Here's BJ's new freebie 77 South

The new BJ tabloid first edition

Here’'s the first issue (April 28, 2995) of the BJ freebie weekly tabloid 77 South, serving Lakemore, New Franklin, Springfield, Coventry, Green and Manchester. The BJ announced the publication when the Leader which has long served the area said it would cease publication. Later the publisher decided to continue, so there is now a little competition there.

77 South got off to a rousing start with a front cover column by Steve Love and a story by BJ staffer Stephanie Warsmith on the Green Schools levy on the May ballot. There also was a color ad spread across the bottom for Beiler’'s Dutch Penn Market in Uniontown. Inside was a welcome letter by managing editor Mike Burdich and an impressive staff box listing Charlene Nevada, news; Bill Lilley, sports; and Kimberly Barth, photography. Ralph Paulk and David Lee Morgan each had a byline and George Davis, BJ retiree, had three. There was a double-truck color ad from Bedrooms Today and two full-page ads by Fred Martin Chevrolet plus three pages of classified.and 16 or so other ads and a couple of promotion ads in the 24 pages. There were 15 news stories

The South Side News Leader, sitting on the same store shelf, had six news stories and four photos on its front page and 24 items inside its 20 pages. There were more than 50 small ads and three pages of classified , but no full-page or double-trucks. There was one ad seeking freelance reporters for the Leader.

As profit rises, Pulitzer wins decrease

There is an interesting Q&A with Davis “Buzz” Merritt in the CJR Daily, web counterpart of the Columbia Journalism Review. Merritt contrasts winning of Pulitzer prizes vs. profit margins which indicates when profit goes up, the number of Pulitzers won decreases. Merritt retired in 1999 after 43 years working for Knight Ridder, including 23 years as editor of the Wichita Eagle. Over those years, he watched as the news business generally, and Knight Ridder specifically, became increasingly driven by the bottom line. Earlier this month, his book about this change, Knightfall: Knight Ridder and How the Erosion of Newspaper Journalism is Putting Democracy at Risk was published by AMACOM.

The Q&A below was by CJR Daily staff writer Susan Q. Stranahan who worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer, a Knight Ridder paper, from 1972 until 2001.

SQS: In the book, you compare the number of Pulitzer Prizes won by Knight Ridder papers with profit margins recorded. As profits went up, prizes went down.

BM: First of all, we know that politics sometimes influences who wins a Pulitzer. That said, here are the numbers: In the decade of the 80s, what I call the Big Five -- the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and AP won 26 percent of the 136 Pulitzers awarded. Knight Ridder newspapers won 23 percent, and all other newspapers won 51 percent. Between 2000 and 2004 [with 70 Pulitzers], the Big Five won 60 percent, Knight Ridder 6 percent and all others 34 percent. During the 80s, the operating return at Knight Ridder averaged 11 percent. Between 2000 and 2004, the operating return averaged 19 percent.

As soon as Knight Ridder began to reach into 18-20 percent [profit margins], they virtually stopped winning. This is ominous, and not just for Knight Ridder. The Big Five are relatively protected from market forces, except for AP, which is a different category. The numbers aren't just the decline in Knight Ridder's performance. The scary thing is that all other newspapers also are being hurt [by profit pressures]. It doesn't prove anything, but it is interesting to look at.

To read the complete interview, click on the headline above.

Medical coverage

I've gotten an email that some folks are having trouble with their KR medical coverage. Has anyone gotten different, worse coverage in 2005 compared to previous years? I know that some of us who retired after 1996 are more susceptible to coverage changes than others. But if something serious is going on, we'll need to get to the Guild folks in Cleveland to see what can be done about it. I have only had prescription refills and there are no changes in that ($2 co-pay) once the January flurry of errors was straightened out. But I haven't had anything, fortunately, involving doctors except what Medicare covered.

Debbie Van Tassel named Assistant ME

Debbie Van Tassel has been appointed assistant managing editor/administration for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland. She has been business editor since 1999.

Before going to the The Plain Dealer, Van Tassel was business editor, special-projects editor and Sunday magazine editor at the Akron Beacon Journal. She also was business editor at the Seattle Times. Three projects she worked on won Pulitzer prizes.

A New Jersey native, she graduated from Seton Hall University and began her journalism career at the now-defunct Woodbridge, N.J., News Tribune. She and her husband, Stuart Warner, a Plain Dealer editor, live in Hudson.

Paul O'Donnell has been named the new business editor, Managing Editor Tom O'Hara announced..

O'Donnell previously was deputy metro editor. He is a 24-year veteran of the news business and has worked at The Plain Dealer since 1990. He begins his new job Monday.

"Debbie and Paul did great work in their previous jobs, and they'll continue to excel in their new assignments," O'Hara said. "Both of them are pros."

O'Donnell takes over a talented staff who thrived under Van Tassel and her assistant editors, O'Hara said.

Debbie replaces Ted Diadiun, the paper's new reader representative.

BJ to launch weekly 77/South

On Thursday, April 28, the first issue of 77 South, the Akron Beacon Journal’s foray into weekly publications, will reach more than 26,000 households in Green, Coventry, Lakemore, Manchester, New Franklinand Springfield. The name, 77 South, refers to the interstate highway that passes through the weekly publication’s circulation area and plays off the fact that Summit County is No. 77 of Ohio’s 88 counties. 77 South will compete head to head with the Suburbanite, which is owned by La Jolla, Calif.-based Copley Press Inc., the parent company of the Canton Repository. Suburbanite officials announced April 4 that the weekly newspaper would cease publishing with its April 25 issue. By April 9, Copley officials had reversed that decision, announcing that the
Suburbanite would continue publishing on a paid-subscription basis or under new ownership. Within two days of the April 4 announcement that the Suburbanite would close, key managers at the Akron Beacon Journal decided to launch 77 South, a weekly publication that would serve the same area as the Suburbanite. The Beacon Journal will move forward with that decision, said Publisher Jim Crutchfield, despite the April 9 announcement of the Copley Press.In a related development, Leader Publications, parent company of the Green Leader, announced plans to expand its coverage into southern Summit County May 6. “77 South will strengthen our competitive advantage in that segment of the community,ö said Editor Debra Adams Simmons. The Beacon Journal newsroom will coordinate news for 77 South with help from correspondents. Beacon Journal advertising representatives will handle advertising sales.”7 South will bring accuracy, fairness and credibility to coverage,” said John Kovatch, vice president/finance and administration, “qualities that some readers say are missing in other weeklies.” Staff members in advertising and marketing have been preparing sales materials and advertising contracts and calling on potential advertisers. Staff members in other areas are pounding out the plans for news and information on a cross divisional task force headed by Kovatch and Andrea Mathewson, production director. ”We expect the newspaper to have the voice of the southern Summit County communities,” said Crutchfield. 77 South will be distributed free to homes, schools, libraries and other community locations.
[Reprinted from Hot Type]

Three win Dotson scholarships

Three students won John and Peggy Dotson Scholarships for school year 2005-2006. They are: Anna Springer, daughter of Bob Springer, newsroom editorial; Monica Taylor, daughter of Jeffrey Taylor, production; and Rebecca Vicars, daughter of John Vicars, information technology. Anna Springer is a senior at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent, where she has pursued a college preparatory advanced placement education. Monica Taylor is a senior at Central-Hower High School, where she has studied a wide range of college preparatory classes, including honors, advanced placement and post-secondary courses.Rebecca Vicars is a senior at Wadsworth High School, where she has pursued a college preparatory and gifted student program, including advanced placement courses in history, local government and economics. Rebecca is considering a career in social work. She will attend the University of Akron in the fall.
[Reprinted from Hot Type]

Bloom's art quilts on display till May 1

Connie Bloom, BJ newsroom features, is the guest artist in a one-person show at Weathervane Community Playhouse, 1301 Weathervane Lane in Akron. Twenty of Bloom's art quilts will be on display now through May 1 in the Banc One Gallery. The theater is open during regular business hours Monday through Friday and during performances of The Allergist's Wife, which opened Wednesday, April 13.
[Reprinted from Hot Type]

The post-journalism age

The age of big media may be over for good
(A George Will Column in the BJ Tuesday, April 26, 2005)
The circulation of daily U. S. newspapers is 55.2 million, down from 62.3 million in 1990. The percentages of adults who say they read a paper “yesterday” are ominous: 65 and older, 60 per cent; 50-64, 52 per cent; 30-49, 29 per cent; 18-29, 23 per cent; Americans 8 to 18 spend an average of six hours and 21 minutes a day with all media of all sorts, but just 43 minutes with print, The combine viewership of the network evening newscasts is 28.8 million, down from 52.1 million in 1980. Hence the sponsorship of Metamucil and Fixodent. Perhaps we are entering what David T. Z. Mindich, formerly of CNN, calls a post-journalism age.”

