Rocky Mountain News Was a Pioneer in Diversity Hiring
The venerable Denver Rocky Mountain News, which printed its final edition after a 150-year run on Friday, was a pioneer in diversity hiring, according to the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.In 2003, the paper was the first in the nation to work with the association to improve upon the news coverage and newsroom hiring of Hispanics.Read more at HispanicBusiness.com.Read the last issue of the Rocky Mountain News and tributes to its accomplishments.
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Courant Cutting About 100 JobsThe Hartford Courant is eliminating about 100 jobs this week, mostly by layoffs, as the longtime slide in advertising revenues gains speed in 2009.The cuts include about 30 writing, editing and news support positions, bringing the news staff to 135 -- down from 235 at the start of 2008. With the layoffs, the newspaper will no longer have a reporter assigned to Washington, D.C.Read more at the Hartford Courant.
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Al Dia in Dallas Down to Two Print EditionsSpanish-language newspaper Al Día has cut back to two print editions per week, as A.H. Belo, corporate parent of the free Dallas broadsheet, looks to lower costs and eliminate more jobs.Effective the week of February 16, Al Día is only distributed on Wednesdays and Saturdays - with a combined press run of about 215,000 copies - down from a six-day, Monday-Saturday schedule.Read more in Hispanic Market Weekly.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Nossip Potpourri: Part Deux
Inquirer owner files for bankruptcy protectionPhiladelphia Newspapers, which also owns the Daily News, says the filing allows it to restructure debt load.Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, which owns The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday in a bid to restructure its $390 million in debt load.Read more at Philly.com.
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More layoffs likely at The Bee as McClatchy tries to cut red ink
Analyst: Publisher can't raise stock above $1 to keep from being delistedBuyouts, layoffs, pay cuts and mandatory furloughs are all on the table as The Sacramento Bee works up a plan to help its owner cut expenses by about $110 million over the next year, The Newspaper Guild said.Read more in the Sacramento Business Journal.
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Sale deadline passes, 'Tucson Citizen' likely to quit in MarchTUCSON - Gannett Co. Inc.'s self-imposed deadline to receive bids for the Tucson Citizen has passed with no apparent offers, making it likely the 138-year-old paper will stop publication in March, the newspaper reported.Read more at AZCentral.com.Journal Register Seeks BankrupcyThe Journal Register Company, publisher of The New Haven Register in Connecticut and other newspapers, filed for Chapter 11 protection on Saturday.Read more in The New York Times.
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And the funniest media-related thing I've read/heard all week?
Drum roll puh-leeeeeeze!
Why the Twitter media craze? "Because were rotting corpses grabbing for any glimmer of relevance." -- Samantha Bee.
Nossip Potpourri
The ASNE Reporter, the student newspaper project that was suspended by the American Society of Newspaper Editors for the first time in its two decades, will continue this year after all, Scott Bosley, the ASNE executive director, said on Wednesday. "We cobbled together pieces of support. It's going to work," Bosley told Journal-isms. However, the project will be online only and restricted to Chicago-area students to save on housing expenses. The ASNE convention, which the students will cover, takes place in Chicago from April 26 to 29.....that was the notice last week.....but later, ASNE reported that the entire convention is canceled due to "challenging times" being faced by its membership.
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Norfolk Paper Ends Multicultural Magazine Amid LayoffsThe Virginian-Pilot, battling the recession, will lay off 30 more workers, including black journalist Duane Bourne, a police reporter, and shut down Mix Magazine, edited by veteran black journalist Wil LaVeist, the Norfolk, Va., newspaper said recently.
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Declining advertising revenue led to layoffs this week at the Yakima Herald-Republic, even as the company announced a deal to bolster revenue by printing the Daily Record of Ellensburg.From four to six employees have been or will be laid off from the 38,077-circulation Herald-Republic, depending on whether one or two of them can be transferred within the company, publisher Michael Shepard said Thursday. He would not say which departments of the paper are losing employees. Only one, a copy editor, is from the paper's newsroom.Read more in the Yakima Herald-Republic.
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Norfolk Paper Ends Multicultural Magazine Amid LayoffsThe Virginian-Pilot, battling the recession, will lay off 30 more workers, including black journalist Duane Bourne, a police reporter, and shut down Mix Magazine, edited by veteran black journalist Wil LaVeist, the Norfolk, Va., newspaper said recently.
