Just like the news on TV?

An economist at Hunter College says the Internet will reshape journalism so that there are fewer journalists overall and those who remain will be paid better. Since the former has already happened and the latter doesn't seem to be, what's her rationale?:

People who do read internet news focus on many fewer sources than what we see in the hard news or the old fashioned newspaper, physical paper world. That means that the journalist whose articles were at the back page of Section B at a middle of the road newspaper is probably not going to see too much readership in the future. Instead, some of the best reporters and the most insightful commentary will come from fewer and fewer sources. But these reporters will have national reputations, and those reputations will be well-financed both from media itself and also from books and speaking engagements.

That's basically the television model. Fewer faces needed to deliver a blander version of the days top stories in an easily digestible form. At first blush, the Internet version of this would seem to be more of a merit system, where the best journalists flourish and build a regional or national audience, and the weaker get left behind. But as we know from the television model, the best aren't necessarily the faces you see or voices you hear. That's television news companies see news as a secondary product. Higher pay isn't dolled out to the best investigators or strongest beat reporters, it's given to those who can handle exposure, know how to maintain a brand identity and have faces that can be marketed to the public. Corporations more often pick people not based on skill at doing journalism, but who are attractive enough to pull in audience.

If the Hunter College professor is right in her assessment, something similar could happen to written journalism. That doesn't mean good journalism goes away, but it means the career filters are controlled by companies more attuned to the TV model than the newspaper one. And big, tough investigations aren't the things I see on "Meet the Press" or "Good Morning America."

Canadian journalist killed in Afghanistan

Canadian journalist Michelle Lang, a 34-year-old reporter at the Calgary Herald, was killed Wednesday along with four soldiers when a roadside bomb hit the armored vehicle they were traveling in:

She is the first Canadian journalist to die in the Afghan war since Canada joined the international mission in 2002, and is believed to be the first Herald reporter ever killed on the job in the paper’s 126-year history.

She was on a six-week assignment in Afghanistan.

The dangers of reporting south of the border

The Los Angeles Times had a chilling piece earlier this week about the perils of being a reporter covering Mexico's drug wars:

The government assigned bodyguards to the crime reporter for El Tiempo newspaper in Durango, but as time wore on and there were so many other crises, the escorts were withdrawn. A couple of days later, he was snatched by gunmen; his strangled, bruised body was discovered at nightfall.

With the corpse was a hand-scrawled message: "This happened to me for giving information to soldiers and writing too much."

Antuna, who died last month, was the third journalist killed in Durango since May and one of as many as 12 reporters and media workers slain in Mexico this year...

Downtown gets smaller

The L.A. Downtown News has eliminated free distribution of its paper in several communities. Here's the note to readers:

Over the holidays we at L.A. Downtown News made a permanent adjustment to our distribution. We are now concentrating our free distribution more narrowly on Downtown and its close-in environs. We have kept all our historic distribution throughout Downtown, Echo Park and Silverlake – nearly 1000 locations. But we stopped distribution to Pasadena, Glendale and Larchmont. Apologies to readers in those areas a little further from Downtown, but it just got too expensive to keep anything other than our primary distribution.

"Frontline" founder decries commercialism in public journalism

In a speech at USC, David Fanning, the founding producer of "Frontline," criticized public television and public radio stations for the "shameful" act of using sponsorships to sell products. Here's part of what he said:

I am particularly concerned about a threat to our essential public identity. This is already happening. They're called “sponsorships”, but they are essentially commercials all over public broadcasting websites, local and national, radio and television. I’ve argued strenuously that we are threatening our special status as non-commercial media ... we all swim in a sea of commercialism, and that’s precisely why we need to keep ourselves clean of it.

One day, I’m afraid, when most of our work is experienced on the web, we will wake up and the public will say we’re no different from the rest of them. Why should we give you our membership money? And why should the government give you our tax dollars?

(via Romenesko)

TMZ slips on own scoop*,**,***

This morning TMZ went live with what it claimed to be a damning photograph of John F. Kennedy, pre-presidency, relaxing on a yacht as four naked women frolicked nearby. From TMZ:

TMZ has obtained a never-before published photograph which appears to show John F. Kennedy on a boat filled with naked women -- it's a photo that could have altered world events.

It was, as the headline blared, "the photo that could have changed history."

Except that isn't JFK in the photo. After gaining assurances from this expert that photo was probably taken in the 1950s and showed no signs of being Photoshopped, and talking to JFK biographers who said the man in the photo looked a lot like JFK, TMZ later learned the picture was published in Playboy in 1967 - four years after JFK was assassinated.

Aside from the "too good to be true" nature of the photo, which should have caused TMZ to be more skeptical than usual, perhaps this line, from the original post, could have provided a hint that something about the photo's alleged provenance was fishy:

The photo was eventually given to a man who owned a car dealership on the East coast. The man kept it in a drawer for years, and would brag to friends he had an image of JFK on a boat with naked women. The man died 10 years ago and one of his sons inherited the photo.

