Gary Pruitt: At Least He's Honest

Of Course, That Doesn't Make The Situation at McClatchy Any Better

We've been taking dumps on MediaNews and Tribune for all the bad news they've ladled up as of late.
Now, it's McClatchy's turn to slash and burn, with a 10 percent reduction company-wide, although some properties will be squealing like a pig that much harder, namely The Miami Herald, whose staff will be slashed 17 percent. That's 250 positions that will be going away.
Why is the Herald -- that former Knight-Ridder flagship -- getting a bigger pimp slap from corporate?
"The Miami Herald's performance has been worse than most, if not all, of the newspapers, and . . . there were some opportunities for greater efficiencies,'' intoned McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt.
Greater efficiencies? You might get a good argument about that in the shrunken Herald newsroom. But when your real estate market implodes and other ads, like help wanted and auto migrate permanently to the Web -- and generally not to MiamiHerald.com -- it's time to get out the scythe.
The scary part? If you think it's bad now, just wait. Pruitt told The Sacramento Bee "I'm hopeful that we'll see some improvement as the year goes on; to date, we have not seen that."
And Pruitt and any realist at McClatchy knows that they won't.

Lou Reed Doesn't Want To Take A Walk on the Wild Side of Satellite Radio

Apparently, It Really Is All About The Music

When you're a 66-year-old rock icon/influencer/elder statesman/cool guy, I guess you can be a surly crank in public and not have to apologize for it later.
Lou Reed is that guy, judging by a short -- probably shorter than anticipated -- interview he gave to New York magazine about his new show "New York Shuffle" he co-hosts on Sirius satellite radio.
It's obvious in the interview Reed's all about the music. After all, the show is kind of like a freeform college radio show for grown-ups, where Ornette Coleman and The Animal Collective might be heard on the same program.
However, interviewer Andrew M. Goldstein didn't realize how obvious it was when he asked:

Sirius's impending merger with XM is anticipated to boost earnings. Do you own any stock in the company?

What are you, a fucking asshole? I'm here telling you the truth about music and you want to know if I have stock in the fucking radio? You fucking piece of shit. What did I do to deserve that?

The interview ended soon after.

Think it's time for Lou to switch to decaf.

Now That The Smoke and Mirrors Have Been Hauled Away, We Can Finally See Sam Zell Sweat

Having $12.8 Billion in Debt Will Suck The Bravado Right Out of You

Like many in the media business, I've been pondering last week's pronouncements from Tribune big cheese Sam Zell and his Right-Hand Man/COO Randy Michaels about how the newspaper model was broken and, by cracky, they were going to fix it pronto.
The talking points: less news, fewer reporters, smaller papers, better Web sites. And they'll be a lot more maps and graphics so customers won't have to bother with such things as actually reading articles.
Nobody disagrees that Tribune has to do something to pay down its voluminous debt. Selling the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field (and kudos if they can seal the deal while the Cubbies still have the best record in baseball) will be one Band-Aid to a long-term problem for the company.
Before you rush off to vilify Michaels and Zell, they deliver up some hard truths that journalists have no choice but to swallow hard and accept. However, too many of their conclusions and what they're proposing smacks more of desperation than true vision.
The biggie in my book is Michaels' view of productivity as measured by counting bylines. "We can eliminate a fair amount of people, while eliminating not much copy," Michaels told the Chicago Tribune.
Spoken like the radio guy he is, not someone who's ever worked in a newsroom, which he hasn't.
Of course, any newsroom has its share of dead weight, but with the abundance of recent layoffs and buyouts, there can't be that much left. Michaels begs to differ. The end result will be even fewer bodies covering the news. But that's OK, the newshole will be smaller too.
Zell's going to impose a 50-50 ad/editorial ratio, excepting classifieds and preprints. Given the dropoff in ad spending, that'll inevitably mean less room for copy. And, ostensibly, even less of a reason to buy the paper.
Zell all but develops hives when he thinks about what a paper like The Los Angeles Times spends on national and foreign coverage. Suffice to say, he'd like to spend a lot less and get a better ROI on the millions the paper doles out to the A.P. and Reuters.
Bad move. Then again, so was wagering billions of other people's money that you could resurrect a media company just as the core of its business model was cratering.

And You Thought The Newspaper Business Was Doing Lousy

Quick, Somebody Throw Magazine Publishers A Pity Party

The trials and tribulations that have beset the newspaper business -- highlighted by the perfect storm of simultaneous, precipitous declines in circulation and advertising -- have been well-documented here and many other sources.
Less visible, but no less dramatic, have been the maladies that have overtaken Magazine World, which is often a perilous place to reside even in an up economy.
The ax has been swinging far and wide, especially in trade and B2B pubs. Folio has done yeoman's work keeping track of all of them, including today's announcement of 42 people canned from Penton Media and the 41 no longer collecting paychecks at Reed Business Information, with 10 more out the door at UBM Group, which may now be part of a possible merger (full disclosure: I currently work for another UBM company).
They're among many B2B magazine groups that have either gotten rid of staff or of titles altogether to avoid wading into the Magazine Death Pool.
There is another way to avoid obsolesence or irrelevance, or so U.S. News and World Report hopes. It's going biweekly, conceding as if it really needed to be conceded, that nobody needs them for another take on national and world events.
The magazine was already down to 36 issues, off from 46 issues last year. So what's another 10 editions between friends?
Nowadays, U.S. News has staked its reputation on its lists, best colleges, law schools, hospitals, etc. to gain any traction with the outside world. And those rankings might actually put it in an enviable perch above its newsweekly brethren, which can't claim any such pedigree.
Indeed, both Time and Newsweek have taken some big-time tumbles in circulation this year -- on average about 25 percent -- and now they're in the process of figuring out how to be must-reads rather than merely take up space in waiting rooms.
Good luck with that.

Barack Obama Elected President --- In Europe

Daily Telegraph Poll Finds McCain Tarred By Bush Brush Although Most Polled Don't Think Much About the U.S. Regardless of Who's In Charge.

Alas, they can't come to the polls here in November, so Europeans have to settle for opinion polls to voice their sentiments about who should be the next president.
Barack Obama, to little surprise because of his opposition to the Iraq war, comes out well on top, with 52 percent, in a poll conducted by the Daily Telegraph in Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Russia.
Conversely, just 15 percent would pull the lever for John McCain, who's viewed as nothing more than a Bush clone by many. That's well behind "neither man" or "don't know" in some of the countries polled.
In other words, more of the same for the nation many of those interviewed view as a "force of evil."
If McCain gets elected, it'll be interesting to see whether those nations' leaders feel much the same.

Honda Reaches For The Sky and Finds Advertising Gold

Difficult Really Is Worth Doing In U.K. Three-Minute Live Ad That Keeps Channel Surfers and DVRs At Bay

The prospect of a three-minute TV ad in the U.S. is unheard of for many reasons, including costs and painfully short attention spans. It's enough to get people to sit still to watch the Super Bowl spots, let alone the average commercial between segments of "Cold Case" or "According to Jim."

So, what was Honda thinking when it aired a three-minute ad on Britain's Channel 4, an ad, that for good measure, was being broadcast live? Probably, that they'd get a lot of publicity.

Good thinking.

The key to pulling off the spot, which cost only about $1 million to put together and air, was having some very skilled skydivers do what they do best. Watch what happens next.

And in a rare feat of ratings magic, more people tuned into Channel 4 while the ad, which had been well-hyped in the British media, was on.

