Grumpy Editor

Radio set to top newspapers with advertisers in 4 years

Radio has come a long way since the days of The Shadow and The Lone Ranger, and it’s coming back strong, observes Grumpy Editor.

BIA/Kelsey’s 2017 Investing in Radio report indicates  radio will surpass newspapers and become the fifth-largest media category among advertisers by 2021.

The report adds that nearly a century after radio stations began accepting commercials, the medium now takes about 10 percent of all local ad revenue and its fastest growing segment is on digital platforms.

BIA/Kelsey notes radio stations digital advertising income was up 14 percent last year, along with a slight increase in over-the-air income that continues to grab the biggest chunk of about $14.1 billion.

“In an age where consumers have many entertainment choices, local radio maintains its strength and popularity in the marketplace among national and local advertisers,” says Mark Fratrik, senior vice president and chief economist at BIA/Kelsey.

The report projects radio revenue reaching $14.9 billion this year, topping $16 billion by 2021.

The news-talk category shows the most improvement for 2016.

Highest earning local radio station last year: WTOP,  Washington, D.C. with $67.5 million in ad revenue.

Direct mail remains the most lucrative segment of local ad spending.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

California on Saturday upped the state tax on a pack of cigarettes by $2, making the average cost per pack now a steep $7.89…Monthly  index of pending home sales jumped 5.5 percent in February, 2.6 percent higher than a year prior…Investigation into possible connections between Russian agents and the Trump campaign was the most-talked-about story on news/talk radio last week, notes Talkers magazine...Along with that, Grumpy Editor observes a daily overused phrase since before the November election:  Russian meddling… Quote of the week?  At the daily White House briefing, Sean Spicer, press secretary, tells media, "If the president puts Russian dressing on his salad tonight, somehow that's a Russian connection”…Wells Fargo agrees to pay $110 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over accounts its staff opened without clients' consent. It marks the first private settlement that Wells has reached since paying $185 million to federal and local authorities last year over its sales practices…Now sprouting gray hairs is the PR department at Bank of America after a bankruptcy judge issued a $45 milliion fine, citing the bank's treatment of a Calif0rnia couple who fought to save their home as "brazen" and "heartless"...The White House staff is joining in skipping this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner…Despite California’s steepest Sierra Nevada springtime snowpack in years --- with snowdrifts up to 20 feet deep at higher elevations, the Golden State remains under drought declaration…The Guardian, London, reports a Staffordshire bull terrier mauled its owner to death while he was being interviewed by a BBC film crew...Rule:  Don’t get your newspaper carrier upset.  A 42-year old newspaper carrier in the northern German city of Lueneburg stabbed a 51-year-old customer multiple times with a knife, killing the subscriber who police say repeatedly complained about delivery problems.

Gear up for National Pet Day April 11, get a

goodie for your dog, cat --- or turtle.

Marine Corps set to drop 39-year recruiting slogan

The Marine Corps is thinking of dumping its recruiting slogan --- The Few. The Proud. The Marines. --- used since 1977, notes Grumpy Editor.

The Marines are exploring the possibility of using a new tagline in an advertising campaign slated to launch next year.

So it has turned over the effort to top advertising agency J. Walter Thompson.

“The Few, The Proud does a great job distinguishing ourselves from the other branches and making us prestigious to recruits, but it doesn’t say anything about what we do or why we exist,” says Lt. Col. John Caldwell, spokesman for Marine Corps Recruiting Command.

A new advertising campaign, he adds, “will show Americans how the Marine Corps is different from the other services and reinforce the elite --- almost spiritual --- standards the nation has for Marines.”

Caldwell points out the new advertising campaign will be based on three concepts: fighting self-doubt to become a Marine, fighting the nation’s battles and fighting for what’s right in our communities.

