Bylines   

Revenge in Cyberspace

Two former Houston Post staffers, Frank and Lisa Bass , start a homepage on the World Wide Web as a tribute to embittered former employees of newspaper mogul Dean Singleton . Singleton folded the Post in April, selling its assets to the Houston Chronicle . Dubbed the "Houston Post Newspaper-In-Exile," the homepage of the self-described "Toasted Posties" offers links to a list of "formerly devoted Singleton employees" and invites "other satisfied Singleton customers," such as former employees of the now-defunct Dallas Times Herald and the Berkshire Eagle , recently acquired by Singleton, to contribute to the page. With the goal of providing "an epilogue to the sordid ending of a great paper and a Houston institution," the Bass creation also provides links to the Justice Department, so that readers can "have a few words with the happy folks who approved the Singleton deal," and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to "check out the latest contributions Deano has made to the country's unemployment statistics."

Journalism's Impact

Former Albuquerque Tribune reporter Eileen Welsome , who left the paper last April to begin work on a book, experiences every reporter's dream as she watches President Clinton personally apologize to the 18 victims of the government-sponsored human radiation experiments that she had exposed in her Pulitzer Prize-winning series for the Tribune in 1993 (see "Radiation Redux," March 1994). Welsome, who worked on the series – often on her own time – over a six-year period, says she was "very moved by President Clinton's speech... I felt like I was watching history." It was Welsome's work that led to the formation of the federal Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, which spent 18 months looking into Cold War-era testing on humans. Welsome adds that Clinton's vindication of her tireless efforts gave her a genuine sense of pride in the journalism profession as a whole. "We have the ability to effect change, which is why we're journalists," she says. "It's just that not all of us get to see that in such a dramatic way."

A Recovering Workaholic

Poynter Institute President and CEO Robert Haiman announces that he will step down as head of the nonprofit journalism education, training and research center that owns the St. Petersburg Times by January 1, 1997. Haiman, who joined the Times in 1958, says his decision follows his realization – admittedly a little late in life at age 59 – that he is a workaholic. "I realized that if I didn't get out of the president's office and get away from my in-basket," Haiman says, "I was never going to be able to get to any of the things I always said I wanted to do in life." It doesn't sound like Haiman, who became the Times' managing editor at age 29 and ultimately became executive editor before joining Poynter, will be bored. He says he always wanted to ride a Harley from Florida to California, and now intends to do just that. He also hopes to realize another of his lifelong ambitions, to visit every country in the world. Sounds good, although he does anticipate that he'll "go through a few years when I'll have to call myself a recovering working stiff."

Cutting Back

The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News announce plans to cut more than 100 jobs while raising prices, all in an effort to offset higher newsprint costs and declining circulation. The staff cuts will affect all departments, though it remains undetermined whether the cuts will be achieved through attrition, buyouts or layoffs. Several other proposals are on the budget-cutting table, such as trimming the width of Inquirer pages by an eighth of an inch in order to save $1 million a year on newsprint costs, and major changes are expected at the Daily News... The Miami Herald announces that it is eliminating 300 jobs, in addition to combining some sections of the newspaper, in a cost-cutting move. One hundred jobs have already been cut through attrition, and another 100 jobs will be cut through attrition next year. None of the cuts, including the 100 still to go, are newsroom positions, though there are plans to shrink the news and features newsholes by 5 percent. The remaining cuts will primarily be in advertising, circulation and production.

Newsprint Poachers

At least some people (besides those in the paper business) are managing to profit from skyrocketing newsprint costs. Officials in Houston, Los Angeles and New York City report an upsurge in thievery of newspapers headed for city recycling programs. In Houston as much as 20 percent of the newspapers placed curbside on city recycling routes have been "poached," at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars to city taxpayers. Los Angeles has even gone so far as to launch a new anti-scavenging patrol (no indication Mark Fuhrman is a member), and recently arrested one man who had been stealing nearly 17 tons of old newspapers a week, providing a considerably less-than-shabby income for himself of up to $1,200 per week. Houston recently instituted a similar poacher patrol program that in its first three weeks had issued 19 citations, and New York reported that more than 70 people have already been arrested this year on charges of newspaper theft.

Dodging the Ax (I)

It seems the Times Mirror Center for The People & The Press won't be a thing of the past after all. The center, highly respected as a primary source of public opinion and press research, was slated for elimination at the end of the year by Times Mirror President and CEO Mark H. Willes as part of company budget cuts last August (see "Wielding the Ax," Bylines, September). The center gets a new lease on life through the Pew Charitable Trusts, a Philadelphia-based philanthropy that the center's director, Andrew Kohut , says is known for its hands-off management style, something he says was a major factor in choosing Pew over several other suitors. "We feel we were very fortunate to find the resources to keep on doing what we do," says Kohut. "And the fact that [Pew] is interested in the same issues we are made it a very good fit from our point of view." The center, which will continue to operate under Times Mirror until the end of the year, has yet to decide on a name for its newly revived operation. Kohut says the name is about all that will change at the center; the staff of five will remain the same, as will the center's mission of analyzing the way the public responds to press and public policy issues.