All The PR In The World Won't Save You When You Do Something That Really Sucks

A Shocker: American Airlines Finds Sympathy In Short Supply When it Announces Charge for First Checked Bag

Nowadays, we no longer have low expectations about the airline industry. Low expectations would be cause for celebration.
No expectations rule the day, except for paying for a ticket, getting a seat and then hoping the plane actually takes off and lands at your destination.
Of course, all that's not a given.
But even as the airlines try to prove otherwise, there are still a few aspects of air travel that would be held sacred. That includes not forking over cash to check just one bag. Now that American Airlines would like to disabuse you of that notion and hit you up for $15 for that privilege, it also wants your understanding.
The explanation certainly makes sense: The airline's cash is being sucked through the nozzle of a jet-fuel truck. And those pesky low-fare airlines, to boot, just won't leave us alone. We need to raise cash in every way possible, or soon our fleet will be based permanently in the Mojave Desert. Yada, yada, yada.
Somehow, the airline seems shocked that no one dropped by to give them a hug and tell them "There, there, it's OK, here's your $15. Now go save that company of yours, you big lug!"
"We understood that consumers would be frustrated with another fee," Mike Flanagan, senior VP at Weber Shandwick, American's public-relations shop of record told Advertising Age. "Precisely for that reason; we did our best to communicate the full impact that oil is having on our business."
So, while Flanagan & Co. essentially did what they're paid to do, the net effect was zero. No one disputes that current oil prices are a deal-breaker for airlines. But passengers simply don't care anymore. American would have been better counseled to try and find the money in a less-visible way.
Passengers would be placated if American simply raised fares, like they've done consistently this year to buffet fuel price spikes. No one would be happy about paying more, but at least you can understand the rationale of fuel surcharges in the current environment.
Instead, charging for checked bags for non-elite fliers implies we're all in this together. We're not.
In recent years, airlines took away free food, charged you to buy a ticket if you didn't get it online, added onerous change fees and tacked on higher charges for transporting pets and unaccompanied minors, for starters. And then you get to sit in a cramped plane that's filled to the brim because airlines have reduced flights to save money.
What American shouldn't get or attempt is $15 each way for the first checked bag. This isn't the answer to their money problems, nor even part of an answer. But it could be what helps fliers determine when enough is really enough.
And no amount of PR will be able to explain that away.

Michael Savage Goes Punk To Talk About Ted Kennedy

Reactionary Talker Puts On Dead Kennedys Track "Not to Mock Ted Kennedy. It's Just Appropriate, That's All."

Good thing we have liberal media watchdogs like Media Matters to listen to guys like Michael Savage, so we don't have to.

The group posted the nastiest bits from the rabid right-wing radio host, who took aim at Ted Kennedy, for whom he has held deep reservoirs of hate over the years.

The May 20 show opened with audio of Kennedy singing segueing into news reports discussing his brain-cancer diagnosis mixed with a clip from "Kindergarten Cop," where Arnold Schwarzenegger's character says "It's not a tumor."

What a cutup, that Savage, who then played a track by punk-rock icons the Dead Kennedys (above) to make some semblance of a point.

SAVAGE: Play "California Über Alles" by the Dead Kennedys, dedicated to the one I love. "I am governor."
["California Über Alles" plays]
I'm sorry. I like it. I'm having fun today. I'm not celebrating. I feel good. I've always liked punk rock music.

Later:

You know I'm playing the Dead Kennedys not to mock Ted Kennedy. It's just appropriate, that's all.

Well, if you say so. And if we weren't convinced, this was how Savage attempted to feign sympathy:

The guy sounded like he was off for years, I'm sorry. When he would give that -- he gave a speech about a year ago, I forget the topic. He could not finish the speech, Kennedy couldn't. Feinstein had to come from the side and speak to him like from the wings, like the queen of diamonds.

Which is more emblematic of the contempt Savage feels for Kennedy, and epitomized on his Web site, where twol hysterical screeds that do everything short of calling for the Massachusetts senator to be lined up and shot for his liberal misdeeds. That includes this drivel from Beowulf Rochlen, Savage's Executive Producer.

"Does a man who spent his entire political life destroying the fundamental tenets of American morality become miraculously rehabilitated simply because he enters the hospital? ... Too many so-called conservative commentators have forgotten what Ted Kennedy has done to our language. Too many fawning media lackeys have forgotten that Ted Kennedy has succeeded in nearly destroying our culture."

Our culture.

All of a sudden another song title comes to mind. Remember California Uber Alles from above? Just swap out California for Deutschland -- circa 1935.

Extreme Home Headache

Sure, it's great Ty Pennington and the Gang Can Build Something Grand. But Then Someone's Gotta Clean The Place. Idaho Winner Says Thanks, But No Thanks

For Eric Hebert, his life went from "Extreme Home Makeover" to Extreme Pain In The Butt.

The Sandpoint, Idaho, man had his plush home built for him by the ABC program, which featured his plight of being a single dad to his dead sister's children. Hebert told the Bonner County Daily Bee the house costs a lot to maintain, and is a bear to keep clean.

Although Keely’s (one of the kids) room and its adjoining bathroom are plush, it is difficult for her to keep the room clean. They spent last weekend cleaning her room to prepare for showing buyers. However, Hebert did not have time to put away the vacuum cleaner and it sits in the middle of the upstairs hallway floor.

Reality bites back indeed.

If you'd like to say your house was on TV, and you don't mind living in northern Idaho, the 3,678-square-foot spread can be yours for just $529,000.

The Parade to the Exit Continues at WCBS-TV

Jim Rosenfield Latest Victim of Cost-Cutting at Channel 2. Good for Him.

The news department at WCBS-TV in New York ran off the rails a long time ago. Its newscasts usually dwell at or near the basement in most dayparts, which means management panics and tries anything to goose the Nielsens.

Then management gets fired, and they're replaced by a new agenda, shifting priorities and, lately, budget cutting as local TV falls victim to slumping advertising, just like any other medium.

The latest victim, according to The Daily News, is veteran anchor Jim Rosenfield, who's been a steady in the New York market at both Channel 2 and WNBC-TV.

Rosenfield was refreshing among anchors, in that he was a bit of an everyman, who was as comfortable working stories from the field as he was reading a Teleprompter.

Which meant he was a valuable asset to whatever station employed him.

Which means absolutely nothing when your salary gets to a certain level and your ratings, through no fault of your own, go soft.

So, Rosenfield is extricated -- even if not on his own volition -- from a trainwreck of a station. It'll be interesting to see if he can land a gig in the Big Apple again. There are no obvious openings on other stations, most of which are doing their own cutbacks. And as the May sweeps wrap up, there are bound to be more to come.

When A Newspaper Doesn't Tell The Whole Story

The Smoking Gun Picks Up Where LaCrosse Tribune Leaves Off in My Space-Child Porn Arrest

First things first. This story involves a couple of teenagers who, let's face it, will probably never be invited to join Mensa. Which doesn't justify what happened, but illustrates that it never had to. Hold that thought.
An item in the LaCrosse (Wis.) Tribune tells the story of 17-year-old Alex Phillips, who's charged with child pornography, exploitation of a child and defamation (who knew that was a crime?) for posting "nude photographs of a 16-year-old female" on his MySpace account.
Now. with this Sahara-like rendering of the incident, it's easy to dismiss Phillips as just another piece of worthless scum caught doing some dumbass things online.
Which may not be far from the truth. But two crucial details are omitted by the Tribune, which The Smoking Gun picked up on.
First, the girl in question was Phillips' ex-girlfriend. Second, she had emailed the pictures, which apparently leave absolutely nothing to the imagination, to his cellphone.
Why the Tribune left out those details, which are available in the police report, can't be fathomed.
The paper did manage to include the best (for lack of a better term) part of the story, namely that when police first caught wind of the photos and contacted Phillips to warn him that he could be arrested if he didn't take down the pictures, his response was: "Fuck that, I am keeping them up."
Guess again.
Needless to say, the ex was not amused. Which is why Phillips is now wearing an orange jump suit and admitting to police -- in what may be the understatement of the day -- that he "probably should not have done this."

John Stossel: A Junkie's Best Friend

Everyone's Favorite Liberatarian Giving His Publicist Agita

Page Six has the scoop on 20/20 loudmouth John Stossel jumping on the legalize-drugs bandwagon.