Meanwhile, the Navy says it is updating all 89 of enlisted sailors’ job titles --- many ending in “man.” However, a junior sailor will continue to be called a seaman, a rank steeped in tradition.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

If wondering why news out of Washington is rather subdued for a few weeks, it’s because members of Congress are in their home territories and won’t return until after next month’s elections…Adding to further negative publicity for Wells Fargo, the Justice Department says the financial institution would pay more than $4.1 million to resolve allegations of improperly repossessing cars owned by members of the U.S. military…Accurate, long-used mercurial thermometers --- invented in 1724 --- aren’t widely in service these days. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seems to have a secret formula in announcing a study that indicates the world is warmer than it has been in about 120,000 years and is aiming to reach its hottest point in more than 2 million years…The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review will discontinue its print edition Nov. 30 and become a digital-only publication. The move will lay off 106 full and part-time staff and leave the larger Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the only daily print newspaper in town…Also trimming staff is The Honolulu Star-Advertiser. It plans to lay off 15 editorial employees (out of 110) effective Oct. 17…

USA Today, which has not endorsed a candidate in a presidential election in its 34 years of operation, runs an editorial claiming Donald Trump is "erratic," "ill-equipped," "reckless," has a "checkered" business past and is a "serial liar…

Then to be fair and balanced --- Hillary this week?

ABC News fumbles on ‘climate’ predictions made in 2008

 

ABC News this week is mum about way-off-base predictions the network made seven years ago on “climate change” that included New York City engulfed by water from a rising sea and gasoline going over $9 a gallon, noted Grumpy Editor

The look back at the “Good Morning America” June 12, 2008 special, uncovered by Scott Whitlock at NewsBusters, also included predictions of Miami being wiped out by a “storm of the century,” an abandoned Las Vegas and a reduction of Earth’s population.

The network, added Whitlock, “promoted the special by hyperventilating, ‘Are we living in the last century of our civilization?’”

Climate change continues much in the news.  Just last Monday, Bloomberg’s Louise Downing pointed out, “As talks aimed at slowing global warming drag on, researchers are pushing new ideas that some are calling last-ditch attempts to avert the worst effects of climate change.”

Some of the far-out proposals, she mentioned, included using charcoal to lock carbon dioxide into soil, scattering carbon-absorbing gemstones, blocking the sun’s rays with airborne particles and seeding oceans with carbon-absorbing iron.

(It should be pointed out that global average land and sea temperatures, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, were up about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit --- in 135 years.)

 

FYI, IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

“Tame” inflation starting to growl?  U.S. producer prices in May recorded their biggest increase since September, 2012, up 0.5 percent…Another late Friday development from the Obama administration, hoping it missed attention of editors:  Six Yemen Guantanamo Bay detainees were moved to Oman --- another step by President Barack Obama who has vowed to shuttter Guantanamo before he leaves office in early 2017…Tired of "recycled" coverage of the two escaped killers from an upstate New York prison?  Now in its 10^th day, media --- in many cases ---- continued to treat the search as the lead story over the weekend, focusing on areas close to the 3,000-inmate prison where the pair escaped on June 5 (although the two are probably in Mexico by now)…Editors love hurricanes/tropical storms even when they are far from U.S. shores.  So even when tropical storm Carlos was 70 miles southwest of Acapulco, Mexico (its position late Sunday), it still grabbed air time/newspaper space…Lester Holt, who has been filling in for Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News, reportedly was seeking an annual salary that matched Williams: $10 million…The Pentagon’s equal opportunity policy will protect gays and lesbians in uniform for the first time, said Defense Secretary Ash Carter…Linked to that, the Williams Institute, a UCLA Law School think tank that concentrates on issues regarding sexual orientation, estimated there are 15,000 transgender troops serving in the military…No media person asked why it took investigators one month to determine that the Amtrak engineer involved in the deadly May 12 derailment in Philadelphia did not use his cell phone while operating the train…Time Inc. said it plans to outsource at least 18 jobs to overseas countries…McDonald’s Corp. hired former Obama administration press secretary Robert Gibbs as global communications chief and executive vice president…Franklin Graham, son of televangelist Billy Graham, said he is moving Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s funds (which could total more than $100 million) out of Wells Fargo accounts in response to the bank’s TV spot featuring a lesbian couple…The Moberly (Mo.) Monitor-Index next month will sideline carriers of the daily newspaper, with about 4,700 subscribers, and rely on the U.S. Postal Service for delivery.  The newspaper is in the GateHouse Media family that owns 78 daily and 235 weekly newspapers in the U.S.  With the delivery change, the Monitor-Index will switch from afternoon to morning newspaper…Meanwhile, the Albuquerque Journal is phasing out coin-operated newspaper racks to focus on home delivery, in-store sales and digital subscriptions…So much for young entrepreneurs.  Two sisters, 7 and 8, in Overton, Texas, planning to raise $105 for a Father’s Day present via lemonade stand sales, were shut down by police in an hour --- after already collecting more than $25 --- because they lacked a permit.

