Grumpy Editor

Times-Picayune, New Orleans, will drop daily publishing

New Orleans is joining the growing list of cities without a daily newspaper, as The Times-Picayune will reduce publishing to three days a week in the fall, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Major staff reductions will accompany the move. 

Insiders expect the newsroom staff to be chopped by a least a third, to 100 from 150.  Remaining workers will face sharp salary cuts. 

With the shift to non-daily, the focus will be on boosting online news. 

Along with the change, NOLA Media Group has been formed to oversee coverage on the Internet. 

The newspaper will be published on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.  Management considered those the “most valuable days for the newspaper’s advertisers.” 

Ricky Mathews, incoming publisher of the newspaper, established in 1837, said the changes were necessary by the upheaval in the newspaper publishing industry. 

A recent circulation tally of U.S. newspapers placed The Times-Picayune, in the Advance Publications Inc. family, at No. 55 with about 141,000 daily.

 

Cleveland casino debut grabs coverage by barring press

Veteran PR people have learned one way to grab heavy print/broadcast coverage for a client that is unveiling a product or facility:  bar reporters from the premises, finds Grumpy Editor. 

Latest example of that maneuver was at the opening of Ohio’s first casino. 

Sure enough. 

Associated Press worked up 16 paragraphs --- one of multiple stories --- from an outside view on the unveiling of Horseshoe Casino Cleveland last week. 

The story, plus AP art, included essential details on the $350 million project, 20 percent owned by Caesars Entertainment Corp., Las Vegas. 

AP writer Thomas J. Sheeran even worked in the line, “The media was (sic) barred from inside the casino.” 

From streetside, mentions were made of a “glitzy music video instead of the traditional ribbon cutting” projected on the casino’s facade, Las Vegas-style showgirls on scene, and, of course, about 2,100 slot machines and 63 table games awaiting gamblers inside.

But the media weren't able to check out the VIP lounge.

 

L.A. Times aims to hire 5 reporters for specialized beats

While the Los Angeles Times periodically trims its newsroom staff, now it’s looking to hire five reporters for specialized beats that editor Davan Maharaj calls “great news” that will bolster coverage of subjects vitally important to readers, notes Grumpy Editor. 

It comes after yesterday’s announcement of a $1 million, two-year grant from the Ford Foundation. 

But the upcoming hires won’t be snooping around as investigative reporters, checking out closed-door sessions involving politicians or uncovering the latest scientific developments. 

The Times is looking for reporters to focus on the Vietnamese, Korean and other immigrant communities, the California prison system, the border region and --- Brazil. 

Maharaj says that although The Times already covered those beats, journalists who also had other responsibilities typically did the reporting. 

The five new reporters will provide more robust coverage of those topics, he adds. 

“These are vital coverage areas that have been affected by our need to make tough choices in the past decade,” Maharaj informed staffers via email. “Although the grant is for two years, we intend to continue with these beats beyond that period.  We will immediately start our search for reporters.” 

Ford Foundation and Times editors say the money comes with no strings attached and the newspaper will have complete editorial control over the new reporters and their coverage.

 

Calif., N.Y. papers join ‘community newsroom’ trend

Two daily newspapers, on opposite ends of the country, announce they are going the community newsroom route as editors see it as a way to engage and involve locals, observes Grumpy Editor. 

The Pasadena (Calif.) Star-News is doing it “to be more transparent,” says Frank Girardot, editor.  In Kingston, N.Y., The Daily Freeman, led by Ivan Lajara, features editor, will soon launch a new community newsroom project designed to engage local readers.

Veteran editors, however, wonder how allowing the public into newsrooms is going to improve coverage --- and circulation --- in growing competitive times rather than adding some sharp journalists, including tough investigate reporters and strong political beat-savvy writers to staffs.

In a folksy message to readers, the Star-News editor points out his newspaper, first “to break this ground” in California, “is a part of your community --- just like your neighborhood grocery store, your favorite coffee shop or the place where you and your family worship.”

Girardot, adds, “We'll do it by creating a community space (by August) where readers and residents can drop in to pitch stories, ask questions or make use of public blogging stations with free wi-fi access.”

Meanwhile, The Freeman beams it will offer public classes to the community and open its conference room on selected days, providing wi-fi and computers for public use, along with tutorials on using the newsroom’s archives and microfilm readers.

This movement should make copy editors --- especially those with gray hair --- eyeing their months to go before retirement. 

 

About 1 out of 5 readers finds newspaper reporting fuzzy

Print editors won’t like what a new poll uncovered:  Almost one out of five Americans said reporting is not reliable in local newspapers, notes Grumpy Editor. 

That’s the word from a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 1,000 adults conducted April 27 and 28. 

In results released yesterday, in answer to the question, “How reliable is the reporting from your local newspaper,” 18 percent said reporting was unreliable. 

On the other hand, about one out of four (26 percent) said reporting in their local newspaper was “very reliable.” 

What may put smiles on editors faces is that 76 percent of those quizzed considered reporting in their local newspapers as “at least somewhat reliable.”

 

17 percent of Americans skip what’s happening in world

In news about news --- and newspapers --- Grumpy Editor is almost wordless in learning 17 percent of Americans get no news every day, up from 3 percent in 1998.

That finding comes from Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, a non-profit, non–partisan "fact tank."

Based on a 2010 tally, Rainie also uncovers only 17 percent of Americans read a newspaper daily.

But it gets worse --- 31 percent of the 18 to 24-year-old group gets no news on an average day.  That’s up from 25 percent in 1998.

