Grumpy Editor

Downsizing smacks newsroom at Dayton Daily News

There’s good news and bad news this week at Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, finds Grumpy Editor.

The good:  10 reporter positions will be added.

The bad: 10 editor positions will be eliminated.

Translation:  If, as an editor, you want to continue to work in the Daily News newsroom, you’ll have to apply for a lesser position.

Gulp.

And the newspaper, with an eye on the bottom line, gets to boast that its editorial department headcount will remain unchanged.

It’s all part of restructuring at the newspaper, with 104,000 daily subscribers, owned by Cox Ohio Publishing which also operates dailies Middletown Journal, Hamilton Journal News and Springfield News-Sun.

Now the question:  With 10 editor positions being vaporized, how does that affect assignments, editing and guidance in the newsroom?

Yale list of 2009’s top quotes overlooks ‘deficit neutral’

During the latter part of the year, Grumpy Editor runs across lists of new words getting a play and overused words getting even more play.

Now, with the fourth annual list of The Yale Book of Quotations, Fred R. Shapiro, associate librarian and lecturer in legal research at Yale Law School, compiles the top quotes of 2009.

1 --- "Keep your government hands off my Medicare."

From a speaker at health care reform town hall meeting in Simpsonville, S.C., relating to the Medicare program, quoted by The Washington Post on July 28.

2 --- "We're going to be in the Hudson."

US Airways Capt. Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger, responding to air traffic controllers regarding the runway he preferred to land Flight 1549 on Jan. 15 before putting down on the Hudson River, New York.

3 --- "There's an app for that."

Apple's advertising slogan for the iPhone.

4 --- "You lie!"

The shouted retort by Congressman Joe Wilson (R., S.C.) to a statement in President Barack Obama’s address before a joint session of Congress on Sept. 9.
 
5 --- "The Cambridge police acted stupidly."

Obama, commenting on a white police officer's arrest of a black scholar in Cambridge, Mass., at a news  conference July 22.

See five others among the top 10 on the list here.

With that, Grumpy Editor would like to add his favorite quote of the year --- not on Yale’s list --- that has rumbled through print and broadcast media in recent months and as recently as yesterday when it was uttered by Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary, at a White House press briefing in response to a question on health care:

“The legislation is deficit neutral.”

Transfer of terrorist suspects stirs up quiet Ill. town

Chatter today is on the decision to transfer about 100 terrorist suspects from the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to an underused $145 million Illinois prison, 150 miles west of Chicago, observes Grumpy Editor.

With federal spending galore during the fragile economy, it was noted as far back as June that costs stemming from full closing of facilities at Gitmo could surpass $200 million.

Some in Washington seem to have forgotten that seven years ago millions were spent on erecting special facilities for enemy combatants (as they are classified) at the island base.

The planned move of terrorist suspects to the small town of Thomson --- population 450 --- on the banks of the Mississippi River, has some residents concerned on housing the new inmates in the quiet agricultural area where the main activity is growing watermelons.

Not supporting the move is Mark Kirk (R., Ill) who sees transferring Guantanamo detainees to Illinois making the state a greater target for terrorist attacks.

Kirk has a handle on this aspect.  As a Naval Reserve intelligence officer, he holds the rank of commander and has served during Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti and Bosnia conflicts. The Navy named Kirk “Intelligence Officer of the Year” in 1999 for his combat service in Kosovo.

Meanwhile, Sen. Dick Durbin (R., Ill.), gushy on relocating terror suspects to his state’s 1,600-cell Thomson Correctional Center since the move was first mentioned, for weeks has been claiming the facility will create jobs.

Aside from more prison staff, Durbin sees something approaching a boom town with workers hired in the construction of schools and libraries, as he put it in a TV interview.

Expanding on this, Durbin yesterday said he expects the move "to dramatically reduce unemployment, create thousands of good-paying jobs and breathe new economic life into this part of downstate Illinois." 

All that in a rural town of 450.

What is not mentioned with all the construction and hiring that Durbin envisions, is higher taxes looming for Thomson residents.

Print/broadcast media would do well to visit Thomson late next year to see how the small town --- known as “The Melon Capital of the World” --- is coping with foreign enemy combatants on the scene.

NPR News plans to boost investigative activity

With mushrooming scams, safety issues and other concerns, NPR News is bolstering its investigative program by adding a deputy managing editor, investigations, and beefing up an investigative team, finds Grumpy Editor.

Getting that title is Susanne Reber, who joins NPR Jan. 4.  She has been investigative radio editor and producer at Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and has led its news investigative unit since 2003.

While other news gathering organizations are trimming payrolls, including investigative talent, NPR says it plans to staff up a core investigative team that works with beat and field reporters and partner with other non-profit news organizations doing high-level investigative work.

