Grumpy Editor

Orlando Sentinel’s new look falls in line with others

An Orlando Sentinel major front page overhaul, unveiled June 22 with much fanfare, now is nine days old.  The new look, first among the eight Tribune Co. dailies slated for redesigns by fall, is supposed to make the newspaper more appealing to readers.

So how is it shaping up?

Grumpy Editor notes front pages consisted mostly of three stories (four were squeezed in on Tuesday and Thursday), usually of local or state nature. First “from wire reports” article appeared on Thursday, with another on Friday.  All stories jump to inside pages.

The new look is attractive.  But it’s not “a grabber.”  Actually, it follows the trend of many U.S. newspapers in focusing on only three, perhaps four, front page stories with oversize art linked to the major piece.

This compares with 15 to 18 stories --- local, national and international --- spread over eight columns of front pages 40 to 50 years ago.  That gave readers a quick rundown on what was going on in the world.  Most of those stories jumped inside for further details.  First and local news sections were packed with more items at a time when most newspapers had higher circulations.  Eager readers gobbled up news from one of as many as seven editions a day.

Now with less time to scan news, many readers observe only the top paragraphs of long-winded stories --- although editors trumpet pieces on splashier front pages as “tighter” and more digestible for busy readers.

Sentinel’s top front page article on Sunday, for example, presented detailed information, accompanied by a U.S. map, on how airline flights, seats and destinations from Orlando International Airport will drop sharply after the summer travel season.  Also on the front page was a report by a staffer on plans for the state to take over 187,000 acres and facilities of U.S. Sugar Corp., and the upper part of staffer Mike Thomas’s column on gun laws.

Top of the front page presented photos of five Sentinel writers and teasers on their material in opinion, local news, sports and money sections plus a cartoon plugging editorial pages.

Upper right-hand corner touted, “Save $215 in grocery coupons inside.”

With the new look, the Sentinel’s Web site brought this comment Sunday from a reader:  “Well the national trend is largely irrelevant to the Sentinel's predicament. Sam (Zell who took control of Tribune Co. in December) paid a bundle for Tribune and the debt load is beyond comprehension. Few papers are facing that problem. In any case, it would be nice to have some discussion about where the paper is going. Loyal readers and subscribers would like to see the paper succeed."

 

O.C. Register turns to India for copy editing tasks

It’ll be interesting to see how things work out for the daily Orange County (Calif.) Register which is outsourcing some copy editing and page layout work starting next week to Mindworks Global Media, based near New Delhi, India, says Grumpy Editor.

Taking a cautious approach with a one-month trial, John Fabris, a Register deputy editor, mentions his staff will not be affected.

Plans call for Mindworks --- 8,000 miles from Orange County --- editing some Register stories and performing layout work for a community newspaper in the Register family.  

Fabris calls it “a small-scale test,” adding it “will not touch our local reporting or decision-making.”

Grumpy Editor points out newspaper copy editors usually are seasoned editorial department staffers, often with a lengthy background as reporters.   Masters of the language, their work includes spotting copy problems, ranging from grammatical errors to misspelled names of people, even streets.  Sometimes it involves huddling with writers.

Accomplishing this from a far different time zone will be novel.

On its Web site, Mindworks has job openings for --- copy editors.

Nothing is mentioned about newspaper or print experience in this description for copy editors under current career opportunities:

“Mindworks is looking for graduates with an excellent command over written English.  The job involves working on varied and exciting editorial projects with people across the globe and the chance to acquire world-class skills.  We are looking for graduates/postgraduates who have always dreamt of working in the media, and have a passion for writing/editing.  The right candidates should be alive to current events, have high analytical skills and a burning desire to learn.”

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

Newspaper workforce reductions continue:  The Hartford (Conn.) Courant plans to reduce its newsroom staff from 232 to about 175 within a month; the Baltimore Sun will cut 55 to 60 newsroom staffers plus about 40 other workers; The Palm Beach (Florida) Post will reduce its newsroom staff by 130 while cutting 160 other jobs in advertising, production and circulation throughout the company that includes the Post, Florida Pennysaver and La Palma; the Boston Herald will lay off 130 to 160 workers under a plan to outsource printing operations to other locations in the state…Just in case air travelers didn’t know, a J.D. Power & Associates survey finds customer satisfaction with North American airlines reached a three-year low…In another survey, Gallup notes television news gets a 26 percent ranking with a combined “great” or “a lot” approval, edging out newspapers that garner 24 percent.  Low?  Yes.  But twice as better than Congress, at the bottom of the list, with a paltry 12 percent…In yet another study, the Pew Internet and American Life Project reports nearly 30 percent of adults use the Internet to read or watch unfiltered political campaign material…CNN on Thursday uncovered its own political findings in the presidential campaign:  John McCain is computer illiterate while Barack Obama uses a laptop --- to check on sports scores…Another newspaper is dumping daily stock listings.  The Daytona Beach (Florida) News-Journal replaces publishing the tables Tuesdays through Fridays with weekly market summaries covering mutual funds and the 2,100 most active stocks on Saturdays.

