5/31/2006 12:30:02 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [0] |  

Long but interesting reading in the Philadelphia Weekly about pr man supreme Brian Tierney, the indvidual heading up a group of investors who just bought the Philly Daily News and Inquirer. It seems to me Tierney's Republican ties are a red herring. But the more intriguing question is how does a man who made a career out of spinning -- and sometimes fighting -- the media now function as the chief steward of the papers' journalism. It's kind of like what would happen if George Regan bought the Herald or Globe in Boston.

Here's the most ominious quote in the Weekly piece from former Inquirer editor Jonathan Neumann.

"I think it's a sad day that someone I've always considered an enemy of the First Amendment and an enemy of the Constitution now owns those newspapers."

We'll see how Tierney behaves, but this is certainly the flip side to local non-corporate ownership of newspapers.

5/31/2006 12:19:34 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [0] |  

For those of us getting tired of reading about the state's apparently endless supply of "pervs" in the Herald (see today's front page below), I hearby declare a synonym or euphemism hunt. Suggestions are welcome, but keep them reasonably clean.

5/31/2006 11:41:06 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [3] |  

Nice job by the Globe's Geoff Edgers yesterday on the "Planet Mikey" profile of 'EEI nighttime host Mike Adams, who's lived an interesting life. I like the idea of Mike Adams, a free spirit and genuinely colorful character on a station in dire need of both.

I also found very telling this quote by Charlie Kravetz, his old boss at NECN where Adams hosted a sports show from 1992-1998.

‘‘I told Mike, for years, ‘If you had even a modicum of discipline you could be a national figure,’.’’ remembers Kravetz. ‘‘If you’ve read anything about Letterman, you know he’s obsessive; everything is planned. Mike would walk in front of the camera at one minute to 11 and kind of wing it for an hour. A lot of it was absolutely hilarious, some sophomoric, but at the end of the day, it lacked the kind of structure that would take him to the next level.’’

And that pretty much sums up how I feel about Adams on WEEI. He can be very amusing and fun to listen to. But he sometimes seems to lack the focus or intensity necessary to maintain that level of performance, which is when he lapses into lazy or sloppy patter, like calling Barry Bonds a ‘‘miserable puke of a human being.’’ Sure, that's a pretty accurate description, but one befitting a 10-year-old boy on a schoolyard playground. Bottom line: I agree with Kravetz.  If he tightened up his act a bit, Adams could be top notch. Now, he is too spotty.

Speaking of Adams, his WEEI predecessor Teddy Sarandis is tossing his hat into the political ring, according to today's Herald -- although I'm not sure the Governor's Council is a launching pad to electoral stardom. The Herald diplomatically noted that Teddy is using "a lull in his broadcasting career" to enter the political arena, and anyone who ever listened to the show is likely familiar with Teddy's world view. Who knows? If he's elected maybe Sarandis can make attendance at BC basketball games a prerequisite for voting rights in the state.

5/31/2006 11:32:09 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [4] |  

This Richard Sandomir piece in today's New York Times does a good job of capturing the public's attitude toward Barry Bonds's grotesquely tainted home run chase -- with the added attraction of his miserable personality. Bonds turns out to be the least likeable TV character this side of Boris Badenov.

5/26/2006 10:54:42 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [1] |  

While the Globe's got a lot of legitimate action on its front page today, including some important follows to its work on departed Caritas chief Robert Haddad, how can you relegate the conviction of the Enron boys to the Business front, particularly when today's Business section is wrapped inside Sidekick? Any case, that as the Globe subhead notes, "came to symbolize coporate deceit in US" has to be on page 1.

Considerably more egregious, however, is the Herald's burying the news of Haddad's resignation in a three-paragraph AP brief on the bottom of page 15. That apparently makes the story 10 pages less newsworthy than the page 5 scoop that an Ohio couple is upset because their home phone number is inconveniently similar to the toll free number used to cast votes for "American Idol" contestants.

5/26/2006 10:33:11 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [2] |  

The second station to weigh in with good news on the May sweeps is WCVB-TV (Channel 5), which continues to dominate the news wars except for the late night newscast. Here's their story in a nutshell:

WCVB-TV Channel 5 monopolized the May ratings period in convincing fashion.  New England’s news leader captured first place finishes in household ratings at 5AM, 6AM, Noon, 5PM, 5:30PM, 6PM, 7:30PM and 11PM* and in key demographic groups throughout the day.

5/25/2006 3:44:36 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [0] |  

Well, speaking of sweeps, Channel 25 (WFXT-TV) is the first to declare victory today, reporting that it had the highest-rated late-night newscast in the Boston market during the May sweeps.

According to the station, it earned a 7.0 rating for its 10 pm newscast, compared to Channel 7's 6.8, Channel 5's 6.3 and Channel 4's 5.6 for the 11 o'clock slot. Channel 25's direct rival at 10 pm, Channel 56, came in at a 2.1. Here's an excerpt from the release:

FOX25 News at Ten remains the late news ratings leader in New England…finishing the May Sweep as the number #1 choice for late news in every key adult demographic.  FOX25 is the clear winner in the late news Households race (M-F) earning a 7.0 which bests every other late newscast (WHDH, WCVB, WBZ, WLVI) in Boston.  FOX25 News at Ten  also tops the late news race in Total Viewers (18+). 

