Papers cover bridge collapse -- One staffer loses car

Joe Strupp at Editor & Publisher reports that both Twin Cities daily papers covered the tragic Minneapolis bridge collapse with full force, throwing dozens of newsroom staffers at the story and expanding print space. Neither paper reported having any staffers severely injured in the incident, but one Star Tribune circulation employee was apparently on the bridge when it collapsed and came away uninjured, but lost her car in the river.

Both papers are being credited with tracking down a 2005 Minnesota Department of Transportation inspection report, via online database searches, that indicated the bridge was "structurally deficient."

"Inspectors gave the bridge a sufficiency rating of 50 percent on a scale of 0 to 100 percent," the Pioneer Press reported. "A rating of 50 percent or lower means the bridge might need to be replaced."

Star Tribune Editor Nancy Barnes said her reporters found the report at around 11 p.m. after combing online data base sources. "We got it online and into our later editions," she said.

Those logging on to their Web sites this morning found a clear difference in the death toll.

For several hours this morning, the St. Paul Pioneer press site reported seven dead, a number that had been put forth last night, while the Star Tribune of Minneapolis had the latest update of just four deceased. In print, the Pioneer Press Thursday edition reported seven dead, while the Star Tribune had nine fatalities reported.

"They have dialed that back to four, we have to make sure it gets updated," Pioneer Press Editor Thomas Fladung said about the Web site. "We will continue to chase that number." Despite that informational glitch, the Pioneer Press claimed its busiest Web day ever on Wednesday, with 510,000 page views, Fladung said.

Star Tribune's Barnes said at least 75 newspeople out of her 300-person staff were on the story. "We pulled people from sports, business, features and everyone who was here," she said. Even the lone photographer assigned to cover the Minnesota Twins game was pulled and put on bridge duty, one of 15 shooters on the story for the Star Tribune.

Click on tjhe headline to see the full story by Strupp

Journalists rate little prestige

The annual Harris Poll measuring prestige ratings of 23 professions and occupations came out Wednesday -- and you can find journalists in the Bottom Ten.

Just 13 percent of the 1,100 U.S. adults surveyed in June and July said the occupation of journalist had "very great prestige," while 16 percent said it had "hardly any prestige at all." And 47 percent conceded there was "some prestige" in being a journalist.

The most prestigious occupation was firefighter which 61 percent of those surveyed rated the job with "very great prestige."

Journalists were rated ahead of just seven other occupations: union leader, stockbroker, entertainer, accountant, banker, actor, and real estate agent/broker.

In addition to firefighters, five occupations are perceived to have "very great" prestige by at least half of all adults -- scientists and teachers, 54 pecent; doctors, 52 percent; military officers, 52 percent and nurses, 50 percent.

Click on the headline to see the full Harris poll with some nice charts.

170 cancel Wall St. Journal subscriptions

By E&P Staff
NEW YORK At least 170 subscribers to the Wall Street Journal have canceled their orders since word emerged that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. will soon take over the newspaper.

The paper does have 1.7 million print subscribers left.

An article in the Journal today by Martin Peers added that other readers had "voiced their displeasure with the deal in emails."

[Source: Editor & Publisher]

UA stadium plan approved

For former BJ types now living away from Akron, here is one of eight photos you can see on Ohio.com of the proposed $50 million stadium for the University of Akron. Just click on the headline to read the full story by Carol Bolliczky and see the photos.

The 30,000-seat stadium will be named for InfoCision and the field for Summa Health System, the two largest donors to the athletic project to date.

''This will be football the way it was meant to be,'' UA President Luis Proenza said.

The construction of the stadium was one of two major items approved by trustees on Wednesday.

They also took early steps to find financing for more projects to come a residence hall for 450 to 500 students next door to the stadium and a parking deck with 1,100 to 1,500 spaces somewhere on campus.

Cheerleaders, a band and Zippy were on hand, as were colored render ings depicting the look of the red brick, stone and glass stadium.

The project will be funded through a $30 million campaign that launched Wednesday with almost $21 million collected or pledged to date, plus perhaps $25 million in general revenue bonds.

UA students will not be charged for the stadium unless they hold a referendum and vote to contribute to the project through special fees. Each student already pays $222.60 a semester to retire bonds and operate the Student Recreation and Wellness Center and Student Center.

