The Hippo takes a little off the top

I don't know if anyone else noticed this but recently, The Hippo took a little off the top. The weekly newspaper based out of Manchester that covers arts, politics, sports, and news from around the Granite State slimmed down its size significantly sometime in the past couple of months.
(I wish I had an older version to show the side by side because it's significant).
The change was probably made to save a bit of money on printing costs. Or, it might have been done to adhere to another press run from the outsourcing company (in the past, The Hippo was published by the Concord Monitor parent company; I don't know if that is still true or not ... the new size is, however, more in line with the Monitor's Insider publication).
That being said, two positives came of the chopped off top: There are more color pages inside the publication, which is nice, and there are more pages inside now too. This edition was almost 90 pages in length (In 2007, The Hippo was often as high as 70 pages with the larger format; in 2009, it had dropped down to 56 pages).
Previous editions of The Hippo, especially after the economic crash, physically showed the drop in print advertising which was a sign of the times back then, hence the smaller editions. The change in formatting makes for a more breezy read while still offering all the things the previous editions of The Hippo offered.

Who says print is dead?

Two new newspaper notes in the Granite State, one I have seen and one I haven't, that prove that print may not be dead after all.
First, let's talk about The New Hampshire Herald, a brand new monthly newspaper (with hopes of becoming a weekly), that is pretty impressive right out of the gate.
The 16-pager is a full color tab with big headlines and real stories inside. Sure, it has a decidedly slanted view of the world, tilting conservative, based on the types of topics written about in the first edition - screaming headlines like "CONDOMS FOR KIDS," New Hampshire becoming an immigrant state (we went from 99% white to what, 97% white?), a Thomas Sowell column, and a slew of Christian/spiritual-themed classifieds and advertising. BTW, there isn't anything wrong with that, especially when looking at the liberal slant in papers like the Concord Monitor. But putting Ovide Lamontagne on the front, with the headline "OVIDE SECOND COMING" when they guy doesn't have a chance in hell of winning? That's a bit much but a good way to break out of the gate. There is a nice restaurant feature inside so there is potential here for not being just another blaring headline tab (although I'm liking that aspect of it).
There is a call-out for freelance writers who "have proven ability to craft fair and balanced news stories," so who knows what the future holds for the Herald.
The print quality is also a bit spotty (fuzzy contact with the newsprint in places) which could either be the quality of the newsprint or the press. However, for a first edition, it looks pretty good.

According to the July 1 edition of The Hippo, another new monthly hit the streets in June.
The Queen City Examiner is described in a short story as "the people's paper," focusing on "the big issues of the day" with "an emphasis on fact-checking and providing in-depth coverage of local affairs" (take that, UL, LOL) in Manchester. The paper is using a nonprofit model for funding, according to the article, and ran 16 pages with the 5,000 press run, with a goal of going to 8,000 (nice!). The Examiner will also move from bi-weekly to weekly in the future. The next edition will come out on Aug. 2, so I'll definitely try and check it out.
Interesting footnote from the Hippo article: Apparently the company closed down their Manchester Express project in January. Since I don't get to Manch much, I didn't know this. Although, I did know they were moving from a daily to a weekly ["Free Manch daily to go weekly"]. I liked the daily the few times I saw it. In many ways, the distribution models don't work for print but communities that have more than one daily newspaper are better served than ones with news monopolies. That has become clear. The key now will be figuring out how to make it work ... and how to find time to actually read the daily newspapers too.

Hippo moves into Claremont

File this under the entrepreneurial spirit section: According to a publisher's note in this week's edition of The Hippo, the parent company of the newspaper has started a new newspaper to serve Claremont and surrounding communities, in the wake of the demise of the Eagle Times: ["Newspaper adventure"].
The new newspaper is called The Compass. It started on July 23 and will start running weekly next week. Anyone interested in checking out some of the impressive samples, you can download them in PDF online: ["The Compass"].
This is the second or third newspaper company that has ventured into the murky newspaper waters of Claremont and vicinity. I believe the Valley News company said it was going to reach out to readers in the area, creating more content for them in its daily paper. Dan Kennedy also wrote about a former resident who was working on a Web-only news site for the area.
It's good to see some folks jump in to cover one of the state's smaller but more complicated cities. As I wrote here ["More newspaper problems in NH"], there are a lot of stories to be told in Claremont. There are even more in the surrounding area. In addition, it's a lot easier starting up a weekly than trying to make ends meet publishing a daily. Running a weekly can be done barebones [I know, I do it every day!] while using the power of the Web to present daily breaking news to the public. If you already have the infrastructure in place, like a printing press [or access to one, inexpensively], at least one decent sales person willing to work it, and an editor and reporter, to gather content, it isn't very hard to do. Throw in some submitted content to the mix, and you can make a go of it.
While the Hippo did abandon its Concord effort, the company's expansion is impressive, buying a depressed property in southern Maine and now, creating one for western New Hampshire, along with the Manch Express, Manch and Nashua versions of the Hippo, and its niche publications. While they probably aren't thinking about this, the next step would be for them to get their own printing press in order to shave off the cost of outsourcing the printing. Sure, there are other expenses to be had that might not make this such a good idea. But if you see all the things that are published on the Concord Monitor's printing presses, you'd understand my point. Who was it who said that the power of the press is available for those who own one?
Despite what the modernists say, print is not dead. It's just going through changes. And there is nothing like looking at a newspaper while it is in your hands! Here's hoping that the Hippo folks keep it going and best of luck to them and their ever-expanding newspaper empire.

