Lee sets up new finance center; employees laid off

A couple of weeks ago, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls (Iowa) Courier announced it will become one of six regional finance centers for Lee Enterprises. The new center will handle regional billing, accounting and customer service for 10 Lee papers. Those papers include the The Times-News in Twin Falls Idaho; North County Times in Escondido, Calif., The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y.; The Sentinel in Carlisle, Pa.; The Times and Democrat in Orangeburg, S.C.; The Citizen in Auburn, N.Y.; The Ledger-Independent in Maysville, Ky.; The Daily News in Longview, Wash.; and Casper Star-Tribune in Casper, Wyo. The last papers joined the group on May 3.

In March, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier's call center was outsourced to a group in Indiana; four employees were laid off.

While the Courier is expected to hire a few employees, the other papers will or already have laid off their finance employees. Know of layoffs or consolidation news? Send tips to lee.ent.watch@gmail.com.

Price of daily Post-Star increases to $1

The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y., has doubled its newsstand price. The 50-cent increase takes effect on March 29. Several Post-Star readers are not happy about the change.

In February, the Post-Star announced it would try to "wean people off the free Web site": Comics, letters to the editor, puzzles and TV grids are print-only.

(Via email)

2 Lee papers 'do it right'

The Sioux City Journal in Sioux City, Iowa, and The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y., are on Editor and Publisher's annual list of "10 That Do it Right."

The Sioux City Journal was included for giving readers something to talk about.

"When Editor Mitch Pugh arrived at the Lee Enterprises-owned Journal in 2007, he focused the 32-person newsroom on giving readers 'something to talk about' in the paper and online," the magazine reported.

Pulitzer's rigged? Argument seems very thin

It seems to be quite a stretch, but the North County Gazette says the Pulitzer Prizes must be rigged -- how else would The Post-Star win?

The Gazette points out that Joyce Dehli, Lee's vice president for news, sits on the Pulitzer Prize board and that Ken Tingley, editor of The Post-Star, was a Pulitzer prize judge. Neither were involved in judging categories in which Lee newspapers were finalists. Another part of the Gazette's argument revolves around Lee's financially unstable status -- which is true of nearly any newspaper chain right now.

The Gazette doesn't look into the history of Lee and the Pulitzer Prizes: I looked through the winners from 1985 to 2009, and The Post-Star is the only Lee paper that I saw. Is this the first paper to win a Pulitzer Prize under Lee's ownership?

Post-Star's editorial page editor wins Pulitzer

Post-Star editorial page editor Mark Mahoney won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. It's the first Pulitzer for The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y., and faced competition from The Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post in this category. The Post-Star is the smallest paper among this year's winners.

Post-Star lays off 11

The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y., laid off 10 full-time and one part-time employee Tuesday. The layoffs account for 7.5 percent of the paper's work force. The Post-Star laid off four employees in December.

We're nearing the end of Lee's second quarter. In the past, Lee papers have announced layoffs at the end of the quarter. Send layoff news and tips to lee.ent.watch@gmail.com.

Post-Star cuts page width

The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y., cut its page width by 1 inch starting with Tuesday's editions. Publisher Rick Emaneul said the newsprint reduction will save three positions at the paper.

Citizen names new publisher

Michael Rifanburg, the advertising director of The Citizen in Auburn, N.Y., has been promoted to publisher. Rifanburg has been interim publisher since October, when Rick Emanuel was promoted to publisher at the Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y.

Post-Star names new publisher

Rick Emanuel was named the Post-Star's publisher on Wednesday. The Post-Star is in Glens Falls, N.Y. Emanuel was the publisher a The Citizen in Auburn, N.Y., for the past 10 years.

In the publisher shuffle, Emanuel replaces Rona Rahlf, who is now the publisher of The Daily Herald in Provo, Utah. The Citizen's advertising director, Michael Rifanburg, has been named that paper's interim publisher.