The stadium will offer something for everyone, including a variety of seating options from private boxes and loges to end-zone grass berm office space and 45,000 square feet on two levels for classrooms.

Rx note from Bob Abbott

OK gang...here's where we're at...

I'm still waiting for some responses to my previous inquiry...I assumed some of you were probably on vacation and/or trying to round up some hard facts (paperwork) that we can presentto the lawyer. Or...perhaps you have already found as much info as is available in your personalsituation.

Thanks to those that have responded and to those couple of people that promised me some paperwork but still haven't sent it...please send itas soon as possible.

I'm holding off on contacting the lawyer again until I have the wholepackage (or as much as we can come up with). That way I'm thinking wecan save some money as opposed to me bugging him with every littledetail as it comes up. If he charges us for (and he probably should) hissorting through the info it probably will be more economical in onepackage.

At this stage he is on hold and not costing us any monies. Nor have Iinstructed him to move forward and turn this into a real lawsuit. Hisadvice is that we need more ammo to realistically have much of a chanceto move the BJ from their stance. And, according to his feeling ofthe situation, they (the BJ) are digging in their heels and probably notgoing to cave in unless we can find a weak spot in their position. More scary is the prospect that, even if we had a super strong legal case,the BJ could keep appealing decisions against them. And, as thishappens, the filing fees for each new level of court and legal fees wouldskyrocket. In other words, they could drag this out until we either gobroke or die from old age. Not very encouraging!! And that's even ifwe would keep winning decisions in court. But they also might just saythe hassle isn't worth the effort... but I'm sure they're looking downthe road and as more retirees reach 65 they (the BJ) would be affectedand the BJ's cost would increase.

Some of the idea of where we're at and where we might go in the futuremight be more of setting up a group or individual that is in a betterposition to carry on in the future. Some of you that are under 65really haven't been affected by the BJ's Medicare part D that we arefighting at the moment. The shabby way the BJ is treating their presentemployees' prescription cards and those that are under 65 is pretty much aseparate issue. And if the union lawyers won't touch it while it isstill a contract issue you can probably bet the BJ is doing it legally ifnot morally. If you haven't been affected you can't bring legalaction. But we all know it will happen and as the people reach that "magic"age of 65 you will be forced into the Medicare mess.

My info into the contracts from the other trade unions at the time ofretirement/separation is still woefully limited. If some of you couldfill me in on any bit of info as to the contracts in effect at the timeof your retirement it would really help fill in the information weneed. Obviously, and unfortunately legally, the BJ's stance is they aregoing by the contracts in effect at the time of retirement/separation. We need to know this information if possible.

If you have anything...please send it if you haven't already and we'll present what we have to the lawyer and see if we can come up with something that can move us forward and get off this holding pattern.

thanks

bob abbott

Murdoch Wins His Bid for Dow Jones

A century of Bancroft-family ownership at Dow Jones & Co. is over.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. sealed a $5 billion agreement to purchase the publisher of The Wall Street Journal after three months of drama in the controlling family and public debate about journalistic values.

One of the oldest and best-known franchises in the newspaper industry, beset in recent years by business pressures, now enters a new era as part of a world-wide media conglomerate. The 76-year-old Mr. Murdoch, whose properties range from the Fox television network to the Times of London, negotiated hard to win the paper he long coveted. He has promised to invest more in Dow Jones journalism.

The Bancrofts worried about protecting the reputation of the Journal, the nation's second-largest newspaper. They feared Mr. Murdoch would meddle in the paper's editorial affairs and import the brand of sensationalist journalism found in some of his properties such as the New York Post. Some Bancrofts sought other buyers.

But ultimately, Mr. Murdoch's $60-a-share bid -- a 67% premium above Dow Jones's share price when it became public -- was the only serious offer on the table. Key family members, spurred by Dow Jones's board and advisers, decided they had no choice.

"On the one hand it is quite sad, but on the other it was the only reasonable thing to do," said Elisabeth Goth Chelberg, a Bancroft family member who unsuccessfully tried a decade ago to get the family more involved in management. "Now I look forward to a better Dow Jones. It's going to have more money and a world presence and all of the things that it could have and should have had but didn't."

