Tag Archives: News event
Bloomberg News writer is new National Press Club president
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Jonathan Salant, who works for Bloomberg News in Washington, is the new president of the National Press Club.
Salant covers campaign finance and lobbying for Bloomberg. He has been a member of the Press Club Board of Governors since 1998 and currently serves as vice president. He is past president of the Regional Reporters Association and the Washington chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Salant was born in New York City, grew up on Long Island, and spent 13 years covering New York politics and government for newspapers in Albany and Syracuse. He first came to Washington in 1987 as the correspondent for the Syracuse Post-Standard and Herald-Journal. Salant is married to Joan Friedenberg, who is a New Media consultant and the founding editor of the Online Newshour — the Web site of the PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer. Jonathan and Joan are the proud parents of an 8-year-old son, Issac.
Matt Winkler, Bloomberg’s editor in chief, and Al Hunt, Bloomberg’s Washington executive editor, will be speakers at the club’s blacktie gala event on Jan. 14. For more information, see this.
Knoxville newspaper to start business journal this week
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The Knoxville News Sentinel will begin publishing a weekly business newspaper called the Greater Knoxville Business Journal this week. The publication date for the first issue will be in mailboxes by Jan. 17.
The new publication will have a Web site at www.knoxbusinessjournal.com, but as of now, it’s not up and running. (When you click on the link, it takes you to the News Sentinel business section.) The newspaper said that the Web site will be updated daily with AP news.
I couldn’t find anything about whether the paper will share content with the business section of the News Sentinel, or who is staffing the paper. But what I did find was that the weekly paper is in a partnership with the local chamber of commerce to distribute its newsletter within the paper, which bothers me somewhat. What will happen the first time the Business Journal writes a critical article about the chamber?
To read more details, go here. Registration is required.
Seattle Weekly's analysis of JOA coverage
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At the end of last year, the Seattle Times decided not to rehire a distinguished freelance reporter covering the joint operating agreement it has with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Instead, it will have one of its own staff writers cover the story. The Post-Intelligencer has been covering the story with a couple of reporters on its business desk.
It’s always an awkward situation having to cover your employer, and I don’t think that a reporter can do a truly objective job. The freelancer that had been used, Bill Richards, used to work for The Wall Street Journal, so he knows his way around a business and financial statements. The implication in this Seattle Weekly story is that he was digging into some financial situations that the Times’ owner didn’t like.
Anyway, read it for yourself here and reach your own conclusions.
Trial begins in death of Forbes editor
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Two Texas business journals sold to Scripps
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Newspaper chain E. W. Scripps Co. has acquired two bi-weekly business journals in Texas. They are the The Business Journal of Corpus Christi and The Business Times of the Rio Grande Valley. Scripps also owns the daily newspaper in Corpus Christi.
The two business journals reach about 26,000 business people in each market. The Business Journal, founded in 2003, has seven employees. The Business Times, founded in 2004 and headquartered in Brownsville, has five and serves all of the Rio Grande Valley. Each is published every other week.
At one time, newspaper chain Scripps-Howard owned some weekly business newspapers, but I can’t find any mention of what happened to them on the company web site.
American City Business Journals, which is the largest owner of business newspapers, runs the business weeklies in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio in Texas.
The story announcing the deal can be found here in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Note that to read the entire story, you have to register with the Web site.
New editor named at Dayton Business Journal
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The Dayton Business Journal, which is an American City Business Journal newspaper, named Don Baker as its new editor today. He had been managing editor of the paper since 2002. He replaced Lisa Morawski, who is leaving the paper.
Baker came to the business journal in October 1999 as a technology reporter after working for three daily newspapers in the Dayton area. He left the journal briefly for a stint at the Cincinnati Post as a business reporter, returning early in 2002 as associate editor before being promoted to managing editor later that year.
Read the full story in the Dayton Business Journal here.
Editorial cartoonist joining Investor's Business Daily
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You rarely see business-related editorial cartoons in newspapers. Some of the weekly American City Business Journal newspapers have some good editorial cartoons.
Now, Investor’s Business Daily has upped the competition, hiring former LA Times editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez. Ramirez left the general newspaper last year in a move that upset readers.
Here is part of the press release I received by e-mail. I have not been able to find this anywhere else on the Internet:
“‘IBD already has some of the best editorial writers in the business, so Michael Ramirez — who stands alone among editorial cartoonists — is a perfect fit,’” said Wes Mann, editor of Investor’s Business Daily.