So, after the Warren Commission investigation, decades of hardcore conspiracy nuts scouring every record for new evidence about a plot to kill JFK, and a raft of auctions that drove up the price on anything Kennedy ever sneeze on, a car dealer "on the East coast" somehow got hold of what is clearly a posed photo of a young JFK and his naked nymphs, and tucked it away in his desk, only to will it to his son? No names, no dates, no locales? No when, why or how?

*Update: And what's next for the purveyor of "unvarnished celebrity coverage"? Sports, according to the New York Times (via LA Observed). The story has TMZ founder Harvey Levin making noise about expanding further into Washington, DC.

**Update II: The Smoking Gun has more on the photo, which originally ran in color under the title "Charter Yacht Party." The man in the photo is "Andy," a paid model.

***Update III: A basic tenet of journalism is that you don't run story if you can't properly explain its origins. It's no coincidence then that TMZ got duped over a photo it could only vaguely tie to a nameless auto dealer from a nameless East coast town. And yet, Harvey Levin had this to say about getting hoodwinked: “We’re not happy about it, but this is part of journalism.”

NPR's version of hyperlocal

The folks at NPR have started hiring staffers to oversee Project Argo, a collaboration with local NPR affiliates set to launch this summer.

With $3 million in seed money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Knight Foundation, NPR will hire bloggers for two-year stints at several local stations to do beat reporting. As I understand it, the stories are supposed to enhance the coverage of the local stations while giving NPR a well of localized material to draw upon.

Here are the participating stations:

KPBS (San Diego); KPCC (Southern California); KQED (San Francisco); KALW (San Francisco); OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting); KPLU (Tacoma/Seattle); MPR (Minnesota Public Radio); WAMU (DC); WXPN (Philadelphia) ; WNYC (New York); WBUR (Boston); and WGBH (Boston).

NPR is all about collaboration these days, so I'd expect Project Argo, if successful, to become a seed for other media partnerships in these areas.

(found via Romensko)

Blog about newspapers folds

McClatchy Watch is the latest newspaper blog to go dark. The author explains in a Dec. 23 post that he'll stop blogging for good to spend more with work and family.

Daily Breeze reporter headed to LA Weekly*

Gene Maddaus, who covered the city of Carson and politics for the Daily Breeze, has accepted a job as a staff writer at the LA Weekly. From the newsroom memo (via LA Observed):

We have hired a reporter to fill our staff writer opening. Gene Maddaus of the Daily Breeze will come aboard Jan. 11.

Gene is an energetic, tough-minded reporter who has laid down a lot of shoe leather working at three newspapers in Southern California. He has an impressive record of enterprise and investigative work, stories he turned out at a time when that kind of reporting is harder to execute at daily newspapers.

At the Daily Breeze, Gene covered politics and Carson City Hall for more than three years. Before that, he covered the city of Pasadena for the Pasadena Star-News. He began his newspaper career at the Inland Valley Times, a now-defunct Times Community newspaper.

Gene is a 2000 graduate of Syracuse University in 2000. He grew up in Maine.

Gene also is a a former colleague of mine and I wish him the best.

*Update: Memo from Daily Breeze City Editor Frank Suraci:

To all,

Congratulations are in order for our colleague Gene Maddaus, who will be leaving the staff in two weeks to join LA Weekly. Gene has done solid work for us covering politics and the city of Carson and we'll miss his firebrand reporting style.

Join me in wishing Gene the best as he moves along to the next chapter of his career.

Frank

P.S. Haven't heard from Jim Dear yet, but I imagine he'll consider this the best Christmas gift a guy could get.

For those not immersed in Carson politics, Jim Dear is the city's mayor.

Daily News reporter departs

After five years as a beat writer for the Los Angeles Daily News, Sue Doyle is leaving to do freelance. LA Observed has a memo from Daily News editor Carolina Garcia praising Doyle's work and promising a goodbye cake. You can read it here.

MediaNews memo to staff

MediaNews Group executives Dean Singleton and Jody Lodovic sent a year-end memo to staff last week. The execs touted a few achievements...

Such as being less bad on the advertising side:

While advertising revenue has been severely challenged, your performance has been near the top of the industry throughout 2009. For the three-month period ended September, for example, your advertising revenue declined 24% as compared to the industry decline of 28.2%.

And staying out of bankruptcy court:

We have been working closely with our banks to restructure our debt and position MediaNews Group to execute its strategies and lead our newspapers into a positive future. Yes, we believe newspapers have a bright future! We are near agreement on the terms of a restructuring plan which we expect will be completed toward the end of the first quarter of 2010. Upon completion, MediaNews expects to have a manageable level of debt, and we look forward to working with each of you to take your newspapers into a changing but exciting future.

They offered some praise of the shrunken newsrooms as well:

While we, like others, have had no choice but to trim news staffs, we have tried to consolidate infrastructure to preserve reporting staff when possible. And with hard work and creativity, your newsrooms have re-invented themselves and continue to do excellent journalism.

But what staffers wanted to hear about was anything to do with future layoffs, hiring freezes or furloughs. On that front, the executives offered positive thinking but few reassurances:

As we near the end of 2009, you may have questions regarding annual reviews, 401(k) contributions, health care benefits, and future furloughs, etc. While it is our hope and desire to reinstate Company-wide salary reviews and 401(k) contributions as soon as possible and avoid future furloughs, it is premature to make those decisions.

