Hey, opportunities beckon.
Posted on 07/10/2006 1:36:49 PM PDT by abb
Local newspaper ownership has earned praise lately, but perhaps not in the offices of The Santa Barbara News-Press in California. Last week, six top editors and a veteran columnist resigned from the paper, claiming the owner and her management had repeatedly undermined news coverage.
The journalists included the editor, Jerry Roberts; managing editor, George Foulsham; deputy managing editor, Donald Murphy; metro editor, Jane Hulse; business editor, Michael Todd; sports editor, Gerry Spratt; and Barney Brantingham, a longtime columnist who had been working at the daily since 1960 when he began as a copy editor.
The News-Press, which was founded in 1855 and now has a circulation of around 41,000, is owned by Wendy P. McCaw, a philanthropist and the ex-wife of Craig McCaw, the cellphone magnate. (Ms. McCaw's holding company, Ampersand Holdings, bought the paper from The New York Times Company in 2000.)
Ms. McCaw and the new acting publisher, Travis K. Armstrong, did not return calls seeking comment. Sam Singer, a spokesman for Ms. McCaw, said the resignations came as a result of the owner's plan to increase local news coverage.
Mr. Roberts disputed that explanation. Employees quit, he said, "largely because of ethical concerns" over the policies of Ms. McCaw; the co-publisher, Arthur von Wiesenberger (who is also Ms. McCaw's fiancé); and Mr. Armstrong, who is also the editorial page editor.
"These are primary ethical issues of the blurring of the line between opinion and fact, editorial page and news page," Mr. Roberts said. "More than 100 papers ran a story about the resignations on Friday, but The News-Press was not among them. It ran a column by Travis Armstrong spinning it.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
More here...
Santa Barbara Editor Who Quit Warns Others About Private Owners
By Joe Strupp
Published: July 10, 2006 11:20 AM ET
NEW YORK Jerry Roberts, the former editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press who resigned last week in protest of the owner's alleged meddling in news coverage, said the incident should be a warning to others who see a new wave of private buyers as the saviors for the troubled industry.
"There is definitely a downside," Roberts, 57, told E&P late Sunday, just days after he quit the paper he had edited for four years. "When you have one owner who is very wealthy and used to getting their way, you have this conflict between the audience of the paper and the audience of one -- the owner."
Roberts referred to Wendy McCaw, who bought the News-Press from The New York Times Company in 2000. Although she had long used the editorial page to promote her views, Roberts said, efforts to influence the news pages had been fewer in the past.
"She was extensively involved with the paper, with the editorial page," Robert said. "That was fine. She was pretty hands off on the news side when I was there, but that changed and became untenable."
Roberts, a former editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, said the latest wave of private ownership buys and speculation of potential future purchases by local investors should be looked at carefully in the wake of the News-Press situation. He pointed to recent purchases of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and Times Leader of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. from corporate entities, as well as recent speculation that the Los Angeles Times might be sold to a local owner.
"With those kinds of successful, independent rich people looking to buy some newspapers, it has some resonance," he said of his situation. "Here is a case study of how that can work -- and not very well."
Roberts is one of seven top journalists and editors who have quit the paper since Thursday. Several others in that group also warned that local owners are not always a better situation than corporate chains.
"I was pleased when she bought the paper, an independent owner not beholden to stockholders. It seemed like a plus," said Don Murphy, the former deputy managing editor and a 19-year News-Press veteran who was the first to resign. "But she had no experience with newspapers, no knowledge of newspapers and it was not a traditional [private] ownership - handed down generation to generation."
Columnist Barney Brantingham, a 46-year employee and columnist since 1977, agreed. "I call it amateur hour," he said of such wealthy owners. "People who have money but don't understand the profession of journalism. That is what is going on here."
Roberts said the final straw, for him, appeared a week and a half ago when, while he was on vacation, McCaw appointed Travis Armstrong acting publisher, with oversight of the newsroom. "The editorial page is like The Wall Street Journal -- we had been criticized by the editorial page for not covering certain stories in the correct way," Roberts said. "When she appointed the editorial page editor to be in charge of news coverage, that was it."
