Wall Street to Daily Papers: ‘Drop Dead’ – The Nation, Jan. 24, 2008

[Eric Alterman’s piece on the sad state of newspaper publishing (owners don’t even try to spin their cost cut positively any more, he notes), includes these interesting factoids:

Gannett Eyes Another Student Newspaper – Chronicle.com, Jan. 23, 2008
[Gannett is buying student newspapers, perhaps because the major metro daily market has such a poor future. -Ed.]

Ledger’s death a window into speed reporting – Los Angeles Times, Jan. 22, 2008
[An LA Times blog looks at the chaos and misinformation that surrounded the death of 28-year-old actor Heath Ledger. Some readers have complained that this was shoddy journalism, but the blog points out that it’s really an evolution of news reporting in the online world. “If the public wants its information as raw and immediate as possible, it’ll have to get used to a few missteps along the way, and maybe even approach breaking stories with a bit of skepticism, like a good reporter would,” it notes. -Ed.]

Murdoch Retreats From All-Free WSJ.com – Media Post, Jan. 25, 2008
[Maybe that $65M revenue stream isn’t such a bad thing after all. -Ed.]

Don’t shoot the messengers – Reflections of a Newsosaur, Jan. 23, 2008
[Alan Mutter suggests that the financial situations at the Philadelphia Inquirer and Minneapolis Star Tribune are dire and that the owners could be close to defaulting on their debt. What to do? If the creditors come in to run the papers, they’ll simply slash budgets to restore profitability, but at what long-term cost? There are no clear solutions to this predicament. -Ed.]

Inquirer Publisher Seeks More Cost Cuts – AP, Jan. 23, 2008

Quoting: “The owners of Philadelphia’s two largest newspapers said they need tocut costs by an additional 10 percent or the company will face dire consequences…Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC would have trouble meeting debt payments if it doesn’t make changes…[A columnist says:] ‘We’ve gone through a series of economic cuts in the past years, and it is hard to see where they can cut further.’…One year ago, the company gave layoff notices to about 70 Inquirernewsroom employees, or 17 percent of the editorial staff, and laid off 34 people in advertising, or nearly 10 percent of the sales force.”

Inquirer Staffers React to Tierney’s “10 Percent” Threat – The Daily Examiner, Jan. 23, 2008
[The Philadelphia magazine website account adds some facts and color:

• The Guild is speculating that the threat of cuts is a bargaining tactic against the union;
• A Guild memo says executives “did not say what would happen if savings targets are not met, but made references to outsourcing jobs overseas.”
• One features writer asks “Who needs a Neighbors section when we could have the New Delhi Digest every day?”
• Quoting: “When Eagles head coach Andy Reid was suddenly scheduled to appear at an impromptu news conference, an editor went running through the newsroom looking for somebody, anybody, to cover it. ‘There are situations like that every day,’ says a staffer. -Ed.]

Metro – Sources: Globe will cut back staff, raise price – Metro, Jan. 24, 2008
[A strange media war is playing out in Boston, where the Globe and an alternative daily paper in which it owns a significant interest are competing with each other to scoop each other’s bad news. The Globe recently scooped the Metro in reporting the paper’s mounting losses. – Ed.]

Quoting: “The Boston Globe will soon announcecutbacks at the newspaper, including hundreds of layoffs, and anincrease in the per copy price of the paper to 75 cents as of Feb. 1,according to several sources inside and outside of the paper….The Globe saw a nearly 7 percent decrease — from 386,417 to 360,695 —in its daily circulation between Sept. 2006 and Sept. 2007.”

Globe says no big layoff coming — its Metro free paper got it wrong – Boston Business Journal, Jan. 24, 2008

[A Boston Globe spokesman says a report of impending layoffs of “hundreds” of Globe staffers published by Metro, a free paper in which the Globe owns a 49% stake, are false. However, his wording leaves plenty of wiggle room. The spokesman said the story is “factually incorrect” (how is this different from “incorrect?”) and that “There are no plans for a staff reduction of the size cited in the Metro.” His wording leaves leeway for the Globe to lay off up to 199 people and still call the Metro story incorrect. -Ed.]

The Sun May Be Getting Smaller, but We Won’t Give Ground On Local News – Kitsap Sun, Jan. 12, 2008

[The editor of the Kitsap Sun, which has been ravaged by staff cuts, declares his intention to continue the paper’s local news coverage. -Ed.]

