Mindworks acquires DWS New Delhi, October 19, 2010 Mindworks Global Media Services has acquired DWS (www.dancewithshadows.com), a leading news website focused on automobile (www.dwsauto.com) and technology (www.dwsgadgets.com) verticals. Mindworks is one of the largest providers of editorial and design services to newspapers, magazines and online publishers around the world. "This acquisition is part of an online initiative that will power the next phase of growth for Mindworks," said a company spokesperson, adding: "For those media companies with the right strategy, there is an immediate and huge opportunity in the explosive growth of online media consumption worldwide." Mindworks has quadrupled in size over the last four years from a staff of nearly 20 to over 80 at its facility in Noida that runs 24/7, serving clients in three continents. It is backed by Helion Venture Partners, one of the largest venture capital firms focused on India with $ 350 million in funds. DWS draws over 1 million unique visitors a month, which makes it among the Top 20 media sites in India (Number 17, according to Alexa rankings). "Our biggest strength is our ability to provide useful, comprehensive information to the online user in select verticals," says a DWS spokesperson. Babychen Mathew, founder and publisher of DWS and a 15-year veteran of the online media industry, has joined the senior management team of Mindworks as the Chief Internet Officer. About Mindworks: Mindworks is the pioneer in the offshore delivery of editorial and design services to newspapers, magazines and online publishers worldwide. It is headquartered in New Delhi, has its main office in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and has a fully-owned subsidiary in the US. Mindworks is led by senior media professionals and is backed by Helion Venture Partners, one of the largest VC firms focused on India with $350 million in funds. About DWS: DWS is a leading national website focused on automobile and technology verticals. It attracts over a million unique visitors every month, making it rank among the Top 20 news sites in India. No link Available
		Gannett creating five 'super hubs'; centers to build pages for U.S. community dailies July 9, 2010 Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the US, is planning to establish five super hubs across the United States, where pages for most of its 81 US community newspapers will be built remotely by its designers. According to Gannett Blog, an independent online journal that follows Gannett, the company is also about to launch a single front-end computer system to be used by all the newsrooms for creating and editing story files, a $15 million CCI NewsGate system that's integral to running the five page production hubs. The website says that the plan has been in the works for months, and has been the subject of much speculation. Key elements have fallen into place relatively recently, however; the $15 million CCI expense, for example, was disclosed just three months ago, in Gannett's first-quarter 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 4. ...read more
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		The Guardian in talks to outsource April 6, 2010 The Guardian has pleaded with its staff to accept voluntary redundancy as it struggles to cope with losses running at more than £1m a week. The newspaper is in talks to transfer the production of its popular Guardian Guides, which are given away as promotions with the paper to independent magazine publishers. Guardian News & Media (GNM), the company that publishes The Guardian, is in discussions with John Brown Media. A final decision is expected within the next couple of weeks... ...read more