The full memo is here.

A humbled New York Times

The recent layoffs and buyouts at the New York Times have shown the last invulnerable media institution is vulnerable just like the rest. The result is a shock to the system that could bring lasting cultural changes at the paper. From the NYTPicker blog:

It's a far cry from the NYT culture that once gave new hires the confidence that they had been given a job for life. In decades past, a reporter past his prime might be sent to cover New Jersey, or assigned to real estate -- and there they would linger until they were either old or bored enough to retire. Those days are over.

-snip-

"You can't rest on the fact that you once wrote a great story five years ago," one reporter told us. "Now it's all about what you did six months ago. Three. You're being evaluated constantly, and if you don't measure up, you're gone."

Leaner and meaner isn't always a good thing, but it is reality.

*Update, 12/21: Perhaps sensing the unease, New York Times editor Bill Keller sent out a memo to reassure staff that no further cuts are being planned.

PBS to play ratings game

Under pressure from corporate sponsors, PBS has made a deal to have Nielsen Company rate its programs. From the New York Times:

The public broadcaster will announce on Monday that, for the first time, it has subscribed to full-time television ratings from the Nielsen Company. The subscription provides PBS sponsors with detailed information about the audiences for “Antiques Roadshow,” “Frontline,” “Sesame Street” and dozens of other programs.

-snip-

The deal with Nielsen does not entirely level the playing field between PBS and commercial networks. PBS isn’t signing up for overnight ratings; it won’t be comparing “Masterpiece Theatre” with “The Mentalist” anytime soon. Instead, it is ordering weekly ratings, because some of the programs it provides to member stations are shown at different times.

Although PBS isn't going as far as commercial television, the demand for ratings data does show how important audience numbers have become for all forms of media - whether it be page counts on newspaper websites, Arbitron numbers for public radio, or a Nielsen's weekly count for PBS.

Employee lawsuit against Sam Zell moves ahead

A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit filed by current and former Los Angeles Times employees against Tribune Co. chairman Sam Zell can move ahead. The suit alleges Zell "diminished the value of the employee-owned company to benefit himself and his fellow board members."

The unkindest cut

To save money, McClatchy Co., the owner of the Sacramento Bee, is contemplating a big cut to the severance pay for laid off workers, according to Sacramento News & Review.

Not much cheer here

In what might be his final chance to do so, Joe Strupp of the soon-to-be shuttered Editor & Publisher put out his Top Ten Newspaper Industry Stories for the year. Here's number one:

JOBS, JOBS, JOBS - More than 40,000 newspaper jobs were lost in 2009, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is nearly twice the 21,000 cut in 2008 and more than any single year in the past 10 years. Even with furloughs, salary cuts and numerous retirement fund freezes, publishers lopped off a tragic number of positions, even as they sought to expand online and, of course, increase workloads for those who remain. The count at the end of 2009 is 284,220 jobs. In 1999, that number was at 424,500. If things don't slow down, any attempt to properly cover news, and write and edit it, will be lost if it hasn't been already.

Adding to the tally this week are the Los Angeles Times and New York Times, which are laying off as many as 66 newsroom staffers between them.

Of course, 2009 has been cruel to workers across the spectrum. But even if the economy turns around, it's unlikely newspaper companies plan to add 40,000 to the payrolls next. So, will we finally see a robust and sustainable online newsroom take shape in 2010? Is "hyperlocal" still the mantra of the managers? Are we going to have to suffer through another year of "walled gardens" vs. "link economy" debates? Stay tuned.

ProPublica finds failings in Solis' labor department

ProPublica reports that Hilda Solis, a former San Gabriel Valley congresswoman, has failed as Labor Secretary to enforce federal laws designed to protect civilian contractors who are injured while working overseas. From the story:

The department is responsible for overseeing a workers compensation system in which insurance carriers provide coverage to civilians working on overseas federal contracts. Such policies are funded by taxpayers.

But the department has failed to pursue sanctions against corporations accused of ignoring federal requirements to purchase such insurance, according to a ProPublica review of court cases, federal records and interviews with worker advocates.

The department has also taken no action in cases where insurance carriers allegedly provided false or misleading information to the federal government to terminate medical benefits for injured civilians–another potential crime under the law, known as the Defense Base Act.

The lack of enforcement has allowed carriers and contract companies to abuse the system by avoiding or blocking payments, forcing contractors to spend months and sometimes years battling carriers in court for benefits, claimants and their attorneys said.

The story is written by former L.A. Times reporter T. Christian Miller.

Leader of Sinoloa cartel killed by Mexican authorities

The Los Angeles Times reports that Arturo Beltran Leyva, the leader of Mexico's largest drug cartel, was killed today by Mexican forces. The story is here.

NYT layoffs

New York Magazine has listed some of the journalists laid off by the New York Times. The paper has a goal of eliminating 100 newsroom positions and, after a round of buyouts, looks to hand out 26 pink slips this week.

