RomeneskoYour daily fix of media industry news, commentary, and memos.Bidder for Philly papers floats plan for deep newsroom cuts- May 12, 2006 Read the articlePhiladelphia Inquirer Onex Corp., a Toronto investment firm that's bidding for the Philly Inquirer and Daily News, sought assurance of the Teamsters that drivers, pressmen and mailers, in exchange for preserving their own jobs, wouldn't oppose attempts to eliminate hundreds of newsroom jobs. Joseph N. DiStefano reports Teamsters leaders refused the deal.http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=101303 KR's SEC filing gives "fascinating" account of McClatchy deal- May 12, 2006 Read the articleEditor & Publisher Knight Ridder's proxy statement gives outsiders for the first time an in-depth look at how investors forced the sale of the chain and how the bidding process worked, reports Jennifer Saba. "It discloses that a total of 34 groups expressed an interest in the company at some point, although the vast majority appeared to be halfhearted -- and the McClatchy offer was really the only credible one. In general, the document shows that the sales effort started earlier.http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=101300 "Fortune is America's most underappreciated magazine"- May 12, 2006 Read the articleMarketWatch That's Jon Friedman's view. "When it comes to publishing thoughtful stories, it has overshadowed its peers for a decade." He notes that critics carp about Fortune's habit of returning to the same old cover subjects. "Finance wizard Jamie Dimon Been there, done that, they yawn."http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=101297 Ex-Time writer White quits j-school after spats with dean- May 12, 2006 Read the articleDaily Press Former Time columnist Jack White isn't returning to Hampton University's Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Mass Communications in the fall because of disputes with the school's dean, Tony Brown, over students' freedom of speech. "I like the kids in Hampton, but the atmosphere in Hampton is in contradiction to the goals of a journalism program," White tells Georgina Stark.http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=101294 Sending letters or feedback to Romenesko- May 12, 2006 Feel free to submit a letter to Romenesko or, to have your say immediately, use our Feedback feature. (Check out what others have posted or read Romenesko Letters.)http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=14474 "He built a big-city magazine racket out of nothing"- May 11, 2006 Read the articlePennsylvania Gazette Samuel Hughes remembers the late Philly city magazine legend Alan Halpern. "Though he described himself as 'a hermit progressing to a recluse,' he was an oddly social hermit, and over the years he amassed a large and disorganized-crime family of writers and editors and wanna-be's. They came to him for advice and affection and wisdom and stroking and jobs, not necessarily in that order."http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=101282 University of Missouri j-school considers Persian Gulf campus- May 11, 2006 Read the articleAssociated Press The University of Missouri School of Journalism is negotiating with a government-backed foundation in Qatar to add a branch campus in the capital city of Doha, reports Alan Scher Zagier. The Qatari campus would be a full-fledged branch of the University of Missouri-Columbia, with Columbia maintaining control of admission standards, tuition rates, curriculum and graduation requirements, says j-school dean Dean Mills.http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=101279 WP's Priest comments on USA Today's "explosive" NSA story- May 11, 2006 Read the articleWashington Post USA Today From Post intelligence reporter Dana Priest's chat transcript: Washington, D.C.: Hi, Dana. I have a couple of questions regarding the alleged NSA phone call database. 1. Any insight into the credibility of this story ... Dana Priest: First: I would guess through experience that USA Today would never run a story this exposive without being sure it was accurate. And notice that no one quoted in the story is saying that their version is inaccurate..http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=101261 Sen. Stevens to file complaint over CNN "ambush" interview- May 11, 2006 Read the articleRoll Call via Raw Story Paul Kane reports Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is filing a formal complaint with chamber officials regarding what he considers an unethical broadcast of an interview with him by CNN's Joe Johns. Stevens is upset with Johns for an interview conducted outside the weekly GOP policy luncheons. His spokeswoman says: "This was not a formal interview request. This was an ambush in the hallway. He was asked to go on camera and declined.http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=101267 NYT under Rosenthal was a peculiar, perhaps unique, place- May 11, 2006 Read the articleForbes.com "It was on the one hand a total meritocracy and at the same time a dictatorship run by a true genius who could be at once paternal and megalomaniacal," writes David Andelman, a Times reporter for a dozen years. "But one could never forget that Abe was the Times in every respect."http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=101258 |