Grumpy Editor

Romney’s China-made Jeep mention looms accurate

Just before the November election, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was criticized for declaring Chrysler would be building Jeeps in China, recalls Grumpy Editor. 

Democrats grabbed space and air time citing Romney and his campaign ads on the Jeep action in China was misleading. 

Grumpy Editor last Nov. 6 pointed out the report stemmed from an Oct. 22 Bloomberg News story that mentioned Fiat (majority owner of Chrysler Group LLC) “plans to return Jeep output to China.” 

Auto writers last Wednesday reported Chrysler is in talks to build some of its Jeep vehicles in China where the auto company already sells several of the brand’s models.

 

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Nocturnal sideline raises editors' eyebrows

Not getting much national coverage: a newspaper reporter with an unusual sideline job (for a newsroom staffer). 

After being outed for her after-hours job as a stripper, reporter Sarah Tressler, who was fired by the Houston Chronicle where she was a society reporter, now works for the San Antonio Express-News. 

But her beat now is quite different. 

She covers crime. 

Her Express-News byliner on Friday dealt with the shooting of a convenience store owner. 

She was let go by the Chronicle for failing to inform supervisors of her nocturnal sideline as an exotic dancer. 

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In case you missed these… 

Wal-Mart Stores, starting Memorial Day, plans to hire 100,000 veterans during the next five years.  Some of the giant retailer’s critics called it a P.R. move.  Sure, it is.  And a fine P.R. gesture it is…On the firing side, the Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s largest newspaper, cut 34 employees, including 18 (or nearly 10 percent) of its newsroom staff.  Meanwhile, Reuters released some of the wire service’s veteran editors and reporters…On the hiring side, Fox News signed liberal former Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio) as a paid contributor.  He joins daughter, Jackie Kucinich, in media.  She is a USA Today reporter covering politics…Nissan P.R. people should be happy with large color shots of the Nissan Resonance concept car appearing in separate sections of The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday…Public relations pioneer Daniel J. Edelman, who died Tuesday at 92, was noted for many slogans.  “Which twin has the Toni?” was long remembered.  Edelman also was behind spotlighting Morris the cat in television commercials for 9-Lives cat food.

 

Speaking of pets, Grumpy Editor likes the title of Seattle’s KIRO-FM’s weekend pet show that debuted yesterday:  “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs with Shawn Stewart.”  

Striking L.A.-Long Beach port clerks nix $195,000 package

Getting surprisingly little national coverage is the eight-day-old Los Angeles-Long Beach Harbor ports strike, triggered by about 800 union clerical workers who seek a hefty boost in their compensation package currently worth $165,000 a year, including wages, benefits and pension contributions, notes Grumpy Editor. 

With about 10,000 other union dock workers refusing to cross picket lines, seven of eight Port of Los Angeles shipping terminals are shut down while three of six adjacent Port of Long Beach terminals are closed. 

About 40 percent of the nation’s imported cargo containers pass through the dual ports.  

The shuttered terminals --- handling an estimated $1 billion of cargo daily --- are affecting the Southern California economy.  The stoppage also is delaying deliveries of goods destined to retailers for year-end holiday sales. 

Also affected are thousands of truck drivers, independent contractors who are paid per haul.

Employers mention the striking union members are the highest paid clerical workers in the U.S.   But that is not enough.  The union clerks are snubbing an offer of an 18 percent boost in a total compensation package worth $195,000 a year.

 

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UPDATE:  Just prior to the arrival of a federal mediator, the clerical workers agreed to a new contract with terminal operators last night.  Details were not disclosed.  Union members were returning to work today.

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Harry Reid's 'cliff' remarks trigger drop in stock market

Business writers and editors now have to keep a close ear on what Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) says, after his downbeat "fiscal cliff" remarks near the close of the stock market yesterday were credited with sending it to the lows of the day, observes Grumpy Editor.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, after being in and out of positive territory, tumbled 89.24 points to 12878.13 at the close.

In connection with negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, Reid said, "They talked some happy talk about doing revenues, but we only have a couple weeks to get something done. So we have to get away from the happy talk and start talking about specific things.

"I'm extremely hopeful and I do not believe that the Republicans are going to allow us to go over the cliff," continued Reid, adding he hoped Republicans can agree to tax-rate increases and that Democrats were happy to deal with entitlements.

The tax-rate dispute is the central obstacle to an agreement that would prevent the U.S. from plunging off the fiscal cliff, a convergence of an estimated $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts.

