McClatchy Watch

Wednesday November 25 – Got news or an update?

2009-11-25T03:00:00.000-08:00

If you have news or an update, leave it in comments.
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Washington Post to close its remaining U.S. bureaus

2009-11-24T17:00:00.000-08:00

The Washington Post announced today it will close six bureaus around the country.

The Washington Post, in a significant retrenchment, is closing its remaining domestic bureaus around the country.

The six correspondents who work in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago will be offered reassignments in Washington, while three news assistants will be let go.

The money-saving move, coming on the heels of four rounds of early-retirement buyouts and the closing or merging of several sections, is the clearest sign yet of the newspaper's shrinking horizons in an era of diminished resources.

Click here for more.
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Thanks to the reader who sent the link.

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Blog post of the day

2009-11-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

Census Worker Killed Himself and the Credibility of Leftwing Bloggers
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Some newspapers institute a price hike for Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

Story here. The KC Star says "Thank you!" to subscribers on Thursday by raising the price of a single copy from 75 cents to $2 a copy. The Star will charge regular subscribers $1.25 for that day's paper.
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McClatchy newspaper in San Luis Obispo looking for a reporter

2009-11-24T11:45:00.000-08:00

The San Luis Obispo Tribune is advertising for a reporter. The announcement:

One of California’s best small dailies seeks an assertive, experienced and diligent reporter to cover the City of San Luis Obispo along with a secondary schools and higher education beat. Our readers need a journalist who can stand up to savvy politicos and get the news that matters. The successful candidate will have a minimum of three to five years experience at a daily newspaper, a strong record of courageous reporting and bold storytelling and a burning desire to stand among the very best. Bi-lingual in Spanish highly desirable. An added bonus: A chance to live and work in one of McClatchy’s nicest destinations. We’re located seven miles from the Pacific Ocean, halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. San Luis Obispo is known for its vibrant downtown, friendly people and unbeatable weather. If you like to spend time outdoors, this is the place to be. Resumes accepted until the right candidate is found.

Click here for more info.
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“You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man"

2009-11-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

Weird -- Jesse Jackson plays the race card against a black man.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) for voting against the Democrats’ signature healthcare bill.

“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill from Alabama,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. “You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man.”
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Rep. Artur Davis is black.

Cartoon by Michael Ramirez

Former KC Star columnist Hearne Christopher in DUI arrest

2009-11-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

Former Star columnist Hearne Christopher was arrested this week for DUI, according to a post on his blog. Click here to see his account.

Being up front about your troubles is smarter than trying to keep it a secret, as Rhonda "Three Wheel" Lokeman learned after her DUI arrest.

Hat tip: Bottom Line Communications

McClatchy editor tells staff not to use vulgar "teabagger" expression

2009-11-24T05:30:00.000-08:00

The editor of The Herald in Rock Hill, South Carolina advised staff in an email Monday not to use the vulgar expression "teabagger" to describe people who oppose Obama's policies.

Here is the email Paul Osmundson sent to employees:

From: "Osmundson, Paul - Rock Hill"
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:01:26 -0500
To: RH News <RHNews@heraldonline.com>
Conversation: Let's not use this word
Subject: Let's not use this word

Friends,

The word "teabagger" has been used in recent months to describe those people who oppose Barack Obama's policies, especially those people who attend so-called "tea bag parties." This year, Oxford added the word to its dictionary. It was nominated for new word of the year. It lost out to "unfriend."

The only definition for "teabagger" that I could find on the Oxford University Press website refers to opponents of President Obama's policies.

However, there are other, more offensive definitions for the word. So, let's not use it.

We can write about tea bag parties. We can write about those people who attend the parties. But let's not call them - or anybody else - "teabaggers."

Thanks.

The editor doesn't explain in the email why the term is offensive (hint: try Wikipedia instead of the Oxford University Press website), but give him credit for setting a standard worthy of a respectable newspaper. (Thanks to the reader who sent me the email.)
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Tuesday November 24 -- Got news or an update?

2009-11-24T03:00:00.000-08:00

If you have news or an update, leave it in comments.
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Blog post of the day

2009-11-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

Stunner: 9/11 Maniacs to Use Trial to Rant Against America
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Cartoon of the day

2009-11-23T18:30:00.000-08:00

Hat tip: Flopping Aces
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Merced Sun-Star publisher resigns... tells staff he will leave the paper this week

2009-11-23T14:44:00.000-08:00

The publisher of the Merced Sun-Star told employees today he is stepping down at the end of this week.

