Pet in memoriam

BJ reporter Jim Carney and former BJ Features editor/pet columnist Connie Bloom, now one of Ohio’s fabric art (quilts) gurus, both suffered losses this month. Their pets went into Doggy Heaven and Cat Heaven.

Posted Connie on her Facebook page:

“This is Shakespeare. He died a few weeks ago, leaving a huge hole in our hearts. I rescued him about 9-10 years ago, but he fell in love with my husband Bob, who never peed alone again. Shakes had been declawed on his front paws, which turned him into a biter. Bob started calling him Mr. Bitey while he mopped up the blood from his ankles. Lily, our whippet, was Shakespeare’s lawyer and always claimed they were love bites. He is buried in our back yard.”

Carney posted a photo of himself and Stanley on his Facebook page with this poignant line:

“Stanley and me. His last weekend.”

ned him into a biter. Bob started calling him Mr. Bitey while he mopped up the blood from his ankles. Lily, our whippet, was Shakespeares's lawyer and always claimed they were love bites. He is buried in our backyar

Maybe Shakespeare and Stanley will make it rain cats and dogs in Northeast Ohio.

Hackers attack New York Times

A group that calls itself the Syrian Electronic Army today went after The New York Times, whose website had widespread outages as the apparent result of a malicious attack on the company's domain name registrar.

 
The group has hacked into the Twitter feeds of the Associated Press and The Washington Post, and several major news organizations, including CNN, redirecting them to a SEA page.
 
While the site was down, the New York Times continued to post articles at its numerical IP address and at news.nytco.com.
 
To read the entire article, click on http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/tech/web/new-york-times-website-attack/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

 

 

 

He or she? Regardless of equipment?

Today’s news organizations have a problem that few of us encountered in our journalism careers: He or she pronouns for transgender people.

Case in point: Pfc. Bradley Manning wants to be known as Pfc. Chelsea Manning and live as a woman.

The Associated Press, New York Times and National Public Radio will use “she.” The Washington Post will continue to use “he.” The New York Times will write “she,” but also “formerly known as Pfc. Bradley Manning.”

This applies even if a person has not changed biological characteristics, the entities said.

To read the entire article, click on http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/222260/ap-new-york-times-update-style-on-chelsea-manning/

 

 

Balogh, Gordon's wife at Hudson arts show

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From left: Dennis Balogh, John Olesky, Denny Gordon, Bonnie Gordon, Olesky

Former BJ artist Dennis Balogh and current BJ assistant news editor and one-time photographer Denny Gordon’s wife, Bonnie, had tents displaying their work at the 33rd annual Art-on-the-Green show in downtown Hudson this weekend. The art show has paintings, jewelry, pottery, woodcarving, glass, weaving, enamel, sculpture, leather, photography and garden décor.



Balogh had original prints from some of his fabulous Beacon work. Balogh did some great original art for Channels television guide covers over the years, too.

Bonnie’s wife does sculptures. Denny took time out from his bicycling and running to keep her company.



 



Fond farewell for Dave Boerner

Dave Boerner’s former co-workers, family and friends attended a memorial for the former BJ news editor today at St. Paul Episcopal Church in Akron.

 

Dave’s son, Trent, gave a eulogy worthy of Dave, recalling how his father helped Laotian refugees who came to Akron.

BJ retirees at the memorial service for Dave, who passed away July 7, included Composing’s Al Hunsicker, columnist Abe Zaidan, photographer Bill Hunter, Columbus bureau reporter Bill Hershey, chief artist Art Krummel, reporter Charlene Nevada and the newsroom’s Tom Moore, Gloria Irwin and John Olesky.

Ayres comic strip promotes Kent State grid star

              Dri Archer                          Chuck Ayres

Former Beacon Journal artist Chuck Ayers has created a comic strip, “The Archer,” to help promote Kent State kick returner/wide receiver/running back Dri Archer’s Heisman Trophy candidacy.

Chuck is a 1971 Kent State grad whose national comic strips are "Crankshaft" and "Funky Winkerbean."

Two strips have been published. Game preview comic strips, beginning with Kent’s Thursday (Aug. 29) season opener against Liberty, will be posted on Wednesdays throughout the football season.