Not that he wants us and him to become a nation of crackheads, or so he says. Instead, Stossel (couldn't he just go back to doing consumer exposes?), says it's a way to strike back at the drug gangs and cartels before they branch out from heroin to something flashier, like procure nuclear weapons.

You know, the next logical step.

Maybe this is just his way of trying to get hip with a younger demographic. Apparently, getting his own Facebook page wasn't enough.

The Hard Facts About The Penis Museum

A Story That's Short and Sweet. Or Maybe It's Long and Lean

Because it's Friday. Because it's raining. Because the Mets are making a big sucking sound and threatening to ruin my summer. Because there's been so much bad news this week.
Submitted for your approval, from the folks at Reuters, the story of the Iceland Phallological Museum. Just because.

The Voice of a Mother Reveals The Tragedies Emerging From China Earthquake Zone

Melissa Block Lets Us Feel The Grief of the Many Parents Left Without A Child

"All Things Considered" co-hosts Robert Siegel and Melissa Block continue to file gripping dispatches from the hardest hit parts of Sichuan province still coping from the earthquake.
As we noted yesterday, this is radio news at its very finest.
The hard news has been left to others. Instead, the NPR crew has closely covered the human dimension of the tragedy, which has been magnified by the thousands of children who perished. Their deaths resonate all the more because of China's one-child policy. Parents now have no one to comfort, no one to be comforted by.
Perhaps Block, who has one child herself, felt this part of the story especially tugged at her. Or maybe it's just watching parents awash in sorrow after being told that the worst thing that could happen to them has indeed occurred.
Either way, a report Block filed yesterday left her shaken and near tears, as she described frantic parents holding on to a fraying shred of hope that their 2-year-old son would be found as excavators clawed through the rubble of what was once their home.
If you think that Block's reaction is not how a reporter should act on the job, then I dare you not to feel the same way as you listen. It is raw, genuine emotion. To have done anything short of empathizing would have been dishonest let alone inappropriate. And Block's dispatches have been anything but.

Myanmar, Burma. Burma, Myanmar. Let's Call The Whole Junta Off

Media Here Come Up With Different Answers for What's In A Name, as Cyclone Relief Continues to Be Held Up

Media organizations have been doing their share of hand-wringing over whether to use Burma or Myanmar when doing cyclone coverage. The Washington Post uses the former, while The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times, along with the AP stylebook go with the latter.
The U.S. government goes with Burma (except when it's meeting with the country's leaders to get permission to bring in relief supplies) because it doesn't recognize the ruling junta as a legitimate government. That position is at odds with the U.N., Japan and France, among others.
So, if you take the view that nations hostile toward the junta and its repressive ways would choose Burma in the name game, it's curious that media in Thailand, Burma's friendly neighbor, would also use the B-word.
The Bangkok Post said "30 volunteer doctors will help treat Burmese victims of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated much of Rangoon..."
That's right. Rangoon, not Yangon.
Similarly, The Nation, Bangkok's other English daily, noted the Thai prime minister, who had visited Burma, was stranded at Rangoon's airport because of heavy rain.
It appears The Nation appears to have little use for Thailand being buddy-buddy with Burma, as one editorial shows:

Even though Burma has failed to comply with good behaviour and governance within Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations], the grouping always comes to its defence. When the regime cracked down with extreme violence against the monks last September, Asean kept quiet. Of course, Asean expressed revulsion against the junta's actions to preempt others from doing so ... Thailand is the strongest supporter of the regime. Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has criticised the opposition party leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Worse, Thailand's Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama naively endorsed and praised the Burmese leaders at every turn.

What's in a name, indeed.

Saying You're Sorry Before You Sued

Boston Herald Eats Crow for Screwing Up Story on Patriots Taping Opponent's Practice Session

When you're the second-place paper in what has become a desultory newspaper town, you need to do anything to get attention. Including, as the Boston Herald proves, admitting your mistakes. This one was a whopper, as things in Beantown go.

Turns out the Feb. 2 accusation in the Herald that the Patriots illegally taped a practice by the St. Louis Rams in 2002 before upsetting them in the Super Bowl was unfounded, according to the NFL. Oops.

Cue the butt-kissing.

Prior to the publication of its Feb. 2, 2008, article, the Boston Herald neither possessed nor viewed a tape of the Rams’ walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI, nor did we speak to anyone who had. We should not have published the allegation in the absence of firmer verification.

Ya think?

Looks like the Patriots are happy with the Herald flogging itself for what the team calls a "completely false and unsubstantiated" story.

At the very least, it's good the Herald owned up to its mistake, something its tabloid brethren in New York are almost always loath to do.

NPR Shows How To Own A Story

"All Things Considered" Hosts Much More Than Opportunistic With China Earthquake Coverage

Can you say enough good things about NPR's coverage of the China earthquake?

No.

Not only were "All Things Considered" co-hosts Robert Siegel and Melissa Block (seen left with producer Andrea Hsu) in China preparing for a week-long series of reports when the quake hit, they were in Chengdu, not far from the quake's epicenter.

Since then, they have been filing -- with extremely able assistance from producers Art Silverman and Andrea Hsu -- astonishing and heart-rending array of reports from the hardest-hit region.

Among them is this dispatch from Siegel, who visited one devastated village. After being briefed matter-of-factly on what the village needs now, Siegel asked the leader about his relatives."

"Is your family all right?" Siegel asked.

"As far as I know, they are all buried," came the reply.

Good for Siegel, that we heard him say "I'm so sorry," before the man started to cry.

Block will also find her rightful place in NPR's pantheon for her play-by-play when the quake first hit (she was doing an interview at a time) and a searing report from the rubble of a school, as bodies of children are brought out and families find out that, yes, they must now grieve.

"Many of these young victims would have been their family's only children. And in row after row their parents sat huddled through the rainy night keeping watch one last time over their babies."

It's the kind of writing that is of the first order for radio news, or for any medium for that matter. It makes you stop, listen, think, and rush home to hug your kids even tighter than you already do.

We already knew Siegel and Block were skilled interviewers and engaging hosts. Because they are normally found in a studio nowadays, we may not have known or remembered that they both logged time as reporters as well. Their instincts have not failed them.

And we are all the better for it.

Will You Lick My Swizzle Stick?

Bawdy Bob Stokes and Weather Channel In The Middle of Legal Storm





The Smoking Gun offers up some juicy details on an arbitration ruling in favor of former Weather Channel anchor Hillary Andrews, who claimed that time spent with her co-anchor Bob Stokes was one long episode of sexual harassment.
That included such remarks as "Will you lick my swizzle stick?"
Andrews demurred.
And so it went, she says, for almost three years. And when she complained about Stokes to management and asked to be reassigned, their first reaction was to stick her on the overnight shift. The same thing had allegedly happened to her predecessor, after she was also Stoked.
Talk about a cold front.
Though Andrews contended TWC management favored Stokes, judging by how they treated her, Stokes reportedly got the boot following the arbitration ruling in January.
Which is why, you weather groupies out there (and you know who you are) you haven't seen Stokes on the air in several months. But it's also why you haven't seen Hillary Andrews since 2006, at least on TWC. She pops up now and then as a fill-in on CNN, which might be sufficient if the undisclosed award from the arbitration had enough zeros on the end.

Late-Night Final Scores No Excuse for Lame Stories Online

New York Times Content to Not Update Its Mets Game Article -- Whatever Happened To The Continuous Newsroom?