While rivals are in a ratings downfall, FOX25 News at Ten shows incredible growth in the demographics most desirable to advertisers.  The 10pm news grew 76% in Adults 18-34, 44% in Adults 18-49 and 43% in Adults 25-54 over last May and is the #1 late newscast in New England for the fifth month in a row in Adults 18-34, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. 

Once you get through digesting all these numbers, you'll understand why I don't like covering ratings battles.

5/25/2006 1:59:33 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [2] |  

Julio, we hardly knew ye!. After only about a year-and-a-half on the job, Julio Marenghi is gone as chief honcho of the company's New England TV triopoly, including Channel 4 in Boston. Marenghi's being succeeded by a guy from Minneapolis while he moves on to become President of Sales at CBS Television Stations. Here's the skinny from the station:

Ed Piette has been named President and General Manager of CBS’s New England television stations, which include WBZ-TV (CBS) Boston, WSBK-TV (UPN) Boston and WLWC-TV (UPN) Providence, R.I., it was announced today by Tom Kane, President and CEO, CBS Television Stations. Piette who most recently served as Vice President and General Manager of WCCO-TV Minneapolis, will oversee all operations of the three stations. He succeeds Julio Marenghi, who has been appointed President, Sales, CBS Television Stations.

“Ed has done a phenomenal job leading the turnaround of WCCO, which recently resumed its rightful place as Minneapolis’ #1 station,” said Kane. “Under his watch, WCCO has not only grown its ratings and revenues but the quality of the local programming has improved drastically and the morale is sky-high. He is a superb leader and station operator, and I think he has what it takes to lead our New England triopoly.”

Piette was most recently Vice President and General Manager of WCCO. Before that he was Vice President and General Manager of KTSP-TV and KSTC-TV in Minneapolis (he also oversaw the satellite station KSAX, which served the Alexandria, Minn. area), a position he has held since 1998. Previously, he was President/General Manager of WDAF, the Fox-owned station in Kansas City (which was formerly an NBC affiliate owned by New World Television). He also worked for seven years for Multi-Media Inc. as Vice President/ General Manager, Station Manager and Director of Broadcast Operations for NBC affiliate KSDK-TV in St. Louis and as an interim general manager for WZTV-TV, an independent station in Nashville. In addition, Piette led stations for the American Broadcast Group in Sioux City, Iowa (NBC affiliate KTIV) and Waterloo, Iowa (NBC affiliate KWWL).

WBZ, WSBK and WLWC are part of the CBS Television Stations division, one of the largest network-owned station groups, consisting of 21 CBS stations, 15 UPN, one WB and two stations not affiliated with major networks.

Obviously, the big part of Marenghi's job was to try and turn around the fortunes of the ratings-challenged Channel 4, something that hasn't happened yet. (I'm waiting for the new May "sweeps" numbers) So it's no surprise that the press release (second graph) credits Piette with facilitating a major reversal of fortune at WCCO-TV.

5/25/2006 1:34:33 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [4] |  

Some changes at One Herald Square where City Hall reporter Kevin Rothstein will soon depart to join former Herald investigative staffer Jon Wells at WFXT-TV (Channel 25). At the same time, cop reporter Michele McPhee has just been moved into City Hall where she will add city reporting to her police portfolio. And transportation reporter Tom Caywood has been sent to the State House to join Kimberly Atkins there.

5/25/2006 12:01:47 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [1] |  

A sharp-eared colleague clued me in to this spirited seven-minute exchange this morning between new White House press secretary Tony Snow and NPR's Steven Inskeep on "Morning Edition." I also saw Snow with Lou Dobbs on CNN last night, and he doesn't mind being combative, which frankly is an improvement over Scott McClellan's "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" style that so infuriated journalists. But that takes a lot of energy and I wonder whether Snow will tire of the jousting -- and the thankless job -- at some point.

5/25/2006 11:46:58 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [0] |  

I've been reluctant to write about this because I have a near and dear one who works at Caritas Christi. But suffice it to say that major plaudits are in order for the Globe's -- and particularly Walter Robinson's -- aggressive and thorough reporting, which culminated in today's news that president Robert Haddad has resigned amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment. One has to believe that without the serious Globe scrutiny, the outcome might well have been different in this case.

One of my favorite stories in the Globe's impressive reportage was Yvonne Abraham's piece yesterday piercing Haddad's defense that his hugging and kissing were simply an expression of his warm and open Lebanese heritage.

The Herald, clearly choosing to opt out of the game on a story owned by the Globe, relied on an AP story to report Haddad's demsie.

5/25/2006 9:39:54 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [5] |  

Starting Monday a new freebie daily, The Manchester Daily Express, hit the streets of Manchester New Hampshire with the slogan -- at least as expressed by publisher Jody Reese -- "because your time is valuable, we won't waste it." Uh-oh.

The paper, which is published by the owners of the New Hampshire weekly, HippoPress, will begin with an initial output of 3,000 copies with a target of 9.000 copies per day by August.

Speaking of papers that promise you the world in 20 minutes, I recently picked up a copy of the Washington Post's Cliff Notes version of a daily paper -- Express -- and while limiting my comment to a superficial evaluation, I will say this. It is uglier than its Boston cousin (half owned by the Globe), the Metro.