To read the Record-Courier article, click on http://www.recordpub.com/sports/2013/08/14/comic-strip-the-archer-by-ksu-grad-chuck-ayers-features-flashes-dri-archer

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Cathy Strong wins top journalism educators award

1970s BJ State Desk reporter Cathy Strong, journalism lecturer at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand,  has been awarded first prize in the Great Ideas For Teachers competition at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication at its August conference in Washington, D.C.

Cathy Strong, Grant Hannis with award

Head of Journalism Dr. Grant Hannis and senior lecturer Dr. Cathy Strong, who teach the Master of Journalism program at Massey’s Wellington campus, were awarded first prize for their paper, “Teaching web-based reporting fast and efficiently.”

The paper described the program’s intensive four-week module on how to report for the web – incorporating text, photographs, audio and video.

The nine-person judging panel said the paper was the number-one teaching idea for 2013 “by far.” There were 54 entries, mostly from U.S. universities.

AEJMC is the United States’ professional association of journalism educators and academics. Its annual conference attracts thousands of delegates.

Dr. Strong travelled to Washington to deliver the paper.

“Papers on very interesting and leading-edge journalism education applied for this prestigious award, so it was humbling that we were selected as the top paper,” she says.

The Association has offered the award for almost 20 years.

Abe fires zippy zingers at Akron

Retired BJ writing coach and political columnist Abe Zaidan, who usually aims his acidic word-howitzers at Republicans and other conservatives, turns his attention to the University of Akron, where the administrators get richer, the students get dumber and the part-timer faculty qualifies for food stamps.

Abe Zaidan

Abe, a graduate of tiny Ramsay High School in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania 64 years ago, rails at “poor student graduation rates, huge debt, falling enrollment and a growing phalanx of six-figure management operatives (including some double-dippers) on (Akron’s) campus.”

Another zinger: Akron “has erected a $62 million football stadium with the unfortunate consequence that the scenery doesn’t score touchddowns.” The Zips won one game in 2012, matching its 2011 unsuccess in InfoCision Stadium.

Abe quotes BJ columnist Bob Dyer, who described the poor graduation rate as “pathetic. Almost criminal.”

To read Grumpy Abe’s entire zippy Zoloft-promoting zymogenic zingers, click on

http://www.plunderbund.com/2013/08/21/a-bad-month-for-the-university-of-akron/

Writer Elmore Leonard, 87, dies

Writer Elmore Leonard, 87, who contributed to such movies as "3:10 to Yuma" and "Hombre," died Tuesday in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Elmore Leonard

The New Orleans native’s short story is the basis for FX cable channel’s “Justified” series.

More than 25 of his stories have been turned into movies or TV shows.  Among movies based on his works are: "Mr. Majestyk" (1974) with Charles Bronson; "The Ambassador" (1984) with Robert Mitchum; "Get Shorty" (1995) with John Travolta; "Jackie Brown" (1997) with Pam Grier; "Out of Sight" (1998) with George Clooney; and "Killshot" (2009) with Diane Lane.

To read former BJ and current PD movie/TV critic Mark Dawidziak’s excellent article on Leonard, click on http://www.cleveland.com/tv-blog/index.ssf/2013/08/elmore_leonard_legendary_crime_novelist_and_hollywood_writer_dies_at_87.html#incart_river

28% of journalism grads wish they chose another field

28% of journalism graduates wish they had chosen another field, according to an annual survey of graduates by the University of Georgia’s Grady College. 

66% had a full-time job within eight months after graduation.

For 2012 bachelor’s degree recipients, the median salary is $32,000. For master’s degrees, it is $40,000.

To read the CBS/DC article, click on  http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/08/17/study-more-than-25-of-journalism-grads-wish-theyd-chosen-another-career/

Memorial service Saturday, Aug. 24 for Dave Boerner

A memorial service for BJ newsroom retiree David Boerner, who passed away July 3, will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1361 W. Market Street in Akron.

Dave’s obituary as it appeared shortly after his death:

David Boerner passed away July 3, 2013 after a long illness. He was born in Columbus, Ohio and graduated from The Ohio State University where he earned a degree in Journalism.  

Dave Boerner

He was managing editor of the university daily paper, the Lantern, beginning a career in newspaper journalism that spanned more than 40 years and included stints on the staffs of Hartley Newspapers, the Marysville Evening Journal Tribune, Columbus Dispatch and Miami Herald culminating at the Akron Beacon Journal from which he retired in 2001.

He was president of the Akron Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Akron Press Club, was instrumental in the founding of the Interfaith Caregivers program and helped with resettling refugees who had come to Akron from Laos.