Merced Sun-Star Publisher Hank Vander Veen announced Monday he would resign from the newspaper's top post to pursue other opportunities.

"I'm real proud of what we've accomplished here in six years," Vander Veen told a stunned Sun-Star staff. "It's a tough decision, but one I've been thinking about for a while. I'm ready to move on and a start a new chapter."

Vander Veen, a 25-year McClatchy Co. employee, will leave Friday. He's served as the Sun-Star's publisher since 2004, when McClatchy bought the paper from Pacific-Sierra Publishing Inc.

The announcement was made during an employee meeting. McClatchy's Vice President of Operations Frank Whittaker came down from Sacramento for the announcement.
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Hat tip: comments
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Bomb squad called after suspicious device found in Seattle Times newspaper box

2009-11-23T14:30:00.000-08:00

Authorities need to take these things seriously -- Seattle is home to a lot of crazy anarchists after all -- but I'd bet it wasn't a real explosive device.

A police bomb squad unit was called to a Seattle Times newspaper box Sunday morning after a Times delivery driver found a suspicious object in the box, the paper reported.

The device was found in a box on Main Street in Bothell, Wash., at about 3:30 a.m. and prompted the closing of a section of the street as police investigated and later "disrupted" the device, police said.

The Times reported that it was unclear if the object was a real bomb or not. The FBI, however, was called in and is investigating.

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Kansas City Star hiring automotive account executive

2009-11-23T13:15:00.000-08:00

The Kansas City Star is advertising for an automotive account executive. The announcement:

The Kansas City Star will be hiring for a classified automotive account executive. This account executive position is responsible for inside and outside sales of online advertising to independent used car dealers for our automotive vertical, cars.com.

We offer a top earning potential compensation package that will include a generous base salary as well as an aggressive commission structure.

Job duties include:
extensive prospecting to independent used car dealers as well as retaining and up selling existing independent dealer clients already advertising on cars.com.
regular telemarketing activities as well as outside sales calls in and around the Kansas City 11 counties to aggressively solicit new advertisers and maintain/increase current customers’ advertising
serving existing client accounts with all aspects of their online advertising needs, including all contract proposals, rate increases and renewal contract agreements
assessing customer needs and relationships
anticipating problems and seeing creative opportunities for solutions
developing appropriate sales plans and measuring their effectiveness
making professional sales presentations which project a positive image for The Star as a strategic marketing business partner
Job requirements:
2 years proven advertising sales experience
extensive successful prospecting experience
strong demonstrated presentation, follow-up and execution skills
1 to 2 years college-level education in advertising or marketing or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience
experience in automotive or online sales a plus
must be a highly motivated self-starter with a positive attitude, possessing excellent oral and written communications skills
proficient in Power Point, MS Word, Excel and Outlook
must have valid driver’s license, reliable transportation, and be dependable and punctual and maintain an acceptable attendance level

We offer you an excellent benefits package including a generous paid time off policy and the opportunity to work with a dynamic, results-oriented team.

Click here for details.

Mutter: "2009 is the worst year ever for newspapers"

2009-11-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

Straight talk from Alan Mutter about the newspaper industry's 3rd quarter advertising numbers.

Contrary to disingenuous happy talk from industry leaders, the third quarter brought absolutely no relief to the relentless dive in newspaper advertising, as total sales fell $2.5 billion to bring the year-to-date decline to nearly $7.9 billion.

With three months to go in the worst year ever for newspapers, the drop in sales in the first three quarters of 2009 is roughly equal to the combined revenues for the last 12 months of Gannett and McClatchy Co. In other words, it’s as though two of the largest publicly owned publishers in the land just fell off the face of the earth.

Sales plunged deeply in every category in the third quarter, according to statistics posted last week by the Newspaper Association of America, the industry-funded trade group...

Click here for the whole story.
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What's going on with McClatchy's retirement funds?

2009-11-23T07:45:00.000-08:00

A McClatchy retiree emailed me over the weekend, concerned about reports that McClatchy's pension funds have taken a bath... he wonders what this means for his future.

Bottom Line Communications reported last week that McClatchy's pension plans have suffered major losses. A source told John Landsberg that MNI pension funds lost as much as 25% of their value in the latest reports.

Some retirees from the Kansas City Star are not celebrating today with the news that the annual (2008) summary reports for parent McClatchy Company's various pension plans are reporting major losses.

