The death of the newspaper industry (now w/ more zolecki)

by **CFP** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 12:58:40

To Chase Utley, I say sorry that we won’t be able to continue that social experiment, and it was nice knowing you.

Mike f*cking Radano

by **Barry Jive** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 14:30:52

Gonzo wrote today that Radano and Roberts were named employees of the month for October because of their coverage of the Phils' playoff run. then they were given a $20 gift card and encouraged to re-apply if a job opened up.

seriously? gannett can go fuck itself.

by **GrizzledVeteran** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 22:49:00

Barry Jive wrote:Gonzo wrote today that Radano and Roberts were named employees of the month for October because of their coverage of the Phils' playoff run. then they were given a $20 gift card and encouraged to re-apply if a job opened up.

seriously? gannett can go $#@! itself.

My wife was told the same thing when she was laid off yesterday. She told them she was done with the newspaper business.

by **td11** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 04:18:08

Rev_Beezer wrote:What does he mean by "social experiment" in regards to Chase?

is he saying that chase's interview giving skill are so bad that it's a "social experiment" or something?

by **GrizzledVeteran** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 16:48:27

Gannett has cut almost 1800 jobs this week with more to come. It's been a bloodbath.

by **Woody** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 15:24:35

Dec. 8, 2008

Tribune filed for bankruptcy-court protection, in a sign of worsening trouble for the newspaper industry.

Tribune has been on wobbly footing since last December, when real-estate mogul Samuel Zell led a debt-backed deal to take the company private. Tribune owns eight major daily newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun, plus a string of local TV stations.

by **kenrosenthal** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 12:53:55

ek wrote:Eckel said this morning he's leaving Trenton Times

isnt that good news?

did he say if "leaving" means fired or just moving on?

by **Woody** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:39:33

You're not going to win a Pulitzer Prizefrom Seth Godin's Blog
by Seth Godin
... and neither am I. Nor will any blogger, including those far more deserving.

The Pulitzer folks, stewards of one of the most influential and important awards in any field, have just announced their new rules. You can win a Pulitzer for commentary online now, but only if the place you post your commentary is a significant news gathering site. You know, sites like MinnPost and Voice of San Diego. So, Tom Friedman can win a well-deserved prize for writing what is essentially a blog for the NY Times, but if he goes off on his own, he's out.

What a shame.

As newspapers melt all around us, faster and faster, the people in the newspaper business persist in believing that the important element of a news-paper is the paper part.

What an opportunity (for someone) to start taking advantage of the huge pool of talent and passion that is moving online, and to work to raise the bar. We don't need more gossip sites from celebrity magazine editors. We need to identify and reward voices that push hard against the status quo, that report eagerly and accurately and that speak truth to power.

Here's what we're going to miss, and quite soon: the cost of having a printing press and the money to run one meant that there were newspapers with gravitas. Newspapers that invested for the long haul, that stood for something, that spoke up. When you can launch a blog for nothing and disappear quite easily if it doesn't work, the gravitas is a lot more difficult to find. When the newspapers are gone (and it's happening a lot faster than the people in the industry are able to admit) that's what we're going to miss the most.

The opportunity, then, is to organize and network and identify and reward that activity when it happens online. Not because the site is owned by a paper or because the founder has connections to the old media. No, because they're doing work that matters.

If I ran the Pulitzers, I'd hand out a dozen more every year to people working exclusively online.

by **Monkeyboy** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:42:35

Not surprising. If Josh Marshall didn't get one last year for breaking the attorney scandal, it was hard to see anyone getting one.

by **Bucky** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:50:44

the dude who started the whole palin-doesn't-know-africa-is-a-continent thing should DEFINITELY win one

by **GrizzledVeteran** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 16:33:52

Gannett, the parent company of my wife's former newspaper, has announced mandatory one-week unpaid furloughs for employees. Read all about it.

by **Woody** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 16:59:56

This was a good read
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog ... apers.html

by 1 » Fri Jan 23, 2009 22:22:08

according to comments on his blog (& "confirmation" from thefightins.com), zolecki is leaving the inquirer for mlb.com

by **CFP** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 22:24:24

1 wrote:according to comments on his blog (& "confirmation" from thefightins.com), zolecki is leaving the inquirer for mlb.com

Well, that's good for him. Bad for us I suppose? Unless he's replacing Mandel, which would be good.

by **swishnicholson** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 00:03:40

Woody wrote:This was a good read
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog ... apers.html

I'm sorry, but that makes no sense whatsoever, nor does the Pulitzer comment above. Godin seems to be stuck in a concept that even the most anachronistic newspaperman must have shed years ago, that a newspaper is made out of paper. Pulitzer Prizes have always been granted to articles in US based newspapers, in fact some awards are given to the newspaper itself, rather than the reporters involved. The Pulitzer announcement was that online only publications are now eligible for Pulitzer Prizes. That’s a recognition that much good journalism appears somewhere other than the printed page. But Godin seems to be upset that articles have to appear in a publication of some standing that does original news reporting rather than, I guess, anywhere at all by anyone out there, and somehow conflates these news organizations with tree killers whether they publish a print edition or not. But what exactly should be expected of an organization whose charter is to promote the profession of journalism?