Opponents of the deal called it a dark day for journalism. Leslie Hill, a family member who opposed the deal, resigned as a Dow Jones director late Tuesday afternoon. In a letter to the board, she conceded the deal was a good one in financial terms, but said it failed to outweigh "the loss of an independent global news organization with unmatched credibility and integrity."

Click on the headline to read the full story on Page A1 of the Wall Street Journal by Sarah Ellison and Matthew Karnitschnig. There also are a number of sidebar articles.

Monster.com to cut 800 jobs

Workers at Monster Worldwide will now have to use all the skills they've learned at the employment Web site to find new jobs for themselves.

Monster Worldwide (nasdaq: MNST) is the parent company of Monster.com, which is featured on Ohio.com. Monster.com told traders on Monday that it was cutting 800 jobs, or 15% of its full-time staff. The company also reported that its second-quarter profit tumbled 28% as it deals with the consequences of an ongoing investigation into its stock option grants practices.

For the quarter ended June 30, the company said its net income dropped to $28.6 million, or 21 cents per share, from $39.6 million, or 30 cents per share, in the year-ago period, despite a 20% rise in revenues to $331.1 million.

Analysts had predicted earnings of 32 cents per share on $337.3 million in revenue.

Monster's profit was crimped by a 34% jump in total operating expenses to $288.8 million, partly due to legal fees and severance payments, the company said.

To cut costs, it said it will reduce its workforce by 800 employees beginning immediately and into 2008. The company said that the majority of the reductions will occur by the end of this year.

[Source: Forbes online]

Now that I've joined Harry in the donut hole

Now that I've hit the Aetna donut hole (meaning that I'll be paying for all of my prescription costs for the rest of the year because I won't hit the $3,850 out-of-pocket limit that would get Aetna back to paying for my medication), I did some math.

Since Aetna uses two sets of books, one to count ALL the prescription charges paid by Aetna and by me to get to $2,400 and a second to count only what I pay (which makes me pay everything till I get to $3,850), it figures out this way:

$791.63 -- What I have paid so far for co-pays.
$2,010.18 -- What I will pay for the rest of the year, based on the total charges for my
prescriptions.
$2,801.81 -- My projected total cost for 2007. (Keep in mind that this is for 11 months,
since Aetna didn't kick in till Feb. 1.; for 12 months, it pro-rates to $3,054.54.)
$198.00 -- Amount I would have paid for prescriptions under UHC.
$2,603.81 -- Increased Aetna cost compared to UHC cost
$1,750.00 -- Savings for the lower Aetna medical deductible ($250) compared to the higher
UHC deductible ($2,000).
$853.81 -- Increased Aetna prescription/medical cost compared to UHC.
Again, for 11 months; for 12 months, it would be $1,188.84.

In theory, Aetna would come back in when I hit $3,850 in true out-of-pocket costs (includes everything I will have paid for prescriptions), but I will fall about $1,000 short of that, so Aetna in effect stops paying for my prescriptions once I hit the donut hole of $2,400 in the total cost of the prescriptions, regardless of who pays for it.

If Aetna changes the medical deductible from $250 to a higher amount, then it may be time to look around for cheaper net costs. Tom Moore has the Summa plan, which requires premium payments. But if the Summa plan, including premium payments, results in a better net than the Canadian's Aetna plan, then it might be time to look around for a better deal. We hope to compare Aetna and Summa (and others) at the end of the year.

I hope this helps other BJ retirees to get a handle on the impact that the Canadian's switch from UHC to Aetna will have on them. I would welcome comments, or information on how much you have paid under Aetna for prescriptions and medical care. The more we learn about each other's situations, the better we can decide what we will do for 2008.

If you don't want to post your prescription financial information on this blog, email me at

jo4wvu@sbcglobal.net

Thanks.

Want to be a Beacon Journal reporter?

Want to be a Beacon Journal reporter? You can starting Monday, according to a Page A1 announcement by Linda Lyell, vice president of online operations for Ohio.com, the newspaper’s website.

In announcing plans for a new look and new features for Ohio.com, Lyell wrote:

“We also have opened a way for you to be more involved in reporting what is going on in your community. You now can share your own words, photos and videos with the online world through Ohio.com. Pull down the community menu and follow the links to submit your stories, photos and video.