He was a gentle man; a loving, enthusiastic cheerleader as a husband; a proud father; and a good friend. He used an editing pen with precision, he was empathetic to the needs of others and, if a prize had been offered for how many times someone watched the Ohio State National Championship football game, he would have been a contender.

David is survived by his wife, Phyllis; and sons, Trent (Lisa Dye) and Troy. He is also survived by his brother, Don (Sharon); niece, Laura Boerner Smith (Jon) and their children; and nephew, Kevin Boerner (Shellie).

We also count among survivors our daughter equivalent, Jennifer Lennox, and her family.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Mart and Garnet Boerner and by son, Eric.

If friends wish to remember David in a tangible way, the family suggests contributions to United Disability Services, 701 South Main St., Akron 44311-1019 in care of Lisa Armstrong.

To read newsroom retiree Tom Moore’s eulogy to Dave, click on http://bjretirees.blogspot.com/search?q=Tom+Moore%3A+Reflections+on+Dave+Boerner

PD: From super coverage of Ariel Castro to bootlicking advertisers

Slate.com savages the Cleveland Plain Dealer for going from mesmerizing coverage of the Ariel Castro horror story involving three captive females to kow-towing to a chain restaurant with its food reviews.

As for the reporters who covered Castro, three are among the unemployed thanks to PD management eliminating 50 more staffers in July:

Edith Starzyk, who wrote about how Castro was fired from his job as a school bus driver; Michael O’Malley, who reported on the Castro family’s Cleveland-area roots; and Felesia Jackson, who produced an interactive guide to the major players in the ongoing story.

Instead, Justin Peters writes that the PD has gone to bootlicking advertisers.

To read the entire article, click on http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2013/08/15/cleveland_plain_dealer_barbara_collier_cleveland_com_s_review_of_the_cheesecake.html

Update on John Dunphy's cancer battle

From the Facebook page of former BJ reporter John Dunphy, who is dealing with his cancer:

Dunphy update:

Post Op doings: Monday (Aug. 12) I had a Pet scan. If you remember, they shoot nuclear isotopes into your veins to see if there are any cancer cells. Report is a few days out. Today I had the first of 6 chemo infusions -- three weeks apart – to try to wipe out any radical cells that are out there trying to seduce the rest of my body.

I’ve eaten like a vertical pig all day, enjoying Cheerios, banana, tuna salad I made for myself with raddish and cucumbers (go Food Chef contestants). Nuts and humus and crackers, oh my! I still long for a salad, a hamburger. But I had a bit of the tamale for dinner.

What I want is to get back my muscle tone and flexibility so that I can pretend to hit a ball 350 yards (in my dreams).

Later, John posted this photo on his Facebook page of Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club with this message:

“8 over after 12 holes.”

s apart -- to try to wipe out any radical cancer cells that are out there trying the seduce the rest of my body. I've eaten like a vertical pig all day, enjoying Cheerios, banana, tuna salad I made my myself with radish and cucumbers (go Food Chef contestants). Nuts and humus and crackers, oh my! I still long for a salad, a hamburger, a salad. But I had bit of a tamale for dinner.
What I want is to get back my muscle tone and flexibility so I can pretend to hit a golf ball 350 yards (in my dreams).

BJ Accounting retiree Lillian Clark dies

Lillian J. Clark (nee Holm), of Akron, age 91, passed away August 13, 2013.

She was the devoted mother of Janice and William Clark, both of Akron and loving sister in-law of Rose. She was the dear aunt of many.

Lillian was born in Terre Haute, Indiana and was one of nine children born to Otto and Betty Holm.

She retired from the Akron Beacon Journal where she worked in the accounting department as a biller.

Lillian was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters, Norma, Irma, and Hazel and her brothers, Wilbur, Richard, Irvin, Carl, and Virgil.

Funeral service will be 10 a.m. Saturday, August 17th, at CATAVOLOS FUNERAL HOME, 3653 W. Market St., Fairlawn, where family will receive friends from 9 a.m. until time of service. Interment will be at Rose Hill Burial Park. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made in Lillian's name to the SPCA, P.O. Box 546, Grove City, OH 43123.

For online tributes and condolences please visit www.catavolosfuneralhome.com.

