Grumpy Editor

Will tripling of U.S. population rescue newspapers?

Despite latest circulation figures that show mostly a downtrend (see yesterday’s Grumpy Editor), will a mushrooming U.S. population bolster newspapers in the future?

Perhaps.

There is only so much that can be gleaned online.

No matter how fast some folks are with online searches, those with limited time find it still is quicker to consult newspapers for sports scores, daily TV program listings and movie start times at local theaters, as examples.  Also, it’s a bit difficult to read several comic strips, follow detailed recipes and check out department store sales with ease without newspapers in hand.

Grumpy Editor finds it interesting to note that a planning scholar sees the U.S. population more than tripling to a billion people.  However, this is the projection for sometime between 2100 and 2120 --- not much immediate help to current publishers and editors eagerly scanning the horizon for more readers.

But for those concerned about their children and grandchildren (a popular phrase politicians like to weave into their speeches), now is the time to focus on far-in-advance planning extending into the 22nd century.

Arthur C. Nelson says it’s not too early to be planning at least 92 years into the future.  Nelson, professor in urban affairs and planning, and co-director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, is considered an expert in estimating population changes and their impact on planning and economic development.

People should be thinking about a bigger view of the future, says Nelson. "They are going to live longer, and we have to plan for that. It is not just the number, it's what is driving the number."

He adds, "The impact of U.S. population growth will probably come crashing into us sooner in the future than we realize. We can meet the challenges — if we plan for it. We need to begin asking the right questions, and get prepared psychologically and politically. Then we need to plan on how to manage America at one billion residents."

For example, it’s not too early to plan now for future water supply systems, major rail transit facilities and airports.

And, of course, add to that:  design, form, content and distribution of newspapers of the future.

Few newspaper gainers show in latest ABC tabulation

Most newspapers’ circulation continues to head south, sure to sprout more gray hairs for publishers and editors, notes Grumpy Editor.

Some major dailies took big hits in a Monday report from Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Falling readership coupled with declining advertising revenue has management focusing on how to boost bottom lines.

No sooner were latest circulation figures released when the St. Petersburg Times announced it is cutting stock listings and combining its standalone business section with the Metro section next month.

At the same time, the News and Observer, Raleigh, N.C., a McClatchy Co. newspaper, announced it is offering buyouts to 230 of its 900 employees.

Changes in daily circulation figures, percentagewise, announced by ABC, for the six months ended March 31, compared to the like-period a year ago:

Biggest circulation losers were The Orange County Register, off 11.9 percent; Miami Herald, down 11 percent; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, slipped 8.5 percent; Atlanta Journal-Constitution, dropped 8.5 percent, and Boston Globe, decreased 8.3 percent.

Among others headed downward:  Los Angeles Times off 5.1 percent; Chicago Tribune, dropped 4.4 percent; San Francisco Chronicle, down 4.2 percent; New York Times, fell 3.8 percent; Washington Post, lost 3.5 percent.

On the bright side with modest gains (all under 1 percent) among high-circulation newspapers: The Wall Street Journal, up 0.3 percent; USA Today, 0.27 percent higher, and Baltimore Sun, a 0.1 percent rise.

Biggest gainer in newspapers of more than 50,000 circulation is El Diario/La Prensa, New York’s largest and oldest Spanish language daily newspaper, with a 7.61 percent jump.  Coming in second is The Times, Munster, Ind., with a 3.01 percent rise.  Ten other gainers all were under 2 percent.

TV freelancer captures U.S. efforts on Afghan border

Missed by many TV viewers because of little advance promotion is an excellent half hour, “Afghanistan Vignette: Patrol on the Afghanistan-Pakistan Border,” produced by embedded freelance journalist-cameraman Doug Grindle on C-Span, notes Grumpy Editor.

It aired several times last week and is likely to be scheduled again on C-Span.

Grindle’s superior work, recorded in March, captures the tedious routine of  U.S. Army troops of the 503rd Parachute Infantry on patrol and engaging Taliban in the mountainous border area of Khost Province in eastern Afghanistan that bears a resemblance to California’s barren high country.

Marking Grindle’s fifth trip to Afghanistan, it’s the sort of material that should grab a feature spot on a broadcast network so more TV watchers can get a better idea of what is going on.

Through his lens and soundtrack, viewers get a descriptive sketch by Grindle and troops he interviews on efforts to stop insurgents from using the rugged mountain area as a way to cross into Afghanistan.

Grindle has produced several “on patrol” pieces that were aired on C-Span this month.

For others, he tagged along with members of the 238th Aviation Battalion in Iraq and the 147th Air Assault Battalion in Iraq.  These were covered on the 11th visit to Iraq by Grindle who usually spends up to eight weeks away on each trip.