“Last year, we invited you to have a dialogue regarding our news stories by offering your comments to the stories. Now we are taking it one step further by opening the door for you to submit your stories, your photos and your voice.

"We've launched a new events calendar that makes it easier to browse for fun things to do in Northeast Ohio. Searching Events.ohio.com offers information such as event details, Web links and maps. Google mapping provides event location, plus nearby restaurants, bars and parking.”

The new website design launching Monday will feature pull-down menus for each subject area so it is easier to find specific content.

“On Ohio.com's home page, you also will find tabbed ``top story'' boxes for news, sports, business, lifestyle and other topics -- giving you the latest news at your fingertips. You'll also be able to see what other people are reading in the ``most-read stories'' feature.

“Ohio.com will continue to provide local news content through the Akron Beacon Journal. This includes breaking news updates throughout the day.”

Blog visitors top 50,000 mark

Sometime earlier this week the number of vsitors to the BJ Retirees blog passed 50,000. The report on blog traffic today showed 50,327 visitors.

The blog was opened in July, 2004.

Distorted Picture: Photojournalism Credibility

Current and retired Beacon Journal photographers especially should be interested in an artricle titled "Distorted Picture" in the August/September preview of American Journalism Review

Thanks to Photoshop, the article notes, it’s awfully easy to manipulate photographs, as a number of recent scandals make painfully clear. Misuse of the technology poses a serious threat to photojournalism’s credibility.

Here are the lead graphs of the story by Sherry Ricchiardi, AJR senior contributing writer.:

If photo sleuths in Ohio hadn't noticed a pair of missing legs, Allan Detrich still would be cruising to assignments in his sleek blue truck, building his reputation as a photographer extraordinaire at the Toledo Blade. In April, the veteran shooter was forced out of the newsroom in disgrace, igniting a scandal that swept the photojournalism community. Coworkers were mystified about why a highly talented, hard worker who had garnered a slew of awards would cheat.

Detrich says that for a time, he felt like the most "reviled journalist in the country." Internet forums buzzed about his misdeeds, and photographers attacked him for sullying the profession. Some even sent hateful e-mail messages. "I wasn't the first to tamper with news photos and, unfortunately, I probably won't be the last," he says. "I screwed up. I got caught."

In his case, he says, he was seduced by software that made altering images so easy that "anyone can do it."

With new technology, faking or doctoring photographs has never been simpler, faster or more difficult to detect. Skilled operators truly are like magicians, except they use tools like Photoshop, the leading digital imaging software, to create their illusions.

Detrich, who had worked for the Blade since 1989, manipulated most of the images while alone in his truck, using a cell phone or WiFi for quick and easy transmission to the photo desk. There was little reason for him to return to the newsroom to process images. Until April 5, no one challenged the veracity of his photographs.

The photographer's downfall underscores a disturbing reality: With readily accessible, relatively inexpensive imaging tools (Photoshop sells for around $650) and a low learning curve, the axiom "seeing is believing" never has been more at risk. That has led to doomsday predictions about documentary photojournalism in this country.

"The public is losing faith in us. Without credibility, we have nothing; we cannot survive," says John Long, chairman of the ethics and standards committee of the National Press Photographers Association. Long pushes for stricter newsroom standards with missionary zeal and believes all journalists are tarnished when someone like Detrich falls from grace.

Click on the headline to read the full story.

New York, New York, It’s a Wonderful State!

Since we enjoyed meandering through Michigan so much in June, Paula and I decided to try the same thing in the state of New York.

We spent eight days taking in Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada, Watkins Glen State Park and the Finger Lakes of Seneca and Cayuga, Mark Twain’s grave in Elmira, the tall but narrow Taughannock Falls near Ithaca, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s home and gravesite and the Vanderbilt mansion, both in Hyde Park, and Fire Island and Staten Island, the Algonquin Hotel of literary 1920s Round Table fame and a Central Park concert in New York City.

On this visit to Niagara Falls, we went onto Goat Island, which has the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls flowing on either side of the observation point, the smaller waterfall within 10 feet of us. It gave us a different perspective, rather than doing our usual view of the Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian side.

We got our taste of Canada in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which is 12 miles from Niagara Falls. We went into the Niagara Apothecary, which was built in 1819 and is the longest operating pharmacy in Ontario, and enjoyed the quaint houses and streets.

