Grumpy Editor

And the top city for newspaper readership is…

Quiz time from Grumpy Editor:  Name the U.S. city that has the highest percentage of adults who read a printed newspaper, a newspaper’s Web site or both during a week.

New York
Boston
San Francisco
Rochester
Washington, D.C.
Dallas

It’s Rochester, N.Y., according to New York City-based Scarborough Research.  The firm compiles data in 81 markets with media usage patterns among categories it studies.

Scarborough’s analysis finds the integrated newspaper audience of Rochester is 87 percent.

That gives the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester --- and parent Gannett Co. --- something to crow about.

Rochester, with a population of about 207,000, is New York State’s third most populous city.   Image companies Eastman Kodak Co. and Xerox Corp. top the list of well-known firms headquartered there.

Tied for second place in reading newspapers in print or online are Cleveland/Akron and Buffalo, with 86 percent.

Grabbing 85 percent are Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Boston, Hartford/New Haven and Albany/Schenectady/Troy.

Lowest ranking markets for integrated newspaper audience are Bakersfield, Calif., and Las Vegas with 59 percent.

Associated Press again reminds ‘Big One’ is coming

Periodic earthquake scares, especially fears of the “Big One,” are back in the news with Associated Press writer Alicia Chang leading the way over the weekend, notices Grumpy Editor.

She reports a swarm of small earthquakes, most barely felt, have occurred since March 21 near the southern end of the San Andreas Fault near the thinly populated Salton Sea area.

That’s about 160 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

The “seismic jiggling” has some people wondering if the “swarm is just a warm-up to a major quake,” she writes.

“The San Andreas has the potential to unleash a ‘Big One’ and cause serious damage to the greater Los Angeles region,” reminds Chang, repeating a constant warning.

Then she cautions, “Because scientists cannot predict earthquakes the way meteorologists can forecast tomorrow’s weather, the best they can say is that the latest rumblings slightly raise the probability of a San Andreas event, but the risk significantly drops off with time.”

Last April, another Chang story grabbed chunks of print space/broadcast airtime when she reported, “California faces an almost certain risk of being rocked by a strong earthquake by 2037” in a seismic forecast by scientists that pointed to a magnitude 6.7 quake or larger by that time.

A month later, the AP writer came up with a reminder that an earth-moving happening would occur “in the next few decades.”  A hypothetical model, worked up by scientists, indicated a mighty 7.8 magnitude jolt would see “Los Angeles and its suburbs shake like a bowl of jelly” in less than two minutes --- and 50,000 people would be injured in Southern California.

Grumpy Editor notes while Southern California, indeed, is in earthquake territory, the lower section of the San Andreas Fault has not produced a major earthquake since one with an estimated 7.7 magnitude 319 years ago.

But print and broadcast writers and editors like to shake up readers/listeners with a constant parade of “shaker stories.”

So look for more before year-end.

Christian Science Monitor ends daily print edition

The 101-year old, Boston-based Christian Science Monitor yesterday rolled out is final daily print edition but continues with a frequently-updated Web site, a beefed-up 44-page print weekly starting April 12 and an e-mail newsletter for a yet to be determined fee, notes Grumpy Editor.

“Think of it this way,” says Editor John Yemma.  “We are putting on new clothes for a new era, but we are the same Monitor, committed to the same objective we have adhered to since we were launched a century ago: ‘to injure no man but to bless all mankind.’ ”

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

Foreign reporting compresses.  The Tribune Co., Chicago, in efforts to save money while reorganizing in bankruptcy court, is combining its Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times international reporting into a single unit based in Los Angeles.

Another wire service gears up.  CNN continues to look into establishing its own wire service, relates President Jon Klein.  The cable news network, adds Klein, could “launch something, probably sometime this year, we think.”

Daily goes the Web-only route.  Last print edition of Ann Arbor News rolls off presses in July.  Owner Advance Publications Inc. is replacing the daily with a community-oriented Web site.

Radio news listeners gain.  Cumulative audience for NPR’s daily radio news programs reached 20.9 million last year, a nine percent increase from the prior year.

Newspaper staff trimming swells.  McClatchy Co. says it is cutting 60 full time and 22 part-time employees at its Charlotte (N.C.) Observer and is laying off 49 full timers and four part-time workers at its Lexington (Ky.) Herald.  In other staff-reducing action:  The New York Times plans about 100 layoffs in its business operations…The Washington Post seeks a fourth round of buyouts since 2003…The Houston Chronicle, a Hearst Corp. publication, is laying off about 12 percent of its work force…The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is eliminating about 90 of its full-time news staff…The Bakersfield Californian is trimming 26 from its payroll.

Looking straight ahead.  For last Tuesday’s prime-time news conference, President Barack Obama, in efforts to deflect comments --- mainly from talk show hosts --- on his heavy teleprompter usage, goes to a large, back-of-room TV monitor to read his opening message.

