'Dairy Queen is hiring for $12/hour'

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This is the second in an occasional series by Laura Blewitt, who was introduced in a previous post.

(See all posts by Laura Blewitt at this link.)

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The dreaded question: "So, what are you doing with your time now that you've been laid off?"

I have trained myself to respond in full confidence, "Well, I've been blogging."

"Anything else?"

"Ummm, microblogging."

Is it so wrong to just microblog all day long? Is it??

The thing is that I spent much of July, August, September, October and November sending out résumé after résumé to employer after employer hoping for some sort of response. Sometimes it got so bad that a rejection e-mail was welcomed, because at least that meant somebody actually considered me for a position.

I just don't think sending out résumés to potential employers really works anymore. Don't worry, I mean, I'm still doing it just in case. But my heart's not in it.

I wish I had kept track of the number of positions I applied to right around the time of my graduation so this could be a little more scientific, but alas, I did not think about the potential for statistical analysis in online résumé submission at the time. So for now, let's just say I applied for many, many jobs. (So scientific, right?) And in the course of five months I interviewed for four full-time jobs. I rejected two offers. One company rejected me. And then FINALLY God graced me with an offer I wouldn't dream of refusing.

The point of all this personal information is that my returns weren't successful enough for me to be very enthusiastic about jumping back into the saddle and spending my time writing and rewriting cover letters and résumés for employers who don't even plan to look at them.

I know there are other options out there, but are they realistic? Has anybody ACTUALLY found a full-time position via Twitter, or was that just a tall tale construed by the Twitter Gods to get poor Shmoes like me to waste their days seaching for #jobangels hash tags?

Either way I've come to terms with the fact that this process will take a long time. I'm hoping for a quicker come-back than my previous five-month record, but I'm realistic.

In the meantime I've agreed to freelance for a pretty well-established political blog based in Austin. I think it will be good for me keep myself active and out in the journalism game, even though the pay will be, well, not likely too great. But the exposure will be great.

This leaves me with one final question: should I get a temporary job working behind a coffee bar or tutoring kids after school just to get by while I'm hustling the Web for a "real job?"

It came to my attention last week that Dairy Queen is hiring for $12/hour. I tested the Twittersphere with notion of working there. Because as the late 2Pac said, "Only God [and Twitter] can judge me." (He died before Twitter's creation - but it totally sounds like something he would've said, right?)

Here's the response I received.

The Twittersphere has spoken.

(Twitter This)

-- Laura Blewitt

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Simon Says Charge for Content

Graphic by TJ Sullivan

Former journalist David Simon, creator of "The Wire," continues to champion the need for newspapers in America. (See previous post).

In a story published Friday by the Guardian, Simon goes after newspaper owners, argues in favor of paid content, and foretells an age of rampant political corruption.

Here's a snippet:

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the award-winning writer and producer launches a tirade against newspaper owners who, he says, showed "contempt for their product" and are now reaping the whirlwind. But he rejects the idea that newspapers should seek ways to embrace the new world of free information, arguing that they must urgently start charging money for content distributed online.

"Oh, to be a state or local official in America over the next 10 to 15 years, before somebody figures out the business model," says Simon, a former crime reporter for the Baltimore Sun. "To gambol freely across the wastelands of an American city, as a local politician! It's got to be one of the great dreams in the history of American corruption."

The full story is at the Guardian.

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-- TJ Sullivan

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'Newspapers ... There are No Substitutes'

Graphic by TJ Sullivan

Should the advertising industry try to help struggling newspapers?

Yes, says Mike Hughes, president and creative director at the Martin Agency, which counts the Newspaper Association of America as a client.

Here's a snippet from Hughes' column published this week by Advertising Age:

It's time the advertising industry did something important.

For our own self-interest -- and for the common good -- we need to start paying attention to newspapers again.

To begin with, it would be good for our business. For our own selfish reasons, we need a medium that targets the well-informed. We need a medium that lets us tell our whole story -- and not just the 30-second version. With each passing month, we need more media that target people where they live. We need more media that let marketers build a brand and ask for the business. We need more media that let writers, art directors, photographers and illustrators practice their crafts.

We need a medium with the immediacy and importance of newspapers.

[Snip ...]

Online or in print, we need newspapers. There are no substitutes. Magazines, TV channels and websites don't do the same things. Not even close.

Our industry needs newspapers -- but just as important, so does humankind. The world needs the kind of journalism practiced by newspapers when they're at their best. The local investigative pieces. The foreign correspondence. The war reporting. Without them, news goes unreported. Viewpoints are narrowed. Governments can run amok.

Read the full story at this link.

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-- TJ Sullivan

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A Very Bad Week at The NY Times

www.NYTimes.com

The newspaper industry's woes continued to take a severe toll this week. It seems no publication is immune, not even one of the best newspapers in the world (and, in my humble opinion, this one is the best).

The New York Times announced another round of heartbreaking budget cuts Thursday, including "60-70" layoffs in the newsroom, 100 layoffs on the business side, and a 10- to 15-percent reduction in freelancer spending.

In addition, most staff members will be required to take 10 days of unpaid leave, and endure a "temporary" 5-percent pay cut. The pay cut is expected to last nine months. (Furloughs would be extended to "most nonunion employees at The Boston Globe.)

