‘s Amanda Brown says the paper won two Pulitzer Prizes under Willse’s leadership. The story doesn’t say when the retirement is effective.

NEWARK — Jim Willse will retire next month as editor of The Star-Ledger, and Kevin Whitmer, the paper’s managing editor, will succeed him, it was announced today.

Willse was The Star-Ledger editor for the past 15 years, during which time the newspaper won a host of national journalism awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes. It is considered one of the best regional papers in the country.

“It’s been a terrific run,” Willse told the staff at a noontime meeting. “It has been a great privilege to edit this paper and work with this staff. It’s also been an incredible amount of fun.”

Willse came to The Star-Ledger in 1995 after working on Internet projects for Advance Newspapers, the parent company. He succeeded Mort Pye, who had been editor since 1957.

“Jim inherited a great newspaper from Mort Pye and was a worthy successor,” said Donald Newhouse, president of Advance Publications. “With a sure touch he served our readers, New Jersey, his staff and the profession brilliantly and with dedication. And he gave me two of the most thrilling days of the 40-plus years I spent at the Star-Ledger — when the newspaper was awarded its two Pulitzer Prizes.

“As might be expected from such a consummate professional, he has nurtured a successor who mirrors his ethics, energy and values,” Newhouse added. ” But no one can quite fill the void that Jim leaves. He is my friend and associate and I will greatly miss not having him at the helm.”

Whitmer joined The Star-Ledger in 1996 and, before becoming managing editor, served as sports editor and supervised financial coverage and the Sunday paper. He and Willse were colleagues at The New York Daily News, where Willse was editor and Whitmer the sports editor.

Whitmer, 42, grew up in Phillipsburg and attended Rutgers University. He got his start in journalism as a part-time clerk answering phones in the Sports department at The Courier-News. He also worked at the New York Post. He and his wife, Regina, live in Scotch Plains with their three children.

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The Oregonian: Fred A. Stickel retiring after 35 years as The Oregonian’s publisher. Full story.

The Birmingham News: Birmingham News Publisher Retires. Full story.

WHNT 19 TV News: Birmingham News publisher Victor Hanson III to retire. Full Story.

Editor & Publisher: ‘Birmingham News’ Publisher Retires After 32 Years at Paper. Full story.

Pitkin’s coverage includes a great photo of the paper’s office building, as well as links to all the good stuff, like a pdf of the lawsuit and an email from employee Bixler to his boss. Nice blog James. Bixler says in the email that his family had three generations of service dating to the 1930s with the company:

Here’s an excerpt:

By James Pitkin
Wilamette Week Online
Perhaps it was only a matter of time before The Oregonian got sued over which employees were allowed to take last year’s buyout offers.

It was generous of the paper’s New Jersey-based owners to offer two years’ salary and benefits to most employees who had worked at the paper more than 10 years and agreed to walk away. Employees who had between five and 10 years’ tenure were offered one year’s salary and bennies.

But given the increasingly desperate state of the newspaper business, the sheer number of workers involved, and the paper’s decision to extend the buyout to some employees but not to others, it comes as little surprise that some workers would feel burned watching colleagues floating away in a comfy raft while they were left behind on the ship.

Career Oregonian ad clerk James Bixler has become the first to file suit over the buyout, claiming he was wrongfully denied the offer and then later had his salary slashed. Full story.

And additional coverage on mcwflint.blogspot.com:

A long-time, but not long enough, Oregonian employee heads to court to argue he deserved a buyout from the Newhouse-owned Advance Publications just days after top-guy announced he’s ending his 30-plus year stint as publisher.

The ad clerk had 24.82 years but needed 25, according to the lawsuit. There’s more involved – a 10 percent paycut, a change in the company pension plan, promises from a former boss – according to the third-generation employee. He wants the buyout offer and more. Full story.

By Associated Press
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Former Press-Register Publisher Howard Bronson has filed a civil suit against the Mobile newspaper and its owners, claiming breach of contract and other wrongful acts when he was asked to retire.

Bronson’s suit, filed Friday in Mobile, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against defendants including Advance Publications, which owns the Press-Register, and Mark Newhouse, a member of the Newhouse family that bought the paper in 1966. Full story.

Additional coverage at this site:

Extensive story with details from the suit at:  lagniappemobile.com

The text on youtube accompanying the video says:  ”Just another day in the Dallas Business Journal newsroom. For best results, turn your volume up!”

Click over to youtube to watch it. Prepare for some ear-piercing screaming.

When your business makes great hires, you can’t help shouting it from the rooftops. So, here goes: Rhett Taylor, the No. 1 account executive by far last year for the Dallas Business Journal, has joined our company to focus on business categories, with a special emphasis on D CEO magazine. Nobody knows the DFW business environment better than Rhett.

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