This blog is mainly about the spectacular train wreck at The Sacramento Bee and its parent company, the McClatchy Company. But I also post about current events, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, politics, anything else that grabs my attention. Take a look around this blog, hope you enjoy it.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Tuesday June 9 -- Got news or an update?
If you have news or an update, leave it in comments. . . .
One-week, unpaid furloughs are being implemented in Wichita. (Employees must schedule a week off before the end of September.) Any furloughs at other papers?
Boston Globe union rejects contract offer (Go Trotskyites!)
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The largest union representing employees of the Boston Globe narrowly rejected management's final contract offer Monday, possibly setting the stage for the closure of the embattled newspaper.
The Obama Numbers Are Pure Fiction. Tony Fratto is envious.
Mr. Fratto was a colleague of mine in the Bush administration, and as a senior member of the White House communications shop, he knows just how difficult it can be to deal with a press corps skeptical about presidential economic claims.
It now appears, however, that Mr. Fratto's problem was that he simply lacked the magic words -- jobs "saved or created."
Michelle Obama Carried $1500 VBH Clutch For NYC Date With The President famespy.com
"And Barack Obama will require you to work."
"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,"
Newspapers' Plan For Survival: Charge Money, Beat Up On Craigslist And Keep Repeating To Ourselves That We're Needed (Techdirt)
There's been plenty of coverage about the potentially antitrust-violating meeting of newspaper execs in Chicago recently, and late last week reports came out about some of the recommendations put forth by the American Press Institute at that meeting.
The API apparently handed out two whitepapers, both of which are amusing, only in that someone actually thinks they're useful.
The first was effectively saying: "Craigslist really sucks, so let's try to beat up on Craigslist."
The second, more thorough whitepaper, rehashes a bunch of debunked ideas about how newspapers should lock up their content in order to charge for it, including such gems as: "Establish that news content online has value by charging for it."
Apparently someone at the API is unfamiliar with the difference between price and value. You don't establish value by putting a price on things. You are able to put a higher price on things by creating scarce value. But the industry isn't looking to do that. It's looking to pretend its content has value, by locking it up.
Unfortunately for the newspapers (but good for everyone else), economics doesn't work that way.
6:51 AM There is nothing to correct. If a correction would be necessary it would be on the part of the author of the article sited, written by a former college of DD's.
Judging from the comments never sited in John's PR piece on behalf of DD, there is no correction necessary.
"We at McClatchy Watch made a grave error in questioning Dereck Donovan's qualifications for being a food critic. According to a PR firm in KC, Mr D is absolutely qualified to judge your food as he has a degree in Theater. (hmmmmm)"
Now, how does this degree translate into qualifications for being a readers rep we wonder? Is it his course study in impersonating something he is not?
6:51 Let me give it a shot. The article points out that Derek Donovan has been writing articles for others on vacation for years and essentially asks what's the big deal.
Good question, and I invite everyone to read Mr Landsberg's comments (on this and every other topic he writes on), but now let me see if I can answer the question.
The big deal, I think, is that Derek Donovan has so alienated people inside and outside the industry that many are looking for any excuse to give him the treatment he's given others.
Hearne is probably correct in stating that the Reader’s Rep can be used to deny raises and inflict other punishments on those he writes about. That raises two issues. One, has Derek engaged in the same biased and abusive conduct towards those inside the paper that he has inflicted on those outside? Secondly, regardless the answer to question 1, it must be galling to those on the inside that they’re being criticized by someone whose ethical lapses are far worse than theirs, and yet he himself appears to be beyond the reach of any ethical regulation. That hypocrisy alone would alienate many.
I posted on McClatchy Watch the text of a maliciously libelous blog entry written by Derek carrying out the threat he made to me during a second phone call to trash my reputation if I failed to remove the mp3 of his abusive voicemail from the Internet. When I refused, he launched into an obscene and abusive tirade that ended only when my provider dropped the call.
While this was perhaps the most extreme case of his misconduct, it was hardly isolated. Here’s the text of an entry on his blog by yet another reader discussing Donovan’s communications:
“I had contacted Derek Donovan with two separate concerns I had and the email reply I got from him was downright scary! He had taken these two things that I had talked about and he mixed them together and came back with a reply that had NOTHING to do with what I had said. I sat there looking at this email reply wondering what the heck he was talking about and how he could read my email and then send that completely off topic reply!”
And yet another:
“Donovan’s expressed concern for civility is difficult to take seriously. He himself has often crossed over the line into incivility. For example, he is way too fond of the words “lie,” "liar,” and “lying.” Consider just a few of the responses he has given to commenters to his blog and column: “You are lying. You are a liar.” “Your assertion about Hawaii not vouching for it is a lie.” “If you claim otherwise, the spam filter nabbed you by accident, or you are lying.” Derek, feel free to point out what you believe are fallacies in posters’ comments, but please lay off the name calling.”
cont'd Indeed, if there is one trait I would attribute to Derek it is that he is the Prince of Projection, i.e., he attributes to others those traits he himself exhibits. While he denounces others as liars he himself publishes one falsehood after another. While he criticizes Star journalists for bias and a litany of relatively trivial mistakes and errors he commits acts of bias and brazenly insults and libels those he has been allegedly assigned to represent.
