New Direction

Old Dominion loses its first newspaper to recession

The Clarke Courier in Berryville, Va. published its final edition this week. It becomes the first paid circulation newspaper in Virginia to close because of the current recession.
The Washington Post's Marc Fisher writes that the Courier was the only paper that really cared about Clarke County.
Papers like The Clarke Courier are often the only publications that really care about towns like Berryville.
I know when I worked at a weekly in Kings Mountain, N.C., I would often write multiple stories from city council meetings. I had to bring back stories from places like the local high school's senior picnic. Going to a school could mean getting some photos from an assembly or science fair. There was also a story from last Friday's football game and most days one about the next opponent.
That range of coverage is only found in community newspapers.

D.C. stations create news service

According to this from Friday's Washington Post, three District television stations will be creating a news service that will consist of two videographers from each station.
WUSA (CBS), WRC (NBC) and WTTG (Fox) are participating in the arrangement.
Judging from the article, the news service will cover breaking news and news conferences.
I like this. Spot news and news conferences are pretty common news stories. The stations participating in the new pool arrangement certainly have the potential to have better broadcasts now that some of their staff won't be trapped at a ribbon cutting or called at the last minute to go to a 3-car wreck with five dead on the beltway.
I wish more media outlets in my area of North Carolina would get into this. The (Greensboro, N.C.) News & Record now runs stories from papers in Winston-Salem and High Point.
The Winston-Salem Journal has an arrangement with WGHP, the local fox affiliate in High Point.
When I worked at a weekly in Kings Mountain, I shared certain information with a reporter with WSOC, the Charlotte ABC affiliate. My town was in his area. If I needed to get started with a raid that happened yesterday, he had what I needed to get started. If he needed to know how the city council meeting went last night, I passed it on.
More media outlets need to get on board with pooling resources with other outlets in their local market.
The main reason why is one more story can get on the air, in print and online.

Hat Tip: Gannett Blog

Durham newspaper makes more cuts

According to this thread from sportsjournalists.com, more cuts have been made at The (Durham, N.C.) Herald-Sun. While no specific figures have been confirmed, it appears that one sports reporter is part of the six that were laid off from the newsroom.

When Kentucky-based Paxton Media Group purchased the newspaper, executives immediately laid off many people.

I once contributed to this once-great newspaper as a stringer for the sports department in college. I still have my clips and am proud of them.

It just gets depressing watching one company destroy a newspaper like The Herald-Sun.

The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and PBS Announce Changes

    BALTIMORE -- Jim Lehrer, executive editor of The NewsHour, announced that the PBS program will make major changes in its broadcast and digital news product. The first program with the new format is scheduled to air in September.
The changes include PBS NewsHour as the new name, moving from a single anchor to a dual anchor each evening, and the addition of a correspondent who will serve as a bridge between The NewsHour's broadcast and digital platforms. Lehrer will remain executive editor and primary anchor of the new PBS NewsHour.The announcement was made at the PBS Showcase, an annual gathering of local PBS station leaders.
"We welcome change and look forward to a new and enhanced NewsHour that better meets the demands of our audience, regardless of whether they come to us on-air or online," said Lehrer in addressing the announced changes. "What will not change is our commitment to serious journalism -- MacNeil-Lehrer journalism -- the kind of work we've been doing for 35 years. This is needed now more than ever."

I haven't watched this program as much as I should. I catch Frontline episodes when there is something on that catches my eye. My mornings start with Bob Edwards on the radio.
While I have not watched a lot of The NewsHour, it seems to be one of the few broadcasts doing quality journalism.
Frontline takes a subject and examines it in an hour. Bob Edwards lets a person tell his own story.
This is what I like about journalism in public broadcasting. The story is allowed to be told.

Charlotte Observer raises prices

According to this, The Charlotte Observer is raising its single-copy prices to 75 cents Monday-Saturday and $2 on Sunday.
I used to subscribe to the paper until they stopped delivering in my area. Hopefully, this price increase means there will be more staff-produced stories in the paper. Although doubtful about that, I remain optimistic.
The Sunday Observer's sports section was always a must-read for me when I was younger. At that time, the Sunday sports page felt like a magazine to me.
I miss those days but hope that newspapers can successfully transform themselves.

 

Are people still concerned about newspapers?

The announcement that Marriott will stop automatic delivery of newspapers in its hotels got me thinking. Are people still concerned about newspapers?
Marriott makes this change and a company official even says he has stepped over many unclaimed newspapers at various properties.
Two bookstores in my area have put some, if not all, of their newspapers behind the counter.
I haven't heard an objection raised about any of these changes. Nor have I heard anything about papers that raise their prices while cutting space for news.
Now, on to the Internet.
Time Warner Cable, the dominant Internet service provider in my area, announced that it would test usage caps in Greensboro.
There were many, many comments on a variety of blogs. There was a protest at the cable company's Greensboro office on Saturday.
For now, the company has decided to shelve the test.
One thing that was refreshing to me was when I was working at the newspaper in Lexington, N.C.
The newspaper had laid off it's press room and mail room personnel and moved printing to a sister paper in South Carolina.
The editor wrote a column about the move and people in the community could not stop talking about it. I could sense the disappointment about the town's newspaper not being printed locally.
While a terrible thing to happen, the town's conversation about the layoffs and new printing location showed how much it still valued the newspaper.

Would the news business work better as nonprofit?

This piece from Salon talks about some very successful nonprofit news outlets such as Voice of San Diego and MinnPost.com.
Could others benefit by following this business model? I think it's worth a shot. At a lot of newspapers, what is there to lose?

Times Co. asks Globe mailers for concessions

Times Co. asks Globe mailers for concessions - The Boston Globe.

This is still a little hard to read, that a newspaper like The Globe is in such trouble.

"From the mailers, the Times Co. is seeking a 25 percent wage cut, the virtual elimination of its contributions to their healthcare plan, and an end to company contributions to pensions, White said. The company also proposed eliminating sick and holiday pay and lifetime job guarantees enjoyed by about 145 mailers."

I think a 25 percent wage reduction in a high cost of living area like Boston is laughable. Also, I have similar sentiment about all but eliminating healthcare contributions and the proposed elimination of sick and holiday pay.
As far as the pensions, could the Times Co. make a smaller contribution?

The Seattle P-I: Life after the print edition

Editor & Publisher has a story about how the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is doing since it published its last print edition on March 17 and became a Web-only publication.
I'm sure there have been changes in how the news is covered and presented now.
Hopefully, the P-I and The Christian Science Monitor, which also recently changed to a solely online publication will flourish.
Check out the site here.

Richmond Times-Dispatch lays off 59 employees

The Richmond Times-Dispatch lays off 59 employees, according to this press release, er, story that's supposed to report what happened. It's a shame the paper didn't feel that telling its readership about the job losses was that important. Having been there, I feel for the people that are now without a job.