 

How bad is the low-water situation in drought-hit California?

It's so bad that Gov. Jerry Brown bragged at a news conference that he did NOT shower that morning.

Related articles

Amazon ranks Seattle as most-read city in the U.S.

Obama cites rising seas --- as rivers overflow in Texas

Stephanopoulos' actions show lack of true journalism

L.A. Times makes way on front page for giant Disney ad

At a time when most newspaper readers seek more front-page news, the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday turned over a chunk of its opening page to The Walt Disney Co. for a sprawling movie ad that included space where normally a top headline is placed, notes Grumpy Editor. 

In the process, only three news stories appeared on the front page.  Usually four to six reports run on its opening page.  (This compared with 15 to 18 opening-page stories when The Times, with greater competition from five other dailies in the city, produced “newsy” front --- and larger --- pages with eight columns.) 

The Disney ad, in white letters against a blue background, stretched across the top of the page, down the left side at almost a column width and full-width across the bottom in continuing the message. 

“In the past, The Times has sold movie tie-in wraps around the front page, done fake front pages that cause controversy or sold a chunk of the page for advertising,” Kevin Roderick wrote on his LA Observed website. “This is the first time I remember The Times (or any other top U.S. newspaper) dropping half of the content on its actual front page for an ad --- in this case for an advertiser the paper regularly covers and a movie it will also cover.” 

Roderick, who labeled it a “garishly unattractive Disney movie ad,” added that in The Times newsroom “there is a growing sense that the editors and publisher no longer care much about the printed paper, feeling that the future is digital.”

 

In case you missed these…

USA TODAY AND MCCLATCHY JOIN IN NIXING WHITE HOUSE PHOTO HANDOUTS.  Joining three dozen other news outlets that are nixing White House-provided photography, including images of President Barack Obama, are USA Today, the leading Gannett Co. newspaper, and McClatchy Co. which operates 30 daily newspapers.  USA Today said it will not use handouts originating from the White House Press Office, except in “very extraordinary circumstances.”  McClatchy editors simply said they will not publish photography issued by the White House.

 

Quiz time:  What was the most overused word (especially in advertisements and broadcast coverage) since last Wednesday?  See answer below.

 

IN THE “BAD PR” DEPARTMENT, ESPECIALLY FOR A CITY:  Huntington Beach, Calif., was threatening Johnny’s Saloon, a fixture in the Orange County beach city for three decades, with a $960 fine unless it removes a large rooftop POW-MIA sign that reads: THANK A VETERAN FOR YOUR FREEDOM!   Popular with veterans, the sign has been up for six years.  Said a city spokesperson:“We have been unable to locate a building and electrical permit for the roof sign so we need the owner to demonstrate that it has been permitted.” 

 

NEW MEANING FOR THE MILE-HIGH CITY.  The Denver Post appointed Ricardo Baca as the editor overseeing coverage of the recreational marijuana law that takes effect next month.  Baca, with the Post for nearly 12 years, was entertainment editor and music critic at the paper. 

 

ON TOP OF THE NEWS.  Some Bloomberg Businessweek subscribers still have not received the much-heralded 212-page Nov. 18 issue, its largest since 1999.  Missing that issue, callers to its subscription service were told to hold off until Nov. 25, then, if the issue was still missing, to request a copy.  Those who did call again were informed to expect the slow-to-receive issue in two to four more weeks --- in time for Christmas.

 

Quiz time answer:  Doorbusters. 