With key financial matters, media focus on comments by Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, at speeches and especially after Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings.

Bernanke's messages, after being digested, often send the stock market south.

But now, Reid will probably have more business writers at his press conferences.

Frosty Florida forecasts send orange juice futures higher

Long-range weather forecasts pointing to a possible damaging freeze in Florida’s citrus-growing areas triggered a jump in orange juice futures, notes Grumpy Editor. 

This, naturally, makes headlines in some publications.

While some folks cope with fuzzy weather forecasts two or three days ahead, speculators are betting that frost damage will affect orange juice output during the winter --- one to three months ahead. 

Orange juice futures for January, after surging 8.6 percent last week, yesterday moved up another 4.2 percent.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasts below normal temperatures for south Florida from next month to February. 

A private forecaster also indicates “a higher than average probability of a damaging freeze” in Florida citrus areas this winter. 

Predictions of freezing weather in January this year sent orange juice futures higher. 

But, in the end, no crop damage was reported. 

Oranges usually require temperatures dropping to the mid-20s before incurring major damage to large branches and fruit. 

Jeeps to China stemmed from print report, not Romney

In recent days leading up to today’s national election, media (extending to MSNBC this afternoon) and Democrats have been emphasizing Mitt Romney campaign’s “misleading” ads mentioning production of Jeeps --- one of the world’s most famous U.S. vehicles dating back to their debut in World War II --- would move to China, notes Grumpy Editor. 

They cite the ads as the Romney campaign’s efforts to undercut President Barack Obama’s support for the auto industry. 

Jeeps --- produced by Chrysler Group LLC, now majority owned by Italian car manufacturer Fiat --- currently are produced at assembly plants in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. 

What media are overlooking is that the China rumble started with one of their own --- Bloomberg News.

This afternoon with Martin Bashir's segment on MSNBC, discussion centered on the on-screen headline:  Romney's "Jeep" ad may have backfired with Ohio voters.

An Oct. 22 Bloomberg story reports Fiat “plans to return Jeep output to China and may eventually make all of its models in that country, according to the head of both automakers’ operations in the region.”

It adds,”Fiat is in ‘very detailed conversations’ with its Chinese partner, Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., about resuming Jeep production in China.

In pre-Fiat days, some Jeep models were manufactured for distribution in that country.

Three days after the Bloomberg story, Romney, at a Defiance, Ohio, rally on Oct. 25, tells supporters, “I saw a story today that one of the great manufacturers in this state, Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China.  I will fight for every good job in America, I’m going to fight to make sure trade is fair.” 

Soon after, a Chrysler spokesman declares, “The take has given birth to a number of stories making readers believe that Chrysler plans to shift all Jeep production to China from North America, and therefore idle assembly lines and U.S. workforce.” 

Five days later, Chrysler’s chief executive strongly refutes claims that production of Jeeps would shift to China.

Gina Lollobrigida still grabs space...in Wall Street Journal

Actress Gina Lollobrigida probably was the most surprised person in Italy yesterday when The Wall Street Journal selected a vintage Associated Press shot of her reading Variety to illustrate a story on the sale of the Hollywood trade paper, observes Grumpy Editor. 

The two-column photo of Lollobrigida, now 85, was snapped 42 years ago. 

So some editor, going through the art files, remains impressed by the Italian actress who was labeled “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World” after the sex symbol appeared in a U.S. movie with that title in 1955. 

Penske Media Corp. finalized a deal with Reed Business Information, part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, to acquire 107-year-old Variety, a daily must-read for people in the entertainment business, for about $25 million.  The deal also includes weekly Variety. 

PMC, founded in 2004, is a key player in digital entertainment media. 

It owns Deadline.com, TVLine.com, HollywoodLife.com and Movieline.com. 

“We plan to rapidly build upon Variety’s foundation while extending this invaluable brand’s presence across the Web, broadcast, mobile and international markets," says PMC chief executive Jay Penske.

Washington Post. Co. moves into health-care services

With steady declines in its newspaper circulation and advertising revenues in recent years, the Washington Post Co. is diversifying into an area far afield from the publishing category --- home health-care and hospice services, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The Post Co. agrees to acquire a majority stake in Celtic Healthcare, Inc., founded in 1996, a relatively small player in the health-care business. 

Celtic operates in nine locations in Pennsylvania and Maryland. 