5/24/2006 12:22:17 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [2] |  

You don't have to be that old to remember when the Philadelphia Inquirer was the crown jewel in the estimable Knight Ridder empire, winning 17 Pulitzers during the tenure of executive editor Gene Roberts and being driven by the investigative zeal of reporters Donald Barlett and James Steele.

Today the Inky and its fiesty sister tabloid .the Philadelphia Daily News -- which had languished as one of the "orphans" created by the Knight Ridder sale to McClatchy -- have new owners, a group of local investors led by "public relations entrepreneur" Brian Tierney.

First the good news, as contained in today's Inky account of the deal.

The Tierney-led group is the first consortium of local business owners to take control of a major daily newspaper, the publisher said. The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today all are owned corporations that have felt pressure from Wall Street to cut costs and boost profits.
 
Boy, wouldn't it be great news for the newspaper industry if a local ownership team created a successful business model that could offer an alternative to mega-corporate ownership and ease Wall Street's tightfisted grip on the business? That's a rhetorical question.

But here's the worrisome downside to this kind of transaction, as enunciated in the Inky story.

Tierney is familiar to many Inquirer editors and reporters for his strident advocacy on behalf of influential friends and clients. In 1991, he led Catholic activists in picketing the paper.

"He was always a very aggressive and passionate advocate," said Maxwell E.P. King, a former Inquirer executive editor and now president of the Heinz Endowments in Pittsburgh. King said he worried "about the independence and integrity of the news coverage."

Tierney acknowledged the potential for conflicts of interest. He said his investors signed a pledge not to interfere with news coverage, and promised not to sell their investments for at least five years.

"I was an advocate in advertising and public relations for my clients. Now I'm going to be a zealous advocate for this organization," Tierney said.

Pressed on how his promise to respect the newsroom will be enforced, Tierney said: "I'll beat the crap out of anyone" who tries to break it.

You always have to worry about newspapers becoming a vanity buy for someone eager to impose his or her agenda on the community. For now, let's be happy the papers are alive, wish the new owners luck, and take Tierney at his word.

5/24/2006 11:34:51 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [3] |  

5/24/2006 11:12:01 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [2] |  

Of course, any 20-minute interview with Curt Schilling on WEEI is going to eventually get around to politics and Schilling's many opinions on the affairs of state. But to his credit, he didn't take the bait today when morning man Gerry Callahan -- never shy about foisting his views on the listener -- tried on several occasions to get Schilling to criticize the students at BC and the New School who made life difficult for commencement speakers Condoleezza Rice and John McCain. To his credit, the Sox pitcher didn't take the bait, talking instead about the importance of freedom of speech in a democracy.

5/23/2006 5:30:39 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [14] |  

Bill Koch, the extremely wealthy businessman, America’s Cup winner, and art aficionado who was recently seen demanding (and getting) a Globe apology for an unflattering column  weighed in on the heated Cape Cod wind farm debate with this op-ed piece in yesterday's Wall Street Journal.

In this piece --  in which Koch identifies himsefl as the owner of an energy company, as someone who was asked to invest in the Cape Wind project, and as the owner of a summer house overlooking Nantucket Sound  -- Koch says he crunched the numbers and it isn't pretty. Here's his conclusion:

When you do the math, it is clear that every other form of power generation would be cheaper to build, produce more electricity at a consistent rate and save consumers more money. When you consider the costs and risks of an offshore wind farm, and the fact that New England does not need more power, the project becomes nonsensical, a giant boondoggle for the benefit of one developer.

Koch didn't mention that he's the co-chairman of the anti-windfarm group, The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound.

5/23/2006 11:53:26 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [5] |  

After one tragedy (the severe wounding of co-anchor Bob Woodruff in Iraq), one blessed event (the pregnancy of co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas), and one big scare (Bob Schieffer's CBS newscast passing "World News Tonight" in the ratings), the folks at ABC are finally doing the right thing by making "Good Morning America" host Charlie Gibson the sole anchor of the evening newscast. ) -- a job he is believed to have wanted in the first place.

You've got to sort of feel sorry for ABC. First, Peter Jennings succumbs quickly to lung cancer and then fate conspires to quickly undo the gutsy Woodruff/Vargas experiment. But there's no doubt that Gibson is the network's marquee newsman, and the one person there with the gravitas to keep you glued to the screen for hours if there were another 9/11 magnitude event. Frankly, the only reason for not having given him the job following Jenning's death must have been the network's desire to protect its morning show franchise.


So when the dust finally clears on the anchor desk shuffle, NBC will be led by the maturing heir apparent, Brian Williams, CBS will roll the dice morning show diva  Katie Couric, and ABC will go with its most tried and true talent, Gibson, who at 63, is by far the oldest of the three. Of course, no one has figured out how to keep eyeballs from migrating away from a half-hour evening newscast that airs at a time when many working Americans are still toiling on the job or commuting home. But at least we'll see if anchors matter.

5/23/2006 11:23:49 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [4] |  

Well, the Richard Chacon mystery has been solved. Media Log just finished speaking with the Globe ombudsman and 12-year veteran of the paper who's starting a new chapter in his professional career this week as communications director for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick.

"I'm taking a radically different path," says Chacon. "it's both exciting and scary. Scary to fly away from a nest I've been snuggly sitting in for the past 12 years." Chacon, who has never worked on a political campaign before, adds that "There's something really different about [Patrick]."