 

One of the funniest lines of the week from Jan Leno’s monologue on NBC’s The Tonight Show: 

Obama told Iran “if you like your uranium, you can keep your uranium.”

Newspaper execs get edgy as ads sink, subscribers wobble

Nearing year-end, executives at major newspapers are sprouting more gray hairs as traditional advertising revenue continues to decline and print readership becomes shakier with a fuzzy national outlook, observes Grumpy Editor. 

Subscribers, facing higher costs --- ranging from health insurance to groceries --- look for items to trim.

High on the list:  print subscriptions. 

Periodic cuts in newsroom staffers, resulting in fewer features and coverage, such as no Monday business sections, also set readers grumbling.  Science and investigative reporters, as examples, are becoming rare birds in newsrooms. 

Grumpy readers also are miffed at the slant, or spin, some newspapers place on coverage and opinions that may disagree with their own (neutrality used to be emphasized in journalism). 

Latest development to irk print readers is a barrier thrown up on the letters-to-the-editor page.  The Los Angeles Times says it will no longer print letters from “climate change deniers.”  Meanwhile, other dailies are cutting back on space devoted to readers’ letters. 

So how are major newspaper publishing companies doing? 

The McClatchy Co., the U.S.’s third largest newspaper operation that includes 30 dailies, last week reported third quarter total revenues of  $293.6 million, down 4.2 percent from the like year-earlier period, while advertising revenues were $194.9 million, off 8.1 percent. 

However, third quarter circulation revenues were up 6.5 percent from the same period in 2012, bolstered by the company’s digital subscription package, known as the Plus Program. 

McClatchy total revenues in the first nine months were down 3.8 percent to $897.5 million, compared to $933.1 million last year.  Results included a $12.9 million ($8.2 million after-tax) gain related to Miami Herald property sold.  Advertising revenues in the period totaled $599.6 million, down 6.9 percent while circulation revenues were up 4.2 percent to $261.3 million. 

Gannett Co., the country’s largest newspaper chain and owner of 81 community newspapers and USA Today plus operator of broadcast outlets, last week reported third quarter revenue from its publishing business declined 3.6 percent from the like year-earlier period while print advertising revenue slipped 5.9 percent and circulation revenue ebbed 0.6 percent.  Overall Gannett profit in the period fell to $79.7 million from $131.1 million. 

Meanwhile, Tribune Co., which emerged from bankruptcy at the end of 2012, comes out with third quarter results in late November.  Earlier, the parent of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun and others, reported second quarter net income tumbled 61.2 percent to $66.3 million from the same year-earlier period as revenue in its publishing unit declined 4 percent to $470 million.  The newspaper unit’s ad revenue dropped 7 percent to $262 million. 

Print advertising at the New York Times Co. in the second quarter saw national advertising slip 3.5 percent, retail advertising slump 12.9 percent and classified ads drop 8.6 percent from a year prior.  The company's third quarter results, due to be released tomorrow, are expected to show a rise in that period's circulation revenue stemming from digital subscriptions and a print circulation price boost. 

At the Washington Post Co., newspaper division print advertising revenue, including that of flagship Washington Post, fell 4 percent to $54.5 million in the second quarter, compared with the like year-earlier quarter.  Average print circulation for this year’s first half slipped 7.1 percent to 447,700 on weekdays and 7.6 percent to 646,700 on Sundays compared with the same year-ago period.  Third quarter results are slated for Friday release. 

With a downward drift in newspapers’ print advertising, Rick Edmonds, researcher and writer for Poynter Institute on business and journalism issues, declared indications are that “the (newspaper) industry will again lose more than $1 billion in advertising year-to-year in 2013.”   

Wall Street Journal likes proposed ‘chained CPI’; Newspaper revenue continues to decline in 2012

The Wall Street Journal jumped into the “chained CPI” fray with a Thursday editorial, neglecting the negative financial effect it would have on squeezed Social Security recipients and others, but backing President Barack Obama in replacing the traditional consumer price index with the “more accurate measure of inflation,” notes Grumpy Editor.