Newsroom ranks keep dwindling
(News Round-up in the Guild Reporter, April 15,2005)
As go newspaper circulation numbers, so go the numbers in the newsroom, according go the latest census of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the number of full-time journalists declined 4 per cent over the past four years, to 54,134 from 56,383 in 2001.

How profit became king. Books on KR

New books on Knight Ridder

Two new books by Knight Ridder veterans examine how the company -- and the industry -- demoted journalism from first to second among their priorities.

The here-and-now hot topic in newspapers these days is, as Richard Reeves has put it, "the future of journalism -- if any."

Read an excerpt from "Knightfall" by Davis Merritt:
After the book (about public journalism) was published and I returned to the Eagle in 1995, my world was totally changed. Jim Batten, who had been the rock behind KR's support for public journalism as well as a great friend, was dying.

Read an excerpt from "The Vanishing Newspaper" by Phil Meyer:
In (Knight Rider CEO's Alvah) Chapman's view, Wall Street's preoccupation with quarterly earnings growth was not all bad. "There's some discipline there that a well-managed business needs to be aware of at least to protect itself....
Worthy questions all. But the companion story of how newspapers may have weakened themselves by weakening their commitment to news and public service remains highly relevant. It was not so very long ago -- the 1970s and 1980s -- that a high-minded commitment to quality and business success seemed entirely compatible. The Knight-Ridder chain was exemplary back then, a coast-to-coast enterprise that grew and prospered and consistently produced first-rate journalism.

What has gone wrong since is chronicled in Phil Meyer's "The Vanishing Newspaper" and Buzz Merritt's "Knightfall." The excerpts here go straight to the time the troubles began, the recession of 1990-91 and the prosperous, but oddly pressured, balance of that decade.

The perspectives are quite different. Meyer, who left the business for scholarly pursuits 20-plus years ago, stylishly weaves personal memoir and a perspective on industry history into a series of empirical studies of news quality and business results. Merritt, who has a hand in academia too as a practitioner and theorist of public journalism, is first of all an impassioned in-the-trenches editor. While seeking to avoid nostalgia or score-settling, he can't conceal being frankly teed off at what happened to the company and the newspaper (The Wichita Eagle) where he spent his career.

There is overlap in the accounts. Meyer quotes Merritt on the jolt to Knight Ridder editorial culture when the beloved Jim Batten died and was succeeded by the comparatively frosty Tony Ridder. They don't paint Ridder as a callous villain but argue that he has been unable to articulate an engaged commitment to journalism in the language of the editorial side.

Merritt's account of his final wrenching round of budget cuts at Wichita ends with a decision to discontinue service to 10,000 subscribers in outlying rural areas. That made business sense since advertisers didn't particularly value this readership, but it was a giveaway of the statewide influence The Eagle had built through the years. That matches a favorite Meyer theory -- that the true product of newspapers is influence, and they fritter it away at their peril.

* * *
It should be noted that both books cover a broader turf than these excerpts might suggest.

Meyer's, in particular, is a rich collection of studies that suggest how quality and commitment of resources have eroded over the years, leaving newspapers with plenty of profit but a straight downward trend in circulation and trust.

His studies show a clear correlation between measures of quality and capacity and business success. The trouble is that the relationship appears to be a reinforcing loop in which causation is hard to nail down. It may be, in many cases, as executives and publishers will say privately, that successful papers, especially in growing markets, can simply "afford" a somewhat higher level of journalism.

Further, the evidence suggests that small differences in journalistic quality and news-editorial investment don't make a quick or meaningful difference to the bottom line. It is big departures from the norm, especially in competitive situations -- like those Knight-Ridder approved for The Fort Worth Star Telegram when it was directly challenged by The Dallas Morning News -- that pay off in territorial control and increased revenue.

So the temptation for newspapers companies is to pinch and whittle on news staff and news space. Understandable, maybe, but Meyer doesn't give the executive fraternity a free ride for a collective strategy that is destructive of the core of the newspaper -- its daily report and the influence a good one exerts in a community and confers on advertisers.

The chapter, "How Newspapers Were Captured by Wall Street," points to the element of voluntary surrender as companies chose to go public, either as a device to preserve family control with two classes of stock or to raise a pool of cash for acquisitions. Crusty patriarch Jack Knight told analysts at his first meeting with them in 1981 that "we did not intend to be regulated or directed by them in any respect." But as analysts often point out, you voluntarily join the Wall Street game, you're exposed to the rules of the game, and you're competing for capital with all the other players.

Perhaps the business had been too easy for too long. As Meyer's capsule account of Alvah Chapman's tenure as Knight-Ridder CEO suggests, smooth sailing continued on well into the public ownership era. But when times got tougher newspaper companies went right on "harvesting" available profits; to this day only a minority have been gutsy enough to reinvest in the core franchise or nimble enough to create substantive new media spin-offs.

Merritt tells a version of the same story with a bit less shading and a minimum of theory. He holds up Knight-Ridder as the industry in microcosm, ending up in an unhappy present and future, where places like Wichita get little by way of public service and newspapers are in partial default on their traditional role in informing the democratic process. (Ridder conceded as much at an industry conference a year ago. Asked how he would grade his company's newspapers on public service, he replied, "Some of our larger papers have the resources to do a lot more, but I would say it wouldn't be any higher than a C").

The big point is valid, timely and troubling -- who will do the tough stories and complicated reporting if newspapers don't? Still, many of Merritt's readers, including the legions of Knight-Ridder alumni, will find the spicy particulars of the company history especially engaging. Merritt's research uncovered the disorderly collection of "duchies" that was the Ridder empire pre-merger and the reasons the Knight brothers failed to build a controlling class of family shares into their public offering.

The books end in a very similar place -- the authors expressing a confidence that there will somehow be a continuing market for journalism in electronic formats supported by business models to be determined. The languid pace of book publishing leaves both authors trailing events. The story has ripened in the year since these manuscripts headed into the editing pipeline, and the threat to a traditional newspaper business model and hold on readership is all the more apparent with a host of identifiable non-newspaper protagonists. To my mind, though, that only makes the question Meyer and Merritt pose all the more urgent: doesn't the industry have a more compelling story to tell and invest in than continued profit-taking?

Connie Schultz wins Pulitzer prize

Connie Schulz

When the Beacon Journal reported on April 5 that Connie Schultz won the Pulitzer prize there was no mention of the fact that her prize-winning work was edited by Stuart Warner, a former BJ managing editor who now coaches writers at the PD.

Here is Connie's Pulitzer biography:

Connie Schultz, 47, is a columnist at The Plain Dealer. She was a freelance writer for 15 years before joining The Plain Dealer in 1993. Schultz grew up in the working-class town of Ashtabula, Ohio, near Cleveland. She was the first in her family to go to college, and graduated with a journalism degree from Kent State University in 1979.

She was a 2003 Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing for her series, "The Burden of Innocence," which chronicled the ordeal of Michael Green, who was imprisoned for 13 years for a rape he did not commit. The week after her series ran, the real rapist turned himself in after reading her stories. He is currently service a five-year prison sentence.

Schultz's series won numerous honors, including the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice Reporting, the National Headliner Award's Best of Show and journalism awards from both Harvard and Columbia universities.