Regarding his relatively brief stint as Globe ombudsman, Chacon calls it a "really critical job. I tried to do the best I could in serving the readers. I think a lot of people wanted me to whack the Globe more frequently."

That is, of course, just one of the difficult balancing acts that comes with the job -- trying to function as an independent analyst and critic of the paper while still not alienating colleagues and bosses. It's also a reason why, in searching for a Chacon replacement, the Globe ought to follow the New York Times and Washington Post model and hire an outside contractor for a few years. It's not a panacea. But it's an improvement.

5/22/2006 11:37:52 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [6] |  

With this short announcement, Richard Chacon informed readers he is leaving both his post as Globe ombudsman and the paper itself, for what he called "a new professional challenge." Chacon spent a little less than a year in the job, and it's not clear that he was a good fit for a difficult position that involves constantly dealing with reader wrath and sometimes incurring your colleagues' wrath. But it's too early to know whether that had anything to do with his leaving. (Media Log is on deadline for a story today, but we have a call into Chacon for further details.)

In the meantime, finding a new ombudsman is never an easy task, assuming the Globe wants to continue its long tradition of having one.

5/22/2006 10:12:13 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [0] |  

If this Chicago Sun-Times gossip item is right (and remember they are the Tribune's rivals) here's another good reasons why media company shouldn't own sports franchises. So that the journalists can tell the team executives to go to hell without getting into trouble with their corporate bretheren.

5/19/2006 4:50:16 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [0] |  

The Commonwealth Ave. soap opera continues over a possible investigation of BU College of Communication Dean John Schulz for embellishing his resume. Today's Globe story suggests the battle lines are being drawn.

Ah, I love my alma mater.

5/19/2006 10:13:26 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [2] |  

Today's Herald story has good ratings news for WBUR -- and strongly suggests that the station has benefitted from the stewardship of new GM Paul La Camera, who has helped clean up the stench of scandal there. Plenty has been written about the La Camera era , like here in the Phoenix by me and also by Dan Kennedy in CommonWealth magazine. And it may be true that La Camera has generated more good press in seven months on the job than his predecessor Jane Christo did in 25 years at the helm. There are substantive reasons for that, including workplace morale and management styles. But it's also undeniably true that the polished La Camera is a lot more open and adept at dealing with the media than the far more suspicious and guarded Christo was. That usually pays off.

Two other points.

1) Today's Herald piece is the second story I've read that credits a rise in NPR ratings to the fact that a number of Howard Stern listeners who did not follow him to satellite are now hooked on public radio. I've never quite understood the connection between Butt Bongo Fiesta and All Things Considered, but apparently there is one.

2) Again kudos to the Herald for making energetic local media coverage a mainstay of their business pages. And whatever editorial changes may be coming now that Purcell has sold CNC and is determined to fix the tabloid, the media focus should stay.

5/18/2006 5:57:26 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [3] |  

First, an apology for the blogging lull caused by deadline reporting and writing this week. (I will also be out of town tomorrow, and will return to blogging on Thursday.) But at least, let's pass on some new business in the TV and radio world.

We've got a new high-profile NECN anchor with an interesting resume:

Beth Shelburne, a distinguished journalist who most recently anchored the noon and 4 p.m. newscasts for the CBS affiliate in San Diego, will join RD Sahl as co-anchor of the News at 9 beginning tomorrow, May 17.

 Shelburne, a native of Birmingham, Alabama and an Auburn University graduate, will also co-anchor NECN’s 5 p.m. newscast, which will be known as “Live at 5 with Chet Curtis and Beth Shelburne.’’ In addition, she will host “New England Dream House.’’

Shelburne won a prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for writing in 2001 for a 6-part, post-9/11 series called  “New York Stories.’’ She also won a regional Emmy for coverage of the fires that raged through Southern California in 2003. She worked in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, and is a classically trained pianist with a background in dance.

And we've got an exec going from TV to  Boston's Entercom radio empire:

Entercom Boston today announced the addition of Lee Kinberg as the company’s new Director of Operations. Kinberg will manage all internal operations at Entercom Boston’s family of stations, which includes top-rated WEEI Sports Radio, WRKO 680 AM, WAAF-FM and WMKK-FM.

Kinberg has over a decade of experience in the media industry. Prior to joining Entercom, Kinberg was the Director of Programming and Research for WBZ-TV/ Boston, Program Director for KSTW/Seattle, Director of Research and Media at WSBK-TV/Boston, and Katz Communications in New York.

Lee attended Cornell University and graduated with a degree in Industrial and Labor relations.

5/16/2006 6:15:36 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [1] |  

Channel 2 has announced who will succeed me in July as a regular participant on the station's Friday "Beat the Press"  segment of "Greater Boston." The envelope please:

Joe Sciacca, the Boston Herald deputy managing editor for news, has been named as a new panelist for Greater Boston's "Beat the Press," replacing longtime contributor Mark Jurkowitz, who is moving to Washington, D.C. to become associate director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Greater Boston host Emily Rooney says, "Joe Sciacca is a seasoned reporter and editor, widely respected across the political spectrum. We look forward to his no-nonsense approach to the news business as a regular contributor to Beat the Press.”