Concord Monitor faces economic challenges

Editor's Note: This is a corrected and edited version of an earlier post. Monitor Publisher Geordie Wilson was kind enough to respond to the first edition of this post with some clarifications which I have integrated into the original post. His full comment is posted on the OurConcord.com version of this post. This is the first in a series analyzing the news industry in Concord.
The Sunday edition of the Concord Monitor revealed some startling admissions on its editorial pages about the teetering state of the newspaper industry and what the company would be doing in the future to stay in business.
The revelations were a bit startling to many, especially those who have had a long-term relationship with the newspaper [For me, it's been more than three decades: I started reading the newspaper as a boy, became a peddler of the afternoon edition in the late 1970s while in middle-school, and have been a regular reader for years].
While they may seem awkward, these letters to readers are an important part of continuing the relationship between the reader of the news and the producer of the news. Despite the economic climate, many people are still connected to their community newspapers and Concord is no exception.
In the column, linked here: ["Tough times, tough choices for the 'Monitor'"] Executive Editor Felice Belman noted that changes were coming in order to weather current economic conditions. While not going too deeply into specifics about how bad things were, Belman said the newspaper would preserve what was important: reporting local news:

In planning for budget cuts we have been mindful of protecting what's most important: the local news report, brought to you by a serious staff of New Hampshire reporters, editors and photographers.