Watkins Glen was a fascinating park. We walked through two miles of a narrow gorge that was cut 400 feet into a former ocean floor to see the 19 waterfalls and walk up more than 800 steep steps. Tiring, but well worth it.

We enjoyed lunch at the Montage Restaurant, which overlooks Seneca Lake, and watched sailboats go by. The drive to and from Auburn, which bordered the Seneca and later Cayuga (pronounced “key-you-guh” in New York) Finger Lakes, was spectacular.

While visiting Mark Twain’s grave in Elmira, which is where author Samuel Clemens lived, we also stopped by the grave of Ernie Davis, the 1961 Heisman Trophy winner from Syracuse University who died of leukemia at age 23 before he could play for the Cleveland Browns, who had drafted him.

Then there was the trip to Taughannock Falls near Utica, which at 215 feet is 33 feet higher than Niagara Falls, but less than a few feet wide when we got there. The solid rock floor is more than a hundred feet wide. The waterfall was created by centuries of cutting through shale.

The visit to FDR’s birthplace and grave was significant for me. In my childhood, as the son of a coal miner in tiny Monongah, West Virginia, Roosevelt was considered a God, a savior of the workingman. I remember my Mom crying when our only four-term president died on April 12, 1945, and wondering what would happen to America.

Up the road a few miles is the Vanderbilt mansion, built by Cornelius’ grandson Frederick. These are the same Vanderbilt heirs who ran through $200 million with extravagant parties and mansion-building.

We grabbed some eats at the large Whole Foods, which has both prepared foods and groceries, and took them to New York City’s Central Park where we took in a free concert attended by thousands of New Yorkers. I munched on ribs while listening to some excellent folksong-ish music.

Fire Island was an interesting experience for a kid from a small mining town in West Virginia. It is the land of lavender. I had never seen men holding hands and kissing each other on the mouth before. Some swimsuits were little more than G-strings. The white beach was great, although the Atlantic Ocean was too cold for more than wading near the shoreline.

The Algonquin Hotel was where such literary giants as Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, William Faulkner, Sinclair Lewis, Gertrude Stein, James Thurber and Alexander Woolcott hung out, exchanging witticisms around the Round Table.

Since New York has a plethora of restaurants, this time Paula and I accompanied her son, Pat, a jazz musician who lives in Brooklyn, to a Peruvian restaurant. Great tasting food! The next night, with Pat’s girlfriend, Erin, joining us, we went to Brooklyn Fishing Camp, a restaurant where the entire fish, eyeballs and all, is cooked. It tastes better than it sounds.

Our next trip? Well, West Virginia Mountaineers football begins Sept. 1 so Morgantown will be our travel destination at least six times this season, with trips to Tampa and Cincinnati for away games. Expectations are high for WVU. Anything less than the national championship will disappoint fans who aren’t realistic.
Click on the headline if you want to see photos of our trip.

14 take buyouts at Pioneer Press

Ten newsroom employees and four others companywide have accepted buyouts at the St. Paul Pioneer Press as the newspaper cuts jobs amid declining advertising revenue.

The newspaper also laid off two part-time workers in the library and eliminated an unspecified number of open jobs.

Those taking buyouts in the newsroom include: Mary Bauer, reporter; Diana Boger, designer; Craig Borck, photographer; Beth Gauper, reporter; Sheryl Jean, reporter; Matt Peiken, reporter; Joe Rossi, photographer; Kathy Rysgaard, researcher; Jeff Sjerven, copy editor; and Ellen Tomson, reporter.

Most will leave the company at the end of the week.

[Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press]

Would you buy a car from this man?

City Pages - the News and Arts Weekly in Minneapolis & St. Paul - has posted an extensive, must-read article with references to both Par Ridder and former BJ publisher Chris Harte who defends him.

The illustration of Par by Jay Bevenour nearly steals the show from the great story by G.R. Anderson Jr. and Paul Demoko.

See for yourself by clicking on the headline which will take you to citypages.com

Here are the sub headlines for the July 25 story:

Trials and Stribulations
Staffs gutted.
Secrets stolen.
A traitorous publisher forced to defend his actions in court.
The future has never looked bleaker for the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press.

The caption for the illustration asks the question:

Would you buy a car from this man?

