Grumpy Editor

Wine-carting lawn tractor rider brings big coverage

It’s amusing to note how some dopey stories have extended life and tickle editors’ funny bones.

Grumpy Editor notes a Saturday night happening, reported in print editions earlier this week, was still making the rounds yesterday afternoon when CBS radio network, with its on-the-hour news, spent an above average amount of limited air time mentioning an Adrian, Mich., man charged with drunken driving after riding his small lawn tractor along the center of the street after buying wine in a liquor store.

Or maybe it was a plug for a tractor equipment maker?

Police said Frank Kozumplik, 49, was homeward bound on a John Deere tractor during a snowstorm with four wine bottles in a paper bag on board.  His blood alcohol level was 2 1/2 times Michigan's legal driving limit, they added.

The driver of the small tractor told officers his wife had taken their car to work and the only way he could reach the store, two miles from home, was via his mower.

The John Deere plug (sort of) reminds print readers/broadcast listeners that the builder of agricultural/construction heavy equipment also has a line of riding mowers --- with models starting at 18 horsepower --- for keeping grass in shape around the yard.

Meanwhile, Kozumplik is without his favorite wheels.  Police confiscated the mower.

Press campaign trail stories focus on Democrats 2 to 1

Grumpy Editor finds it interesting that Bill Clinton, who is not running for any post, grabbed more media attention in election coverage last week than any Republican candidate on the presidential campaign trail.

That’s the finding of the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s “campaign coverage index” that measures who is winning in media exposure.

The study showed the former president grabbed 18.3 percent of campaign stories Jan. 21 to 27. 

That beat Republicans John McCain with 16.9 percent, Rudy Giuliani’s 13.7 percent, Mitt Romney’s 11.7 percent and Mike Huckabee’s 6.4 percent.

Highest percentage of campaign stories went to Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) with 41.3 percent, closely followed by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D., N.Y.) with 40.3 percent.  Closest Democrat, John Edwards, generated 11.2 percent of campaign coverage.

The former president’s ranking with Hillary Clinton brings a combined total of 58.6 percent of Clinton coverage.

And if you felt press attention toward Democrats was heavier than Republicans, you are right.  The focus on Democrats was almost double that of Republicans:  56 percent to 30.

Maryland plan nixes driveway-tossed free newspapers

A battle is shaping up in Maryland over newspapers’ free distribution via tossing onto driveways.  A state representative is proposing a “Do Not Deliver” registry that would work much like the “Do Not Call” registry for telemarketers, notes Grumpy Editor.

If passed, it would be the first of its type in the nation. 

State delegate Tanya Shewell says her constituents in District 5 (Annapolis) complain that they are ignored when they ask that home delivery of an unsolicited free newspaper be stopped.

Mainly affected would be two-year-old Baltimore Examiner, a free newspaper and Maryland’s largest daily, that delivers about 230,000 of its 250,000 copies to homes six days a week.  (The competing subscription-based Baltimore Sun has 232,138 daily circulation.)

Those opposing the plan worry that it could violate constitutional free speech.

T. Barton Carter, a Boston University media law expert, says the proposal could prove a legal morass.  “Usually, when you’re talking about print media and just delivering it to the outside, that’s not seen as intrusive as calls,” he points out.  If the proposal becomes law, he adds, it would likely trigger a companion “Do Not Deliver” registry for advertisements and other flyers routinely delivered to front door knobs and driveways of homes.

Meanwhile, State Sen. Catherine Pugh declares, “If people are out of town, they can make arrangements for people to pick up materials in their yards.  I just don’t think government needs to do everything.  We can take some responsibility for our own lives.”

House panel finds time to focus on steroids

With events in the past few days leading to voting in South Carolina and Florida, among other places, the public is becoming keenly aware that politicians like to talk.

The chatter also extends to Congress where the word “hearings” is becoming a vehicle to mount a soap box, especially when TV cameras and reporters are on the scene.

As an example of what Congress does with its time during these active days, Grumpy Editor spotted an upset citizen, Roger Anderson, who wrote one of the “Letters to the Editor” that appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Friday.  He pointed out:

“We have a $9 trillion national debt, an invasion that is costing us hundreds of billions of dollars, and Social Security and Medicare are in the toilet.  What is Congress doing?  Concentrating on drug use in major league baseball.”