"Susanne is a tremendous investigative reporter, storyteller and newsroom leader," says Dick Meyer, NPR News' executive editor.

"Her arrival and the creation of a dedicated investigative unit is just the start of NPR’s deep commitment to expand and strengthen serious, ambitious investigative and accountability reporting at a time when so many other newsrooms are retreating."

Reber’s jobs at CBC National Radio News include deputy managing editor and executive producer.

Law & Order episode jabs O'Reilly, Beck, Limbaugh

Not only does bias and politics creep into news stories these days, but now weird things were worked into a TV script of long-running Law & Order on NBC, notes Grumpy Editor.

Law & Order: SVU last week featured a character portraying an attorney who compared Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck plus radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh to “a cancer spreading ignorance and hate…they've convinced folks that immigrants are the problem, not corporations that fail to pay a living wage or a broken health care system..."

There used to be a time when names of characters in scripts were strictly fictitious, pulled out of thin air --- unless the TV fare was a documentary.

Not so with creator and executive producer Dick Wolf whose Law & Order, launched 19 years ago, now has reruns all over the place.

Firing back, O’Reilly called Wolf a “despicable human being” plus “coward” and “liar.”  He added, “Enough is enough with these network pinheads who shove propaganda down our throats under the guise of entertainment."

Words alongside O’Reilly’s Talking Points commentary read:  “Law & Order propaganda.  The NBC program ‘Law & Order’ is run by far-left guy Dick Wolf.  He uses the show to promote his progressive point of view.”

Beck, meanwhile, asked for evidence of inciting violence.

Limbaugh remained quiet on the episode.

The Wall Street Journal again dumps regular dividends

It appears that resumption of regular payouts in the dividends table in The Wall Street Journal --- as reported here on Nov. 18 --- was a short-lived fluke, or perhaps a staffer was filling in for someone on vacation, discovers Grumpy Editor.

The WSJ, without fanfare last month, quietly reinstated regular dividends in the Money & Investing section.

But regular dividends have again vanished.

Maybe scrapping regular dividends stems from a space problem.

On Nov. 21, for example, 54 regular dividends --- taking up most of the Dividend Changes table --- were listed in The Journal.

In today's edition, for example, the hard-to-find dividends table takes up only six column inches with only half of that space devoted to listing announcements. 

The WSJ originally abandoned regular dividends in print months ago, spotlighting only changes, including reduced, increased, initial, irregular, special and foreign.

Without regular dividends in print, readers/investors again have to search the Web for record and payable dates.

That triggers grumbling among some time-strapped readers.

Editor & Publisher, after 125 years in print, is folding

Editor & Publisher, the monthly journal covering the newspaper industry, is ceasing operations, gasps Grumpy Editor.

The monthly, started 125 years ago as the weekly The Journalist, has covered all aspects of the North American newspaper industry, including newsroom developments, business, advertising, circulation, marketing, technology, online and syndicates.

Owner Nielsen Business Media today announced its decision to cease operations for E&P and Kirkus Reviews.

It also reached an agreement with e5 Global Media Holdings, LLC, a new company formed jointly by Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners, for the sale of eight brands in the Media and Entertainment Group:  

Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek, The Clio Awards, Backstage, Billboard, Film Journal International and The Hollywood Reporter.

Federal workers get pay hike as seniors see zero COLA

While Social Security recipients will enter 2010 --- and perhaps to 2013 --- without the usual upward cost of living adjustment (COLA), something that hasn’t happened since automatic adjustments were adopted 34 years ago, word out this week is government workers are slated to get a 2 percent pay increase, observes Grumpy Editor.

“Civilian federal employees have made significant contributions to help our country respond to the challenges we face both domestically and abroad, and I believe their pay adjustments should reflect that,” says Rep. Steny Hoyer (D., Md.), whose Congressional district is home to thousands of federal employees.

In addition, members of Congress (unless they decide otherwise --- a slim chance) are a month away from receiving a hassle-free, annual automatic pay boost.  It was a $4,700 hike this year stemming from an amendment members passed in 1989.

All this even with constant reminders that there is “no inflation in sight.”  It’s just plain “tame,” to use a favorite word with economists, reporters, editors and politicians.

Already forgotten is the mid-October headline of President Barack Obama calling for one-time emergency payments of $250 for the 50 million seniors, disabled and others receiving Social Security.

Intended to soothe potential cries from seniors, the Obama proposal was made one day after the no-COLA-in-2010 announcement.

Where are Washington media watchdogs seeking an update on that suggested $250 payout to seniors that grabbed much space two months ago?  And is any news person inquiring if  members of Congress are going to shelve their slated automatic pay increase for 2010 because of “tame” inflation?  Also, where does AARP (the former American Association of Retired Persons), representing a staggering 35 million members, stand with seniors being passed over with no COLA increase?