Derek suggested that an appropriate communication alleged against another Star reporter would have been a “career ender” yet he proudly engages in far more abusive communications and what do we get from his superiors? “You will need to continue working through Derek on this. He is the reader rep, not me. I do respect that boundary we've necessarily created and also the work that he does.”
The bottom line here (no pun intended) is that Derek has engaged in far worse conduct than anything I’ve seen any reporter accused of in his blog entries, or columns and yet his (mis)conduct is embraced by management. Most journalists I know of do not appreciate hypocrisy and so it is not surprising to me that Derek would be held in the same contempt by many inside The Star as he is to many outside The Star.
Taken in that context I would read Hearne’s columns as somewhat of a referendum by Mr. Donovan’s colleagues of what they think of him.
Oops, "an appropriate communication alleged against another Star reporter" should be an inappropriate communication alleged against another Star reporter". Thank you.
I am so sick of the hypocritical news. They can slam others like Katie Couric did yesterday without any body saying a word.
Katie Couric Tells Princeton Grads to Avoid 'Nastiness,' Then Takes Swipes at Sarah Palin, Carrie Prejean Monday, June 08, 2009 By Christopher Neefus
(CNSNews.com) – CBS News Anchor Katie Couric told Princeton's graduating seniors last week that they should avoid "nastiness" and then mocked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Miss California Carrie Prejean, while praising Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, First Lady Michelle Obama and Judge Sonia Sotomayor. The latter two are Princeton graduates.
Richard Richtmyer, a Philadelphia-based newsman, set off Tuesday’s tempest with a seemingly harmless comment posted to his Facebook profile late last month criticizing the executive management of newspaper publisher McClatchy, whose stock plummeted following a 2006 acquisition of San Jose-based Knight Ridder. “It seems like the ones who orchestrated the whole mess should be losing their jobs or getting pushed into smaller quarters,” Richtmyer wrote on May 28. “But they aren’t.”
18 comments:
One-week, unpaid furloughs are being implemented in Wichita. (Employees must schedule a week off before the end of September.)
Any furloughs at other papers?
Boston Globe union rejects contract offer (Go Trotskyites!)
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The largest union representing employees of the Boston Globe narrowly rejected management's final contract offer Monday, possibly setting the stage for the closure of the embattled newspaper.
IRONIC
Liberal union thugs, advising liberal reporters at the Globe, who are fighting Marxist liberal management of the NY Slimes.
Why don’t the filthy capitalist pigs at the Times just give the workers what they demand?
That's what they are always advocating isn’t it?
Does anyone know how the world famous "bond swap" is going?
The Media (MNI) Fall for Phony 'Jobs' Claims WSJ
The Obama Numbers Are Pure Fiction. Tony Fratto is envious.
Mr. Fratto was a colleague of mine in the Bush administration, and as a senior member of the White House communications shop, he knows just how difficult it can be to deal with a press corps skeptical about presidential economic claims.
It now appears, however, that Mr. Fratto's problem was that he simply lacked the magic words -- jobs "saved or created."
Michelle Obama Carried $1500 VBH Clutch For NYC Date With The President famespy.com
"And Barack Obama will require you to work."
"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,"
U.S. Ad Spending Plummets $3.8 Billion (Media Daily News)
Ad spending in the U.S. media tracked by the Nielsen Co. declined 12% during the first quarter of 2009, as compared with the same quarter in 2008.
Preliminary figures show that the decline amounts to a drop of $3.8 billion in total U.S. ad spending, Nielsen said.
Newspapers' Plan For Survival: Charge Money, Beat Up On Craigslist And Keep Repeating To Ourselves That We're Needed (Techdirt)
There's been plenty of coverage about the potentially antitrust-violating meeting of newspaper execs in Chicago recently, and late last week reports came out about some of the recommendations put forth by the American Press Institute at that meeting.
The API apparently handed out two whitepapers, both of which are amusing, only in that someone actually thinks they're useful.
The first was effectively saying: "Craigslist really sucks, so let's try to beat up on Craigslist."
The second, more thorough whitepaper, rehashes a bunch of debunked ideas about how newspapers should lock up their content in order to charge for it, including such gems as: "Establish that news content online has value by charging for it."
Apparently someone at the API is unfamiliar with the difference between price and value. You don't establish value by putting a price on things. You are able to put a higher price on things by creating scarce value. But the industry isn't looking to do that. It's looking to pretend its content has value, by locking it up.
Unfortunately for the newspapers (but good for everyone else), economics doesn't work that way.
MW, when were you planning to correct yourself by posting and commenting on this?
http://www.bottomlinecom.com/kcnews/criticizingstarsrr.html
6:51 AM There is nothing to correct. If a correction would be necessary it would be on the part of the author of the article sited, written by a former college of DD's.
