Reluare marți, 2 martie 1993

NBC News Chief Stepping Down Amid Troubles

Date: 03 March 1993

By Elizabeth Kolbert

Elizabeth Kolbert

The president of NBC's embattled news division, Michael G. Gartner, announced yesterday that he was resigning. In a memorandum to employees, Mr. Gartner said he hoped his departure, which follows several highly publicized embarrassments for NBC News, would "take the spotlight off of all of us." Mr. Gartner's announcement came three weeks after "Dateline NBC," a newsmagazine program under his supervision, issued an extraordinary on-the-air apology to the General Motors Corporation for using deceptive film of a vehicle crash. The "Dateline" report and apology, in which NBC admitted it had attached "incendiary devices" to a G.M. truck to make sure it would explode on impact, have drawn widespread ridicule. Resignation Called Voluntary In a memo to NBC news division employees, Robert C. Wright, the president of the network, characterized Mr. Gartner's resignation as voluntary, and Mr. Gartner, 54, insisted yesterday that he had long planned to leave sometime this year. But in an interview yesterday, Mr. Wright suggested that he had played a crucial role in hastening Mr. Gartner's decision.

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After Gunfire Dies Down, Questions Arise on Newspaper's Role

Date: 02 March 1993

By Bill Carter

Bill Carter

The editor of the local newspaper seemed shaken yesterday in the aftermath of the gun battles between Federal agents and religious cult members in Waco, Tex., that killed six people and left 16 wounded. "I'm under siege," said Bob Lott, editor of The Waco Tribune-Herald. "There has been the suggestion that somehow we are responsible for this tragedy."

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Recipients Named For the Polk Awards

Date: 02 March 1993

By William Glaberson

William Glaberson

The Los Angeles Times won the George Polk Award in local reporting for its coverage of the Los Angeles riots, it was announced yesterday by Long Island University, which administers the awards for excellence in journalism. The newspaper was cited for "eye-opening and thorough" coverage of the aftermath of a jury's acquittal of four policemen charged in the beating of Rodney King.

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Public & Private; Threshold of Pain

Date: 03 March 1993

By Anna Quindlen

Anna Quindlen

Being a reporter is as much a diagnosis as a job description. It is a strange business, making a living off other people's misfortunes, standing in the rubble with a press card as a nominal shield, writing in a crabbed hand notes no one else can read, riding an adrenaline surge that ends in a product at once flimsy and influential. "Every day is a fresh beginning," it once said on a mural in the lobby of the New York Times building. "Every morn is the world made new." It is not unlike the confessional -- a clean slate overnight, to be sullied later with newsprint.

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INSIDE

Date: 03 March 1993

Clinton and Republicans Talk The President met with Republican lawmakers, who seemed pleased with his attention but no less antagonistic to his economic program. Page A20. Repeal of Gun Ban Falters A move to repeal New Jersey's ban on military-style semiautomatic weapons appeared to fail amid defections by G.O.P. senators. Page B1. Trafficker Seeks U.S. Help Pablo Escobar, a Colombian fugitive known for his empire of drugs and terrorism, says he will surrender if the U.S. protects his family. Page A3. Ferry Accident Kills 147 Zairians expelled from Congo crowding onto a small river ferry to Kinshasa were thrown into the river when the gangplank snapped. Page A5.

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Concern Over Post's Mortgage Postpones Completion of Sale

Date: 02 March 1993

By Arnold H. Lubasch

Arnold Lubasch

The sale of The New York Post to Steven Hoffenberg was further delayed yesterday when the Securities and Exchange Commission raised concerns over who would guarantee the mortgage on the paper's South Street headquarters. At a hearing before Judge Whitman Knapp in Federal District Court in Manhattan, S.E.C. lawyers said they wanted to study the mortgage guarantee and its underlying documents to make certain that they did not jeopardize the interest of Mr. Hoffenberg's company, Towers Financial Corporation, in The Post property.

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Tosco Unit Sells Assets

Date: 02 March 1993

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

The Tosco Corporation, a petroleum refiner, said today that its Seminole Fertilizer subsidiary had agreed to sell most of its assets to Cargill Fertilizer Inc., a unit of Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc., for about $150 million. The definitive agreement does not include Seminole's interest in the Fort Meade Chemical products partnership, which also is up for sale, Tosco said.

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IRISH AIRCRAFT LEASER OFFERING CONVERTIBLE SHARES

Date: 03 March 1993

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

GPA Group P.L.C., an embattled Irish aircraft-leasing company, is trying to sell $200 million in convertible preference shares to existing stockholders by the end of March. The shares will be convertible into new GPA shares at a price of $1 a share, company officials said. That is far below the value of $30 a share that GPA sought early last year and the $20 price it tried to command during an offering in June. The attempt to raise fresh equity capital is part of GPA's plan to refinance $5.5 billion in debt. GPA, which was founded as Guinness Peat Aviation, has been battered over the last two or three years by the airlines' big losses and bankruptcies.

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HUMANA SPINS OFF HOSPITALS TO NEW COMPANY

Date: 03 March 1993

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

The separation of Humana Inc.'s hospital and health-plan businesses into two publicly traded companies was effective at the close of business on Monday, with the hospital company, Galen Health Care Inc., spun off. Humana shareholders as of Monday will receive one share of Galen common stock for each share of Humana. Galen shares were up 12.5 cents, to $12.375, in trading on a when-issued basis on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock of Humana Inc., which will operate the health plans, was down 12.5 cents, to $19.75. Galen Health Care will own and operate 76 hospitals in the United States and Europe. Humana will continue to operate the health plans.

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SHARP JOB CUTS AT NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR IN MAINE

Date: 03 March 1993

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

The National Semiconductor Corporation said it would eliminate about 230, or 18 percent, of the 1,300 positions at its South Portland, Me., plant. The designer and manufacturer of computer products, based in Santa Clara, Calif., said the cuts were a part of a plan to redesign its military and aerospace division. This stems from the completion of the Trident missile systems project and expectations of other Pentagon decisions, a statement said. Roberta Silverstein, a spokeswoman, said about two-thirds of the jobs at the military and aerospace division -- 200 of roughly 300 -- would be eliminated. The remaining cuts will come from units that support the division.

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