Cathy Strong riding out New Zealand earthquake

At 5:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16 Akron time, Cathy added this Facebook post:

Follow NZ quakes on geonet.org.nz, but only moderate ones overnight. Amazing that Wellington's 6.2 quake and myriad of 5.5s yesterday caused disruptions, but no one hurt and minimal structure damage. The city is built for earthquakes!

Former Beacon Journal State Desk reporter Cathy Robinson Strong (in 1970s) is dealing with a 6.5-magnitude earthquake that today struck New Zealand, where she lives. 

The epicenter was near the northern tip of the South Island, 14 miles south of the town of Blenheim. Cathy lives near and works in Wellington, which is on the southern tip of the North Island, so the quake has to cross a relatively short distance of water to shake, rattle and roll Cathy’s house on Te Horo Beach, which is about an hour north of Wellington, where Cathy is on the Massey University’s Wellington Journalism School faculty.

New Zealand consists of two large islands, the North Island and the South Island. 

Says Cathy on her Facebook page: “Ok I will keep quiet till the house falls down. I just felt three more quakes -- 5.5, 5.7, 5.5. The house is rolling constantly. I should have stayed in Wash. DC.” Cathy just returned from a visit to Washington.

Occupants had to be freed from elevators that stopped operating in Wellington.

New Zealand sits at the southwestern edge of the Pacific "ring of fire," an area of high seismic and volcanic activity that stretches up through Japan, across to Alaska and down the west coasts of North and South America.

In February 2011, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake toppled buildings in the South Island city of Christchurch, killing 185 people and injuring several thousand. 

Two years later, BJ newsroom retiree John Olesky, 1970s State Desk reporter Paula Stone Tucker and retired BJ photographer Don Roese saw damage still visible during their March 2013 visits to New Zealand and Cathy. 

St. Mary’s Cathedral in Christchurch remains uninhabitable. Businesses are operating out of cargo containers.

To read CNN’s report on the New Zealand earthquake, click on http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/15/world/asia/new-zealand-quake

San Francisco Chronicle gives up on paywall

The San Francisco Chronicle dropped its paywall site, SFChronicle.com, which began in March. That means the newspaper’s contents will be free online.

Chronicle Publisher Jeffrey Johnson and President Joanne Bradford issued a joint statement that “The SFChronicle.com site will continue to provide readers with an online version that replicates a newspaper experience and reflects the changes in the news throughout the day.”

“If the Chron can induce large numbers of subscribers to shell out legal tender for content readily available for free, then it will have solved the media conundrum of our age,” SF Weekly’s Joe Eskenazi writes.

Indeed, that is the problem facing newspapers: How can you get online readers to pay for information they can get free elsewhere on the Internet? 

As for print journalism, the news often is hours and hours old before it reaches a subscriber’s home in this day of 24/7 news channels and Internet websites that cater to slivers of interest groups.

So newspapers cut staff and their stock prices slide on Wall Street.

To read the entire article, click on http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/221127/san-francisco-chronicle-drops-its-paywall/#.Ug4aqHUw_n8.email

Catching up with . . . Charles Montague

John,

You asked if my heart attack recovery was complete. I have done really well and feel great.  But HA recovery is pretty much a lifetime thing. Each new day you're happy to be here and it brings things to do -- especially take your drugs, get some exercise and eat heart-healthy, or at least mostly.  

It has worked out well. Hey, I can still drink some wine and even a couple ounces of spirits now and then.  

Still reffing youth soccer, but just kids 9-12 on smaller fields, where I can walk. Not so good at running anymore, but that's due to my artificial hips and arthritis in my real joints rather than heart. I volunteer 2 afternoons a week helping my friends on the staff of the City Hospital Cardiac Rehab Lab, who conduct classes and get folks started on an exercise program after their "cardiac event," an Official Medical Term that covers a lot besides HA.  

You asked about traveling. Just got back from the trip I had planned for 2012 when the HA intervened -- 43 days on the road driving to and from....Alaska. My 4th trip to The Great Land.

Charles Montague

Had not driven in US west of Billings, Mont., and the rest of I-90 to Seattle is just gorgeous. Drove 75 miles north to Bellingham, Wash., and car and I got on Alaska Marine Highway car ferry for the 3-day, 1,080-mile trip up the Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska past Juneau to Skagway.

Drove north into Whitehorse, Yukon, and headed west. Had always wanted to see western Yukon and eastern Alaska that I had been flying over on way to Anchorage.

