Grumpy Editor

South Bend Tribune reporters add daily reports

Composition time, like in college days:  Starting Monday, reporters at the South Bend Tribune are being required to write a detailed memo to their editors on what they accomplished during the previous eight hours.

No indication if this includes what type of sandwich was munched for lunch.

In other Grumpy Editor end-of-week leftover notes:

Last of free home-delivered Baltimore Examiner copies roll off the presses on Feb. 15, putting 90 employees out of work…Also on Feb. 15, the last Book World tabloid section will appear in the Washington Post.  After that, book content will be scattered in other departments…McClatchy Co., which owns 30 daily newspapers in 29 U.S. markets, is suspending “for the foreseeable future” its quarterly dividend after this quarter’s payout.

All steamed up:  A Wednesday photo caption in The Wall Street Journal described smoke being discharged from a U.S. Steel plant in Clairton, Pa.  Actually, it was steam.  A correction note ran the next day…Is it still a “daily”?  Blaming economic circumstances, the Las Vegas (N.M.) Optic, starting March 2, will publish on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays…New York Times Co. ad revenue at its 19 news media properties fell 15.8 percent last month, normally a lucrative period with the holiday season.

Hot and cold:  Top front-page story Tuesday in the Los Angeles Times focused on climate change while a few columns away, above the fold, was a photo of an Altadena (suburb of Los Angeles) resident scraping an unusual layer of ice off her car’s rear window.  Meanwhile, The Times plans to eliminate 300 positions, including 70 in the newsroom in coming weeks.

Attention-grabbing ad, but:  Microsoft Corp. is running strange full-page ads in publications, including The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek, that show a marker-like shading over five columns of printed text and an X over a photo.  Only a few unshaded words remain that, when combined, form a sentence, such as “It’s everybody’s business to be on the same page.”  Readers have to look closely to see, in tiny type, that it’s a pitch for Microsoft’s “people ready solution.” 

 

Nevada mulls ‘congestion pricing’ aimed at motorists

Congestion pricing.  That relatively new term affecting motorists should be enough to hoist RED warning flags.

It has been a hot issue in New York and now has drifted to Nevada where most of the state is composed of desert and mountains.

Along with gasoline and sales taxes, drivers licenses and auto registration fees, plus traffic fines, congestion pricing could be next for a number of tax-hungry states, warns Grumpy Editor, who suggests editorial page writers should be zeroing in on this latest attempt by state officials to snatch more from taxpayers’ wallets.

Congestion pricing is aimed at levying fees on those who drive on heavily-traveled routes during rush-hour periods.  That means everyone, including pizza delivery people, folks hurrying to a hospital, workers on the way to their jobs and families off to visit grandma.

Scratching around for more funds from taxpayers rather than tightening budgets during a recession, states are eyeing the finger-licking revenue plan.

Las Vegas is an area in the sights of Nevada Department of Transportation officials.

Aside from heavy traffic along the hotel-casino-dotted Las Vegas Strip on Friday and Saturday nights (bolstered by weekend influx of California visitors), state transportation officials figure Sin City warrants congestion pricing.

 

Modeled after plan initiated in London in 2003

 

New York has been debating the congestion pricing idea, modeled after one instituted in London six years ago.

Nevada’s State Transportation Director Susan Martinovich on Wednesday announced congestion pricing research has started, aiming for proposed legislation in two years.  She gives it a tamer label:  Vehicle Miles Traveled program.

Martinovich , who oversees operations of a department with an annual operating budget of $674 million and 1,700 employees, lives in Carson City, the Silver State’s capital, where she drives to work on “those peaceful, lazy roads” as Las Vegas Review-Journal Publisher Sherman Frederick wrote in a 2007 column.

Under a congestion pricing plan, electronic monitoring devices would be installed in vehicles to track use --- where, when and distance driven --- and refueling.  Drivers would be nicked an extra fee if on streets during rush hours.  Heavier and less fuel-efficient vehicles would pay more.

It all sounds like a scary movie, shot in grainy black and white for a better, gloomier effect, something that could have been produced 30 years ago --- looking to the future around 2010 when “Big Brother” rules.

No indication on costs of the on-board devices --- and if they will be made in the U.S. --- plus installation, monitoring equipment at central facilities, which may have to be expanded or erected, and additional specialized staffing required for constant observations and follow-ups in collecting fees.