Here's a snippet from The New York Times:

Last fall, Times executives said they did not anticipate any news staff reductions in 2009. Similarly, Mr. Keller said on Thursday that with a pay cut, management expects “that the newsroom will get through the year without a round of layoffs.”
“I wish I could make that a promise,” he added. “I can’t.”
In 2008, The Times eliminated 100 newsroom jobs through buyouts and layoffs. But with hiring for new positions, the net reduction was about half that. It has the largest news staff of any paper in the country, and one of few that has not contracted sharply.

Read the full story at this link.

(Twitter This)

-- TJ Sullivan

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College Newspapers Endangered Too

Photo by TJ Sullivan

College newspapers are feeling the pain just as surely as their mainstream media counterparts.

The vote set to take place Friday at the University of Texas at Austin is just one of the latest examples.

The Texas Student Media Board has already sold its printing press (they owned their own press?) and laid off the four workers who ran it. Now the board is set to decide Friday on further cuts, including whether to lay off the adviser to The Daily Texan.

The Daily Texan published a story about the pending vote earlier this month. Here's a snippet:

Under the recommendations, the print representative’s position will become an ad supplement designing position, and the KVRX and Texas Student Television advisers positions will be combined into a single broadcast adviser position, [Texas Student Media director Kathy] Lawrence said.

The positions of Daily Texan adviser and advertising supplements manager will be combined into the role of print adviser. The print adviser will also advise the Texas Travesty and Cactus Yearbook. The Travesty currently does not have an adviser, and Lawrence serves as the Cactus’ adviser.

“In no way does any of this represent dissatisfaction with performance,” Lawrence said. “This is just an attempt to keep our budget a little less in the red.”

The job losses are not certain until the Texas Student Media Board votes on Lawrence’s recommendations at its March 27 meeting. The employees would not be laid off until the end of the fiscal year on Aug. 31.

Bad as that might sound to some, there are college newspapers making due with far less.

Read the full story at this link.

* See related Facebook group named "Keep Richard Finnell At The Daily Texan."

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-- TJ Sullivan

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'Prices Are Well Below Recent Years'

A message from John Cribb of Cribb, Greene & Associates, the oldest newspaper and publication brokerage in the United States.

(via Fitz & Jen)

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-- TJ Sullivan

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No Crying in Baseball ... Until Now

Photo by TJ Sullivan

ESPN Page 2 columnist Jim Caple wrote in his Off Base column this week about what newspaper cutbacks and closings will mean to baseball fans.

Here's a snippet from one of several points Caple makes:

It may seem that the Web provides more news, but apart from major sites that can afford to hire staff reporters (such as ESPN.com), the Web mostly provides a swift spread of news first reported somewhere else. Unless you root for the Yankees or Red Sox, the news about your favorite team still comes largely from the local beat writers.

Granted, game scores and player/manager comments don't always qualify as news. Are fans really enlightened when they read a manager's quote that he thought his pitcher "made one or two bad pitches" in a 7-2 loss? Even trade rumors can be overvalued. Yes, it's interesting to know whether a team is shopping a player. But it's not absolutely necessary, because teams will announce if there is a deal.

On the other hand, and this is very significant, beat writers report news you otherwise wouldn't know concerning injuries, disgruntled players, clubhouse issues, explanations for why a manager did something, team strategies and philosophies, etc. They are able to cull information from sources because they are around people long enough to develop a relationship that is solid enough for the sources to open up. They know when people are happy, frustrated or upset because they are there to see them and speak with them. Beat writers also can put the day's events into proper context because they have the perspective that comes with the job.

Read the full column at this link.

(Twitter This)

-- TJ Sullivan

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Thanks, But No Thanks, Sen. Cardin*

cardin.senate.gov

US Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, has proposed a way for Washington D.C. to assist in the recovery of the American newspaper industry.

His idea is to exempt newspapers from that most American of burdens — tax payments on everything from revenue to charitable contributions (should anyone happen to be so civic-minded as to donate money to save a newspaper). To take advantage of this offer, however, a newspaper would have to operate as a non-profit.

Although newspapers could continue most of their primary functions (like keeping a watchful eye on U.S. Senators like Cardin), they wouldn't be allowed to make political endorsements. That's a no-no in the tax code.

Of course, even if they were allowed to editorialize as non-profits, they'd best abstain, at the very least, from editorializing on issues involving taxation (considering the obvious hypocrisy).

The following quote from Cardin's statement appears at AdAge.com:

"We are losing our newspaper industry," Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, D.-Md., said in a statement. "The economy has caused an immediate problem, but the business model for newspapers, based on circulation and advertising revenue, is broken, and that is a real tragedy for communities across the nation and for our democracy."

Sure, there are already a couple non-profit newspapers in operation without the aid of such a law. Besides that, Cardin is not the first elected official to express concern for the threat posed to democracy by dying newspapers, and with good reason.

Much as politicians love to complain about "the media," they know full well that without ethically bound, professional newspaper journalists, the ability of elected officials to communicate with constituents would be limited to two-minute TV reports, radio talk show blather, and an Internet so full of pundits and patent lunatics that it's damned hard to find serious news bloggers (or whatever the term is this week for unaccredited, unaffiliated, smart, reporter-like writers who publish online).

Surely all of Washington is wondering where officeholders will turn in the future when their complicated piece of legislation is being misconstrued and misunderstood in 30-second sound bites. Or, perhaps more importantly: Who do you sic on a crooked opponent if not a newspaper reporter willing to invest weeks digging through records and receipts?