Here are some relevant graphs pulled from the story:

“Taking the stand in Judge David Higgs's courtroom, Par Ridder couldn't have looked more like a rich boarding-school kid. The 38-year-old publishing scion was decked out in country-club navy blue with a haircut that was square in every sense of the word.

“His counterpart, MediaNews CEO William Dean Singleton, a self-made media mogul from Graham, Texas, cracked wise with reporters in the gallery outside the courtroom. Shuffling on legs hobbled by multiple sclerosis, the 55-year-old was in town just to enjoy the show—and to watch Ridder squirm.

“The ignoble occasion was a three-day hearing in late June that pitted the Pioneer Press against the Star Tribune, Minnesota's two largest daily newspapers. Ridder had raised eyebrows in March when he announced he was stepping down as publisher of the Pioneer Press to take the top job at the Star Tribune. Ridder's family had run the St. Paul daily for nearly 80 years. In that time, the two broadsheets went to war over scoops, revenues, and readers. To switch sides was the publishing equivalent of treason.

"But the real bombshell came in April, when MediaNews, parent company of the Pioneer Press, sued Ridder and the Star Tribune in Ramsey County District Court. In unseemly detail, the civil complaint laid out accusations that Ridder stole a laptop computer, sensitive financial data, and top employees when he jumped ship to the Strib.

"This theft of confidential information—and its receipt by the Star Tribune—was a clear violation of the law," one court document reads, asserting that Ridder and others used "wiping programs" to "cover their tracks."

“The last year has been a period of unprecedented turbulence for the state's two biggest daily newspapers, each of which has changed ownership.

“The Pioneer Press was first on the auction block. Under pressure from Wall Street, the Knight Ridder newspaper chain sold its 32 daily papers to the McClatchy Company in June 2006. But because McClatchy already owned the Star Tribune, it quickly announced plans to re-sell the Pioneer Press in order to avoid running afoul of antitrust regulations. Denver-based MediaNews then purchased the St. Paul paper and three California newspapers for $1 billion.

“Just six months later, McClatchy announced it was selling the Star Tribune, the flagship paper in its chain of 33 dailies. If the sale was a surprise, the price was downright astonishing. Avista Capital Partners, a private equity firm with no prior experience in the newspaper business, agreed to buy the Strib for $530 million—less than half what McClatchy had paid for the paper eight years earlier.”

Chris Harte, a consultant for Avista who serves as chairman of the Star Tribune, defends Ridder, insisting that he's been treated unfairly by the media. "I'm frankly astounded at how many journalists are jumping to conclusions on the basis of allegations of a competitor who is obviously out to gain competitive advantage," he writes.

Avista claims that it's in the newspaper business for the long haul—Harte writes that he expects Avista to own the paper for "quite a while." But fears persist that the company bought the paper to cut costs and sell out within five years for a quick profit, something for which private equity firms are notorious.

McClatchy profits fall in second quarter

The McClatchy Co.'s latest earnings show the companhy is still feeling the impact of a one-two punch: the newspaper industry's overall advertising slump and a housing market downturn that's slammed two of McClatchy's biggest markets.

Chairman and Chief Executive Gary Pruitt said Thursday that second-quarter profits fell to $40 million, or 49 cents a share, from $44.1 million, or 94 cents a share. The per-share decline is so steep because McClatchy has 35 million more shares outstanding than a year ago, reflecting the purchase of Knight Ridder Inc.

The downturn mainly reflected a significant drop in ad sales, especially at McClatchy's California and Florida papers. Nearly three-quarters of the drop in ad revenue came from those two states, which are suffering from real estate woes. Real estate advertising was down 32 percent in California and Florida, causing a spillover effect that depressed other ad categories.

"California and Florida are certainly taking a toll," Pruitt said in a conference call with investment analysts. He said he's confident the two states, which were bright spots not too long ago, will rebound. California and Florida -- led by McClatchy's two largest papers, The Bee and the Miami Herald -- generate one-third of the company's ad revenue.

On the plus side, the nation's third-largest newspaper chain squeezed out substantial cost savings and improved its operating cash flow by 4.4 percent. Cash flow is a measure of profit that leaves out certain expenses, including the hefty interest payments McClatchy is making because of last summer's takeover of Knight Ridder Inc.

