SPJ national update IV: Big profits in small packages; study says newsroom spending raises profits; and journalists say U.S. military deleted photos of attack. If there's any good news in the business of newspapering these days, it can be found at the industry's littlest papers. The average daily circulation of all U.S. newspapers has declined since 1987. The smallest papers, however -- community weeklies and dailies with circulation of less than 50,000 -- have been a bright spot. Some are even prospering. More here. ... U.S. newspapers that spend more money on their newsrooms will make more money, according to a study released Feb. 14 that questioned the wisdom of the trend of cutting jobs to save costs. The authors of the University of Missouri-Columbia study, which was based on 10 years of financial data, said news quality affects profit more than spending on circulation, advertising and other parts of the business. The researchers developed a mathematical model that showed how newspapers could rearrange their spending on distribution and circulation, advertising and newsrooms to achieve a higher profit. "If you invest in the newsroom, do you make more money? The answer is yes," said Esther Thorson, an advertising professor and associate dean for graduate studies at the University of Missouri's School of Journalism. "If you lower the amount of money spent in the newsroom, then pretty soon the news product becomes so bad that you begin to lose money." More here. ... Afghan journalists covering the aftermath of a suicide bomb attack and shooting in eastern Afghanistan on March 4 said U.S. troops deleted their photos and video and warned them not to publish any images of U.S. troops or a car where three Afghans were shot to death. Afghan witnesses and gunshot victims said U.S. forces fired on civilians in cars and on foot along a six-mile stretch of road in Nangarhar province following a suicide attack against the Marine convoy. The U.S. military said militants also fired on American forces during the attack. More here.
SPJ national update V: Reporter roadblocks in Georgia but impoved conditions in Washington and Ohio; and campaign blogging the night away. Georgia House Republicans pushed through a measure March 20 that bans reporters from the floor while lawmakers are in session. Reporters will be confined to an area in the back of the chamber, from where they can observe the proceedings through windows and hear audio through speakers. More here. In Washington state, the House unanimously passed a bill that would grant reporters absolute privilege for protecting confidential sources -- the same exemption from testifying in court that goes to spouses, attorneys, clergy and police officers. And Ohio Gov. Bob Taft in January signed a bill requiring public officials to be better trained in how Ohio's open-records law works and making it easier to sue officials when they break it. Under the bill, sponsored by Rep. Scott Oelslager, a Canton Republican, state and local public offices must send at least one representative to training on the open-records law. More here and here. ... An Obama blog. An Edwards blog. A Clinton blog. A McCain blog. A Giuliani blog. Have a favorite in the presidential race? He or she will have a blog, maybe several, at newassignment.net and huffingtonpost.com under an agreement reached by NYU prof Jay Rosen, a citizen journalism advocate who heads the former, and Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of the latter. "It's campaign reporting by a great many more people than would ever fit on the bus that the boys (and girls) of the press have famously gotten on and off every four years, as they try to cover the race for president," Rosen writes in his blog, Pressthink.
SPJ national update VI: Audio from federal trials to go online; and new technique lets bloggers make their own late-night news. A computer and an internet connection soon may be all that's needed to hear closing arguments in a corruption trial or the testimony of a mob turncoat. The federal judiciary has approved a pilot program to make free audio recordings of court proceedings available online. Although a court's participation in the program is voluntary, U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan, with the policy-making Judicial Conference, said he expects the system will be widely used. News organizations and open-government groups applauded the decision. More here. ... A time-honored practice of trying to extinguish coverage by dumping stacks of previously secret government documents on the press may be in for some changes after a headlong collision with hundreds of web loggers in the early-morning hours March 20. On March 19 the Justice Department delivered to Congress more than 3,000 pages of e-mails, memos and other records about the firing of eight federal prosecutors. The handover came so late that many news organizations had to scramble to skim a few summaries before late-night deadlines. But despite the late hour, readers of a liberal web site, tpmmuckraker.com, quickly began grabbing 50-page chunks of the scanned documents from a House of Representatives internet server, analyzing them and excerpting them. By 4:30 a.m., more than 220 postings were up detailing various aspects of the files. More here.
