Media Insider

The news this week is out of Denver. Forget Georgia and forget Beijing. First, sorry to Greg Tejeda of the Chicago Argus. He realized too late that he didn't want to go to Denver and the Twin Cities to cover the major parties political conventions, and that his readers forgot to send him money to go too!

Tejeda's blog includes a lovely feature on how some of our most prominent citizens are enjoying their summer vacations at tax payer expense.

Second random Rocky Mountain thought of the week, is it just me or does it seem as though the HuffPo/ Chicago doesn't change much? I know I shouldn't criticize here as sometimes the ChiTownDailyNews seems to languish with the same format for days.

Okay, so third random Rocky Mountain thought of the week, with the Olympics over, do I really need to pay attention to this drivel? I'm sorry I shouldn't call it that. But there was some interesting news out of Denver: Democrats love Obama. Well no, it was about a meeting between top journalists and a real star, Jon Stewart. Stewart of Daily...more

The Springfield-based CapitolFax.com notes several newspaper losses in Springfield starting with the Rockford Register Star closing its bureau and laying off bureau chief Aaron Chambers. "Chambers," the Capitol Fax says, "worked like the devil to give his paper local angles on every possible story. It's just a sad state of affairs."

According to the story in the Rockford paper, "The newspaper also closed its Springfield bureau today, a step that had been considered five years ago and again 18 months ago.

"We kept the bureau open through some previous tough times," said Linda Grist Cunningham, executive editor. "Frankly, I made a choice between the bureau in Springfield and local news in the Rock River Valley. It's a loss, but losing another local reporter would have been worse."

Rich Miller notes in the Capitol Fax, "the Champaign News-Gazette closed its bureau earlier this year, putting Kate Clements Cohorst out of a job. The Tribune eliminated one of its Statehouse positions on Friday, laying off the incredibly hard-working Jeff Meitrodt, who was recruited, from New Orleans not long ago. And, as of yet, the AP has not filled the vacancy created when Ryan...more

A nod of the head to Robin Goldstein. Goldstein submitted an application to the Wine Spectator for a restaurant that didn't exist, paying the $250 entry fee and submitting a wine list of second-rate wines and a mix of dishes.

The restaurant was given the "Award of Excellence" by Wine Spectator. You can read all about it in Goldstein's blog. It immediately raised questions in my mind about local restaurant guides and their awards.

Earlier I'd noted the 60 Chicago Tribune employees terminated on August 8. 37 of the people were in Editorial, the other 23 were in other departments. In addition to the 60 let go that day, Editorial accepted voluntary layoffs of an additional 30 employees before the 8th.

Editorial was hit hard.

In fact, as you read about the situation, you forget there were other people involved, "more than 40 colleagues at the Tribune were told goodbye. More than 30 others were told to exit last week, after stepping up to leave voluntarily. The departures are part of a Tribune down-sizing measure to cut costs," according to Chicago Tribune writer Manya Brachear.

"The Tribune Casualty List: Here's an unofficial but more or less complete list of editorial employees the Tribune is leaving behind...," Michael Miner wrote in his Chicago Reader Blog.

Only TellZell.com mentioned there were more casualties. But it did not list people who are not in editorial, "You'll find below a list of a couple dozen names of the 80 or so people who have either been fired or were given a buyout by the Chicago Tribune this...more

Earlier I'd noted the 60 Chicago Tribune employees terminated on August 8. 37 of the people were in Editorial, the other 23 were in other departments. In addition to the 60 let go that day, Editorial accepted voluntary layoffs of an additional 30 employees before the 8th.

Editorial was hit hard.

In fact, as you read about the situation, you forget there were other people involved, "more than 40 colleagues at the Tribune were told goodbye. More than 30 others were told to exit last week, after stepping up to leave voluntarily. The departures are part of a Tribune down-sizing measure to cut costs," according to Chicago Tribune writer Manya Brachear.

"The Tribune Casualty List: Here's an unofficial but more or less complete list of editorial employees the Tribune is leaving behind...," Michael Miner wrote in his Chicago Reader Blog.

Only TellZell.com mentioned there were more casualties. But it did not list people who are not in editorial, "You'll find below a list of a couple dozen names of the 80 or so people who have either been fired or were given a buyout by the Chicago Tribune this...more

The results of the Tribune Co. were released yesterday. There isn't any surprise that the company lost money. The operating cash flow of the units has been the mantra at the Tribune Co. since Sam Zell took the company private in December. And, publishing has been taking a beating both due to broad economic factors, such as the decline in advertising among key segments and also due to changes in the structure of the economy, especially the use of the Internet by readers.

In the second quarter of 2008, the company saw its OCF from publishing decline by $5.06 million. That's a decline of 4.23 percent from the 2007 2nd quarter. OCF from broadcasting and entertainment also declined in the quarter $4.33 million, or 3.59 percent.

The company highlights its losses in the quarter in its press release, but also notes, "the 2008 loss from continuing operations was due to after-tax non-cash charges of $3.8 billion to write down the Company's publishing goodwill and newspaper masthead intangible assets, nearly all of which resulted from the Company's Times Mirror acquisition in 2000."

In other words the $8.3 billion purchase of the Los Angeles Times and other Times Mirror...more

The press is taking a hard look at why it allowed the John Edwards story to slip past it. The question of whether this is a news worthy story at all is obviously yes, just look at the coverage of the story now that is in the MSM. So, if the MSM knew about Edward's infidelity, why did it take it so long to finally cover the story?