For those of us -- and I'm not among them -- who stayed up to watch the New York Mets engage in yet another game where futility reigned supreme, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4, you likely wouldn't have seen the game story in most editions of the morning papers.
That's understandable, given deadlines, especially for papers delivered in the 'burbs. But that's the beauty of the Internet, right? The story that's not in print is there for you to read online, where pages can be effortlessly updated, right? Not quite.
The New York Times whiffed with its game story by freelancer Billy Witz, which made it into the city final editions, but went untouched online. That meant no quotes, which could have been easily obtained after the story was filed.
The article was all right for what it was, but it's a no-brainer to update it on the web, so we could read manager Willie Randolph's latest mealy-mouthed assessments and a quote from the Goat of the Day, although there were a few candidates last night.
But no such story exists at nytimes.com. However, the online versions from The Daily News, The New York Post and Newsday , not to mention The Journal-News, all have quotes.
Again, deadlines are irrelevant online. So, why not update the story? Just one of many questions the Times sports section comes up short answering, though its coverage of the Kentucky Derby and Eight Belles tragedy has been exemplary.
But Tom Jolly & Co. should no better. Baseball is king in these parts, not so much the Sport of Kings.

Hockey Star Nearly Loses Spleen, Daily News Loses Credibility

You Can Hear Sean Avery Yelling, "I'm Not Dead Yet!"

Sounds like New York Rangers star/pest Sean Avery is on a slow road to recovery, after suffering a lacerated spleen during Tuesday night's playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The good news is Avery's supposed to make a full recovery in time for next season.

So says The Daily News in today's paper. What the News doesn't say, and doesn't correct in the piece, is that while it's trumpeting it was the first paper with the story -- it also reported Avery had been in cardiac arrest. Not true, as it turns out.

Avery actually rode in a car with a team doctor to a Manhattan hospital after the game, and his life was never in danger.

That's a bit different from cardiac arrest. That the News made that mistake and didn't own up to it --instead letting an online commenter after the latest Avery story take them to task -- is strictly bush league.

Now Will Ben Stein Shut Up?

Polygamy Cult Apologist Cries Out For The Kids, Who Really Don't Need His Help

During his bizarre commentary on "Sunday Morning" on CBS, Ben Stein lashed out at the state of Texas for being all mean and judgmental to the families of the polygamy cult whose kids are now in foster care while the state investigates allegations of abuse.
Stein's bought into the FLDS cult's PR spin hook, line and sinker, to the point that he said Texas was guilty of "Gestapo tactics, pure and simple."
A lousy analogy, to be sure, and as a Jew, one Stein should be more careful throwing around. On Sunday, he bleated:

Why are they being dealt the most drastic punishment imaginable, separation from their mothers and fathers without any reason? The State of Texas has not found one single crime against these children yet. Even if they do find one or two, how can that be as reason for taking dozens, maybe hundreds of children away from their mothers?

The kids here are the victims not of cruelty from their parents but of the incredible cruelty and incompetence from the state of Texas. Look, if there's any evidence of cruelty by these families to these kids, where is it?

Maybe Stein can come back with another commentary, after reading today's Houston Chronicle, which recounts a hearing that revealed that dozens of the FLDS children have had broken bones, and that there are disturbing allegations of sexual abuse of boys.
And this item from the Austin American-Statesman, which reveals that of the 53 girls identified as being ages 14-17, more than 30 are pregnant, or have given birth. In Texas, girls under 17 cannot legally consent to have sex.
Sounds pretty criminal, huh Ben?

Stein was on much safer ground the week before, when he talked about how abandoned pets are also victims of the mortgage meltdown. He advocated tax breaks for people who adopt dogs or cats from shelters. Turns out, he feels the same way about Fido and Fluffy as he does the FLDS kids.
"Not one of them is guilty of anything bad. They're all innocent."
Unfortunately, Stein may no longer be in a position to say the same thing about the FLDS cult. Maybe he can come back with another commentary and explain that away.

Dow Jones Reporter Gets In Singapore Brew-Ha-Ha

Instead of a Tip, Andrew Bevan Jones Gives Cabbie A Broken Nose

Journalists can appear on the wrong end of the police blotter too.
Given the law-and-order ways of Singapore, looks like Andrew Bevan Jones of Dow Jones (no relation), got off easy for punching a cab driver and breaking his nose when the cabbie couldn't make change.
Instead of up to a year in jail, he was fined the equivalent of $746 U.S.
After all, Jones' lawyer suggested, it was the cabbie's fault anyway for not having change on him even though he'd been working all night.
The lawyer left out any mention of the four beers Jones owned up to drinking before he got in the cab.

Thai Toilets Not Tidy; Neither Is English Language for Bangkok Paper

Is Anyone Reading This Stuff Before It Goes Out

Having spent time in Thailand, I know the top English-language newspapers, The Nation and the Bangkok Post, actually do a decent job and ostensibly know the language they are writing in.
Yet, this item from The Nation, about how only 20 percent of public toilets are up to snuff -- not exactly news, mind you -- are up to snuff read as if they were using some lousy translation software:

The survey had been conducted in 2007 to ask member of public about their pleasure to use public toilet. The survey found 40 percent of people are pleasure to use public toilet

Just hope they weren't referring to people who pleasure themselves in public toilets. Now that's a survey.

How To Say "You're Screwed" In A Nice Way

PR Department's Final Task As Eos Folds ts Wings and Grounds Its Well-Heeled Clientele: Deliver Bad News With A Velvet Glove
It's no great shock nowadays when airlines go belly up. Skybus, Aloha Airlines, MAXjet, and ATA are among those whose fleets have been parked in the desert within the last year.
Joining that dubious list is Eos, the all-business-class airline that flew between JFK and Stansted Airport in London for less than what other carriers charged for a comparatively more-mundane experience up front.
With only 48 seats on a Boeing 757 built for 220, quick airport check-ins and access to Emirates Airline's New York lounge, Eos had gotten good reviews for pampering a lucrative market and had announced expansion plans for service to Paris and Dubai.
Along came $120-a-barrel oil to change all that amid brutal competition to service what turned out to be a fairly limited clientele. That was enough to ticket Eos to oblivion. Still, just like its service, it attempted to deliver the bad news with a velvet glove.

Talk about a tough assignment for a PR guy. But give Eos credit for trying.

The relationship we have is very special. You have shown a true appreciation for the commitment and service that defines Eos Class and it has always been our pleasure to deliver Eos Class service to you. The sense of camaraderie and level of engagement we've developed together transcends the traditional airline space.
Our unique relationship makes it all the more difficult to share with you the news that Eos has filed for bankruptcy ... This announcement is particularly regrettable since we have achieved so much, including having a term sheet in hand for additional financing. Clearly, even in today's challenging economic and credit environment, investors believe in Eos. Unfortunately, some issues arose that prevented the parties from moving forward.

Some issues indeed.

By the way, Eos told passengers, you're basically on your own if you had a ticket for travel from today onward. It only provided a link to airlines that "may be able to accommodate you," which turn out to be only British Airways (good luck) and the remaining all-business-class airline on the JFK-London route, Silverjet.
Of course, if you were already in a position to pay as much as nine grand for an airline ticket, you shouldn't be too hot and bothered about having to rebook on another airline where chances are you won't have a "unique relationship."

That Big Sucking Sound Is Coming From The Publisher's Office

More Ugliness Courtesy of the ABC's FAS-FAX Totals

Let's get the good news out of the way for those of you who prefer to operate in glass-is-half-full mode.
The latest numbers from the Audit Bureau of Circulations are out for the last six months and, yes, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal registered microscopic gains averaging .31 percent. Indeed, not too shabby nowadays. Even The Sun in Baltimore upped its total by 200 copies for a 0.1 percent increase.
And Editor & Publisher does make note of other winners, including The Cincinnati Enquirer, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and shock of shocks, the eviscerated-but-still-breathing San Jose Mercury-News.
Sadly, they are anomalies. The real story is the same story. To wit: The Los Angeles Times, off another 5.13 percent, with daily circulation down to just 774,000. The New York tabloids continue to shed numbers -- the Post more so than the Daily News -- while their suburban counterparts, Newsday is off 4.6 percent and The Star-Ledger is down 7.3 percent.
The numbers for the Dallas Morning News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution look worse than they are (down 10.6 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively), as both outlets made a concerted effort to rein in circulation outside their core metro areas. Nonetheless, they are among 23 of the top 25 papers that registered declines.
These numbers will no doubt launch another furious search for answers for how to stanch the bleeding, or at least slow it to a trickle.
Unfortunately, the only answer most publishers have come up with is to reduce staff and slash away at what's inside the papers. The irony that in so doing, you're giving people even less of a reason to read has long been consigned to the Dumpster.
The idea of adding reporters, reimagining sections and creating a product that's indispensable and provides information that can't be obtained anywhere else, has apparently been deemed too radical.
They shoot newspapers, don't they?