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Declining advertising revenue led to layoffs this week at the Yakima Herald-Republic, even as the company announced a deal to bolster revenue by printing the Daily Record of Ellensburg.From four to six employees have been or will be laid off from the 38,077-circulation Herald-Republic, depending on whether one or two of them can be transferred within the company, publisher Michael Shepard said Thursday. He would not say which departments of the paper are losing employees. Only one, a copy editor, is from the paper's newsroom.Read more in the Yakima Herald-Republic.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Without newspapers...
Perhaps I shouldn't blog about this.
For the past few weeks I've been trying to come up with at least three instances of how not having newspapers would hinder some of our favorite movies.
I havent' been doing too too well, but here are .... well, at least three cinematic/sitcom-based reasons why newspapers can not die.
1. The crazies - How in the world would movies such as the Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind even be cool without crazies clipping out secret codes, conspiracy theories and such in the headlines and text of newspapers? In A Beautiful Mind, and many other great movies, the main character's wife is horrified to find the walls of her husband's office covered in circled newspaper clippings of conspiracies and meaningless codes.
2. The spin (literally) - EXTRA! EXTRA! WITHOUT NEWSPAPERS MANY MOVIES WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO LET THE AUDIENCE KNOW THAT SOMETHING IMPORTANT HAPPENED!...SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT THAT THE THING THAT HAPPENED HAS TO BE SHOWN IN A HUGE ALL-CAPS HEADLINE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF A NEWSPAPER THAT SPINS AT THE VIEWER!!!!
3. The trip down memory lane - Don't ask me why (of maybe you can blame the Nyquil...I was very ill), but last week I watched the movie Above the Rim. It's a terrible movie, but it reminded me of yet another reason why we (or at least films) shouldn't let all newspapers die: How are the main characters who are looking for redemption in movies supposed to take the viewer down memory lane if they don't have any collected newspaper clippings to refer to?....ESPECIALLY! sports figures?
.....my point exactly.
For the past few weeks I've been trying to come up with at least three instances of how not having newspapers would hinder some of our favorite movies.
I havent' been doing too too well, but here are .... well, at least three cinematic/sitcom-based reasons why newspapers can not die.
1. The crazies - How in the world would movies such as the Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind even be cool without crazies clipping out secret codes, conspiracy theories and such in the headlines and text of newspapers? In A Beautiful Mind, and many other great movies, the main character's wife is horrified to find the walls of her husband's office covered in circled newspaper clippings of conspiracies and meaningless codes.
2. The spin (literally) - EXTRA! EXTRA! WITHOUT NEWSPAPERS MANY MOVIES WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO LET THE AUDIENCE KNOW THAT SOMETHING IMPORTANT HAPPENED!...SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT THAT THE THING THAT HAPPENED HAS TO BE SHOWN IN A HUGE ALL-CAPS HEADLINE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF A NEWSPAPER THAT SPINS AT THE VIEWER!!!!
3. The trip down memory lane - Don't ask me why (of maybe you can blame the Nyquil...I was very ill), but last week I watched the movie Above the Rim. It's a terrible movie, but it reminded me of yet another reason why we (or at least films) shouldn't let all newspapers die: How are the main characters who are looking for redemption in movies supposed to take the viewer down memory lane if they don't have any collected newspaper clippings to refer to?....ESPECIALLY! sports figures?
.....my point exactly.
Tweet? More like "Snark"
This is my blog, so I can say what I want.
It recently came to my attention that many Congressmen were Twittering/Tweeting during President Barack Obama's speech on Tuesday night.
A blog from the Guardian asks if it was inappropriate. My answer: Hell yes.
These new technologies, in the wrong hands and at the wrong time, can be more than a detriment to getting things accomplished. And in this case it was absolutely juvenile.
Case in point: I take a 400-level course in the Annenberg School where I am surrounded by underclassmen. Recently, at the end of an in-class speech by a visiting, well-established entertainment quasi-icon, we were allowed to ask questions. As one of the underclassmen stood up to ask a semi-significant question, a gaggle of her fellow students preceded to say, loudly might I add, "Gag me with a spoon."
According to me, that, is the equivalent of these politicians Tweeting during Presient Obama's speech.
Dana Milbank of The Washington Post (in the link above) put it best: "It's bad enough that Americans are paralyzed by economic jitters. Now the president has to deal with lawmakers paralyzed by Twitter."