Joe, a friend, longtime fixture in Boston journalism, and part-time radio talkhost, will do a great job.

5/12/2006 5:44:33 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [10] |  

Channel 7 has just announced that Caterina Bandini an 11-year-veteran of he station who succeeded Kim Carrigan as the station's lead female anchor five years ago, is taking the mommy track. Here's the lowdown:

Caterina Bandini, Channel 7's co-anchor for the past five years, has announced her pregnancy and her plans to leave the station when she becomes a mother, according to Mike Carson, Vice President and General Manager.  "Caterina is not only pregnant, she is expecting twins," added Carson. "Everyone at Channel 7 wishes her all the best," said Carson. " She has been a valuable asset to us for the past eleven years, first as a reporter, then anchor. Her journalistic contribution, as well as her team player attitude will be missed."

"Although putting our children and my husband first is the right choice in my head and my heart, choosing to leave the main anchor job at 7NEWS has still been an incredibly difficult decision for me to make," said Bandini.   "The past 11 years here have been so fulfilling both professionally and personally.  I have such respect for this organization and hope to leave with a door open, when and if the right time comes for me to return to work in a different capacity.  Although many women successfully do it and have my complete respect, I know,for me, I cannot continue as one of the main anchors at 7NEWS while caring for two small babies.  I thank 7 management and my partner and dear friend, Randy Price, for their continuing support during this exciting time."

Bandini, whose children are due in the Fall, hopes to be able to work until then. According to Carson "As to her replacement, all options will be explored."

5/11/2006 5:24:20 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [5] |  

Without rushing to judgment, doesn't this Globe piece concerning allegations of resume embellishment by BU College of Communication Dean John Schulz (at my beloved alma mater) look like a story with some legs? There's some disturbing material in there, but perhaps the most disturbing is Schulz's assessment of the school paper, the Daily Free Press.

''I can't respond [to the student paper] without creating secondary controversies," Schulz said. ''You have to understand I've never taken the student paper very seriously -- these are kids."

That's the kind of encouragement budding young journalists like to hear from their dean.

5/11/2006 10:11:25 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [10] |  

While Barry Bonds blithely goes about his tainted quest for all-time home run records, it looks like the two journalists who helped uncover the BALCO steroid scandal and wrote "Game of Shadows" may face a showdown -- and potential jail time -- for refusing to identify the grand jury leakers. I interviewed one of the two reporters, Mark Fainaru-Wada, for "Muckrakers in the Outfield" in the April 7 Phoenix.

If we have another Judy Miller case in the making, at least these guys are protecting something more valuable than a Scooter Libby leak.

5/11/2006 10:03:12 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [0] |  

In some local media circles, it was no secret that Globe metro editor Carolyn Ryan was considering leaving the paper to take a job at the New York Times as deputy metro editor, overseeing coverage of Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York outisde of the city. But she's officially decided to stay put, telling Media Log, that  "I have a great job at the Boston Globe. I work with people I admire, and oversee coverage of interesting and important stories. This is an exciting and challenging moment at the Globe, and I want to be part of that."

Ryan's decision is likely provoke a mixed response internally. Considered a favorite of the paper's top editors, she is a controversial and far from universally beloved figure in the newsroom. One thing's for sure. It's news whenever a Globie tells the Times "thanks but no thanks."

5/10/2006 4:46:19 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [0] |  

Jim Braude, the quick-thinking and even faster talking WTKK and NECN host, is about to get a lot more visibility on the local cable news station. Here's the relevant news in today's release from NECN:

“NewsNight with Jim Braude,’’ the live news analysis program where local and national newsmakers discuss the weighty topics of the day, will move from its current Monday-Friday 8:30 p.m. time slot to 7 p.m. Monday- Friday beginning Monday, May 15.

Braude will also host a new, live, hour-long 4 p.m. viewer call-in show called “Talk Back Live with Jim Braude’’ beginning Monday, June 5. The show will also include two news updates, one at the opening of the show and one on the half hour.

 

The "Talk Back Live" show will be a throwback to bygone days at NECN, with its talk show format that includes taking viewer calls and a series of rotating co-hosts or guests.  Frankly, if there were more liberals who had Braude's talent for talking on the air, the Democrats might win more elections.

5/10/2006 4:04:48 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [2] |  

1) Dan Okrent, perhaps best known around here as the founder of the much-respected, but defunct New England Monthly, has a new book out -- "Public Editor #1" -- that is a collection of columns and some addtional thoughts from the New York Times's first public editor.

I can't say I've perused the columns part of the book yet, but the introduction, "Notes on an Unendearing Profession" is worth the price of admission alone. There are some pretty candid revelations about the Times's culture -- "I'd known people at The Times for decades, and what had always struck me was how unhappy the place seemed to be. I do not recall a time when a culture of complaint was not the prevailing weather on West 43rd Street."

There were some observations about how this worked to his benefit -- "For me, the generalized discontent inside the kennel made my job in at least one way easier than I expected....With suprising frequency, staff members would come to me to discuss a perceived act of questionable journalism committed by someone else. Sub-editors would rat out desk heads, Washington bureau reporters whispered sourly about national editors and the hard news types threw roundhouse punches at articles featured on the cover of the Sunday magazine."