First Take on "The Takeaway"

Debut of The Anti-Morning Edition Sounds Like It's Still A Work In Progress

I didn't think I needed another public-radio news show to listen to when I woke up. And after hearing the debut of "The Takeaway" this morning, I'm pretty sure I still don't.

But that doesn't mean I won't listen again.

In case you didn't get to hear it -- and that would be in most of the country -- "The Takeaway" is meant to serve as a counterweight to "Morning Edition," ostensibly aimed at a younger demographic. It's a news show for folks who ordinarily listen to news on the radio. Or so the show's creators want you to believe.

WNYC in New York is producing the program in conjunction with Public Radio International. The BBC, The New York Times and WGBH in Boston will also be contributing to "The Takeaway."

"There are many people who are curious and intelligent and looking for a news show, but many of them are turned off by the style of public radio," WNYC president and CEO Laura Walker told The Wall Street Journal.

What Walker doesn't say is exactly what void "Morning Edition" has left those curious and intelligent types in. Are they turned off by in-depth reporting from around the world? Cogent, informed interviews? The heart-rending tales heard every Friday from Story Corps?

Can see how all of that would be a real turn-off.

"The Takeaway" offers up journalistic bona fides with broadcasting vets John Hockenberry and Adaora Udoji (above), and attempts a more-conversational style to reflect on the news of the day rather than rely on reports in the field.

All well and good, except when the conversation goes on for a bit too long, as it did with oil expert Lisa Margonelli. And the interview with Zimbabwe's U.N. ambassador was a waste of time even before it started. No one associated with "The Takeaway" should have presumed this clown was going do anything less than lip-sync Robert Mugabe's warped perspective. And he didn't disappoint.

While we're at it, WNYC could also do away with the electronica it beds underneath the local news update at the bottom of the hour. Anyone who tries too hard to be hip just isn't.

Still, "The Takeaway" deserves a chance to succeed, even if it means you must chase after the second live hour of "Morning Edition" on the AM dial from 6-7, when "The Takeaway" is on WNYC-FM (the uninterrupted "Morning Edition feed is heard on FM from 7-9).

For one, Hockenberry has built up a strong reservoir of goodwill from public radio listeners over the years, none of which he squandered during his TV stints. He's capable of righting this ship if it's ever in danger of listing.

Second, given the organizations behind "The Takeaway," there is ample talent behind the scenes to put a little more polish on the finished product. At times what went on the air felt a little raw. One of the show's conceits is it'll let listeners email and comment on what stories they want to hear next or have talked about in greater depth.

Maybe they should hold off on that for now. News on the fly doesn't work when you're still learning how to walk. For now, "The Takeaway" can aspire to be bold, but take baby steps. Slow but steady now means you won't crash and burn later.

Behind The Swagger and Foul Mouth, Sam Zell Coming Up Empty Answering the Hard Questions

Track Records Don't Mean Squat to Scared Banks

Here's how the numbers have crunched for Sam Zell so far: He buys Tribune with very little of his own money, but takes on $8.4 billion in debt.
OK, debt's a part of doing business as anything else. No biggie. Except when it is. And is is the rapid implosion of the newspaper business around the time Zell, flush from the billions he made as a real-estate mogul, took charge in 2007
All of a sudden the jeans-wearing, profanity-spewing, bearded tycoon has reason to sweat. There's the matter of a $650 million debt payment this year, to go with another $750 million the banks are anxious to get in 2009.
So, it's no surprise that Zell is selling Newsday, putatively to Rupert Murdoch, and wants to get rid of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field.
Let's say all that happened, and all is right with Tribune's debt load through next year.
Then what?
Neither Zell nor anyone else has a clue, or they're not letting on. Either that, or providing the right answer is too horrible to contemplate, especially if print revenues keep plunging and profits at the 23 Tribune TV stations go soft, especially post-election.
If there's "significant erosion" now, as Zell conceded in an April 17 conference call, nothing in the economy suggests an about-face anytime soon, if ever.
Zell may feel hot under the collar now, but that'll be nothing compared to the heat generated by the fire sale that will ensue if Tribune defaults on its bonds and is forced into bankruptcy.
Zell told the A.P. last year "I probably am not as pessimistic about the future of the newspaper business as others might be."
Forgive Zell if he got in bed with the pessimists this year and doesn't bother crawling out.

How Marcus Brachuli and Newsday Are Linked

Forget All the Antitrust Stuff -- Murdoch and Long Island Are a Bad Mix

Rupert Murdoch is already treating Newsday as his, even though he may have to jump through a few hoops with the FCC and the Justice Department before the deal is sealed.
Sure, Mort Zuckerman is preparing a bid, and Cablevision and the not-very-deep pockets of New York Observer scion Jared Kushner may wade into the pool should Murdoch start drowning in the regulatory red tape of his own making.
But for the moment, let's assume Murdoch can convince regulators that the sickly newspaper industry can stomach Newsday and The New York Post having the same owner. The bigger question is, can Newsday's readers? The answer, for anyone who's been witness to events in recent days, should be an unequivocal no.
Exhibit A is Marcus Brachuli's ouster at The Wall Street Journal. Yeah, yeah, he resigned and I'm sure he'll get a very nice package for walking the plank.
Fact is, he was not Murdoch's guy and never was going to be. Life was already gloom and doom for Brachuli, who was fast being put in a position of implementing marching orders from Murdoch and Journal publisher Robert Thomson, rather than imposing his own vision, as Journal managing editors normally would.
Murdoch was able to get his way and, in turn, get around the limitations on his ability to fire the managing editor per the deal he made with the Bancroft family to buy the paper. We won't fire you, we'll just make you bloody miserable as soon as you walk in the door. They did, and now Brachuli's a "consultant" for News Corp.
What does this have to do with Newsday? Plenty. True, the deal is officially a joint venture so Tribune can avoid getting whomped with a hefty capital-gains bill. But everyone knows who'll be wearing the pants at the end of the day, and it won't be Sam Zell.
Murdoch has said both papers would be operated separately. As with anything, that's open to wide interpretation when Murdoch's involved. You could still have separate newspapers, but a ukase could be handed down that says both really don't really each need theatre critics, beat writers for the local sports teams or travel editors.
The result will be a newspaper that for years has been a shell of its former self being desiccated even further. It's been a long time since Newsday has been a consistently compelling read, and Murdoch's imprint could send even more readers scurrying elsewhere.
After all, the Post is reportedly losing $50 million a year. Murdoch covets Newsday's profits and captive audience on Long Island to help erase that deficit. Shedding personnel wouldn't hurt either.
Bear witness to the Post, which has never exactly been top heavy with reporters to begin with. The same can be said in recent years about Newsday, whose editorial ranks have been thinned by buyouts and the closing of its foreign bureaus, while its outposts in Washington and Albany have also been trimmed.
Murdoch has never been confused with a savior. That's why he's a billionaire. And it's also why his purchase would be bad news for Newsday, its employees and, most of all, its loyal readers.

N.Y.Times Star Reporters Head for the Door...