The Monitor will cut costs by lowering print and ink usage. It will publish tighter newspapers by dropping filler house ads and moving to a two book edition instead of four books. On Monday and Tuesday, the paper published the tighter layout with 20 pages. The previous two Monday editions were 24 pages. On Wednesday, the Monitor was a four book again, with 24 pages. Belman wrote that the changes would limit space previously available for national and international news noting that readers could get that information via other outlets [And she's correct on this point].
These types of changes are not surprising and have been the norm for a while in an industry battling to stay alive. Some have lopped off column inches from the size of their newspapers and cut other costs to preserve what is important without alienating current readers. Some have gone through redesigns in order to hide the changes from readers.
The fact that it took the Monitor so long to come to these cost-cutting conclusions is a bit remarkable considering the state of the industry. Everyone in media circles knows how bad business is and has been. As advertising revenues have been diverted to other mediums, newspaper companies have sustained layoffs [or buyouts for those fortunate enough to be union employees or highly-paid columnists] year after year in order to please shareholders. The Monitor has delayed decisions made by other companies because it is owned and operated locally and is not hounded by Wall Street worrying about 20 percent returns each year.
But there is only so much one business can sustain before making changes. Since the Monitor has been owned by the same family, it has not had to worry about market forces until now. Many of us though have suspected things might be bleak for our local daily as recently as 18 months ago.
Back in December 2006, as part of the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Class, I spent the day at the Monitor's facility for our Media Day class. We did some roleplaying which was fun for the non-media types and there was also an interesting debate about news media issues in which the Monitor's circulation director Mark Travis took a cheap shot at local radio for not having a person on the panel [What he did not realize until later was that I was a member of the class and managing WKXL at the time and therefore, not invited to sit on the panel, something not lost on my classmates].
The class also received a tour of the offices and printing facility. It was great to see the new facility [It isn't all that new but to me it was since I remember the days when the Monitor's office and printing press were on Green Street, in the heart of downtown].
Since WKXL was actively seeking support from the same advertising base as the Monitor, I had some inside knowledge about the state of affairs at the Monitor. Specifically, the Radio Advertising Bureau [RAB] had provided our company with the newspaper's declining paid circulation numbers - numbers which turned out to be incomplete - and other ways of showing how the Audit Bureau of Circulation [ABC], one of the circulation bureaus used by newspapers, fudges the numbers for newspapers to make the numbers seem not so bleak.
According to Wilson, the Monitor has a circulation of just under 20,000 weekdays, and a little more than 22,000 on Sunday, based on calculations done in June 2007 by the Certified Audit of Circulations. This circulation includes Newspaper In Education sponsorships, as well as other programs, although Wilson noted in a recent email that more than 90 percent of the editions are paid copies.
The ABC figures submitted to the radio station were apparently for Concord proper only and not the entire service area. Those figures showed the Monitor with an average daily readership of 18,000 Monday through Saturday and 19,000 on Sunday, according to the latest figures available from 2005 [The Monitor claims 22,000 readers and the latest figures are not currently available without paying for them]. These figures were based on about 7,800 newspapers sold each day in Concord, Monday through Saturday, and 8,000 on Sunday. The ABC calculates circ numbers based on more than one person reading each edition of the newspaper which is sold: 2.3 people reading the weekday edition and 2.4 people reading the Sunday edition.
This mechanism of calculating readership by ABC is a great leap of assumption but is also the industry standard. Despite this standard, it seems like a completely flawed formula and probably reflects inaccurate readership numbers. How inaccurate? Well, consider other mediums for a minute.
Radio tracks listeners by recording and tabulating the decisions of the listener. But imagine what a boon it would be if a station could take its six share and multiply it by 2.3 and tell advertisers, "Well, there are three commuters in every car so ..."
Television tracks household viewership [They may multiply households by 2.3 viewers to get overall viewership but I don't know for sure. I'm sure they do this to come up with the 10 million viewer number but not the actual ratings].
The Internet tracks things by actual clicks of computers entering a site. They could exaggerate and say, "There were three co-workers leaning over my shoulder while I was on Drudge ..." but that isn't how it is done.
Weekly newspapers - at least the ones that I have worked for - talk about actual print editions sold and subscriptions sent out. They don't multiply by 2.3.
So, why shouldn't daily newspapers be held to the same standard? These comments are not posted to beat up on dailies, the Monitor, or anyone else. It is just done to show a flaw in the mechanism of counting circ and one has to wonder how they get away with it.
When I thought that the Monitor only had about 8,000 sold editions in a market population of about 120,000, I was floored and didn't believe. It turns out, these figures were wrong and not as bad as previously posted, which, frankly, is a relief.
But how could any newspaper in a small market stay alive with such a small amount of newspapers sold?
Before the Media Day class, participants of the class sat in on an editorial board meeting of the newspapers editors to watch how they decided what went into the newspaper. About seven editors sat at a table and talked about the stories of the day, including local stories, photos, sports, and other items. It was an interesting discussion to watch because there wasn't much discussion. A list was printed up of all the potential stories and a photo editor showed off the day's shots. There was a bit of banter but it was not extensive.
After the editors were done, they answered questions about the process or anything else we wanted to know about. The six people who attended the meeting and did not work in media had some interesting questions about story content, staffing, and other things.
One woman asked, "How many news reporter do you have?"
Then-Executive Editor Mike Pride stated, "13."
"How many people work on the paper itself?" another asked.
Pride said there were 46 editorial employees and 120 employees altogether.
I asked about the new publication called The Insider and why it was only distributed to the Concord subscribers and not in say, Webster, where people might find the information and content interesting.
Pride said people from outside of Concord could pick up it at newsboxes downtown.
But what if they don't get downtown?, I asked.
Then folks wouldn't get it, he said.
I then asked, Was there any thought to spending the staffing dollars beefing up the Local/Regional section instead of producing an entirely new product?
To this question, Pride bristled and stated "No" quite sharply and I didn't ask anymore questions.
This entire conversation shocked me on many different levels.
To start, I couldn't believe the newspaper had so many employees. But the numbers were later confirmed by Wilson when he gave the classmates a tour of the facility a week after the editor's meeting.
During the tour, Wilson showed off the Monitor's printing presses and some of the other publications which the company printed for other businesses. Those newspapers included The Hippo, some Spanish language newspapers, and the Sun Transcript chain on the North Shore of Massachusetts, showing that the printing presses were an integral part of the company's overall business strategy.
Issues of staffing and news production were front and center in my mind and had been for months. There had been staffing issues at WKXL, specifically, the station was losing full-time employees but not replacing key personnel in order to save money. Over a period of two years, staffing went from 15 full-timers and two part-timers at its peak, to six full-timers and a few part-timers. The six remaining full-time employees were expected to produce more content and a heavier workload than the previous 15. The six people were also expected to perform as good - if not better - than better-staffed news operations like the Monitor, NHPR or WMUR-TV Channel 9.
The production [and quality] of the local news produced by the Monitor was often used by the station's owner to criticize the two full-timers and one part-timer working on news.
'How come the Monitor got this story and we didn't?' was a regular mantra I heard.
'Eh, because they have more reporters doing less work?' [This is not a dig at the Monitor reporters. But some days when comparing the two news organizations, their 13 reporters would produce fewer actual stories than the station's 2.5 reporters, while the radio reporters also produced calendar listings, long-form programs, and numerous 5-minute audio segments on top of the actual stories].
While I didn't know this for sure, I suspected as much. After attending the class and confirming the 6 to 1 and 10 to 1 staffing level differences between the Monitor and WKXL, I mentioned to the owner that he should either hire more staff or limit the amount of criticism leveled at the station's news operation. No new staffing was hired and I returned to my previous newspaper job a few months later.
What was cool about the admission by Wilson was that he would make the admission. But also that a family business so cared about the quality of its news and its commitment to the community that it was willing to use another facet of the business to sustain that quality [WKXL should get the same consideration on a smaller scale].
In making these changes, the Monitor is clearly salvaging what its staff believes is important while at the same time attempting to survive the current economic storm. They seem minor and worthy of support by both the news consumer and the news producer. And, frankly, it is an important endeavor to make sure newspapers which focus on local content and information stay alive and vibrant.

