Bylines   

Long Journey Out

The Society of American Travel Writers faces a class action suit from 115 journalists who allege they have either been expelled or placed on probation as the result of a flawed review process. The society revised its bylaws four years ago to allow for the review of 90 percent of its 900 members, basing its judgment, in part, on the quantity of work each member produces. But since the society provides "de facto accreditation" in the travel writing business, argues Washington lawyer Barry Roberts , who represents the plaintiffs, membership has a "dollars-and-cents impact," particularly for freelancers. Elaine English , who represents the society, says it simply doesn't want members who are no longer active travel journalists. "The [plaintiffs] are saying nobody could ever have a membership review process," she says, "because the fact of having one is [necessarily] arbitrary."

The Hard Sell

James Currow , president of Journal/Sentinel Inc., was dismayed to learn recently that many staffers of the employee-owned Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Sentinel don't subscribe to all three of the company's products: the morning Sentinel, the afternoon Journal, and the Sunday Journal. His response? Have the circulation department draw up a list of non-subscribers and instruct managers to encourage the laggards in either private meetings or group sessions to support the home team. "This was a strong plea by Jim because of concerns about circulation," says Journal Executive Editor Mary Jo Meisner . "There was no intimidation involved." Nevertheless, the list prompted outrage from the Newspaper Guild, which filed a grievance, and eye-rolling among many editorial staffers. "I read the competition at work," says newly appointed Journal Sunday Editor Carolina Garcia . "I don't need to get it at home."

Covering All the Races

The Seattle Times assigns Aly Colón , formerly an assistant metro editor, as its first diversity reporter and coach. The beat includes racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, gender and age issues, says Colón, 42, who has filed stories on such topics as the abundance of white judges in the state criminal court system and how health care reform might affect minorities. As for his coaching duties, the reporter says some colleagues initially expressed concern that he would be a "P.C. policeman." But as a minority journalist (he's Puerto Rican), Colón says he wants to give his colleagues a sounding board to ensure that their coverage doesn't include stereotypes or lack balance. "Is it the same description of Latinos, African Americans or gays that everybody's written," he likes to ask, "or does it further our understanding of a community?"

Attack of the Killer Newsmagazines

Rupert Murdoch , fresh from his victory over CBS in the football war, sets his sights on "60 Minutes." The Fox chief plans a similar program to air Sunday nights opposite the stalwart, and he's named Andrew Neil as his executive editor. Neil had been editor of Murdoch's Sunday Times in London for the past 11 years after being lured away from his position as a U.S. correspondent for the Economist . The new show, scheduled to debut this fall, will be called "On Assignment." A previous Fox newsmagazine, "Front Page," fell flat... NBC launches "Dateline II," which now airs Thursdays but will switch to Fridays this fall. The original "Dateline" remains in its Tuesday night slot. CBS, meanwhile, debuts "America Tonight," with Deborah Norville and Dana King . That brings the network newsmagazine count to 11... Er, make that 11 and a half. Michael ("Roger & Me") Moore signs with NBC to produce a weekly newsmagazine spoof called "TV Nation" scheduled to debut July 19. The show plans to examine stories such as sagging real estate values near Love Canal and pets on Prozac.

It's Elementary

Mark Levin , a teacher in Asheville, North Carolina, organizes the

National Elementary Schools Press

Association to encourage students to publish newspapers and exchange ideas. The group currently has eight member schools and advisers such as Dave Barry of the Miami Herald and David Brinkley of ABC News . Levin says he formed the group after helping his fifth-graders launch a monthly paper last year. "It gets the kids to write for a real audience that looks at their sentence structure and grammar," he says. "It was the only thing they stayed interested in for the entire year." NESPA plans to offer a guide to starting a student paper, a clearinghouse for ideas, and lessons to teach students about the importance of meeting deadlines. You have to catch 'em young on that last one.