But It May Not Be Enough. Why Mood is Black at the Gray Lady

Radar yesterday had more of the names who are taking buyouts from The New York Times. They include mainstays like Murray Chass, Jane Gross and Lawrence K. Altman, along with Philip Shenon and Karen Arenson.
They'll join such brand names as Linda Greenhouse, John Noble Wilford and David Cay Johnston.
But now we learned geting those veterans' above-scale salaries off the book won't be enough. The Times was looking to trim the newsroom head count by 100. But apparently enough editors and reporters think enough of the paper to want to stick around. Or maybe they don't think enough of the buyout offer.
Either way, the number who signed up was less than 100, which will mean a "limited number" of layoffs.
After the dust settles, it'll be instructive to see which beats are filled and which will lie fallow. Of course, someone will take Greenhouse's spot at the Supreme Court, but it's doubtful Chass will get replaced as the Times' baseball eminent grise.
Either way, it means even the Times will now be doing less with fewer. The Times has always propped itself on its formidable reputation. But with fewer bodies putting out the daily report, this may be the time when signs of strain are finally beginning to show.

MSNBC Take-Out On Unfriendly Skies Gives Back-Handed Props to CNN

Report on Pilots Flying Low on Fuel -- by Airlines' Alleged Design Scary Stuff

After spending a good chunk of the morning flying, it was grim enough reading today about how United wants to bump its domestic fuel surcharge another $20, which would mean that $70 of every round-trip ticket would go toward underwriting the airline's bill at the pump. So far, other airlines haven't matched it, but you know they'll try.
But the scariest airline item found online today was MSNBC's excellent piece on claims too many pilots are making that they are being pressured into flying with low fuel.
The allegations are at once fascinating and disturbing. But also telling was how the piece ended, quoting from a report by an airline first officer:

“I am absolutely confident that if this is the way this company is going to play the game we will soon be on ‘CNN,’ and not in a good way.”

Let's hope MSNBC would also be covering that story. More importantly, let's hope it never has to.

Food, Glorious Food Propping Up Teetering Magazine Business

Publishers Starving for Results Get Them Served On A Platter By Rachel Ray and Martha Stewart

No surprise: magazine advertising is off. Way off for some in the first quarter, reports Keith Kelly in the New York Post.
But the one bright spot was food titles, especially populist books like Everyday With Rachel Ray and Everyday Food, put out by Martha Stewart.
Both titles focus on unfussy recipes that are easy to make, and let people enjoy a home-cooked meal without slaving all day in the kitchen. There's also an emphasis on value, especially appealing in light of one of the Post's most-emailed stories right next to the Kelly article: Food Prices Rising At Fastest Rate in 17 Years.
But the news is grim elsewhere in magazine land. Folio has the numbers, and they are uglier than Betty for some venerable titles, including Scientific American (off 45.5 percent in ad pages); U.S. News & World Report (down 37.5 percent); and Rolling Stone (off 32.6 percent).

Chicken Little Lays An Egg in Newsrooms

The Sky Is Falling on Most Media Profit Margins; Still Reporting and Editing Ranks Get Thinner and Reasons to Watch and Read Become Fewer

Even if you're not a regular Romenesko reader, you know there's been a contagion of cutbacks at newspapers, TV and radio stations in both content and personnel.
Ostensibly, all of this is being done to slow a decline in revenues and audience. At the same time, you're led to believe that declines equate to red ink, thereby making all this bloodletting more justifiable. Not so, in most cases.
The top newspaper analyst, John Morton, points out in American Journalism Review that publicly traded newspaper companies still have an average profit margin of 17 percent. True, that's less than they used to have when their media hegemony could bring home a lot more bacon, but most corporations in other sectors can only lust after such returns.
The situation is even better at local TV stations, which are also not as fat and happy. But that means profit margins are merely in the 20s. Sob. Still, that's enough for the CBS-owned stations, where dozens of high-profile anchors and reporters have been let go to save money. Penny-pinching is also evident behind-the-scenes, reports The Los Angeles Times.

In a report released in July, the Writers Guild of America, East, reported that CBS and ABC news writers said recent workforce cutbacks had led to fewer investigative stories, less fact checking and an increased use of promotional video news releases at their news outlets.

The bottom line, says Morton, is get used to a new bottom line.
You can still make money, just not as much as you're used to. You won't get back to where you were, and you shouldn't even try by cutting staff and content, thereby reducing an already-shrunken value proposition to watch and read.
It's a point I've harped on repeatedly while following the travails of the likes of Dean Singleton, Brian Tierney and Sam Zell.
No doubt, debt service is a bitch for all of them, but so is the prospect of a rotting husk where a newspaper once stood.

Demise of TV Business Prompts Philips CEO To Make Up Words

The New York Times reported this morning that Philips would no longer make TVs to sell in the U.S. or Canada, but would instead license its name to a cut-rate Japanese manufacturer.
That prompted a quote from Paul Zeven, Philips' North American CEO that the move "allows the Philips brand to be very evident in the North American market and de-risks the profit potential."
Ugh.
First, he's redundant by saying "very evident." Then he concocts "de-risks," because as a CEO he's mandated to speak in corporate gobbledeygook and not take the trouble to use a few extra words to say what he really meant in proper English.
Then again, there's nothing that says a reporter, in this case Eric Taub, is compelled to quote him verbatim spouting nonsense. Taub could have paraphrased that more artfully with little or no effort. Or, since he was interviewing Zeven and not quoting from a press release, Taub could simply have asked him what he really meant.

Imagine that. Then he could have de-risked the possibility that we wouldn't have understood the story better.

For Its Editorial Cartooning Prize, Pulitzer Board Gets It Right (Wing)

The most remarkable part about Michael Ramirez, the editorial cartoonist for Investors Business Daily winning the Pulitzer Prize was not that he won -- he had already done that once before in 1994 while at the Memphis Commercial-Appeal -- was finding out that IBD actually has an editorial cartoonist.

That's actually just his homebase -- Ramirez is syndicated by Copley News Service in 450 newspapers who lop up his rather right-wing perspective. You may not agree with his world view, but they do make you stop and look, not to mention react.

Of course, that's what an editorial cartoon is supposed to do, but doing it consistently and fearlessly is another matter.
Ramirez is hardly an equal opportunity offender, a relief, no doubt, to the denizens of the White House. But even blue-state types will read him. They'll get angry, but they'll read him.
It's not easy nowadays trying to get people to swallow the GOP's glass-is-half-full dogma. Most of the time, Ramirez succeeds with an indelible mix of sugar and bile.

Jingoism Doesn't Mix Well With Vodka

This Ad Absolutly Had A Hard Time Crossing The Border

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. And maybe it still is.

In an ad for the Mexican market, Absolut showed a pre-1848 map of the U.S., which would put California and Arizona, among other states, firmly on the Mexican side of the ledger.

Apparently, some folks north of the border got the impression that Absolut was fomenting rebellion and urging Mexicans to take up arms and get back what's rightfully theirs. Maybe they were drunk on the competition's vodka. Whatever.

The ensuing reaction forced Absolut to play defense, at least publicly. "In no way was this meant to offend or disparage, nor does it advocate an altering of borders, nor does it lend support to any anti-American sentiment, nor does it reflect immigration issues," the company said on its Web site.

Still, Absolut has pulled the ad.

Which may have been the intention all along. You could view this as damage control for some bad PR. But I'll give Absolut a lot more credit than that. Their marketing savvy has been proven time and again. The company knew the ad would eventually be seen here, and cause a shitstorm in the process.

Sure, you'll get the Glenn Beck acolytes scurrying to the attic to raise their flag and call for boycotts, pour their Absolut down the drain and all of that other jingoistic nonsense. But those with at least a jigger of common sense, in other words, the likely buyers of Absolut, can see the ad for what it is, a continuation of a deft ad strategy that has fired on all cylinders for the better part of two decades.

Absolut may have pretty much invented the concept of premium vodka, but it long ago lost its cachet as the edgiest brand out there. It needs to clamor for attention. This might not be the way they teach you how to get it in PR school, but so what?

