co, Santa Barbara and San Diego.
nce. I told him I had been at the Akron Beacon Journal for the final 26 of my 43 years on newspapers when I retired in 1996. “I worked there, too,” he said. “I was city editor with about 20 reporters when I left the Beacon” in 1967. Bruce began at the BJ in 1958. He was on the ferry with a friend. Like us, they set out to enjoy a day on Kelleys Island on a Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend. We talked of people we both knew at the BJ: John S. Knight, Ben Maidenburg, Bob Giles, Al Fitzpatrick, Ben James, Hal Fry, Dan Warner, Polly Paffilas, Betty Jaycox and legendary reporter Helen Waterhouse, a features reporter who enthralled readers but kept copy editors busy cleaning up her copy. Bruce moved on to Michigan to add to his journalism career. I Googled Bruce and found out that he is retired president and publisher of The Daily Oakland Press in Pontiac, MI, in his multiple-newspaper career and is a former president of the Michigan Press Association. Bruce and Natalie, who died in 2008, lived in upscale Orchard Lake –- with only a few thousand people -- since 1983, where Bruce has been mayor (2000-2004), councilman and planning commissioner. Bruce is a member of two bank boards and a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. Bruce still keeps his hand in journalism as editor of the Orchard Lake Chronicle. Among the residents of Orchard Lake, southwest of Pontiac and northwest of Detroit, is singer/songwriter Bob Seger. The four of us got off the ferry, which carries cars and people to Kelleys Island, and went our separate ways. As usual, Paula and I did a lot of walking for our sightseeing, probably three miles on the four-by-two-miles island. It helps my 15-month-old bionic knee. If any BJ old-timers want to contact Bruce, his email address is: bhmcintyre@comcast.net
Newsroom bargaining unit members at The Plain Dealer last Friday, May 15, approved a contract amendment that provides job security in exchange for wage concessions, according to the Northeast Ohio Chapter of The Newspaper Guild.
The agreement guarantees job security for at least a year in exchange for an 8.1% wage cut and 11 days of unpaid furlough, with total wage concessions of about 12%, beginning June 1.
The pressmen and the three largest Teamsters units at the newspaper rejected the tentative agreement in voting Sunday, according to the Guild. Two smaller Teamsters units approved the agreement.
The Unity Council of Plain Dealer unions, which includes the Guild, Teamsters and pressmen, recommended their members approve the contract amendment, according to the Guild. Teamsters units representing the mailroom, circulation and paper handlers turned it down.
According to previous news reports, unionized Plain Dealer workers were told that they must make $5 million in concessions by June 1 or face the layoff of more than 60 members, including 22 newsroom jobs.
Plain Dealer president and publisher Terrance C. Z. Egger announced March 23 that full-time, nonunion employees must take 10 days of unpaid leave between April 20 and Oct. 4. Full-time and part-time nonunion employees will see the first $50,000 of their pay cut by 8% and any additional pay reduced by 10% as of June 1.
[Source: Crain's Biusiness Review]
to bump against it loan covenants within the next year as it’s squeezed by declining revenue from its U.S. newspapers and a weakened Canadian dollar, Moody’s Investors Service said Wednesday.
d Indians, Yesterday and Today was released this month by Publications International. It is the first book by Phil Trexler who has been at the BJ for 10 years as a court and police reporter. 
, and am not sure I gave him a particularly coherent answer. His question did give me great pause, however, and after careful reflection I have come up with a more succinct answer than I was able to offer up at the time.WOOSTER -- Ernest "Ernie" Schooler Infield, 89, venerated columnist, decorated Marine, and campaign strategist, passed away peacefully in Wooster, Ohio on March 28, 2009.
Born in Frazeysburg, Ohio, on May 11, 1919, to Fern Schooler Infield and Charles Irwin Infield, Ernie matriculated from Fredericksburg High School in 1937, graduated in 1939 from the Wooster Business College and joined International Harvester as a manager.
Ernie tracked sports, especially baseball, recording statistics of legend Bob Feller and other Ohio-based athletes. Ernie is listed on IMDB.com for his interview by ESPN Classic regarding Bevo Francis' basketball career.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Ernie volunteered for the 4th Marine Division which undertook beach landings in the South Pacific theater. Ernie saw the flag raised twice on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, Japan. Between campaigns, Ernie formed a regimental baseball league, organized games/teams, kept statistics and published results/commentary for the Division.
Directly after his honorable discharge, Ernie became the personnel director for the Fredericksburg Art Pottery and joined the United Steel Fabricators as a sales executive the next year.
Ernie married Emily Louise Kuhles on Flag Day, June 14, 1947. Together, they operated the Kuhles Fruit Farm for more than 20 years. Emily predeceased him in November of 2005.
In 1951, Ernie joined the Wooster Brush Company eventually leading the sales division for 20 years. Ernie then became information director at the College of Wooster (COW) garnering national recognition. He was instrumental in forming a COW basketball booster club - the Downtown Rebounders -in 1969. Ernie was elected to the Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. In 1985, Ernie named the newly formed North Coast Athletic Conference for Division III Colleges.
