TV, Or Not TV? One Critic is True 'Guru'
Chicago Tribune television writer Maureen Ryan, who has been described by Variety as one of the "favorite (or most feared)" critics of the television industry, is the first, and so far only, newspaper critic TiVo features on its "Guru Guide Recommendations." 
Fact-Checkers vs. Spin: Will Candidates Get Real?
Even before Barack Obama and John McCain were officially selected for the final leg in the race for the White House, political editors and reporters had done some soul-searching, leading many to a new commitment to fact-checking.
Video Ads Becoming 'Great Friend of Print'
The average user of baltimoresun.com lingers between two and three minutes on the site, unless he or she checks out one of the elaborate mini-sites The Sun creates for advertisers who buy video. On those sites, users stick around for an average of six minutes. "When someone is spending that much time with your brand, that's pretty meaningful," says Thom Smith, director of design and development for the Sun's online ventures.
NAA Lowering Its Dues, Streamlining Shows
At newspapers, every cent going out the door is under intense scrutiny — and buyouts are rampant. And so it goes for the organization that serves the industry, too. For the past year, the Newspaper Association of America has been retooling its mission and paring its payroll. There are 40% fewer staffers working at the Arlington, Va.,- based association than 18 months ago. Head count was at a high of 136, and due to attrition, layoffs, and buyouts, it's now at 82.
When Stuck for a Source, Look Here
Less than a year ago, public relations veteran and Web junkie Peter Shankman used his Facebook page to give reporter friends a place to find sources. Since then, www.helpareporter. com has become a daily necessity for hundreds of journalists — as well as many publicists seeking to get their clients some press, all through a simple Web-based newsletter.
Preprints Insert (Needed) New Revenue
When Michael Lombardo, president of Tactician Media, looks at the newspaper industry these days he sees two camps. "One camp is newspapers that are still in a cost-cutting mode, bunkering down and not doing anything," he says. "Or they're in a camp with papers like Dallas, Chicago, The Orange County Register."
These Ombuds No Longer for You
Newspaper ombudsmen have often been among the first targeted for cuts. But since the start of 2008, the axe appears to be falling more than ever on these public editors and reader representatives, who contend their work is as important as any staff writer or editor — perhaps more so as the industry faces some of its toughest challenges, prompting a need for someone who can handle reader concerns.
Wyoming Paper's Redesign Raises 'Flag,' New Readers
Publishers across the country should train their eyes on the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in Cheyenne, because the 15,762-circ paper could teach the big guns a thing or two about redesigns. Go ahead, have them send you a copy — and ogle away.
Feelin' Neighborly in Dallas
Whoever said that news- papers have lost their status as social currency need only look at The Dallas Morning News. The A.H. Belo flagship paper is seeing success with its reverse publishing model by appealing to readers with what readers know best: themselves.
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Production All-Stars: Final-round Judges
Kelly Bensen, Orlando Sentinel operations vice president and ING board member, earlier served as an industrial engineer, project manager, and plant manager at The Washington Post.
Production All-Stars: Recognizing Managers Who Are Tops in Op's
This year's All-Stars found their way into newspaper production and packaging from all directions. While their career trajectories are diverse, all but one, as it happens, are from East Coast newspapers, and four of the seven saw service with Gannett. But for the first time, no women took top honors. This year's list features a trio of esteemed executives emeriti. Saddened by the industry's sustained downturn, one remarked: "I feel I've been blessed that I've been through the best days of the business. It's in my blood."
Production All-Stars, Senior Manager: Jon Markey
He followed his father's foot- steps — all the way to the top of his trade. A carrier as a child, the teenager entered the world of Linotype operator and composing room chief. More than a half-century later, the paperboy had become president of a newspaper company.
Production All-Stars, Press: Thomas P. Lombardo
In one sense, Thomas P. Lombardo began his long career at The New York Times simply because he needed a job, any job. "I was in college in 1975, playing football at C.W. Post, married, my wife was pregnant, and I needed something quickly," he recalls.
Production All-Stars, Press: John Rodney
With one project after another, there's been no winding down into retirement for John Rodney. In fact, he postponed his last day at The Press by two months.
Production All-Stars, Press: Jim Falzone
If reporter Jim Falzone hadn't been assigned to cover a convention devoted to American Girl dolls, he might not have been in any position years later — as operations executive — to convince the 45,000-circulation Eagle- Tribune in North Andover, Mass., to be such an early adopter of the latest computer-to-plate technology that the serial number of its Agfa Advantage violet platesetter is 001.
Production All-Stars, Post-Press: Craig Woischwill
Production executives will often tell you what they most love about their job is that they never know what tomorrow will bring. The Daily Miracle can be a harsh mistress, but also a uniquely satisfying one who will never bore you with dull routine. Nowhere is that truer than at Florida newspapers.
Production All-Stars, Post-Press: Frederick J. Stanton III
When it decided the time had come to trim its tabloid's height, The Times Herald-Record, not surprisingly, had no shortage of vendors willing to handle the press and mailroom cutdowns — at prices that ranged well beyond $1 million.
Production All-Stars, Post-Press: Girish Pandit
When he walked into the operation, "that was the first inserter I saw," Girish Pandit says of an old Harris 1372. That was only five years ago — an extraordinary remark from someone just named a Production All-Star largely due to his management of major changes to his company's inserting.
Cuts Like a Knife: Editors, Reporters at Three Papers Respond to Latest Round of Tribune Buyouts/Layoffs
Eastern Pennsylvania steel country has little in common with Florida's sunshine and tourists. But in the world of Tribune Co., where job cuts and redesigns are suddenly all the rage, newspapers in these two regions are finding more in common with each passing day — and much of it foreboding.
Does Early Withdrawal Really Incur a Penalty?
As Tribune Company slashes hundreds of jobs from the Los Angeles Times to the Orlando Sentinel, the severance being offered to most departing employees is not the usual straight payout. Because the Tribune Co. is using an over-funded pension to provide the two weeks' pay for each year of service that the majority of exiting staffers are getting — whether forced out or not — the money is actually going into their retirement accounts.
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(Click on photo to enlarge)
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DOWN AT CADILLAC RANCH
Michael Schumacher, Amarillo (Texas) Globe-News, Aug.14
Alongtime desire to shoot a Perseids meteor shower over the famed Cadillac Ranch in Texas turned into "a ghostly self-portrait," Schumacher tells us. |
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