She previously won a National Headliner Award (third place) for commentary and was an American Society of Newspaper Editors finalist for commentary, which resulted in the publication of one of her essays, about a girl's coming to terms with her homosexuality, in the book "2002 Best Newspaper Writing."

Last year, Schultz won the Batten Medal, which honors "a body of journalistic work that reflects compassion, courage, humanity and a deep concern for the underdog."

Schultz is married to Sherrod Brown and is the mother of two children and two stepdaughters.

BJ to limit sick days

Beginning Jan. 1, 2006, Knight Ridder will be implementing a new policy stating that staff members may use only the vacation and sick days they have accrued. The current policy at the Akron Beacon Journal allows staff members to ôborrow ô up to two weeks of vacation with the approval of management. KR is making the change to accommodate a new payroll time-keeping process that will be administered by Fidelity, KRAs payroll vendor, at all Knight Ridder newspapers. To the extent a collective bargaining agreement is contrary to the new practice, the policy will have no
application to the employees covered by that contract. To prepare for the conversion, Beacon Journal staff members must show positive balances in their vacation and sick-time ôbankö by Dec. 31, 2005. Employees who need assistance calculating their vacation and sicktime balances should contact Aaron Burr, human resources.
[Info from Hot Type]

Edna G. Morgan dies at 86

Edna G. Morgan

Edna G. Morgan (Unkie), 86, passed away in her sleep at the Arbors of Fairlawn.

Born in Pennsylvania, Edna lived most of her life in the Akron area. Edna served as a WAC during World War II. She retired from the Akron Beacon Journal in 1984, after many years of dedicated service. She was known as "Miss Carr" in the Automobile Classified Department.

Edna was preceded in death by her parents, Frank L. and Esther M. Morgan; her sisters and brothers, Lois Mallison, Jean, Frank Jr., and Jim Morgan. She is survived by niece, Deborah (Daniel) Ellebuch; nephews, Jeffery (Karen) Mallison, Timothy Mallison, Floyd Mallison, and Jay (Kelly) Mallison. She also leaves several great-and great-great-nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held Monday, April 25, 2005 at Adams-Mason Funeral Home, 791 E. Market St., Akron, at 11 A.M. The family will receive friends on Sunday, April 24th from 4 to 6 p.m. at the funeral home. Interment will be at Rose Hill Burial Park. Donations may be made in her name to the charity of your choice. (ADAMS- MASON, 330-535-9186.)

[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH, Wednesday, April 20, 2005, page B7, col. 1]

Charlotte Earll dies

Charlotte Earll

Charlotte M. Earll

Charlotte Maxine Earll, 77, died April 11, 2005, in the loving hands of Hospice Care.

Born July 24, 1927, she lived her first 28 years in Washington, Iowa; 10 of those years were spent employed as a linotype operator at the Washington Evening Journal. In 1955, Charlotte relocated to Akron, where she spent 34 1/2 years working at the Beacon Journal. Before retiring in 1990, she was a linotype operator, proofreader, and compositor.

An active member of High Street Christian Church for 49 years, she became a faithful participant of the sanctuary choir, the church board, Francis Allen Circle, and Harry E. Smith Sunday School class. She also was an H.A. Valentine Library volunteer for 14 years.

Charlotte was a lifetime member of the Akron YWCA and enjoyed her 6:30 a.m. swim class, where she made many dear friends. She also sang with the Mogadore Village Belles Sweet Adelines for 10 years.

She was preceded in death by an infant brother, Robert, and parents, Gladys and Virgil Earll. Survivors include two brothers, Duane (Jean Ann) of Gold Canyon, Ariz., and Donald (Beverly) of Hiawatha, Iowa; half-sister, Janet Jennings (Ray) of Jamestown, Colo.; long-time dear friend and housemate, Joan Kennedy; plus six nieces and nephews.

Cremation has taken place. A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, April 16, 2005, at the High Street Christian Church, with special atten tion to personal remembrances by Rev. Dorothy France and Mrs. Jamie Gump; Dr. Tom Madden will be officiating. Calling will be one hour prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, dona tions may be made to VNS Hospice and Palliative Care Services or High Street Chris tian Church Sanctuary Choir.
[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH Thursday, April 14, 2005, page B7, col.5]

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Only dozen attend Retirees Lunch

There were only a dozen BJ retirees at the monthly luncheon on Wednesday, April 13, 2005. Among the stalwarts were Sandy Levenson, Tom Moore and Tim Hayes.

John paying homage at a temple

Here is John at the foot of steps to main temple in Tulum

John's escape from nasty Ohio weather

John at the edge of a cliff...

John on formal night on the ship

Here are John's pictures of his recent cruise to Cozumel and the western Caribbean.

Caribbean cruise

I went on a Western Caribbean cruise March 27-April 3.

The Star Princess took me to Princess Cays, the cruise line’s private island in the Bahamas, for beaching, swimming and snorkeling.

At Montego Bay, Jamaica, I took a 2-hour air-conditioned bus ride to Dunns River Falls, where I climbed over rocks through the center of cascading water. The Falls is more than 900 feet above sea level, and a human-chain ascent reduced the chances of bashing my head against the rocks.

At Grand Cayman, which hasn’t recovered fully from the hurricane that staggered it last September, I walked on a sandbar in ocean water to touch and inter-act with stingrays. Because I was directed to the wrong boat, I had to carry my belongings atop my head in chest-deep water to traverse the 120 feet from the wrong boat, and across the sandbar, to the right boat. The hurricane shoved treetop-high water onto Grand Cayman, unceremoniously plunking yachts in the midst of forests.

At Cozumel, Mexico, I tendered ashore to the mainland of the Yucatan peninsula to visit the Mayan ruins at Tulum, and learn how the Mayans came up with the binary code used in today’s computers, by creating the numeral zero. And how the Mayan calendar, eighteen 20-day months followed by a five-day festival, is off by two seconds per year. Our calendar, of course, is off by nearly six hours per year, which is why we had to invent leap year.

I met folks from England and Nigeria and a woman whose next stop will be to visit her friend Father McCann at Immaculate Heart Church in Cuyahoga Falls, a teen girl from Green, and an immigration security officer who is a Copley High graduate. And endured hundreds of teens from Ohio and Michigan who were on spring break from school.

And I ate and ate and ate on the Star Princess. Which probably explains why I went from using Hole No. 3 on my belt to Hole No. 2 and, at the end, somewhere between Hole No. 1 and Hole No. 2. Give me another four days and I would have had to buy a larger belt.

-- John Olesky, 1968-96 Beacon Journal newsroom, the final 16 as TV Editor

Start of Akron Newspaper Guild

In the From The Morgue section on page 8 of the Guild Reporter of March 11, 2005:

Seventy years ago this month:

John S. Knight signals that he's willing to sign a first contract with the Guild unit at the Akron Beacon Journal

BJ retiree Ted Milligan dies

MILLIGAN THEODORE G. MILLIGAN "TED", age 74. Beloved husband of 52 years to Carole (nee Larner); loving father of Mark (Kathy), Kathleen Mihocik (Norm), Kelley Milligan and Stacey Walton (Tom); devoted grandfather of Nicholas, Bethany, Kieran, Jennifer, Elizabeth, Matthew, Timothy and Kaitlyn; great grandfather of Rachel and Lucas. Korean War, U.S. Army Veteran. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Cleveland Metropark System. Services at the funeral home, Wednesday, March 23 at 5 p.m. Friends received at RIPEPI FUNERAL HOME, 5762 PEARL RD. (AT SNOW), WEDNESDAY 2-5 P.M. 440-888-0800 www.cleveland.com/obits
[Published in The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH, Wednesday, March 23, 2005]

Ted worked in the national advertising department of the Beacon Jourmal as an account executive mainly with major food accounts until his retirement sometime in the 1990s. He died Monday. He lived in Brook Park.

A happy Mountaineer

I was in Cleveland State's arena for alma mater West Virginia's NCAA victories over Creighton (of Omaha) and Wake Forest (of North Carolina). WF was a double overtime, and I almost wore out my nearly new walking shoes by pacing a 3 x 6 concrete area during the final 15 minutes of the game. I think I paced for about 7 miles. My heartbeat has come down to almost normal, finally. I think my companion was looking for some defib paddles in case the Wake Forest game went into a third overtime.