Out West

The San Francisco Chronicle promotes Political Editor Jerry Roberts to oversee the editorial page. He succeeds the retiring Tom Benet , who joined the paper as a copy clerk in 1949.... Richard Beene , most recently a city editor at the Los Angeles Times , accepts the executive editor's job at the Bakersfield Californian . A former Mexico City bureau chief for the now-defunct Dallas Times-Herald , he fills a spot vacant since Robert Bentley left in September. The Times, meanwhile, names staff writer Irene Lacher , a one-time reporter for People and the New York Post , as its personalities columnist.

Television News

Anchor Saya Oka , who leaves Japan's national network, NHK , is among the 50 new hires at KRON 's new San Francisco cable news channel, BayTV = scheduled to debut in July. The 24-hour channel also names Evan White , who has been at KRON since 1980, as senior anchor... "The Philadelphia Inquirer News Hour," expected to debut on WPHL later this year, hires Dick Moore , a one-time news director at WSB in Atlanta, as general manager, and ill Knoedelseder , a former longtime reporter at the Los Angeles Times tnd more recently senior producer for the syndicated newsmagazine, "The Crusaders," as executive editor... Detroit's WJBK appoints evin Roseborough , who departs as night city editor from the Detroit Free Press , as managing editor. "It was a chance to learn another end of the business," says Roseborough, whose only previous experience in broadcasting had been a summer internship years ago. An 11-year veteran of the Free Press, he says he's learning quickly – literally. "I thought I was used to deadlines," he says, "but in TV, you have to be there instantly."

Gains and Losses

The Wall Street Journal , buoyed by the success of a weekly section for Texas readers, plans to add four pages of regional news to its editions in the Southeast and Florida beginning October 12. At the same time, the paper inks a deal to provide eight Latin American newspapers with a Spanish-language business section... The afternoon Tri-State Gazette in Port Jervis, New York, drops to a weekly schedule and cuts a third of its 48-member staff... In Iowa, the Valley News

Today purchases the Shenandoah Daily Sentinel and merges the two papers, forcing Shenandoah (population 5,500) to cede its title as the smallest U.S. city with competing dailies. That title now belongs to Aspen, Colorado, where the Aspen Daily News and the Aspen Times Daily battle for the attention of 6,000 residents (and thousands more visitors). Berlin, New Hampshire, with a population of 12,000, also has two dailies: the Daily Sun and the Berlin Reporter .

Takes One to Know One

Earlier this year, the Register Citizen in Torrington, Connecticut, dismissed reporter Marsden Epworth after she quoted readers critical of the daily's

efforts to deliver its first Sunday edition (see Bylines, May). Days later,

Assistant Editor Dolores Laschever resigned when Publisher Geoffrey Moser killed a letter critical of the firing. Both women have since sued parent Journal Register Co. ý with Epworth arguing that her dismissal violated a state law protecting "whistleblowers" who report detrimental information about their employers. A Journal Register spokesperson insisted on NBC's "Today" show that Epworth had misquoted the readers, while Moser was quoted in the Register Citizen saying Epworth was dismissed in part because she had not given any circulation staffers "an opportunity to respond." Ironically, Epworth says no one from the paper asked for her response before Moser's comments appeared.

Back to Pittsburgh

You can go home again, as three new editors at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have discovered. The daily names Tom O'Boyle , who left the paper in 1981 to join the Wall Street Journal , as business editor; Reg Henry , a former city editor who had left to become executive editor of California's Monterey County Herald, as special projects editor; and John Ellison , a one-time intern who most recently was editor of Prognosis , an English-language paper in the Czech Republic, to handle letters to the editor and op-ed submissions. The Post-Gazette also hires Travel Editor Jayne Clark , who leaves the Los Angeles Daily News .