And if you buy the book, you can learn why Okrent reserves a special place in his heart for Times reporter David Cay Johnston, someone he describes as the only staffer who pursued "a grossly unfair form of sabotage" against him.

2) Speaking of ombudsmen, Slate's Jack Shafer takes Okrent's successor, Byron "Barney" Calame, to task in this piece that basically dismisses him as nitpicky school marm. I started out reading a lot of Calame's stuff, but haven't recently. But it seems fair to say he is not the writer Okrent was and that he tends to take on less ambitious subjects.

3) Speaking of ombudsmen, it's always dangerous for a former Globe ombud to give advice to a successor. But I will anyway. The internal affairs cop aspect of the job can often be thankless and even perilous. But it's important to use that bully pulpit -- the ombudsman column in that coveted op-ed space -- to keep a watchful eye on the paper and tackle hot button issues. This past Sunday, ombudsman Richard Chacon wrote a broad piece on the recent plagiarism scandals affecting Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan and Raytheon exec William Swanson and generally gave the Globe passing grades on its handling of them. The April 23 column took a look at the relationship between journalists and religion coverage and noted that "Globe readers are fortunate that the newspaper has made a substantial commitment to cover religion and faith." On April 9, he wrote about ads popping up on the Boston.com web site and the dead tree version of the Globe actually curling up around the edges. The column before that addressed reader complaints about the comic strips, which is always an area of the paper that attracts considerable interest.

Taken individually, there's nothing wrong with any of these topics, and sometimes the ombudsman's job is simply to help explain to readers how things work inside the bowels of the newsroom or to provide a broader perspective on journalism. But ombudsmen need to remain lean, mean scrutiny machines who are willing to keep their bosses' feet to the flames when necessary. (Chacon has writtern, courageously, on the paper's relationship to the Red Sox before and last week's page 1 advertorial for Red Sox travel packages is a perfect example of a subject worth excavating.)

For the ombudsman --  surrounded by complaining, angry readers on one hand and wary, sometimes hostile colleagues on the other -- it can be hard to strap the game face on and keep it on. But it's important.

5/10/2006 12:41:02 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [1] |  

Chris Lydon's rather jaundiced view of the Boston Globe -- written in truly page-turning prose in the new issue of CommonWealth magazine -- has already created its fair share buzz and generated today's piece in the Herald.

But because journalists are often accused of accentuating the negative and seeking out conflict, I thought I'd take a different tack by singling out the Boston writers/reporters named in the piece as being admired by Chris and/or his friends.

They include the Globe's Joan Vennochi, Alex Beam, Steve Bailey, Tom Palmer, John Powers, Peter Howe, Bruce Mohl, Mark Feeney, Eileen McNamara, Frank Phillips, Bob Ryan and Sam Allis. And the Herald's Howie Carr, Peter Gelzinis, Margery Eagan, and Wayne Woodlief. And a few TV types including Jim Braude and Jon Keller. And the AP's Glen Johnson and the Phoenix's Adam Reilly.

Lydon's favorites betray a certain generational bias -- not too many youngbloods on that list. But at least we're looking on the bright side.

5/10/2006 11:31:48 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [5] |  

Here's some news suggesting, unfortunately, that demagoguery is its own reward. Shoutin' Lou Dobb's CNN numbers are up big time.

5/9/2006 6:17:20 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [3] |  

Amid more bad news industry-wide, the Globe's daily circulation has dipped under 400,000. (See sixth paragraph.) That's a big milestone.

5/8/2006 9:38:14 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [12] |  

Pat Purcell likes to say that his mentor Rupert Murdoch taught him that "You grow or you die." In today's troubled media marketplace, Purcell is now operating on the principle that you need to shrink to survive.

The news that the Herald Media boss has agreed to sell off his Community Newspaper Co. chain of more than 100 publications -- including four dailies -- to the Illinois-based Liberty Group chain comes as no surprise -- in fact it's a little overdue. It's been known for months that Purcell was shopping the Herald and/or CNC, and recently, the story line emerged that the profitable suburban CNC chain was more attractive to potential buyers than the money-losing urban tabloid. (See "High noon at the Herald" in the March 31 Phoenix.)

Today's front page Globe story has more details on the deal, which also includes the sale of the Patriot Ledger in Quincy and Enterprise in Brockton (which are part of the Enterprise NewsMedia operation) to the Liberty Group folks. The Globe puts a $225 million dollar price tag on the CNC sale, while the Herald's page 2 story, which I couldn't find online today, put the Enterprise purchase at about $165 million. Give credit to the Globe's Steve Bailey who sketched out this scenario more than a month ago.

So, as the smoke finally clears, we have a seriously changed local media marketplace and a few intriguing questions -- including the basic one of how many currently employed journalists will keep their jobs.

1) What is the Liberty Group and how does it operate? (P.S. The Herald story says the company will now change its name to GateHouse Media.)
These guys instantly become major Boston-area players with scores of important weeklies as well as the Patriot Ledger, Enterprise, and MetroWest Daily News.  And obviously, they have a track record -- even if we don't know it yet. The rule of thumb these days seems to be that nobody who buys a media property makes it better -- i.e. by investing more resources in the journalism and being a little less concerned about the bottom line. But for now, suffice it to say, there's a new media power in these parts. We'll find out soon enough whether that's good or bad news.