I'm proud of my alma mater despite the Elite Eight loss to Louisville in Albuquerque.

Winges moving from newsroom to IT

Bruce Winges

Bruce Winges, night managing editor, will leave the newsroom in April to help run the day-to-day operations in the information technology department. A 23-year newsroom veteran, Winges has held a number of key roles since joining the newspaper in 1982. In addition to night managing editor, he has been assistant managing editor, executive news editor, metro editor and assistant news editor.

“Bruce commands respect in the newsroom and throughout the building,” said Editor Debra Adams Simmons. “His commitment to journalistic excellence night in and night out will be missed. But we’re happy he’ll be down the hall.” Winges’ responsibilities as night managing editor will be divided between Mark Turner, Susan Kirkman and Mike Burbach.

Jim Kavanagh returns to copy editing
Jim Kavanagh is returning to the role of copy editor, having served five and a half years as copy desk chief.As he puts it, he wants to return to his “first love, to the pure practice of journalism, free of the burdens and distractions of supervising a department.”

[Source: Hot Type]

Knight Ridder readership survey

Trust: Down from previous survey.

Timely: Down from previous survey.

Useful: Down from previous survey.

Handling of area interests: Down from previous survey.

Holds community & state leaders accountable: Down from previous survey.

Easy to use: Up from previous survey.

Daily circulation: Down 1,990 from previous year.

Sunday circulation: Down 4,412 from previous year.

Advertising: Up 4.3 percent from previous year.

Trust, timeliness, usefulness, area coverage and investigative skills and daily and Sunday circulation are down. Think there's a connection?

Knight Ridder agrees to sell Miami land

SAN JOSE, March 7, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Knight Ridder (NYSE: KRI), parent company of The Miami Herald Publishing Co., confirmed today a contract for the sale of approximately 10 acres surrounding The Herald's bayfront building to Terra Group, headed by Pedro Martin, for a purchase price of $190 million.

"Closing on the agreement is contingent upon the completion of a successful due diligence process," said Larry Marbert, Knight Ridder VP/production and facilities. "It could take a few weeks and it could take some months."

Closing on the 10 acres will "probably be in a few months," said Pedro Martin.

The land, which is now occupied by a low-rise garage, surface parking lots and one, relatively small, two-story building on Biscayne, Ave., was put up for sale in November. Edie Laquer, the broker for Knight Ridder, assisted in securing several offers before Terra emerged as the winner.

Plans for the parcel are preliminary, but could include residential, office, hotel and retail components, said David Martin, Terra's chief operating officer. Terra plans to audition architects from around the world to develop a master plan.

Under the deal's terms, Terra must provide some 740 parking spaces for Herald employees and not interfere with the newspaper's delivery trucks.

In making the announcement Friday, both Knight Ridder and The Herald scotched earlier rumors that the Herald's building, at 1 Herald Plaza, was a part of the deal. "It is not for sale," Marbert stressed. Should Knight Ridder ever want to sell it, Terra would have the right of first refusal, he said.

Knight Ridder is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with products in print and online. The company publishes 31 daily newspapers in 28 U.S. markets, with a readership of 9.0 million daily and 12.7 million Sunday. Knight Ridder also has investments in a variety of Internet and technology companies and two newsprint companies. The company's Internet operation, Knight Ridder Digital, develops and manages the company's online properties. It is the founder and operator of Real Cities (www.RealCities.com), the largest national network of city and regional Web sites in more than 105 U.S. markets. Knight Ridder and Knight Ridder Digital are headquartered in San Jose, Calif. FR

Certain statements contained in this report are forward-looking. They are based on management's current knowledge of factors affecting Knight Ridder's business. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated, depending upon -- but not limited to -- the effects of interest rates, of national and local economies on revenue, of the evolution of the Internet, of unforeseen changes in the price of newsprint and of negotiations and relations with labor unions.

SOURCE Knight Ridder

Kirksey dismissed from hospital

Ron Kirksey has been dismissed from the hospital and is now recuperating at home:
3995 Falconsway Ct.
Stow, OH 44224

Photos from Pam McCarthy

Giving Us The Eye

These two photos are from Pam McCarthy, a former Beacon Journal reporter who now teaches journalism and newspaper production at Hoover High School in North Canton. The top photo was published in the Beacon Journal Community Extra section on page F14 on Sunday, March 13, 2005 with the headline “"Giving Us the Eye." ” Pam photographed her daughter, Kate Pakenham, with the school newspaper'’s Nikon D-70 digital camera.

Pam also sent the bottom photo of twins Michael and Kate Pakenham, 16, on either side of her oldest daughter, Bethany Marvin, 26. (Those of you who worked with Tom Marvin will note the resemblance, Pam points out.) Beth is a second-year law student at UCLA. The twins are sophomores at Hoover High School in North Canton. Their father is Ken Pakenham, a professor at the University of Akron. Pam is two years away from retirement. She did not send us a self-portrait but you can find her in the February posts, one on Feb 9 is at a wake for the old State Desk and the other is Feb 12 at a picnic at the Bud Morris home in Copley.

Ron Kirksey recovering from surgery

Ron Kirksey, director of media relations at Kent State University and former editorial writer for the Beacon Journal, is recovering from surgery Wednesday at Akron General Medical Center for bladder cancer and is doing well, his wife Susan reports. He shoud be dismissed in seven to 10 days. He is in Room 5266 tel: 330-344-2646.

It is probably best to send cards to his home: 3995 Falconswalk Ct., Stow, OH 44224

BJ clock tower to come down for fix

Don't fret when you see the clock tower disappear from above the Akron Beacon Journal building. It will return.

The rotating landmark at East Exchange and South High streets sits on a steel frame that is corroded beyond repair.

A crane will be used to lift the structure onto the Beacon's roof while a new frame is built, said Terry Whitney, vice president of circulation and production.

The clock should be returned to its nest in six to eight weeks.

[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH Saturday, March 12, 2005, page A1, col. 1]

Great news for Polly Paffilas

This is nothing but great news.

Retiree Polly Paffilas’ doctor took her off dialysis and she is scheduled to have the catheter removed on Monday. Dialysis usually involves three trips a week to the lab for a treatment lasting about three hours. Polly has been in and out of the hospital since November and was at The Ledges at Rockynol for a while.

Want to cheer her up a bit more? Call or write:

Polly Paffilas
900 W. Market St. #503
Akron, OH 44313
Tel: 330-864-1130

Beacon Journal artists honored

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Two Akron Beacon Journal entries took prizes in the 71st annual National Headliner Awards.

Artists Dennis Balogh, Dennis Earlenbaugh, Kathy Hagedorn and Rick Steinhauser were awarded second place for a portfolio of work in the illustrative graphics category. Their submissions included illustrations of real people and situations -- LeBron James (Steinhauser), Usher (Hagedorn) and the Cleveland Jazz Fest (Balogh) -- as well as the imaginative -- an Arts & Living centerpiece on fear (Earlenbaugh) and a Health centerpiece on fats that are good for you (Steinhauser).

Chip Bok placed third in the Editorial Cartoon category for a portfolio of his work.

The Headliner Awards, sponsored by the Press Club of Atlantic City, honor journalism in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. Awards will be presented at a May 14 banquet. The winners were announced Wednesday.

[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH Friday, March 11, 2005, page B6, col. 2]

Joe Pulitzer IV and former KR veep

“Pultizer Pain,” a two-part series in the Riverfront Times, tells of the banishment of Joseph Pulitzer IV over a decade ago, and the sale of the St. Louis Post Dispatch to Lee Enterprises Inc. Pulitzer now lives in self-imposed exile in Wyoming.

Lee will now have 44 dailies in 19 states with a 1.7 million daily and 2 million Sunday circulation.

Post-Dispatch publisher Terrance C.Z. Egger holds roughly $9.3 million in Pulitzer stock and Pulitzer Inc. president and CEO Robert Woodworth, most recently a Knight Ridder vice president, an estimated $25 million.