Upcoming: The importance of local news and why it is worth fighting for. Plus, some suggestions on how the Monitor [and other news outlets] can change with the times while also staying relevant to the community.

Campaign Notes

Here are some campaign notes:

Mitt Romney won the Wyoming Caucuses today, overwhelmingly, with about 70 percent of the vote: ["Romney Wins Wyoming Caucuses"]. Duncan Hunter and Fred Thompson both received one delegate each. Interesting that Romney's son owns a ranch there.

The phone calls are continuing. More polls, more ringing, boy is this getting annoying.



The front page of the Hippo this week. Notice anything strange about this front page? See below if you don't.

Wondering about media coverage? This guy over at DailyKos has some very interesting analysis: ["The corporate media blackout of John Edwards gets worse"]. Charts! Graphs! What a great job, assuming it is accurate!!

Potential Green Party candidates, including Ralph Nader, have agreed to appear at a debate in California next week: ["Green Party USA Debate on 13-1-2008"].

More proof that "Grandpa" Fred is pretty lazy: ["Fred Thompson: I'm skipping New Hampshire"]. Eh, OK, I guess. But, you know, you could have at least done an event or two today.

This is pretty cool: Dennis Kucinich has his own news program.

I think this is a cool idea and, actually, was very professionally produced.

The Hippo has a pretty funny cartoon on the cover of the Jan. 3-9 edition: "Life of the Party" features most of the presidential candidates in a cartoon.
Interestingly, there are five Republicans on the cover: Giuliani, McCain, Romney, Huckabee, and Paul; and two Democrats: Hillary and Obama. There is another man, in a white shirt holding a wine glass up with a lampshade on his head. No John Edwards. Why is there no John Edwards? Is it because the publisher of the Hippo, Jody Reese, doesn't like Edwards, as noted in this spotty cheap hot editorial from a few weeks ago?: ["Not Edwards"].
What Reese either doesn't know or doesn't acknowledge is that the health plans forwarded by Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton are virtually the same as Edwards'. Also, on the inside, they list where all the candidates' parties are ... all the parties, except Edwards'. They even list where Mike Gravel's party is. Wow.
And, to update the previous post about Greg Chase's ad buys for Gravel, yeah, there is another full color back page ad promoting Gravel's campaign in the Hippo.

FoxNews attacks decency?

Hmm:

See what I mean?

Editor's Note: It was suggested in a subtle way that I depersonalize the original version of this post. So, for the record, this is an edited version. I'm not one for editing stuff this way. I say what I mean and mean what I say. But, after reading it over a few times, I agree that it needed to be edited. The point is made without sharing horror stories.

A few months back, I wrote about the local weekly arts newspaper, The Hippo, advertising a job for a new features reporter. I posted the ad and then made a crack about how I was really sick and tired of media outlets in New Hampshire essentially selling the jobs in our state to people outside of our state. It seems to say, "Granite Staters need not apply." The Hippo didn't do this and I thanked them for it, not that it probably mattered to them.
But, lo and behold, look what I found on the New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters' Web site ... a New Hampshire Public Radio ad for a talk show producer.
Here is a segment of the ad:

NEW HAMPSHIRE OFFERS BUCOLIC NEW ENGLAND SCENERY AND IS A HAVEN FOR OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES LIKE HIKING, SKIING AND FISHING. NEW HAMPSHIRE IS ALSO A VERY AFFORDABLE PLACE TO LIVE WITH NO STATE INCOME TAX AND NO STATE SALES TAX. CONCORD, WHERE NHPR IS BASED, IS AN HOUR FROM BOSTON, FROM THE SEACOAST AND FROM WHITE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST.

Why would they post this listing on a New Hampshire job board? We know how great it is to live here ... we already do. You don't need to tell us that. The polite thing to do, which would probably net more potential job applicants, would be to post a local notice without going on and on about how great it is to live here, and post a national notice like this one. Unless, of course, Granite Staters need not apply, and then, we get the point, thank you very much.
People may ask, what is the point? Well, the point is this: This is how the people covering your state get hired to cover your state. It is sickening when you think about the fact that media employers in our state, who may not know as much as others about New Hampshire, are telling you who is qualified and who is not qualified to tell the stories of our state.
I have been hearing that donations at NHPR are down right at a time when they need more money because they are expanding into a bigger location, at the old Blue Cross Blue Shield building in the South End of Concord [It is an exciting change for the network and it looks like a great space]. And this new show, not unlike another show proposed in 2005 called "The Current," which never went anywhere, seems like a new opportunity for them. But one has to wonder where the money will come from.
Earlier this year, they didn't limit the amount of donations for the Prius raffle whereas last year, the odds were better because there was only X-amount of donations taken. Why limit the popular contest, especially when you need more $100 donations?
Back in April, a few weeks after the interview, I was asked to make another donation to NHPR. The phone conversation went something like this:

Pablo: Hi, I'm Pablo from NHPR. How are you tonight?Me: Fine.Pablo: We know you are a regular listener to NHPR so you know all the wonderful things we do, correct [or something like that]?Me: Actually, I just stopped listening to NHPR recently [Go ahead, ask me why, Pablo, ask me why! I really want you to tell you ...]Pablo: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that ... Can we sign you up for your annual contribution of $100?Me: No.Silence for a moment.Pablo: Well, can we renew your $35 annual membership.
Me: No, sorry.Silence again [Come on Pablo, ask me why ...].
Pablo: OK, thank you for your continued support and we will talk to you again soon.Me: OK, bye.