“At a time when most newspapers are cutting staff, syndicating content and consolidating departments, Investor’s Business Daily’s decision to hire Mr. Ramirez is unconventional. It represents IBD’s ongoing effort to make the quality of its news and commentary a priority of the organization.
“‘The trend is cost-cutting efficiencies in the news world, and in some instances, media run the risk of weakening the quality of journalism and fostering the ‘corporatization’ of news,’ said Ramirez. ‘I’m pleased to join IBD because of its prestigious reputation – and the fact it has countered the media consolidation trend and is hiring to enhance journalism quality. It was apparent to me that in every segment of IBD, they’re continuing to innovate and provide cutting edge features and powerful and compelling editorials.’
“Mr. Ramirez is a Lincoln Fellow and has won several awards during his career, including the 1994 Pulitzer Prize, the UCI Medal from the University of California, Irvine and the Sigma Delta Chi Awards in 1995 and 1997. He has been the editorial cartoonist of the Los Angeles Times, the Commercial Appeal and USA Today, and is nationally syndicated in over 450 newspapers around the world.”
I have to admit that I don’t look at IBD that often, but am currently reading the book about the paper that came out in 2004. Ramirez’ hiring obviously gives them a prominent name in the journalism world.
Missed this during the holidays
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But the Guild has reached an agreement on a new contract with Reuters and with the Associated Press. The deal was announced on Dec. 22. I have not found any votes ratifying the deals.
The negotiations with the Reuters management had been at times vitriolic. When I took a group of Business Reporting students to the Reuters office in New York, we were greeted with reporters in the newsroom saying “Go to med school” and “Go to law school” to the students, and with screen savers on their computers that said, “Indentured servants.” In addition, they were all wearing their red union T-shirts as a sign of solidarity.
The Reuters reporters will receive annual wage increases of 3 percent for 2005 through 2008, as well as retroactive increases prior to 2005.
The AP story about the new agreements can be read here.
Mining disaster coverage
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Nice coverage of the public records regarding all of the safety issues at the West Virginia mine in this morning’s USA Today. Among the items mentioned in the story were these:
“• The number of infractions issued to the Sago Mine last year was “higher than would be normally issued to a mine that size,” said Ray McKinney, administrator for the coal division of the MSHA. Since 2000, the incidence of injuries at Sago was also higher than average — more than twice the national rate, MSHA data show.
• Nine times in the past year, the mine was cited for failing to properly enact a “mine ventilation plan,” according to MSHA records. The regulatory agency considered three of those violations “significant and substantial.” Proper ventilation is one of the key safety measures to prevent fires and explosions, Weeks said.
• Seven times last year, MSHA cited the mine for failing to properly conduct a “pre-shift examination,” the safety inspection mandated before each shift of workers is allowed to enter the mine. Monitoring methane gas is required during such an examination.”
Read the entire USA Today story here. I love the fact that the paper dug into the MSHA records I referred to yesterday.
Reuters, meanwhile, focused on the link to New York investor Wilbur Ross. Its reporter got Ross on the phone, and its story had a lot of nice detail from the International Coal Group SEC filings. Read its story here.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also had a story about Ross and International Coal Group, giving its readers some background information on how he has combined a bunch of coal operations into one business. Its story is here.
Business Press Maven criticizes Kann/House/Zannino coverage
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The Business Press Maven runs on TheStreet.com. And he takes journalists to task for failing to tell readers the significance of what has happened at The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones in the past week:
“The Business Press Maven, however, declares the current crop of reporters guilty of thinness and, worse, in the one area where they themselves are experts: the people who tell them to ‘jump!’ and make them answer: ‘How high?’
“Reporters did not use the appointment of this first non-journalist in 73 years as a springboard to examine who holds the scepter in journalism. Look how The Wall Street Journal itself handled the situation and you’ll know why The Business Press Maven had his grand mal.
“The paper noted soberly in its lead on the subject that there was a break ‘with a tradition of journalists presiding over the company…’ Way, way down in the story the issue was examined with a grand total of two skin-deep paragraphs. The Business Press Maven can only give you the first, because he’ll fall asleep if he has to type both. Parenthetical inserts are my own, to ward off narcolepsy.
“While acknowledging his lack of journalism experience, Mr. Zannino said he was sensitive to the integrity of The Wall Street Journal (YAWN), which he has read since high school (HUH? NERD ALERT.) ‘I know what will happen if we screw up the Journal,’ he said (WILL HE ACCEPT FEWER STOCK OPTIONS?). ‘Having a healthy respect for journalism is important.’ (WHAT A DRONE.)
For more, go here.