Then, again, perhaps an “eye in the sky” will be a good idea, if faithfully followed for all.  Taxpayers, after much effort, could pressure the state transportation department for reports on after-hours action, usage and fill-ups of the thousands of city, county and state vehicles, including those used by politicians and other officials, cluttering the roadways.

Or will those vehicles be “protected” from the monitoring system?

 

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NOTE FROM GRUMPY EDITOR:

End-of-week leftover notes will now appear on Saturdays.

ABC, CNN talent huddles daily with White House

When three former Clinton Administration operatives --- now associated with TV network news operations --- huddle daily on the telephone with the White House chief of staff in the Barack Obama administration, does that pose a conflict, asks Grumpy Editor.

Not exactly talking about the frosty weather in Washington are Rahm Emanuel, new White House chief of staff; Democrat strategists James Carville and Paul Begala, both  political contributors to CNN, and George Stephanopoulos, former Clinton Administration senior adviser to the president for policy and strategy, and now ABC News’ chief Washington correspondent and anchor of Sunday’s “This Week.”

Rush Limbaugh on his top-ranked radio talk show yesterday mentioned that the foursome chat daily.  John F. Harris, writing on The Politico Web site on Tuesday, describes the long-time every workday telephone reunions as “a street-corner bull session between four old friends.”

Harris says the routine usually starts with Carville phoning Emanuel, then Emanuel calls Stephanopoulos with Begala weighing in later, dialing all three.

All this chatter among cozy Democrats brings up another question:

Do news directors at ABC and CNN think this daily pipeline --- involving on-camera commentators strongly aligned with Democrats --- into and out of the White House tarnishes their Washington coverage?

NBC bans Super Bowl sexy ‘veggie’ TV commercial

Super Bowl ads draw an enormous amount of attention --- even when they don’t run on network TV, finds Grumpy Editor.

Despite an economic downturn, NBC’s price tag on commercials airing during next Sunday’s televised game is $3 million a pop.

But the network, part of the General Electric Co. family, rejects some TV spots, the latest being (from all places) an animal rights organization.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) ad gets the boot from NBC because it shows sexy models with assorted fresh vegetables --- and what they do with them.

Writing on the PETA Web site, Amy Elizabeth describes the spot as featuring “a comely crop of models demonstrating their fondness for fresh produce” and that “NBC nixed the ad, saying it ‘depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards.’ ”

What gets NBC nervous is that scantily-clad models are seen licking a pumpkin, an eggplant and broccoli --- and doing sexy (or is it naughty?) things with a pumpkin, broccoli and asparagus.

The spot, with screaming music, ends with:

Studies Show Vegetarians Have Better Sex.  Go Veg

See what makes NBC executives blush.

 

Another ‘Big One’ quake story makes the rounds

Periodic “Big One” earthquake scares for California are back in the news this week as “shake ‘em up” stories now make the rounds several times a year, notes Grumpy Editor.

“Large earthquakes have rumbled along a southern section of the San Andreas fault more frequently than previously believed, suggesting that Southern California could be overdue for a strong temblor on the notorious fault line,” reads the lead in a Los Angeles Times story based on yet another study.

It focuses on the Carrizo Plain section of the San Andreas fault which has not seen a massive quake since the Fort Tejon shaker 152 years ago.

“The findings are significant because seismologists have long believed this portion of the fault is capable of sparking the so-called Big One that officials have for decades warned will eventually occur in Southern California,” notes Times writer Jia-Rui Chong, referring to research by University of California, Irvine scientists.

Last April, an Associated Press story warned that “California faces an almost certain risk of being rocked by a strong earthquake by 2037.”

A month later, another AP story on the subject dramatically described what would happen from a mighty 7.8-magnitude jolt centered on the San Andreas fault (“Los Angeles and its suburbs shake like a bowl of jelly”).

To keep Southern California residents alert and promote earthquake awareness, a “Big One” drill two months ago pretended a 7.8 quake rumbling from the southern San Andreas fault would “strike millions.”

There’s no doubt that Southern California is in earthquake territory.  Seismographs daily record many small, unfelt temblors.

Sure, a “Big One” could occur at any time.  But despite all earnest efforts by scientists and seismologists, accurately predicting major earthquakes remains extremely difficult.

Reader’s Digest steak-SUV-energy line baffles

Thumbing through the January issue of Reader’s Digest, a box on page 99 within an article caught the eyes of Grumpy Editor.  A line in that box reads:

A steak dinner for a family of four is the rough energy equivalent of driving around in an SUV for three hours while leaving all the lights on at home.

Huh?