Switching the long-running traditional CPI with chained CPI --- short for the mouthful “chained consumer price index for all urban consumers” --- would reduce benefit increases to more than 60 million Americans receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) monthly payments. 

As the Journal happily explains the chained CPI: “This alternative measure of purchasing power takes into account how consumers change their buying habits over time as prices change.  When oranges cost more, for example, people buy fewer oranges and eat more apples instead.” 

Sounds good.  But will that routine happen? 

Getting back to the oranges/apples illustration --- Journal editorial writers may be interested to know that at a local Kroger supermarket, oranges are 89 cents a pound with apples a dime higher. 

Will consumers really shift to cheaper substitutes?

Following that thinking, an updated CPI formula points to seniors switching, as examples, to bus transportation when air fares rise above the cumulus, or moving from a two bedroom apartment to smaller lodging --- or (worst of all) dropping a newspaper subscription in favor of checking the Web.

Print national advertising drops 15 percent 

Newspaper revenue continues to ebb, falling to $38.6 billion or 2 percent last year compared with 2011, according to the Newspaper Association of America. 

NAA notes advertising in printed daily and Sunday newspapers dropped 9 percent in 2012, according to data from 15 companies that provided detailed breakouts by category.

In various segments, adds NAA, retail advertising was off 8 percent, national advertising dropped 15 percent while classified advertising declined 9 percent.

Within the classified category, automotive slumped 9 percent, real estate fell 12 percent, recruitment declined 8 percent and all other classified edged down 5 percent, tallies NAA.

However, there are signs that the dips are starting to be made up by other sources, including digital subscriptions and digital advertising.

 

In case you missed these…

Despite an uneasy situation in some parts of the world, more than a dozen Air Force fighter squadrons are grounded at U.S. bases around the world, as the cash-strapped service confronts the effects of steep defense budget cuts brought on by sequestration.  Says one veteran Air Force commander:  “The stuff that’s happening this year is going to have impacts on our force for many years to come.”  In addition, the Air Force wants to shed 2,640 airmen next year…The Postal Service is canceling plans to end Saturday mail delivery this summer. Editors on many newsweeklies and community papers are breathing easier since their products rely on Saturday mail delivery to reach subscribers…Los Angeles CBS radio station KNX today marks its 45^th year as an all-news outlet.  Over the years, notes Grumpy Editor, the 50,000 watter continues to do a top-notch professional job around the clock.

CNN plans to bring back Crossfire in June…The New York Observer laid off 11 people from the business side of its overall media group on Friday, part of a sales team reorganization…Why print copy editors sprout gray hair: The Associated Press is making another change in its Stylebook, this time contracting under way to one word, underway…The Taylor family, former owner of the Boston Globe for more than a century until 1993, is mulling an offer to buy back the daily, along with the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, from The New York Times Co…Annual ritual continues:  Look for local TV news crews tonight to stake out Post Offices for video of late tax filers dispatching their envelopes to the IRS.

Washington Post stats slump as executives scratch heads

As circulation and advertising figures slide at the Washington Post Co., management is probably wondering why --- and the Internet is not wholly to blame, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The Post reports print advertising skidded 12 percent in the 2012 fourth quarter, to $67.5 million.  The Post also cites average daily circulation in 2012 declined 8.6 percent to an average of 471,800, while average Sunday circulation fell 6.2 percent to 687,200. 

What’s behind advertising and circulation drifting lower at most newspapers?

When businesses, large and small, envision less money to spend, advertising is one of the first things slashed. 

Daily news reports are loaded with uncertainty, especially with predictions --- and scares from the nation’s capital --- of economic messes ahead. 

A heavy flow of new business/personal rules, regulations and taxes coming out of Washington plus the confusing financial wake looming from ObamaCare and the upcoming sequestration are among key contributors to the wide-scale uncertainty. 

For businesses, that’s not conducive to boosting advertising. 

Thus, the constant negativity running in news columns triggers less advertising space sold, putting a major dent in the bottom line of newspaper publishers. 

Eventually, and sadly, this also results in newspapers’ periodic staff trimming, among other measures. 