2) How about the Herald? Purcell told the Globe ''We're going to continue to build the Herald. It's my first love." It's good news that Purcell is holding on to the paper he bought from Murdoch in 1994, because there's no doubt it's a labor of love. And no one in his right mind wants to see Boston as a one-and-a-half newspaper city. (The Globe and the Boston Metro that it half owns.) But the question remains -- what kind of Herald will we have going forward? It's clear the business model hasn't been working, which is why the Herald editorially reoriented itself toward a splashier tabloid style in the past few years and why Purcell went looking for a painful $7 million in cuts last year.

Today's Herald story says the tabloid will emerge from the sale of CNC "essentially debt free," but that doesn't mean it's an economically viable operation. There's been continuing speculation that Purcell could employ a number of options -- from going to a free distribution model to streamlining editorial staff and narrowing the editorial mission. I don't know at this point whether the CNC sale takes all that off the table. The fact that the Herald will continue to share editorial content with the CNC papers doesn't suggest Purcell is planning to restock the paper's newsroom

3) How will the Globe react? These aren't exactly happy days on Morrissey Boulevard.  Gloomy ad revenue numbers and declining circulation aren't doing anything to ease Times Co. chairman Arthur Sulzberger's throbbing Excedrin headache and there's been plenty of recent churn on the business side of the Globe. Now, the paper faces a changed local newspaper landscape that could affect its strategy and direction.

Finally, a word about Purcell, a blue-collar kid from Queens who got interested in the media business when -- while working at a summer ad sales job at the New York Daily News -- he came to realize you could make a living wearing a suit instead of a hard hat. I've covered Pat for years and still find him hard to read. At times he is gracious, warm guy, and at times he is as cool and distant as an Arctic chill. He's inspired tremendous loyalty in his employees, but often they're disconcertingly in the dark about his plans for their future.

What can be said is that at one point, Purcell had visions of being a huge media magnate in this region. There was a time, as he was mapping out his 2001 purchase of CNC, that he also had a strategy for buying the Patriot Ledger and Brockton Enterprise too. And in 2002, he was a player, albeit unsuccessful,  in the bidding to buy a group of North Shore dailies.

Now times are hard and Purcell's ambitions have been scaled back considerably. He is back where he started a dozen years ago with his beloved Herald -- and one hopes he has the smarts and resources to keep it afloat and essential.

5/6/2006 12:13:27 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [10] |  

When it comes to its radio home, looks like the Sox are sticking with Entercom.  And both the Herald and Globe are reporting that the games will likely move to 'EEI's sister station, WRKO.

5/5/2006 12:09:56 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [2] |  

About a quarter century ago when I was working at a community weekly, a media critic named Dave O'Brian, writing a column called "Don't Quote Me," penned a short item making fun of my editor (who shall go nameless), who had made an embarassing mistake in a political column that he wrote. In classic O'Brian fashion, it was an artful, but painful attack, a quick sticking in of the stiletto.

Singled out for ridicule, my editor stewed in some deep, dark juices for about 48 hours -- plotting bloody revenge against O'Brian and deliberating on what form it would take. I was amazed at the impact of O'Brian's work on my normally cool-headed boss and I imagined that O'Brian -- who I didn't know -- must have been one rough, tough son-of-a-gun to be willing and eager to get so many of his journalistic peers furious at him. (Only later, when I met him at a party, did I discover that Dave was about as mild-mannered a human being as had ever lived.)

I was also completely hooked on the idea of being a media critic.

As the Phoenix announced yesterday, after about 20 years of doing that strange but wonderful job -- at both the Phoenix and the Globe -- I'm going to be moving to Washington in July and taking a job with the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a non-partisan research organization that does serious content analysis and examination of the press and its work. For someone who has spent two decades scrutinizing the media from a reporter's perspective, it is a unique opportunity to move up to the next level. I have used the PEJ as a trusted source for years and have great respect for its work and the leadership of its director Tom Rosenstiel.

Until my departure around July 1, I'll still be writing for the Phoenix and blogging here. But I wanted to use this opportunity to thank the paper's owner Stephen Mindich and its editor, Peter Kadzis, not only for helping guide the first part of my career here from 1987-1994, but for allowing me to come back and revitalize myself professionally last year after a decade-long stint at the Globe. I am convinced that the so-called "alternative press" is really the best place -- temperamentally and psychologically -- to be a media critic.

I'm also grateful for a lot of good colleagues and bosses at the Globe -- with a special thanks to former Globe editor Matt Storin who brought me over to Morrissey Boulevard in the first place and made it clear the paper had a real appetite for what I did.

When people ask me about the biggest change I've seen in my 20 years of media criticism, I'm amazed at how crowded the field's become. When I started doing "Don't Quote Me," it was really a lonely job. Today, there are media writers working all over the mainstream press, there's a weekly NPR show called "On the Media," there's Howie Kurtz's CNN show "Reliable Sources," there's Emily Rooney's "Beat the Press" on Channel 2. And there's the exploding and still evolving blogosphere, which considers skeptical scrutiny of the MSM to be one its primary missions. There are a lot more media cops out there than ever before -- and with good reason.

Like death and taxes, media screwups and problems are an enduring fact of life. Which is why, when speaking in public, I would frequently haul out this stupid joke that I came up with.