A source noted that both the McClatchy and the old Knight Ridder 401k plans lost right around 25 percent of their asset value thanks to "losses from investments," according to the report.

"Those cash losses added up to a staggering $250.2 million---a quarter of a billion dollars!" the source said.

"The Pruitt-captained Titanic that is McClatchy has already been thoroughly run aground journalistically, and now it appears retirees are about to be tossed overboard."

I don't have specific numbers on how the funds are doing but I'll post good information that readers send. To retirees -- email me or post info/questions about your McClatchy and/or KR retirement funds.
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If there is enough interest I'll do a followup post later this week.
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Ruh roh: "Newspaper circulation may be worse than it looks"

2009-11-23T05:56:00.000-08:00

Click here for the story.
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Monday November 23 -- Got news or an update?

2009-11-23T03:00:00.000-08:00

If you have news or an update, leave it in comments.
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Funny searches on the New York Times search engine

2009-11-22T16:00:00.000-08:00

This afternoon somebody in Philadelpia went to New York Times search engine and entered this search, then clicked on this post I did earier this month.
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O'Reilly versus Olbermann

2009-11-22T11:00:00.000-08:00

Talk about a visual. This chart shows the 8:00 PM long-term trend for cable news, from January 2008 through the first week of November 2009. O'Reilly is the red line, Olbermann is the blue line. Nancy Grace (HLN) is orange, and Campbell Brown (CNN) is the green. O'Reilly is demolishing his competition.
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Cartoon of the day

2009-11-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

Cartoon by Chip Bok

The Sun News (Myrtle Beach) looking for inside sales support -- part-time

2009-11-22T05:50:00.000-08:00

The Sun News is advertising for inside sales support and help with customer service.

Description:

The Sun News is looking for a customer-focused and detailed-oriented person to provide customer service and process incoming ad sales. This is a great opportunity to earn extra money during and shortly after the holidays.

Requirements.

Qualified candidates should have work experience in an office environment and an average knowledge of personal computers with attention to detail and spelling. Applicants must be able to type a minimum of 35 wpm and multi-task in a fast paced environment. Verifiable Customer Service skills and experience is a must for this position.

Click here for more info.

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Sunday November 22 -- Got news or an update?

2009-11-22T03:00:00.000-08:00

If you have news or an update, leave it in comments.
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Leaked emails show global warming scientists conspired to hide data... has anybody seen the media? updated

2009-11-21T14:06:00.000-08:00

Just like the ACORN and Van Jones scandals, if you want to know what is going on in this case you'll have to follow FOX or the blogs because the MSM hasn't started covering it.

Here's what happened: somebody hacked into one of the world's leading global warming research centers and downloaded hundreds of emails from the leading lights of the global warming alarmist community. The emails have been published and they show a conspiracy to hide data that is detrimental to global warming alarmism.

Here's an overview:

Keep checking here

Update: A reader points out the New York Times covered the story today.
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Update #2: Good analysis of the NYT article at Bookworm. Bottom line: the NYT wants you to believe even though these climate change guys were paranoid, vindictive, secretive, and periodically dishonest, we should definitely trust them.
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Cartoon of the day

2009-11-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

Cartoon by Michael Ramirez
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McClatchy Watch

Wednesday November 25 – Got news or an update?

Washington Post to close its remaining U.S. bureaus

Blog post of the day

Some newspapers institute a price hike for Thanksgiving

McClatchy newspaper in San Luis Obispo looking for a reporter

“You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man"

Former KC Star columnist Hearne Christopher in DUI arrest

McClatchy editor tells staff not to use vulgar "teabagger" expression

Tuesday November 24 -- Got news or an update?

Blog post of the day

Cartoon of the day

Merced Sun-Star publisher resigns... tells staff he will leave the paper this week

Bomb squad called after suspicious device found in Seattle Times newspaper box

Kansas City Star hiring automotive account executive

Mutter: "2009 is the worst year ever for newspapers"

What's going on with McClatchy's retirement funds?

Ruh roh: "Newspaper circulation may be worse than it looks"

Monday November 23 -- Got news or an update?

Funny searches on the New York Times search engine

O'Reilly versus Olbermann

Cartoon of the day

The Sun News (Myrtle Beach) looking for inside sales support -- part-time

Sunday November 22 -- Got news or an update?

Leaked emails show global warming scientists conspired to hide data... has anybody seen the media? **updated**

Cartoon of the day

Leaked emails show global warming scientists conspired to hide data... has anybody seen the media? updated