With circulation, when readers find their favorite newspaper is more of a lap dog rather than a watchdog --- echoing information, especially fuzzy math and misleading facts, fed from the White House and some lawmakers without newspaper fact checking or solid investigating --- they move on to other news sources. 

Getting back to the Washington Post:  Seeking to highlight a bright spot in the company’s glum 2012 financial figures, the Post cited:  “One benefit of the paper’s woes: lower newsprint costs,” down 10 percent.

 

 

AP okays ‘husband,’ ‘wife’ for same-sex couples

Updated in the Associated Press Stylebook, used by most newsrooms:  

Regardless of sexual orientation, use of husband or wife is acceptable in all references to individuals in any legally-recognized marriage. 

Spouse or partner may be used if requested, adds AP.

 

In case you missed these… 

Time magazine runs the longest article in its 90-years of publishing with a 24,000-word piece on “Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us” by Steven Brill…The New York Times Co. is putting the “for sale” sign on its Boston Globe which also includes the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette…CBS News’  Bob Schieffer will receive the National Association of Broadcasters distinguished service award on April 8 in Las Vegas…David Axelrod, former White House senior adviser and senior strategist for President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, joins NBC News and MSNBC as a senior political analyst…Los Angeles Times scrubs its daily prime time television schedule from the newspaper’s Calendar section starting tomorrow…CNBC acquires the long-running Nightly Business Report from PBS and will move production from Miami to CNBC headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. on March 4…Generally overlooked in coverage of the wide-scale manhunt for rogue ex-Los Angeles Police Department officer Christopher Dorner, who later died in a Big Bear (Calif.) cabin fire, was the early-morning shooting in Torrance, Calif. of two L.A. Times delivery women by eight LAPD officers who mistook them for Dorner.  The injured women’s attorney says he counted 102 bullet holes in their blue Toyota Tacoma…Comedian Conan O'Brien, who hosts a nightly show on TBS, will emcee the annual White House Correspondents Dinner on April 27, airing on C-Span…Journal Register Co., which owns --- and plans to sell --- Michigan dailies The Oakland Press, The Macomb Daily, Morning Sun and Daily Tribune, says it plans to lay off more than 840 employees, with hopes that the new owner will rehire them. 

Private company challenges ‘recess’ appointments, wins

In connection with Friday’s federal appeals court 46-page ruling that President Barack Obama violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate to appoint three members to the National Labor Relations Board, most media overlooked the source that triggered the action leading to the decision, notes Grumpy Editor.

Noel Canning, a Washington state family-owned contract canning and bottling facility (that includes Pepsi), sued the NLRB, challenging the board’s decision, citing Obama made so-called “recess” appointments without the Senate being in recess. 

It’s noteworthy because Republicans, legal scholars, Constitution experts and editorial page editors were silent in raising eyebrows on the “recess” appointments.

 

Movement with short sale ‘unending nightmare’

Although previously-owned home sales of 4.65 million in 2012 were up 9 percent from the prior year and the best in five years, sales could rise even more --- giving the economy a lift --- without the heavy red tape,  indecisions, complications and paperwork of major banks.

John Taylor in the Las Vegas Sun on Jan. 20 detailed the “unending nightmare.” 

The sale took eight months to wrap up, said Taylor, a senior editor of local news.

His assessment:  “Beware of the not-so-short short sale.”

Read the full article here.

 

Havana’s Sloppy Joe’s bar reopening grabs space

Reopening of a nearby bar may be welcome news in local newspaper sections, but an Associated Press story on the return of Sloppy Joe’s in far-off Havana grabbed up to a quarter page of space, with art, in some weekend editions. 

The bar, in its heyday, attracted Hollywood stars and other celebrities. 

Founded in 1918, it indicates the bar must have a pretty good PR person, Cuban style, to warrant that sort or coverage in the U.S. press.

 

In case you missed these...