Obama administration rebrands ‘war on terror’ phrase

In case you didn’t read or hear about it, the war, as in global war on terror, is over (and out), notes Grumpy Editor.

Senior Obama administration officials have erased the “war” word from communications and for about a month have publicly substituted it, using the battle-neutral overseas contingency operation.

It became official this week when the Defense Department's office of security sent a memo to Pentagon staffers, speechwriters and key officials, stating "this administration prefers to avoid using the term ‘Long War’ or ‘Global War on Terror' [GWOT.] Please use 'Overseas Contingency Operation.'"

So when the day comes when veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts are asked by offspring, “what war were you in daddy (or mommy),” the adjusted response will be the mouthful overseas contingency operation. 

The new phrase does not pinpoint the geographic area where the action is, as with the Korean War or Vietnam War.

It also will require a new battle ribbon for uniforms to reflect OCO.

The global war on terror label was adopted by the Bush administration shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

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Reminder:

Grumpy Editor's end-of-week leftover notes now appears on Saturdays.

Toxic becomes popular poisonous word with media

Toxic.

That word, originating in the mid 1600s when arrows were dipped in poison, is fast becoming overused in front-page news stories and in broadcast news, finds Grumpy Editor.

Until recently, the only time toxic appeared in print or was heard on the air was in connection with industrial wastes or impure foods.  Now, toxic assets or toxic mortgages phrases are getting to be as common as “have a good day.”

Toxic has an excellent chance of becoming the “word of the year.”

Looks like it will replace, by a wide margin, “surge” --- a much-used word linked to everything from troops’ buildup to stock market action --- cited here a year ago and still popular with headline writers.

Media writers and editors like toxic because it is a punchy, short word (and perhaps turns the stomach a little).

Since toxic is now overdone, Grumpy Editor offers these as pinch-hitters (in keeping with terminology of the upcoming baseball season) for the dreaded word:

Dreadful, scandalous, sinful, cursed, harmful, disastrous, obnoxious and especially diabolic.

But diabolic takes up too much space in headlines, so evil is a splendid substitute --- and shorter than toxic.

 

Obama administration finds new endangered species

Quiz time from Grumpy Editor:  Guess a new category --- joining banks, insurance companies, U.S. jobs, taxpayers --- that is endangered, threatened or in decline?

As if the White House didn’t have enough on its overflowing plate, birds now are a major concern, something that did not make front pages this week.

Seems some feathered friends are at risk because of habitat loss, invasive species and other threats, especially energy production.

A U.S. State of Birds report, released by the Obama administration and  based on 40 years of data analyzed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, other federal and state agencies and non-profit groups, finds nearly a third of the nation’s 800 species are in peril.

“Energy development has significant negative effects on birds of North America” the report concludes, pointing out they can collide with wind turbines, oil and gas wells, and transmission lines.

Puzzling here is that wind turbines are linked to Washington’s growing push for green energy production.

Grumpy Editor reminds that birds have been threatened for centuries.

 Many simply are sloppy fliers, crashing into all types of objects.  Others are jumped by hawks, eagles and others seeking food fare or are displaced or consumed in forest fires, blown about by wind storms, frozen in blizzards and drowned in floods.

In many cases, if they don’t like a particular territory, they can easily take off and fly to a new location.

So why the sudden concern for the feathered creatures?

The report could lead to more regulations as the Obama administration indicates plans to take a more critical look at government-funded projects, especially involving energy production that could threaten wildlife.

More newspaper companies take the furlough route

“Furlough,” a welcomed word for those in the military, means taking a leave of absence for a specified period to visit family or go someplace to absorb a change of scenery, with pay untouched.  For those on newspapers, though, furlough means an unwelcomed, forced period without pay --- with hopes of returning to desks not decorated with pink slips, notes Grumpy Editor.

Newspaper furloughs, in efforts to avoid laying off additional employees, are getting more frequent mentions this week.  Here’s what’s happening:

•  Advance Publications Inc., which includes The Plain Dealer, Cleveland; Birmingham (Ala.) News; The Star Ledger, Newark, N.J.; The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, La.; The Oregonian, Portland, among others, is requiring 10-day furloughs at nearly all of its daily newspapers over coming months, perhaps by year end.

•  Gannett Co., with a family of more than 80 dailies, topped by USA Today, is forcing most of its workers to take another week of unpaid leave by the end of June.  Higher paid staffers will have to take two weeks away from offices.  The action marks the second time this year Gannett’s 41,500 workers have given up days without pay.

•  Freedom Communications Inc., with the Orange County (Calif.) Register among the 100 daily and weekly newspapers in the family, will require one-week furloughs in the second quarter for all but most recently hired employees.