Come on people, you don't want to know why? Over the years, I have had to talk to people who weren't happy with the product I was employed to deliver. I ALWAYS ask why someone is canceling their subscription or canceling their ads. Always. Why didn't Pablo want to know? Shocking, isn't it?
Lastly, I wonder why any radio network with as many stations as NHPR, with a ton of employees gathering news and interviewing people, would ever need to hold listening sessions around the state to find out what the pulse of the state is or what listeners think? Doesn't that say a lot?

Is Dodd making his move?

... or are firefighters starting to blog at Daily Kos?
I thought I would take a quick spin around the Web to look at some headlines and get my mind out of work for a few minutes.
Over at Daily Kos, there is a new preference poll up. With almost 11,000 voting, CT Sen. Chris Dodd has broken out of single digits for the first time and leaped into second place: Edwards 31, Dodd 22, Obama 16, Clinton 9, Other 6, Kucinich 5, No freakin' clue 5, Richardson 2, Biden 2, and Gravel 1.
I don't have all the previous results in front of me but it looks like Dodd is sucking up a lot of Richardson and Clinton support. I don't know if the IAFF all started becoming Daily Kos members or maybe they are Freepin' the poll. Who knows. However, this is a huge jump for Dodd and it will be interesting to see if this burst will last.

NH radio news
According to NERW, Libertarian talker Gardner Goldsmith, who does the lunchtime show on WTPL, will now be syndicated on the company's sister station, WMXR, 93.9, in Woodstock. They will also have on the putrid Glenn Beck and news simulcast from WMUR-TV, Channel 9.

Politizine.com's 1,000th blog post

Amazingly, this blog has reached its 1,000th post. Shocking, isn't it? With more than 60,000 hits and 100,000-plus page views, I am so surprised that it has lasted this long. Of course, it would probably be at 2,000 posts at this point if I did what other bloggers do and blogged each entry separately. But whatever. I have a habit of throwing a bunch of stuff into one entry, just to make sure I get all the small stuff in.
In celebration of this blog's milestone, I have a small announcement: On Friday, my wife and I launched a brand new hybrid online/print newspaper called OurConcord.com. The first edition is at drop locations across Concord and most of the content is online. The rest will be updated later tonight while I'm watching the Red Sox game.
For those of you interested in this new publication, please read the "Why Publish?" entry on the site for a rather lengthy explanation of what we're trying to do. On Friday afternoon, I picked up the print edition, 2,500 in all, and was amazed at how great it looks for a first edition. It is pretty impressive, if I say so myself, when you consider it was put together pretty quickly.
Because of this new endeavor and my family and work responsibilities, I will be curbing posts to Politizine.com and concentrating on producing more local content for OurConcord.com. Politizine.com will still exist but I really want to put what limited time and energy I have into publishing the other site. I will get into this a bit more in the very near future.

Howie to appeal

["Howie to appeal; WRKO responds"]

Howie gets nailed

The court rules in WRKO's favor: ["Judge blocks Carr from jumping to WTKK"] and ["Judge rules against Carr in WRKO case"]. Oh, this is going to get interesting.

Oh man: This has to be burning Howie Carr ...

This "Virutal Howie" feature on the WRKO Web site is burning up the New England media landscape today: ["WRKO"] ... while the Boston radio gabber headed into court today to plead his case: ["Howie: Let me be heard on... 'TKK"].
Is anyone taking odds on what the outcome of the case will be? If you are, I want in on the action!
But, if you think about this for a second, WRKO must think they are going to lose. Otherwise, why would they put the Virtual Howie feature up AS A HAND PUPPET!?! If it were just another feature, it would be downloadable tracks, maybe a cute cartoon. But a HAND PUPPET? I know what that tells me. It's humiliating ... and it has to be burning Howie right now.
Question: Do they really think Howie is going to go back and work for those people after that? Well, I guess, if the price is right, he would probably go back. But, maybe not. He doesn't seem to be budging - even with a $7M matching contract offer.
A Google News search on the court case led to this story posted by the Boston Globe about 45 minutes ago: ["Carr awaits ruling on return to the airwaves"].

Granny D on 'The View'

According to an email I received earlier this week [yeah, I'm just getting to about 200 emails I have to read], Granny D and the director of the documentary about her, "Run Granny Run," will be on "The View" tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.