In addition, the 49 cents per-share profit beat Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of 42 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial. Investors responded by driving up McClatchy stock 13 cents to $26.41 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Click on the headline to read the full story by the Sacramento Bee staff writer Dale Kasler

Debbie shuns debates on comics

Ted Diadiun, the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s reader representative, tells readers of his Sunday column why newspapers tweak things and why former BJ staffer Debbie VanTassel is not always happy with too many changes.

By Ted Diadiun
Plain Dealer Columnist
A woman called awhile back to opine on the issue of "tweaking." I didn't save the voice mail, but here's an approximation:

"What's with all this tweaking you people do constantly?" she shouted into the phone. "Why can't you leave things alone? You change the comics, you change the TV listings. Every time I get used to the paper one way, you change it! Keep it the way it is. . . . I am so sick of your constant tuh-WEAKING!!"

In her colorful way, the caller put her finger on a reality of this business: the continuing need for the newspaper to remain fresh and current, which can run contrary to some readers' desire that we keep things the way they are -- on the same page, in the same order -- forever.

The daily newspaper is an evolving, almost living, entity. Obviously, the news is different every day. So editors are constantly tinkering with fresh approaches, adjusting old content, adding this and deleting that.

So comics come and go. This is distressing to some, because there isn't a comic strip ever created that isn't some reader's favorite, and there is no fury like a reader whose favorite strip has disappeared from the paper.

But if no newspaper ever experimented with its comics lineup, we would all still be carrying the Katzenjammer Kids, and you never would have heard of Charlie Brown -- let alone Garfield or Dilbert. If I had my way, we would dump a half-dozen strips a year and replace them with fresh ones. This is an opinion, I should emphasize, that is not shared by our features editor, Debbie VanTassel -- who understands the need for occasional churn but has things she wants to do with her life other than debate with readers about comics all day long.

Click on the headline to read the unsnipped version of the column

Composing retiree William Gutshall dies

FLORIDA -- William S. Gutshall, 97, of Clearwater, Fla., passed peacefully July 11, 2007.

A longtime Buckeyes fan, he is survived by his wife of 67 years, Alberta, and loving family in Akron, Ohio and Northern Virginia.

Donations to Hospice of the Florida Suncoast.

[The Beacon Journal,, Akron, OH, Wednesday, July 18, 2007, page B6, col. 3 ]

Gutshall worked in the Beacon Journal Composing Room during the early 1950's through the 1970's.

Weak ad sales hurt newspapers

Newspaper publishers including McClatchy Co. and Media General Inc. reported Thursday that second-quarter profit declined on slumping automotive and real estate advertising.

McClatchy, publisher of the Sacramento Bee, said net income fell 9.5% to $39.9 million, or 49 cents a share, from $44.1 million, or 94 cents, a year earlier. Profit slid 75% at Media General.

The slumping U.S. housing market is crimping real estate advertising, especially in the Southwest and Southeast. Sacramento-based McClatchy's 11% drop in June ad sales was paced by declines in California and Florida.

U.S. newspapers suffered a 4.7% drop in first-quarter ad sales, according to TNS Media Intelligence, a New York-based researcher.

"The air has come out of the home bubble and it's taking a lot of advertising along with it," said Ed Atorino, an analyst at Benchmark Co. in New York. "There may be some months before we see recovery in those markets." He has a "hold" rating on McClatchy and Media General.

McClatchy's profit excluding a one-time gain was 48 cents, beating the 43-cent average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Sales more than doubled to $580 million after the purchase of Knight Ridder Inc. for $4.1 billion last year, the company said.

Nearly three-quarters of McClatchy's advertising declines are coming from California and Florida, Chief Executive Gary Pruitt said. Ad sales in those areas fell 18%.

Media General, based in Richmond, Va., said second- quarter net income decreased to $5.1 million, or 22 cents a share, from $20.2 million, or 85 cents, a year earlier. Earnings were in line with a forecast that Media General gave last month.

Sales rose 4.8% to $241.2 million after the company acquired four NBC television stations in June 2006.

[Source: Los Angeles Times business section]

Sherman's PCM dumps newspapers

Private Capital Management, once the most enthusiastic investor in newspaper stocks, has dumped more than $2.5 billion in publishing shares, or 62.5% of its holdings, according to new Wall Street research.

