Four today

1. Hello walls. The Belo-owned Dallas Morning News is charging for online content: Newsonomics; The New York Times is set to launch it's own paywall: MarketWatch; and Gannett now wants to charge, too: Bloomberg

2. James Fallows embraces inevitability. Atlantic

3. A way to rescue investigative pieces from stagnation? Nieman Journalism Lab

4. Actor seeks intern to help with new job hunt. Internships

Belo building walls

The Dallas Morning News plans to put stories written by the staff or about the Dallas Cowboys behind a paywall. Wire service copy and stories less than 150 words would be available for free on the newspaper's website, according to News Tech. From the story:

Seven-day-a-week print subscribers will still be able to see all of dallasnews.com's content free of charge. The Morning News charges new subscribers up to $33.95 per month for home delivery, and $37.95 for mail delivery, among the industry's steepest subscription rates for a general-circulation daily.

The Morning News is owned by Belo, which also owns the Press-Enterprise in Riverside. It would seem logical that if the paywall succeeds in Dallas that something similar would be erected out here.

Circulation drop*, **

The average weekday circulation for the daily newspapers fell 8.7 percent over the last six months, according to the most recent ABC report.

Of the big papers, the San Francisco Chronicle and Dallas Morning News did the worst, dropping 22.6 percent and 21.4 percent, respectively. The Washington Post and USA Today also saw double-digit declines, with the Post down 13.1 percent and USA Today dropping 13.6 percent. The New York Times beat the average, but only slightly, with a drop of 5.1 percent.

The Wall Street Journal was the only major newspaper to see a bump in circulation, though by less than 1 percent. Most of the increase was attributed to a boost in the paper's online subscription base.

*Added from LA Observed: [The] San Diego Union-Tribune ... saw its circulation plunge 23%**. The Los Angeles Times lost 14.7% to reach 616,606 daily (down 7.6% Sunday to 941,914.)

**CORRECTION: As a reader correctly pointed out, the numbers for the Union-Tribune are wrong. The San Diego daily saw its circulation drop 8.7 percent

Four in the morning

1. LA Observed gets a makeover. LAO

2. Dallas Morning News editor endorses "integrating" business and news: "I'm pretty much a traditionalist about journalism, but I'm also a capitalist." DMN

3. The cost to see Sarah Palin at a Tea Party? $349 + travel and lodging. TPN

4. Punditry: All the political spoils without all the responsibility. Time

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?

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.

Access

A Texas school district recently changed its media policy to say that officials can turn down interview requests "if official press credentials are not presented or available." A local blogger said the policy was an attempt to marginalize social-media types, and district officials did acknowledge the change was made to deal with the rise of the Internet.

Setting aside whether this is wise policy, the new rule highlights a dilemma for hyperlocal and subjective reporters: The smaller you are, the less access you are given; the more opinionated you are, the fewer officials are likely to speak with you. In many cases, this won't be a problem. Most bloggers aren't interested in doing what the local paper does.

But a fragmented media does give officials more power to manipulate and obfuscate, whether through policy or through practice. That's something traditional media - however cash starved - has an obligation to push back against.

Texas governor slows execution investigation

Texas Gov. Rick Perry removed three people from a specially appointed forensic science commission just two days before it was set to hear expert testimony disputing much of the evidence used in the trial of a Texas man found guilty of murder and later executed.

From the Dallas Morning News:

The hearing of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, scheduled for Friday in Irving, was abruptly canceled by the new chairman the governor chose, Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley. He is considered one of the most conservative, hard-line prosecutors in Texas.

The commission was to hear from Baltimore-based Craig Beyler, a nationally recognized fire expert, who had been hired by the panel to review the Cameron Todd Willingham case. Beyler's long-anticipated report, released in August, called the Willingham fire investigation slipshod and based on wives' tales about how fire behaves and possible arson evidence.

A recent New Yorker story looked into the 1991 case and also found serious flaws in the evidence used to convict Willingham of murdering his three daughters by lighting their house on fire. Included was a report from another arson expert who said investigators relied shoddy technique and discredited methodology to conclude the fire was intentionally set. That report, done after the trial but before the execution, went to Texas authorities and was included in the clemency plea sent to Gov. Perry.

Doing public business in private

Attorneys for the city of Dallas, Texas, have proposed a novel legal theory to keep public business private.

The Dallas Morning News has sued to force a former mayor to turn over emails concerning a city-backed housing project that's at the center of a federal corruption probe. The city refuses, arguing the emails are on the former mayor's private BlackBerry and therefore private information.

In other words, what defines public versus private information is not the content or purpose of the communication (i.e., discussing public business), but the status of the device used to do the communicating.

From the DMN:

The main issue in the case is whether the Public Information Act requires government agencies to release messages that deal with public matters but are made using an official's personal e-mail account or mobile device.

A lower court has ruled in the newspaper's favor twice now but the case is on appeal. If Dallas wins, I'd guess city officials will forgo their publicly financed computers and cell phones for something a little more secure.

Hell, why not hold public meetings in private living rooms?

City lawyers have thrown an added twist into the case. They argue that only the two journalists who sought the emails, not the newspaper, have standing to bring the suit under the Texas Public Information Act - nevermind that the city is spending public money to defend what it deems to be a private matter.

(via Romenesko)

Globe shutdown averted, Senate hearing goes on

The unions representing workers at the Boston Globe have agreed to steep wage and benefit cuts and that should keep the New York Times Co. from shutting down the Boston newspaper anytime soon.

Meantime, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry has scheduled a hearing for today at 11:30 a.m. PST to discuss the future of journalism in light of the turmoil at the Globe and elsewhere. As has become obligatory, the panel will include a representative from Google and Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington.

Also slated to speak are David Simon, creator of "The Wire" and former Baltimore Sun reporter; Steve Coll, president of the New America Foundation and former managing editor of the Washington Post; Dallas Morning News Publisher James Moroney, and Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Anxiety in Dallas

Are layoffs looming at the Dallas Morning News?

We'll give you less so you don't have to ignore as much

The Dallas Morning News is the latest to adopt the "quick-read" newspaper, with its planned launch of the free "Briefing" in August:

John McKeon, president and general manager of The Dallas Morning News , said the publication is aimed at time-crunched families, such as busy dual-income families with children at home and who aren't currently subscribers of The News.

Last week, San Jose Mercury News editor Dave Butler announced plans for his and other MediaNews Group properties to turn the Monday and Tuesday papers (traditionally the papers with the lowest daily circulation) into "quick reads":

We will likely have some newshole cuts in light of a 15%-plus increase in the price of newsprint for the next year. One thing we're exploring - as are a number of other MNG newspapers - is to produce "Quick Read" Monday and Tuesday newspapers. As you all know, we've been moving down this path for some months and would likely continue to do so, particularly tightening up Monday.

Incidentally, McKeon headed the Los Angeles Newspaper Group prior to leaving for the DMN, and Butler is the former editor of the LA Daily News.