Spent a week on Denali Highway in Denali State Park, which Alaskans like better than Denali National Park to the west. Now I see why.

Was ferried in a van the 488 miles north from Fairbanks to Deadhorse Camp and Prudhoe Bay oilfields and back south to see the sights, and saw plenty, including rare blond bear cubs -- that color because mom, who was with them, is brown bear, but dad is polar bear.

Spent a couple days at Talkeetna Roadhouse and Restaurant. Town, people and restaurant were the inspiration for the TV dramedy “Northern Exposure.” Also now see why on that.

Flew in a 52-year-old deHavilland Otter airplane around the high parts of The Mountain and landed and got out  and walked around the Root Glacier at 5,600 feet. (People in Canton say Mount McKinley; people in Alaska say Denali or The Mountain. I'm with the Alaskans. I think most people think the mountain was named for him because he was assassinated. Wrong-o. Powerful Republicans back then, of the ilk of today's, got mountain named for him simply because he got Republican nomination for president -- not even for winning the job.  Shameful.)

Spent a week each on the islands of Sitka in the Southeast, home to the amazing Alaska Raptor Center and Fortress of the Bears, which treat injured eagles and other birds of prey and injured bears, respectively, and Kodiak, where I fished and drove 26 miles, with guide, on a hugely rocky trail in an ATV to the incredibly beautiful Saltery Cove, after The Mountain my new favorite place in Alaska.

Rafted the Kenai River. For last week, sister of my younger daughter-in-law flew out. Showed her Seward and best day boat tour in Alaska, with breeching whales and calving oceanside glaciers.

Stopped at summer training camp of sled dogs of the Seavey family of Iditarod fame. Mitch won for 2nd time this year.  His son, 26, who won 2 years ago, was 3rd. But my hero is Mitch's dad, who this year at the age of 74 ran his 21st Iditarod. The race is 1,049 miles behind a team of 16 sled dogs in temperatures of minus 20 to minus 40. Amazing.  

We went down to Homer and flew 159 miles each way on small plane to Hallo Bay on Katmai Coast to walk, with guides, for three hours among wild bears; had total of 15 of them within 100 yards of us at one point.  Guides know what they are doing; the service I used has never had to hurt a bear, and never had customer injured.

When we pulled out of motel parking lot next morning, it was only 5,411 miles to home. All told, 10,400 miles on the car.

Had no qualms about starting trip in an 11-year- old Accord with 173,400 miles on it.  No car problems; hey, it's an Ohio-built Honda.

Came home gloriously exhausted and hugely broke. Latter is reason I've gone on a bit.  My story is a plug for consulting. I do help people make the most of what  likely be their only trip to Alaska.  For a small fee, I recommend an itinerary based on time they have, money they have and their interests and how adventurous they are. I will save them, for example, much more than cost of my fee with my tips on safe, clean and comfortable housing in Anchorage and Fairbanks, where, because of summer demand, a "cheap" motel is $200 a night.  Would be happy to work with anybody planning on Alaska by plane, ship or car.  Just call or email.  

Chuck Montague

Chasm’s email is refall50@hotmail.com

Washington Post sold to Amazon founder

The Washington Post has been sold to Amazon.com founder and chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos, ending the Graham family’s stewardship of one of America’s leading news organizations after four generations. 

Jeff Bezos

Bezos will pay $250 million for the Post and affiliated publications to Washington Post Co., which owns the newspaper and other businesses.

Bezos, and not Seattle-based Amazon.com, will be the sole owner. He will take the company private, avoiding dealing with shareholders. 

Princeton graduate Bezos, 49, was born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He took the Bezos name when his mother remarried.

Post Co. chairman/chief executive Donald E. Graham and Post publisher Katharine Weymouth, his niece, broke the news to hushed and tearful employees Monday.

Rod Serling's daughter at Willoughby festival

In 1960, “Twilight Zone’s” first season, an episode aired titled "A Stop at Willoughby."

It’s natural that "Twilight Zone" creator Rod Serling used the Ohio city as the setting. The late Binghamton, New York native attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio before starting his illustrious career at Cincinnati radio and TV stations.

Serling’s daughter, Anne Serling, author of “As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling,” will be in Willoughby as grand marshal for the 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17 parade in the Last Stop Willoughby Festival. 

She also will give a talk after the first showing of the “Twilight Zone” “Willoughby” episode in Willoughby City Hall. The episode will air continuously from noon to 6 p.m. 