PCM, which held $1.5 billion in newspaper shares at the end of March, became something of a household word in the newspaper industry when Bruce S. Sherman, its chief executive, forced the liquidation of Knight Ridder in 2006.

The aggressive selling by the Florida-based investment firm in the last 2½ years is one of the reasons that newspaper stocks have lost some $15 billion in value since 2004, says securities analyst Paul Ginocchio of Deutsche Bank.

“After reaching a peak position of almost $4 billion [at the beginning of 2005], PCM has been reducing its huge stake in the industry every quarter since the fourth quarter of 2005,” says Paul. While he says most of the recent decline in newspaper stocks are attributable to falling Wall Street earnings expectations “caused by weak print advertising trends and contracting margins, we think the headwind from PCM selling hasn’t helped.”

As illustrated in the table, PCM at one time owned nearly a quarter of the stock of such companies as Belo, Lee Enterprises and McClatchy Newspapers. Today, those positions have been reduced by more than half. Other major PCM holdings that have been reduced significantly are the shares of Media General, New York Times Co. and Gannett.

When PCM forced the sale of Knight Ridder, Bruce was counting on robust competition for the assets to boost the value of his extensive publishing portfolio. Quite the opposite occurred.

The only bid for the company came from McClatchy Newspapers, which made a barely respectable offer – and then added insult to injury by dumping such venerable properties as the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Beacon Journal and San Jose Mercury News.

KRI shareholders who got a combination of cash and McClatchy stock at the time the sale were in for a rude shock, too. McClatchy’s shares have fallen 33.7% since June, 2006.

Paul believes Lee’s shares may have been the most depressed by PCM, whose trading represented up to 9% of the activity in the issue in the last quarter of 2006 and the first period of 2007. “The ‘good’ news for Lee is that they are closer to the point where PCM has fully exited the stock than several of the other newspaper names,” says Paul.

Depending on the speed with which PCM disposes of the other publishing stocks in its portfolio, it may take up to a year for Bruce to get clear of Media General, McClatchy and Belo.

[Source: Reflections of a Newsosaur]

Updated Ohio Politics released

The revised and updated edition of Ohio Politics edited by Brian Usher and Alexander P. Lamis has been released by the Kent State University Press.

Former Beacon Journal staff member Brian Usher was a political writer and Statehouse correspondent for several Ohio newspapers and press secretary for former governor Richard Celeste. He currently operates his own public relations firm in Columbus, Ohio.

Alexander P. Lamis is associate professor of political science at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. A specialist on elections and political parties, he is the author of Southern Politics in the 1990s (1999).

When first published in 1994, Ohio Politics was defined as the first comprehensive survey of the state’s post–World War II politics. A collaborative effort by a team of journalists and political scientists, this updated edition includes coverage of the 2004 and 2006 elections; new chapters devoted to Governor George Voinovich’s second term and the era of Governor Bob Taft; and full coverage of Ohio’s school-funding cases. Also new to this edition is an overview of the era of Republican dominance that began in 1994 and ended abruptly in the Strickland landslide of 2006.

Contributing authors also explore the state’s recent political history and the diverse and often highly contentious political struggles in the years since 1944 and analyze in depth the state’s legislative, executive, and judicial branches, as well as their leaders. Additionally, contributors explore interest groups, elections, political parties, the news media, Ohio’s representation in Congress, and state politics in historical perspective.

In this revised edition, Ohio Politics serves as the study of Ohio’s rich and lively political history.

Some early reviews:

“Well-written and richly detailed, Ohio Politics offers interesting and informative anecdotes and a valuable study for the specialist as well as the non-specialist in search of a reference tool. . . . This fine volume will captivate readers of diverse interests and, indeed, contribute to enlightened government in the Buckeye State.”
—Northwest Ohio Quarterly

“This is the first comprehensive survey of the states’ major political events since 1944.”
—Echoes, Ohio Historical Society

“A fascinating story of executive power and party politics in the Buckeye State.” —CHOICE
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Politics/Ohio History
Paper ● $32.00t ● 2007 06.28.07 (Pub. Date)
ISBN 0-87338-613-2
978-0-87338-613-5
617 pp., 6-1/8 x 9-1/4
illustrations, notes, biblio., index