U.S. newspaper circulation reached its lowest level since 1940, the first year with available data, according to an assessment of the state of news media by Pew Research Center. Total daily newspaper circulation (print and digital combined) was an estimated 28.6 million for weekday and 30.8 million for Sunday in 2018. Those numbers were down 8 percent and 9 percent, respectively, from the previous year. Both figures are now below their lowest recorded levels, though weekday circulation first passed this threshold in 2013. Digital circulation for daily newspapers is harder to track. It did rise in 2018, though not enough to fully reverse the overall decline in circulation. Revenue from circulation was steady in 2018, but ad revenue for newspapers fell 13 percent, according to an analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Though some national publications have seen growth in revenue and in digital subscriptions over the past few years, the newspaper sector overall continues to face challenges. The Pew article also looked at four other key takeaways, including cable news, digital ad revenue, audiences for local television news and traffic to news websites.

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McKinsey Disclosure on Investment Entanglements Satisfies Judge

Submitted by ckanon@abi.org on Tue, 2019-07-23 09:07

McKinsey & Co. won the backing of a federal judge in Virginia over the consulting firm’s efforts to navigate potential conflicts of interest arising from its work in large corporate bankruptcy cases, WSJPro reported. In a decision filed Thursday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va., Judge Kevin Huennekens accepted a certification from McKinsey showing it won’t directly benefit from a $5 million penalty the firm agreed to pay to settle allegations of improper disclosure practices. Last month, McKinsey lawyers said they couldn’t guarantee the firm wouldn’t indirectly benefit from the payment because of how it invests billions of dollars on behalf of current and former employees. McKinsey said its investment arm, MIO Partners Inc., operates primarily as a fund of funds, investing with third-party managers whose investment decisions are independent of both McKinsey and MIO. McKinsey said the certification mirrors those made by federal judges who are required to disclose direct investments but not individual holdings of mutual funds or other widely held investment vehicles. The $5 million payment stems from a settlement McKinsey reached in February with a unit of the Justice Department, which has said McKinsey wasn’t forthcoming about MIO investments that gave the firm an interest in the outcome of bankruptcy cases on which the firm advised.

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Business Reorganization

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Canned Tuna Seller Bumble Bee Hires Turnaround Adviser

Submitted by ckanon@abi.org on Mon, 2019-07-22 09:07

Bumble Bee Foods LLC has hired turnaround firm AlixPartners LLP as the seafood purveyor seeks to recover after pleading guilty to fixing prices on canned tuna, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Bumble Bee is in talks with lenders after defaulting on its loan. The lenders have agreed to a forbearance period as restructuring talks continue. San Diego-based Bumble Bee is owned by London-based private-equity firm Lion Capital. The company has been embroiled in legal trouble related to a price-fixing case brought by the Justice Department, as well as other matters. Bumble Bee agreed to plead guilty in 2017 for participating in a conspiracy with its two main competitors, Chicken of the Sea and StarKist Co., to fix prices of tuna, and also agreed to pay a $25 million fine. The Justice Department subsequently indicted Bumble Bee’s chief executive Christopher Lischewski for his alleged role in the conspiracy. Lischewski, who pleaded not guilty, took a leave of absence from Bumble Bee last year.

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Business Reorganization

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