Seriously. The CBS program 60 Minutes only has 60 minutes a week (less than that if you discount the air consumed by Andy Rooney). And lest some think Michael Moore and Rush Limbaugh are capable of carrying such water, think again. Both come with far too much of their own baggage to carry anything for anyone else.

As much as Americans love to hate their local newspaper, deep down most people (especially the ones seated near the center of the aisle) have always believed that they could trust the paper more than any other source.

Which is precisely the problem with ideas like this.

As I've said before, government assistance of any kind won't wash with the Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics, particularly the sections of the code that call upon journalists to:

* Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived ...

* Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility ...

* Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and shun secondary employment, political involvement, public office and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity.

I have no reason to doubt that Sen. Cardin's intentions are anything but honorable, but that doesn't matter. Should he succeed in saving newspapers this way in the short term, he will most certainly kill them in the long run.

Should this legislation pass, all subsequent non-profit newspaper coverage of Cardin and his Congressional colleagues would be tainted by a public perception of reciprocation.

No bad news would be bad enough, and good news would always be considered a quid pro quo.

It matters little that no such thing is being requested, nor offered. Perception in this situation is reality (and I haven't even addressed the First Amendment issues).

It's easy to guess where all this is going.

So, thanks, Sen. Cardin, but no thanks. The newspaper industry can only be hurt by government assistance.

* Post updated/corrected 10:30 pm PDT

More at Fitz & Jen.

And even more from Steve Yelvington.

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-- TJ Sullivan

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'Nothing to Criticize' Without Newspapers

Photo by TJ Sullivan

Syndicated columnist Paul Mulshine, of The Star Ledger in New Jersey, wrote about the future of newspaper journalism this week, and even mentioned the Know Newspapers Petition:

It's a great idea, at least in theory. If such a blackout could be arranged, all of those people who claim to get their news "on the internet" would suddenly find those news sites lacking in news. The critics of "the dinosaur media" would realize they themselves are an endangered species. In the absence of print media, they would have nothing to criticize.

Read the full column at this link.

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-- TJ Sullivan

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'I'm Worth Five Bucks a Month'

A message from Gary Massaro of InDenverTimes.com, the online publication launched by former staffers of the shuttered Rocky Mountain News.

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-- TJ Sullivan

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Two Weeks After the Layoff

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This is the first in an occasional series by Laura Blewitt, who was introduced in a previous post.

(See all posts by Laura Blewitt at this link.)

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Time to move on.

It's been exactly two weeks since the media's gigantic, ever-swinging axe sliced me off its shrinking chopping block. I've spent the past 14 days gathering condolences, free drinks and words of encouragement from my loved ones and ex-colleagues. They tell me I'm young, talented and will be fine. I tell them thank you. But you know what I'm thinking? It must be nice to be so delusional.

2009 is a terrible time to be young, if you're the type of young person who wants a job in the media, as opposed to the drug distribution industry. The "entry level" is...closed.

Those are the kind of words of encouragement I get from Gawker. And while I've tried to be as optimistic as possible through all of this, it's just not always that easy. I've always answered "neither" when asked whether I'm an optimist or a pessimist. Duh, I'm a realist! And I can joke about unemployment and make myself feel hopeful about my industry's future, but I don't know if I can truly believe in that hope.

There's no real comfort to be offered. Just ride out the bad years, sell your drugs, and bide your time until all the ad money comes flowing back in (6.5 years).

OK, so I won't be selling drugs (at least not anytime soon). But as much as I love being a part of the media, I won't be so opposed to stepping outside the publishing world this time as I go on the job hunt.

After all, as Jill Geisler wrote for Poynter last week, there are 10 compelling reasons why "hiring journalists presents you a terrific opportunity." I wonder if non-journalists would agree with her point of view. She writes of laid off journalists:

They didn't leave their jobs; their jobs left them. Many are still shell-shocked, wondering if potential employers in other fields will place any value on the things they do best.

Shell-shocked is the best (if not only) way to describe the way I feel two weeks after my layoff. Getting over the shock was more difficult than getting over the pain, confusion or despair of the job loss -- really -- the shock still won't wear off.

Nobody could really tell me how long it takes to get over a layoff. I know I'm not over it yet. But I know I'm ready to move on now.

(Twitter This)

-- Laura Blewitt

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Future of Journalism: San Diego

One of the most exciting ventures in Southern California is the Voice of San Diego, a non-profit daily news organization that looks a lot like an online newspaper (see previous post for more info).

Staffed by professional journalists, the site has become such a force in San Diego it's being tapped by television news programs to provide analysis of local news, as evidenced in the clip above, during which the recent sale of The San Diego Union-Tribune was discussed.

If you haven't checked out the Voice of San Diego Web site, it's well worth your time to do so. As we talk about newspapers dying, ventures like this present possible solutions, a way for new online newspapers (for lack of a better term) to rise from the ashes and help to fill the void.

Also check out the In Denver Times, which was launched by former staffers of the Rocky Mountain News.

(Twitter This)

-- TJ Sullivan

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Fishbowl DC: More Furloughs at Gannett

www.gannett.com

Fishbowl DC reported Monday on an internal Gannett memo that warns of a second round of furloughs.

Read the memo at this link.

ELSEWHERE ...

* LA Observed reported that "staffers in ... [Tribune Co.'s] Los Angeles Times newsroom expect the ... next wave of forced departures to come down today, along with revelations of colleagues who choose this moment to retire or take the severance money and run."

