Changes at Gannett a sea-change for Central Jersey news

Logo of the Courier's website presence.

The reality of the sea-change in Plainfield and Central Jersey news coverage flowing from Gannett's move to regionalize its reporting is beginning to sink in -- at least among the bloggers (see Olddoc's Wednesday take here, and Bernice's assessment of the Plainfield blogosphere here).
After the Star-Ledger abandoned its county bureaus and then the benefits-less contract journalists that followed, the Courier News was the last outlet to give this city of 50,000 decent news coverage.

I took up the question a week ago (see here), hazarding that Plainfield coverage will change sharply with Mark Spivey's time being spread farther afield, and also sharing a concern about Gannett's Plainfield microsite --

One hopes the Plainfield mini-site, which has been an online goldmine for the Courier from the day Spivey first took it on, continues -- Gannett would be crazy to kill it. On the other hand, editing it takes time, and if they have Mark chasing over half the state to cover stories, something may have to give.

Well, that question is now answered, with Mark's farewell post to the microsite yesterday (see here), revealing that Gannett has officially pulled the plug on all its New Jersey microsites (of which the Plainfield one drew the most traffic, I have been told).

Mark, an award-winning journalist of the highest standards, will weather these changes and my wish is that he continue to be successful and prosper as the news industry reinvents itself.

As for Plainfield and the rest of Central Jersey, the thirst for timely, insightful local news is hardly likely to be slaked by Gannett's latest rearrangement of the deck chairs.

It is a time of challenge, danger and opportunity.

For Plainfielders, those are our regular conditions of life.

---

• Doc's Potpourri:  "Obituary for a paper"
• Plaintalker II: "A look at the Plainfield blogosphere"
• Plainfield Today:  "How will Courier changes affect Plainfield?"
• In The Field:  "A parting note" -- Spivey breaks the news the plug has been pulled.

-- Dan Damon

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How will Courier changes affect Plainfield?

How to make 50,000 people disappear? Just jigger the map.
Map from the East Brunswick Patch.

How will the changes Gannett is making to its New Jersey newspapers affect Plainfield?

Even as I finished posting to CLIPS yesterday the links to the breaking story on layoffs throughout the media giant's New Jersey operations, an email link to a post by Courier reporter Mark Spivey on the Plainfield mini-site landed in my inbox (see here).

The bottom line? It appears that Spivey, who began as the 'Plainfield beat' reporter, and then was in recent months assigned several other neighboring towns, will now be a 'general assignment' staff reporter, meaning essentially without a regular beat. The news has to be disheartening to Gannett employees everywhere.

Will breaking news about Plainfield disappear?

I don't think that's likely, but what IS LIKELY is that folks won't be pleased with what the editors assign Spivey to cover: contention and crime.

One hopes the Plainfield mini-site, which has been an online goldmine for the Courier from the day Spivey first took it on, continues -- Gannett would be crazy to kill it. On the other hand, editing it takes time, and if they have Mark chasing over half the state to cover stories, something may have to give.

In the end, it's a business decision, and both a Gannett exec (see here) and Poynter (a journalism site, see here) underscore that the chain's advertising revenue continues to slide, battered by online competition and a rotten economy.

And when it comes to the advertising that must underwrite daily newspapers, Plainfield simply cannot generate enough to make a difference.

This is hardly news. Back during Al McWilliams' time as Mayor, the Suburban News (before it was absorbed by Advance, the Ledger parent) tried home deliveries of free copies to half of Plainfield. Ultimately, the experiment was dropped when ad revenue failed to cover the cost of the printing and delivery.

While Gannett has trumpeted the stylistic changes it has been rolling out for its Jersey papers, the sad truth is the news gets thinner and thinner, as does the newspaper.

To the point that when I pick up a Monday copy, I ask myself why I am plunking down 75¢ for something that won't even wrap a good order of fish 'n chips.

Am I just one of that dying breed of those who need the physical 'paper' to feel I've gotten the news?

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• Gannett Layoffs:  "Courier" | "E. Brunswick Patch" | "Poynter" | 
• Plainfield.InJersey:  "In The Field: Gone dark"
• Gannett Blog:  "Layoff Announcement" | "Exec's memo to employees after layoffs"

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You will now pay for the NYTimes online, even if it is garbled

Plainfielders who read the New York Times online will be face with a paywall that went into effect on the newspaper's website yesterday (see letter from the publisher here).