The Riverfront Times, which published the first of the two-parter on March 2, 2005, describes itself on its web site, RivertfrontTimes.com, as St Louis’ alternative newsweekly and claims an audited weekly circulation of 100,000.

Click on the headline to go to the first of the series and then click on
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/issues/2005-03-09/news/feature.html
for the second part.

Woodward reported on the progress of the sale in a letter to employees on March 8, 2005.

See the letter at http://www.lee.net/pulitzer/ptz-lee_ltr_3-8-05.pdf

Robert Hollister dies in Tampa

Robert Hollister

Robert T. Hollister, 88, of John Knox Village in Tampa, Fla., went home to be with the Lord on Sun day, March 6, 2005.

He is survived by Doris, his loving and devoted wife of 57 years; sons, Terry and wife, Janie, Phil and wife, Karen; daughter, Jill and hus band, Tony Wait. Robert was preceded in death by his parents, Ralph M. and Laura, and his son, Jeff. He is also survived by nine grandchildren, Amy, Lisa, Tim, Deann, David, Darlene, Brian, Lloyd, and Peta, and five great-grandchildren, Andrew, Claire, Jaxon, Gabriel, and Kaelyn.

Robert was a World War II veteran, serving in Europe and the Pacific. He was honorably discharged from the Army as a captain. Robert had a lifelong career in journalism and advertising/PR. He founded his own advertising agency in Akron, Ohio, and held positions with the Akron Beacon Journal, Santa Fe New Mexican, and Orlando Sentinel. Robert retired from the Tampa Tribune, having served as the director of research and promotion. Robert was past president and a life time member of Ohio Jaycees.

A family graveside service will take place at Stow Cemetery in Stow, Ohio. Donations may be made to LifePath Hospice, 3010 W. Azeele St., Tampa, Fla. 33609.
Please sign the guest book at www.ohio.com/obituaries
[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH Thursday, March 10, 2005, page B6, col.4]

What's next? Dancing girls!

Guess what? The DVD promotion did not work. Tom Moore promised to give a free DVD of Fran Murphey's retirement party to everyone who attended the March 9 BJ Retirees Lunch at Papa Joe's. So attendance may have hit an all-time low. Only 9 retirees attended even though Norm Hanzel brought along wife Norma to swell the total to 10. It certainly was not Fran's fault, but the weather may have contributed. No new promotions are planned. Attending, in alphabeticaly order, were Art Cullison, Calvin Deshong, Dick Gresock, Ed and Norma Hanzel, Harry Liggett, Tom Moore, Russ Musarra, John Olesky and Carl Nelson. Five editorial types and four printers with one wife. Another attendance tie.

KR corrects form with faulty address

Knight Ridder corrects claim form
for flexible spending accounts
Original claim forms had incorrect address. Knight Ridder has forwarded new claim forms for flexible spending accounts to its newspapers. The original claim forms have an incorrect address. The corrected forms, which feature an El Paso, Texas, address, are available now in the human resources department. To avoid confusion, staff members who already have taken a supply or made copies of the incorrect forms should discard them. Knight Ridder is working with United Healthcare and the U.S. Postal Service to put a forwarding order in place. However, at this time, the forms are being returned to employees as undeliverable. Knight Ridder apologizes for the inconvenience.
[Reprinted from Hot Topics]

Get a free DVD just for attending lunch

CD of Fran Murphey's retirement and Retirees' lunches

Everyone who attends the BJ Retirees Lunch at 1 p.m. Wedesday at Papa Joe's will receive a free DVD of Fran Murphey's retirement in 1996 and also of Retiree lunches that year. Tom Moore who has videotaped many such events is now converting the videotapes to DVD which will last longer. Moore promised to give one free to everyone who attends the lunch. Normally he must ask $3 to cover the costs of the DVD, a case and mailing.

Last hot type page Feb 6, 1976

Putting in the last hot type page at the Akron Beacon Journal on Friday, February 6, 1976 are (from left) composing boss Don Baker, printers Red Nestor and Ed Fobean and now retired TV editor John Olesky. Carl “"Red”" Nestor died November 8, 2004. Olesky provided the photo for the blog, but could not put a date on it. However Russ Musarra saved the mat of the last hot type page he worked on, the 1 star Local News page (B-1) on Friday, Feb. 6, 1976. The spreader was headlined "Goldie leaves for a try at motherhood." The story, by Mike Clary, was about a golden eagle that was being sent from the Akron Children's Zoo to a new home in Indianapolis. Sidebar, also by Clary, was headlined "Zoo director named.” "
""

Fake news, fake reporter

Why was a partisan hack, using an alias and with no journalism background, given repeated
access to daily White House press briefings?

James Guckert, better known by his pen name Jeff Gannon, got press credentials for two years at the White House under his alias, first under the auspices of GOPUSA, then Talon News. He has since been linked to male escorts sites and has refused to deny working as a prostitute

Editor & Publisher reported February 24 that Talon News first lost Gannon as its White House correspondent, then scrubbed all his articles from its web site and then went dark with an amnnoucement it was going off line for a “top-to-bottom” review.

But let Eric Boehklert of Salon.com explain:

When President Bush bypassed dozens of eager reporters from nationally and internationally recognized news outlets and selected Jeff Gannon to pose a question at his Jan. 26 news conference, Bush's recognition bestowed instant credibility on the apparently novice reporter, as well as the little-known conservative organization he worked for at the time, called Talon News. That attention only intensified when Gannon used his nationally televised press conference time to ask Bush a loaded, partisan question -- featuring a manufactured quote that mocked Democrats for being "divorced from reality."

Gannon's star turn quickly piqued the interest of many online commentators, who wondered how an obvious Republican operative had been granted access to daily White House press briefings normally reserved for accredited journalists. Two weeks later, a swarming investigation inside the blogosphere into Gannon and Talon News had produced all sorts of damning revelations about how Talon is connected at the hip to a right-wing activist organization called GOPUSA, how its "news" staff consists largely of volunteer Republican activists with no journalism experience, how Gannon often simply rewrote GOP press releases when filing his Talon dispatches. It also uncovered embarrassing information about Gannon's past as well as his fake identity. When Gannon himself this week confirmed to the Washington Post that his name was a pseudonym, it only added to the sense of a bizarre hoax waiting to be exposed.

Kathy Goforth and Charlie Buffum first called our attention to a New York Times story of Feb 20 by Frank Rich headlined “The White House stages its “Daily Show” and then we came across Rich again in an International Herald-Tribune story on Feb 19 headlined “When real news debunks fake news.” Finally came the E&P news on Feb 24.

Check the Editor & Publisher site or for the full story, go to either of these newspapers:

International Herald Tribune

New York Times

There are many real, hard-working, seasoned reporters out there spawned by the real Akron Beacon Journal who could comment wisely on this post. Hopefully, a few of them read this blog and will comment.

Toms reports on Snyder, Mesko

Jim Toms, manager of Suburban News PublIcations with headquarters and printing plant on north side of Columbus, reports that two former BJ staffers are contributing to pages at Suburban News Publications. Pat Snyder has been writing a regular column called "Balancing Act" for commentary pages for several years now, and Andrea Misko is doing stringer work for a couple of Suburban News papers in nearby Delaware County. “Both are great,” says Toms..

IDs for photo at Bud Morris farm

Photo IDs by Craig Wilson
Click on photo to enlarge

Update from Larry Froelich

Here's a good update from Larry Froelich. We need more like this:

After leaving the ABJ in in early 1981 for the Detroit Free Press, I became assistant features copy desk chief. I was a single parent with a son, Mark, in middle school, so the day hours worked best for me. Eventually I met and married Suzanne Dolezal, a feature writer at the Freep, in May 1984. We had a son, Eric, about 2 years later. When the Freep and News filed for a joint operating agreement I began to seriously look around for a better situation in Knight Ridder because I wasn't sure the Freep would survive if the U.S. Supreme Court got involved in the issue. The Freep had filed as the failing paper and I didn't want to end up in a job fair if all went bad.

