David W. Gilbert, an associate professor of automotive technology at Southern Illinois University, altered a circuit in the accelerator pedal he tested, making it unreasonable to draw conclusions about vehicles on the road, Toyota said yesterday at a briefing at its U.S. headquarters. To prove its point, Toyota replicated the test on competitors cars and achieved similar results.
An ABC News broadcast in February featuring Gilbert was misleading, and Toyota should have had an opportunity to observe and analyze the test before it was broadcast, Mike Michels, - - - - >

The parent company of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin announced Thursday it was purchasing longtime rival The Honolulu Advertiser, the largest newspaper in Hawaii, and would merge the two publications if a new buyer couldnt be found soon.
“The reality of it is, finding a buyer in this kind of economic environment is going to be difficult and thats an understatement,” said Gerald Kato, a University of Hawaii journalism professor.
Kato said a “vibrant marketplace calls for many and diverse voices. Less voices is an injustice to the community.”
Newspaper analyst Ken Doctor of Outsell Inc. said finding a buyer was “highly unlikely.”
“The biggest problem - - - - >

Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, is to speak on the morning news and talk program before holding a conference call with other media organizations, said a company official who declined to be identified because the plan isnt public. Lentz may also appear on Bloomberg Television.
The TV appearances will be the first for a U.S. audience after the automaker ran an informational ad in newspapers today and President Akio Toyoda gave a 75-second apology last week in Davos, Switzerland, in contrast with other Japanese - - - - >

Valassis, a marketing company that provides direct mail and coupons, said the deal settles lawsuits it filed in several states against News America Marketing. Among them is a jury decision in Michigan circuit court last July that awarded Valassis $300 million in damages. News America was appealing that ruling.
Valassis accused News America of threatening customers with price hikes for not offering exclusivity in marketing deals.
Meanwhile, News America argued that Valassis tried to force higher marketing rates by publicly announcing price changes.
In a statement Saturday, News Corp. said it did not want to risk presenting - - - - >

The findings are based on an analysis of how local news stories evolved in Baltimore during one week last summer. The review by Pew Research Centers Project for Excellence in Journalism monitored 53 media outlets - newspapers, television and radio stations and Web-only operations.
Newspapers and their Web sites provided 61 percent of the original reporting or fresh information on six major news stories that unfolded during the week of July 19-25, the study found. Local television stations and their Web sites accounted for 28 percent of the new information, followed by radio stations and their sites at 7 percent and - - - - >

The 27-year-old newspaper announced the latest round of layoffs in its Thursday edition and said the last sports section would appear Friday. Among those let go was the newsroom leader, Managing Editor David Jones. Another round of cuts was made earlier in December, and the newspaper published its last Sunday edition last weekend.
The paper will publish a new weekday print edition starting Monday. It will focus on the newspapers core strengths, including politics and cultural issues, President and Publisher Jonathan Slevin said Wednesday in a statement.
“Our market-based, forward-looking plan is both a response to the recessionary economy, continued downward financial - - - - >

Berkshire and its subsidiaries have about 225,000 workers, the Omaha, Nebraska-based company said this week in regulatory filings. Thats 8.6 percent lower than the 246,083 disclosed in the 2008 annual report. Berkshire provided the jobs information in a document tied to its planned $26 billion takeover of railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. Buffett didnt reply to a request, left with an assistant, for comment on the cuts.
Buffett, Berkshires chief executive officer, oversees a collection of more than 70 subsidiaries that sell products including Geico car - - - - >

Crude snapped two days of gains as the dollar rose to a three-month high against the euro after the U.S. Federal Reserve said yesterday the economy is strengthening and the deterioration in the labor market is abating. Oil rose the most in a month yesterday after the Energy Department said U.S. crude inventories declined to the lowest since the week ended Jan. 9.
“Its a bit of the dollar” thats causing the decline in prices today, Thina Saltvedt, a commodities analyst at Nordea Bank AB in Oslo, - - - - >

Heritage will pay a special dividend of between 90 pence and 100 pence per share as part of the deal, which could be announced as soon as tomorrow, the newspaper said. Heritage shares the fields with Tullow Oil Plc, the newspaper reported.
Heritage and Eni declined to comment, the newspaper said. Tullow Chief Executive Officer Aidan Heavey said potential new partners include unidentified “Chinese and major oil companies,” the newspaper reported.
Source

New York Times Co.s namesake newspaper is taking the latest shot today with the debut of two pages of local content in Chicago editions. News Corp. this month told employees of New York-based Dow Jones & Co., which includes the Journal, that the company was considering additional metro coverage in Chicago and Los Angeles, two people with knowledge of the situation said last week.
Publishers are increasing newsstand and subscription prices as ad sales slide. Third-quarter circulation revenue exceeded ad sales for the first time at Times - - - - >