Scientists say only one species -- cockroaches -- would be able to survive a nuclear holocaust. But the truth is there are two species that would still be walking around in the radiated debris. One is the cockroach, but the other is the media critic. Because someone would have to be around to comment on how badly the press handled its coverage of the end of the world.

That was usually good for a laugh.

5/5/2006 10:22:07 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [12] |  

Here's a theory, pretty sketchy if you ask me, that the Fox News Channel may have influenced enough Floridians to vote for George Bush in 2000 to swing the cliffhanger election his way.

I say, give me a good pollster and a vivid imagination and I can prove that Saddam Hussein actually did have something to do with 9/11. Oops, a bunch of people already believe that.

5/4/2006 10:55:58 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [3] |  

A sharp-eyed colleague of mine at the Phoenix comes to me regularly with some sort of chuckle-inducing error embedded somewhere in that day's Boston Metro.  Today's noteworthy "oops" occurs in the third graph of the lead page 1 story, which is about the investigation into the brutal killing of 19-year-old Milton High School grad Dominique Samuels.

According to the Metro, the killer's methods are "leaving investigators with few clues into her grizzly (emphasis added) murder."

Does that mean they suspect a bear?

5/4/2006 10:50:27 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [1] |  

Half of Red Sox Nation may still blame him for almost running Theo Epstein out of town, but hats off to Dan Shaughnessy today for a column  a) properly taking the Red Sox to task for their belated decision to cancel Tuesday's Yankee game after soaking (literally) the loyal fans who showed up. and b) fearlessly spanking his own paper for yesterday's shameless page 1 touting of the Red Sox VIP travel packages.

Here are his key graphs.

Speaking of no-win propositions, we've got a problem here at Daddy Globe. Those of you not living in caves know by now that the New York Times Co. owns us, and also owns 17 percent of the Red Sox. This conflict of interest taints everything we do on these pages and the Globe looks especially compromised on days like yesterday when we ran a Page 1 story entitled, ''Hit the road with the Sox and get . . ."

5/4/2006 9:50:48 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [0] |  

Dan Kennedy got there first on his blog, so let me second and third his motion. Today's big, splashy, photo-laden page 1 Globe story hyping (there's no other way to describe it) the Red Sox VIP travel packages is a poster child for the evils of corporate synergy. And the story's disclosure of the New York Times Company's 17 percent interest in the ballclub in the 15th paragraph on the jump page doesn't cut the mustard as a get-out-of-jail-free card.

This is a cheery sales pitch for the Globe corporate sibling's revenue scheme masquerading as a news story -- complete with handy schedules, the phone number included in a graphic, and such come-hither phrasing as "the biggest selling point is perhaps the Sox access to players" and "other VIP touches include a concierge service that helps vacationers find restaurants in the city they're visiting."

There isn't a discouraging word heard throughout the entire piece, not even a mention of the economic/class issue involved in selling packages that can top $1000 -- and that doesn't include air fare! In the immortal words of Phil Rizzuto, Holy Cow! How does this pass muster in the Globe newsroom?

You don't have to be a conspiracy buff to be alarmed about this story and its placement.

5/3/2006 3:24:37 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [9] |  

Amidst all the huffing and puffing over Stephen Colbert's peformance at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner, I'm with Rem Reider of the American Journalism Review. It's time to shut down this silly dog and pony show.

I went to one similar event -- the 2001 Radio-Television Correspondents Association Dinner -- as a guest of CBS. What I remember is that Bush did a tired routine making fun of his own malapropisms, guest comedian Ben Stein was roundly panned for making a joke about Ronald Reagan's shooter -- John Hinckley -- on the 20th anniversary of that assassination attempt in the very hotel where it occurred. And a lot of people got smashed at the after parties. What a waste of a rented tux.

5/3/2006 2:45:21 PM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [0] |  

In his "Media Blitz" column in today's Boston Metro, John Molori really lays into WEEI's Gerry Callahan (read first item) for what he unabashedly calls "utter racism" -- in this case, when it comes to the hot button issue of immigration. Callahan is a talented sportswriter and talkmaster, but he does seem to suffer from Rush Limbaugh wannabee syndrome.

Frankly, plenty of political views -- the majority of them conservative -- slip through the microphone during 'EEI's broadcast day (although that's been more infrequent since Teddy Sarandis lost his gig at the station.) But Callahan is the worst offender and a desire to avoid hearing his take on the current events of the day is one reason why I stopped listening the 'EEI Morning Show a few years ago.

5/3/2006 11:24:31 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [7] |  

Back in March, the Herald deservedly got credit for besting the Globe when it came to coverage of the brutal Imette St. Guillen murder case. But now it's time to give the Globe its due on what seems certain to be another horrifying, high-profile murder case, with 19-year-old Dominique Samuels as the victim.

Yesterday, while the tabloid was running a bare-bones story buried on page 5, the Globe had a major  page 1 piece correctly identfiying the badly burned victim whose body was found in Franklin Park. Today, the Herald is back in the game with a three-piece package splashed on page 1. But the Globe has this Metro front piece suggesting something was amiss in the life of the well-liked teenager. (That piece of news is sourced to a Samuels friend.) So thus far, credit the broadsheet with being out of the blocks quicker on this one.
 

5/3/2006 10:59:07 AM by Mark Jurkowitz | Comments [1] |