Here's the list so far:

Eric Konigsberg — Culture
Sara Rimer — National
Christine Hauser — Metro
Josh Barbanel — Real Estate
Mitch Blumenthal — Continuous News
Kate Galbraith — Business
Allen Salkin — Styles
Monica Evanchik — Web

Four today

1. Steve Lambert at the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group is merely asking for suggestions; the Miami Herald is asking readers for donations. NBC Miami

2. Dan Kennedy defends journalists' use of anonymous sources (and I agree with him). The Guardian

3. Layoffs at the New Republic. Politico

4. Edmund Andrews, the New York Times economics reporter who wrote about his mortgage problems, has taken a buyout from the paper (but not so he can make his mortgage, he says). NYO

Late circulation update

Back in October, I posted the circulation numbers for most of L.A. County's daily newspapers. I wasn't able to get numbers for two of the papers until now. Here's the update:

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune saw its weekday circulation fall to 33,387, down from 37,594 a year ago. That's an 11 percent drop. The Whittier Daily News fell to 13,076 from 14,563, a decline of 10 percent.

A small sliver of a silver lining: The Pasadena Star-News saw a 1 percent increase in Sunday circulation and the Whittier Daily News saw a 2 percent increase.

What's up with the Times' OC printing plant?

Some of the press workers at the Los Angeles Times think the paper will shutter its Orange County printing plant in the coming months. A report on Ed Padgett's blog has fueled the speculation, which seems to be based largely on insider rumor. I'll update if I see anything concrete one way or the other.

Deadline, Los Angeles Times*

Today is the day for layoffs at the Los Angeles Times. Kevin Roderick at LA Observed reports that notifications started going out this morning - he spotted a Tweet from Calendar writer Elina Shatkin saying she was now a "former Los Angeles Times staff writer."

Roderick also says the Times is trying to woo back Richard Serrano to cover L.A. County for the paper. Serrano used to work in the paper's Washington bureau. He landed at the Las Vegas Sun in August, but was laid off as part of cost-cutting plan.

*Update: A few names are trickling out over at LA Observed. They include: science writer John Johnson, outdoors reporter Pete Thomas, and sports staffer Mark Medina. Roderick continues:

Three photographers and a photo editor got tapped, and at least one books staffer is leaving. I posted yesterday about Elina Shatkin, and earlier about the departures of arts writer Suzanne Muchnic and Jerusalem bureau correspondent Richard Boudreaux. I'm told that, in Orange County, columnist-turned-staff writer Dana Parsons has decided to leave at the end of the year.

**Update II, 12/18: Kevin Roderick at LA Observed adds a few more names to the list of laid off and bought out. LAO

Furloughs in the north

Management at the Singleton-owned Monterey County Herald, has asked workers to agree to take a week's unpaid furlough next year in exchange for a three-month's reprieve from any layoffs. From the guild website:

The one-week furlough would save $53,000, company representatives said. If Guild members reject the furlough, the company maintains the right under the Guild contract to lay off employees.

In requesting the furlough during a meeting with the Guild today, MediaNews counsel Marshall Anstandig cited a continued decline in advertising revenue at the Herald.

If Guild members approve the furlough, the company will guarantee that no layoffs will occur through March 31, 2010.

After March 31, the company said it would provide notice to the Guild should layoffs become necessary and meet with the Guild to consider any volunteers who’d be willing to quit to save the job of an employee who otherwise would be laid off.

Four in the morning*

1. New York Times environmental reporter Andrew Revkin is one of the 70 or so news staffers who took a recent buyout, but he plans to continue his Dot Earth blog at the paper. CJR

2. Former Los Angeles Times reporter Steve Hymon says working for the government (he writes for the MTA) isn't any worse, and may be better, than working for a newspaper. Neon Tommy via LA Observed

3. David Carr at the New York Times writes that the Wall Street Journal's news coverage is taking a conservative turn under Rupert Murdoch's management, and the Wall Street Journal's editor in chief says the New York Times is just jealous. NYT and Poynter (*Update: Carr responds to the uproar via Twitter: Did not intend WSJ col. as purpose punch. Love WSJ, noticed political drift. Wrote what I saw. Not trying to pick fight or carry water.)

4. The new mantra for journalism is cooperation and, to that end, the New Orleans Times-Picayune has teamed up with ProPublica and Frontline to investigate questionable police shootings in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. ProPublica

SGVN reaches out to readers

Steve Lambert, editor and publisher of the three newspapers in the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group, wrote a column that asks readers to send in suggestions for how to improve the newspapers and make them more useful to subscribers. From the column:

What would you change about your newspaper? About our Web site?

What do you like? What would you add?

Is there a topic you would like us to delve into, or a feature you would like us to include?

In simplest terms, what can we do to become a more indispensable part of your lives?

In the coming weeks, we'll take that information and make it part of our strategic planning process - again to better align us with your expectations.

Don't know if this is related, but some newsroom reporters have been summoned to SGVN headquarters in West Covina for training.

After the storms

Guy McCarthy at Watershed News photographed parts of the San Gabriel Valley foothills and mountains on Saturday and Sunday mornings to show what the storms had done. Ducks, snow, mud and more.

(photo courtesy of Watershed News)

The corrections

In this week's medical marijuana wars...

