The Obama Press and the Audacity of Dopes

As an illustration of how low the media is willing sink in its support of Barrak Obama, the dopes at MSNBC had the audacity to run this line during Sarah Palins acceptance speech in Ohio.

"How many houses does Palin add to the Republican Ticket"?

The press wonders why they are on the fast track to financial bankruptcy? (See links below) It's because they themselves are for the most part professionally and ethically bankrupt! " Even leftist Bill Maher thinks the press has lost all perspective when he noted that “The coverage after, that I was watching, from MSNBC, I mean these guys were ready to have sex with him.” So before I go on a rant about the imminent demise of the press and how they have essentially abdicated their role as the fifth estate let me answer their question.

She has her family home in Wasilla and this little gem in Juneau, the Alaska Governors Mansion. That would be TWO.

I find the fixation on McCain's housing situation laughable. I'm sure there is a degree of envy involved in the fact that Mac married up. But as I aways say, "It's not your fault if your daddy doesn't have money, but it is your fault if your wife's daddy doesn't have money." Get over it.

Bloomburg: "Tribune, MediaNews May Wind Up in Default as Ad Sales Evaporate"

Newsosaur: Defaultomatic

Newspaper Shake Up in 2008

There is no doubt that 2007 was a tough year for the Newspaper Business. McClatchy Co. the second largest chain in the country, saw its stock drop over 70% in 2007. The Gannet Company fared somewhat better dropping only 35%. "Controlling costs" ie. slashing staff and the size of the product in most markets stemmed the flow somewhat but at some point these efforts have a diminishing return.
While the rest of the industry has bled, McClatchy has hemorrhaged. Their troubles can be traced to the decisions of whiz kid CEO Gary Pruitt who jettisoned the McClatchy formula of slow growth through the acquisition of mid sized papers in profitable markets and plopped down $1.4 billion for the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 1998 then sold it 8 years later for half that amount. Followed in 2007 with the purchase of the Knight Ridder chain for $4.5 Billion at a time when readership and revenues are in the tank.
One can only hope that they are capable of changing course this year. If not, those that have relied on this industry for their livelihoods and pensions will be left holding an empty bag long after Gary Pruitt and the other CEO's make off with their severance packages.


McClatchy stock taking a beating. Sacramento Buisness Journal

The Incredible Shrinking Newspaper.

During the mid 90's as newsprint prices climbed past $600 per ton, newspapers began a frantic nationwide reduction in paper size. Reducing the width from the 25 year old standard of 27 inch to a slimmer 25 inch sheet. The larger papers spent upwards of a million dollars per pressline to convert their equipment to the narrower web size.

Today, despite low prices and a glut of newsprint in the market due to declining consumption, web width reduction is once again sweeping the industry as papers begin converting to a 24 inch sheet. One operation I talked with, which is now making the change to 24 inch is looking to the future by making the necessary changes to easily take the next step to a 23 inch sheet. To put that into perspective, a single newspaper page will be slightly wider than your standard paper towel.

The Newspaper Association of America has set the ad standards for the new web size leaving advertisers to decided if the rates for the new reduced columns are an effective use of ad dollars. With a plunge in ad revenues already in progress I am betting the answer is no.

Other signs of publisher desperation include the unheard of practice of selling advertising space on the front page at the Los Angeles Times and talk of The San Francisco Chronicle ending print operations entirely.

The death spiral continues.

The Fading Power of the Press

Dean Barnett over at Townhall has taken exception to the attitude the MSM has toward the blog o sphere. Notably the recent editorial of JOSEPH RAGO of the Wall Street Journal and his subsequent comments in an interview with Hugh Hewitt. What he failed to note however is this attitude is not a new and this phenomena predates the blogger.
Many years ago, when I was still employed in the "newspaper bidness", I was invited to attend an off site brain storming session to discuss ways to improve our paper. The director of the classified department suggested that they include an automotive "how to" article on the front page of the weekly auto section.
Our managing editor became visually outraged that the classified department would even suggest adding any sort of editorial content to the paper. The journalistic elitism was palpable as he made clear that no one would broach the barrier between the members of the Fourth Estate and us mere mortals.
Not that the classified director was not capable of pulling some filler piece off of the wire and pasting it on the page, but rather he had violated editorial's role as gatekeeper of the news and the power that the position holds.
It is the uncontrollable loss of power that the new media brings that causes people like Rago to lash out. Coupled with the resulting plunge in circulation and revenues we see an industry in a real quandary.

Newspapers Death Spiral

Newspaper's Death Spiral

It seems that everytime I get the notion of getting back into the Newspapser bidness I come across an article that brings me back to my senses. The AP reports that the major News Corps are all reporting less than expected earnings and next years prospects are looking grim. The article states,"... and even if some publishers are successful in implementing a more innovative culture, the impact probably won't be apparent financially until late 2007 or early 2008." As I have said before, unless the print media can reinvent itself and again become relevent it will go the way of the dinosaur. It must have felt the same for buggy whip manufactures a century ago.
Story Here.

Exposing theTruth

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."
Churchill

Fortuately today in these troubling times we have people dedicated to keeping lies in check.
The Corruption of the Media


I have to admire the people that have the imagination and talent to put these little bits of thoughful entertainment together. After the first time I had to play it through frame by frame to get all the stuff that they included. Worth a look. Video

Ink on Paper, The end of an era.

When I started out in the "newspaper bidness" 28 years ago, one old timer in the pressroom predicted that in 50 years there wouldn’t even be newspapers. No sweat, papers would die about the time I was ready to retire. Old Jack’s prediction turns out to have been pretty accurate, as I come to the realization that the printed page truly is a dinosaur that has become mired in the tar pits of the information age.
Declining retail and classified revenues, and declining circulation will eventually spell doom, first to the smaller unprofitable markets and eventually to the midsized circulation papers. There remains very few independant papers in the country today and the trend will be to for papers to cluster their resources in an attempt to delay the inevitable. Layoffs, declining stock prices and the continued consolidation within the industry are merey signs that the major corporations are having trouble squeezing returns out of their already bleeding properties.
Not to say that there won’t be newspapers around for the future. The larger markets will survive fora time although multipaper towns will continue to become a rarity. There may also eventually be a market for another National Daily ala USA Today.
Full color or the Newspaper in Education program has done little to put papers on the doorstep. As newsholes have been reduced, fluff sections have been reduced to 4 page thowaways. The hometown newspaper will have to reinvent itself, if it is to survive in the printed form.
"The power of the press belongs to the one that owns the press." and "Never argue with someone that buys his ink by the barrel." are two newspapers quotes I have always admired but are no longer relevent in this electronic age.
For a person with ink in his veins this is all a sad reality... And reasons to move on.