* The Ann Arbor News, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, says it will cease daily operations in July, and be replaced by a Web-based media company called AnnArbor.com LLC.

(Twitter This)

-- TJ Sullivan

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What's Next? Citizen Dentists?

Photo by TJ Sullivan

Journalists are America's fourth estate, the watchdogs of democracy, yet, of late, there's been no shortage of media dilettantes willing to espouse the belief that amateurs can do a better job, as though the very designation of journalism as a "profession" is a gross embellishment of the skills and schooling required.

Suddenly, citizen journalism is no longer being talked about as a supplement to mainstream media coverage, but as a substitute.

How far the "citizen" movement might go remains to be seen.

Might we soon be expected to trust the policing of our communities to citizen cops (vigilantes)? Could the defense of the United States be carried out by a citizen army (a militia)? Are citizen doctors (quacks) the solution to the high cost of medical care?

No, no, no.

As valuable a tool as the Internet has proved to be, it has yet to cure stupid.

Newspaper journalists are professionals who, as the Know Newspapers Petition points out, produce the bulk of all news consumed in the US.

"Online or offline, no matter where you get your news, it probably began as a newspaper story."

Albert R. Hunt of Bloomberg News addressed this issue recently in a piece headlined "A vibrant democracy requires newspapers." Here's a snippet via the International Herald Tribune:

As much as Rush Limbaugh likes to say he hates The New York Times, the newspaper is a feeder for him.

Many younger, upscale consumers say this isn't a big deal because the Internet is producing a plethora of news and information.

There's a two-word rejoinder: Walter Reed. A couple of years ago, two of The Washington Post's best reporters spent nine months investigating the maltreatment of wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars at the Walter Reed Medical Center, supposedly the U.S. military's finest rehabilitation center.

The stories generated outrage and produced real changes. As a result, disabled members of the military receive far better care today.

No Internet outlets have the resources to do that story. Most scandals and revelations of corruption are exposed by newspapers. Randall "Duke" Cunningham of California, the crooked congressman, was sent to prison because of exposés by the Washington bureau of Copley News Service.

"In a world where power always seeks advantage, there is a critical need for a counter, and that takes resources," said Mr. Jones [Alex S. Jones, director of the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University], who is publishing a book, "Losing the News." Under current trends, he said, "it's hard to calculate the damage that will be done to society by stories that aren't done."

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-- TJ Sullivan

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You're Out, You're Safe, You're ...

A reprieve of at least one week has been granted to the Tucson Citizen, which was expected to publish its final paper on Saturday.

The paper, owned by Gannett Corp, said late Friday that it will publish at least through March 27.

Here's a snippet from the story published in the Citizen:

The notice was given through a memo from Mike Jameson, president and chief executive of Tucson Newspapers, as required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

WARN requires employers to give 60 days' advance notice to employees in the case of mass layoffs or plant closures.

"The sale or closure will not occur before March 27, 2009," the memo read. "We expect to have more certainty in the very short term, and when we do we will let you know."

You have to wonder what THAT was like.

Imagine you're at that newspaper. You're in the process of putting to bed what you've been told is the last edition of your newspaper, fully expecting to be unemployed in a matter of hours, and then the suits drop this on you — never mind, keep up the good work for at least another week.

Talk about an emotional roller coaster.

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-- TJ Sullivan

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Furlough Fever is Spreading

A post at LA Observed highlights the Orange County Register as one of the latest additions to the newsroom furlough trend in Southern California.

Staffers were reportedly told today that they must take off five days sometime in the next three months.

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-- TJ Sullivan

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A Buyer for The San Diego U-T!

A Beverly Hills company plans to buy The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Buy a newspaper?

Seriously. The company is called Platinum Equity, and LA Observed says their Mark Barnhill is the same Mark Barnhill who used to be managing editor of the Daily News of Los Angeles. [Also see Voice of San Diego.]

Here's the gist from the U-T:

The parent company of The San Diego Union-Tribune announced yesterday that it plans to sell the paper to a Beverly Hills private equity firm that specializes in turning around troubled ventures.

The buyer, Platinum Equity, is a 14-year-old firm headed by billionaire investor Tom Gores. It has purchased companies in industries as diverse as information technology and metal processing.

This is its first newspaper deal. A principal in the firm said newspapers were a logical target, given the steep challenges the industry faces, such as circulation declines and growing online competition.

“There's no question that the newspaper industry is undergoing a period of tremendous upheaval, and we're not blind to that,” Platinum principal Mark Barnhill said. “But that said, we would not be making this acquisition if we were not confident about our ability to succeed in this business and in that market in particular.”

Union-Tribune owner The Copley Press Inc. had been seeking a buyer since July, when it hired investment bankers to explore “strategic options” amid a nationwide decline in newspaper advertising. The Copley family of La Jolla has owned newspapers in San Diego since 1928 but is among relatively few remaining local owners of major newspapers.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Read the full story at The San Diego Union-Tribune.

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-- TJ Sullivan

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Slow Posting Today ...

Photo by TJ Sullivan

I was down in Orange County most of yesterday covering President Obama's visit to Southern California, so there's a lot of catching up to do in the office.

I'll try to get some relevant posts up later this afternoon.

In the meantime, check out the Reuters' story on US Attorney General Eric Holder's comments regarding the newspaper industry. The story says he's following up on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's request that the Justice Department do what it can to help.