In 1964, Ernie had an initial bypass surgery at the Cleveland Clinic followed by a second double-bypass in 1974. Surviving only on the original bypass, Ernie underwent a quadruple bypass in 1996. At his death, Ernie was believed to be the longest living mammary artery bypass patient; he was one of the few to have received three very successful open-heart surgeries crediting the Cleveland Clinic researchers/surgeons and his Marine Corps training for his ability to survive those, and 30 other various, serious operations.
Recognized for his 60-year Wooster Daily Record (Ohio) and syndicated column, "Ramblin' Round the Infield," Ernie was also active in Lions Club which honored him with: Lion of the Year in 1984, Lion's Highest award - The Melvin Jones Fellowship Award in 1992, and the Milestone Monarch award in January, 2009. Campaign manager for Wooster's first female mayor, Margaret Demorest, Ernie led 20 other successful campaigns for Republicans. For his comprehensive public service, the Wooster, Ohio community honored Ernie with a special day in1994.
Ernie is survived by daughter, Linda Wakefield; son-in-law, Mark Wakefield; and grandsons, Jared Steven and Spencer William of Canton, Michigan. Dear surviving cousins include, Bessie Stewart Infield and Larry Grey Infield of Coshocton, Ohio, Heather Schooler of San Francisco, Calif., Dean Schooler of Colorado, David Schooler, Kristy and Blake Schooler of the Columbus, Ohio area, Eleanor Kuhles of Florida, Ginny and Everett Tompkins of South Carolina, Martha and Harold McMahon, Grace Tompkins Cox, Gary, Nancy, and Wayne Cox, and their respective families of Cleveland, Ohio, and the Meier cousins, including Barbee and Don of San Diego and Tennessee.
The immediate and extended family of E. S. Infield invites all of his colleagues and friends to a memorial service near the time of what would have been Ernie's 90th birthday. The service will be held at the United Methodist Church of Wooster, Ohio on May 17, from 2:30 to 4:30 pm.; military honors and a reception following. For Lion's Club, used eyeglasses, reading glasses, sunglasses and their cases will be collected at the memorial service/reception.
Ernie dedicated his body to science; the family asks for donations, in lieu of flowers, in Ernie's name to The United Methodist Church of Wooster, 243 N. Market St., Wooster 44691 or The Heart Innovation Fund, The Cleveland Clinic, P.O. Box 931517, Cleveland 44193-1655.
If you can't read phone book type, you are getting
old and need to click on the photos
Judge Kevin Carey authorized the payments came after Tribune chief financial officer Chandler Bigelow III testified that the bonuses are critical to keeping key managers motivated as Tribune tries to adjust to a tough economic climate for media companies.
"We need to motivate and incentivize the key people who will implement change," Bigelow said. "These are really good people we're talking about. They're the best and the brightest of the company."
The judge was to hear arguments later Tuesday on Tribune's request to make $2.6 million in severance payments to 68 employees, all but two of whom were fired before Tribune filed for bankruptcy protection.
Bigelow noted that proposed bonus payments of $12.2 million to about 670 employees under the company's management incentive program, or MIP, do not include the top 10 executives and represent an average payment of only 38 percent of the target for 2008. He also said total proposed payments for last year are significantly lower than those in the two preceding years.
Tribune also received authorization to pay an additional $1.1 million in incentives to 23 individuals who do not participate in the MIP.
For our other viewers far and wide, if you need a primer on facebook, check out Mary Beth's story spread all over the front of the Premier section in Sunday's Beacon. Or look at it via Ohio.com. Click on the headline.Former Beacon Journal pulisher Janes Crutchfield will speak to the Summit County Progressive Democrats PAC atr 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Akron-Summit County Public Library..
Crutchfield\, now a professor at Arizona State UOniversity, will speak about the future of news media. The public is invited. and parking is free in the attached parking deck after 6 p.m.
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Union-Tribune conducted a round of layoffs in all departments Thursday, the latest in a series of staff reductions the newspaper and its counterparts across the country have taken in recent years.
The move comes three days after Platinum Equity, a Beverly Hills private equity firm, completed its acquisition of the paper from its longtime owner, the Copley Press Inc.
A total of 192 positions will be eliminated, effective July 6, the company said in a statement. Senior managers told the affected employees Thursday in meetings organized by department. The company said employees will receive transition assistance and termination benefits.
The number of cuts in each department, including the newsroom, were not disclosed.
The 60-day notice is required under federal law for a company the size of the Union-Tribune when conducting more than 50 layoffs.
“These are tough times for the entire newspaper industry, and a time of transition for the Union-Tribune,” said Drew Schlosberg, the company's director of community and public relations. “Any decision to reduce staff is difficult.
“We will be working diligently to make the transition for those affected as easy as possible. ”
The company, which has had several rounds of buyouts and layoffs in recent years, will have about about 850 employees once the staff cuts become effective.
The Union-Tribune, like other large newspapers, has been hit by both declining print circulation as well as a decrease in advertising that has been accelerated by the recession.
Schlosberg said the paper has a late-week circulation (Thursday-Saturday) of just over 300,000 a day, with the daily paper estimated to reach more than 662,000 readers. Its Sunday circulation is 330,000, with a readership believed to be more than 890,000. The Union-Tribune's Web site, SignOnSanDiego, draws more than 3 million unique users each month.
