Bylines   

Encouraging Words

Kemal Kurspahic , former editor in chief of the Sarajevo newspaper Oslobodjenje , completes his year-long Nieman fellowship and becomes the besieged daily's editor/correspondent in the United States. Oslobodjenje has received much praise for its determination to continue publishing in spite of relentless shelling that left the paper's office without a regular supply of newsprint and at times without electricity (See "Under the Gun," July/August 1994). Kurspahic, 48, who was the paper's first editor to be elected by the editorial staff rather than appointed by the Communist Party, spent five-and-a-half years editing the paper in Sarajevo. Kurspahic says his reporting from America has encouraged him: "I've written about a number of ordinary Americans, from different fields of life, who are very much concerned about Bosnia, and in their small ways, do their best to express solidarity for Bosnian suffering."

Rocky Mountain Low

Knight-Ridder closes its Information Design Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, after a three-year effort to develop the much-hyped flat panel, a notebook-sized computer that would receive and display electronic newspapers (see "Panel Vision," October 1994). While Knight-Ridder says it remains open to flat panel publishing opportunities in the future, for now it is concentrating resources on online publishing. Roger Fidler , a Knight-Ridder veteran who directed the lab, will continue his efforts in his new position as a visiting journalism professor at the University of Colorado.

Oops and Oops Again

The New Republic finds itself in the awkward position of having to apologize on behalf of Associate Editor Ruth Shalit for the second time in less than a year. The first episode took place in April, when Shalit lifted several passages almost verbatim from an article by Dan Klaidman in the Legal Times . This time, several phrases in Shalit's July 3 TNR article about potential Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes read uncannily like the words in a June 3 article by National Journal correspondent Paul Starobin .

"All I can say is that I'm a klutz," says Shalit, explaining that in both incidents, she was using a split computer screen that displayed her notes along with material from Nexis on one half, and the story she was in the process of writing on the other. She says that following the first incident, she began printing out all Nexis searches so that she wouldn't have anyone else's words on her screen, but that she had recently stopped doing that, which turned out to be "a big mistake." Shalit insists that the mistake, serious as it was, does not compromise her "basic integrity and honesty as a journalist." Shalit, 24, who began her career at TNR and has also written for such high-profile publications as the New York Times Magazine and Gentleman's Quarterly , says, "I'm a young reporter, and things had come really far really fast... This experience is really going to make me bend over backwards and tighten my self-discipline and spur me to prove myself as a serious, conscientious, responsible reporter." New Republic Editor Andrew Sullivan did not return calls.

Around Newspapers

Perhaps deciding that she couldn't beat the media, Hillary Rodham Clinton decides to join. The First Lady is writing a weekly column on issues affecting women and families, distributed by Creators Syndicate ... The Berkshire Eagle of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is one of five papers sold by family owned Eagle Publishing to New England Newspapers , an affiliate of Dean Singleton 's Media News Group ... The Washington Post 's Mary Jordan , formerly a national desk reporter, and her husband, Kevin Sullivan , formerly on the metro desk, become co-bureau chiefs in Tokyo.

Let's Make a Deal

The urge to merge has never been stronger in the world of Big Media. First Gannett agrees to acquire Multimedia , a cable broadcasting company that also owns 11 dailies. Then D isney links up with Capital Cities/ABC in one of the largest corporate takeovers of all time. And Westinghouse takes over CBS , giving David Letterman a whole new universe of management weasels to torment. Meanwhile, the merger and acquisition frenzy catches the attention of Capitol Hill, where Sen. Arlen Specter , a Pennsylvania Republican, and Rep. John Conyers , a Michigan Democrat, want to make sure all the big deals don't violate antitrust laws.

TV Topics

MTV announces the premiere of "MTV News Unfiltered," hyped as the first news program in which viewers report the news. Hosted by MTV News correspondent Alison Stewart , the program invites viewers to call a toll free number and suggest story ideas. MTV then provides cameras to a select number of viewers so they may document their story on tape. Stories featured in the debut episode included reports on one young woman's battle with breast cancer and on a young father campaigning for diaper changing stations in men's rooms... Fox names Eric Shawn and Rita Cosby as the first of what will be five correspondents based in Washington for the network's news service... Rolando Santos , formerly executive producer for "Noticiero CNN Internacional," the network's Spanish-language newscast, is promoted to director of CNN Spanish and special programming.

Around Magazines

There goes that revolving door again. Tara Sonenshine , former deputy communications director of the Clinton administration's National Security Council, takes on a new gig at Newsweek , covering, imagine this, national security. Also at Newsweek, Peter McGrath , executive editor of Newsweek InterActive for the past three years, is named the magazine's first editor of new media... National Review names Kate O'Beirne , formerly a Heritage Foundation VP, its new Washington editor... Only two months after announcing a switch to a totally online, non-paper format, Omni magazine reconsiders. Keith Ferrell will be editor of the revamped, back-to-paper Omni, or more formally, Omni Quarterly Magazine .

Climbing the Ladder

Keith Spore , who began his career in journalism 30 years ago as a messenger at the Milwaukee Sentinel , is the new president of the recently merged Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . Spore succeeds Jim Currow , who leaves just three months after presiding over the merger of the Sentinel and the Journal to start an independent newspaper consulting firm. Word around the newsroom has it that Robert Kahlor , CEO of Journal Communications, Inc. and publisher of the Journal Sentinel, was disappointed to find that Currow was already making plans for his consulting company while still at the helm in Brew City. Currow's departure is good news for Spore, who had been the paper's editorial page editor. In other Journal Sentinel news, former Philadelphia Daily News City Editor Jackie Jones moves to Milwaukee to oversee state and local coverage.