An interesting answer from Paul Gillin in newspaperdeathwatch.com, "much of their indifference was apparently due to the fact that the National Enquirer broke the story. Media snootiness about the supermarket tabloids is legend, but in this case, the Enquirer's reporting was about 95% accurate. Plus they had photos, for goodness sake. This is classic media arrogance. If the story wasn't reported by a "real journalist" (there's that term again), then it isn't to be trusted. But there are fewer and fewer real journalists out there, so where are you going to get your news? Perhaps it's time to redefine your definition of credible source," Gillin writes.

Gillin, who later in his post criticizes...more

Catching up on the Olympics coverage this morning, I was struck by a close-up shot of an equestrian rider, his hands resting loosely on the reins of his mount. At this level of competition, some would say that the rider and the mount are one. Of course they are not. They are two creatures trying to obtain the same goal.

The analogy might be better understood if we discussed two dancers, one experienced and one inexperienced. The experienced dancer will rest their hands lightly on the hands or body of their partner, while the inexperienced dancer will be gripping tightly. There is no question, when we discuss dancers, of one mind. There is no question of one of the partners being a tool of the other.

Such a discussion would be insulting and would be dismissed.

In analogy, the reins at the Tribune Co. rest in the hands of some inexperienced riders. The rider is being bucked as editors and workers continue to resist the moves of the rider, in particular of Lee Abrams, but also of Randy Michaels. And Abrams, in particular, is rubbing his ass,...more

A Craigslisting seems to be announcing competition to the Los Angeles Times. Here's the link and the text of the ad:

NEW FREE DAILY NEWSPAPER LAUNCHING - in search of leadership team (Mid Wilshire)

Reply to: gigs-774473716@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-07-29, 7:13AM PDT

We are going to launch a FREE daily newspaper here in Los Angeles. We will also be developing a companion website. The initial circulation will be between 200,000 and 350,000 daily M-F, no Saturday edition and a 500,000 circulation Sunday edition which will be available nationally.

It will be distributed free of charge throughout the Los Angeles market through alliances with key retailers and vendor box distribution. Additionally you'll be able to subcribe to it and receive home delivery for $50 a year.

The financing is secure and the ownership (comprised of some remarkable wealthy Angelenos you probably have heard of) is eager to assemble a small idea team that may be comprised of some of our intial hires. The ownership team comes from a wide array of businesses...more

According to Phil Rosenthal, Tom Ehlmann, VP and GM of WGN- TV has been snagged by NBC. Also on the way out is Jill Manuel, news director of CLTV. Manuel and Ehlmann's loss is another sign of the bad times at the Tribune Co., which continues to hemorrhage talent. Saying he couldn't stomach more Chicago winters, Ehlmann is returning to Texas to manage some of NBC's operations there. Manuel has been hired as the news director of WEWS-TV in Cleveland.

The Northwest Indiana Times appears to have stolen a story from its competitor, the Post-Tribune. In a story in Monday's paper, the NWIT wrote that the PT was eliminating an unknown number of editorial positions. The NWIT noted that the SouthtownStar, which is managed by the same publisher, Murdoch Davis of the Sun-Times Media Group, Inc., was advertising for five editorial openings in its offices.

No similar story was found in the Post-Tribune web site. That begs the question of why newspapers allow competitors to steal the news from under them?

Perhaps it is my Midwest sensibility. But is this really necessary? TellZell.com reports that memorials to a 1910 news plant explosion and the tombs of Harry and Marian Otis Chandler and also of Eliza Otis were defaced with ZellHell bumper stickers.

Defaced isn't the description used by TellZell.com. The InkStained Wretch described the vandal as having a morbid sense of humor. Follow the Link HERE to see the pictures.

A note in a blog predicted that the local Chicago Tribune "Metro" section will probably go to preprint and a tabloid format. According to the blog entry, the Zell team was convinced this would preserve the zoning of the newspaper, which allows the newspaper to charge higher advertising rates, while eliminating a press and a press crew. Total savings-- $1 million a year.

So, the Chicago Tribune is going to go local, except, they're not going to put anything into it? Is that the idea? Advertisers will be the final arbiter of this argument. Readers too of course. I'll just guess here, that the new Metro section will go to press about 11 AM each day, except for the Bulldog. Press runs through the afternoon with the Tempo and then first round of shipments to agent facilities in the early afternoon. So, the news will be about a day old when readers get their hands on it, the next day.

They should take this to its natural conclusion and just regurgitate news from past Chicago...more

Tim State reports in Chicagoist yesterday that a fight broke out at Unity '08 among journalists protesting Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade's speech and those supporting his right to speak. State says the brief "brouhaha" caused required the response of several police vehicles to separate the about two dozen people.

Wade has been accused of muzzling the press in Senegal.

I feel like cheering Mark Potts. He writes the Recovering Journalist blog. Except I think he'd think I was one of those who have Sam Zell in their sites. Well, he is on this site, but not in my sites. I leave Lee Abrams in my sites. As another blogger noted, he is such easy pickings.

Potts, in a post called "Just a Bit Over-Zell-ous," takes on TellZell and some specific anti-Zell antics at some Tribune Co. offices. I sit reading TellZell and wonder what the hell this guy or gal is doing to hide what has to be an obvious obcession with Zell. I mean it's great to read, but where, InkStained-one, do you find the time to write all that stuff?

First, here in Chicago, people seemed overworked at the two daily papers. They don't have the time to write this stuff.

Potts points out that Zell is as much a victim in this meltdown as the employees he manages. He is...more