If you ask me, this is just another case of when technology usage goes wrong.
It recently came to my attention that many Congressmen were Twittering/Tweeting during President Barack Obama's speech on Tuesday night.
A blog from the Guardian asks if it was inappropriate. My answer: Hell yes.
These new technologies, in the wrong hands and at the wrong time, can be more than a detriment to getting things accomplished. And in this case it was absolutely juvenile.
Case in point: I take a 400-level course in the Annenberg School where I am surrounded by underclassmen. Recently, at the end of an in-class speech by a visiting, well-established entertainment quasi-icon, we were allowed to ask questions. As one of the underclassmen stood up to ask a semi-significant question, a gaggle of her fellow students preceded to say, loudly might I add, "Gag me with a spoon."
According to me, that, is the equivalent of these politicians Tweeting during Presient Obama's speech.
Dana Milbank of The Washington Post (in the link above) put it best: "It's bad enough that Americans are paralyzed by economic jitters. Now the president has to deal with lawmakers paralyzed by Twitter."
If you ask me, this is just another case of when technology usage goes wrong.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Speaking of reports....
In conjunction with UNITY, a collaboration of journalists of color, theloop21.com released their report on race and the media today.
Find the report, Journalism in Color: A special report on medi and race, here....but be patient. I think high volumes of traffic are slowing the site.
I havent' been able to get on it yet to see what the overall findings were.
But I wanted you all to know about it.
Find the report, Journalism in Color: A special report on medi and race, here....but be patient. I think high volumes of traffic are slowing the site.
I havent' been able to get on it yet to see what the overall findings were.
But I wanted you all to know about it.
Wahington Press Corps Metamorphosis
Change.
President Barack Obama promised it in his new administration.
News outlets are going through a lot of it themselves in this digital age and crumbling economy.
And according to a recently-released Pew Research Center for Excellence in Journalism report, the Washington Press Corps is changing a lot too.
Simply, the mainstream media is shrinking in representation as niche and foreign press grow.
One only had to watch President Obama's recent press conference to see that. (And yes, the Huffington Post was there.)
But one thing that the Pew Research Center report doesn't say outright is that there may now be more people of color in that Press Corps.....perhaps that's what it meant by the term "niche".
I abhor that word. When a majority of this country's population is non-white, people of color should no longer be called a "niche"....but I digress.
Oakland Tribune's Tammerlin Drummond takes on this new administration and new, more colorful White House Press Corps in a recent column. (....but kudos to some mainstream press for having representatives of color.) While she doesn't offer up any numbers, one only had to watch the press conference to see that there were more colored folks up in the mix.
Like Drummond, I too know what it's like to be the "fly in the buttermilk" ---at school, in my newsroom and even in the White House Press Corps.
As an intern for The Boston Globe's Washington Bureau, I once got the opportunity to go to the White House and be in the Press Corps for the day. For the most part, it was a lot of waiting around, but as I waited, I observed and I was a triple minority: young, black and a woman.
Hopefully this trend of more inclusion will continue.
President Barack Obama promised it in his new administration.
News outlets are going through a lot of it themselves in this digital age and crumbling economy.
And according to a recently-released Pew Research Center for Excellence in Journalism report, the Washington Press Corps is changing a lot too.
Simply, the mainstream media is shrinking in representation as niche and foreign press grow.
One only had to watch President Obama's recent press conference to see that. (And yes, the Huffington Post was there.)
But one thing that the Pew Research Center report doesn't say outright is that there may now be more people of color in that Press Corps.....perhaps that's what it meant by the term "niche".
I abhor that word. When a majority of this country's population is non-white, people of color should no longer be called a "niche"....but I digress.
Oakland Tribune's Tammerlin Drummond takes on this new administration and new, more colorful White House Press Corps in a recent column. (....but kudos to some mainstream press for having representatives of color.) While she doesn't offer up any numbers, one only had to watch the press conference to see that there were more colored folks up in the mix.
Like Drummond, I too know what it's like to be the "fly in the buttermilk" ---at school, in my newsroom and even in the White House Press Corps.
As an intern for The Boston Globe's Washington Bureau, I once got the opportunity to go to the White House and be in the Press Corps for the day. For the most part, it was a lot of waiting around, but as I waited, I observed and I was a triple minority: young, black and a woman.
Hopefully this trend of more inclusion will continue.
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