The 30 to 34-year-old bracket doesn‘t fare too well, either, with 22 percent getting no news daily, compared with 15 percent 12 years prior.

Seniors rank worse with 11 percent getting no news, vs. 6 percent in 1998.

Topping the news source list?  Local TV news --- despite the fact that many TV newsrooms simply rewrite material from morning newspapers.

Meanwhile, for those who do read, Americans still choose print newspapers rather than online versions, finds Rasmussen Reports.

In a national telephone survey, Rasmussen tallies 66 percent of adults say they prefer reading hard-copy newspapers while 28 percent like reading their preferred newspapers’ online material.

 

Expect 1992 L.A. riots anniversary coverage in print, TV

With many print/broadcast editors ever craving for anniversary stories --- partially because it’s an easy way to fill chunks of editorial space around ads or chew up TV time --- look for lengthy pieces through Sunday on the 1992 Los Angeles riots, predicts Grumpy Editor. 

Editors get especially excited when recycling anniversary events that include elements that grab attention. 

The April 29, 1992 L.A. unrest coverage included images of police actions, fires, smoke, looters storming supermarkets and TV stores --- even National Guard troops getting into the fray. 

The 1992 rioting broke out after a jury acquitted four Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King after a high-speed pursuit. 

Reappearance of that footage is likely to be seen on TV. 

The rioting over five days resulted in about $1 billion in property damage, 63 deaths and thousands injured. 

Also look for King to appear in interviews.  He’s making the rounds pitching the book, “The Riot Within:  My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption,” coauthored with Lawrence J. Spagnola, that debuted this week.

 

Did Obama’s NBC appearance violate campaign law?

 Chances are newspaper editorial writers will not tangle with this TV event, ditto with the Federal Communications Commission:  Did President Barack Obama’s appearance on NBC’s “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” program violate the campaign finance law, questions Grumpy Editor. 

Breitbart.com writer Ben Shapiro thinks so and backs it up with input from federal “Statutes and Rules on Candidate Appearances and Advertising.” 

Aside from the president’s banter with Fallon on Tuesday, which Shapiro describes as “the worst ‘comedy’ segment in the history of mankind,” Shapiro explains: 

“The equal time rule states that if a licensee permits a person ‘who is a legally qualified candidate for any public office to use a broadcasting station, he shall afford equal opportunities to all other such candidates for that office in the use of such broadcasting station.’” 

Shapiro mentions there are exceptions to the rule, namely, “appearances on (1) a bona fide newscast, (2) a bona fide news interview, (3) a bona fide news documentary, or (4) on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news events.” 

Pointing out “only the second provision could be construed as saving NBC from giving Mitt Romney equal time,” Shapiro adds, “But this was not a bona fide news interview. In fact, it wasn’t an interview at all --- no questions were asked, no answers were given. It was literally Obama reading a campaign speech over a guitar, a horn, a keyboard and some drums.” 

Shapiro figures the president’s appearance on the late-night program “was clearly an in-kind contribution by NBC to the Obama campaign.”

 

Bennington (Vt.) Banner columnist marks 86 years writing

 

We don’t stop writing when we get old…

We get old when we stop writing.

That variation of a George Bernard Shaw line comes to mind with word that Bennington (Vt.) Banner columnist Harriette Leidich, who celebrated her 100^th birthday last week, continues to produce copy --- via typewriter --- for “Senior Moments,” notes Grumpy Editor. 

Recognized as the oldest active newspaper columnist in the U.S., she started her writing career at 14 with her father’s Iowa newspaper. 

Over the years she knew her way around newspaper production, too, including operating a Linotype that set type from hot lead.  It was an important back-shop machine from the late 1800s before fading in use during the 1970s. 

Leidich has been writing her column, a collection of mostly small town matters, since 1995 in the Bennington Banner one of MediaNews Group’s 57 daily newspapers in the U.S. 

Her July 17, 2006 column explained the background for her column. 

“Sometimes one needs to step back and take a closer look at what they write for publication,” she pointed out.

“This has been the case with my Senior Moments columns. Seems that as I grow older and as the world changes its many patterns and modes of living, one gets a bit jaded. When friends called to inquire if I had passed on, I decided to tell you that I am quite alive and always interested in what is going on in this world.”

 

Newspaper reporter nears bottom of 200 jobs list

Journalism students hoping to don press hats and write exciting front-page stories should be aware that newspaper reporter ranks near the bottom of the worst jobs for 2012, warns Grumpy Editor. 

That’s something journalism professors won’t mention. 

A Jobs Rated Report by CareerCast.com puts newspaper reporter --- with mid-level income of $35,275 --- at number 196 on a list of 200 professions, between waiter/waitress (No. 195) and oil rig worker (No. 197). 

Newspaper reporter slips eight places from the last tally. 

Doing slight better is broadcaster (No. 191), with mid-level income of $27,324.  But the position drops 63 places on the list since the last time around. 

“Many jobs in the media are characterized by high stress, short deadlines, long hours and a poor hiring outlook,” mentions Tony Lee, publisher of the report. 

“Despite these poor working conditions,” he adds, “competition is steep for what jobs remain after massive consolidation and layoffs in the media industry.” 

Media positions ranking higher on the list are public relations executive (No. 70 with the media group’s best mid-level income of $92,156), advertising account executive (98), author (113), publication editor (119), photographer (147) and photojournalist (166). 

Topping the jobs list?

Software engineer.