With a House committee hearing producing fresh revelations on the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi that resulted in the murders of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, Grumpy Editor surveyed how key U.S. newspapers played the story.
New York Times and Washington Post editors were among those who recognized the significance of fresh information eight months after the attack. Both placed reports on column one of their front pages.
Others going the front-page route included the Denver Post and Kansas City Star.
But many dailies put the material on inside pages.
Information from the House hearing didn’t make front page of the Los Angeles Times. But its five opening-page stories included “Mexico’s cop test comes under fire” and costs of a freeway project.
The Boston Globe managed to include the Benghazi update among 10 “refers” on its front page where the top story was: “Labs must test medical marijuana.”
The latest Benghazi revelations --- in which incompetence and misinformation were cited --- also bypassed front pages of the Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer and Detroit News. With the latter, Benghazi was not among the eight “refers” on the front page where the main story was “Hazardous cargo may head to bridge.”
Meanwhile, the Bakersfield California went all out with three-fourths of the front page showing a head shot of Gregory Hicks, former deputy chief of the mission in Libya and one of the three State Department “whistle blowers” at the House hearing.
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Are further probes likely on Benghazi events? Unanswered questions --- still hanging after eight months --- point to that.
Sharyl Attkisson, CBS News' Emmy Award-winning investigative correspondent appearing on C-Span yesterday, revealed she has a list of 25 questions regarding Benghazi still awaiting answers from the White House communications office and others. “It’s hard to say where this (investigation) goes,” she said.
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New name for circulation department
Say goodbye to a newspaper’s circulation department --- at least in Fresno, Calif.
The Fresno Bee, one of McClatchy Co.'s 30 daily newspapers in 15 states, renames the long-known circulation department as the (mouthful) audience development division.
Sounds like something that would be promoted at a broadcast operation in efforts to boost listeners/viewers.
But the Bee says the updated title --- sure to create havoc when subscribers phone in to report a missing morning delivery --- “more accurately reflects (the department’s) responsibilities.”
The change, says Bee publisher and president Tom Cullinan, reflects the department's role to increase print readership and to expand the online audience through a variety of products and platforms.
In case you missed these…
Disciplinary actions: A U.S. soldier riding in a vehicle in Afghanistan could face disciplinary action for throwing stones at a portrait of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Meanwhile, two seven-year-old Suffolk, Va., second graders were suspended for two days for making shooting noises while pointing pencils at each another…Hocus-pocus. Standing about 30 feet apart --- and appearing to chat via satellite on a split-screen --- were CNN anchor Ashleigh Banfield and HLN anchor Nancy Grace. Producers didn’t count on the same vehicles passing through the background.
New York print ranks get slimmer. Two editors quit the Village Voice Thursday after being instructed to reduce staff by five. On the same day, the New York Post sought to lower its headcount by 10 percent through buyout packages. Later, the New York Daily News announced layoffs. As Daily News editor-in-chief Colin Myler and president Bill Holiber explained it:
“The newspaper industry is going through an unprecedented revolution. Print advertising and circulation revenue streams continue to fall but our business transformation as a whole is strong and growing.”
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