Photo-snapping orangutan becomes a big hit at zoo

Newspaper and magazine editors who go ape over some photographers’ efforts will be interested in an orangutan in a Vienna zoo that is being hailed as a whiz in capturing images of nearby playmates, finds Grumpy Editor.

Snap-happy 33-year old Nonja, at the Schönbrunn Zoo, is becoming a sensation on the Internet and was featured this week in an NBC-TV segment.

With the recent publicity, there has been a surge of visitors to see Nonja.

The orangutan has a portfolio of interesting images, highlighting expressive facial studies and impressionistic action shots.  See them here.

Nonja, as seen in the video clip, also used to paint.  Did a good job, too.

Now editors know where to go for some behind-the-scenes photos of zoo animals.

The long-haired, orangish primate does the job without a steep fee.

Will work for pieces of fruit, as seen in the video.

The Schönbrunn Zoo, by the way, calls itself "the oldest zoo in the world." It goes back to the mid-1700s.

EPA points to greenhouse gases as climate summit opens

As the U.S. struggles in economic recovery efforts, it is hoped that some editors and editorial page writers sniff something strange about the Environmental Protection Agency --- on the same day as the international climate summit starts in Copenhagen --- coming out with the conclusion that greenhouse gases are endangering people's health and must be regulated, notes Grumpy Editor.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out regulating emissions, from power plants to automobiles, is going to kick the U.S. recovery in the gut.

The EPA finding comes after recent revelations, stemming from e-mails, that question accuracy of facts and figures relating to global warming.

Since power generation, transportation and industrial companies are targeted as the prime sources of greenhouse gas emissions, any increase in costs they face will be passed on to customers.

 That leads to inflation looming and less money for consumers to spend in other areas.

In its efforts to combat global warming, the EPA finding “could result in a top-down command and control regime that will choke off growth by adding new mandates to virtually every major construction and renovation project,” points out Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

For newspaper/magazine print and broadcast sales departments, the EPA action means the many companies and industries affected will have less money to spend for advertising.

That will result in further tightening, including layoffs, in news (and other) departments.

Terrorist-nabbing Navy SEALs face military court today

With two of three Navy SEALs scheduled to be arraigned today in Norfolk, Va. because a key terrorist claimed he received a bloody lip when the trio secretly captured him in Iraq three months ago, a number of comments were made by readers of the Nov. 30 Grumpy Editor posting.

Branded one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq, Ahmed Hashim Abed is the alleged mastermind behind the 2004 killing, mutilation, burning and public display of four American security guards employed by Blackwater USA.  Insurgents dragged the bodies through the streets of Fallujah before hanging two of them from a bridge.

Navy brass decided to go after the SEALs with criminal action and set today --- Pearl Harbor Day --- for arraignments in military court.

Among reactions:

•  This is absurd. We expect that a guy who committed the acts of violence of which this snake is accused could be coaxed into surrendering with promises of fudge cookies?  With higher ups such as those who are behind this travesty, is it any wonder our military hasn't been able to end this war in the decisive manner of which they are capable? I thought we'd learn from Viet Nam to leave politics out of war.

•  OK, so I guess they were supposed to say, "Pretty please with sugar on top, won't you give yourself up?"

•  The way it should have gone, based on the terrorism actions and the times, they should have just shot him. Nobody would have complained then, as it would have been the typical "was killed in battle."

•  It’s official.  The lunatics are running the asylum.

•  "Hello sir.  We know it is 3 a.m. are we disturbing you?  We are SEALs and have been sent to take you to prison. Is this a convenient time for you? Can I get you some clothes? Please be careful sliding down our rope. We don't want you falling and getting injured now, do we?"  Does anyone believe this guy went along peaceably? All he got was a split lip?  Political correctness = social terrorism.

•  Pretty soon the soldiers won't be able to fire their weapons either, unless they get permission first. Uh...the bullets might hurt someone.

•  This is how liberals wage war. Our troops have to Mirandize enemy combatants and are more at risk of being prosecuted than the people they capture. Can you imagine the outcome of WWII if we'd had to stick to such insane rules of engagement?  This is why liberals cannot be trusted with our national defense.

•  Talk about a waste of taxpayer money.  A bloody lip? This is just ridiculous. Now our military has to worry about some bad guy resisting and getting a bloody lip?  What's next?  Courts-martial for flying planes over a target or shooting the guy who is shooting at you?

•  If they indeed did wrong and failed to follow military rules on how to treat detainees, then they need to be punished. Their job was to capture and detain this man, not to assault him and dole out their own form of vigilante justice. What is the point of having a justice system if we can just give out our own street justice as we see fit.