What will I miss about newspapers? Well, it’s nice to have something I don’t worry about spilling my oatmeal on or that I can throw on the floor of my car, but the main thing is something I already miss because it’s shrinking day by day. That’s having a professional organization that has the economic might to support the best in original reporting and commentary, and the commitment to do so. Oh sure, the meat of reporting has always been wrapped in a big fluffy bun of nonsense as well, because it’s cheap to produce and a lot of people like it. But it’s clear now that there aren’t enough purchasers of the buns to support the meat any more. I now have access to thousands of publications through the web-and virtually every single one of them is mouthing the same story picked up by the wire services. Oh-and I can also get thousands of blogs picking over the bones of the news that others have hunted down.

Godin seems to think this is all good, that now people who want entertainment news will go here, and those who want gardening news will go there and those who want to know the state of the insurgency in Kashmir will go up yonder and pay for the privilege. But where is the economic model that suggests this type of reporting (by, you know, people in Kashmir, instead of those hyperventilating over government reports) will be supported or that this type of approach results in a more informed citizenry rather than one that simply finds it easier to avoid any unpleasantness unless it somehow bleeds into a plotline of their favorite webcomic? It’s always fun to toss the torches and dance around the smoldering ruins, but it can be sobering once you realize that nothing’s been built yet to replace that smugly grand-looking edifice that looked like such an inviting target and crumpled so much more easily than its appearance seemed to indicate.

Newspapers (and, need I repeat this?, by this I mean news gathering organizations that are committed to original reporting, publish regularly and pay their staff a professional wage) have always been hugely flawed and have given up much of their advantage over the past twenty years. But anyone who has experienced a real newspaper knows what a boon it can be to have organizations that journalists can aspire to work for (rather than simply try to ward off burnout), where not every story is based on the bottom line or generating page views (since there is a stable subscription base and other popular content to support more challenging material), where you're likely to stumble on items that might not fall in your within your daily RSS feed and where the resources and drive exist to find and report original content. That these are disappearing or at least diminishing tremendously is irrefutable. But to celebrate this when it’s clear that good people are being put out of work and the capability to do original reporting is diminished (even while the ability to broadcast and comment on the little that is left increases exponentially) is both irresponsible and immature. And to mark the occasion by giving out awards to those who temporarily benefit, at least in notoriety, from the breakdown is either silly or disgusting, I'm not sure which.

by **TenuredVulture** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 19:57:25

Now it's serious--Mad Magazine a quarterly.

by **ReadingPhilly** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 18:28:42

Well, this is it. My last day after nine-plus years at The Inquirer is Sunday, so unless there is breaking news over the weekend (i.e. Ryan Howard signs a multi-million dollar contract extension or the Phillies finally sign that righthanded bat) this is my final post for The Phillies Zone.

Writing that is very surreal.

I'll try to keep this short and sweet, but I just want to say thanks to everybody who has checked us out over the past couple years. It's been great fun. We started as The Zo Zone on April 20, 2007, when the Phillies were a scintillating 3-10. Who knew then the Phillies not only would win the National League East that year, but win the World Series a year later? We switched to The Phillies Zone on Feb. 25, 2008, and you guys made it one of the most popular blogs at philly.com. Thanks to you for that. Because I knew you guys were coming here every day, I made sure to update this thing as much as possible. Hopefully you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Fortunately for you, I know Inquirer sports editor Jim Cohen is going to find a stellar Phillies beat writer to take over. Fortunately for me, I'm not going very far, so I'll still be writing about the Phillies. So if you see me in Clearwater or Philly or anywhere else this year, don't be afraid to say hello.

Thanks again for everything.

by **Grotewold** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 14:09:56

Good to see Kevin Roberts on the Phils beat at the Inquirer, at least temporarily

by **BrianOrange** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 14:55:38

Who is Zolecki writing for now?

by **Grotewold** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 14:57:15

BrianOrange wrote:Who is Zolecki writing for now?

mlb.com

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