Washington Insiders

News Communications, which owns some 20 small newspapers in and around New York City, plans to launch a weekly to cover Capitol Hill and compete with the twice-weekly Roll Call . The company appoints Editor and Publisher Martin Tolchin , who leaves the Washington bureau of the New York Times , and Executive Editor Albert Eisele , a former longtime Knight-Ridder reporter and one-time press secretary to Vice President Walter Mondale . The first issue of The Hill appears in September... Mary Leonard , former deputy Washington bureau chief for Newsday , takes the same position at the Boston Globe . She succeeds Pamela Constable , now covering national security. At the same time, the Globe loses diplomatic correspondent Mary Curtius , who joins the Jerusalem bureau of the Los Angeles Times ... Knight-Ridder transfers Brigid Schulte H formerly a Washington correspondent for the Columbia, South Carolina, State, to cover general assignments and consumer affairs out of its D.C. bureau. Michael Ruane , a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer , comes aboard to follow the changing military. The bureau also hires Vanessa Gallman , formerly an assistant city editor at the Washington Post , for the urban affairs beat.

Inside Newspapers

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution lures columnist heta Grimsley Johnson away from Scripps Howard News Service . Her work will appear in the spot once occupied by the columns of Lewis Grizzard [ who died in March... A state judge dismisses a lawsuit filed by two editors at Cheyenne's Wyoming Eagle who charged they were illegally dismissed after they refused to wear anti-union buttons (see Bylines, January/February)... Jacqui Banaszynski , the St. Paul Pioneer Press writer who won a Pulitzer for her reporting in 1987 on a gay farm couple battling AIDS, becomes senior editor for enterprise reporting at the Portland Oregonian .

Still More Newsmagazines!

Scripps Howard begins development of yet another network newsmagazine.... Chris Craft rolls out "Premier Story" on five of its stations, while All American Television will pitch "L.A. Beat" in foreign markets... Alan Wurtzel , who supervises ewsmagazines for ABC , says the network has no plans to develop more. "I don't believe," he tells Electronic Media , "the world needs another magazine show."

Newspapers East

The Boston Globe names Gregory Moore as managing editor. Formerly deputy managing editor, he fills the spot left behind by Helen Donovan , who became executive editor last year. The Globe also promotes Ande Zellman , formerly editor of its Sunday magazine, to associate editor for media development. She'll oversee the Globe's partnership with New England Cable News (see Free Press, May). One person keeping an eye on that venture is sure to be Jon Klarfeld , the newly appointed media columnist at the rival Boston Herald ... Ben Gerson departs as opinion page editor at Newsday and New York Newsday to become editor of the National Law Journal . He succeeds Doreen Weisenhaus , now legal affairs editor at the New York Times Magazine . The Times, meanwhile, welcomes back reporter Jo Thomas , who quit in 1986 after being called off the beat in Northern Ireland. Soon after her departure, she wrote a critique for Columbia Journalism Review of what she portrayed as British-friendly coverage of Northern Ireland by the Times and other news outlets. "I felt very bad about having to write that piece," says Thomas, adding that coverage hasn't improved much since.

Academic Shifts

Mike Masterson , formerly director of the Kiplinger program for public affairs reporting at the Ohio State University, joins New Jersey's Asbury Park Press as investigative projects editor. Author and reporter James Neff succeeds him... Sig Gissler , former editor of the Milwaukee Journal and most recently a Freedom Forum Media Studies Center fellow, joins the faculty of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.... Nan Robertson , the former New York Times reporter who won a Pulitzer for her 1982 first-person account of battling toxic shock syndrome, becomes the first Eugene L. Roberts Jr. jvisiting professor at the University of Maryland. Roberts takes a three-year leave from the school, and AJR , where he was a senior editor, to become Times managing editor. The university also hires William Eaton , a Washington reporter for the Los Angeles Times who plans to retire by year's end, to oversee the ubert H. Humphrey fellowship program for visiting foreign journalists.

Cable News Network

At the same time it is fighting a lawsuit by a former Los Angeles correspondent over alleged "mommy bias" (see Bylines, June) and trying to address complaints from other female staffers about their treatment at the network, CNN names Suzanne Spurgeon as deputy chief of the L.A. bureau. Formerly the Atlanta-based executive producer of "CNN Morning News," she succeeds Lou Cook , now overseeing longer programming. Spurgeon declined to comment about her appointment, but CNN spokesperson Karen Kemp says it was unrelated to concerns expressed by female staffers.