Meanwhile, some newspaper editorial pages have focused on the SEALs.  An example:

After recapping the incident, the Las Vegas Review-Journal yesterday said, “This is nonsense,” referring to the pending Navy action.  “President Obama should publicly send the court-martial board a firm signal of support for the men who brought in Ahmed Hashim Abed.”

And in Congress, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R., Calif.) has circulated a letter asking Defense Secretary Robert Gates to intervene in the case, which Hunter calls an overreaction by military leaders.

Amid the swirl, a Friday-released Navy fact sheet reminded that the three SEALs are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Nude Joanna Krupa, crucifix draw PETA ad critics

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the December cover of Playboy magazine have something in common:  While miles apart in their targeted audiences, both are spotlighting bare or scantily-clad model Joanna Krupa in efforts to attract attention, finds Grumpy Editor.

Yet, it’s the photo in a PETA ad that shows Krupa completely bare. She holds a large crucifix that covers certain body parts. Large angel wings are behind her.  A halo hovers over her head.  About 20 dogs are gathered at the bottom of the illustration.

The ad’s pitch:  Be an Angel for Animals.  Always adopt.  Never buy.

It’s an attention getter. View the ad here.

Utilizing the principal symbol of the Christian religion as a prop has triggered an uproar.

"It's totally inappropriate," says Deal Hudson, publisher of InsideCatholic.com, an online magazine.

"It's another instance of disrespect toward Christianity and another example of the kind of abuse that would never occur with any other major religion because the outcry would be so immediate and so loud that the people behind it would immediately retreat,” he declares.

Krupa, born in Warsaw, Poland, and raised in Chicago, also is remembered for appearances on ABC's Dancing With the Stars.

Meanwhile, Krupa’s Playboy cover art is relatively tame.

She is almost completely covered in a waist-up shot.

Dick Clark, thousands of others continue work past 80

Long-time TV host Dick Clark, who turned 80 last Monday, has triggered chatter this week of when one should hang it up and head for the rocking chair, notes Grumpy Editor.

Despite a stroke in 2004, Clark again is slated to appear on ABC’s top-rated New Year’s Eve program from New York’s Times Square.

Critics, who think anyone over 50 should be in the old folks’ home, say he should retire.

Many of those critics will be 80-plus some day and will seek to continue working for several reasons.  Staying active keeps the mind sharp.  Some love their jobs and are far from quitting.  Others need to supplement income. 

The American 80-plus work force is increasing.  The Department of Labor reports about 5.1 percent (or 511,000) people in that age category held jobs last year. That’s up from 3.7 percent five years earlier and 3.1 percent in 2000.

Who are some of these folks working well past retirement age?  Some examples:

•  Jack Borden, a 101-year-old attorney, still spends 40 hours a week at his office in Weatherford, Texas, handling estate planning, probate and real estate matters.

•  Zetta Bauer, 91, says she is happy to be working three days a week as a cashier at a Niagara Falls, N.Y. gift shop.

•  Andy Rooney, in his 31st year providing closing essays on CBS’ 60 Minutes, turns 91 next month.

•  Julian Myers, 92 in two months, retired from 20th Century-Fox as a long-time publicist and continues in the public relations field.  He also teaches PR courses at UCLA and Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.  To top things off, he runs in marathons --- the latest one on Sunday in Las Vegas.

Will White House jobs forum produce solid plan?

As the U.S. jobless rate passes the 10 percent mark, President Barack Obama at the White House tomorrow night hosts business and labor leaders, economists and academics at a jobs summit in hopes of hypoing employment, notes Grumpy Editor.

Looking for ways to boost employment and spur economic growth, the gathering occurs one day prior to release of new jobs data.

Among business leaders, CEOs of FedEx Corp., Boeing Co. and AT&T Inc. are expected to be on hand.

An Obama adviser says the aim is to create “a climate that will spur short-term job creation.”  (Note reference to “short term” rather than long term or permanent.)

Now, anyone who is in the process of holiday shopping should see that the majority of products on retailers’ shelves are produced in China.

This soon will extend to cars.  General Motors Co. plans in 2011 to be the first automaker to bring Chinese-built cars to the U.S.

So it shouldn’t take too many folks huddling at the White House forum to figure out the key to jobs building and economic expansion is to lure back to the U.S. manufacturing that has steadily drifted overseas.

Tax breaks --- even a payroll tax holiday --- and loosening of tight credit are two critical issues that can spur businesses and help put U.S. employment back on track.

But will these topics be in heavy discussions?

Check Friday morning newspapers closely on the forum’s job-creating proposals --- or if it looks like more “dithering” looms.

