Grumpy Editor

FOREIGN VIRUS AFFECTS NEWSPAPERS AROUND THE COUNTRY

A suspected malware computer virus from overseas caused thousands of newspaper readers around the nation to miss their Saturday print editions, observed Grumpy Editor.

Especially hit hard was the Southwest U.S. where silent presses affected readers of the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, San Diego Union-Tribune, New York Times and others. 

The virus caused problems at the downtown Los Angeles Times production facility that also prints regional editions of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. 

The Times said the problem was first detected Friday and technology teams made progress but were unable to clear all systems before press time.

All publications within The Times’ former parent company, Tribune Publishing, had problems with print production Saturday.

The Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune, which were previously owned by Tribune Publishing still share some production technology with the company.

Tribune Publishing said malware affected its ability to print newspapers across its chain of outlets, including the Chicago Tribune,  New York Daily News, Baltimore Sun and Orlando Sentinel.

The computer malware was detected Friday and "impacted some back-office systems which are primarily used to publish and produce newspapers across our properties," said a Tribune spokesperson.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

NO EYEBROW RAISING WITH STOCK MARKET GYRATIONS?  While Washington thrives on investigations, nothing is being mentioned about checking into the wild ups and downs of the New York stock market in recent days.

JOURNALISTS FEATURED TONIGHT IN TIMES SQUARE.  Ringing in 2019 will be a group of journalists appearing on stage with the Committee to Protect Journalists. The journalists will push the crystal button that signals lowering of the New Year’s Eve ball in Times Square, New York.

PELOSI SPOTTED AT HAWAII RESORT.  Top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi was spotted at Hawaii’s Fairmont Orchid resort that charges $899 a night for a standard room and up to $4,899 for the presidential suite. 

PLAIN DEALER TO CUT STAFF.  The Cleveland Plain Dealer plans to lay off 29 union employees, mostly copy editors, page designers and illustrators, after March 2019 and outsource most of those jobs.

MSNBC BEATS FOX NEWS.  MSNBC beat out Fox News in key ratings for the first time in 17 years.  MSNBC averaged 1.56 million total viewers during the "sales day" (6 a.m. to 2 a.m.) between Dec. 17-21, making it the top cable news network in the key 25-54 age demographic.

NO EVIDENCE OF FOREIGN OBSTRUCTION.   Dan Coats, director of National Intelligence, said his agency found no evidence of foreign direct interference in the midterm elections.

MLB AVERAGE SALARY DIPS…JUST A BIT.  Average salary for major league baseball players in 2018 was $4,095,686.  It made headlines in some sports sections because it dropped $1,436 from the prior year.

‘JUSTICE’ PICKED AS WORD OF YEAR.  Merriam-Webster selected “justice” as its 2018 word of the year.

GRUMPY EDITOR, AWAITING SANTA, TAKES TIME OFF

 

With Santa and his sleigh on the way, Grumpy Editor is taking time off and will return on Dec. 31.

CALIFORNIA CONSIDERS FEE FOR TEXT MESSAGING

As if Californians aren't being taxed enough --- with the highest state income tax rate in the nation along with lofty sales and gasoline taxes --- Sacramento wants to charge a fee for text messaging on mobile phones, notes Grumpy Editor.

Funds from that would go to subsidize wireless services for lower income residents.

The proposal, frowned on by wireless industry and business groups, is slated for a vote next month by the State Public Utilities Commission.

Jim Wunderman, president of the Bay Area Council business group calls it "a dumb idea," adding, “This is how conversations take place in this day and age, and it’s almost like saying there should be a tax on the conversations we have.”

Wunderman says he is unaware of any local or national program that taxes texting.

An editorial on the subject in the Wall Street Journal signs off with:  "On the bright side, California's tax on texting should give millennials a lesson in rapacious progressive government."

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

WHITE HOUSE PRESS HOLIDAY PARTY SCRATCHED.   President Trump canceled the White House Christmas holiday party for the media, a decades-old tradition that attracted those covering the White House, as well as other Washington reporters, anchors and commentators plus New York media executives who would fly in for the occasion. The invitation-only event grew so large that there were two back-to-back events, one for broadcast outlets and one for print.