Korean War anniversary snubbed; CNN set for action

With most media relishing anniversary stories, the so-called “Forgotten War” --- that’s the Korean War --- went mostly unobserved Wednesday, which marked the 58th anniversary of the start of the three-year conflict, notes Grumpy Editor.

For the U.S., the 1950-1953 battle against North Korean and Chinese forces resulted in 36,940 military deaths, 103,000 wounded, 8,142 missing in action and 3,746 prisoners of war.

There has been no formal end to the Korean War.  Action ended with a cease fire on July 27, 1953.

One of the rare mentions of the anniversary in the U.S., a one-liner indicating the event, was in Wednesday’s Associated Press-supplied daily “Almanac.”

Overseas, one of the few media outlets marking the anniversary was South Korea’s Dong-a Ilbo's Internet company, donga.com.  It ran short stories and photos of foreign veterans, including Americans, visiting at the invitation of the Korean War Veterans Association.

However, on Friday look for wide U.S. media coverage, CNN included, when North Korea topples a 65-foot high cooling tower at its Yongbyon reactor complex as part of an international disarmament deal that today saw the communist country turn over a declaration of its plutonium-producing nuclear assets.

Unpredictable North Korea has stalled for months in dismantling the Yongbyon facility.

Today's movement by the North Koreans paves the way for the U.S. to lift key trade sanctions against that country.

Friday's display for TV and print cameras may be symbolic.  There are reports that North Korea --- which detonated a nuclear device two years ago --- has at least two other nuclear facilities involved in uranium enrichment work.

Cautious President Bush today said the U.S. will monitor North Korea closely and "if they don't fulfill their promises, more restrictions will be placed on them."

Greenspan issues another warning linked to ‘R’ word

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is running out of ways to say how close the U.S. is to a recession, notes Grumpy Editor.

It’s getting to be a monthly task.

Latest came on Tuesday ---- as the Federal Open Market Committee in Washington started the first day of a two-day meeting discussing interest rates, among other things --- when Reuters reported from Johannesburg that the former Fed chief, in a video link to a conference, declared, “We are on the brink” (of a recession) and chances of that happening are “at more than 50 percent.”

But his recession outlook hasn’t changed much in recent months. 

The needle is stuck just above the 50 percent mark.

Turns out that ‘brink” (as on the edge of a cliff) is a new word Greenspan tossed into the mix.

Just last month, Greenspan, who left his Fed post 29 months ago, told London-based Financial Times, “I still believe there is a greater than 50 percent probability of recession.”

That was on par with what he said in April to the Madrid-based newspaper El Pais when he warned, “I would not describe the situation we are in as a recession, although the chances that we’ll have one are more than 50 percent.”

Obama’s ‘seal’ knock-off dumped after talk show static

Many radio and TV talk shows have been gurgling over the Friday unveiling of a presidential seal-lookalike on a podium when Sen. Barack Obama spoke to a group of Democrat governors in Chicago, observed Grumpy Editor.

All the chatter led to Obama’a campaign dumping the almost official-looking emblem on Monday --- only three days after its debut.

The faux presidential seal brought comments ranging from the emblem being illegal, possibly leading to a six-month jail term for whoever was behind the campaign gimmick, to the seal making Obama look more “presidential” while speaking.

The chatter spread to the Web, too.  One posting said, “He looks like a kid pretending to be president.”

The Obama seal, with a blue background, included the American bald eagle clutching arrows and an olive branch.  But the Latin phrase "E Pluribus Unum" on the official seal was replaced on the Obama seal with “Vero Possumus.”  That translated into something close to the Obama campaign slogan, "Yes we can."

The emblem’s outer ring displayed “Obama for America” and his Web site.

Other changes to the Obama seal included the removal of the shield over the eagle's breast, replaced with a big "O," presumably for Obama, and an image of what some saw as a rising sun.

CNN senior political analyst Gloria Borger, on the “Situation Room,” succinctly described the campaign prop as “a counterfeit presidential seal.”

AP greets Sunday readers with depressing tally

On Saturday, the first day of summer, Grumpy Editor noted Associated Press moved one of the most depressing stories of the year under the headline, “Everything seemingly is spinning out of control.”