Merriam-Webster overlooks ‘dither’ for top 10 words list

Language reference source Merriam-Webster, in its 's top 10 words of the year list, leaves out what Grumpy Editor considers a prime contender:  dither.

Dither --- which means vacillate; to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive --- came into popular use in recent months on front pages and broadcast lead-ins with foot-dragging from the White House on a decision for Afghanistan and number of troops needed.

Merriam-Webster says its top 10 list is based on user lookups to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and Online Thesaurus.  "This  year's traffic was generated by topics and events ranging from Michael Jackson to H1N1 to the recession and, of course, politics," explains the publisher.

No. 1 word admonish --- to express warning or disapproval to, especially in a gentle, earnest, or solicitous manner --- “received the highest intensity of searches over the shortest period of time,” finds Merriam-Webster.

The nine other words in Merriam-Webster’s top 10 for 2009 (obtain definitions by clicking on each):

2. emaciated
3. empathy
4. furlough
5. inaugurate
6. nugatory
7. pandemic
8. philanderer
9. repose
10. rogue

Traffic to Merriam-Webster.com now exceeds 1.3 billion individual page views per year, says the company, adding “on average, there are approximately 10 lookup requests in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary or Thesaurus per second.”

Navy set to arraign 3 SEALs who nabbed key terrorist

Getting scant coverage --- while stirring controversy, especially with active and former U.S. military people --- is the case of three Navy SEALs who secretly captured a most-wanted terrorist in Iraq and now face criminal charges in a military court because the detainee claimed a bloody lip, observes Grumpy Editor.

The SEALS nabbed Ahmed Hashim Abed around Sept. 1.  Branded one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq, he is the alleged mastermind behind the killing, mutilation, burning and public display of four American security guards employed by Blackwater USA.

The incident, in which insurgents dragged the bodies through the streets of Fallujah before hanging two of them from a bridge, occurred five years ago and was widely covered on television.

Word of the upcoming criminal action seeped out last Wednesday when Fox News reported the story along with the New York Post, Navy Times, Army Times, Air Force Times and the Daily Press, Newport News, Va.  CNN followed.

Most broadcast and print media overlooked the SEALs story because the focus since last Tuesday --- and continuing --- has been on the two dinner crashers last Tuesday at the White House where President Barack Obama held a state dinner for Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh.

At a time when military recruitment and reenlistments are sought, the SEALs story puts a damper on such efforts.  Meanwhile, the criminal action sought by unidentified higher-ups, also knocks morale of men and women in uniform.

Abed told investigators he was punched “and he had the bloody lip to prove it,” reported Fox News.  Others suggest the bloody lip was self inflicted.

And it’s strange that the Navy brass --- who should know better --- set Dec. 7 as the date in Norfolk, Va. for arraignments of the SEALs.  That date marks the 68th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  

 

Turkey-minded Grumpy Editor is taking time off

Marking Thanksgiving, Grumpy Editor is getting away from his cluttered desk today to feast on turkey dinner.

Turkey sandwiches follow tomorrow.

He will return, a few pounds heavier, on Monday.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Remote editing sends shivers up spines of copy editors

Subediting.

That’s the word that will trigger grumbling in newspaper editorial departments in the days ahead as publishers, seeking to boost bottom lines, employ more outsourcing, predicts Grumpy Editor.

Latest to go that route in a big way is the 117-year-old Toronto Star, Canada’s largest newspaper.

With the move, the Star is eliminating 78 editing jobs, figuring it will save 3.8 million (equivalent in U.S. dollars) in the conversion.

Also look for more involvement in outsourcing production activity via Pagemasters North America, with roots in Australia, which will be handling subediting for the Star.

Pagemasters North America, wholly owned by national news agency Canadian Press, was launched three months ago with the aim of providing Canadian and U.S. newspapers with editorial services, including subediting and design. 

It’s an offshoot of Pagemasters, formed in 1991 in Australia. 

The Down Under operation, owned by the Australian Associated Press, employs more than 100 subeditors and produces more than 10,000 editorial pages a month for the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, New Zealand Herald, Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age.

Australian Associated Press is part-owned by Rupert Murdoch's Australian subsidiary, News Ltd.

While cutting production costs is uppermost in newspaper publishers’ minds these days, editing copy and writing headlines from a remote location also points to some loss of editorial control and increases chances of errors in headlines and copy.

 

Gremlins gum up Wall Street Journal dividends list

In this slow recovering economy, when a major global company announces a 10 percent increase in its quarterly dividend, that is upbeat news.  But Camden, N.J.-based Campbell Soup Co. --- marking its sixth consecutive year of hiking payouts --- sure didn’t get much of a spotlight last week when it upped its dividend, notes Grumpy Editor.