The Union-Tribune won its fourth Pulitzer Prize this year, awarded to editorial cartoonist Steve Breen; and won the top award for general excellence for a large newspaper from the California Newspaper Publishers Association last year.
nell, won a number of awards throughout his 18-year newspaper career,
Brett, who also was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for the past two years, will be one of five Silver Gavel winners and two honorable mentions at this year's ceremony.
It will be held a the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on July 1.
The awards are given to media professionals who help foster the public's understanding of the law and legal system.
Last year, Brett wrote numerous columns about how the restriction of open discovery rules, where prosecutors share police reports and records with defense attorneys, affected criminal cases in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
Twelve U.S. journalists have been awarded John S. Knight Fellowships to study at Stanford during the 2009-10 academic year.
This will be the first group of Knight Fellows selected based on the program's new focus on journalism innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership. During their stay at Stanford, the Knight Fellows pursue independent courses of study, participate in special seminars and work on individual journalism projects. The 2009-10 program marks the 44th year that Stanford has offered fellowships for professional journalists.
The 12 U.S. Fellows will join eight from other countries who were announced in April. Financial support for the U.S. fellows comes primarily from an endowment provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Following are the 2009-10 U.S. Fellows and their principal areas of study:
The program received 166 applications for the U.S. fellowships and 132 applications for the International fellowships.
The Detroit Free Press has formed a unique partnership with CBS-owned WWJ-TV, Channel 62, to launch a 5-7 a.m. weekday program that will offer heavy doses of weather and traffic updates, as well as news gathered by Free Press journalists.
The new program will be called "First Forecast Mornings" and will include Free Press Express news segments.
"We're more than a newspaper, we're more than a Web site. We're an information provider on many different channels, and television is just a natural evolution for us," said Paul Anger, Free Press editor and publisher. He added that the partnership with WWJ "is considered unusual, if not unique anywhere."
Mike Brookbank, who will anchor the Free Press news reports, said the program will break the mold of traditional TV broadcasts by offering smaller bits of news with more frequent weather and traffic reports -- information he said early risers with little time want.
Brookbank, a Free Press employee, said he'll deliver a summary of top headlines about every 15 minutes and will note how viewers can find more information at freep.com or in that morning's newspaper. He'll highlight exclusive Free Press investigations, news, community highlights and behind-the-scenes reporting from top sporting events.
With the new broadcast, WWJ and the Free Press will be entering a market with long-running news programs and aiming to sway viewers to a new broadcast.
"It is a challenge to get people to change their habits," Brookbank said. "You know that you have to deliver a product that people are looking for."
Paul Prange, director of programming and community affairs for WWJ, said the program will be tailored to the kinds of content people want most in the morning, including constant updates on road conditions with traffic reporter Randy Bhirdo and weather forecasts by meteorologist Lori Pinson.
"It's weather and traffic without waiting," Prange said. "We're really just trying to deliver the base information people need."
During the news segments, Brookbank will shift live at times to the Free Press newsroom via a webcam and talk to freep.com editors about the morning's developments and what readers are saying on the site.
As well, Pinson said she and Bhirdo plan to keep each update fresh and different as weather and traffic changes.
"We're just really preparing you for your work day," she said.Other first-place awards went to Rick Steinhauser, best graphics artist; Ed Suba Jr., best feature photo; and former Beacon Journal staffer David Giffels, best news writer.
Other Beacon Journal award winners were Rick Armon, second place in explanatory reporting for his work on evictions and third place in the business writer category; Mike Rasor, third place for blogging; Mark J. Price, third place for headline writing; Betty Lin-Fisher, honorable mention for business writer; and Marla Ridenour, third place for sports feature writing.
Sixty-six daily newspapers submitted 2,908 entries in the contest, which judged news and sports stories, features, editorials, columns, graphics and photos from 2008.
General Excellence awards for 2008 went to the Columbus Dispatch, the Canton Repository, the Sandusky Register, the Marietta Times and the Wapakoneta Daily News.
The Cincinnati Enquirer won the First Amendment Award for outstanding accomplishment in pursuing freedom of information with its campaign to show how society could be affected by restricted access to public information.
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The Largely Literary Theater Company will present a program of Animal Tales at the Books for Africa Library Project’s annual fundraising dinner. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, May 16, in the St. Bernard Church Social Hall.The New York Times is expected to announce a newsstand price increase for its flagship newspaper early next week as it races to shore up liquidity amid industry-wide falls in advertising revenues and circulation.
The announcement comes as the New York Times is pushing for cost cuts from the struggling Boston Globe, which the New York Times purchased in 1993 for $1.1bn.
The New York Times set the unions at the Globe a deadline, due to expire last night, to start talks about $20 million in cuts. It has threatened to closes the Globe, which is expected to lose $85 million this year, if it were to fail to implement the cost cuts.
Wholesalers expect the New York Times to increase its price from $1.50 to $2.00 for Monday to Saturday editions and from $5 to $6 on Sundays. A spokeswoman declined to comment.