HEART TROUBLE CHANGES FLIGHT.  A Southwest Airlines flight traveling from Seattle to Dallas was forced to turn around mid-flight after officials realized a human heart had been left onboard.  The heart was intended for delivery to a Seattle hospital after a previous flight from Sacramento.  In covering the event, media fail to report the exact location of the heart on the aircraft --- in an overhead bin or in the cargo hold.

CBS SELLS TELEVISION CITY IN L.A.  Television City, a 25-acre site on the western side of Los Angeles where many famous TV shows originated, is being sold for $750 million to Hackman Capital Partners.  CBS will continue producing shows at the site for at least five years. CBS originally bought the property in 1950. But since 2008, the company’s primary studio facility has been the 40-acre CBS Studios Center in Studio City with 18 sound stages and more than 210,000 square feet of office space.

WWI WARSHIP SINKING SOLVED.  It took 100 years for the finding, but a mysterious explosion that resulted in the sinking of the USS San Diego just miles outside New York City finally is solved.  The Navy believes the only major U.S. warship to sink in World War I hit an underwater mine planted by a German submarine.  The 500-foot armored cruiser sank in less than 30 minutes on July 19, 1918.

 

VENEZUELA NEWSPAPER STOPS PRESSES.  With a 75-year run, El Nacional, Venezuela’s last nationally-circulated newspaper, published its last print edition on Friday.  It continues with an online version.

 

MONEY MAGAZINE REMAINS UP FOR SALE.  Meredith Corp. continues to seek a buyer for personal finance magazine Money, once part of Time Inc.  One source says the publication is expected to sell for $10 million to $15 million.

 

WEEKLY STANDARD ENDS RUN.  Final edition of Washington-based The Weekly Standard will be published today.  It ends a 23-year run for the conservative publication.

 

CBS ELEVATES MAJOR GARRETT.  CBS News names Major Garrett as its chief Washington correspondent.  He has served as CBS's top White House correspondent. The new title makes him a prominent player in the network's coverage of the 2020 presidential election.

BY PHONE, TRY TO REACH A LIVE BODY AT YOUR LOCAL POST OFFICE

Even without the busy Christmas season, guarded closer than Pentagon secret telephone numbers are those leading to live personnel at postal facilities, observed Grumpy Editor.

A look under U.S. Postal Service listings in the latest CenturyLink telephone directory comes up with this: “Postal representatives are available to respond to your questions & or concerns 24 hours per day---7 days a week.  Please call---”

Yeah, try.

In Grumpy Editor’s phone book there are 34 Post Office locations listed --- NONE with a telephone number.

A call to the regional postmaster brings a recorded voice, that includes information on passports.  But that’s it.  No live postal workers.

A Web search turns up some telephone numbers.  But dialing them produce no live action.

The main phone number unearthed for the area, automatically disconnects about a minute after dialing.

Listed separately in the phone book with businesses beginning with the letter “U” is “United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General” with the address. 

What this leads to is standing in line at your nearby postal facility to get an answer to a question.  

Dial a regional postmaster and get another recorded voice.

Also, not being able to connect immediately with a postal authority makes it easier for thieves who break into mail boxes, especially cluster versions, and making off with contents.

Perhaps some of the extra funds from the five cents per stamp increase upcoming next month can be used for live personnel to man Post Office phones.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

VETERANS HIT BY HOSPITAL STAFF SHORTAGES.  Staff shortages at military hospitals have forced some to discontinue services, refer patients to private providers and send others to Veterans Affairs hospitals for treatment, a government watchdog has found, reported Stars and Stripes, adding "in some cases, lack of civilian personnel could threaten the accreditation of hospital programs."

NUNS VISIT CASINOS.  Two nuns from a Catholic school in Torrance, Calif.  over a decade allegedly stole more than $500,000 from their school which they spent in casinos and on vacations.

HELLO, ANYONE HOME?  A moose awakened a couple in Anchorage by ringing the doorbell.  A video showed the large moose backing its caboose into the doorbell.

ANOTHER NORTH KOREA “SURPRISE.”  A think tank reported North Korea is expanding facilities near the Chinese border thought to house long-range miissiles that can reach the U.S.

GAIN IN GOLDEN STATE SOLAR USE SET.  California last week became the first state requiring homes built in 2020 and later to be solar powered. The new provisions are expected to boost the number of rooftop solar panels in the Golden State.  Builders last year took out solar permits for more than 115,000 new homes.