===================================================
PEOPLE & PLACES
Star-Telegram staffers won 13 awards, including a first-place showing by Jim Reeves in sports column writing, at the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors' annual convention March 31. Other S-T winners: UTA Shorthorn exes Linda P. Campbell and Steve Wilson, Bill Hanna, Bill Miller, Alex Branch, Scott Streater, Gary West, Chris Kelly, Chris Vaughn, Khampha Bouaphanh, Ron Jenkins, Dan Purschwitz, Meda Kessler, Kari Linder, Matt Pinkney, Dewuan Davis, Sarah Huffstetler, Raul Cabellero and Lucia Gonzalez. ...
The aforementioned Texas APME named the UTA newspaper, The Shorthorn, the state's best university and college paper for 2006. Continuing the theme, The Shorthorn took five individual first-place wins, six seconds, two thirds and five honorable mentions in recent Texas Intercollegiate Press Association judging. The paper also won best of show at the TIPA convention last month in San Antonio. Renegade, the university's now-defunct magazine, received one individual first place and two seconds. The students bringing home the loot included Anthony Williams, Rebekah Workman, Megumi Rooze, Dominic Bracco, Monica Lopez, Chad Nothe, Marily Jacob, Devario Johnson, Troy Buchwalter, Cliff Hale, Daniel Johnson, Isaac Erickson, Clay Swartz, Brandon Guidry, Reneé Gatons, Whitney Shropshire, Camille Rogers, Nick Galli and Kellen Cox. Meanwhile, The Shorthorn won the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's Silver Crown, the organization's second highest award for general excellence, for the spring 2006 semester. The paper also won three Columbia first-place individual awards, four thirds and three honorable mentions. ...
Interlinked Media, an international provider of mobile communication strategies and integrated marketing solutions, has selected the Hondo Group to position the company's brand domestically and manage its national public relations. Interlinked Media provides businesses throughout the United States and United Kingdom with high-end mobile communication strategies. Founded in 2001 under the name Text You Ltd., the company maintains offices in Richardson, Texas, and Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and delivers custom applications for text message-based technology to clients in advertising, retail, quick-service restaurants, entertainment, hospitality and media.
===================================================
GET A JOB
The Wise County Messenger, an award-winning, family-owned semiweekly in Decatur, Texas, known for an outstanding work environment, is hiring reporters. Salary $25,000-$30,000 plus health and dental insurance, and a company car for work assignments. Must live in Wise County. Reach editor Skip Nichols or assistant editor Brian Knox at 940-627-5987 or news@wcmessenger.com, or mail a résumé to Wise County Messenger, P.O. Box 149, Decatur 76234. ...
Partners Together for Health, the foundation for JPS Health Network, seeks a 10 hours-a-week grant writer. Requires fast, fabulous reporting and writing skills. Prefer grants experience. Contact Janet Neff at 817-920-7305 or jneff@jpshealth.org. ...
The Tarrant County College District has a job opening in PR-marketing (office in Water Gardens Place in downtown Fort Worth). Required: bachelor's degree in communications or journalism; strong interviewing, writing and editing skills; knowledge of media relations, including how to pitch topics sought by editors; ability to speak and write Spanish fluently. Salary $41,643-$65,727. Experience in internet/intranet strategies and technologies a plus. Apply at tccd.edu. More from Chris Smith at 817-515-5211 or chris.smith@tccd.edu. ...
A writer with deep knowledge of IT processes is sought to create a user manual for a Fortune 200 systems integrator on behalf of its multinational retail customer. Four-month contract position will be full time to start, then half time toward the end. The account team is virtual, so the writer can work from home and communicate with project leaders by phone and e-mail. Send résumé and writing samples to info@brooksandassociatespr.com. ...
Plano-based Viachem seeks a local PR contractor to write and distribute press releases and to build relationships with a few key industry publications. Send qualifications to Mike Efting, mefting@viacheminc.com.
