Grumpy Editor

Almost forgotten: Korean War remains open-ended

News junkies, including journalists, are aware that the U.S. currently is involved in three military actions --- in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya --- but most overlook a fourth, rather silent, that remains open-ended after 58 years, reminds Grumpy Editor. 

That’s the Korean War.  Battles ended with a cease fire on July 27, 1953. 

So it’s interesting to note that North Korea this week, on the 58th anniversary of the truce, is "eager" to sign a peace treaty that puts the cap on the 1950-1953 conflict that, for the U.S., resulted in 36,940 military deaths, 103,000 wounded, 8,142 missing in action and 3,746 prisoners of war. 

The Korean War, also labeled the “forgotten war,” erupted when 135,000 communist North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea in pre-dawn hours of June 25, 1950. 

The conflict was extended with the entries of communist Chinese soldiers battling U.S. troops on the ground and Russian pilots in Soviet-built jets fighting U.S. airmen.

Chinese troops killed or captured thousands of U.S. military personnel and managed many prisoner of war camps in North Korea. 

North and South Korea technically remain at war with no peace treaty. 

A North Korea-U.S. diplomatic meeting that continues today in New York is slated to include discussions on signing a peace treaty that ends the Korean War. 

In addition, talks are expected to focus on a resumption of six-nation (China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, North Korea, U.S.) nuclear disarmament talks, something that has been going on for years. 

Don’t count on progress. 

Over the years, North Korea’s routine has been to talk, followed by pauses, then more talks, followed by no final action.

 

Chicago Tribune soon takes on printing of rival Sun-Times

Starting in September, the Chicago Tribune picks up some extra revenue by printing newspapers of its long-time competitor, the Chicago Sun-Times and seven of its suburban dailies, finds Grumpy Editor. 

The deal benefits both parties.

The Sun-Times saves on newsprint and allied production costs.  In the process, it will be laying off more than 400 employees.  (However, the Tribune may be picking up some of these workers since it plans to hire about 100 for the added Sun-Times output.) 

The Tribune adds to its growing printing of outside newspapers while boosting its bottom line. 

Besides its own family of newspapers, the Tribune prints regional editions of the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Investor’s Business Daily. 

Under the agreement, the Sun-Times effectively exits newspaper printing and distribution. 

In addition to the Sun-Times, the Tribune will print and distribute the Aurora Beacon-News, the Elgin Courier-News, the Joliet Herald-News, the Lake County News-Sun, the Merrillville Post-Tribune, the SouthtownStar and the Naperville Sun. 

Another benefit l0oms for the Tribune:  Its pressroom workers will get a preview peek of the rival Sun-Times editions. 

 

Vacation for Congress looms as debt talks deadline nears

Looks like it will be a photo finish in debt talks as Republicans and Democrats aim for a deal on borrowing authority as next Tuesday’s deadline nears when the U.S. government faces bill-paying problems --- but Washington lawmakers also have fishing rods, airline tickets and cruises in mind because a month-long recess starts Aug. 6, reminds Grumpy Editor. 

That should provide incentive to break the long-running gridlock. 

Observers believe Washington lawmakers will find a way to reach an agreement that allows the government to keep paying its debts.

Figuring a bipartisan agreement on debt limit-spending clears Congress and gets to President Barack Obama's desk by Aug. 2, both House and Senate members are scheduled to be on vacation until past Labor Day, returning on Sept. 7.

That’s like leaving the “crime” scene in a hurry and getting out of town.

That will leave Washington rather quiet during August while the White House press corps takes a break themselves or looks for other topics to focus on including happenings with Republican presidential candidates, the always unusual weather in the nation's capital or an update on the summer crop output from the nearby much-publicized-earlier White House vegetable garden.

 

Using ‘heat index’ as true temperature misleads readers

Some confusion exists by print and broadcast media in reporting on weather conditions involving the true high temperature, finds Grumpy Editor. 

During the past few days, as the usual muggy July weather grips parts of the nation, heat index readings are being used in some weather stories rather than thermometer only. 

Combining temperature and high humidity results in readings above the real high. 

An example from a lead in a Washington Post weather story on July 23 notes the “mercury rose above 100 degrees in Washington for the second consecutive day Saturday, setting a record for the date…” 

The next paragraph makes it unclear if that was the true temperature or the heat index.

The second paragraph mentions, “Reports of a decline in the heat index, a joint measure of heat and humidity, seemed to offer little comfort.”