Neither did some other operations, including spirits company Brown-Forman, Louisville, with a 4.3 percent quarterly dividend increase; Houston headquartered Sysco Corp., food service distributor, with a 4 percent rise in its quarterly, and Boston-based NSTAR, an energy delivery company, with a 6.7 percent jump.

And that’s just in The Wall Street Journal.

Gremlins got to the dividends table in the WSJ last Thursday and Friday. 

Twelve publicly-held companies with dividend increases came out in print with identical figures for both new payouts and old in the agate-type roundup.

No corrections have been observed.

Errors in agate type are difficult to spot.

Grumpy Editor recalls working at a newspaper with a sharp-eyed night managing editor (with dangling cigarette, suspenders and rolled up shirt sleeves at a news desk, rather than sitting in the cozy M.E.’s office) who, amazingly, would zero in on a typo or two in the lengthy New York Stock Exchange list in an early edition.  It happened almost every day.  Fixes were promptly made.

Apparently that type of editor is hard to find these days

Obama’s jobs creation line contains a big ‘if’

With President Barack Obama’s radio/Web address Saturday, Associated Press writer Philip Elliott’s lead on the weekly chat mentioned the president “is citing talks with Asian allies that he says could help create thousands of jobs.”  But Grumpy Editor notes there was a big “if” attached to that jobs-creation line not mentioned in the AP story.

Namely, “If we can increase our exports to Asia Pacific nations by just 5 percent, we can increase the number of American jobs supported by these exports by hundreds of thousands.”

Acknowledging the U.S. recession has “left millions without work,” Obama said:  “Increasing our exports is one way to create new jobs and new prosperity.”

Indeed, the big thing is curbing the flow of work to foreign lands.

After 10 months in office --- as U.S. employment dwindled while billions in stimulus funds were dispensed --- the president has decided to go the forum route (not mentioned in the AP story) to seek jobs-creation ideas.

“In the next few weeks we’ll be holding a forum at the White House on jobs and economic growth,” he declared.  “I want to hear from CEOs and small business owners, economists and financial experts, as well as representatives from labor unions and nonprofit groups, about what they think we can do to spur hiring and get this economy moving again.”

Also in the weekly address, Obama offered an interesting line (also not picked up by AP) as the U.S. Senate was getting ready for a rare Saturday night vote (that passed) to move forward with a health care bill that would cost $848 billion over 10 years:

“In order to keep growing, we need to spend less, save more, and get our federal deficit under control.”

Health bill won’t add one dime to deficit, says Sen. Reid

Some Washington decision-makers certainly can use a calculator --- make that a big main-frame computer --- to verify figures in connection with the health care reform bill that faces an initial vote tomorrow in the Senate, advises Grumpy Editor.

The Senate measure, at a price tag of $848 billion over 10 years, calls for expanding coverage to 94 percent of Americans.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), in aiming for an 8 p.m. (Eastern) vote tomorrow to cut off Senate debate on a motion to proceed to the health care reform bill, mentioned at a press conference this week that “it’s not going to add one dime to the deficit.”

While that line was fed to print and broadcast reporters, few newspapers worked it into stories.

Actually, the complete line uttered by Reid was:  “It will save lives.  It saves money and it’s not going to add one dime to the deficit.”

That sounded familiar.

Sure enough.

President Barack Obama, in a health care address to Congress in September, declared, “I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits, either now or in the future…period.”

California imposes TV set restrictions to save power

Rather than erect job-creating power plants in the Golden State to accommodate increased electricity usage as the population grows, the California Energy Commission voted 5 to 0 to require large television sets sold in the state, starting in 13 months, to meet energy efficiency standards in efforts to reduce power consumption, notes Grumpy Editor.

Officials in the state, where the population has swelled to 37 million from 29.7 million in 1990, seem to lack crystal balls --- or adequate projections in meeting future power generation needs.

Instead, the focus is on TV sets that use less wattage.

Affected will be models up to 58 inches.  For example, 42-inch plasma and liquid-crystal display (LCD) sets must use less than 183 watts by 2011 and under 116 watts two years later.

TV industry executives point out the upcoming standards will force manufacturers --- including Sony, Sharp, Hitachi and Samsung --- to produce sets for California that will have poorer picture quality and fewer features.

Meanwhile, TV broadcasters, more concerned about ratings, are mum on the tougher requirements.

State energy commissioners, estimating TV sets account for about 10 percent of a home’s power use, claim it’s “the cheapest and easiest way to conserve electricity.”

In looking to reduce power consumption further, could future targets be publications with a requirement for shorter press runs (already happening at newspapers as fewer copies roll off presses with dwindling circulation)?  That should worry publishers.