With the move, the Post Co. adds to its non-publishing operations that include Kaplan education services, Phoenix-based Cable ONE, and television stations in Detroit, San Antonio, Houston, Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville. 

The company also is “investing in a number of digital initiatives that are evolving our ability to better serve advertisers and reach consumers."

These include Trove, a personalized news aggregation service, and SocialCode, a full-service Facebook advertising agency. 

Partisan gap shows in different views on economic news

An interesting Pew poll finds far more Republicans and independents view economic news these days as “bad,” compared with Democrats’ opinions on the topic, notes Grumpy Editor.

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press poll, conducted Sept. 7 to 9, tallies 60 percent of Republicans, 36 percent of independents and 15 percent of Democrats label economic news as mostly bad. 

Pew says the poll's authors found “the gap striking” as differences in perceptions of economic news emerged after President Barack Obama took office --- “but they never have been as great as they are today.”

Among the public generally, Pew adds, 58 percent say they are hearing a mix of good and bad news about the economy, while 35 percent feel they are picking up mostly bad news and 6 percent see mostly good news.

For more on the Pew findings, go here.

Meanwhile, views could change before the week ends. 

 Economic news due out tomorrow includes:

The consumer-price index.

Retail sales and industrial production for August.

University of Michigan’s initial reading of consumer sentiment for September.

And, since many look overseas for world economic clues, European finance ministers meet in Nicosia, Cyprus.

 

 

Media overlook G.M. Janesville plant continued into 2009

Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s facts, especially with the shuttering of a General Motors plant in his home town of Janesville, Wis., are getting much scrutiny by media --- which should be doing a bit more fact-checking, finds Grumpy Editor. 

At last week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa, Ryan quoted then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama at a campaign stop at the G.M. Janesville plant on Feb. 13, 2008, saying: “I believe that if our government is there to support you and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another 100 years." 

Ryan added, “Well, as it turned out, that plant didn’t last another year." 

Democrats immediately attacked Ryan for pointing a finger at President Obama for the plant’s shutdown. 

As it turned out, G.M. brass decided to halt SUV production at the Janesville facility (which employed as many as 7,000 workers in 1970) on Dec. 23, 2008 

Most media cite December, 2008, as when the plant closed. 

But G.M. did not lock the doors that day. 

One Washington Post columnist, for example, did not mention that date and backed up six months, writing, “G.M. announced the plant’s shutdown in June, 2008,” making it appear the closing action took place seven months before Obama took office. 

Actually, with some checking, media would have learned that production at the G.M. Janesville plant continued to April, 2009, with about 110 workers remaining to complete an order for small-to medium-duty trucks for Isuzu Motors Ltd. 

To its credit, today's Wall Street Journal, under "Corrections & Amplifications," noted G.M.'s Janesville plant did indeed halt vehicle assembly in April, 2009, not Dec. 23, 2008, as it reported in an Aug. 31 convention article. 

U.S. buys Russian helicopters for Afghanistan’s air force

Despite cries for more U.S. jobs, one of the strangest deals has American taxpayers footing the bill for almost two dozen Russian-built helicopters for use by the Afghanistan air force, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Other than Bloomberg News three months ago and this week’s issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, little has been reported by U.S. media about the unusual transaction.

Newspaper editorial page writers should get somewhat excited over this, especially during the summer doldrums.  

Bloomberg Businessweek writers Danielle Ivory and Kathleen Miller point out, “Since May 2011, the Pentagon has paid Rosoboronexport $411 million for 21 Mi-17 helicopters.” 

Rosoboronexport is the state-run arms trader that Congress says is arming Syria. 

Kazan Helicopter manufactures the medium twin-turbine transport at two Russian plants. 

The Bloomberg Businessweek writers also reveal the “Pentagon didn’t solicit bids from any other company for the helicopters.” They add that Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) --- leading 17 U.S. senators seeking to cancel the deal --- says the no-bid order “seems just plain stupid.” 

Back on May 8, Bloomberg News writers Tony Capaccio and David Lerman reported, "The Pentagon says it’s in a bind, with nowhere to turn for helicopters needed by Afghanistan’s air force except Russia."

The Mi-17 choppers, they added, "include full Western avionics, navigation, communications and situation-awareness capability.” 

Cost of the 21 helicopters three months ago was pegged at $375 million.  That’s $36 million below the price tag noted this month. 

What’s noteworthy about this close to half a billion dollar Pentagon-spurred deal that benefits Russia is that talk in Washington includes deep cuts in the defense budget --- for the U.S.