On Thursday, Vince Beiser at Huffington Post criticizes the LA Weekly's coverage of L.A.'s medical marijuana dispensaries, calling it "half baked." He says the paper did a fine job of chronicling the city's hapless effort to regulate pot clubs, but then repeated without evidence claims that the clubs attract crime. From HuffPo:

But the reporters leap from those carefully collected facts into pure hype about how pot shops are breeding crime. We are told that there is "rising crime in and around them," that "20 unregulated pot dispensaries (are) attracting crime in ... Eagle Rock", and that LAPD Chief Charlie Beck says, "They are the hub of crime ... A lot of nighttime break-ins and robberies." Not one of these scary-sounding claims is backed up with a single statistic.

Crime stats are easy to gather -- you can find them mapped block-by-block on the LAPD's website.

On Friday, the LA Weekly strikes back. But HuffPo isn't the target. Instead, the paper launches a two-pronged critique of the Los Angeles Times and NPR for their coverage of the same issue, saying they don't have their facts straight. From the Weekly:

Maybe NPR has been reading too much of the Los Angeles Times coverage of this city's pot shop problem, or maybe one of its reporters is relying too heavily on the word of local politicians, but a recent post on the NPR blog gets many facts wrong about L.A.'s medical weed ordinance and all the hub-bub surrounding it.

Can't we all just mellow out?

GOP fashion statement

The Orange County Register snapped a shot of Irvine Councilman and Assembly candidate Steven Choi wearing a picture of Nancy Pelosi as Joseph Stalin on his back. The indecorous decoration angered liberal blogger Dan Chmielewski:

To portray Pelosi as Stalin, a mass murderer of millions during his reign of power, is nothing short of outrageous. Choi owes the Speaker an apology. He owes his fellow city council members an apology. He owes the residents of this city an apology for his embarrassing antics.

But Choi is comfortable with his use of tea party-esque agitprop. He told the Register:

I'm a Republican Party member and went there to express my disapproval of her policies ... I have big concerns with what is going on with the government pushing down the mandated health issues ... As a small businessman it would impact me.

Four in the morning

1. Remember when Dean Singleton said that it no longer mattered "whether your [news] desk is down the hall or around the world"? Well, more and more newspaper owners find themselves in agreement as they make plans to outsource their news desk functions. Alan Mutter

2. The New York Times plans to lay off as many as 26 editorial employees in the coming days to reach its goal of eliminating 100 positions - 76 newsroom staffers agreed to take buyouts. NY Post

3. The metro editor for the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group reviews the "Climategate" controversy and concludes that global warming is a hoax. SGV Tribune *(McClatchy has a primer on "Climategate" here.)

4. Time magazine and CNNMoney "de-clutter" their web pages to make room for bigger ads and cross promotion: "Time.com is also pushing its content partners like Huffington Post, AOL, and others in a prominent box of current headlines in the right rail of the page." min online

Editor & Publisher to shut down

Perhaps marking the reality that there are fewer and fewer editors and publishers, Nielsen Business Media announced today that it will shutter the newspaper trade magazine Editor & Publisher. E&P has been around since 1884.

The company also plans to sell a number of its brands, including The Hollywood Reporter, to Global Media Holdings.

From E&P:

Greg Mitchell, editor since 2002, has hailed the staff and accomplishments, including a dozen major awards and strong showing on the Web for many years. Some staff writers/editors have been at E&P for a quarter of a century. "I'm shocked that a way was not found for the magazine to continue it some form -- and remain hopeful that this may still occur," he said.

Four in the morning

1. Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times, is looking to diversify its advertising dollar with Tribune Hispanic. Ed Padgett

2. The Los Angeles Times has hired Jack Dolan of the Miami Herald to beef up its database journalism in Sacramento. LAO

3. Newspapers' silver lining rides on a big gray cloud. Alan Mutter

4. Are we all becoming pawns on a vast digital chessboard? Newsweek

Wolinsky to Daily Variety

Leo Wolinsky, a former editor at the Los Angeles Times and a driving force behind The Journalism Shop, will become editor of Daily Variety, the magazine reports.

(found via LA Observed)

A little off the top in Oregon, Tampa

The two top editors at the Oregonian and the Tampa Tribune, both of whom are women, have announced that they will step down.

Sandra Mims Rowe, who led the Oregonian to five Pulitzers in her 16 years at the helm, leaves as the paper prepares for a round of layoffs - she said the paper has too many top editors to justify the expense of keeping her on.

Tribune editor Janet Coats has shepherded her paper through six rounds of layoffs since 2005. She said she chose now to resign because the paper is now on more stable financial footing.

(found via Romenesko)

Just a thought

In the online age, the "metrics" a news organization enlists to measure success will determine what that organization becomes. If "most viewed" is most important, you will become a journal of popular appeal.

The measure is the message.

CSM, McClatchy to share Baghdad bureau

The Christian Science Monitor and McClatchy plan to share the costs, staffing and duties of a Baghdad bureau starting next year. McClatchy will also reopen its bureau in Mexico.