N.C. officials now allow father to care for GI's dogs

The saga of the father getting static from county officials because he is caring for his son’s two dogs while the soldier is in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division (see April 21 Grumpy Editor) has come to a sudden, happy conclusion.

Following national publicity on the matter, officials are showing fresh sensitivity to pet-owning service personnel in the area, home to Fort Bragg, a major military reservation. 

Cumberland County, N.C. officials had claimed Henry Carroll, of Fayetteville, an Army veteran disabled by a heart condition, was running a kennel, since with his own three dogs, five dogs under one roof put things into the pet boarding house category.

Steve Sbraccia, reporter at WNCN-TV, the NBC outlet in Raleigh, tells Grumpy Editor that county officials agreed to amend an ordinance that will allow Carroll, and others in the same situation, to keep an over-the-limit number of dogs on a temporary basis without need to be licensed as a kennel.

“The county’s ruling that five dogs were too many came back to bite them,” mentions Sbraccia.

“County officials admitted they were inundated with negative publicity resulting from the situation after the story went national, but they insist the negative publicity wasn’t what made them change their minds about the pet ordinance,” adds the TV newsman.

Grumpy Editor’s end-of-week leftover notes:

Parched West poised for huge runoff.  Most media have been quiet in reporting bright news concerning above-average mountain snow in the West that will result in a promising runoff, highest in 11 years, via six rivers to ease the drought, which has been heavily covered for months.  Included:  The Colorado River that flows into Lake Powell ---expected to rise 50 feet from its current level --- plus Lake Mead and southward to California and Mexico…Earth Day was spotlighted by 45 King Features cartoonists.  Their comics ranged from serious to funny…Second language:  Promoting a May 2 music event at Mandalay Bay hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip, the Las Vegas Review-Journal ran a quarter-page ad --- all in Spanish.

Snap job. To illustrate Wells Fargo & Co. first quarter results, a Bloomberg News photo of a man walking his dog past a Wells Fargo automated teller machine in San Diego gives the photographer a credit line for the easy, quick, “no sweat” shot…Size of the New York Post this week shrunk to 12 inches high, clipping off 1½ inches…Time to share:  If some stories in the eight largest newspapers in Ohio (including the Cleveland Plain Dealer) look alike, it stems from a sharing arrangement through a new network called the Ohio News Organization (OHNO)…Not much comment was made when Ford Motor Co. announced Wednesday that it is hiring 1,500 workers to boost production, primarily on the Focus model, at its plant near St. Petersburg --- in Russia.

Smoke talk becomes major topic at Chicago Tribune

There was much talk about smoking Wednesday in Chicago Tribune offices, notices Grumpy Editor.

Internally, Tribune Co. ended a $100 monthly penalty for employees who smoke and enroll in the company’s health plan.  Managers say the fee is “inconsistent with the new culture.”

When signing up in October, about 600 of more than 16,000 employees in the plan acknowledged the puffing habit. 

“We’d rather you use your own judgment when it comes to tobacco use, not impose ours upon you,” Gerry Spector, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, informed staffers.

Then, in print, the Tribune reported on the suspension of 39 production workers at a Whirlpool Corp. plant in Evansville, Ind. who were seen smoking after declaring on health insurance forms that they were eligible for a yearly $500 tobacco-free insurance discount.

Whirlpool, which has offered lower premiums to non-smokers for 12 years, said more suspensions may come this week involving other production workers and possibly some administrative staff.

“Falsifying company documents is a serious offense” that “could include suspension and termination,” the company said.

With the 39 sidelined, Whirlpool recalled 21 workers who recently were involuntarily laid off, while 20 others, on voluntary layoffs, are due to return.

Free daily Metro also hit with drop in revenue

As with their traditional newspaper competitors, free dailies are getting hit by tough economic conditions resulting in a drop in advertising revenue and thus also have to trim staffs, notes Grumpy Editor.

Latest to feel the squeeze is Metro International SA, the world’s largest international newspaper.  Its various editions --- from Athens to Hong Kong --- are read by 23 million people a day.

Outside of Boston, New York and Philadelphia editions, where the tabloids compete with traditional newspapers, Metro isn’t widely known in the U.S.  Its focus is on local happenings, entertainment and large photos.

Registered in Luxembourg and with headquarters in London, Metro publishes more than 70 editions in 23 countries.  It claims 74 percent of its readers are under 49 years old and 82 percent are working or studying.

It gets by in the U.S. with a tight staff of about 100 after eliminating 27 in January, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Further expansion in the U.S. probably will be delayed as Metro’s first quarter revenue fell 6.1 percent to $116 million compared with the same period last year.