Meanwhile, to make myself more marketable, I moved down to the newsroom as deputy news editor (nights) at the behest of Scott Bosley, who was managing editor at the time. Nothing like having friends in high places. In the mid-1989 the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader was looking for a news editor and by then I'd been doing that job in a secondary capacity in Detroit for about 4-5 years. And that's where I've been since Sept. '89. Meanwhile, Suzanne eventually landed a job at UK working public information for the NCI's Cancer Information Service. And Eric is now a freshman at the University of Kentucky on an academic scholarship to study engineering. (Last weekend, for ESPN's College Game Day special here in Lexington, he and his four closest friends with painted in blue and white in the front row only few feet from UK grad/movie actress Ashley Judd.) My oldest, Mark, returned to the Detroit area after graduating from Kent State and has been working in the auto industry managing an assembly-equipment leasing arrangement with Pontiac. His wife, Christa, is a BGSU grad and media buyer with Campbell-Ewald Advertising. They have two children, Jack, who will be 6 in August, and Lindsay, 4. My daughter Britta is a graduate of the Univ. of South Florida and is in partnership with a high school-college friend in a Web-based wedding invitation business. She is married to a Mich. State grad, Marc Spanke, who works for computer chip after-market company. They live in the Tampa-St. Pete area and have two daughters, Halle, 5, and Clare, 1.

I intend to hang it up on Oct. 31 of this year after 37 years with KR. And, yes, I think I'm the oldest journalist in this particular newsroom. A "dinosaur" as we used to fondly call the old hands. Suzanne won't retire for a few more years, but when she does we'll probably move up to the Detroit area to be near the kids. Eric is thinking about auto engineering so he'd likely return to Motown too. And Britta's husband's parents live just north of Detroit. So, for us, it's a natural if we want to be near family -- although temperature-wise it makes absolutely no sense at all. Still, who cares? There are a helluva lot of grand watering holes in the Detroit environs where I can tip a few with the retired Freepers of my decade there. And I'd love to make it to an occasional BJ retirees' luncheon once I'm not working nights, weekend and holidays.

BJ goes up about 15 cents March 1

Effective March 1, the Akron Beacon Journal will raise the price of the newspaper by about 15 cents a week for daily and Sunday subscribers. The increase will bring employees’ and retirees’costs to 92 cents a week with the 75 percent discount. Staff members and retirees have been paying about 87 cents a week. [From Hot Type]

Mark Schlueb revisited

After being laid off as county government reporter only 10 months after leaving his Daytona Beach News-Journal job in 2001 and bringing his family to Akron where he worked at the Beacon Journal, Mark Schlueb fired off an email to Knight-Ridder CEO Anthony Ridder that became a shot heard 'round the newspaper world. This and the Ann Hill letter are classics among Beacon Journal past, present and retired newsroom employees.

Today, Mark Schlueb is back in Florida working for the Orlando Sentinel. Schlueb won the Orlando Sentinel's annual award for excellence in investigative reporting. Associate managing editor/projects Bob Shaw said: "Mark won primarily for a piece he did about city council and the mayor blatantly violating the spirit of the state's public meetings law. ...Mark found more than 200 instances over six years of essentially private meetings."

As for his email to Ridder, Schlueb said, "I don't understand why a letter I dashed off in 20 minutes has received such attention. I don't think anyone would pay any attention to an autoworker who wrote a nasty letter to his boss, and I'm not sure why this is different.

"The letter started showing up the first week of my new job. An AME here (at the Orlando Sentinel) -- another K-R expatriate -- received it, with a note asking if he'd ever heard of me. 'Heard of him? I just hired him!' It was a tad tense for a little while, as my new co-workers tried to gauge my sanity. But everyone here has been very supportive.”

For the record, Schlueb never got a reply from Ridder.

For those who want to offer him belated attaboys, Mark Schlueb can be reached at mschlueb@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5417.

The letter that a lot of us probably wished we had written:

Dear Mr. Ridder,

I wanted to write and tell you what a fine time I've had working for the Akron Beacon Journal. (That's a newspaper your company owns in Northeast Ohio.) I've only worked here since last June, but I've had an opportunity to uncover plenty of great stories, and put them into what I consider the best newspaper in Ohio. (Ohio is a state in the Midwest.) All the while, I've been able to work with the most talented group of writers and reporters with whom I've ever had the privilege to associate. It's been very inspiring -- in fact, my desk is only about 20 feet from John S. Knight's old typewriter, which is now kept behind glass.

Of course, you're cutting these fine people off at the knees, you asshole. How do you expect the dedicated and loyal reporters at the Beacon Journal to keep putting out a quality paper when you're eliminating nearly a quarter of the reporting staff? You faceless corporate hacks take a break from your golf game long enough to scream that circulation must stay up, but then you order arbitrary budget cuts that force the elimination of entire sections of the Sunday paper. And when that's not enough, you order layoffs that eliminate the very employees who have helped keep circulation from falling. Seriously, the kid who changes the oil in my car could run Knight Ridder with more foresight than you.

I brought my wife and two children to Akron -- a thousand miles from our native Florida, where I had a secure job and other offers -- to work at the Beacon Journal. The editors here were able to attract me with the excellent reputation they and John S. Knight had built over a period of decades. In just a few months, you've managed to wreck everything they built. How many top-notch reporters will choose to move to Akron, if they would face the prospect of working at an understaffed, demoralized newspaper?

Maybe I should have seen this coming. After all, it wasn't that long ago that Knight Ridder budget cuts gutted the Miami Herald. Remember what happened then? There was a mass exodus of talented reporters, and the Herald is a shadow of its former self.
Don't worry about me; I'll land on my feet. I don't regret coming here, even though I've been laid off now. In fact, my only regret is that you haven't come to visit the Beacon Journal. I would have loved to piss on your shoes.

—Mark Schlueb, former staff writer, Akron Beacon Journal

Memorable Stories: Abe's Visit in 1861

Today’s “Memorable Story” isn’t really that memorable and was not even written by a Beacon Journal type. But, hey, today is President’s Day and I thought you might want to see how Abraham Lincoln’s visit to Cadiz Junction in Harrison County, OH, on February 14, 1861 was covered.

Besides my late father was born in Cadiz Junction and was once a railroad telegraph operator. Cadiz Junction was the spot where a train from Cadiz, OH, met the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Folks from Cadiz who wanted to see the President paid 25 cents for the round trip from Cadiz to Cadiz Junction.

As usual, just click on the headline to see first a brief announcement in the Cadiz Demorat Sentinel and then a longer story in the Cadiz Republican. Neither made Page 1. They put the news on page 3 back then. Oh, and do not be too critical of the writing.

Krummel provides our first art show

Art Krummel, retired Beacon Journal artist, sent the blog five of his paintings for our first-ever showing of art. Just click on the headline above and enter the display of art. Click on the images to enlarge them and use the arrows to browse back and forth.

The paintings include a spot on Siesta Key Beach at Sarasota, FL, a Christmas still life which Char asked him to paint, a painting of a photo taken by Ken Love and two of the four seasons at Maca Park in Talllmadge. Art provided info for the captions.

But wait!

Don’t you want to know what he and Charlene Nevada have been doing lately? Char’s busy at work so let Art tell you:

“I've been very busy painting nearly every day. I'm trying to get enough work to set up during the Art in the Circle art show this summer. I hope to generate some commissions of pet portraits or kids 'n pets. I also have a couple paintings of family heirlooms: one done for my nephew and his family of all of their treasures; the other is a painting I did of my kids' shoes that I kept from birth until they left the homestead.”

“We have been travelling a bit with cruises in recent years to southern Carribean, Hawaii, western Carribean. We had a kind of reunion beach vacation last summer with the Mezgers, the Reynolds, Marshionne/Mastrionni family. We all vacationed in Garden City just south of Myrtle Beach for years. We all had young kids and we had a great time. Well now the youngest kids are in high school and college. All the kids came except for my daughter Beth and her hubby. It was really fun getting together with them again after a lapse of about 10 years.