HBO’s Maher, MSNBC’s Matthews top DisHonors Awards

Covering awards programs relating to sports, movies, music or media rank high on editors’ lists, but other than mentions on the Web, major media largely ignored Thursday night’s Media Research Center’s annual DisHonors Awards, observes Grumpy Editor.

Media watchdog MRC spotlighted weird utterances --- backed up by showing video clips --- from familiar names seen on television.

“Quote of the Year” went to HBO’s Bill Maher for “loony conspiracy theorizing about (Republican vice presidential candidate) Sarah Palin’s baby.”

Winning the “Media Messiah Award” was MSNBC’s Chris Matthews for saying (then presidential candidate) Barack Obama gave him a “thrill going up my leg.”

The “Obamagasm Award” went to ABC-TV’s Bill Weir for mentioning “even the seagulls must have been awed by the blanket of humanity” at the president’s inauguration.

CNN founder Ted Turner grabbed the “Dan Rather Memorial Award for the Stupidest Analysis” for warning that if global warming is not addressed in 30 or 40 years, “most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals.”

On the other hand, the “William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence” was presented by MRC President Brent Bozell to Fox News' Brit Hume for his many years covering Washington. Hume, retired host of Fox News’ “Special Report,” continues to supply commentary.

Not surprising, only award winner on hand was Hume.

Cable network C-SPAN was on scene and repeated the full awards presentations on Saturday night.

Strangely, the Washington Post was one of the few major print outlets that gave the awards some space --- “strangely” because eight paragraphs out of 11 on the event focused on Samuel Joseph (Joe the Plumber) Wurzelbacher who supplied some comments from the stage. 

Gov. Rendell, despite budget shortfall, taps outside PR

On Thursday, the same day Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell said quick action is needed to help his state “withstand the economic punches from the struggling national economy,” an announcement from Harrisburg said the Democrat --- after an earlier call to slash budgets to deal with a worsening recession --- hired an outside consultant to help with “media strategy,” notes Grumpy Editor.

That will cost the state about $100,000, based on a monthly fee of $9,090 through January, 2010, as the state moves toward a projected $2.3 billion budget shortfall.

With that additional PR assistance, one wonders how the governor’s own communications office feels about the outside-hired hand --- who probably will call for more news conferences and selected press interviews to provide details on federal stimulus aid going to the state.

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

High-flying question.  Among hard-hitting questions comedian Jay Leno asked President Barack Obama on NBC’s “Tonight” show on Thursday:  How cool is it to fly on Air Force One?  Not heard during the interview were the words “crisis” and “catastrophe,” both heavily used by the President last month.

Easy lead-story decision.  Top front-page headline spanning three columns in Thursday’s San Diego Union-Tribune focused on the daily’s sale by Copley Press to Beverly Hills-based Platinum Equity.  On the auction block for nine months, sweetening up the deal was the company’s ownership of property in Mission Valley and La Jolla.

Business pages take more hits.  The Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Sun News, a McClatchy Co. newspaper, drops its standalone business section, except for Saturdays, starting March 30…Things are harsher at the San Antonio Express-News where parent Hearst Corp. this week trimmed six business news staffers, leaving nine.

Arctic chill engulfs daily.  In another McClatchy Co. action, the Anchorage Daily News will cut 45 staff positions, about 17 percent of its payroll, by mid-April.  Survivors will see pay cuts from 2.5 percent to 10 percent.

Well, it makes the DMV happy.  The front page Wall Street Journal photo on Tuesday showed a Mexican truck at a U.S. inspection station bearing only a California license plate.

Sell San Quentin prison? But where do inmates go?

Grumpy Editor finds it interesting that a California state senator is pushing a bill that calls for the sale of San Quentin State Prison, on a 432-acre peninsula with a view of San Pablo Bay north of San Francisco --- but, if accomplished, fails to indicate where more than 5,300 displaced inmates will be confined.

Apparently no news person bothered to ask, along with costs of acquiring property at a new location and erecting a prison.

In cash-strapped California, State Sen. Jeff Denham (R., Merced) is sponsoring a bill that calls for selling the San Quentin complex of buildings to make way for private residential and commercial development.

He figures the property, now containing about 200 buildings, would fetch as much as $2 billion.

Into the mix is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan (with the Golden State scratching for funds) to spend $356 million as early as May to expand the prison’s death row section.

That figure includes inflation added to California lawmakers’ approval of $220 million six years ago to bolster death row.

Also affecting the state’s budget is operating San Quentin, originally built in 1852.

Last year it cost the state $260 million.  Adding to costs were updated plumbing, seismic upgrades and lead paint cleanup.

Indeed, confusion reigns in the Golden State.  But that’s nothing new.

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Reminder:

Grumpy Editor's end-of-week leftover notes now appears on Saturdays.