He was referring to a Jan. 15 hearing in which the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform examined ex-Maine Democrat Senator George Mitchell’s report, “The Illegal Use of Steroids in Major League Baseball.”

Among future hearings on the subject, and certain to attract further attention, is Roger Clemens' Feb. 5 appearance before the panel headed by chairman Henry A. Waxman (D., Calif.).

Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner who pitched for the New York Yankees last season, is expected to refute allegations he used performance-enhancing drugs outlined in the Mitchell report.

This comes ahead of scheduled congressional hearings Feb. 13.

Others scheduled to face the committee over the next two weeks include former Yankees infielder Chuck Knoblauch, Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, former Clemens trainer Brian McNamee and one-time New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski.

Make grumbling editors smile with sharp queries

Want to know what sets off grumbling from some editors, especially those on magazines?

Far more than fan mail, they get swamped with article idea queries from freelance writers.  Seasoned editors can tell in an instant if the pitch is from dabbling novices or veteran writers.

Grumpy Editor finds it’s worth pointing out what Ron Kovach, senior editor of The Writer, has to say on “Why queries get rejected.”

·  The query shows the writer is not familiar with the publication.

·  Plain and simple, the query fails to hook the editor.

·  It’s not specific enough, wanders or is too vague and inadequately explained.

·  Similar material ran recently or is in the works.

·  The publication has a substantial inventory and has halted new purchases.

·  The writer’s credentials are weak.

·  Red flag is raised from the query’s poor sentence structure and grammar.

·  The pitch offers too many article ideas rather than focusing on one or two.

·  Sell the idea with well-chosen words and details along with brief writing background information all wrapped up in four or five paragraphs.

Kovach has addition observations on how to avoid rejection slips at The Writer Web site.

CNBC resorts to tape as world financial markets sink

Financial reporters are still buzzing about it.

Television news folks, noted for rolling pronto to a disaster scene, were snoozing at business news channel CNBC on Monday as global financial markets sank and the “R” (for recession) word was sprinkled in radio newscasts and on other TV networks, notes Grumpy Editor.

CNBC, a sister operation of NBC and part of the General Electric Co. family, shut down live coverage in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday.

But news, business or otherwise, never stops.

Upstart competitor Fox Business Network was the only financial news channel “live” during the day.

Grizzly CNBC, meanwhile, went to tape, including Detroit Auto Show material, American Greed and Ultimate Fighting.  It capped the broadcast day with paid programming.

Worried small and large investors and others in the financial community had heard about markets around the world plunging while the U.S. markets, including the New York Stock Exchange, were closed Monday for the national holiday.  Futures markets were indicating a major plunge in U.S. stocks on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, despite the holiday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was at his desk Monday reviewing worldwide financial developments and later helmed a videoconference with members of the Federal Open Market Committee.

This was a leading indicator, that perhaps CNBC could have caught, that led to the surprise three-quarter percentage point cut in the Fed funds rate announced Tuesday morning.

Heath Ledger death underscores prepared obituaries

A major discussion in newsrooms this week is the practice of developing advance obituaries of famous names.  Some eyebrows have been raised in extending the routine to those in the under-30 category.

The topic was spotlighted with the revelation that Associated Press has prepared an obit on 26-year-old Britney Spears.

It was underscored yesterday with the death of 28-year-old actor Heath Ledger in New York.  Ledger was nominated for an Oscar for his role in “Brokeback Mountain.”

Preparing such obits, especially on major newspapers, is nothing new.  It’s been going on for decades, reminds Grumpy Editor.

With those in the entertainment field, for example, reaching high levels at younger ages than a half-century ago and living lives of obviously dangerous excess in some cases, it’s entirely appropriate to get background and career details written and stored in computers.

All that’s needed when the unthinkable occurs is the addition of a “fresh top” (a paragraph or two) to the prepared text.

Preparing obits in advance is even more important now with slimmer editorial staffs on an increasing number of publications.  An unexpected drug overdose or a fatal accident such as with an airplane crash or a boating mishap always seems to come close to deadlines, late at night or on weekends.

AP has about 1,000 prepared obits on file, while the Washington Post has around 100 and the Los Angeles Times about 400.

Handling the suddenly departed is big at the Los Angeles Times, for example.  It has an obit staff of seven, including an obituary editor, a deputy editor and five writers.