From the memo:

"For 2010, McClatchy will have foreign bureaus in Beijing, Cairo, Kabul, Mexico City and in Baghdad, where we'll be sharing staffing and expenses with The Christian Science Monitor. We're still working out the final arrangements, but we and the Monitor will rotate reporters through the Baghdad bureau, and we'll share the costs of housing, local staff, in-country transportation, etc. The main Monitor reporters, whose work you'll be seeing regularly, will be Jane Arraf, whose work you may know from CNN, and Scott Peterson, who happily is also an expert on Iran."

Here's the link: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=174506

-- Posted From Phone

The bottom line

The search for silver linings has already started in response to yesterday's announcement that the Dallas Morning News would have section editors report to sales managers and sales managers oversee content.

In analyzing the "business/news integration" scheme, Berkeley journalism professor Alan Mutter writes that "maybe - just maybe - this isn't such a bad idea." He goes on:

Instead of the advertising people infecting news coverage, maybe – just maybe – the creative energy and constructive skepticism of the newsroom will rub off on the ad guys, who sorely need all the help they can get.

Even if this were true, which I don't think it is, the first flaw is having the sales staff in charge of the journalists. If the Dallas Morning News switched this dynamic around, maybe there would be less to worry about. Maybe.

But there are better ways to "integrate" the news and business sides of a news organization without inviting corrupting forces into the newsroom. Management at the Dallas Morning News wants to cast all of this as a tension between advertisements and stories, and so they say that stories will not be written for or about advertisers. But the problem isn't so much what gets covered, it's what doesn't get covered - and that's much harder to measure.

What beats don't fit the integration plan? Which reporters don't get the resources to pursue certain lines of inquiry? Which story ideas get the stink eye from ad manager? I doubt that the outside advertisers will be the ones bringing pressure to bear, it's going to be the sales managers inside the paper. They are going to test what coverage draws in readers or ad money, and they will in turn make sure that the newsroom resources - and the niche products - are targeted in that direction.

All of which makes me wonder: If business is so bad you have to compromise fundamental principles, what exactly is it that you're trying to save?

What ZevPost costs

So how much does Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky spend to run the county news website his office launched last month? According to Chief Deputy Supervisor Alisa Belinkoff Katz, $113,400 a year.

She broke it all down in an email:

The website is paid for utilizing funds from Supervisor Yaroslavsky's office budget. We have two part-time Web News Writers who are paid $3,000 a month each. We currently have a contract with a web developer for $3,000 a month. We also have a contract for hosting of the website that costs $450 a month (it would have cost us $1200 a month had we used the County's servers for this purpose). Special Project's Deputy Joel Sappell edits the site in addition to his many other duties. Finally, each of our staff members contributes ideas and, occasionally, copy and photos for the site.

Selling the news*,**

The Dallas Morning News has decided to tear down the wall that separates editorial and advertising, having concluded the wall is a barrier to revenue. In a memo to staff, Morning News Editor Bob Mong says editors will now report to sales managers and sales managers, in turn, will have a hand in content. It's all about "business/news integration."

From the memo:

To better align with our clients' needs, we will be organized around eleven business and content segments with similar marketing and consumer profiles including: sports, health/education, entertainment, travel/luxury, automotive, real estate, communications, preprints/grocery, recruitment, retail/finance, and SMB/Interactive.

Each segment will be led by a General Manager (GM), a newly-defined role, each reporting to Cyndy Carr, charged with analyzing and growing the business by developing solutions that meet consumer needs and maximize results for our clients. Their responsibilities will include sales and business development. They will also be working closely with news leadership in product and content development.

The amount of jargon needed to explain the proposal is a first sign of trouble. Robert Wilonsky at the Dallas Observer did his best to pin down Mong about what all this means and Wong made an unconvincing effort to brush off concerns. Mong does draw a line between stories and ads, but he sidesteps issues of whether moneymaking pressures will have a direct role in how and what the newsroom covers.

One remaining barrier to prevent unethical behavior, Mong told Wilonsky, is the team of journalists employed at the paper:

Believe me, our journalists aren't shy. If they think this thing isn't working right, they'll be the first to tell you. I talked to a lot of people yesterday, and, yes, there's uneasiness in some areas, and I would have been disappointed if people didn't raise questions.

That's all well and good, but journalists aren't angels. They feel pressure when their jobs are on the line (and will notice that the sales people are in charge). They accommodate higher ups. They aim to please. Moreover, you are what you practice. If you eliminate the wall, eventually people start acting like it's gone. Just take a look at the local television news.

All that said, the integration plan does not appear to include core beats in business or Metro. But it's not clear why they would be kept separate if management, which thinks this new regime is safe and ethical, starts to make money.

A lot of newspapers, including ones in the Los Angeles area, have danced around the separation barrier by creating hybrid general manager/executive editor/publisher slots that give the business side a say in content creation. Most of the time, the influence is limited to special sections and advertorial pieces. The Dallas Morning News has gone much further, and it wouldn't surprise me if it emboldened other newspaper chains to follow suit.

*Update: Although the Dallas Observer reports that the memo went out to all Belo papers, I'm told no one at the Riverside Press-Enterprise received it. It appears this only involves the Dallas Morning News - for now.