It worked.

Ignorance Hardly Bliss: Internet's Not The Media's Salvation On College Campuses

That Students Wall Themselves Off From The News Continuation of a Sad Story That Has Media Crying More Than Crocodile Tears

Caught up yesterday to a piece from the Chronicle of Higher Education by former Washington Post scribe Ted Gup, who told of how his students are a collective bunch of dullards when it comes to knowing about the world around them.

Despite their BlackBerrys, cellphones, and Wi-Fi, they are, in their own way, as isolated as the remote tribes of New Guinea. They disprove the notion that technology fosters engagement, that connectivity and community are synonymous. I despair to think that this is the generation brought up under the banner of "No Child Left Behind." What I see is the specter of an entire generation left behind and left out.

Gup mentions how most students in some of his classes couldn't cite what country Kabul was in, name the U.S. Secretary of Defense, or define rendition. Despite that, Gup labels his students collectively as "earnest, readily educable, and, when informed, impassioned."
Not sure when that would actually be applicable, under the circumstances, but still I know how he feels.
When I was a graduate student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University in 1983, I was a teaching assistant for a mandatory introductory course on communications. Part of my job was to administer a current-events quiz two or three times a semester.
Like Gup, my test was the equivalent of a dumbed-down version of the news of the day. But for many supposed future communications pros, not dumb enough.
To wit: During a week when King Hussein was in Washington meeting with President Reagan, I asked what country did he rule over. Only about 10 percent of the 70 students in the class answered correctly, with several telling me he was the king of Israel.
On another quiz, I asked who was the vice president. Several informed me it was Jimmy Carter.
Yet somehow they got into college, not to mention a high school diploma.
So, this might be news to Gup, but his cautionary tale is one that has had intractable roots in the hallways of academia far too long.
For those of us like myself who grew up in homes that received at least two newspapers daily, the thought of not knowing such basic facts is not only anathema but utterly incomprehensible.
No more, as Gup demonstrates. His students not only don't read newspapers, but they grew up with parents who didn't subscribe to one either.
Which may be the biggest reason why newspapers are in such dire straits today. Forget the Internet. Today's generation isn't just migrating away from print media, they're turning away from any meaningful engagement in the world around them and no one is encouraging them to do otherwise.
It's a sad story, and one that needs to be rewritten in a hurry.

XM-Sirius Merger Finally Approved By Justice Department. Now What?

The FCC Still Has To Sign Off On Deal, Though. Let The Lobbying Begin

Consumer groups and the National Association of Broadcasters took a bruising today, after the merger-happy Bush Justice Department gave its blessing to Sirius taking over XM to create satellite radio hegemony.
Or so we're led to believe.
Now it's the FCC's turn. No clear indication, based on previous FCC rumblings, that this is a fait accompli. But it's probably more of a done deal than not, especially if the commission's deliberations and likely court challenges are swept aside before Jan. 20, 2009.
After that, all bets may be off, especially if a Democrat starts redecorating 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Either way, if this drags on too long, the ultimate loser will be the millions of sat radio listeners. The more both companies have to remain independent entitites, the more debt piles up. More debt will mean more cutbacks eventually.
You can already gird for redundant channels being combined. That's a given. Two channels devoted to classic alternative rock or progressive country just won't be needed when there's only one roof to broadcast under.
The larger issue is whether the new Sirius will skimp on what's left -- doing just enough of what it needs to do to retain listeners while it still bleeds red ink, rather than continue to innovate. Sirius big cheese Mel Karmazin is saying all the right things -- now. But Mel's all about the money, and while he recognizes the value of good talent (see Howard Stern), that may only take him so far if the banks start breathing heavier around Sirius HQ.
Stay tuned.

How To Ensure You're An Also-Ran Paper In The Big Apple

New York Sun Makes Thud Instead of Splash Hyping Stories That Don't Deliver

I want to root for The New York Sun, really I do.
Its neo-con editorial page may be cretinous, but I'm all about having as many media voices in the city as possible. Besides, the arts coverage is often laudable, as is Paul Adams's trenchant observations on the restaurant scene. And the paper's shoestring of a sports section features some intriguing columnists, including basketball writer John Hollinger and Tom Perrotta on tennis.
So, even if it's a distant fourth in the newspaper wars -- assuming you believe the slim broadsheet is even in the skirmish -- you want it do well, or at least well enough to survive.
But the Sun does nothing to help its cause when it prints -- at disturbingly frequent intervals -- news that really isn't. In an effort to do more than parrot the other N.Y. papers, the Sun will lead with some kind of analysis or news feature. Good approach, but be careful what you wish for.
Friday's edition led with a story headlined "Albany Starts To Wonder At Paterson," which sought to keep alive the New York's newest governor's revelations days before about how he and his wife cheated on each other.

The story from Jacob Gershman led off:

Concern is growing in Albany over the prospect that, even as Governor Paterson races to get on top of the budget crisis, the disclosures of his private sexual affairs have damaged — perhaps irreparably — his capacity to execute the state's highest office.

Says who? Apparently, attribution's not a strong suit at the Sun, and we'll soon see why. Two grafs down is a quote from Baruch College political science professor Doug Muzzio about how Paterson's already damaged goods. Muzzio puts in an appearance later in the story.
But that's it.
Nowhere else is anyone quoted to back up the lead, let alone find someone in Albany, where concern is allegedly growing. Muzzio's office is on Manhattan's East Side.
Instead, Gershman -- a little too pleased with himself, but with the apparent blessing of his editors -- sounds more like a columnist than a reporter. To wit:

Mr. Paterson finds himself lumped together with two disgraced former state leaders, Eliot Spitzer and James McGreevey, as charter members of the "Governors Gone Wild" club.
Albany lawmakers are now questioning the political wisdom of his decision to hold a press conference on Tuesday, at which he invited the Albany press corps to quiz him on his sex life for half an hour.

It should be noted it was Gershman, who generated a scintilla of buzz, when he asked Paterson (watch clip) at his first news conference after being sworn in if he had ever patronized a prostitute.
So, it's not that he's clueless or connected. Gershman's been in and around Albany long enough to develop sources. And judging by other newspapers' blogs that quote him, he is read by his peers.
The answer is the Sun's limited resources mean it couldn't afford a Chinese wall between news and editorial. Which means it really can't be taken seriously as a news outlet except by those who are like-minded, in other words venemous Democrat-bashers.
That allows you to be a writer and not a reporter, thereby allowing you to quote a professor who just happens to agree with your preconceived notions.
And if you think it's just a matter of Gershman being lazy rather than having an agenda, then ask why he and his managing editor, Ira Stoll, penned a piece in neocon bible Commentary in November evaluating Spitzer's first term.
Which means that Paterson's peccadilloes are prime fodder for Gershman & Co. He may be smelling blood. But I smell something else emanating from articles like these.

R.I.P. Harp Magazine

Hard Rain Continues To Fall for Titles Covering Indie, Alternative Music

Sorry to hear that Harp magazine bit the dust last week, during the SXSW Festival, which was arguably Harp's ultimate comfort zone.

Harp trafficked in covering the artists most often heard on Triple-A and Americana stations. So, if you were into the likes of Ryan Adams, Wilco, Bright Eyes and My Morning Jacket, chances are you'd be into Harp.

Which makes me feel a little guilty, in that I used to subscribe, but faced with a never-ending time crunch found I could only read one music magazine with regularity. And I chose Paste, in part because it also offered a free CD with every issue. Paste covers a lot of the same musical ground, though it ventures a little further afield with books and movie coverage.

However, my patronage ultimatley didn't seal Harp's fate so much as the turbulence in the music business that's been roiled by declining CD sales, cheap digital downloads and illegal file sharing. That meant labels weren't spending on ads like they used to.