Metro got a lift in Boston last week when BostonNOW, an almost year-old free daily competitor, folded (see April 16 Grumpy Editor).

Barriers hit trying to uncover B of A CD information

The earnings news out of Bank of America Corp. Monday was glum, with announcement that first quarter saw a 77 percent drop in net income.  However, most media overlooked a bright spot:  Total deposits rose to $797.1 billion in the first quarter from $692.8 billion in the like year-ago period.

Impressed with that deposit growth in uncertain times and researching a safe haven to park funds, Grumpy Editor noticed a newspaper full-page color ad pitching a B of A “Risk Free CD.”

While the upper fourth of the page shows plain blue sky (over a couple running their dogs), details on the CD are nil, other than the usual trifle material: “access your money when you really need it; get a fixed rate of return; FDIC insured.”

Going to a Web site indicated in the ad adds a tiny bit of information, “Just $5,000 minimum to open.”  That’s a clue.  Although at the bottom of the page is a line stating, “The Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is accurate as of 04/21/08,” someone forgot to put in a figure.

Still no solid details, such as term and rate.

In three separate attempts, exploration of the B of A Web site for information on the ad-spotlighted CD proves futile.

Clicking on “open a CD” on the “Risk Free CD” page gets nowhere.  Typing in “savings rates” or “CD rates” on the B of A site get a startling “no answers found” phrase in stoplight red.  Punching in simply “CD” or “rates” gets puzzling 2003 and 2004 annual report information.  Going back and typing “Risk Free CD” also gets the “no answers found” result.

But wait.  There is an 800 number on the site that welcomes questions.  Dialing that gets a robotic male voice with a hearty, “Welcome to Bank of America” immediately followed by Spanish.  But unless one has an account number, that phone number --- with multiple not-applicable options --- also leads to a dead end.

So Grumpy Editor, via Google, finds a non-B of A site that promises information on the elusive “Risk Free CD.”  But, in these days of fast-changing rates, it contains 17-day-old information indicating the term is nine months with a rather low 2.7 percent APY rate.  Still, that couldn’t be confirmed and it was time to terminate the CD-info hunt.

Bottom line in financial advertising:  Give time-limited readers/prospects as many details as possible up front.  Curb obstacles.  Make phone (hopefully with humans available) and Web access easy --- without barriers.

N.C. officials ‘researching’ definition of a kennel

Update on Henry Carroll, of Fayetteville, N.C., the father caring for his overseas soldier son’s two dogs and is getting static from county officials, who claim he is running a kennel (as detailed here April 17) ---

Steve Sbraccia, reporter at WNCN-TV, the NBC outlet in Raleigh, N.C., informs Grumpy Editor that, after a meeting, Cumberland County Board of Adjustment officials now say they need more time to research the situation and no dogs will be removed from Carroll’s premises for the time being.

County officials decided to defer action after the county attorney said he’d need more time to clarify issues among several county agencies, adds Sbraccia.

The controversy is over what constitutes a kennel.  Carroll, 45, an Army veteran disabled by a heart condition, is taking care of two dogs left behind by his son, with the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq until December.  He said officials told him he is running a kennel, since with his own three dogs, five under one roof are too many.

But it turns out county officials are fuzzy on the definition of a kennel, giving Carroll several different answers when he asked the county to clarify the term.  One ordinance defines a kennel as any place where eight or more dogs or cats are fed, sheltered and watered.  Another document placed the figure at four.

(Grumpy Editor defines a kennel as a commercial establishment where dogs or cats are bred, raised, trained, or boarded --- not quite what is happening at Carroll’s house.)

So, now, Carroll waits for the next public hearing.

With his son eight months from returning home to claim his pets, chances are, the county just may take that much time to come up with the right answer in defining a kennel.

Californians again reminded ‘Big One’ lurks in future

During a “quiet” period in California with no natural disasters involving brush fires, downpours, flooding, mudslides, citrus freezes or smog alerts, media thoughts regularly turn to seismic activity --- and the possibility of a “strong” earthquake looming on the distant horizon, observes Grumpy Editor.

That means looking into the crystal ball to see what’s in store to three decades ahead.

Grabbing chunks of print space/broadcast airtime this week was an Associated Press story by Alicia Chang that reported, “California faces an almost certain risk of being rocked by a strong earthquake by 2037” in a seismic forecast by scientists.  New calculations show a 99.7 percent chance of a magnitude 6.7 quake or larger by then, adds the story.