Judging from the comments never sited in John's PR piece on behalf of DD, there is no correction necessary.
Here's a correction for you.
"We at McClatchy Watch made a grave error in questioning Dereck Donovan's qualifications for being a food critic. According to a PR firm in KC, Mr D is absolutely qualified to judge your food as he has a degree in Theater. (hmmmmm)"
Now, how does this degree translate into qualifications for being a readers rep we wonder? Is it his course study in impersonating something he is not?
6:51 Let me give it a shot. The article points out that Derek Donovan has been writing articles for others on vacation for years and essentially asks what's the big deal.
Good question, and I invite everyone to read Mr Landsberg's comments (on this and every other topic he writes on), but now let me see if I can answer the question.
The big deal, I think, is that Derek Donovan has so alienated people inside and outside the industry that many are looking for any excuse to give him the treatment he's given others.
Hearne is probably correct in stating that the Reader’s Rep can be used to deny raises and inflict other punishments on those he writes about. That raises two issues. One, has Derek engaged in the same biased and abusive conduct towards those inside the paper that he has inflicted on those outside? Secondly, regardless the answer to question 1, it must be galling to those on the inside that they’re being criticized by someone whose ethical lapses are far worse than theirs, and yet he himself appears to be beyond the reach of any ethical regulation. That hypocrisy alone would alienate many.
I posted on McClatchy Watch the text of a maliciously libelous blog entry written by Derek carrying out the threat he made to me during a second phone call to trash my reputation if I failed to remove the mp3 of his abusive voicemail from the Internet. When I refused, he launched into an obscene and abusive tirade that ended only when my provider dropped the call.
While this was perhaps the most extreme case of his misconduct, it was hardly isolated. Here’s the text of an entry on his blog by yet another reader discussing Donovan’s communications:
“I had contacted Derek Donovan with two separate concerns I had and the email reply I got from him was downright scary! He had taken these two things that I had talked about and he mixed them together and came back with a reply that had NOTHING to do with what I had said. I sat there looking at this email reply wondering what the heck he was talking about and how he could read my email and then send that completely off topic reply!”
And yet another:
“Donovan’s expressed concern for civility is difficult to take seriously. He himself has often crossed over the line into incivility. For example, he is way too fond of the words “lie,” "liar,” and “lying.” Consider just a few of the responses he has given to commenters to his blog and column: “You are lying. You are a liar.” “Your assertion about Hawaii not vouching for it is a lie.” “If you claim otherwise, the spam filter nabbed you by accident, or you are lying.” Derek, feel free to point out what you believe are fallacies in posters’ comments, but please lay off the name calling.”
cont'd Indeed, if there is one trait I would attribute to Derek it is that he is the Prince of Projection, i.e., he attributes to others those traits he himself exhibits. While he denounces others as liars he himself publishes one falsehood after another. While he criticizes Star journalists for bias and a litany of relatively trivial mistakes and errors he commits acts of bias and brazenly insults and libels those he has been allegedly assigned to represent.
Derek suggested that an appropriate communication alleged against another Star reporter would have been a “career ender” yet he proudly engages in far more abusive communications and what do we get from his superiors? “You will need to continue working through Derek on this. He is the reader rep, not me. I do respect that boundary
we've necessarily created and also the work that he does.”
The bottom line here (no pun intended) is that Derek has engaged in far worse conduct than anything I’ve seen any reporter accused of in his blog entries, or columns and yet his (mis)conduct is embraced by management. Most journalists I know of do not appreciate hypocrisy and so it is not surprising to me that Derek would be held in the same contempt by many inside The Star as he is to many outside The Star.
Taken in that context I would read Hearne’s columns as somewhat of a referendum by Mr. Donovan’s colleagues of what they think of him.
Oops, "an appropriate communication alleged against another Star reporter" should be an inappropriate communication alleged against another Star reporter". Thank you.
I am so sick of the hypocritical news. They can slam others like Katie Couric did yesterday without any body saying a word.
Katie Couric Tells Princeton Grads to Avoid 'Nastiness,' Then Takes Swipes at Sarah Palin, Carrie Prejean
Monday, June 08, 2009
By Christopher Neefus
(CNSNews.com) – CBS News Anchor Katie Couric told Princeton's graduating seniors last week that they should avoid "nastiness" and then mocked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Miss California Carrie Prejean, while praising Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, First Lady Michelle Obama and Judge Sonia Sotomayor. The latter two are Princeton graduates.
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=49244
6:51 Let me give it a shot.
==============
That was more like a salvo!
AP Reporter Reprimanded For Facebook Post; Union Protests
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/06/facebooksword/
Richard Richtmyer, a Philadelphia-based newsman, set off Tuesday’s tempest with a seemingly harmless comment posted to his Facebook profile late last month criticizing the executive management of newspaper publisher McClatchy, whose stock plummeted following a 2006 acquisition of San Jose-based Knight Ridder. “It seems like the ones who orchestrated the whole mess should be losing their jobs or getting pushed into smaller quarters,” Richtmyer wrote on May 28. “But they aren’t.”
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