Today’s Red Eye says what everyone is thinking today. (via Newseum)
Look, it’s not fair to pick on a single media outlet. I respect the fact that journalists have been lucky enough to keep their jobs in Seattle — during a recession — despite all this. But, this is a potential microcosm of what could happen to newspapers around the country, and we need to talk about this before another flailing big paper tries something similar.
I see what’s happened to the P-I in the past few years, and I worry that this is the model that newspapers — slowly looking to put the genie back in the bottle — are going to have to rely on.
My posts the other night about this ad inspired a Medium rant. I was tough, but fair (I think). Enjoy. — Ernie @ SFB
“We have accomplished a great deal over the past seven years, as we built The Washington Examiner into a credible and respected brand in a very competitive market. The strong foundation we established with the website and daily newspaper presents us with the opportunity to shift our focus and meet a pressing need in the political content marketplace,” said Ryan McKibben, president of Clarity Media Group, the Denver-based company that owns The Washington Examiner. “As a result of research and analysis conducted over the past year, we have determined that there is an opportunity to bring our style of investigative journalism and keen analysis and commentary to covering national government and politics. The re-positioned Washington Examiner will meet that demand.”
The company also announced it has named Lou Ann Sabatier, a long-time executive and consultant in the publishing industry, chief executive officer of Clarity’s Washington Group, which in addition to The Washington Examiner includes The Weekly Standard and the website Red Alert Politics.
Under the plan announced today, the daily newspaper will continue to be published through June 14 with the new website launching June 17 and the first issue of the weekly coming out June 20. The change will require significant staffing adjustments in editorial and operations as the Examiner eliminates coverage of local news, sports and entertainment. In addition to 88 days notice, affected employees will receive severance and other separation benefits.
Rough translation: We want to be The Daily Caller, but by having a daily newspaper, we’re forced to cover local news and sports. So let’s get rid of the daily newspaper.
In case you’re looking for a job where all of your decisions are going to be second-guessed, apply to work at the Cherokee Scout, which recently lost an editor after an incident where the paper filed a public records request regarding gun owners in the community. (This has been a thing lately.)
Have to admit, this is a really fresh take on the op-ed headline. Really honest about the contents of the piece. (ht Charles Apple)
That’s it. No need to post anything else today. Can’t top this.
Either a subtle dig at those that hate math or (more likely) a copy editor that’s right there with them.
Many of our crime stories involving robberies include a description of the suspects when provided by police. White, black, Asian, it doesn’t matter. If that description helps with an arrest, we are glad to help. But lately, when the suspect was black, it brought out the most vile, repulsive and offensive comments we have ever had on our website. In fact, it has now got to the point that we are turning off commenting on crime stories when they appear on our website.Mike Johnston, the editor of DunhamRegion.com, discussing why the site chose to turn off comments on crime stories. (ht Romenesko)
SAMESIES! Exact pic shows up on front pages of FOUR major newspapers today. More details here.
Well, not the exact pic. Apparently storm coverage on its own is just too blasé for the folks at the New York Post these days. Also, setting aside whether this storm should even have a name (we cry foul), the shark isn’t Nemo. Nemo biting – likely not a problem.
Most interesting way to reveal a new album title: Put it in the New York Times classifieds’ “Notices & Lost and Found” category, to ensure nobody ever sees it — unless, like Vampire Weekend, you drop hints.
The front of today’s New York Times Sports section.
The NYT is just throwing negative space and reverse boxes all over the place these days. Also, this tiny paper already beat them to this trick.
A Jan. 1936 news item.
(No mention of how newspapers make huge amounts of money through these screens.)
Via T.J. Ortenzi via Phil Rosenthal
Ahead of its time by about six decades.
When the weather outside is frightful, and the driving’s not delightful, and you need to get your butt home, “Let is snow, let is snow, let is snow”!
When you’re trying to copy edit, but your editor’s like, “forget it,” and you work at a tiny hole, ”Let is snow, let is snow, let is snow”!
More than a year and a half later, it’s clear the New York Times’ paywall is not only valuable, it’s helped turn the paper’s subscription dollars, which once might have been considered the equivalent of a generous tithing, into a significant revenue-generating business. As of this year, the company is expected to make more money from subscriptions than from advertising — the first time that’s happened.Bloomberg’s Edmund Lee • Discussing the success of the New York Times paywall, which has done something very surprising — it’s allowed the New York Times to make more than half of its overall revenue from subscriptions, rather than the traditional 80 percent advertising/20 percent subscriptions balance that has traditionally defined newspapers. That’s good for a number of reasons, with the biggest being that the New York Times is no longer as overly reliant on ad dollars to sell its news. That’s an awesome spot for the Times to be, but the real question: Does that mean anything for papers that aren’t the Times, which may be a tougher sell than a paper of record?
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