Quake forecasts for the Golden State seem to be an almost annual ritual to shake up readers and residents who don’t need to be reminded they are in earthquake territory, just as other parts of the country, on a more frequent basis, are susceptible to hurricanes, overflowing rivers, tornadoes and blizzards.

In January, 2007, the same AP writer, in a 150th anniversary story, recapped the Fort Tejon quake that rattled a 250-mile stretch from Central to Southern California.  The article also worked in mention that “the U.S. Geological Survey and other groups…are kicking off a year-long campaign to warn people to prepare for the Big One.”

Six months earlier, another major story advised that the southern end of the San Andreas fault near Los Angeles is overdue for (yep!) the Big One.

Rather than periodic warnings, the next “looming earthquake” piece should detail --- with input from experts in various fields from insurance to medical --- exactly how to prepare for the Big One.

Grumpy Editor’s end-of-week leftover notes:

Veterans, especially Marines, are furious over the April 21 Time magazine cover that spotlights global warming.  It shows the world-famous Iwo Jima photo, shot by AP's Joe Rosenthal, doctored up with a green treetop replacing the U.S. flag being put into position by Marines after one of the bloodiest battles of World War II...Confusion reigns:  At Monday’s Washington, D.C. annual Associated Press luncheon, with more than 1,100 in attendance, AP chairman W. Dean Singleton, in questions from the audience portion, asked speaker Sen. Barack Obama about the threat posed by “Obama bin Laden.”  A quick correction came from the podium.  “That’s Osama bin Laden,” said the senator, as some attendees laughed…Meanwhile, an Associated Press story on a rock star’s endorsement of Obama for president chewed up seven paragraphs Wednesday in many space-tight newspapers.  Bruce Springsteen declared, "He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years”…Major staff trimming:  Florida Communications Group of Media General has offered buyouts to half its 1,326 employees, including staffers at the Tampa Tribune, WFLA-TV, TBO.com and the company’s other media outlets in the region…Daily gets duped:  Boston Herald editors blushed Tuesday after spotting a top-of-page 6 screaming headline:  “VP guns for shootout with Hill.”  Under an Associated Press byline, the story (complete with Sen. Hillary Clinton’s photo inserted in the text) claimed during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, Vice President Dick Cheney told Tim Russert that he didn’t believe Hillary Clinton’s claims that she loves guns and challenged her to show her stuff by accompanying him on a hunting trip.  Turns out the lengthy article was a blogger’s satire and material was not provided by AP, a speedy correction pointed out.  But the question remains:  How did the story find its way to the copy desk where no suspicions were raised?

Overseas GI’s dogs’ temporary home irks N.C. officials

County officials at Fayetteville, N.C., home of Fort Bragg, a major Army post where members of the 101st Airborne Division train, are making it difficult for the father of an overseas soldier to look after the GI’s two dogs, notes Grumpy Editor.

Officials say he is running a kennel.  But they are fuzzy with the definition of a kennel.

Grumpy Editor maintains that’s sort of strange, since Fort Bragg has been a military reservation since 1918, making it hard to imagine that in a 90-year span --- including World War I and World War II --- this is the first time officials' eyebrows were raised when a soldier left pets behind at a safekeeping location in the county.

Henry Carroll, with three dogs of his own, took in his son Adam’s two dogs when the soldier deployed to fight in Iraq.  Adam, with the 101st Airborne Division, is not scheduled to return home until December.

But the temporary lodging of two canines under one roof got county officials in a lather.  They said the senior Carroll has two dogs too many and claim he is running a kennel, for which he is not licensed.

So the older Carroll, 45, an Army veteran disabled by a heart condition, is taking the fight tonight to the Cumberland County Board of Adjustment which meets in the county courthouse at Fayetteville.

Carroll tells Fayetteville Observer writer Nancy McCleary that if he is forced to give up two dogs, they won’t be his son’s, adding he will honor Adam’s request to keep them.  “I have to hang onto his dogs until the end of his tour,” he declares.

Steve Sbraccia, reporter at WNCN-TV, an NBC outlet in Raleigh, N.C., reports the father says he received several different answers when he asked the county to clarify the definition of a kennel.

One official cited an ordinance that defines a kennel as any place where eight or more dogs or cats are fed, sheltered and watered.  However, a county document he received defines a kennel as any premises where four or more dogs are kept commercially or as pets.

Sbraccia says the older Carroll got the Army to write a letter explaining two of the dogs belonged to his son, but county officials didn't buy it because “since Adam didn't sign it, it really might not be valid because it was signed by his platoon leader.”

The “too many dogs” report was picked up by some other NBC stations, all the way to WCSH-TV, Portland, Maine.

Associated Press covered it in six sentences.