That led to Sunday morning newspaper readers gulping while reading what AP writers Alan Fram and Eileen Putman compiled about current happenings:

“Midwestern levees are bursting. Polar bears are adrift. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Home values are abysmal. Air fares, college tuition and health care border on unaffordable. Wars without end rage in Iraq, Afghanistan and against terrorism.”

Which brings to mind the old comedy line, “and the coffee supply is low.”

It also reminds one of gray-bearded, long-haired guys clad in white robes parading down streets holding signs reading, “The world is coming to an end.”

The AP piece painted a picture that illustrated it’s mighty close to that.

In addition, the writers mentioned, floods are engulfing Midwestern towns, the recent Washington, D.C., power blackout, global warming, weak U.S. dollar, airlines charging to check luggage, baseball stars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens “accused of enhancing their heroics with drugs,” President Bush getting “the approval of three in 10 people, and it’s even worse for the Democratic-led Congress.”

Whew!

Oh, yes, the story also weaves in that an AP-Ipsos poll tallied only “a barrel-scraping 17 percent of people surveyed believe the country is moving in the right direction.”

With the presidential election less than five months away, a better article would emerge from hard-hitting reporters firmly pressing Democrat and Republican candidates for solid input on how they expect to erase all these negatives and put the U.S. on track for better days ahead.

Sens. Dodd, Conrad ‘in the dark’ on special loans

Revelation this week that two key U.S. senators received preferential treatment on home loans from Countrywide Financial Corp. brought some interesting responses from the lawmakers --- which print and broadcast media failed to pursue, notes Grumpy Editor.

Response from Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.), who holds the critical post of chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and had his eyes on the White House earlier this year, raised only a few eyebrows.

While denying he sought special treatment from Countrywide, expected to be part of Bank of America as early as July 1, The Wall Street Journal reported that Dodd said Countrywide informed him and his wife that they were being placed in a special program but that he assumed that was because they were longtime customers.

Remember, that response is from the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee where bills are crafted that affect banks as well as taxpayers.

Also receiving a preferred loan, termed internally at Countrywide as for “Friends of Angelo,” referring to its chairman and chief executive officer Angelo Mozilo, was Kent Conrad (D., N.D.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.  The Journal reported Conrad has said he didn’t ask for a loan discount or know he received one at the time.

Thus, Conrad, who claimed he was “in the dark” on the financial dealing, is the Senate’s keeper of the budget, so to speak.

 

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

Different than those late Friday afternoon “negative news” announcements:  A news release on the firing of New York Mets manager Willie Randolph was issued 15 minutes after midnight, Pacific time on Tuesday, a few hours after a Mets game with the Los Angeles Angels.  It stirred sleepy-eyed sports writers, especially those from New York.  “A stunning time,” one wrote…The Orlando Sentinel is slated to roll out with a new design Sunday that some readers may not like…Former CBS and ABC television correspondent Linda Douglass jumped to the PR side with a new title:  spokeswoman for Barack Obama in his run for president…Associated Press, which likes to turn back pages of time with anniversary stories, on Thursday covered the Hula Hoop that debuted 50 years ago --- in 16 paragraphs.  Now let’s see if AP remembers the June 25 anniversary marking the start of the Korean War…Battle of TV commercials’ audio volume looms:  Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D., Calif.) seeks to pass a bill that would require broadcasters to keep TV commercials no louder than regular programming.  Some ad folks (perhaps with too much wax in their ears) say the problem doesn’t exist.  Eshoo’s bill would require the Federal Communications Commission to set limits on commercials’ volume…McClatchy Co., third largest newspaper chain in the U.S., will chop 1,400 jobs or 10 percent of its work force.  It operates the Miami Herald (which will be hardest hit, shedding 17 percent of its work force) and the Sacramento Bee plus 28 other U.S. dailies.  This follows cutting about 13 percent of its payroll between the end of 2006 and April.

Be careful in branding a business with 'Cosmopolitan'

Grumpy Editor tip:  Unless talking about the magazine, don’t mention “Cosmopolitan” or “Cosmo” anywhere around the Hearst Communications Inc. offices in New York City.  It’ll perk up ears of attorneys.

The publisher of Cosmopolitan magazine doesn’t like to hear Cosmopolitan or Cosmo unless it relates to the women’s publication.

Things were stirred up when the Cosmopolitan name was applied to the under-construction Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, a condo hotel slated to open late next year with 2,200 rooms and a 70,000 square foot casino on an 8.5 acre site on The Strip.

Hearst sued developers of the Vegas project in U.S. District Court in New York this week, claiming the resort’s name is likely to confuse the public into believing that Hearst is involved in developing the project or had licensed the Cosmopolitan name.