Dodging the Ax (II)

Another victim of Times Mirror's budget-cutting survives its near-death experience. In the wake of several letters of protest from Washington, D.C., movers and shakers, the Los Angeles Times decides to revive its Washington edition, a 2,800-circulation special edition delivered daily in the nation's capital that was scrapped last August. Since then, the Times had been overnighting the L.A. version of the paper in an effort to fill the void, a situation outgoing Washington Bureau Chief Jack Nelson describes as "a disaster" for the paper's reputation inside the Beltway. "We really fell off the radar screen here," says the relieved Nelson, who also has a new gig with the Times. Doyle McManus , who covered foreign policy and national security for the Times for the past twelve years in addition to covering the White House for the last year, replaces Nelson as bureau chief. But Nelson, who held the job for almost 21 years, isn't straying too far, assuming the title of chief Washington correspondent.

Plan Doesn't Play in Peoria

Peoria, Illinois' Journal Star , a 140-year-old daily that has been employee-owned since 1983, goes on the market. Apparently the Journal Star company, which also owns Galesburg, Illinois' Register-Mail , fell victim of its own best intentions. Journal Star President and Publisher John McConnell describes the paper's Employee Stock Ownership plan (see "The Business of Journalism," March and April 1993), instituted by Henry Slane of the Slane Family Trusts, as a "noble experiment" with no future. He says the paper ran into trouble when about a half-dozen employees decided to cash out early rather than wait until age 59-and-a-half to retire. McConnell says those six employees served as "an eye-opener" to the fact that more employees might make the same choice in the future, thus imperiling possibilities for future profits.

Around Magazines

The Washington Post 's Elsa Walsh , on leave while completing a book tour, gets a call from The New Yorker 's Tina Brown asking her to contribute articles on "interesting women." Walsh says she won't be leaving the Post, where she works with her husband, Bob Woodward , and will say only that the details of her future work for The New Yorker are still unfolding, joking that "My life at the moment resembles my desk.".. SmartMoney founder and columnist James Cramer joins New York magazine as a senior writer. Cramer, who found himself at the center of a controversy that ultimately led SmartMoney to adopt a policy banning contributors from writing about stocks they own in order to avoid influencing prices, will write a biweekly business column called "The Bottom Line.".. A new magazine intended to "inspire and encourage a sense of hope among its readers" will debut after the new year and is appropriately named Hope . The bimonthly's editor and publisher is Jon Wilson , who was the founding editor of WoodenBoat magazine, an improbably successful special-interest magazine launched in 1974. "What I learned from WoodenBoat over the years was that a sensitively edited magazine has enormous potential to gently alter the ways in which readers see the world," says Wilson. "And while the connection between wooden boats and hope may seem unusual, it is really the theme of idealism, of values worth pursuing, that is common to both of these endeavors."... Forbes magazine has a new Forbes at the helm. With President and Editor in Chief Malcolm Forbes Jr. (call him Steve ) stepping down to run for another presidency (of the United States), brother Timothy , president of American Heritage , steps in as his replacement.

Our Favorite Amendment

The Freedom Forum names First Amendment maven Paul McMasters to a new position, First Amendment ombudsman. McMasters, who will be based at the organization's Arlington, Virginia, headquarters, had been executive director of the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. There will be no replacement for McMasters at Vanderbilt; First Amendment Center Chairman John Seigenthaler will assume most of McMasters' previous duties.

A Review's New Home

The St. Louis Journalism Review finds a new home at St. Louis' Webster University. Rose and Charles Klotzer , owners of SJR since 1970, are transferring ownership to Webster on the 25th anniversary of the monthly review, though an independent editorial board will be appointed to oversee the review's operations. Charles Klotzer, formerly SJR's editor and publisher, will no longer be editor but will continue to play an active role as a member of the editorial advisory board.

Backfiring Buyouts

Buyout offers at two Times Mirror dailies work a little too well – not only have Newsday and the Hartford Courant avoided layoffs, but both may now be looking to hire. Newsday's voluntary buyout program exceeded management's goal by more than 50, shrinking the staff from 724 to 484 following the closing of New York Newsday and putting some editors in the awkward position of having to negotiate to retain key staffers. The Courant, meanwhile, had an extra 38 staffers buy into their buyout, exceeding by 25 percent the paper's minimum staff-reduction goal of 150 positions.

Around Broadcasting

" CBS This Morning" hires a husband-and-wife team of personal financial reporters, naming Ken and Daria Dolan , who cohost their own syndicated radio program, "Smart Money with the Dolans," financial contributors... Also at CBS, former "Eye to Eye" Executive Producer Susan Zirinsky is named executive producer of the network's 1996 campaign coverage. Zirinsky, the inspiration for the Holly Hunter character in "Broadcast News," also directed the network's campaign coverage in 1992... NBC names Tonya Strong , formerly a news anchor in Cleveland, coanchor of "NBC Nightside," the network's overnight news service that provides programming for any NBC affiliate looking to take news into the wee hours... Sally Holm , senior broadcast producer of ABC 's "World News Tonight with Peter Jennings," leaves the network to move to the Boston area with her husband. Holm, who had been with World News Tonight since 1980 and is credited with creating the "American Agenda" segment of the program with then-Executive Producer Paul Friedman , is replaced by Paul Slavin , formerly a producer for the now-defunct "Day One."

On the Infobahn

Frank Daniels III , executive editor of Raleigh's News & Observer , is named president and publisher of NandO.net , the paper's online service. Daniels' family sold the N&O to McClatchy earlier this year. Anders Gyllenhaal , one of the paper's three managing editors, takes over Daniels' responsibilities in his new position as senior managing editor... Times Mirror's National Journal joins forces with the American Political Network, publisher of four news summaries that are computer-delivered daily to Washington's players, to produce PoliticsUSA , an Internet site featuring breaking news, forums, campaign information and political profiles.