**Update II: Dallas Morning News publisher Jim Moroney tells the Dallas Observer that the "business/news integration" plan is about developing niches to attract customers (i.e., making more money). He says the concerns about breaching journalistic standards is "much ado about nothing":

We are trying to understand the local consumer -- what kind of relevant, important news and information does the consumer want in a particular category -- and try to build audience loyalty and more engagement by trying to find the content people most want and that's most relevant and most important. And if we do that, it attracts an audience.

-snip-

No one will tell Lisa they have to put this picture of this restaurant in the Guide because they're an advertiser. No one will tell Leslie Brenner which restaurant to review.

This is much ado about nothing, and I guess at the end of the day the only way I'll convince people is to tell them to check back in 90 days, 180 days, 365 days and see if anything has changed.

Embrace your inner Dumpster diver

Joe Mathews of the New America Foundation argues that journalists could learn a thing or two from the methods employed by anti-ACORN activists to dig up dirt on the organization:

The best thing about the anti-ACORN reporting is that it may revive two journalistic methods that have long been dismissed as sleazy: surreptitious taping and dumpster diving on journalistic subjects.

In a skeptical age, there is no substitute for getting the goods: the video that shows the subject damning herself with her own words, the documents that demonstrate malfeasance. As institutions become more sophisticated about dodging journalistic inquiry, journalists need every investigative tool to hold institutions accountable.

But mainstream news organizations have shied away from these tactics, in large part because of terrible state laws and precedent that, in the name of privacy, protect powerful people and institutions against investigation.

Before investigative reporters run out and buy pimp and hooker gear, it's important to remember that the real differences between journalists and the anti-ACORN crowd is motive.

Yes, journalists should be more persistent and push more envelopes, tough to do in this age 24/7 deadlines, distractions and shrinking staffs. But the anti-ACORN folks resorted to unusual tactics because they were fixated on finding dirt, and because they have a political agenda. Is that really the role of the press? Should reporters learn to hack email chains, given the revelations discovered in what's now known as Climategate?

That being said, I don't know how many important stories lie at the bottom of a Dumpster. I'm sure there's a time when you have to jump in. Changing the law will be difficult because mostly because the trash rats are likely to be paparazzi sifting through celebrity garbage. Still, one can see the benefit of grabbing documents from, say, Countrywide's trash pile.

Secret phone calls seem less important to me, but maybe I'm not thinking creatively.

Say your name

From now on you'll have to use your name if you want to call somebody an a$@hole on the Voice of San Diego's site:

No more anonymous commenting on the website...

We want it to be civil and smart. Unfortunately, many of the conversations that take place underneath the articles on news websites devolve into name-calling, racist or sexist remarks, and other vulgarities. That's in no small part because of the veil provided by anonymity and a lack of moderating by news organizations.

That's also not the kind of conversation we're willing to host on our website. We will -- and already have for a long time -- moderate the posts to weed out overly personal attacks or unsubstantiated allegations. It's never been a perfect system, but we do our best. Comments aren't moderated to exclude a specific political view or shield us or others from legitimate criticism. And we don't discourage pointed or passionate discourse.

This isn't censorship or a 1st Amendment issue. This is a forum we're choosing to host and these are the rules we're asking people to abide by.

White House party crashers

The addition of reporters from such ideologically driven news sites as Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo to the White House press pool has traditional media members concerned.

Peter Baker of the New York Times, for one, worries about relying on pool feeds from journalists who work for organizations that not only eschew impartiality, but scorn the idea that reporters can be unbiased.

Baker's point is well taken. Although reporters from HuffPo and TPM should be part of the White House press corps, it's a bit tricky to rely on them for pool feeds. But let's turn Baker's assumption of bias on its head: Should the New York Times worry that HuffPo and TPM will adulterate the news coverage of other White House watchers with their partisan bias? Or should HuffPo and TPM worry that once they join the game they'll find themselves adopting the traditional rules and standards to survive?

Think back to the days of Hunter S. Thompson and "The Boys on the Bus." We had hard-charging nontraditional reporters with stronger personalities and greater talents, and they pushed changes in the way DC was covered. But the more conservative, middle-line survived. (Indeed, the biggest change seems to be the boom in bad television journalism.) While the New Journalists have their heirs, the standards and traditions survived and, in some ways, became even more rigid.

Rhoades out at the Daily Pilot

Daily Pilot Editor Brady Rhoades is leaving the paper for unspecified reasons after a year on the job. A brief in the paper said Glendale News-Press editor Dan Evans will serve as interim editor until a replacement can be hired.

The Daily Pilot is part of the six-paper Times Community News chain that includes the News-Press, Huntington Beach Independent and Burbank Leader.

Before he started at the Pilot, Rhoades was an editor at the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

Google lets publishers opt out*

Google will make it easier for newspaper publishers to pull their content from the Google News search engine, the Wall Street Journal reports, although the content will still show up on Google.com. The plan appears to be Google's attempt to placate the increasingly cranky media conglomerates who have seen their ad revenues drop while Google gets richer and richer.

From the WSJ:

The move, which will let publishers block their content from Google News automatically by adding code to their Web sites instead of by contacting Google through an online form, comes on the heels of Tuesday's announcement that Google will allow publishers to set a daily limit on the number of articles users can read for free through its search engine.