After Job Cuts in 2007 — What’s Ahead? – Editor & Publisher, Jan. 15, 2008

[An E&P editor recaps the grim ledger from 2007, when US newspaper industry employment declined almost 3%. -Ed.]

Meanwhile, layoffs at the Chicago Sun-Times announced nearly a month ago continue to generate lots of coverage:

Sun-Times staffers get pink slips…by phone — chicagotribune.com, Jan. 23, 2008
[Management apparently just can’t wait to get laid-off staffers out the door. -Ed.]

Sun-Times wrestles with new reality – LATimes Pressmen Forums

No Quiet on Western Front: Latest on ‘L.A. Times’ Uproar – Editor & Publisher, Jan. 22, 2008
[E&P tries to figure out what really happened at the Los Angeles Times, where editor James O’Shea abruptly resigned this week. Publisher David Hiller called O’Shea’s exit after only 14 months a mutual decision, but reports of O’Shea’s speech to the newsroom indicates it was anything but. The EIC was reportedly asked to cut $7 million from his budget, which sparked a confrontation that led to his firing. Media-watchers are wondering what this says about new owner Sam Zell’s commitment to editorial quality. -Ed.]

Times editor to leave paper – Los Angeles Times, Jan. 21, 2008
[The LA Times plays it straight in covering the story, revealing little of what was said in the newsroom. – Ed.]

Text of James O’Shea’s Remarks on WSJ.com

O’Shea, Hutton Thrown From Speeding Rollercoaster – Content Bridge, Jan. 22, 2008

Veteran journalist Ken Doctor notes the departure of the fourth LA Times top editor in three years and laments the sorry state of the once-great Mercury News. There are 200,000 students in journalism programs in the US, he notes. What are they all going to do? Big metro dailies are plummeting like a speeding roller coaster, but the new media entities that may someday replace them are still too small to offer refuge. – Ed.]

Newspaper Editor’s Departure Is Troubling – U.S. News & World Report, Jan. 22, 2008

[A U.S. News columnist worries about what O’Shea’s firing means, but believes newspapers can weather their current crises. -Ed.]

Recovering Journalist: Another One Bites the Dust
[Mark Potts makes some good points about what’s wrong with traditional newspaper-think and why the industry needs to look outside for leadership. -Ed.]

‘Miami Herald’ Won’t Outsource Editorial After All – Editor & Publisher, Jan. 15, 2008
[The controversial experiment is abandoned over quality concerns. Outsourcing of some production and website monitoring will continue. -Ed.]

The times are changing, and so is your newspaper – sacbee.com, Jan. 13, 2008
[The new editor of the Sacramento Bee makes it clear in her inaugural column that online is where it’s at. -Ed.]

Goldman Sachs Predicts Grim Year For Newspapers – MediaPost, Jan. 10, 2008
Quoting: Newspapers will take it on the chin in 2008, according to analysts with Goldman Sachs, who warned Wednesday of a potential double-whammy, as the industry’s secular downturn converges with a broader economic slowdown. Overall, they forecast a 7.9% decline in revenue, a much more substantial drop than their earlier prediction of just 2.6%. The predicted 7.9% drop is especially gloomy as it comes after several years of losses, compounding a 1.8% decline in 2006 and a roughly 8% drop in the first three quarters of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006."

Bostonian To Blaze New Trail at Edmonton Journal? – Canada Rocks, eh!, Jan. 19, 2008
[An embittered former reporter details the cost-slashing that’s gone on at the newspaper where he used to work and wonders how an optimistic new publisher can make a difference in a company that he believes is bent on cutting costs to a minimum. -Ed.]

‘Chicago Tribune’ Eliminates Print Help-Wanted Ads On Weekdays – Editor & Publisher, Jan. 14, 2008 
Quoting: "Instead, there will be a listing of basic information in the business section every Tuesday. The listing, called ‘Careerbuilder QuickFind,’ will refer readers to the full recruitment ad on chicagotribune.com/careerbuilder through a Web ID…Print help-wanted classified will continue to run in the Sunday paper under Careerbuilder section title, but the Tribune said the section will have ‘a bold new look with fewer columns, larger ads, and clear headings that enable easier page scanning and navigation.’