 "A Stop at Willoughby" stars James Daly as a weary businessman whose train keeps stopping in a pleasant little town called Willoughby.

To read former BJ television critic Mark Dawidziak’s Plain Dealer article in the event, click on http://www.cleveland.com/tv-blog/index.ssf/2013/08/anne_serling_to_be_grand_marshal_of_last_stop_willoughby_parade.html#incart_river

Delano Massey with Lexington Herald-Leader for third time

Well, we're 2 years and 3 months late with this update, but former BJ staffer Delano Massey not only is back with the Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader, but is the metro editor.

Delano Massey

BJ Alums blog reported May 13, 2011 that Delano was laid off by the Herald-Leader. Which he was. But . . . 

Let Delano explain:

"I returned to the Herald-Leader a couple of weeks after the layoffs, and have since become metro editor."

University of Akron grad Delano began at the Herald-Leader in the early 2000s and worked his way up from cop reporter to regional editor. He switched to the Beacon Journal, but  was laid off within a year or so. The Herald-Leader was thrilled to get him back. Then he was let go again. 

And, happy to say, rehired a couple of weeks later. That's a lot of turmoil in 11 years for Delano's newspaper career. 

The Plain Dealer exodus isn't the only roily employment for newspapers.

Newsweek takeover has ties to Asia preacher Jang

What’s left of Newsweek’s assets have been sold to IBT Media, publishers of the International Business Times with ties to Southeast Asia preacher David Jang, whose followers consider him the second coming of Christ. 

Newsweek stopped publishing in print a year ago and media mogul Barry Diller combined Newsweek and The Daily Beast into a joint Internet venture.

Terms of the IBT deal were not disclosed.

IBT, a digital-only media company established in 2006 by Etienne Uzac and Johnathan Davis, reaches more than 7 million readers in the U.S. and 13 million globally through news sites in 10 countries and 7 languages.

The Newsweek.com website, which folded as part of the merger with The Daily Beast, will go live again under IBT.

Newsweek earned $30 million in 2007 and lost the same amount by 2009.

To read the entire article, click on http://www.buzzfeed.com/peterlauria/barry-dillers-newsweek-experiment-is-over

Guild discourages members from leaving PD for Cleveland.com

A number of our members have received offers for jobs to go to work for cleveland.com. Our hope is that you will remain employees in the Guild bargaining unit at The Plain Dealer.

My advice to you is to think long and hard about what leaving will mean for you.

You will give up a number of important protections if you leave the PD Guild bargaining unit.

• No job security. Except for five more people to be laid off 1/1/15, if you are still a PD employee today you have, by name, a job until 2019, as long as the PD publishes at least one edition a week.

• You will no longer have a democratic workplace.

• No guarantee of an eight-hour day.

• No guarantee of 5-day/40-hour week.

• No guarantee of daily overtime, or a minimum amount of overtime for work on your day off.

• No more just cause for discipline, or a grievance/arbitration procedure with a collective bargaining representative.

• Sick pay (at two weeks per year of service) up to a max of 52 weeks.

• Vacation (up to four weeks) and a vacation bonus.

And many other protections afforded under the Guild's contract with The Plain Dealer.

Also, remember who you're dealing with here. These job offers were supposed to come BEFORE the layoffs. So ask them if they'll put what they are offering you in writing.

Remember that if you do not have the protection of a contract, Ohio is an employment at will state. That means you can quit anytime you want, and they can fire you anytime they want.

The decision is up to each of you. But make sure you consider well what you will be giving up.

Rollie Dreussi
Executive Secretary
Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild-CWA, Local 1
216-661-6144 or 1-800-621-6202

NY Times sells Globe at $1 BILLION loss

The New York Times, which bought the Boston Globe in 1993 for $1.1 billion, sold the 141-year-old newspaper to Boston Red Sox owner John Henry for $70 million. That’s a 93% loss. NYT retains the Globe’s $110 million in pension liabilities.

The deal is expected to close in September or October.

In 2011, NYT turned down a $300 million offer from Aaron Kushner, CEO of Freedom Communications, publisher of the Orange County Register and other California newspapers, that included assumption of pension liabilities.

In September 2002, the Globe circulation was 413,000. Today it is nearly half that at 230,351.

To read the entire article, click on http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2013/08/03/New-york-times-sell-boston-globe-at-93-percent-loss