Murphy agreed, saying of McCaw and Armstrong, "it became apparent they were going to be very active in the paper."
The newspaper on Friday published a Page One editors note that reported the resignations, but said they were based on "differences of opinion to direction, goals and vision."
Roberts said many of the recent problems began in April when former publisher Joe Cole retired. Roberts said Cole, who had hired him, had long been able to offer a cushion between the owner and the newsroom.
"He had always been there and sort of been a buffer," Roberts said of Cole. "But he left and she began to be co-publisher. Things began to get a little rocky."
Roberts and others at the paper said McCaw had recently named her fiancé, Arthur Von Wiesenberger, as co-publisher. Cole declined to comment to E&P, while McCaw and Von Wiesenberger could not be reached for comment.
Several well-reported incidents began the fractured relationship between owner and newsroom, Roberts said, noting the discipline of editors for revealing an address where actor Rob Lowe had planned to build a home and a short item on a drunk driving arrest of editorial page editor Travis Armstrong.
But Roberts said the tension had occurred long before Cole's departure, noting that he had often been forced to write explanatory columns reminding readers that the editorial page did not reflect the newsroom. "Very clearly, I felt several times that it had to be stated," he recalled. "I would go out and I would talk to people and groups and that would be the first three or four questions. I had to explain that I didn't have a role in the editorial page, and I think the reporters also heard it from sources."
Since the resignations, the paper has had as many as 90 subscription cancellations, according to news reports, while many in the community are concerned that the paper might not be able to keep its credibility, according to the Los Angeles Times and others.
"The biggest issue is the hit in credibility," Roberts told E&P. "Whether it has as much credibility is going to be difficult." He also noted that the subscription decrease is a negative, but likely not any worse than the circulation problems plaguing the industry as a whole.
Roberts, who is married and the father of three, said he plans to stay in Santa Barbara and take some time off, with a hope of working elsewhere in news. "I've had some conversations with people," he said about future opportunities, but declined to be more specific. "I want to figure out what to do."
As for other newsrooms being eyed by private, local investors, Roberts reiterated his caution: "Make sure that you understand that the paper is there to serve readers and the need to delegate things to professional to do that. Either that or run like hell."
Joe Strupp (jstrupp@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
Dinosaur Media Ping
More yet...
Free Daily Gaining Ground in Suddenly Strange Santa Barbara
By Jennifer Saba
Published: July 10, 2006 1:55 PM ET
NEW YORK While the doors at the Santa Barbara News-Press spin with high-level departures, a relatively new upstart is digging into the market.
The Santa Barbara Daily Sound, a free daily paper that launched in late March, increased its circulation from 3,000 to 5,000 copies last week, said Jeramy Gordon, the 23-year-old founder, editor, and publisher of the paper who moved to Santa Barbara in February.
The numbers are not huge, but Gordon said that people in the community want to find out more about the paper (plus the Daily Sound is covering the saga at the News-Press). "I have never seen anything like that happen at a major paper," Gordon said about the major exodus of editors who are accusing owners of meddling. "It's scary."
Gordon cut his chops at the Palo Alto Daily News -- the once derided, now successful free daily paper founded in 1995 -- as a 19-year-old stringer. Gordon was hired full time by the time he turned 20, eventually becoming managing editor of the entire chain, which includes free dailies in the Bay Area communities of San Mateo, Redwood City, Burlingame, and Los Gatos.
Knight Ridder purchased the Palo Alto Daily News and its sister publications in February 2005 and Gordon got a taste of starting up a free daily when he helped launch the East Bay Daily News. But that all changed when, 10 months later, a shareholder revolt forced Knight Ridder executives to put the company up for sale. (McClatchy has agreed to sell the Palo Alto papers to MediaNews Group.)
