'Titanic' Lifts Profit At News Corporation
Date: 08 May 1998
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
News Corp says its third-quarter profit, better than expected, rose 10 percent, led by its hit movie Titanic and higher advertising revenue at its television stations and Fox TV network; profit from operations rose $319 million from $291 million a year earlier; revenue rose 11 percent, to $3.22 billion (S)
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Cancer-Drug News Puts a Focus on Reporters and Book Deals
Date: 08 May 1998
By Felicity Barringer
Felicity Barringer
Day after article describing medical world's optimism about new drug therapy for cancer was published on front page of New York Times, agents for two reporters circulated book proposals among publishers; on May 5, one of these reporters--Gina Kolata, who wrote article Times featured on Sunday, May 3--instructed her agent to withdraw her proposal; by May 6, Robert Cooke, Newsday science reporter, had accepted offer from Random House to write book on same topic that publishing industry source say would bring him $1 million; events crystallize concerns about journalists writing books about about what they cover because a reporter's financial stake in a story could cast doubt on coverage; conflict-of-interest issues related to reporters writing books discussed (M)
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Shocking? Well, Shockingly Familiar
Date: 07 May 1998
By Walter Goodman
Walter Goodman
Walter Goodman reviews Washington Classified, initial program in Fox News Channel's new documentary news series (M)
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The Blah, Blah, Blah Campaign
Date: 08 May 1998
By Jerry Nachman
Jerry Nachman
Jerry Nachman Op-Ed article on dearth of news coverage of California governor's race; points to politicians who have lots of money to spend on commercials, but nothing to say; suggests that elected officials in California have become minimalists, perhaps because referendum process and term limits have robbed them of their ability to do anything (S)
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Clinton Asks For Sanctions Against Starr
Date: 07 May 1998
By John M. Broder
John
Lawyers for Pres Clinton and senior White House aides Bruce Lindsey and Sidney Blumenthal file sealed motion asking Federal Judge Norma Holloway Johnson to hold independent counsel Kenneth W Starr in contempt of court for violating grand jury secrecy rules with 'flagrant leaks' to news organizations (M)
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As the Great White Way Turns a Corner
Date: 08 May 1998
By Rick Lyman
Rick Lyman
Report on redevelopment of Times Square and 42d Street, and preview of sights, sounds and even more crowding to come; when block of 42d Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues is completed, around summer of 2001, there will be at least five Broadway and Off Broadway theaters, 38 movie screens, dozens of shops and restaurants, hundreds of hotel rooms, interactive video parlor and Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum; photo; map; throngs that already circle Times Square will likely expand their circuit, all day and most of the night; boom is also expected to feed development further west toward Hudson River, with plans already afoot for residential and retail complexes: three Off Broadway theaters would be torn down and rebuilt inside new structure; New 42d Street Inc president, Cora Cahan, comments; 32-story Reuters building will have giant vertical logo and three high-tech news 'zippers' designed to fit into cacophony that is Times Square; (L)
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HEALTHSOUTH TO ACQUIRE NATIONAL SURGERY
Date: 07 May 1998
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Healthsouth Corp agrees to buy National Surgery Centers Inc for $590 million in stock (S)
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BANCFIRST OF OKLAHOMA TO BUY AMQUEST FINANCIAL
Date: 08 May 1998
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Bancfirst Corp will buy Amquest Financial Corp for about $117 million in stock, issuing 2.6 million shares for the purchase (S)
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ENVIROTEST HIRES INVESTMENT BANK TO EXPLORE OPTIONS
Date: 08 May 1998
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Envirotest Systems Corp hires investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston Ltd to explore possible sale or other alternatives (S)
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CHASE TO BUY CUSTODY UNIT FROM MORGAN STANLEY
Date: 08 May 1998
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Chase Manhattan Corp agrees to buy custody unit of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co to help increase Chase's profits in low-margin business of processing trades and keeping track of investors' holdings; Chase pays about $600 million for unit (S)
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