Harp also appealed to working musicians, but advertising for music software and the like cratered as well.

"Unfortunately, Harp's critical acclaim never translated into sustaining commercial success," says Glenn Sabin, CEO of Guthrie, Harp's publisher.

And for those who kept in touch with Harp via its Web site, alas, that won't be around much longer either.

Magazine Death Pool notes Harp unfortunately has some company in this genre, after Resonance and No Depression announced plans earlier this year to fold, and comes about two years after yet another indie-rock mag, Tracks, shut down.

There's actually plenty of depression to go around among publishers. If you read the magazines'e farewell notes, they turn out to be ever-so-slight variations on the same, lamentable theme.

As the costs of paper, printing, distribution and marketing soar, while advertising and circulation stagnate or slip and credit lines vanish entirely, look for others like them to pen their farewells sooner than later.

As If Newsday Staffers Didn't Have Enough To Worry About

Rupert or Mort Could Quarterback A "Joint Venture" and Give Sam Zell a Little Breathing Room

Tribune high priest Sam Zell has said he didn't want to sell any of his newspaper properties after he bought the company.
But Zell says a lot of things, some of them meaningful, others profane, and some he has had to backtrack on. Some of that's understandable, as advertising revenue continues to shrink -- and this once-mighty bastion of journalism leaks vats of red ink.
So, now comes opportunity, in the form of a possible sale of Newsday , which could fetch $350 million and up.
And in the hunt are Mortimer (Daily News) Zuckerman and Rupert (Post) Murdoch, who the Times described as being interested in a joint venture.
Oh, yeah, there's also James Dolan of Cablevision, but despite that company's deep pockets, Dolan has proved himself to be a doofus of the first order in his stewardship of Madison Square Garden, in particular the woeful Knicks. He knows newspapers like I know quantum physics.
So, let's stick with Mort and Rupe. Obviously, they're looking, initially, to find a way to broaden their reach to advertisers and maybe hurdle the other to oblivion once and for all. And despite its diminished size and stature, Newsday -- despite its previous lies about its circulation -- is still the 10th-largest newspaper in the country and primarily serves two of the country's wealthiest counties.
So, it could make sense from a business standpoint, not to mention a salve for the raging egos of this pair.
But I'd worry, as I'm sure many Newsday editors and reporters do, as to what a joint venture could morph into -- not the least of which is an eventual outright purchase.
First, you're merging ad staffs and back-office operations. Then, hey, as long as we're at it, do we really need to send reporters from both papers on the road to cover the Mets? Couldn't we get by with two fewer reporters covering eastern Suffolk? Couldn't one theatre critic suffice? Etcetera.
Chicken Little? Don't think so, if you look at what's left of the Media News-owned newspapers in California that have had their staffs eviscerated by "Lean Dean" Singleton. It could happen out east if things get bad enough, and despite the economies of scale that a joint venture could bring, it may not be enough in the long run to stop the outflow of circulation and ads.
Having read the paper for parts of four decades, I know first-hand that Newsday was a great newspaper. Now it is merely good. Still better than most, but with the latest round of buyouts, traveling in the wrong direction to a fork in the road, where Murdoch or Zuckerman anxiously wait.

Being A Convicted Felon Means CNBC Doesn't Have To Spell Your Name Right

An Exclusive That's Not: Dennis Koslowski, er, Kozlowski To Tell All (Maybe) In "First Interview From Behind Prison Walls." That May Be News to "60 Minutes"

CNBC is patting itself on the back for landing a sit-down with the hubris-challenged Dennis Kozlowski at Mid-State Correctional Facility in upstate New York, where the former Tyco chief is doing 8 to 25 years for treating the company, as one prosecutor said, as his "personal piggy bank."
Tonight's interview with the man with the golden shower curtain is billed in an ad in The Wall Street Journal as his "first interview from behind prison walls."
Oh, really?
Actually, it's more like the first interview from behind prison walls since Morley Safer took the "60 Minutes" cameras to Kozlowski in a segment that aired nearly a year ago.
And while they were touting the second first interview, CNBC spelled Kozlowski's name in the ad wrong, making it "Koslowski."
Trying to find info on CNBC.com about the interview, which is part of the "American Greed" series, is maddening at best.
Wanna watch a video clip? Good luck. The ones on the site either don't load, provide any controls, or only play the audio. On top of that, much of the information on the web page for the Kozlowski piece is actually devoted to another story.
In other words, a real mess. Hopefully, the story, reported by Bertha Coombs, is markedly better. Just remember, though, this isn't the first time you heard it.

Wire-Service Roulette at Dow Jones Newswires

Murdoch Gives Home Team The Boot

Dow Jones Newswires and the Associated Press engaged in a game of chicken over higher rates the latter wanted to charge the former.
In the end, they both lost. DJ loses a vital news source, and the A.P. a reliable source of revenue, though it will pick up Agence France-Presse has a kinda, sorta substitute.
All this could mean a last-minute reconciliation, as both sides actually share office space and other operations, which makes undoing this arrangement a pain in the butt more than anything else.
The weirdest part of all this was reading about how DJ was dumping the AP for AFP on Reuters, DJ Newswires' bitter rival.
Everybody wants a piece of this action.

Restaurant Reviews Should Be Accurate But....

Hartford Courant May Be Guilty of Boosterism in Giving Critic The Boot

If you want to read online the review by Elissa Altman from the Feb. 28 Hartford Courant of Prime Steak & Seafood in Torrington, Conn., you're out of luck on the newspaper's Web site, though you can find it in the Google cache.
Among the choicer morsels:

"Of all the dishes on the menu, the swordfish won the prize for perfection, and the apple and spinach salad was delicate and delicious. When your rare steak shows up a dark steel gray, it's within your rights to send it back. Because you'll have to."

"Very nervy, this place, to open during a near-recession and then charge Max-style prices for food that falls qualitatively below a chain family restaurant."

"Tables are outsized, and there are simply way too many packed into this moderate space, leaving one to deduce that a key part of the restaurant's business plan is to squeeze diners in tight and charge them outrageous sums for mediocre food. After our meal, it was certainly hard to think otherwise."

The Courant yanked the review after the restaurant complained it was inaccurate and laden with hyperbole. Then the paper issued a correction and publicly announced that Elissa Altman had written her last for the Courant.
All of that set off message-board speculation about censors afoot, although many slammed Altman for dinging a restaurant they loved.
It does appear that Altman was guilty, at the very least, of being sloppy. She got wrong some prices and inaccurately wrote that the restaurant has no Web site. She also write of being there with "dining companions" when, in fact, she just had one other person with her. Altman's defense? "While I referred in my review to my 'dining companions,' I was indeed dining with just one other person. This is, to my understanding, accepted and commonplace reviewing practice done both for the sake of maintaining anonymity...," she lamely told reader representative Karen Hunter.
Hunter excoriated Altman for the dining-companion lapse, but sent the wrong message, when she quoted from the ethics code from the Association of Food Journalists that reads in part: "Negative reviews are fine, as long as they're accurate and fair. Critics must always be conscious that they are dealing with people's livelihoods. "Negative reviews, especially, should be based on multiple visits and a broad exploration of the restaurant's menu."
Taken to the nth degree, that puts Altman, or any reviewer that can't return to a restaurant multiple times in an untenable position if they don't like a place. Altman told Hunter that "the budget places strict limitations on both the number of guests a reviewer is able to bring, and the number of times a reviewer is able to visit."
Is the Courant, given its precarious fiscal state under Tribune ownership, going to pony up for a revisit if a critic says the place stinks? Doubtful.
The key, then, is to back up the critic if the review sparks a backlash like this one did -- so long as the review is based on accurate information. Altman's piece doesn't meet that criterion. But Hunter's display of the AFJ code gives you the uneasy feeling the Courant won't want to get singed by other negative reviews going forward and may avoid them entirely.
That's one move that would certainly leave a bad taste.