Palo Alto Daily News founders Dave Price and Jim Pavelich left Knight Ridder in December 2005. Gordon followed, but still wanted to be involved in free dailies. So he convinced family and friends to pitch in money eventually raising $250,000 so he could take the concept to Santa Barbara.
The staff is small: Gordon employs three full time employees, a handful of stringers, and one part-time ad salesperson. Depending on the day, the tabloid runs eight to 12 pages.
Distribution was Gordon's biggest challenge. He and his employees would get up at 5 in the morning to distribute papers by hand, after often staying in the office until midnight. They choose spots on a trial and error basis. The paper just hired a distribution company and is now available in 250 locations throughout the city.
Gordon said that he expects to break even in about six months.
While there has been a rise in free daily papers, it's still a hard path to hew. "Free dailies tend to work better when you don't have an entrenched competitor," said newspaper analyst John Morton. It's still possible for the free paper to work especially if the community is looking for straightforward, honest news, he explained.
Jennifer Saba (jsaba@editorandpublisher.com) is associate editor at E&P.
Ping
It's humorous that the NYT finds blending fact and opinion to be newsworthy. And even more humorous that they had to search the entire country to find an example, and eventually pin that label on a small town newspaper with a circulation of only 41,000.
Look in the mirror, NYT.
The new management bought this rag from the Times. They put in an acting Publisher to take control. The journalists were evidently the usual MSM leftists, and took exceeding great umbrage because they weren't allowed to call people "Ms." Also, they were in a snit because a second story about the publisher driving under the influence was killed.
Cat fight is about right. But it sounds as if the new owners are, if not conservative, at least not as rabidly leftist as their former employees. Good luck to them.
Our local paper just hired someone from the NYT.
"I have never seen anything like that happen at a major paper," Gordon said about the major exodus of editors who are accusing owners of meddling. "It's scary."
The owners are accused of "meddling"? Gimme a break.
Aren't journalists always saying things like "newspapers are owned by Republicans"?
This must be the only profession, if that's what it can be called, where the owners can be accused of meddling. Maybe what the dying media needs is more hard nosed business owners getting involved, not fewer.
This is too much like monkey's running the zoo - and when there's a problem keeping the zoo profitable their solution is more bananas and keep paying customers out...
"I have never seen anything like that happen at a major paper," Gordon said about the major exodus of editors who are accusing owners of meddling. "It's scary."
The owners are accused of "meddling"? Gimme a break.
Aren't journalists always saying things like "newspapers are owned by Republicans"?
This must be the only profession, if that's what it can be called, where the owners can be accused of meddling. Maybe what the dying media needs is more hard nosed business owners getting involved, not fewer.
This is too much like monkey's running the zoo - and when there's a problem keeping the zoo profitable their solution is more bananas and keep paying customers out...
He interviewed a rabbi who is joining in the protest and called on all people not to buy the paper.
Incidentially we made the Fox News Alert. Whoever dressed up like Bin Laden got his mug on the news.
Let's play Finish That Thought:
"These are primary ethical issues of the blurring of the line between opinion and fact, editorial page and news page, in a manner other than a liberal manner" Mr. Roberts said.
Hey, opportunities beckon.
Congrats! Looking for the after-action report!
Sounds to me that the owner decided to rein in some left wing 'journalists' and they quit. Sounds like a good thing to me. I hope the small town paper thrives.
bump
Isn't this cat fight between liberals great.
None of these people would be able to qualify as real journalists.
They were trained by the Ny Slimes to put out stories based on dreams and fantasies of the left and call them news and opeds.
There is about as much need for prop spinners who lose their jobs today as the demand for air line pilots, who are only qualified to fly single engine passenger planes.
Maby they should hire some illegsls to do work that Americans won'do.
WOW! Trademark! Cool!!!
Isn't it interesting that there is no mention of how the paper's owner was meddling. Strange as it may seem, it is most likely that she was more conservative than the staff. Even the writers of the articles posted here are giving incomplete facts of the story. Lefty journos do not even realize that they are experiencing life through a filter.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.