Hike in price of newsprint looms, as inquiry points to surge in imports

MANILA - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) today said preliminary evidence points to an influx of newsprint imports, hence a ground to slap additional duties to protect the domestic industry.

“Based on DTI’s review of the evidence presented in the said petition, a prima facie case exists to justify the initiation of a preliminary safeguards investigation,” the agency said in a statement, referring to the petition for safeguard measures filed by Trust International Paper Corp (Tipco).

Tipco is the country’s lone producer of newsprint, a raw material in producing newspapers, books, magazines, notebooks, pad paper and wrappers.

Citing data submitted by the local monopoly, newsprint imports rose 792 percent to 26,356 metric tons (MT) in 2011 from 2,956 MT in 2007. During the January to August 2012 period, a record 31,462 MT of imported newsprint entered the country.

Majority of the newsprint imports in 2008 came from China and the UK. From 2009 to 2012, bulk of imports came from South Korea and the UK.

The DTI said the safeguard investigation on newsprint, which the Philippine government initiated last September 20, covers domestic production and importation from 2007 through August 2012.

“DTI has notified all interested parties and has required them to submit their reply and other evidence or information relevant to the said investigation. The investigation will make a preliminary determination whether the increasing volume of imported newsprint is causing serious injury to the local producer of newsprint,” the agency said.

Once the DTI determines that newsprint imports have indeed injured Tipco, the agency will forward the case to the Tariff Commission for a formal investigation.

The Philippines’ World Trade Organization (WTO) mission in Geneva earlier notified the trade body’s Committee on Safeguards of a safeguard investigation on newsprint, citing “serious injury to the local newsprint industry as indicated in their declining market share, production, sales, capacity utilization, productivity, profitability, price suppression, depression and undercutting.”

Covered by the investigation are newsprint in rolls or sheets weighing no more than 55 grams per square meter with Asean Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN) Code 4801.00.10 as well as other newsprint with AHTN Code 4801.00.90. These products have most favored nation (MFN) rates of duty of seven percent. MFN rates refer to tariffs slapped on goods from outside Asean.

Additional safeguard duties may be put in place to provide a “seriously injured” domestic industry relief against imports, if the volume of fairly-traded, “like” or directly competitive imports exceed a trigger level or if their prices fall below a trigger price.

source: interaksyon.com

Print newspapers could become ‘luxury’: Amazon chief

NEW YORK CITY — Amazon chief executive and new Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos said Wednesday that print newspapers could one day become a luxury item.

“Some day, I don’t know how many years in the future — it could be decades — but I think printed newspapers on actual paper may be a luxury item,” Bezos told NBC in an interview.

“People still have horses but it’s not their primary way of commuting to the office,” Bezos added.

Bezos was questioned on whether he envisions a day when the Washington Post, which he bought in August, is no longer printed.

The Amazon founder shook up the media world when he announced last month the $250 million purchase of the Post, ending decades of control by the Graham family that included the newspaper’s history-changing coverage of the Watergate scandal and other giant stories.

Bezos said in a recent interview that he is eager to experiment with new techniques to win reader loyalty in the digital era, as he tries to reverse the Post’s decline and restore it to profitability.

source: interaksyon.com

Storm brews over control of key US newspaper group including LA Times

WASHINGTON - With a sale likely of a prominent group of US newspapers, the interest of a potential buyer tied to right-wing causes has galvanized opponents fearing the dailies could become political tools.

The Tribune Co. dailies, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and five others could be sold in what may be one of the biggest newspaper deals in US history.

Although no official bids have been announced, the mere hint of interest from billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch -- famous for bankrolling conservative causes -- has some activists in a frenzy.

Protests have taken place in Los Angeles, Chicago and Baltimore, and more are planned.

"It's unlikely the Koch brothers would take over these papers and not try to use them to advance their conservative agenda," said Angelo Carusone of Media Matters, a watchdog group with the avowed mission of countering "conservative misinformation" in the news media.

"These are not just run-of-the-mill papers," Carusone said. "We are talking about eight publications which are either exclusive or influential in the local communities."

Rick Jacobs of the progressive advocacy Courage Campaign, which has organized some of the protests, said the group is working on a coalition to block a sale to the Koch brothers.

"We want genuine journalists to have good jobs and be free to report the news," Jacobs said.

"The Koch brothers have never been involved in newspapers," he said. "The only reason they would be interested is to further their political goals."

According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, some 40 potential buyers have expressed interest in one or more of the newspapers, but the company would like to sell the group in a single transaction.

Dan Kennedy, a journalism professor at Northeastern University, said that by selling the newspapers in a single deal, "you end up with only very wealthy potential buyers," such as the Koch brothers or Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

"Local people who are more invested in their communities are likely to be better stewards of community journalism in the long run," Kennedy said, noting that "people buying newspapers to advance a political agenda is nothing new."

He said the furor over the Koch brothers owes to the fact that "not only are they extreme libertarians, but because they seem to hate the media."

Murdoch, on the other hand, despite criticism over his political views, has a long history in the newspaper industry in Australia, Britain and the US, where he owns The Wall Street Journal and New York Post.

"If I were at one of those newspapers, I would find myself rooting for Murdoch rather than the Koch brothers," Kennedy said.

The intense reaction to the Koch brothers highlights a bitterly partisan political landscape, with the family in focus for backing policy groups such as the libertarian Cato Institute think tank in Washington.

The Koch brothers also were behind the formation of the Americans for Prosperity political action group, which supports many causes backed by the ultra-conservative Tea Party, although they are not formally affiliated.

Koch Industries, which focuses on petroleum refining and chemicals and pipelines, said in a statement that it was "constantly exploring profitable opportunities in many industries and sectors."

Critics of the Koch brothers accuse them of funding efforts to quash labor unions, especially in a highly contentious battle over public sector unions in Wisconsin.

Koch Industries' Melissa Cohlmia said in a statement that about 30 percent of the company's employees are represented by a union.

"Koch has mutually respectful and productive relationships with the unions that represent its employees -- this has been true for more than 50 years," she said.

Some civic organizations have been seeking to raise funds for alternative bids. A group called "The Other 98 Percent" has launched a crowdfunding effort for the newspapers.

"This is a way for Americans to say that they're tired of billionaires fighting over who gets to control our media," said the group's Nicole Carty.

Politics aside, the economics for any buyer of any of the newspapers will be daunting.

The publishing operations had been valued at $623 million during Tribune Co. bankruptcy proceedings, but media analyst Ken Doctor said "the value of these properties is dropping month by month, year by year."

"We know revenue is down, and they are struggling with circulation.

"If they are maintaining their profits they are only doing that by significant cutting," including of newsroom staff, Doctor said.

There could be pitfalls for any new owners, be they politically motivated investors or civic organizations.

"There is a three- to five-year turnaround at this point," Doctor said, as newspapers find a way to manage a transition to digital. "They will need to beef up news coverage and digital innovation."

But if the Koch brothers make the newspapers "plainly partisan," it would drive away subscribers "and they turn more quickly into irrelevance."

source: interaksyon.com