“We have a return trip to Hawaii planned for September.. We're staying on land this time with 5 days in Waikiki, and 5 days in Lahiana on Maui. I love Hawaii and am really looking forward to this trip.”

Trying to leave a larger picture of BJ group

It's really hard to circumvent the 'Hello' limitations, but I'll try...and it looks like I succeeded.

Leave your comments please

Good news everyone!

Blogger has updated the way comments work. Among the many improvements are pop-up windows for comments and the ability for commenters to fill in their name and web site info—no Blogger account needed.

So leave your comments on any of the posts.

Update on John & Georgia MacDonald

The MacDonalds (John and Georgia) are alive and well in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Up until Christmas Eve, John was still working for the Hartford Courant covering health care issues on the Hill and Supreme Court cases of interest to Connecticut. Then the Chicago Tribune, which owns the Courant and other former LA Times papers, began cutting back on staff of its papers' Washington bureaus. He opted for a buyout rather than return to Hartford. After a week's vacation, he began a new job as director of media relations at a D.C. think tank, Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), which deals with issues he covered as a reporter, so it was a good fit. His new e-mail address: macdonald@ebri.org

Georgia is still with The Gazette Newspapers, a string of weeklies owned by the Washington Post and circulated in much of Maryland. She left the news end of things five years ago and has handled the editorial pages for 17 community weeklies and one statewide edition of the papers.
She also has returned to her first love, art, and has even won some prizes.
Her e-mail address: gmacdonald@gazette.net

Ted's first bout with his bum knee in 1989

Ted Walls had his knee replaced recently. In 1989 he had problems with that same knee and had some work done on it. When I visited him at home at that time his kitchen table looked like a pharmacy. Well now he has a new knee and is recovering nicely. I wish you well, Ted.

Those were the times

This was shot at Bud Morris' house at a BJ picnic. It will show up small but I think you still can pick out some folks you know...click on the headline for a bigger picture.

Story of Week: A Valentine Saga

Our “Story of the Week,” not a regular feature of the blog, is by the Mad Shopper herself, Mary Ethridge. It was on page 1 of the business section on Saturday, February 12. You might have guessed, at this time of the year, the headline was “Valentine’s gives glow to retailers.”

Here’s the lead:

What price can you put on love?

Get a load of this: $75-$100 for a dozen red roses, $7.99 for a glittery card and $18.25 for a red thong as big as a rubber band around a piece of broccoli.

Hey, don't forget the gift bag for $3.95 and the accompanying tissue paper at 10 cents a sheet.

Valentine's Day is Monday, if you need reminding, sweetheart.

And while your smitten heart goes pitapat, retailers' registers go ca-ca-ching. It is the third-biggest holiday for retailers and brightens up a traditionally slow period for the industry.

And a little later in the story, she reports:

The survery shows the average consumer plans to spend $97.27 on Valentine's Day, down slightly from $99.24 last year. However, 61.8 percent of consumers plan to celebrate the holiday, up from 59.8 percent a year ago. In all, 2005 Valentine's Day spending is expected to reach $13.19 billion.

And a little later

Nevertheless, consumers still plan to spend the majority of their Valentine's Day budget on their sweetheart, with the average person planning to spend $58.85 of the $97.27 total on their significant other or spouse, the federation said.

Although Valentine's Day spending last year was propelled by young adults, spending this year will be spurred by middle-aged consumers. Consumers aged 45 to 54 will spend $118.11 each this year, more than any other age category and considerably higher than the $88.96 the group spent last year

As usual, If you must read the entire story, click on the headline

Mary Ethridge can be reached at 330-996-3545 or methridge@thebeaconjournal.com

Printers prevail at Retirees Lunch

Well, finally the attendance standoff at the Beacon Journal Retirees lunch has been broken. The official count for the lunch on Wednesday, February 10, was:

Printers: Nine
Joe Catalano, Anne Catalano, Calvin Deshong, Dick Gresock, Ed Hanzel, Norma Hanzel, Gene McClellan, Carl Nelson and Bob Pell

Editorial: Five
Tim Hayes, Sandy Levenson, Tom Moore, John Olesky and Harry Liggett

The majority attendees cheated by bringing wives but still were ahead of reporter types.. As punishment, we decided not to print any editorial type photos. We also skipped Gene McClellan and Carl Nelson because they are always present. Bob Pell as usual furnished us photos of everyone, but using some of those faces so often is giving the blog a bad reputation for ugly mugs. So, we chose two photos with only new–--although old-- faces. It was the first visit in a long time for Joe Catalano and Dick Gresock is another who was not at the last lunch. Pell actually only shot one of the photos here. The other one was taken with his camera by an old editor, Tom Moore.

It is being kept under wraps for now, but there will be a big announcement here before the next lunch on a prize for everyone who attends. Will that get attendance above 14?
Probably not.

Always there or usually bowling

Dick McBane's book published

Dick McBane’'s book, A Fine-Looking Lot of Ball-Tossers: The Remarkable Akrons of 1881, is now in print and available for immediate shipment for $28.50. Check it out at the McFarland Publishing Co. web site at www.mcfarlandpub.com Or you probably can order it from a local book store with the ISBN number listed below

The Akron club's accumulation of talented ballplayers and its success against the best opposition of the time set it apart from the general development of 19th century baseball. Like many of the independent baseball teams that proliferated in the 1870s and 1880s, it was formed as a joint stock company by prominent citizens and businessmen. Its talent led it to be raided out of existence. Of the 20 men who played with the Akrons during 1881, 14 played major league ball in subsequent seasons. Most prominent were Hall of Famer Bid McPhee and Tony Mullane.

This work traces the development and play of the team from its formation in 1879 through its great 1881 season and on. Biographical profiles of the players, with personal and professional details, are interspersed throughout. Appendices include the 1881 calendar of scores and 40 box scores (and compiled statistics) for the 1881 season, as well as the box score of the Akrons’ victory over the Chicagos of Cap Anson in 1880.

McBane, a former reporter and editorial writer for the Beacon Journal, lives in Lilburn, Georgia. He is a member of Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). His e-mail addres is RLMcBane@aol.com

ISBN 0_7864_2056_1
photographs & illustrations, notes, appendices, bibliography, index 191pp. softcover 2005

1974 Wake for old State Desk

A gathering in the back room of Jack Horner’'s in 1974
for the wake of the old State Desk which was disbanded.
In front is Pam McCarthy, now a teacher in Stark County.
In the back is Cathy Strong who now lives in New Zealand.
Caught in the middle (from let) are Kathy Goforth, now in
New York City, Kathy Fraze who is still working as BJ
Features Editor, John Olesky, then assistant State Desk
editor retired since 1996, and the late Jan Clark. Pat
Englehart was State Editor. He died Oct 29, 1995 in Ocala,
FL, at the age of 70.

Snippits from A1 and Hot Type

From Page A1 on Ash Wednesday, Feb 9:
The Akron Beacon Journal clock tower needs a face-lift. Everybody knows we can’t turn back time, but for the next few weeks, you won’t see the time and temperature atop the building at 44 E. Exchange St. The shutoff is necessary for the safety of workers. With any luck, you’ll see temperatures rsing when you see tdhe display again.

And from Hot Type:
From 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13, the Akron Beacon Journal will be without electrical power while Ohio Edison makes repairs to the main electrical switch. Please turn off computers and other electrical equipment and remove food from refrigerators.

Job Openings:
Among those listed by Hot Type are “Sports Reporter to cover Browns”

Bonnie Bolden is traveling for diversity:
Bonnie Bolden, newsroom recruiter, addresses diverse leadership development from the perspective of news coverage. She regularly travels the circuit of job fairs on Ohio college campuses in search of promising minority journalists, some of whom end up as interns for 10-week stints at the newspaper.

In the fall, she attended the Spirit of Diversity, a job fair sponsored by the Detroit Newspapers. She has attended conventions held by the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Asian-American Journalism Association. Last year, she traveled to Washington, D.C., for the Unity Convention, an annual gathering of organizations representing journalists of color.