Scott Karp offers some thoughtful and constructive perspective on citizen journalism, which he calls “networked journalism,” in this post on Publishing 2.0. One of the greatest risks of unfettered community reporting is the risk of someone gaming the system, he notes. There are thousands of blog posts already out there that describe strategies for driving up vote totals on community recommendation engines. A particularly controversial one is here. The advantage of the “command-and-control” journalism model is that it’s relatively transparent. Fact-checking and decision-making are done by human editors who are responsible for their actions. In contrast, decision-making by algorithm is inherently subject to manipulation.

Karp takes issues with those who argue that algorithms can be developed to detect gaming. The most sophisticated schemes will always be hard to detect, he says. That doesn’t make citizen journalism bad, though. In the end, Karp argues, there’s much to recommend the community-driven model, but we need to be aware of its flaws, too.

Scott Karp offers some thoughtful and constructive perspective on citizen journalism, which he calls “networked journalism,” in this post on Publishing 2.0. One of the greatest risks of unfettered community reporting is the risk of someone gaming the system, he notes. There are thousands of blog posts already out there that describe strategies for driving up vote totals on community recommendation engines. A particularly controversial one is here. The advantage of the “command-and-control” journalism model is that it’s relatively transparent. Fact-checking and decision-making are done by human editors who are responsible for their actions. In contrast, decision-making by algorithm is inherently subject to manipulation.

Karp takes issues with those who argue that algorithms can be developed to detect gaming. The most sophisticated schemes will always be hard to detect, he says. That doesn’t make citizen journalism bad, though. In the end, Karp argues, there’s much to recommend the community-driven model, but we need to be aware of its flaws, too.

Mother Jones has another one of those opinion pieces by a journalist who is outraged – outraged, I tell you! – over the loose editing and poor fact-checking of citizen journalism. In this case, the villain is the Tallahassee Democrat, which published a popular blog by a local PR person whose topics sometimes touched upon issues that related to her clients. In one anecdote highlighted in the piece, the blogger supported a proposal to build a Wal-Mart near town while her firm was doing PR for Wal-Mart.

Well, shame on the Tallahassee Democrat, and shame on the blogger, but please no shame on citizen journalism. The problem here is that the newspaper chose to feature prominently someone whose profession should have raised warning flags and then didn’t fact-check her work. In a true citizen journalism environment, the blogger would be subject to community fact-checking, which would have quickly identified her conflicts of interest. She also wouldn’t have enjoyed the unfair advantage of the newspaper bully pulpit. She’d have to earn respect and trust on her own instead.

In attempting to trash citizen journalism, this article actually does the opposite. It highlights the risks of the hybrid models now being tried by mainstream newspapers as they desperately seek a viable business model. Take the newspaper out of this story and there’s, well, no story.

Update

Adam Weinstein, author of the Mother Jones article, responded to my comments via e-mail:

“Read your comments about my Mother Jones piece, both on their site and your own blog, and I just wanted to say: I couldn’t agree more. If I had it to write again, I would want to stress that the problem is not with citizen journalism, but with one particularly offensive media corporation’s attempt to co-opt it. They were less interested with understanding the open system, or with improving their responsiveness to community issues, than with cutting corners every step of the way.

“My gut says that print organizations can partner with citizen media and better use the Web, but that might require a greater degree of editorial vigilance, a tough pill to swallow for both (justly) free-spirited bloggers and (unjustly) penny-pinching newspaper publishers. But there’s a whole lot more Stacey N. Getzes out there, and until the mainstream media and readers grow to understand exactly how citizen journalism polices itself, a lot of Stacy Getzes are going to give bad names to both the ‘professionals’ and ‘amateurs.'”

Dramatic Losses Force Union-Tribune to Lay Off Employees – voiceofsandiego.org, Jan. 16, 2008
[The paper, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2006, has cut about 15% of its newsroom employees in the last three years as Sunday circulation has plummeted 19%. Owner Copley Press’s Washington, D.C. office has been cut in half. Copley CEO Gene Bell wrote in a memo: “[A]ll communications media now face destructive competitive forces seldom seen before…never in our history have we faced revenue losses as dramatic as those of the last 12 months.” -Ed.]

Beaver County newspaper announces employee layoffs – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Jan. 15, 2008
The Beaver County Times in Bridgewater announced Monday that it has laid off 10 full-time and 11 part-time employees in what it calls an effort to eliminate duplication of duties and to streamline production.