MediaNews owner Dean Singleton, who serves as chairman of the Associated Press, crowed a little at the offer:

"It's a signal that they're willing to work with the industry," said Mr. Singleton, whose company operates 54 daily newspapers in 11 states. "It may or may not be a shallow signal, but I take it as a positive move on their part."

*Update, 12/3: In the pages of today's Wall Street Journal, Google CEO Eric Schmidt tells newspaper publishers that they'd be better off using Google's tools than looking for lines of code to opt out:

The claim that we're making big profits on the back of newspapers also misrepresents the reality. In search, we make our money primarily from advertisements for products. Someone types in digital camera and gets ads for digital cameras. A typical news search—for Afghanistan, say—may generate few if any ads. The revenue generated from the ads shown alongside news search queries is a tiny fraction of our search revenue.

It's understandable to look to find someone else to blame. But as Rupert Murdoch has said, it is complacency caused by past monopolies, not technology, that has been the real threat to the news industry.

Daily News is hiring

The Los Angeles Daily News is looking for an online editor to replace Ryan Garfat, who is leaving to work for a new ESPN website. Daily News editor Carolina Garcia sent the job listing to LA Observed:

The ideal candidate will have at least five (5) years experience in online media and two (2) years in a management role. This person should be a visionary leader who can work in a fast-paced breaking news environment juggling long-term projects and day-to-day coverage.

The rest of the job description is here.

Michaels succeeds Zell

Amid speculation that Sam Zell could be pushed out of Tribune Co. as a result of last year's bankruptcy filing, the company's board of directors today announced that Randy Michaels will take over from Zell as chief executive officer of the company. Zell will continue on as chairman of the board.

Here's Zell's memo to staff:

Today we are announcing a transition in Tribune’s leadership. Acting upon my recommendation, the board of directors has appointed Randy CEO and has elected him to the board. I will continue as Tribune’s Chairman, providing strategic oversight and vision to the company’s management team.

During the last two years, we’ve achieved a seismic shift in Tribune’s focus and culture—we’re moving in the right direction and into the New Year with energy and optimism.

I have complete faith in Randy’s judgment and leadership. No one will work harder for Tribune. There is a great future ahead.

Sam

The news comes a day after the judge in Tribune's bankruptcy case agreed to give the company until Feb. 28 to complete a reorganization plan.

Layoffs in Las Vegas*

An "unspecified number of layoffs" are part of a reorganization plan for the Las Vegas Sun, according to a staff report. The paper, which won a Pulitzer Prize last year, plans to merge its web and newspaper staffs as a way to save money.

From the Sun:

The changes were prompted ... by the need to better meet the information and marketing needs of the Las Vegas area and to create a sustainable business model in the face of the continued recession.

The story says the Associated Press and New York Times are also making staff cuts.

*Updated 12/2: About 20 staffers were laid off, according to a story on the Sun website.

Irony

As the one-year anniversary of Tribune Co.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing approaches, company owner Sam Zell has some advice for the government about debt.

From CNBC:

The US government will have to cut down on borrowing by giving up on some publicly-financed programs or face inflation in one or two years, Sam Zell, chairman of Equity Group Investment, told CNBC Tuesday.

"I do believe that the current administration is insensitive to the risks of the scale of debt we're creating," Zell told "Squawk Box."

If things do not change, it is "very hard to imagine" that the US is not going to be confronted with inflation in one or two years, he said.

Union-Tribune editor to step down

Karin Winner, the respected editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune, told staff today that she plans to step down at the end of the year after 15 years on the job.

Winner leaves after a year of turmoil at the newspaper, which lost a substantial portion of its newsroom after being sold to a private equity firm from Beverly Hills.

The paper's publisher, Ed Moss, formerly the head of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, said the paper will begin an immediate search for Winner's replacement.

From the U-T:

Winner began her career in 1976 as a reporter at The San Diego Union, rising through the management ranks and assuming the role of executive editor of the newly merged San Diego Union-Tribune in 1992 (the merger of The San Diego Union and Evening Tribune). Three years later, she took on the lead role of editor of the county’s largest daily newspaper.

The paper won two Pulitzer Prizes during Winner's reign, in 2006 and in 2009.

What we're searching for

Google Zeitgeist has listed the most searched news terms in the United States for 2009. Among the top categories were economy, health care, the Senate, green energy and the bailout.

"Swine flu" led the headline news searches, followed by "inauguration" and "Limbaugh". Queries about the bailout led to acronyms: "AIG", "TARP", and "GM" were the top three searches.

"Kennedy" was the top search among those interested in the U.S. Senate, and "Obama" led the list for queries about health care reform, with "HR 3200," the House reform bill, and "universal health care" in the second and third slot.

When it came to the economy, the top search term was "crisis", followed by "cash for clunkers". "Iceland", "California", and "recession" rounded out the top 5.

Among the issues that led to a spike in interest, "Nayda Suleman," the woman who had eight babies, topped the list. "Somali pirates" came in fourth place and "balloon boy" floated in at fifth.

Big search spikes also followed real life disasters, from the earthquake in Italy to the fires in Los Angeles.

The full GZ list is here.

(found via Nieman Journalism Lab)