Next in line could be curbing electric ranges and ovens plus another shot at air conditioners, refrigerators and other household appliances.

And could dimming or blacking out street lights be far behind?

The trend toward less California power consumption seems to be going back to the level of the early 1940s when the population was a sparse 7 million.

AP skips fact check routine with other politicians’ books

More details stemming from the Sarah Palin book fact-checking-by-Associated-Press saga, covered here on Tuesday, illustrate how AP --- using 11 reporters to scrutinize “Going Rogue: An American Life” --- ganged  up on the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Her top-selling 432-page book debuted Tuesday, the same day AP laid off at least 57 editorial staffers, with more to come by year end as the news service seeks to cut 2009 payroll costs by 10 percent.    (UPDATE:  AP on Nov. 19 announced it laid off 90 news staffers.)

“The treatment Palin's book received appears to be something new for the AP,” writes Robert Shaffer on FOXNews.com. 

“The organization did not review for accuracy recent books by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, then-Sen. Joe Biden, either book by Barack Obama released before he was president or autobiographies by Bill or Hillary Clinton,” adds Shaffer.  “The AP did more traditional news stories on those books.”

Shaffer also mentions, “Palin supporters believe 11 reporters poring over every word of her book is excessive and further proof of the media's obsession and maltreatment of the hockey mom from Wasilla.”

He quotes Adrienne Ross, New York state organizer for the 2012 Draft Sarah Committee:  "They're obsessed with trying to discredit her.  Because she's a conservative woman, they make fun of her accent, comment about her looks. She doesn't come in the package they want her to come in."

Wall Street Journal reinstates regular dividends in table

The Wall Street Journal without fanfare --- although it should trumpet the move --- has quietly reinstated the listings of regular payouts in its dividend table within the Money & Investing section, discovers Grumpy Editor.

The WSJ abandoned regular dividends in print months ago, spotlighting only changes, including reduced, increased, initial, irregular, special and foreign.

Since then --- while more convenient to open up the Journal and check the dividends table --- readers/investors had to search the Web to see dividend action of companies with unchanged payouts.

Important to investors:  knowledge of record and payable dates, even with regular dividends.

With the reinstatement of regular payouts, The WSJ still headlines the table Dividend Changes rather than Dividend Digest or such.  Also, the Money & Investing front page index box continues to omit reference to the dividends table in that section.

Now if The WSJ print version would only reinstate its past convenient-to-view Digest of Corporate Earnings Reports table which was scrapped seven months ago.  

Palin blasts AP’s fact checkers on book due out today

Not too many book reviews are produced after being scrutinized under a microscope by almost a dozen writers at one news organization.

So with Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue: An American Life” (HarperCollins), it’s noteworthy that Associated Press turned 11 writers loose to pick through the 432 pages of the book, due out officially today --- which marks the 50th day in the top 100 of the amazon.com list, notices Grumpy Editor.

While under the byline of AP writer Calvin Woodward, 10 other AP staffers are listed at the end of the text.  The fact checkers say the book, by the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, at times misrepresents her record.

In firing back, Palin declares, "We've heard 11 writers are engaged in this opposition research, er, 'fact checking' research. Imagine that --- 11 AP reporters dedicating time and resources to tearing up the book, instead of using the time and resources to ‘fact check’ what's going on with Sheik Mohammed's trial, Pelosi's health care takeover costs, Hassan's associations, etc.  Amazing."

AP, she adds, is “now erroneously reporting on the book's contents and are repeating many of the same things they spewed during the campaign and afterwards."

Paul Colford, the news service’s media relations director, calls the fact checking “strong reporting by AP.”

Writer-political commentator-cultural critic Mark Steyn notes AP assigned 11 writers to fact check Palin’s book “and in return the 11 fact checkers triumphantly unearthed six errors.”

*   *   *   *   *

More layoffs today at Associated Press

Layoffs started this afternoon at AP offices, with one source indicating up to 80 staffers could be affected.  More are planned by the end of next month as the news service seeks to cut 2009 payroll costs by 10 percent.

That means the face checkers pool likely will dwindle.

Obama’s bow to emperor in Tokyo triggers some frowns

President Barack Obama’s low bowing to Japan’s Emperor Akihito in Tokyo Friday while on a week-long trip to Asia, has ruffled many Americans, notes Grumpy Editor.

Most newspaper editors, however, spiked the photo and instead ran different shots of Obama in Tokyo --- walking or talking with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

It is the second case of Obama’s bowing to royalty in seven months.

In April, the president bowed in greeting Saudi King Abdullah at a G20 summit in London.  The action, after the king had extended his hand, stirred up a controversy at that time.

The Weekly Standard mentioned, “American presidents do not bow before foreign dignitaries, whether they are princes, kings or emperors.”