It's probably unlikely that newspaper owners will turn down such assistance, but, well-intentioned as it may be, it sure ought to get journalists riled up. No matter how you spin it, government aid of any kind just won't wash with the code of ethics.

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-- TJ Sullivan

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No Alternative

Photo By TJ Sullivan

It's hard to be an alternative newspaper in the absence of a mainstream daily.

Alternative to what?

So, it's no surprise to read that the San Francisco Bay Guardian would rather the San Francisco Chronicle stick around:

We've been as critical of the Chron as anyone in town. For 42 years, we've been reporting on the failures of the daily newspapers in San Francisco, and we regularly blast the Hearst-owned near-monopoly daily for its failure to cover major stories and its biased slant on others.

[SNIP ...]

But if the Chronicle dies, the city will lose an important, if often infuriating, civic institution. Hearst should not be allowed to turn San Francisco into the first major American city with no major daily newspaper — not without extensive oversight, hearings, and a chance for somebody else to take over the paper and try to make it work.

Read the rest of the editorial at the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

(via Romenesko)

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-- TJ Sullivan

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Journalists Taking Over the Business

Editors love meetings, or so it seems.

As sure as every newsroom around the world has keyboards and cameras, they also have managers and meetings, the bane of the journalist's existence, primarily because news doesn't usually happen in newsrooms or meetings.

That's changing.

Considering the way things are going in the newspaper industry — the Rocky Mountain News closed last month, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published its last edition Tuesday, and the San Francisco Chronicle could be next — more than a few non-management journalists are starting to take matters into their own hands, which means holding a few meetings of their own.

Some of that spirit was behind the launch this week of In Denver Times.

And some of it's behind a meeting (I'm told the plan is to work, not talk) this Saturday in Washington D.C.

RevenueTwoPointZero has put together a group of 19 journalists who plan to sit down Saturday in DC to talk about build possible solutions.

Like the Know Newspapers Petition, the Rev 2.0 group isn't endorsing pay-for-content plans, or philanthropy. But, while the petition's goal is merely to educate the public about the importance of newspapers as news-gathering organizations, Rev 2.0 takes the next step.

As I've said before, if we leave this problem to the newspapers alone, it will never get solved.

Here's the agenda for Rev 2.0's weekend meet:

1. Build an effective advertising model for news content delivered on smart phones, such as Apple’s iPhone.

2. Create a better CraigsList.

3. Show newspaper-centric companies how they can better meet the advertising needs of small- and medium-sized businesses.

4. Re-imagine the homepage and display advertising.

With an agenda as ambitious as that there's sure to be no shortage of criticism for the effort. No matter. That this group is taking the initiative (and doing it on their own dime) deserves recognition, and the benefit of the doubt.

As journalist Bob Woodward once said: "All good work is done in defiance of management."

Read more about the weekend meeting at RevenueTwoPointZero.

(via Fitz & Jen)

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-- TJ Sullivan

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AOL Tries to Make Lemonade

Maria Russo at The Wrap has a story up about AOL's foray into journalism "and it won't be about aggregation."

Think maybe the demise of newspapers like the Rocky Mountain News and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer have anything to do with this move? With so many lemons lately it's hard to harangue anyone's attempt at making lemonade.

Russo's story says AOL has plans to hire "well-respected political journalists," which it's having no trouble finding:

With cutbacks and collapse dominating most newsprint outlets (the Seattle Post-Intelligencer announced on Monday it would no longer produce a print edition), finding talent for an online portal has been almost an embarrassment of riches.

AOL’s site will be “polypartisan” and focus initially on commentary and analysis, Marty Moe, senior vice president of AOL’s MediaGlow content division, told TheWrap.

He would not reveal the name for the new site, which he said would launch within weeks. He also declined to give the names of journalists being hired, although Melinda Henneberger, lately of Slate and the Huffington Post, has been a presence lately at AOL’s blog “Political Machine.”

Read the rest of the story at The Wrap.

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-- TJ Sullivan

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1863 - 2009

Newseum.org

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-- TJ Sullivan

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Pelosi Says Frisco Paper Must Survive

San Francisco Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives, is troubled about the potential loss of the San Francisco Chronicle, so much so that she's reportedly urged the US Department of Justice to consider being more flexible with regard to merging or consolidating business operations.

In addition, she said the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy will soon hold a hearing on the newspaper crisis and the potential for antitrust laws to complicate possible solutions.

Here's the gist from the Chronicle's Web site, SFGate:

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, released by Pelosi's office late Monday, the San Francisco Democrat asked the department to weigh the public benefit of saving The Chronicle and other papers from closure against the agency's antitrust mission to guard against anti-competitive behavior.

"We must ensure that our policies enable our news organizations to survive and to engage in the news gathering and analysis that the American people expect," Pelosi wrote.

The speaker said the issue of newspapers' survival and antitrust law will be the subject of a hearing soon before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy, chaired by Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga.

Pelosi's spokesman, Brendan Daly, said the speaker was moved by the recent announcement by the Hearst Corp., the parent company of The Chronicle, that it would be forced to sell or close the paper if it could not achieve major cost-savings quickly. Hearst has said the paper lost $50 million last year and that this year's losses will likely be worse.

Read the rest of the story at SFGate.

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-- TJ Sullivan

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'We're In Denver, Are You?'

A strong first pitch from former staffers of Denver's Rocky Mountain News, who announced Monday morning their plans to launch the In Denver Times.