Barlett & Steele Awards

I received this email earlier today about these awards. Barlett & Steele are two of the best investigative journalists in the country. Check out their new piece in Vanity Fair about the $12 billion in Iraq which just vanished.

INAUGURAL BARLETT & STEELE AWARDS FOR INVESTIGATIVE BUSINESS JOURNALISM ANNOUNCED

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Reporters at The New York Times and The Sun in Baltimore have been awarded the inaugural Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism, the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism announced today.

“A Toxic Pipeline” by Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker of The Times received the first-place $5,000 award. Their stories documented China’s role in supplying a counterfeit drug ingredient that killed at least 100 people in Panama and is suspected of killing thousands of others around the world.

Their use of first-person interviews and public records to spotlight the issue of Chinese exports of drugs and food has had dramatic international impact, the judges said.

“On Shaky Ground” by Fred Schulte and June Arney of The Sun received the second-place $2,000 award. Their series in December 2006 tracked how Baltimore’s arcane system of property fees initiated in colonial times had evolved into a system of greed and lax oversight that preyed on the poor and elderly.

They assembled a customized electronic database to track hundreds of lawsuits, cases and files. An original, well-presented series focused on the paper’s own back yard and made a difference, said judges.

Receiving honorable mention (listed alphabetically) were:

--Bloomberg Markets, “The Secret World of Modern Slavery” by Michael Smith and David Voreacos.

--The Charlotte Observer, “Sold a Nightmare” by Binyamin Appelbaum, Lisa Hammersley Munn and Ted Mellnik.

--The Toledo Blade, “Business as Usual” by Joshua Boak and Jim Tankersley.

“Response to the inaugural Barlett & Steele Awards was dramatic, with the quality and number of entries a tribute to the dedication of U.S. journalists and publications during a difficult time for the media,” said Andrew Leckey, Director of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. “Our panel of respected judges commended the entries and said the selection process required extremely hard choices.”
Biographies of judges and links to the articles are on the BusinessJournalism.org website.
The awards to encourage investigative business journalism are named for the team of Don Barlett and Jim Steele, who won two Pulitzers with The Philadelphia Inquirer and two National Magazine Awards at Time. They have worked together more than three decades and are currently contributing editors to Vanity Fair.
"Don Barlett and I are deeply honored that the Reynolds Center has established this award in our name," said Steele. "But, more importantly, we are gratified that it is providing leadership to recognize and encourage in-depth reporting of business." The Reynolds Center is funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, it is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, named in honor of the longtime CBS news anchor, is a leading professional journalism school with 1,700 undergraduate and master's students.

So, was Nader right or wrong?

An interesting little give and take is going on over at the National Association of Manufacturers' blog, ShopFloor.org, which I think it worthy of reposting here, since I'm involved in it.
Earlier this week, Ralph Nader sent me his latest column about an advertising supplement for the NAM published in the WSJ. Since I read the WSJ, I noticed it too, and posted Nader's column happily.
However, over at the NAM, they weren't too happy about the column and they posted this note on their blog: ["How Embarrassing: To Get Basic Facts Wrong"].
Nader's mistakes? It was a four page supplement, not two. And, the NAM claims they didn't "buy" the ad, "It was paid for by ads." There was barely a mention about Nader's main points of the column or the fact that alleged free trade is clobbering the American economy.
I didn't see the blog's post until five days later, after they posted this, upset that I published the Nader column: ["Before Truth Can Get Out of Bed in the Morning"]. Thankfully, a reader from overseas posted a comment taking me to this blog entry. I would not have even noticed it otherwise.
Since my blog was noted on their blog, I responded with some questions of my own:

Hi Carter,

Thanks for the plug about the blog. A few quick questions:

1) "... the NAM did not buy it. It was paid for by the ads" can you clarify please? Did the WSJ invite you to put together a four page supplement in which they would get ads for it, or did you reserve the space and then sell ads for it? If it is the latter, than Ralph would technically be correct: You reserved [bought] the space and then got some other entities to help you pay for it. If it is something else, please explain. Thanks.

2) As we all know, "freedom isn't free" and when it comes to alleged free trade and alleged free markets, there is years and years with of statistical evidence showing that it has been a costly, harmful and expensive for the United States to have as policy. I could go into a bunch of the data, but you already know it.

3) I would contend having been a watcher of the WSJ editorial pages for a bit of time that while they may think their philosophy is "free people, free markets" it is more like "freedom for certain people and certain markets if you can afford it."

The response from Carter was even more enlightening in its curt, short response:

Our advertising practices are the business of the association and its members. Which does not mean free rein to make stuff up about them.

Hmm. Well, OK, he's correct. But he doesn't answer the question. So, I wrote this:

Hi Carter,

Not to be argumentative, but you didn't really answer the question. Of course it is your business but that doesn't mean Mr. Nader made anything up or was inaccurate, as you claim. In fact, knowing a bit about marketing and having worked in media in some way, shape or form now for almost two decades, I would bet that his conclusions were quite accurate and you're just a tad defensive because he called your org on it. Since you won't answer my question - for obvious, understandable reasons - you can't really back up what your saying. At the same time, simply answering the question would really enlighten people to how such supplements come together. Personally, whether I agree with the information or not, they are a great marketing tool for getting your company's [or association's] points across.