According to Reuters, the lawsuit said use of the Cosmopolitan and Cosmo names "demonstrates an intentional, willful and bad faith intent to trade on the good will of HCI's registered marks and to cause confusion, deception and mistake in the minds of customers and potential customers to the great and irreparable injury of HCI.”

A quick survey by Grumpy Editor found that Cosmopolitan or Cosmo are rather common words linked to commercial operations near Hearst headquarters.  Fourteen businesses had Cosmo in their names and 23 used Cosmopolitan --- including, yes, Cosmopolitan Hotel in New York City.

Award-winning Las Vegas ad agency deserves a kick

The New York American Marketing Association for 40 years annually bestows Effie awards which it describes as “the most prestigious award in our industry because it honors the one truly significant achievement in advertising: Results.”

With judging this year in 44 categories --- from automotive to telecom services --- and with up to three awards in each, spotlighting each winning effort can be cumbersome.

But Grumpy Editor finds one award in the “Government, Institutional & Recruitment” category downright crude and distasteful.

Yes, even worse than tweaking noses and poking eyes in Three Stooges routines.

The 30-second TV spot actually depicts hitting below the belt --- and it’s not plugging martial arts.

Picture this:  The spot opens with a close-up of lawn sprinklers spraying water.  Then an elderly woman with a cane and a sour expression walks up to a home and rings the doorbell.  A man answers.  The two stare at each other for a moment.  He asks, “Can I help you?”

That’s when the woman rears back, balancing on her left foot while holding the cane in right hand, and boots the guy with her straight-out other foot right in the crotch --- hard.

The man doubles up in pain and hits the deck.

The offensive pitch closes with:  “Don’t make us ask you again.  It’s a desert out there.”

Some ad judges thought that was a wonderful way for R&R Partners, a Las Vegas advertising agency that developed the spot for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, to remind TV viewers about seasonal lawn watering restrictions.

So R&R walked away with a silver (second place) Effie that honors, according to New York AMA, “the most significant achievement in the business of marketing communications:  ideas that work.”

A gold first place in the “Government, Institutional & Recruitment” category went to the University of Minnesota for “Driven to Discover Campaign,” while bronze third place was presented to New Orleans Recovery School District for “Why You Teach.”

Bush faces another 'Katrina' with flood-hit Iowa

‘‘This is our version of Katrina,’’ Johnson County (Iowa) Emergency Management spokesman Mike Sullivan said of Iowa City on Monday.

Yet, the major flood disaster --- mainly affecting southeastern Iowa and parts of Michigan and Illinois, including a string of towns along the Mississippi River     --- still was not fully recognized Monday by Washington officials and some of the national media (which were focused on other weekend happenings), notes Grumpy Editor.

Today, however, with attention on 27 levees along the Mississippi in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, the flood story has moved up to lead item on most national radio and TV news coverage.

Flood damage reports and its aftereffects will be continuing for months.

And just as he was tardy getting to the Gulf Coast after Katrina in 2005, President Bush --- who has been touring Europe --- won’t be on scene to inspect the latest flood damage until Thursday.

Economic impact is nearing $1 billion, and growing, as office buildings, businesses, homes and farmlands were smacked with high water from overflowing rivers.  Whole neighborhoods were under water.  One dramatic photo showed large portions of homes piled against a bridge.

Water flowed over 400 city blocks, flooding 3,900 homes in Cedar Rapids where 25,000 people fled high water containing dead birds and fish.  About 5,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Iowa City.  Sixteen buildings at the University of Iowa were flooded.  A levee breach in Des Moines, the state capital, flooded more than 200 homes plus businesses.

In all, 26 Iowa communities saw people evacuated from homes.

Add to that structural problems ranging from bridges to buildings plus gas leaks, power outages, flooded farmlands, uprooted rail tracks and roads, stalled river barges, knocked out drinking water and even swept-away manhole covers.   Some areas were affected by water containing a mix of herbicides, pesticides and barnyard elements.

On the financial side, corn futures on Monday rose above $7.50 a bushel, a new high, as floods threatened next season's production.

Lingering effects also will stem from millions of mosquitoes breeding in stagnant water.

On Monday, levees along a 15-mile stretch of the Mississippi were being fortified while 281 miles of the river from Winfield, Mo., to Fulton, Ill. were inaccessible to commercial river traffic.

Limited assistance was being provided by the National Guard and Coast Guard.  Seeking extra manpower, inmates from the Iowa State Penitentiary were tapped to help in sandbagging efforts. 

And, as with Katrina, look for extended pleas to insurance companies to pay up.  But for homeowners and businesses with no flood insurance coverage, the future looks bleak.