(via Westword)

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-- TJ Sullivan

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Tucson Citizen in Countdown to -30-

Gannett Corp is closing the Tucson Citizen Saturday, ending nearly 140 years of recording such remarkable moments in Southwest history as Marshal Wyatt Earp's shootout at Tombstone's OK Corral in 1881.

From the AP story (via Editor & Publisher):

Gannett Co. Inc., the nation's largest newspaper publisher, announced in January it would close the Citizen if it didn't find a buyer for certain assets. Robert J. Dickey, president of Gannett's U.S. Community Publishing, said the paper was losing money and was a drain on Gannett operations.

The Citizen becomes the latest casualty of a newspaper industry struggling to survive despite the tough economy, dwindling advertising revenues and Internet competition. The battle has been especially tough in two-newspaper towns.

E. W. Scripps Co. closed the 150-year-old Rocky Mountain News, one of two daily newspapers in Denver, in February. Hearst Corp. has said it will close or sell the San Francisco Chronicle if it can't slash expenses, and has laid out plans to close the Seattle Post-Intelligencer if a buyer isn't found before April.

Four newspaper companies, including the owners of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune and The Philadelphia Inquirer, have sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in recent months.

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Paperless in Seattle

Hearst Corp has announced in a press release that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer will end 146 years of tradition by publishing its final print edition Tuesday -- St. Patrick's Day, by the way.

But the paper is not closing. It's going all digital, all the time.

Beginning Wednesday, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer will be an online-only newspaper.

Here's the press release in full from Hearst, minus the Hearst Corp. bio:

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER TO BECOME LARGEST DAILY NEWSPAPER TO SWITCH TO AN ALL-DIGITAL MODEL

NEW YORK, March 16, 2009— Hearst Corporation announced today that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (P-I) will become the nation’s largest daily newspaper to shift to an entirely digital news product. The announcement was made by Frank A. Bennack, Jr., vice chairman and chief executive officer, Hearst Corporation, and Steven R. Swartz, president of Hearst Newspapers. The final print issue of the newspaper will appear tomorrow.

“The P-I has a rich 146-year history of service to the people of the Northwest, which makes the decision to stop publishing the newspaper an extraordinarily difficult one,” Bennack said. “We extend our profound gratitude and admiration to our P-I colleagues who have done such an exemplary job under extremely difficult circumstances over the past several years. Our goal now is to turn seattlepi.com into the leading news and information portal in the region.”

“Seattlepi.com isn't a newspaper online—it’s an effort to craft a new type of digital business with a robust, community news and information Web site at its core,” said Swartz. “It will feature the breaking news reporting of Chris Grygiel and others covering City Hall; Levi Pulkkinen reporting on the court system; popular staff blogs like Seattle 911 with Casey McNerthney and the Big Blog by Monica Guzman; columnists like Joel Connelly, Art Thiel and Jim Moore; and of course, the cartooning and commentary of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David Horsey. The Web is first and foremost a community platform, so we'll be featuring new columns from prominent Seattle residents; more than 150 reader blogs, community data bases and photo galleries. We'll also be linking to the great work of other Web sites and blogs in the community."

“On the business side, we are assembling a staff to form a local digital agency that will sell local businesses advertising on seattlepi.com as well as the digital advertising products of our partners: Yahoo! for display advertising, Kaango for general marketplaces and Google, Yahoo!, MSN and Ask.com for search engine marketing,” Swartz said. “The site will also feature a digital yellow pages directory powered by Hearst's yellow pages unit, White Directory Publishers.”

On January 9, Hearst announced that it was offering for sale the P-I and its interest in the Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) under which the P-I and The Seattle Times are published. No buyers emerged, resulting in the decision to move to an all-digital news model. Additionally, the JOA is being terminated. The P-I was founded in 1863 as the Seattle Gazette.

Seattlepi.com will be led editorially by Michelle Nicolosi, executive producer, who has headed the site since 2005. Nicolosi was previously an investigative reporter at the Seattle P-I. She was also previously the editor of Online Journalism Review (www.ojr.org) and taught journalism at the University of Southern California. Prior to that, Nicolosi was a reporter at the Orange County Register, where she was a lead reporter on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fertility Fraud series.

In January, Nielsen ranked seattlepi.com among the top 30 newspaper Web sites with 1.8 million unique users. The site has an average of 4 million unique monthly visitors, according to internal Hearst tracking.

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'50,000 Subscribers by April 23'

Some of those former print journalists that online entities like Wonkette seem to delight in referring to as "over-educated overpaid typists" held a press conference Monday morning to announce plans to keep the spirit of their shuttered newspaper alive, an initiative born out of a sense of responsibility to both their community, and their profession.

Thirty former staffers of Denver's Rocky Mountain News have banded together to launch an online-only newspaper called the In Denver Times.

Subscriptions vary in price, with the lowest fee available being $4.99 per month for a 12-month commitment -- that's about 16 cents per day.

A press release (via Westword) provides the gist:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FORMER ROCKY JOURNALISTS ANNOUNCE "IN DENVER TIMES," A NEW VISION BASED ON A 150‐YEAR TRADITION

Group Seeks 50,000 Subscribers By April 23

Denver, CO - March 16, 2009 - A short distance from the location where the Rocky Mountain News printed its first edition, 30 former Rocky journalists today announced the launch of IN DENVER TIMES (www.indenvertimes.com), an online, real‐time, news source that will keep the spirit of the Rocky alive.