In Feb. 2007, in talks with Emperor Akihito in Tokyo, then Vice President Dick Cheney went with a handshake.

One keen observer, with the latest Tokyo greeting, noticed Obama bowed and shook hands at the same time.

See the photos here.

In a book on proper conduct, etiquette authority Miss Manners (penned by Judith Martin) related, “One does not bow or curtsy to a foreign monarch because the gesture symbolizes recognition of power over subjects.”

Condé Nast looks at China in adding magazine titles

Condé Nast Publications, Inc., which last month shut down Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Gourmet and Cookie in the U.S. after being smacked by lower advertising revenues while more readers turned to the Internet, is gearing up to add more magazine titles --- in China, notes Grumpy Editor.

It comes at a time when U.S. ad pages in Condé Nast’s monthly magazines dropped by almost a third this year from last year’s total.

The company produces about two dozen publications, including Vogue, The New Yorker, Architectural Digest and Glamour.

Launched in China last month is GQ.  It joins three other Condé Nast magazines in that market.

As with other foreign publishers, Condé Nast has to team up with Chinese partners to operate there.

Expansion pace is slow because Chinese government approval is required for each title debuting in the country.

The worldwide magazine publisher maintains offices in New York, London, Paris, Madrid, Milan, Miami and Tokyo.

 

Among 5 Ws in journalism, one is missing in story

Drummed into the heads of college journalism students, eager for TV/radio or newspaper reporting positions, are the five Ws and an H, reminds Grumpy Editor.

So it was with interest to learn of a pair working on a homemade bomb Saturday that exploded, killing one man and injuring a teenager's hand and arm at the same remote location where, according to a newspaper account, the survivor “had built similar bombs and detonated them successfully.”

The still unidentified deceased person, 55, was with a male 17-year-old working on what was described as a pipe bomb when it went off.

The teenager is in jail without bail.

A Las Vegas police report notes the teenager, from Southern California, was visiting friends and had purchased supplies to construct the bomb.

He is facing charges of second degree murder and possession of an explosive or incendiary device.

A journalism professor would say the who, what, when and where, along with the how, are satisfied.

But, considering that similar bombs were detonated at the same location, coupled with national concern over bombs in general, the most important unanswered question --- and the fifth W --- is why?

Was it a (strange) hobby --- more exciting than flying kites in that field?

Or was something more sinister in the works?

Real Rochester in Nevada eludes Google Maps

Grumpy Editor yesterday pointed out that Google Maps’ recent placement of a new key Nevada city --- labeled Rochester --- between Las Vegas and Henderson turned out to be a phantom site.  There is no such place.

However, an alert reader informed Grumpy Editor there once was a Rochester in Nevada.

Indeed, there was.

It is now a ghost town about 110 miles east of Reno and 270 miles northwest of Google Maps’ current phantom Rochester near Las Vegas.

Rochester, an old gold-mining town at an elevation of 5,563 feet, is not on the map either --- even a Rand McNally.

Gold was found at the old --- and real --- Rochester in the 1860s by immigrants from Rochester, N.Y.  Thus, the Rochester name became embedded in Nevada at that time.

It became a boom town with discovery of rich silver ore in 1912.  That attracted many businesses and a post office.

With the influx of people, including miners, the town expanded and formed sections as it sprawled:  Upper Rochester, Lower Rochester and Rochester Heights.

The area soon attracted a railroad and in August, 1915 its tracks extended up Rochester Canyon and through Upper Rochester to reach a mine.

But Rochester began to fade after 1922 and four years later the post office closed.  However, a mine continued to operate until 1942, producing more than $9 million in silver and gold.

Meanwhile, the “new” --- and phantom --- Rochester near Las Vegas continues to be on Google Maps.

Google Maps places phantom city near Las Vegas

Overnight, a new key city --- oops! make that a Nevada ghost town --- surfaces near Las Vegas, according to Google Maps, and that is causing some red faces at Google, notes Grumpy Editor.

Rochester, Nev. appears on Google Maps between Las Vegas and Henderson, the state’s second largest city. 

Google Maps places Rochester on the 215 freeway, just west of Henderson, 15 miles southeast of Sin City.

Travelers relying on Google Maps for directions and information will find that Rochester has no restaurants or lodging.  No streets, either.

That’s because Rochester doesn’t exist.  Not in Nevada, at least. (But maybe in Twilight Zone.)

Other Rochesters continue to hum in New York and Minnesota, however.

Google Maps, in placing the latest Rochester in Nevada’s Clark County, has county officials scratching their heads.

They wonder why no taxes have been flowing from that city.

A spokesperson says Google is working hard to fix the error which came out of nowhere and thus is a mystery, making it a true Western ghost town.