Business Week Magazine

Eric Kallgren    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 10:21pm on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Jon Fine demonstrates his comprehension of basic math and distaste for airlines in "Newspapers: Less Liked Than Airlines?" published by BusinessWeek on May 19, 2009:

"The American Customer Satisfaction Index--ACSI from here on down--tracks customer satisfaction across a wide range of industries and has done so since 1994. Each quarter it surveys consumers to come up with what they call a “satisfaction index” by assigning scores to key business sectors, and in many cases companies within these sectors, on a scale of 1 to 100.

The first quarter ’09 Satisfaction Index data is out and can be seen in its entirety here. How did newspapers do?

Not good. In fact, really not good. In the first quarter of '09, newspaper customers’ satisfaction rating was 63. To put this in some perspective, those surveyed expressed a greater deal of satisfaction with airlines (airlines!) which scored 64. And cell phone providers (cell phone providers?) which score a 69."

The full story:
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/FineOnMedia/archives/2009/05/newspapers_less.html

Eric Kallgren    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 2:42pm on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

The Federal Trade Commission wants bloggers to disclose when they get cash or freebies from companies they cover, Douglas MacMillan of BusinessWeek reported on May 19, 2009:

The Federal Trade Commission "is expected to issue new advertising guidelines that will require bloggers to disclose when they're writing about a sponsor's product and voicing opinions that aren't their own. The new FTC guidelines say that blog authors should disclose when they're being compensated by an advertiser to discuss a product."

The full story:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2009/tc20090518_532031.htm

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 1:24pm on Monday, January 19th, 2009

On January 18, 2009, BusinessWeek reported that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim may invest in The New York Times Company:

"So much for the native New Yorker fantasy that The New York Times' white knight might be billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Carlos Slim, owner of Mexican communications company Telmex (TMX) and one of the world's richest men, is in talks with he New York Times Co. (NYT) to take a substantial investment in the company. One scenario under discussion, according to the Journal, would be for Slim to inject hundreds of millions into the cash-strapped company in exchange for preferred shares, which would pay Mr. Slim a special dividend.

In September of last year, Slim disclosed he had taken a 6.4% stake in the Times Co.'s common stock. At that time, a Slim spokesman told the Financial Times that Slim's interest came about solely because "it's a great company, the price is cheap, and it gives a good dividend." But in November, the Times Co. cut its dividend from 23¢ per share to 6¢ per share."