the newspaper business

Our site is hosted by TownNews.com. Our site is down, so our guy called support and got the recorded message that there were no known issues at this time.

So he held and talked to a person, who said very calmly, “yes, all our sites are down.” (I think that’s almost 2,000 websites.)

Here’s the email they sent.

TownNews.com is experiencing technical difficulties with all of our websites.

At this time there is no ETA for a resolution to the problem.

Our Systems team is working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

More information will be e-mailed to you as it is received.

Thank you

I would have rather gotten an email that said

“HOLY MOTHER OF GOD EVERYTHING IS KERFLOOEY. WTF? BRB ASAP.”

When you hire a guy with a radio background and a love for pushing the envelope when it comes to online, the results are often noticed by other newspapers and trade associations.

Last week Inland Press Association, put bgdailynews.com Daily News Now daily video summary at the top of their list for best ideas in 2007 .

Chris Houchens handles it all. He takes the list of the stories that will appear in today’s issue, writes the copy, gets the graphics, edits and presents it. Congratulations and thanks Chris.
We’re also proud that Chris was selected Marketer of the Year by the local Professional Marketing Association, and is a successful speaker on marketing.

In an op-ed piece some heads of Journalism/Communications schools advocate the government require TV and radio stations to carry more news if they are to retain their license to broadcast.

“The F.C.C. ought to treat a broadcast licensee’s commitment of resources to original local reporting on public affairs as a key factor in its decisions about regulatory issues,” the deans said. “Companies should be required to make a persuasive case that they will increase their commitment to local reporting if they get what they want - whether they aspire to own broadcast properties and newspapers in the same market; or, thanks to the onset of digital television, to turn every channel they control into several channels; or to expand their national market share in broadcasting or cable television.”

Here are the illustrious ivory tower dwellers that advocate more government control over the news and the airways. (It’s just so ridiculous to write that statement!)

• Roderick P. Hart, dean of the University of Texas journalism school;
  
• Alex S. Jones, director of Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy;
  
• Thomas Kunkel, dean of the University of Maryland journalism school;
  
• Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Columbia Journalism School;
  
• John Levine, dean of the Northwestern journalism school;
  
• Dean Mills, dean of the University of Missouri journalism school;
  
• David M. Rubin, dean of the Syracuse school of public communications;
• Ernest Wilson, dean of the University of Southern California school of communication.

I hope this woman finds a great job, because she practices her craft well. Some may dismiss this a contrived and cliched writing, it certainly sets her apart from the other plain-jane ads before and after hers.

SUPER PR LADY SEEKS PUBLIC RELATIONS POSITION

Rancho Cucamonga (or Virtual), CA

I may look like a mild-mannered mom in the grocery store, but when the nanny comes and I steal away to command central (aka. my home office) I become Super PR Lady! While deadlines are hurled at me, my fingers are flying across my keyboard as I busily write press releases and pitch stories, all the while implementing fresh new PR strategies. These feats of marketing strength are not possible only because I have twelve years of marketing experience and have thrived in both high tech and dot com positions, but because I am a communications professional that strongly believes that building relationships is key to gaining coverage (which under my leadership has helped several companies win clients, reach more customers and increase sales)! As Super PR Lady, I have the experience, passion and drive to manage communications programs that bring results. As a mild mannered regular mom, I need to do it from my office in Rancho Cucamonga. Never fear, I have a cashmere cape and I can fly (travel is acceptable). For super attention to detail, excellent organization skills and demonstrated success managing remotely, please call 909-275-5804 or email juleszunich@aol.com.

The Lexington Newspaper Guild, which will reach one year without a contract on Jan. 1, 2008, posted on YouTube an eight-minute video of a recent guild rally outside of the Herald-Leader. The video shows picketing members and bullhorn-toting union leaders, including Linda Foley, president of the national Newspaper Guild and a former Herald-Leader staffer.

 They are beta with some kind of embellishments to their site. They blow smoke up my flatter me with all kinds of reasons why I am important.

And then drop this nugget.

We’d love to hear your one-of-a-kind voice and we hope you’ll join us, but you will need to register again. Visit the new site here and to re-register simply click on “Become a member”.

