Journalists, accountants and bankruptcy experts found accord Thursday on the No. 1 issue facing Tribune Company as it begins its Chapter 11 bankruptcy adventure: It isn't owner Sam Zell. It isn't the company's huge indebtedness. The question, said Los Angeles Times editor Russ Stanton, is "whether this is a viable business." In one way, Stanton told a gathering at USC's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, the answer is already clear. "I think big-city newspapers, the way we have known them, are not long for this world, as they're now configured."……Continue Reading LA Times editor
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It’s about time newspapers started fighting back
The editor of the Tampa Tribune, Janet Coats, got the attention of her Facebook friends last Saturday when she posted this message: "Janet is preparing to fire a shot over the bow." I figured Janet's staff at the Tribune was about to score a scoop in the Sunday paper. But a quick check of Tampa Bay Online didn't turn up anything that matched her provocative post. Then I saw it. "This Newspaper Is Fighting Back." And before I read on, a quick word came to mind: "Yes!!"……Continue Reading It’s about time newspapers started fighting back
The week the media crashed
So this is how it ends: Detroit newspapers have lost so much revenue they plan to publish and distribute a traditional paper only two days a week, according to the Wall Street Journal (and reported here). NPR has lost so much revenue that it will cancel programs once considered the network's future to conserve resources for its decades-old hits, according to an NPR announcement. NBC has lost so much revenue it announces it will only program four hours a week of traditional prime time entertainment next fall. Yes, that's correct: four hours a week. (The press release is available here.)……Continue Reading The week the media crashed
Washington Post: Readers get a seat at the news meeting
They may be moving too ineptly and too slowly, but newspapers are confronting the reality that their longtime role as gatekeeper of information has reached an end. My former boss, McClatchy’s Howard Weaver, used to put it this way: Some newspapers are still standing guard at the gate; problem is, because of the Internet, the fences are all down. One of the results is that the old days of one-way communication – the newspaper telling its readers what was important, take it or leave it – are fading away. Two-way communication is the order of the day. But only now……Continue Reading Washington Post: Readers get a seat at the news meeting
In financial crisis, the objective story shows its limits
The financial press has been taking it on the chin lately for its coverage of the nation's economic mess. Some of it's well-earned. At least several financial writers have acknowledged they should have asked more questions about the long period of easy credit, soaring asset prices and ever-growing leverage on Wall Street. To my eye, the criticism is overcooked. Even a casual reader of the business press the last few years would have known that big trouble lurked. The two dailies showing up on my doorstep in Washington the last 13 years, the Washington Post and New York Times, regularly……Continue Reading In financial crisis, the objective story shows its limits
A new era of bipartisanship?
Early in this year's primary election season I did a study on bipartisanship for the Center on Communication Leadership of the University of Southern California. I'm afraid I was not very optimistic that Republicans and Democrats would be able to get together on much of anything after the Clinton and Bush years of what some call "hyperpartisanship." Now I'm not so sure. I concluded then that: "My own feeling is that only a strong president with a mandate for governing through a universal crisis — a necessary war or devastating climate change — can bring any bipartisanship or, better, nonpartisanship……Continue Reading A new era of bipartisanship?
Remembering Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
The New York Times, in a story remembering Adam Clayton Powell Jr., noted that one of his sons is Senior Fellow Adam Clayton Powell III, USC's vice provost for globalization. Powell Jr., who was a legendary Harlem congressman, would have turned 100 years old on Saturday, the story noted…….Continue Reading Remembering Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Ted Turner puts it in writing
The Los Angeles Times highlighted media mogul Ted Turner's recent visit to USC. In a public interview conducted by CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan, which was attended by about 800 people, Turner discussed his key objectives, including reducing coal and oil use and working with the United Nations on nuclear disarmament. "Nobody wants to die so why have we built this system to kill each other?" Turner said. He playfully exhorted students to call him 'Ted' and even recited Shakespeare, the story stated. "This reminds me of the days when CNN was young and everybody wanted to interview me all over……Continue Reading Ted Turner puts it in writing