One phrase missing from coverage of the deep freeze sweeping the midwest and northeast:  Global warming (or climate change)…Country music is reappearing in New York City via Cumulus Media radio station WNSH, formerly WRXP…The New York Times is trimming its newsroom staff through buyouts and terminations, aiming for a reduction of 30…The Times also made headlines following a report in New York Magazine that real estate mogul Donald Trump has been holding meetings about possibly buying the New York Times Co…On the hiring side, Al Jazeera, which will be replacing Current TV with the launch of Al Jazeera America, has posted 105 available jobs in the United States with 98 based in New York City and seven in Washington…Strange ad in Bloomberg Businessweek and other publications from Toyota.  Under the line, Let’s Go Places, it shows a vehicle with rainbow colors fore to aft in a farm setting --- with no details on what the multi-hues are all about.

Romney’s China-made Jeep mention looms accurate

Just before the November election, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was criticized for declaring Chrysler would be building Jeeps in China, recalls Grumpy Editor. 

Democrats grabbed space and air time citing Romney and his campaign ads on the Jeep action in China was misleading. 

Grumpy Editor last Nov. 6 pointed out the report stemmed from an Oct. 22 Bloomberg News story that mentioned Fiat (majority owner of Chrysler Group LLC) “plans to return Jeep output to China.” 

Auto writers last Wednesday reported Chrysler is in talks to build some of its Jeep vehicles in China where the auto company already sells several of the brand’s models.

 

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

 

Nocturnal sideline raises editors' eyebrows

Not getting much national coverage: a newspaper reporter with an unusual sideline job (for a newsroom staffer). 

After being outed for her after-hours job as a stripper, reporter Sarah Tressler, who was fired by the Houston Chronicle where she was a society reporter, now works for the San Antonio Express-News. 

But her beat now is quite different. 

She covers crime. 

Her Express-News byliner on Friday dealt with the shooting of a convenience store owner. 

She was let go by the Chronicle for failing to inform supervisors of her nocturnal sideline as an exotic dancer. 

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

 

In case you missed these… 

Wal-Mart Stores, starting Memorial Day, plans to hire 100,000 veterans during the next five years.  Some of the giant retailer’s critics called it a P.R. move.  Sure, it is.  And a fine P.R. gesture it is…On the firing side, the Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s largest newspaper, cut 34 employees, including 18 (or nearly 10 percent) of its newsroom staff.  Meanwhile, Reuters released some of the wire service’s veteran editors and reporters…On the hiring side, Fox News signed liberal former Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio) as a paid contributor.  He joins daughter, Jackie Kucinich, in media.  She is a USA Today reporter covering politics…Nissan P.R. people should be happy with large color shots of the Nissan Resonance concept car appearing in separate sections of The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday…Public relations pioneer Daniel J. Edelman, who died Tuesday at 92, was noted for many slogans.  “Which twin has the Toni?” was long remembered.  Edelman also was behind spotlighting Morris the cat in television commercials for 9-Lives cat food.

 

Speaking of pets, Grumpy Editor likes the title of Seattle’s KIRO-FM’s weekend pet show that debuted yesterday:  “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs with Shawn Stewart.”  

Forget the TV mute button, ad decibels now reduced

After a half century of complaints about loud television commercials, a new --- and welcomed --- federal law went into effect yesterday aimed at lowering the ad decibels, notes Grumpy Editor

Although the Federal Communications Commission since the 1960s has been receiving consumer complaints about TV commercials being louder than programming, it took a California congresswoman to do something about it. 

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D., Calif.) said she came up with the legislation idea more than two years ago after a loud commercial interrupted a family dinner.

“TV programs use a variety of sound levels to build dramatic effect,” she said at that time.  “But advertisements have been neither subtle nor nuanced.  My bill reduces commercial volume, allowing them to only be as loud as the decibel level of regular programming. Consumers will no longer have to experience being blasted at. It’s a simple fix to a huge nuisance.”

She said the TV volume legislation brought more response than anything she has sponsored during 20 years in Congress.

Under the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, television commercials are required to have the same average volume as the programs in which they air.

Actually, the CALM Act passed the Senate and House two years ago and President Barack Obama signed it.

However, it took time for the (often not so speedy) FCC to draw up rules and for industry groups (including reluctant ad folks) to sort through technical issues.