News Briefs

Pecos adds publication day

PECOS — The Pecos Enterprise Oct. 5 changed to a twice-weekly schedule after responding to popular demand in the community.

The former five-day-a-week newspaper went weekly June 2.

Publisher Smokey Briggs said he talked to at least 50 readers who wanted to see if there was a way they could get their paper more than once a week. The price will go up from 50 cents to $1 a copy and the paper will resume home delivery. As a weekly, the Enterprise published Thursdays. The newspaper will now be published Tuesday and Friday.

Publisher buys weekly

NORMANGEE — Hank Hargrave purchased The Normangee Star.

Hargrave had served as editor and publisher of The Navasota Examiner since September 2003, and as publisher and president of Navasota Publications Inc. since December 2002. Prior to that, Hargrave was publisher of The Madisonville Meteor.

Billie Moss Bouldin owned the Star, which she and her husband Bill Moss purchased in 1953. Bill died in 1987. Billie remained the full-time owner and publisher, but handed over day-to-­day operations to a managing editor in 1990. Patrick Martin had been serving as managing editor.

Orange breaks ground on $4 million press site

ORANGE — The Orange Leader broke ground in September on a $4 million printing facility.

The $1.25 million, 25,000 square foot Triangle Printing building will house a $3 million press that will print the Leader, Port Arthur News, two Spanish language papers and other jobs. The press that currently prints both papers is located in downtown Port Arthur.

Both the Leader and News are owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., which asked for and received a nine-year tax abatement from the city of Orange for the facility but not equipment, the Leader reported. The press will employ 22 people.

Brownwood redesigns site

BROWNWOOD — The Brownwood Bulletin launched a new look for its Web site www.brownwoodbulletin.com, the third redesign since the newspaper began publishing an online edition in 1999.

The new site includes a search engine for classifieds and links to display advertising as well as a fee-based archive search engine for users to look up archived articles.

Survey probes Web use

TPA member newspapers have been invited to participate in a nationwide survey that will study how media organizations are successfully using the World Wide Web.

Cliff Shaluta, associate professor and advertising program coordinator at Western Kentucky University, is conducting the survey. Individual responses are confidential and all TPA members who participate will receive a copy of the survey.

The 15-question survey only takes a few moments to complete. The deadline to participate is Dec. 9.

For more information e-mail Shaluta at cliff.shaluta@wku.edu.

Houston daily cuts 10%

HOUSTON — The Houston Chronicle has cut nearly 10 percent of its work force, or 243 positions, as part of a previously announced program to reduce operating expenses, the company said Oct. 26.

More than 64 percent of the reduction was in contract labor and outside positions, 28 percent through voluntary buyouts and elimination of open positions, and 8 percent through layoffs. The Chronicle provided severance packages and job placement services to employees who left.

Virtually all of the positions in the news and advertising divisions remain intact. In a letter to employees, publisher and president Jack Sweeney said it was important to cut costs for initiatives that will add circulation, readership and advertising revenue.

Dallas completes layoffs; closes Austin TV bureau

DALLAS — The Dallas Morning News cut dozens of jobs Oct. 27 as part of a previously announced round of layoffs. The newspaper, owned by Belo Corp., did not provide an exact number.

Belo had said in September that about 150 jobs would be eliminated at The News, among about 250 layoffs in total.

The News had about 2,300 full-time employees before the layoffs.

Belo also announced the closure of its longtime Austin bureau flagship television station, WFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth. Austin bureau chief Shelley Kofler and photographer/editor Paula McCarter, a 20-year Belo veteran, said they were notified about their layoffs. The WFAA Austin office was the last remaining full-time bureau operated in Austin by a Texas television station outside the capital city, the Associated Press reported.

New Spanish weekly covers Wichita Falls

The Wichita Falls Times Record News began publishing the new Spanish-language weekly Fronteras de la Noticias on Nov. 3.

Fronteras is a turnkey product of Universal Press Syndicate and Danilo Black of Monterrey, Mexico.

The Times Record News and La Prensa Hispana in Columbus, Ohio were the first two U.S. publishers to sign contracts for the rights to publish Fronteras in their respective markets.

SEC probes newspaper companies’ practices

More than a half dozen publicly traded newspaper companies have received letters from the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking info on their circulation practices.

Two of the companies own dailies in Texas, Knight-Ridder Inc., owner of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and Belo Corp., owner of The Dallas Morning News and Denton Record-Chronicle.

Others include Dow Jones & Co. Inc., Gannett Co. Inc., The McClatchy Co., The New York Times Co., The Washington Post Co., as well as the Audit Bureau of Circulations.