IN DENVER TIMES (INDT) was created by a group of former Rocky journalists, the founders of IWANTMYROCKY.COM and three Denver entrepreneurs, Brad Gray, Kevin Preblud and Benjamin Ray. (A list of participating journalists and the founders' bios are included in INDT's media kit.) IN DENVER TIMES reinvents the traditional local newspaper model: it's real‐time, online news delivered the way customers want it, when they want it. The news is free. For about $0.16 per day, customers will receive the insights, columns and perspectives of INDT journalists, along with live interactive chats, new applications, mobile feeds and advanced technologies. INDT will concentrate primarily on local news, however, there will also be national news coverage with local perspective. It's local focus with global awareness.

"Thousands of loyal Denver readers and journalism supporters across the country have encouraged us to continue delivering our high standard of professional journalism to the Mile High City," said Steve Foster, a former Rocky journalist and an INDT founder. "We're prepared and excited to deliver the highest quality content in an innovative platform; however, to make this vision a reality, we need our supporters - and their friends and families - to subscribe today."

To launch the site, IN DENVER TIMES needs 50,000 subscribers by April 23, the 150th anniversary of the Rocky. Once that goal is met, the full site will launch on Monday, May 4, 2009. Those interested in helping us build a new vision based on a 150‐year tradition of the Rocky should visit INDT's website at http://www.indenvertimes.com and make a pledge to subscribe. Customers will be charged on April 23, 2009 only if we meet our goal of 50,000 subscribers.

"This online, subscriber format reinvents the old newspaper model while preserving the role and importance of journalism in our community," said Founder Kevin Preblud. "As entrepreneurs, we believe that great journalism can still be good business. Given the precarious position that so many local newspapers find themselves, we should all hope this model succeeds."

IN DENVER TIMES

IN DENVER TIMES (INDT) was created by former Rocky journalists and three Denver entrepreneurs who refused to allow the spirit of the Rocky's long history of professional journalism to fade away. A new vision based on a 150‐year tradition, INDT is an online, real‐time news source that provides customers with insightful news in a forward‐looking, innovative platform.

INDT's mission is to provide our customers with the most insightful and professional journalism while embracing new technologies that allow us to quickly and efficiently meet the changing needs of our customers.

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Nearly 1 in 5 Print Journos Working in 2001 Gone

A story posted Sunday by Jennifer Saba at Editor & Publisher details the findings of the sixth annual "State of the News Media" report by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

One of the more surprising revelations of the report was that nearly one out of every five journalists working for newspapers in 2001 is now gone (including yours truly).

The report also says this year might be the worse yet for layoffs.

The following trends were among those highlighted in the E&P story:

* The focus about how to finance the news industry -- particularly micropayments and nonprofit ownership -- is likely misplaced. "The micropayment idea was tried and rejected by users early on and has run into headlong resistance from online advocates," the report said.

[SNIP ...]

* Power is shifting to the individual journalist from the news outlet with more people seeking out names through search, e-mail, blogs and social media.

[SNIP ...]

* The idea of partnerships -- shared content between or among former rivals -- "may offer prospects" for the future business model.

Read the full story at Editor & Publisher, and/or access the report at this link.

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Government Aid ... for Newspapers?

Graphic by TJ Sullivan

MediaFile at Reuters lists several different attempts at providing government aid for newspapers, which sounds a little like the Woodsman taking a loan from the Big Bad Wolf.

Watch out, Red.

Here's a snippet from Robert MacMillan's post:

The last time I mentioned the word “bailout” in connection with newspapers, I caught my fair share of flak from the conservative blogosphere for even entertaining the notion. I also caught a few rounds from Connecticut lawmakers who thought that I was suggesting their attempt to help secure tax breaks for struggling newspapers amounted to a bailout.

Having said that, it looks like Washington state is getting into the aid game as Hearst Corp weighs killing its Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper.

Read the rest at Reuters.

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P-I Print Edition Dies*

(or, maybe not*)

National Public Radio reports in its broadcast that the last print edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is expected to hit newsstands next week as P-I owner Hearst pursues an online-only experiment.

Listen online to the NPR report

*NPR's text online differs from broadcast language in saying the print edition "may cease publication." No corroboration from P-I owner Hearst.

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The Word of the Day: 'Newspaper'

journalism-is-dead.com*

There's no getting around it.

Elementary as this seems, at some point those of us who can use a dictionary will have to begin confronting the semantic blather that's being propagated to obfuscate the newspaper crisis.

The word is "newspaper." It's a noun and it's pronounced ˈn(y)oōzˌpāpər.

A "newspaper" can be the printed paper product, as in the following sentence: The newspaper is on the porch.

In such a context, "newspaper" can also be a synonym for "newsprint."

However, a "newspaper" can also be a news-gathering organization, as in: The newspaper pressured state officials to make the records available to the public.

Crazy as it sounds, some people seem likely to interpret that sentence to mean state officials were buried beneath many heavy bundles of newsprint until the physical pressure became so great that they agreed to make the records public, if only to escape further discomfort.

The dictionary — don't touch a keyboard without it.

Snarky? Perhaps, but you might be amazed to learn how many seemingly intelligent people argue this very point online, Merriam-Webster be damned.

The blog 10,000 Words provided a good case in point on Friday.