[Newport News] Daily Press to cut 14 jobs — dailypress.com, Jan. 14, 2008
[The Newport News paper has cut nearly 100 jobs in recent years as circulation has shrunk 20% since 1995. -Ed.]

Post-Tribune workers face layoffs – NWITimes, Jan. 12, 2008
[The northern Indiana newspaper is cutting 20 positions as part of the broad cost-reduction initiative by parent Sun-Times Media Group. – Ed.]

Allentown, Seattle newspapers will cut jobs – Reuters, Jan. 9, 2008
[I’ve already noted the cuts at the Seattle Times. The new information is about the loss of 10 positions at the Morning Call in Allentown, Pa. This appears to be less than 5% of total staff. -Ed.]

Editorial Cartoon Group Prez Hits Huge Payout to Former Tribune Co. Boss — And Delivers ‘Top 10’ List – Editor & Publisher, Jan. 5, 2008

[News that former Tribune Co. executive Dennis FitzSimons had received a $41 million golden parachute prompted one Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist to express outrage that the payout was so low. Nick Anderson then proposed the “Top 10 ways that Dennis FitzSimons can get a bigger payoff.” They include “Remaining staffers at Tribune papers sell a kidney to go the extra mile for Fitz.” – Ed.]

Back to the chopping block – Reflections of a Newsosaur, Jan. 13, 2008

[Alan Mutter isn’t optimistic about the economy in 2008, and he sees terrible implications for newspapers. If newspaper revenues decline 7.9%, as one analyst has forecast, instead of the generally accepted 5%, then the cost
cuts needed to sustain profitability would amount to 15% of total newspaper payroll. And that’s not all. Debt service costs could increase and papers could be required to make deeper staff cuts to balance increases in insurance and other expenses. Unless the economy rallies, it’s looking like an ugly year. – Ed.]

The Cincinnati Enquirer Expands Coverage and Grows Online Video Presence with Avid Media Publishing Solutions – Business Wire, Jan. 8, 2008

[This press release notes that the Enquirer “has a team of 40 video producers and online editors trained to generate news stories with video elements – up from eight this time last year.” The newspaper, perhaps emboldened by the recent death of the Cincinnati Post, appears to be making some significant investments in multimedia coverage. -Ed.]

Media Biz: Dead trees, dead stocks, dead cat bounce? – CNN Money, Jan. 7, 2008

[A columnist sees another tough year for newspapers, with pressure growing for some companies to go private. But there are bright spots at companies like the Washington Post, which is diversifying and growing revenue. More papers should follow the Post’s lead, he says. -Ed.]

Newspapers:
Hitting The Coffin Nail on the Head – Seeking Alpha

[Noting that the internet is “not built on big. It’s built on a mass of smalls. And newspapers think big. That’s their real challenge,” Jeff Jarvis suggests that newspapers brought their current crisis on themselves by focusing their sales efforts on $100,000 advertisers and ignoring the mass of $100 advertisers. He suggests that the only way out of this predicament – if there is one – is to spin off sales units to go after small customers. It’s wise advice, but can newspapers make the attitude shift to embrace the Long Tail? Doubtful. – Ed.]

Here’s the problem with journalism – Steve Outing, Jan. 10, 2007

[Steve Outing notes new research showing that about 1/4 of reporters have blogs and about half lurk on blogs, reading them but rarely commenting. He’s shocked that the numbers are so low, though he acknowledges that some people might call this progress. I’m with Outing. What really surprised me was the lurking figure. It’s hard to believe that half of all journalists don’t use a ready-made news source like blogs to cover their beats.
What are they doing, monitoring the police band? -Ed.]

The downside of newspaper reader blogs – A shel of my former self, Jan. 9, 2008

[Social media guru Shel Holtz tells of a renegade blogger who used language of questionable taste on her LA Times blog and asks whether newspapers should edit the very community journalists they now invite into their space. -Ed.]

Wall Street Foresees Horrible Year For Newspapers: Are They Killing Themselves? – The Daily Bellwether, Jan. 10, 2008

[Imaginingg a newspaper’s call to the suicide hotline. The author is a veteran journalist who took a buyout from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and appears to be rather cynical about the whole industry. -Ed.]

The ultimate insult is to make The Simpsons

Gawker has a clip of Nelson dissing a newspaper journalist.