Blah. I don’t want to register again, until I WANT to register again and then I will.  ie: when it benefits me and not you.

Email announcement today from Jerry Lyles, Vice-president, Publisher Relations, Publishing Group of America.

I’m writing to share some great news for our company and yours.

Today, we completed the sale of Publishing Group of America to Bain Capital and Shamrock Capital, two firms with excellent track records in stewarding corporate growth. You probably know some of their current and past holdings, which include Doubleclick (internet advertising services), Warner Music Group (music publishing), Modern Luxury (16 city-regional high-end consumer magazines), Latin Communications (previous owner of Spanish newspaper La Opinion), and NextWave Media Group (online advertising agency).

As you know, our magazines have resonated with readers as national supplements to local news. We have expanded our support products from Hometown Content to online auto mall UpstreetAuto.

Bain and Shamrock share our commitment to providing content solutions for newspapers. They see substantial growth opportunities for us all. With their backing, we will be expanding our magazine lineup and introducing new digital products to enhance readership, connectivity and support.

First among these is Spry, a monthly health magazine that debuts next September at 9-million circulation, making it one of the largest launches in history. All of our testing to date shows that this magazine is a winner. And there will be more to come. In the meantime, we will be upgrading our digital capabilities to extend the community that your readers have created in the magazines.

We’re looking forward to making 2008 an exciting year. Toward that end, if there is anything I can answer on our new ownership, please don’t hesitate to call.

Worst place: the press box. You can’t show any emotion. If any player blows it - even if you aren’t a fan of either team, you can’t groan, let alone yell something. It’s cool that they give you up-to-date stats throughout the game, and free food, but that’s the only advantage. Oh, and it’s warmer/cooler if needed.

Best place: on the field. The crack of the bat, or crunch of the shoulder pads, the roar of the crowd behind you, it’s all good. You might miss a play or two because you’re looking the wrong direction and can’t see the whole field, there is no instant replay TV available - except the scoreboard, but other than that? It’s all good.

Best place to celebrate: the locker room of the winning team. I was in the lockerroom after the ALCS game in 1980, when the Royals finally beat the Yankees. My most vivid memory is the huge Willy Wilson (?) walking by me with two bottles of champagne asking anyone “m****** f*****s! Who’s champion now!”

Would you accept or reject this ad?

Hello Interested in book Ad with your newspapers and we will be much happy if you can place this Ad I will like you to give the quote of 4 weeks run of the advert below,so that we can move forward. Address : 155 W. Indian School Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85017 PH:6026356096 ADVERT TEXT… PART TIME JOB OFFER AS SALES REPS!!! Work at home,mailing Envelops or typing is the potential to earn $700-$3,000 Usd per-week running your own home business,Suitable for anyone willing to commit 1 Hour 30 Minutes a day.Email desohio24@yahoo.com for more pack information about the terms and the cost involve. Hope to read from you soonest,So that i can proceed with the payment details by forwarding the credit card details to you. Best Regards. Jamila Waga Message-ID:

It’s pretty easy to reject this ad when it came via email. It’s just so poorly written, it has to be a total scam.

We get a lot of these ads - some make in to print. They come on very official looking insertion orders, and per our requirements, payment in advance.

Our advice is to always be very skeptical of work-at-home ads.  But we aren’t going to look over your shoulder and tell you if the ad is bogus.

If an ad comes in, the check is good, and it’s not libelous, it might make it into print.

Be careful out there.

Newspapers pay comic strip artists to run their strips.

It’s time to reverse that. It’s time for the artists to start paying newspapers.

Newspapers have created some great brands that artists and their syndicators have leveraged to make millions and millions of dollars.

Newspapers paid the artists. Newspapers created these huge massive merchandising machines.

Off the top of my head:

• Peanuts
• Dilbert
• Doonesbury
• Garfield
• Cathy

Do you think those brands would mean anything without them appearing everyday in almost every newspaper in the U.S.? Of course not. So why are newspapers still paying?

“Because we’ve always done it that way.”

Here’s my idea: every cartoonist we carry should buy us a roll of newsprint annually. Yeah, that’s about right.