In a brave but somewhat bewildering attempt to debate the issue, 10,000 Words sought to respond to criticism for a Twitter post that related how rarely the blog's author reads newspapers:

"This morning I tweeted that I rarely read newspapers and instead use the internet as my source for news. This spawned outcries from journalists who lamented that the newspaper is where quality journalism resides and to deny that is ignorance. What many of the commenters failed to realize is the internet is itself made up of online newspapers and broadcast organizations — many of whose award-winning work is available online — in addition to other news sources such as blogs and online-only sites like the Huffington Post."

Context, people. Context.

* journalism-is-dead.com is the work of 10,000 Words, a feature that was created as "a nod to the doomsday predictions about the eventual collapse of journalism."

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Eli Broad: 'You Can't Afford to Lose'

Billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad explains why "you can't afford to lose newspaper journalism."

(via 92Y, MediaMemo and Fitz & Jen)

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'NPR is Cancelling All Newspaper Subscriptions'

Graphic by TJ Sullivan

If this is an early April Fool's joke, it's not very funny.

Romenesko at Poynter.org posted a copy of a memo Thursday from National Public Radio.

The subject line — "saving money."

The gist:

"As of April 1 NPR is cancelling all newspaper subscriptions."

Not that newspapers mind serving as tip sheets for radio and TV, among others, but, as observed by LA Observed, now these guys are going to be taking it for free.

Read the full memo at Poynter.org.

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Paper Cuts Put Boxers On the Ropes

By Mike Luckovich

The decline of boxing is a side effect of the newspaper crisis.

So says Kevin Iole, a columnist for Yahoo! Sports, and I'm inclined to agree.

As Iole explains, the fight game is in decline despite the existence of several thriving boxing Web sites.

The reason — Never underestimate the power of a good sports section.

Newspaper sports sections aren't simply popular because they cover sports. They're popular because they employ skilled professional writers who know how to speak to all readers, not just sports fanatics. Of course, not every sports section is good at this, but most of them are, and the ones that do it well not only look to feed the fans, but to educate new ones.

Much as the dictum "no cheering in the press box" has become a cliche, it's as true as it ever was. Sports writers can't be cheerleaders and reporters at the same time. Without a doubt, for every reader attracted by boosterism, hundreds more are put off by it.

The same is true for movie reviews, music reviews, theatre reviews, etc ...

Readers love to hear about a genuine winner, and good newspapers love to tell those kinds of tales. Stories like that generate excitement. They entertain. They can even bring communities together. It's just one more example of the crucial role newspapers play in American life.

It's also another good reason to spread the word about why we should all care about the crisis facing newspapers.

But don't just take my word for it. Here's a snippet from Kevin Iole's column:

“It’s hard to have a star when the sport is almost completely neglected by newspapers,” said Michael Katz, late of the New York Times and New York Daily News and one of the finest boxing writers ever. “Most newspaper sports editors don’t have a clue about boxing and don’t even consider it when they’re planning their coverage.”

The sport has a thriving following on the Internet, where there is more information available than ever before. There is a website in which you can access the fight-by-fight record of nearly every boxer ever. There are websites that breathlessly deliver even the most mundane boxing news.

There are tremendous amounts of video of boxing available on the web and there are forums where fans can chat about it all day and all night.

The problem is, most of the fans who go to those sites are already hardcore fans.

“The websites are basically preaching to the converted,” said Katz, who is semi-retired and living in Las Vegas.

There aren’t, though, newspaper reporters who are spending the time to learn the fighters and who make the boxers larger-than-life figures to the readers of the paper. It was common many years ago for beat writers to stay in a fighter’s camp the entire time he was in training, just as baseball’s beat writers now make the annual trek to either Florida or Arizona to chronicle spring training.

Read the rest at Yahoo! Sports.

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'Bad News for Newspapers'

The New York Times has mapped out the tale of woe for newspapers nationwide. Click the map icon to visit their page.

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Miami Herald Staff Slashed By 175

The Miami Herald, which is owned by the McClatchy Co., announced Wednesday that it plans to cut 19 percent of its staff -- that's 175 positions -- as well as require weeklong, unpaid furloughs and salary reductions for those who remain.

Salary reductions are planned to be as high as 10 percent for employees earning more than $50,000 a year.

The Herald's publisher, David Landsberg, is reported to have said the following in an e-mail to employees:

''About 175 employees will lose their jobs as a result, and we will eliminate another 30 vacant positions, for a total reduction of 205. Reductions will occur in all areas of our operation and at every level in the organization ...''

[Snip ...]

"While there will be tightening of news pages on various days, we have worked hard to maintain our newspapers at the quality level our readers have come to expect.''

Meanwhile McClatchy Watch has been keeping tally of the layoff announcements at several other McClatchy papers, including The Fresno Bee, which reported Wednesday that it will lay off 63 staffers, reduce salaries, eliminate management bonuses, and make other unstated changes to reduce newsprint costs.

Other McClatchy cuts in California include those taking place at The Sacramento Bee, where 128 jobs will be eliminated -- about 11 percent.

The Modesto Bee expects to cut 11 newsroom employees, and wages will be cut by 2 percent to 10 percent for most of the remaining staff.

Another McClatchy paper, The Kansas City Star, reported that it expects to cut about 150 positions, or 15 percent of its workforce.

The Telegraph, a McClatchy paper in Macon, Georgia, plans to cut 18 staffers and reduce pay.

Many other McClatchy papers also are making cuts. See the list at McClatchy Watch.

Also see the post at Romenesko.

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