I think in the future, before you tarnish someone like Ralph Nader, a hero to many and, frankly, a champion of American manufacturing and workers, with accusations on your blog, maybe you should either be prepared to back them up, or just let it go.

Thanks for the convo and I look forward to continuing to read your blog ... since I too care about American manufacturing and workers.

They haven't cleared the post yet for publication but I will be interested to see what the response is.
The NAM blog is actually a pretty interesting read, with all kinds of details about American manufacturing. So, I'm glad to have discovered it even if it was this way. But it would be nice to see the NAM start to worry about some of their political positions and how they are harming American manufacturing and American workers. The two, as well as the health of the overall country, are tied hand in hand.

The Best Editorials Money Can Buy

Guest Perspective/Ralph Nader

On September 26, 2007, the powerful National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) bought two pages in the Wall Street Journal to tout a prosperous, expanding group of member-companies producing products.

It occurred to me as I began the copy, that the NAM rarely bought expensive space like this in the Journal. Then after going through NAM’s introductory message, I realized why they purchased the ad. Month after month in hundreds of loyal editorials, the Journal’s editorial writers already have been conveying the cravings and demands of this trade association.

The parallels between this revenue-producing two page spread and the Journal’s opinion scribes, in contrast to its often sterling news pages, are the stuff of the corporate state.

The editorials argue for more “clean” coal and nuclear power and emphasize expanding production of U.S. oil and natural gas with a token tip to renewables (with plenty of taxpayer subsidies).

So does the NAM.

NAM wants more so-called “free trade” agreements without recognizing, at the very least, that there can be no “free trade” with dictatorships like China. Dictatorial, oligarchic regimes determine wages, prevent free trade unions, and otherwise through grease and no-rule-of-law or access to justice, obstruct market-based costs and pricing.

So do the Journal’s editorial writers.

In scores of frenzied editorials, the Journal assails tort law, tort attorneys and “unreasonable awards.” Having read just about all these advertiser-friendly diatribes, I have yet to discern any data to back up their flood of declamations about “frivolous” litigation and “wild” awards.

Neither did the NAM produce any evidence about “lawsuit abuse” because the evidence points to declining product defect and malpractice suits, notwithstanding that 90% of these injured people suffer without any legal claims filed on their behalf. (See: http://www.centerjd.org/ and http://www.citizen.org/)

The Journal’s rigid ideologues demand less regulation (read less law and order for corporations) and the weakening of the Sarbanes-Oxley law enacted to modestly deal with part of the corporate crime wave of the past decade.

So does the NAM.

The NAM wants further reduction of the already reduced corporate tax rate and more taxpayer pay-out to corporations, including super-profitable ones like Intel, GE, Cisco and Pfizer. These latter windfalls are called research and development tax credits. How many Americans know that they are paying these and other super-profitable companies more money to make still more profits? Cisco does not even pay dividends.

So also demands the big business echo chamber on the Journal’s editorial pages.

The Journal has been campaigning for years to end the estate tax which is so diluted that less than 2 percent of all estates have to pay anything to Uncle Sam. Conservative Republican wordsmith, Frank Luntz, in a moment of abandon, called lobbying an effort to end “the billionaires tax.”

The NAM wants an end to the estate tax, even though none of its corporate-members ever has to pay an estate tax. For good measure, NAM wants to keep the maximum tax rates on investment income and capital gains at a level half of a worker’s maximum tax rate. Far lower taxes on capital than on labor suits the NAM three-piece-suits just fine.

The Journal is for brain-draining the Third World. Drain those critical doctors, nurses, scientists, engineers, innovators and entrepreneurs from Asia, Africa and South America. Give them permanent visas and then wonder why those countries are having trouble fielding the skilled leaders needed to develop their own economies. It is easier than training talented minority youths in our country.

The NAM ad calls for “reform of the visa system to attract and retain global talent.”

And so it goes. Such a symbiotic relationship! Big business members of NAM pour millions of dollars in ads daily into the Wall Street Journal. In return, the dutiful and gleeful editorial writers deliver the screeds that caress the brows and deepen the pockets of the CEOs.

There is another recurrent message in the insistent materials of NAM and its comrade-in-greed, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Enough is never enough.

For over a quarter century, there has been more and more de-regulation (electricity, motor vehicles, coal, drugs, nuclear, occupational safety, pollution, aviation, rail, truck antitrust and more) with detriment to the health, safety and economic well-being of the American people. Still not enough, they say!

In the same period, you the taxpayer have been forced to have your tax dollars pour out of Washington and into the coffers of Big Business in a myriad of ways. Hundreds of billions of your dollars. Not enough, they say! They roar for more coddling.