NEWS WORKFORCE FACES CUTS.  Thomson Reuters Corp. said it plans to cut its workforce by 12 percent, or 3,200 positions, by 2020 as part of a push to reduce spending.

CALIFORNIA LEADS WITH WELFARE PROGRAMS.  The Center for Immigration Studies said about 72 percent of households headed by noncitizens and immigrants use one or more forms of taxpayer-funded welfare programs in California, the top immigrant-receiving state in the U.S.  This compared with about 35 percent of households headed by native-born Americans using welfare in that state.

END OF THE RUN?  Fate of The Weekly Standard is uncertain, Editor-in-Chief Stephen Hayes informed staff last week, according to CNN.  Ryan McKibben, chairman of MediaDC, publisher of the conservative magazine, asked to meet with Hayes this week.

BOOST FOR SEARS, KMART?  Sears chairman and former CEO Eddie Lampert has, via his ESL Investments hedge fund, bid $4.6 billion to buy around 500 Sears and Kmart stores from the bankrupt operation. The bid included Diehard battery and Kenmore appliance brands. 

U.S. MOVIE FLOPS IN CHINA.  The film, Crazy Rich Asians, may have been a surprise hit in the U.S., but it hasn't gone down well in China where it flopped on its opening weekend, reported South China Morning Post.  Social media users there indicated the Cinderella-esque plot was "bland" and reminiscent of typical Chinese TV plotlines, said the newspaper, adding some also took offense at the title. 

SOME RETAILERS RATED 'NICE' IN USING CHRISTMAS IN ADVERTISING

Some retailers during the holiday season refrain from using the word “Christmas” in advertising and the American Family Association (AFA) notes them on its list of "naughty" companies while branding "nice" another list of firms that use Christmas, observes Grumpy Editor.

The AFA, headquartered in Tupelo, Miss., placed these companies on its “nice” list:

1-800-Flowers.com, Ace Hardware, AFA Online Store, Banana Republic, Bass Pro Shops, Bath & Body Works, Bed Bath & Beyond, Belk, Big Lots, Books-A-Million, Cabela's, Cracker Barrel, Dick's Sporting Goods, Dillards, Do-It-Best Hardware, Dollar Tree, Fred's, H.E.B. Stores, HSN.com, Hallmark, Harbor Freight, Harris Teeter Stores, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, Hy-Vee Stores, JCPenney, JoAnn Fabrics, Kirkland's, Kmart, Kroger, L.L. Bean, Lowe's, Macy's, Marshalls, Meijer, Menard's, Michael's Stores, Neiman Marcus, Pier One Imports, ProFlowers.com, Publix, QVC.com, Rite Aid, Sam's Club, Scheels Sporting Goods, Super D Drug, TJ Maxx, Toys R Us, True Value, Wal-Mart and Zappos.com.

The AFA evaluates five areas to decide whether a retailer is "Christmas-friendly" in its advertising: print media (newspaper inserts), broadcast media (radio/television), website, social media (Facebook, Twitter) and/or personal visits to the store.

“If a company has items associated with Christmas, but did not use the word ‘Christmas,’ then the company is considered as censoring Christmas, pointed out AFA.

The list is continually updated, added AFA, and only national companies are evaluated “naughty” or “nice.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

FEDEX DRIVER SAVES FLAG.  An unidentified FedEx driver in Maryland saw an American flag on the ground from a wind-blown broken flag pole, made a quick unscheduled stop on his delivery route to work the flag in the proper triangular fold and place in on the porch of the home.  The action was captured on video.

 

RADIO STATION BANS CLASSIC SONG.  FM radio station WDOK in Cleveland pulled the 1940s classic song, "Baby It's Cold Outside," from its lineup after one listener expressed concern over the lyrics. In the tune, which has been spotlighted by many artists since its debut, a female sings: "I really can’t stay,” to which a man responds: "But baby, it’s cold outside.”

 

JERRY SPRINGER TO BECOME JUDGE JERRY.  Jerry Springer, best known as host of “The Jerry Springer Show” and who started his career as a lawyer, next fall will debut as “Judge Jerry,” where he will hear testimony and render verdicts before a studio audience on NBC.

"MISINFORMATION" RATED TOP WORD IN 2018.  “Misinformation,” judged word of the year from Dictionary.com, was selected to serve as a “call to action” in the battle against fake news.