That baffling sentence is inserted in an article on diets, excerpted from Food Matters, a book by Mark Bittman, a food writer, who describes himself as “a reporter and researcher for many years.”  The book analyzes how the American diet is taking a toll on both human and planetary health (also known as global warming).

Bittman’s article rates a cover line on the RD cover.

The eyebrow-raising energy reference and other lines are in an unsigned box --- with no tag line, writer's initials or other attribution.

Was combining a steak dinner, driving an SUV and using electric power all in one sentence meant to be humorous?

Was the writer serious?

Or was this, somehow, an illustration of going “green” while shedding weight and curbing energy?

Considering how RD editors look with microscopic eyes on incoming editorial material and usually raise a number of questions with writers behind submissions, then feed everything to fact checkers who often trigger additional questions, it’s surprising that this indigestible line passed all Digest scrutinizers.

Meanwhile, Grumpy Editor is looking forward to tonight when the dinner menu features steak (medium rare), large baked potato and zesty salad.  Yes, and home lights will be on.

Questions arise with ‘Gitmo’ prison facility closing

With President Barack Obama yesterday signing an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay’s prison facility --- housing terrorist suspects --- within a year, Grumpy Editor notes the new administration left unanswered three key questions that Washington media failed to ask:

Where will the prisoners go?

Pentagon officials have inspected several military bases in the United States that could potentially replace the Guantanamo detention center.  No decisions have been made.  Among locations are military facilities in Kansas and California.

But those states aren't happy about welcoming terrorist suspects.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, (R., Calif.), has introduced legislation to prevent Guantanamo detainees from being transferred to either Marine Corps Air Station Miramar or Camp Pendleton, near San Diego.

Meanwhile, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, has adamantly opposed moving the detainees to Fort Leavenworth, which she said was "not properly equipped to safely detain these foreign prisoners."

A Leavenworth area resident came up with a solution:  “Send them all to Alcatraz,” referring to the long-closed island prison in San Francisco Bay.

Will the facility, built three years ago with U.S. taxpayers’ money, be mothballed?

To accommodate the terrorist suspects in air-conditioned comfort on the U.S. naval base in eastern Cuba, a $54 million two-story complex, modeled after a mainland maximum-security prison, was completed in 2006.  Designed especially for the detainees, it included a health clinic, special meals from the kitchen, recreation yards and arrows pointing to Mecca, the direction Muslims face while praying.

Added later was a $12 million “legal complex” for the military commission.

And what’s with the continuing talk about abiding by the U.S. Army Field Manual while interrogating detainees?

Most media, and many Washington leaders, don’t seem to understand that “prisoners of war” referred to in the Geneva Conventions pertained mainly to captured military personnel.  Under the rules when interrogated, a POW is only required to disclose name, rank, birth date and serial number.

But terrorism suspects are not part of the military.  They have no rank, wear no uniforms or “dog tags” and therefore have no serial numbers.

Grumpy Editor end-of-week leftover notes

The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse refused to distribute White House-provided photos of President Barack Obama in the Oval Office on Wednesday, arguing that access should have been provided to news photographers.  The three news agencies said the White House was breaking with a long-standing tradition in not allowing news photographers to capture the president at work on his first day…Clear Channel Communications Inc., the nation’s largest owner of radio stations, is cutting 1,850 jobs or nine percent of its work force in radio, outdoor advertising and corporate offices.  The broadcaster operates more than 800 radio stations in 50 states…Billionaire Carlos Slim, wealthiest man in Mexico, agreed to invest $250 million in the New York Times Co.  He already owns 6.9 percent of the company…While TV broadcast and cable networks early Tuesday evening were still showing inaugural activities in Washington or returning to regular programming, Fox News was the only national TV outlet carrying former President Bush’s homecoming speech in Midland, Texas…Already on the drawing boards at The Wall Street Journal is a May 7 special section on President Barack Obama’s first 100 days…In another WSJ development, last Friday’s edition that showed the floating US Airways jet in New York’s Hudson River after its remarkable splash landing marks the first time the publication ran a six-column-wide front page photo...It’s “30” for the Tucson Citizen, a Gannett Co. newspaper founded in 1870, if a buyer isn’t found by March 31.

 

Kentucky J-students may get free hand with stories

High school journalism students in Kentucky would be allowed to write stories in their newspapers without interference from school administrators, under a proposal before the Kentucky House, notes Grumpy Editor.

If the measure passes, Kentucky would be joining Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts and Oregon that have passed laws giving various levels of protection to journalism students writing for school newspapers.