Another L.A. Times editor departs after budget clash

The printer of business cards for The Los Angeles Times editorial department is getting ample work, as uneasy newsroom staffers wonder what’s next, notes Grumpy Editor.

James E. O’Shea, third Times editor in less than three years, is leaving the nation’s fourth largest daily following a dispute over across-the-board newsroom cuts.

Two prior editors also departed after flaps over budget cuts.

John Carroll, Times editor from April 2000 to August 2005, told Editor & Publisher that the shake-up is part of “an ongoing instability” in the newsroom.  “It affects morale, people’s boldness in pursuing initiatives,” he added. “It makes people cautious and worried. Cautious and worried people don’t often produce the best journalism.”

Latest flareup comes after O’Shea resisted demands to cut $4 million from this year’s $120 million newsroom budget.

The action follows the closing last month of an $8.2 billion buyout of Chicago-based Tribune Co., Times parent, led by Chicago real estate investor Sam Zell.

Editorial staff has slowly been trimmed as Times circulation in the last seven years has dropped to about 800,000 from more than one million.

Media fuzzily hypo Mormon influence in Nevada vote

News media over the weekend, following the Nevada caucuses and the sweep by Mitt Romney on the Republican side, seemed to paint the Silver State --- where gambling, smoking, drinking and merrymaking are highlighted around the clock --- as a Mormon state, notes Grumpy Editor who dug a bit to see where this fuzzy “fact” originated.

A sampling of lines from media coverage, following the Republican caucus results that showed Mitt Romney with 22,649 votes or 51 percent, followed by Ron Paul with 6,087 votes yielding 14 percent and John McCain with 5,651 for 13 percent:

Romney, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, benefited from a large turnout of Mormons. --- The Wall Street Journal.

Mormons gave Romney half his votes. --- Associated Press.

Exit polls conducted by the Associated Press and TV networks show that one-fifth of the Republican caucus-goers were Mormons, who overwhelmingly supported Romney, who has been active in the religion since childhood. --- National Public Radio.

Half of Romney’s total votes came from Mormons. --- Politico.com.

Typical headline:  Large Mormon turnout powers Mitt.

Along with these, CNN, Fox News, NBC and other visiting national media, obviously chatted among themselves and compared notes at a Las Vegas Strip hotel-casino. 

A line that echoed most notably in TV and radio coverage put the emphasis on a “sizeable” Mormon population in the Silver State.

Actually, Mormons in Nevada represent just 7 percent of the population.  That compares with Utah where Mormons represent 72 percent of the population and Idaho with 27 percent.

Perhaps the visiting media were a bit confused with other “Mormons” in Nevada that become active, sometimes in election years.  The Silver State often gets infested with millions of hungry Mormon crickets that swarm through rangelands dominated by sagebrush.

Those three-inch munchers, however, don’t get major media coverage even though they all move in the same direction.

Media ignore 10th anniversary of Lewinsky revelation

Since broadcast/print editors and writers are fascinated about anniversaries of all types --- from political to weather --- especially those marking one, fifth and 10th years, Grumpy Editor noticed a significant Jan. 17, 1998 event went by yesterday almost unnoticed:

In a deposition in the Paula Jones case, President Bill Clinton denies having had an affair with Monica Lewinsky.

From that decade-ago brief summary, a major scandal erupted.

Some one-line mentions of the Clinton-Jones case were in print yesterday under such headlines as “Today in History” or “Almanac.”

Editor & Publisher's Web site today notes the "Lewinsky bombshell" by re-running an article from its Jan. 23, 1968 issue and cites Matt Drudge, then a little-known Web gossip writer, who came up with a "world exclusive" posting on his Drudge Report.

But in Great Britain the 1998 date received bigger recognition.

The Times of London gave major play to the 10th anniversary with a full-length feature Tuesday that includes updates on some of the principal players in the long-running saga.

It all started back in 1998.  Working on a Packard-Bell computer from his small Hollywood apartment on a Jan. 17 (it was a Saturday) item, Drudge posted on his Drudge Report a mention that Newsweek magazine had spiked a story about President Clinton's relationship with an intern.

Drudge beat mainstream media with the first public word about that White House happening.  The next day, Monica Lewinsky was identified as the intern.