"I've been fortunate to work for companies that value minority staffing," she said, adding that she is always on the lookout for affordable training and development opportunities offered through professional organizations, such as fellowships and minority scholarships.

She also is "immersed in diversity" as a member of LeadDIVERSITY, a Cleveland-based program focused on minority staffing that runs from October through June.Her classmates come from a wide range of industries for training on bringing diversity to the workplace.

According to a recent annual survey by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Akron Beacon Journal had 19.8 percent minority employment in the newsroom, said Bolden. Based on that survey, a study by the Knight Foundation showed the newspaper had the highest diversity index (the ratio of diversity in the newsroom to the population of the market) of any newspaper its size in the country, said Bolden. The Aron Beacon Journal also is distinguished in having the highest diversity index ranking of any KR newspaper.

"The goal is to reach parity with your circulation area," Bolden said, noting that the newspaper's circulation area comprises 11.7 percent minority.

Maintaining a diverse newsroom is an important part of credibility, said Bolden. "You cannot be credible there are segments of your community not represented
on your staff or not covered in the newspaper." According to the most recent census, minorities make up about one-third of the U.S. population, she said.

Memorable Stories: A Forgotten Photo

Dr. Carl Krill

Not all “memorable stories” posted here are by retired and forgotten reporters. Beacon reporter Tracy Wheeler on Feb 2 proved hat even a simple obituary about a memorable doctor can be "“a thing of beauty and a joy forever.”"

The first three graphs tell it all:

The one thing that patients remember most about Dr. Carl E. Krill was the round, mirrored reflector he wore on his forehead, long after most doctors had relegated the devices to antique status.

But among fellow doctors, the most memorable thing was Dr. Krill's ability to enter an examining room and walk out a few minutes later with a quick and accurate diagnosis, without a battery of tests.

Dr. Krill, a pediatrician, died Jan. 27 at the age of 101. After practicing medicine in the Akron area for more than 60 years, he retired in 1996, just two weeks short of his 93rd birthday.

The story cried out for the memorable photo which was unfortunately forgotten in the rush of things (that’'s news biz). The photo above did not appear with Tracy’'s story which was printed on page B1 on Wednesday, February 2, 2005. The story should have been printed on page A1.

Another reason it was good enough for A1 is explained by Tracy a few graphs later:

In 1941, Dr. Krill's handling of a local polio case brought him national fame. He didn't discover a cure, but, rather, a cause, after five Kenmore siblings had contracted bulbar polio, the most deadly form of the disease. When Dr. Krill learned that all five children had become ill about a week after having their tonsils removed, he saw a link.
Removing the tonsils, which are part of the body's immune system, had allowed the dormant polio virus to take over. Without the tonsillectomies, those children never would have suffered more than flulike symptoms. Instead, three of the five died.
The finding made national news publications, including the New York Times. It was published in the esteemed Journal of the American Medical Association. It even reached the White House, which sent the Kenmore family a letter of ``heartfelt sympathy'' from Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had been stricken by polio at age 39.
Dr. Krill's finding put the brakes on tonsillectomies, especially in the summer, when the polio virus was most active.

Click on the headline above to read Tracy'’s Memorable Story.

Blogger’s lament: It might have been better to just print Tracy’'s story out front and provide the link instead to my poor observations (that'’s the blog biz).

Ted Walls may be home by weekend

Ted Walls hopefully will be home this weekend after rehabilitaion at Edwin Shaw Hospital. Ted, a retired BJ photographer, had a knee replacement on January 25 at Akron General Medical Center. and went to Edwin Shaw. He had to go back to the hospital briefly for some kind of cellulite problem, but then returned. He is in therapy during the day so it is best to call in the evening.
Edwin Shaw tel: 330-784-1271 Ext. 5308

Twins for Joe & Monica Thomas

Newsroom staff members Joe and Monica Thomas
announced the birth of twins Jan. 16. Ella Susanna (right)
weighed 3 pounds, 7 ounces and was 16 1/2 inches long.
Her brother, Andrew Joseph weighed 3 pounds, 4 ounces
and was 16 1/4 inches long.

Publisher Gordon Dix dies

Retired Ohio newspaper publisher dies

Gordon C. Dix, 90, began work in Wooster

Associated Press

NAPLES, FLA. - Gordon C. Dix, a retired Ohio newspaper publisher and a former owner of Dix Communications, died Friday at age 90.

He died at his home from complications of a stroke.

Dix and brothers Albert and twins Robert and Ray built their family media business, which now includes seven daily newspapers in Ohio and Kentucky. The company also owns seven radio stations in Maryland, Florida and Ohio.

Their grandfather and father started the family business with a community newspaper in Wooster. Dix and his brothers sold their business to family members in 1985.

Gordon Dix was publisher of the (Martins Ferry) Times Leader and the (Defiance) Crescent-News. He was named president of the Defiance Publishing Co. in 1977.

He began work in the advertising department at the Daily Record in Wooster.

His son Earl Stevens Dix, who died in 1982, also was a publisher of the Crescent-News.

Survivors include his wife, Katharine; three children; and a brother, Dr. J. Harlan Dix.

A memorial service will be held Tuesday at the Presbyterian Church of Naples.

[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, Ohio, Saturday, February 5, 2005, page B6]

Keep an eye on your health care payments

Since KR has changed some health care coverage, although the Guild retirees apparently are not affected, it would be wise to double-check any health care payments statements you get from United Health Care, and to make sure your prescription coverage co-pays are the same. If you see drastic differences, you probably should notify UHC and, getting no satisfaction there, notify the Northeast Ohio chapter of the Guild in Cleveland (BJ merged with Cleveland years ago) at Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild
1729 Superior Avenue East
Cleveland, OH 44114
Phone
216-621-6792
Ask for Rollie Dreussi or Executive Secretary Mark Davis.

UHC DOES make mistakes but, if we don't question drastic changes, then we're giving away our money to UHC & KR.

Blog gets mention in Guild Reporter

The blog rated a brief mention in the briefs on page 2 of The Guild Reporter for January 14, 2005. Here it is:

Former president
starts retiree blog

Harry Liggett, president of Local 7 in Akron in the early 1970s, has started a web log for retired and former Beacon Journal Guild employees. Liggett started the blog last July and writes that is has had more than 100 posts (the blog counter is stuck on 52) and has had more than a thousand visitors. Check it out at www.bjretirees.blogspot.com

Blog Note: There were 92 posts in 2004 and so far this year there have been 34 posts and as of today 1,725 visitors.. And it is not just for Guild retirees.

Headlines from Buffum

The Year's best actual headlines from Charlie Buffum in NYC:

CRACK FOUND ON GOVERNOR'S DAUGHTER

SOMETHING WENT WRONG IN JET CRASH, EXPERT SAYS

POLICE BEGIN CAMPAIGN TO RUN DOWN JAYWALKERS

IRAQI HEAD SEEKS ARMS

IS THERE A RING OF DEBRIS AROUND URANUS

PROSTITUTES APPEAL TO POPE

PANDA MATING FAILS; VETERINARIAN TAKES OVER

TEACHER STRIKES IDLE KIDS

MINERS REFUSE TO WORK AFTER DEATH

JUVENILE COURT TO TRY SHOOTING DEFENDANT

WAR DIMS HOPE FOR PEACE

IF STRIKE ISN'T SETTLED QUICKLY. IT MAY LAST AWHILE

COLD WAVE LINKED TO TEMPERATURES

COUPLE SLAIN; POLICE SUSPECT HOMICIDE

RED TAPE HOLDS UP NEW BRIDGES

TYPHOON RIPS THROUGH CEMETERY; HUNDREDS DEAD

MAN STRUCK BY LIGHTNING FACES BATTERY CHARGE

NEW STUDY OF OBESITY LOOKS FOR LARGER TEST GROUP

ASTRONAUT TAKES BLAME FOR GAS IN SPACECRAFT

KIDS MAKE NUTRITIOUS SNACKS

CHEF THROWS HIS HEART INTO HELPING FEED NEEDY

LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS CUT IN HALF

HOSPITALS ARE SUED BY 7 FOOT DOCTORS