The action means school officials could not censor or spike material written for student newspapers.

Backers point out the protection will allow free flow of information.

Sometimes school journalism teachers or principals nix certain stories deemed controversial.

Passage could lead to more investigative or expose stories which sometimes are picked up by local dailies, wire services or TV news folks.

Youthful curiosity often exceeds that of long-time journalists on dailies.

Back on Oct. 8, Grumpy Editor cited an expose of funny doings at polling places that were uncovered by student investigative reporters.

Although out of high school a year or more, University of Connecticut journalism students, led by journalism professor Marcel Dufresne, found about 8,500 dead people in the state were registered to vote.  About 300 of them appeared to have voted from the grave.

Students earlier had fanned out throughout Connecticut to check records and interview registrars.  Professor Dufresne marshaled and analyzed state data on more than 2 million eligible voters, comparing the information with lists of dead people in public records of the state Department of Public Health and the Social Security Administration.

Major media, awakened by the findings, picked up the material.

Bank of America investors socked with 1-cent dividend

Bank of America Corp.’s much heralded acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co., valued at $24 billion when it was finalized on Jan. 1, has upset BofA shareholders who were counting on high-yielding dividends, notes Grumpy Editor.

This quarter’s payout, shrinking to one cent a share on common stock, is embarrassing for BofA which, until now, had been increasing its dividends for the past 30 years. 
 
A few months ago, the bank was paying shareholders a lofty quarterly dividend of 64 cents a share on common stock.  That was cut in half, to 32 cents, in the December payout.

The slashed dividend hasn’t received broad coverage.  That’s because most media, focusing on other elements of the Merrill deal, have overlooked that aspect.

On Inauguration Day, when financial stocks were hammered, BofA dropped to $5.10 a share, off $2.08 from Friday, the prior trading day, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 332.23, sinking below the 8000 mark to 7949.09.  BofA’s 52-week high was $45.08.

(Citigroup Inc. yesterday cut its common-stock dividend to one cent a share from 16 cents.)

In its Jan. 16 news release, BofA buried mention of the 2009 first quarter dividend cut to a penny a share in the 11th paragraph, citing “continuing severe economic and financial market conditions.” 

The one-cent dividend is payable March 27 to shareholders of record March 6.

An investor holding 1,000 shares, for example, received a quarterly dividend of $640 last fall while the next quarterly payout will shrivel to $10.

The latest news release also disclosed Merrill Lynch preliminary results indicated a fourth quarter net loss of $15.31 billion “driven by severe capital markets dislocations.”

BofA management last July --- two months before talk of saving Merrill entered the picture --- had reaffirmed it would continue with the 64-cent quarterly.

The bank has paid dividends since 1903.

Giant panda romance detailed in Washington Post

Eighteen days after Grumpy Editor mentioned editors find panda coverage hard to turn down, another major panda story pops up, this time in the Washington Post. 

The story described attempts to breed giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian at the National Zoo in Washington.  Detailed in 11 paragraphs, that action captured attention along with many editorial columns devoted to the inauguration today of Barack Obama.

Poor giraffes and hippos don’t stand a chance of grabbing tight newspaper space when pandas are around.

(Meanwhile, Britain’s The Guardian writer Daniel Nasaw last Thursday wrote how an unusual shortage of bamboo, a favorite meal with the National Zoo’s giant pandas, had zookeepers putting out a call to residents for donations of spare stalks from gardens.)

Pandas simply have a cuddly image that softens the hearts of the toughest editors.

In the latest story, Post writer Debbi Wilgoren reported the two pandas (Mei Xiang is the female, Tian Tian is the male) “had tried to mate throughout the day Thursday apparently without success.”  The piece went on to describe how the pair produced one cub through artificial insemination in 2005 while other attempts in 2002 (which the Washington Post at that time described as “rough encounters”), 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008 failed.

Insemination was tried again on Saturday.  The gestation period lasts 90 to 185 days.

So whether successful or not, expect a follow-up --- and more panda headlines from Washington --- between April and July.

Competition looms with Punxsutawney Phil

Meanwhile, not quite as sexy, yet in competing with pandas for broadcast time/print headlines, look for groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, as he is called, to poke his head out of his Pennsylvania burrow Feb. 2 with a number of press cameras and note takers on hand.

Legend has it that if Phil sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, an annual event since 1886, there will be six more weeks of winter weather.  With no shadow, there will be an early spring.

Then it’ll be back to panda coverage.