From BANG to LANG?

MediaNews Group's decision to merge its 12 Bay Area newspapers into three has led to speculation that the company could do something similar with its nine Southern California papers, collectively known as the Los Angeles Newspaper Group.

I can only speculate myself, but I see the potential for structural mimicry if MediaNews succeeds in its stalled bid to buy the Orange County Register.

With the Register, LANG would look more like the Bay Area News Group did before yesterday's merger, with the Register playing the role of the Mercury News: a large paper with a statewide brand in a relatively affluent county that could serve as an editorial center of gravity for a larger region. The LANG papers already exist as three clusters of three, a structure that could be collapsed into two or three newspapers.

However, MediaNews would have to have a reason to further consolidate LANG. One obvious reason would be a desire to cut staff to lower costs - the BANG merger led to 120 layoffs. I might be wrong, but I think LANG was already leaner than BANG in terms of staff and so might not be able to stand such a huge "streamlining." (Indeed, the Register itself might be more vulnerable if cuts are a priority.)

Another reason could be that MediaNews actually believes the BANG model is more efficient and effective: Fewer brand names, a more uniform editorial approach, better positioning to do mobile, etc.

One reason MediaNews might leave LANG alone, even after a Register deal, would be to give it time to evaluate the Bay Area merger to see what works and what doesn't. Undoubtedly, there will be backlash from readers and circulation will probably drop (though the consolidation will mask some of this). But this feels like a post-print production plan and so BANG might be the guinea pig that gets isolated and studied until it recovers - or doesn't.

BANG goes boom

MediaNews Group announced today that its Bay Area News Group will undergo a major consolidation that will merge 12 newspapers into three and eliminate 120 jobs - 48 of the positions are in the newsroom, KQED reports. When all is finished, BANG will consist of the Mercury News, The Times and East Bay Tribune.

BANG is using words like "streamlining" and "rebranding" to describe the merging and cutting. The actions should not come as a surprise given the decision MediaNews made in June to consolidate editorial control of the papers.

Here's part of the story (which appears to have been written by an ad agency) published on the soon-to-be retooled Contra Costa Times website:

Bay Area News Group (BANG) today announced a rebranding of many of its newspapers to better reflect the scope of its regional coverage. The changes - which include a streamlining of its print operations - primarily involve its East Bay newspapers, and will result in greater emphasis on providing high-impact, regional and local coverage. 

-snip- 

The streamlining of its print operations will also result in a reduction of approximately 120 jobs - primarily in the production and editorial divisions - out of a local workforce of 1,500 employees.

Management at MediaNews will argue, as it does in the story, that this consolidation is about much more than job cuts; that its a necessary step to position the BANG as a competitive news outlet in the rough and tumble 21st century. And maybe this smaller knot of news power will get the job done. But we cannot overlook the fact that this recently bankrupt company is trying to raise $350 million to buy newspapers from Freedom Communications. And we know editorial power wanes when you eliminate four dozen news staffers.

Or as the San Francisco Chronicles' Carla Marinucci tweeted: “Corporate PR spin: Release from CA’s Bay Area News Group, announcing decimation of its newspaper/staff chain tday, calls it ‘rebranding.’” (found via Romenesko)

Stalled negotiations in bid for OC Register stall again

Europe is always doing something. And this time, that something is being blamed for delaying the sale of the Orange County Register.

According to the Wall Street Journal, MediaNews Group's $350 million bid to buy the Register and the rest of Freedom Communications's newspaper holdings stalled because of instability in the markets caused by the European debt crisis.

Talks stalled earlier this year over price, but apparently MediaNews, through a number of cost-cutting actions, offered enough money to get Freedom on board. The Journal says talks might resume in a few weeks, if the markets calm down a bit.

MediaNews extends paywalls

MediaNews Group today announced that 23 of its paper will go behind digital paywalls - at least part way. The affected papers include two in Southern California, the Whittier Daily News and the Redlands Daily Facts. Print subscribers will be charged $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year for full access; digital-only subscriptions cost $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year.

Under the plan, online home pages, obits and classified ads will remain free. Business, feature, and sport stories go behind the walls. This is an extension of the experiment MediaNews started last year in Chico, California and York, Pennsylvania.

My sense is the papers will depend on prep sports to drive print subscribers to pay a little extra. The papers are also some of the smallest in the MediaNews universe.

Here's how MediaNews is selling the paywall:

Our new digital business model reflects the high value we place on professional journalism and helps us to fund our local reporting at a time of unprecedented change in the way people use and consume news and information.

Four Thursday

1. Science writer Thomas Maugh departed the Los Angeles Times in what is expected to be an unrelenting month of layoffs and buyouts at the paper. LAO

2. Alan Mutter remains bearish on the newspaper business, despite all the cutbacks. Mutter

3. The Onion wants a paywall, but the Washington Post wants to stay free (for now). Romenesko

4. Gannett's Florida Today laid off 25 percent of its newsroom, bringing the total number of employees to 57. Gannett Blog

No bottled water under the Sun

Perhaps there are environmental factors behind this, but the decision to end water-cooler service at the San Bernardino Sun feels like a cost-savings move. Here's note to staffers:

Effective Thursday, August 11th we will be discontinuing the bottled water service at The Sun’s business office and production plant.  Just a reminder that we do have water fountains on both floors of both buildings.  Please use the water faucets in the break rooms for making coffee if there is not already a faucet located at your coffee station.

It's a time of belt-tightening everywhere. Santa Monica College, which owns the offices where I work, just gave up Sparkletts for Arrowhead, as a way to save money.

9/11 memorial in style

The Associated Press has published a style guide of 9/11 terms. The full list is here, courtesy of Nieman Journalism Lab.

Here's an example:

Flight 93
Acceptable in first reference for United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pa. Include airline name and context of crash in subsequent references. Flight 93 memorial is acceptable in all references for the Flight 93 National Memorial at the crash site.

The not-so way back machine

When I started in journalism, I used a phone and a computer that had no Internet connection. Sure we had a fax machine that spit out page after page of useless spam ads, and a modem that let us dial in to the local water district to get temps and rainfall totals, but there was nothing to pass the time when we weren't working.

And that was 1997.

Imagine what it was like in 1987! Heavy, bulky typewriters, rubber cement, hot wax, indoor smoking, and other forgotten horrors.

Well, the Journoterrorist set up an experiment to see what would happen:

Want to freak out a newsroom full of college journalists?

Sit them down at manual typewriters and ask them to plunk “2011″ onto a piece of paper. 

They’ll only make it halfway.“Mine’s broken!” one reporter at Florida Atlantic University yelled a couple of Saturdays ago, when we launched the inaugural ALL ON PAPER project. 

“There’s no number 1 key.” 

“This one is busted, too!” yelled another. 

“They’re not broken,” I replied. “Manual typewriters didn’t have a number 1 key. They used a lower-case L instead.”

The good old days. Oh, and here's a video (this is multimedia after all):

All on Paper from Tatiana Cohen on Vimeo.

I'm just overwhelmed

In response to those commenters who think I'm disappearing...

I'm not quitting the blogging business. I am taking a hiatus until I figure out how to do my new job in a more, um, efficient way. How long will this take? Who can say? But I'm sure the overwhelming feeling will pass soon enough.

Four Monday

1. The New Yorker has made more than $1.2 million on its iPad app. Apparently, some people still want to read. NYT

2. There's no future in pork bellies. NYT

3. How LA Times environmental writer Margot Roosevelt learned she was losing her job. LAO

4. Professional food journalists feeling pressure from the amateurs. Poynter