Nevertheless, according to the National Weather Service, Saturday’s official high temperature in Washington reached 97 degrees (not "above 100").  The relative humidity ranged from 40 percent at 5 p.m. to 70 percent at 11 p.m. 

Temperature with humidity --- the so-called heat index --- usually gives a different reading than thermometer-only. 

As the National Weather Service describes it: “The heat index or the ‘apparent temperature’ is an accurate measure of how hot it really feels when the relative humidity is added to the actual air temperature.” 

In drier parts of the country, using the heat index gives a lower combined reading.  For example, in Las Vegas, when the humidity is 20 percent (considered high because for much of the summer it is below 10 percent in the desert area), and the thermometer registers 102 degrees, the heat index is an even 100 degrees --- or two degrees cooler. 

Of course, going to a Celsius (or Centigrade) reading, used in many foreign countries, sends the numbers down even more.  One hundred degrees Fahrenheit becomes 38 degrees C. 

But U.S. media won’t be going for that “cooling” effect --- not yet. 

Grumpy Editor illustrates all this because he gets “hot under the collar” when the heart index wrongly is used as the high temperature in news stories.

 

Fortune magazine two-page spread focuses on 4-H Club

It is refreshing to see the July 25 issue of Fortune magazine focusing on the much-overlooked 4-H Club, a long-time youth organization, taking up most of two up-front pages including a dominant photo of two members showcasing their 18-month old bulls at the San Diego County Fair on June 29, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The 4-H program, born in 1902, is a bit of Americana but gets surprisingly little coverage in print and broadcast media, especially in large cities. 

Few realize that the 4-H (which stands for head, heart, hands and health) Club is the nation’s largest youth development organization. 

The clubs can be found in every county in every state, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands plus Army and Air Force installations worldwide. 

While members’ projects used to focus mainly on raising animals --- from rabbits to pigs --- the program in recent years has expanded to topics of members' choice. 

Modern 4-H members, usually nine to 19 years old, zero in on such categories as gardening, technology and Web design.  And animals remain popular projects. 

Fortune, a Time Inc. publication, points out there are 6 million young people enrolled in 4-H programs, up from 1.9 million in the 1950s. 

The clubs, linked to university cooperative extension systems, are in urban neighborhoods, suburban schools and rural farming communities. 

An Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University study finds 4-H members are: 

• Nearly two times more likely to get better grades in school.
• Nearly two times more likely to head for college.
• 41 percent less likely to engage in risky behaviors.
• 25 percent more likely to contribute positively to their families and communities. 

With that uplifting profile, more news editors should seek features on wholesome 4-H members in their areas.

 

Tropical storms again grab attention of news editors

Extreme tropical winds, especially with the hurricane season running through Nov. 30, grab the attention of both print and broadcast news editors even when the disturbances are far from U.S. shores, notes Grumpy Editor.

Print editors, for example, are inclined to yank a story about Boy Scouts performing good deeds in favor of an article on swirling winds, complete with photos of swaying palm trees, heading westward across the Atlantic Ocean or moving northward along the eastern Pacific. 

Editors this week are focusing on three windy tropical storms. 

Biggest one, Hurricane Dora, a lengthy 1,400 miles southeast of San Diego, is churning eastern Pacific seas offshore from the central coast of Mexico.  It’s moving northwest at about 13 m.p.h. but (sadly for some in newsrooms) is expected to weaken today. 

In the Atlantic, tropical storm Cindy, in the news for several days, poses no threat to land as it moves eastward in the north Atlantic, southeast of Newfoundland. 

Tropical storm Bret grows weaker as it heads northeast, away from the Bahamas.

Many print and broadcast news editors remain disappointed from last year.

Despite National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predictions that eight to 14 named Atlantic storms would reach hurricane force in 2010, not one made in to the U.S.

 

Ending Saturday Postal Service delivery edges closer

Halting Postal Service deliveries on Saturdays and later slicing service to three days a week will slow receipt of periodicals but delight banks that issue credit cards and others that slap fees on late payments, envisions Grumpy Editor. 

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe warns heavy financial losses in operations soon could curtail Saturday deliveries. 

Then, “at some point, we’ll have to move to three days a week of mail delivery, possibly in 15 years,” adds Donahoe who projects an $8.3 billion loss this year mainly because more people are moving communications electronically. 

Senators Tom Carper (D., Del.) and Susan Collins (R., Maine) are behind legislation that would lead to scrubbing Saturday deliveries. 

However, Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.) won’t vote for it because he says Saturday deliveries are important for people in states like his to get things like medicine and other vital items. 

The Postal Service also is reviewing up to 3,600 postal facilities for elimination.  Final decision is slated for next spring. 

Stopping Saturday service also means mailed payments deposited into Post Office collection boxes on Friday nights won’t be picked up until Monday mornings.  With two or more days for delivery, they could wind up as “late,” thus triggering late payment fees from banks and others. 

Postal Service has been marked by deteriorating service in recent years. 

Some examples: 

+  Residents of newer homes pick up mail from mostly inconvenient cluster boxes, rather than deliveries through mail slots at residences. 

+  Delivery time over short distances comes close to Pony Express days.  For instance, a letter from Los Angeles to Las Vegas --- about 230 miles --- takes at least two days.

+  Earlier “last” pickup times Mondays through Saturdays from collection boxes.

+  Elimination of Sunday pickups. 

Largely forgotten:  Two mail deliveries a day to businesses in the early 1940s.  Thus, a same-city mailing in the morning was received in the afternoon.

 

Reader’s Digest posts ‘for sale’ sign, hopes for $1 billion

In putting itself up for sale this week, the Reader’s Digest Association Inc., founded in 1922, hopes to attract around $1 billion for its namesake and other operations in its large family, notes Grumpy Editor.

The New York-based company produces 92 magazines globally, including 50 editions of Reader’s Digest.

As with most other magazines, readership numbers have been fading.

Older readers will recall earlier years when Reader’s Digest lived up to its name with condensations of key articles from a variety of publications.

The routine called for about 30 articles in digest form in each issue. 

The idea was to read “an article a day” during a month.

On occasion, the Digest would run a magazine article before it appeared in its credited publication.

From 1934 it added a condensed “book of the month" to its pages.

That formula worked for years.

Lately, the Digest has targeted women readers with service oriented and celebrity material.

Adding to its woes in recent years --- and upsetting veteran contributors --- were steady departures of seasoned department editors.

 

Charlie Sheen set for Anger Management --- a TV sitcom

While some stories now take two or more days to make the wires or get into print, word that actor Charlie Sheen is planning to return to series television made news outlets --- from Associated Press to Variety --- pronto, notes Grumpy Editor.

Sheen, who starred in Two and a Half Men on CBS-TV, is slated to star in Anger Management, a sitcom inspired by the 2003 motion picture of the same name, that featured Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler in lead roles.

What makes yesterday’s and today’s widespread coverage interesting is that the announcement comes with no target airing date set, no network set and no co-stars set.

Then there is the question of advertisers.

“The project is likely to raise questions as to how a Sheen-led project can be viable considering the possibilities that advertisers would be skittish about associating their products with someone of the actor's reputation,” points out Variety.

Sheen was paid just under $2 million an episode with Warner Bros.-produced Two and a Half Men.

With TV’s Anger Management, to be produced by Lionsgate Television, Sheen will retain “a significant ownership stake in the series.”

A news release quotes Sheen saying: "I chose Anger Management because, while it might be a big stretch for me to play a guy with serious anger management issues, I think it is a great concept.  It also provides me with real ownership in the series, a certain amount of creative control and the chance to be back in business with one of my favorite movie producers of all time, Joe Roth.”

 

Seniors focus on third quarter CPI for 2012 COLA clue

For Social Security recipients looking for an upward cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2012 monthly payments, last month’s consumer price index (CPI) may provide a clue as to how this year’s third quarter will wind up, observes Grumpy Editor.

Figures from July, August and September will be averaged out to determine the COLA for next year. 

As the Social Security Administration explains it: “The Social Security Act provides for an automatic increase in Social Security and SSI benefits if there is an increase in the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of the last year a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) was determined to the third quarter of the current year.” 

So it’s interesting to note that Friday-released consumer prices, as tallied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)  fell 0.2 percent in June from a month earlier for the first time in a year.

“Lower Inflation in June” proclaims headlines in newspapers and in broadcast reports. 

However, less emphasized:  Excluding volatile fuel and food costs, core inflation rose 0.3 percent, making it the second straight monthly gain and the largest back-to-back increase since summer, 2008. 

Watchful Social Security recipients will be focusing attention on the July CPI tally from BLS, due to be announced on Aug. 18, followed by August figures on Sept. 15 and September numbers on Oct. 19. 

Four months ago, Social Security trustees projected a 1.2 percent COLA for senior recipients while President Barack Obama envisioned under one percent (0.9 percent, to be exact).