You want chapter and verse, evidence and data? Get ready to read Free Lunch, a riveting new book by the Pulitzer-prize winning tax reporter for The New York Times, David Cay Johnston. It will be out in about two months. Just in time for your gift-giving season.

Quick links: The Rush Limbaugh hates the troops edition

Here are some things I've saved over the past couple of weeks which are worth looking at:
First, here is that idiot Rush Limbaugh going off on the troops again: ["Limbaugh: Service members who support U.S. withdrawal are 'phony soldiers'"]. I guess the only "real" soldiers are the ones who take joy in killing, right Rush? Some Christian you are. And more evidence and reasoning for why we need a fairness doctrine for all licensed media organizations.
Here is the response from a veteran's group:

Here is another vet responding, with photos, of him, as a "phony "soldier": ["The Real Deal"].
Here is an AP story about vets coming home to face financial problems: ["Wounded vets also suffer financial woes"].
I don't like the fact that this article kinda laughs at people who are worried about meteorites: ["Meteorite Crash Breeds Mass Hysteria"]
The Boston Herald has an update on the status of Howie Carr's contract dilemma: ["Stalled Carr urges judge to rethink radio ruling"].
Boston news hottie Bianca de la Garza has landed at Channel 5: ["Bianca de la Garza"]. I was wondering where she went to because there were rumors she was leaving FOX25. And then, poof, she was back on TV, co-anchoring the 11 p.m. WCVB-TV newscast. While Googling for some news about Bianca, I came across this site, which is pretty amusing: ["Ogle Boston's Hottest News Woman, Feel Creepy"].
For all you Halo 3 junkies out there, here are some tips: ["Halo 3: First Tips"].
I was wondering when this was going to happen: ["FCC proposes 'fake news' fine"].
They're at it again!: ["Clinton campaign kills negative story"].

WFEA celebrates 75 years

WFEA 1370 AM out of Manchester celebrates 75 years in radio. From Ed Brouder earlier today:

For those within earshot of Manchester, WFEA's hour-long anniversary special airs today (Saturday) at noon, and repeats Sunday night at 7:00.
It's cram full of as many WFEA airchecks as I could find dating back to 1937.
Ed Brouder (AM 1370 WFEA news editor)
Man From Mars Productions
Manchester, NH

Catching up on some reading

Here are some recent headlines I have had the chance to look over.
["CBGB Made Hilly Kristal a Millionaire—His Ex Got Nothing"]
What a PR guy. With all that money, he probably could have saved CBGBs. In addition, think about all those times he short-changed bands claiming to be barely hanging on. Wow.
["Secret US air force team to perfect plan for Iran strike"]
Why am I not surprised by that?
["NASA spacecraft finds possible Mars cave"]
Very cool. All the more reason to get that manned mission to Mars up and running already!
["Rather: Government influencing newsrooms"]
This seems a stretch as the reason for his suit but whatever. We all know that his point is pretty dead-on.
["Alan Keyes Jumps In for the 2008 GOP Nomination"]
Oh yeah, this is just what the Republicans needed. Not that Alan can't run for the third time. There have been other three-timers. Some who I've even admired. But, was there really a "calling" for Keyes to get in? No, there wasn't.
["Why is Tony Snow's 401(k) empty?"]
The key section of the article is this one:

Snow conceded that he has been very lucky to have the government fund his health care. "I've been lucky I work at the White House, I've had the use of diagnostic care. I'd like to find ways to help those who, for whatever reason, … don't get diagnostic treatment, don't take care of themselves, may not have the resources that I've had at my disposal," he said. But that hasn't made him rethink his opposition to using federal resources to expand coverage for fellow cancer sufferers. "That does not mean that I'm going to be necessarily banging the tin cup for federal funding. It may be that I'll go out, try and raise some money myself to try to help people directly."

Oh yeah. One plan for me but not for thee.

NECN to launch new show

Beginning on Monday, Sept. 24, NECN will bring New Englanders "News Day Live,'' a distinctive mix of breaking news, weather reports, frequent traffic updates, sports coverage, live field reports from across New England, and in-depth analysis with newsmakers and key NECN journalists.

The new show, which will air from 4 to 6 p.m., will be co-anchored by Beth Shelburne and Leslie Gaydos Monday through Thursday, and by Shelburne and Ally Donnelly on Fridays.

"NewsNight" host Jim Braude will be a regular contributor, offering his unique brand of opinion and analysis on the most important stories of the day.

"In a real sense, this is what makes NECN distinctive - a timely combination of up-to-the-minute news with a dedication to depth and analysis,'' said NECN Vice President of News and Station Manager Charles J. Kravetz.

"We're putting new resources to work in this important time period so that our viewers will get an unmatched level of news and analysis,'' Kravetz said, "not just news of New England but news for New England, wherever it happens -- locally, nationally or globally.''

NECN is the largest, most honored 24-hour regional news network in the country, with 3.7 million subscribers in more than 1,050 cities and towns in all six New England states. It is a partnership of Comcast and the Hearst Corporation.
For more information go to www.necn.com.