The new paywall had a 'soft launch' in Canada a couple of weeks ago -- presumably so wrinkles could be ironed out before hitting the much larger U.S. readership, which began yesterday afternoon.

Basically, readers will be allowed access to TWENTY stories per month at no charge. They are also supposed to be able to read stories which are sent to them as emails or links by others (meaning, hopefully, that any links I send you in CLIPS would give you access to a free article).

We'll see how all this goes; this is the second time the Times has tried a paywall. The last was abandoned ignominiously when execution problems cropped up and readership plummeted.

Meanwhile, as all this was simmering, I was reading the Sunday Times (which I make last most of the week -- think Chinese takeout as the metaphor) yesterday, and came across a bit of garbled journalism that I will now be asked to pay for digitally, as well as dead-tree.

In a story by Ben Zimmer on page 2 of the 'Week In Review' section about the tussle between Microsoft, Apple and Amazon over who can 'own' the word APPSTORE, the author, who is chairman of the American Dialect Society's 'new words' committee, overreached for a metaphor, with amusing results.

Noting that Microsoft had quoted Zimmer in announcing 'app' the Dialect Society's 'word of the year' for 2010, he added --

"That ended up being another quiver in Microsoft's bow, demonstrating how widespread the terms 'app' and 'app store'  had become." [Emphasis added, DD]

How's that again?

Anyone who, even in high school gym, has ever slotted the notch of an arrow onto the bowstring before shooting at the target knows that the ARROWS are kept IN THE QUIVER, which is slung over one's shoulder and not kept 'in the bow'.

Which only goes to show that the fee you will be paying does not include having copy editors on the staff, a breed which seems to have died out about a decade ago.

Or, as they say, 'Get used to it'.

---

• NYTimes:  "Letter to our readers: Times begins digital subscriptions"
• Plainfield Ward/District Maps: | Ward 1 | Ward 2 | Ward 3 | Ward 4 |

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Mark Spivey gets his new assignments

There was a public education campaign to get users to adopt the newfangled ZIP codes.

Whiling away the time waiting for the Plainfield City Council's agenda session to start on Monday evening, I learned from Courier reporter Mark Spivey that he has been given his new 'beat' assignment by the editors of mycentraljersey.com.

He has had Plainfield and North Plainfield, to which have now been added Watchung, Warren and Green Brook, he said.

I am sure Mark will find it interesting developing the new contacts and sources necessary to cover the news in these additional communities, though I am sure the bulk of the breaking news stories for his expanded beat will come from Plainfield.

Though the assortment may appear as an agglomeration to Mark, those with long memories may find it has a certain naturalness to it. (I can remember being surprised when first looking through the Courier's 1926 picture book of Plainfield homes, that Warren, Watchung and North Plainfield homeowners self-identified as 'Plainfield' homeowners.)

Back in 1963, when Plainfield was still the Queen City for the region, the United States Post Office introduced ZIP codes, the five-digit identifiers devised to speed the delivery of the nation's mail (more here, and here).

At its inception, the ZIP code 07060 was assigned to Plainfield, North Plainfield, Warren and Watchung. Warren since petitioned for, and received, its own ZIP code -- 07059. Plainfield and North Plainfield are further subdivided with 07062 (in the east end of both towns) and 07063 (in the west end of both towns). The 07061 ZIP code is reserved for the main Post Office on Watchung Avenue.

Green Brook?

Green Brook doesn't fit the ZIP mold though, having had 08812 since the beginning. Turns out that we live right along the boundary between New Jersey's two large ZIP divides: 07--- and 08---.

But those with really long memories will recall that Green Brook was created from the former North Plainfield Township in 1931.

So, we're all just one big happy family.

Good luck, Mark!

Even Dick Tracy was enlisted.

---

• History of ZIP codes:  "Wikipedia" | "About.com" | "Green Brook, NJ"

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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City, schools skip how-to on Courier's new community outreach tool

The logo for the Courier's new online Plainfield 'microsite'.

There was no representation from either the City of Plainfield or the Plainfield Public Schools at last night's citywide informational on the Courier's new community outreach tool, its Plainfield microsite.

I am told the District's community relations person intended to come out but was kept on a District project at the last moment, making it impossible to attend.

Both Plainfield beat reporter Mark Spivey and the Courier's general manager and editor Paul Grzella were on hand to outline the microsite's benefits to the community and to answer the questions of the attendees, among whom was a heavy sprinkling of the regular Plainfield bloggers (Bernice, Olddoc, Maria and Dan, as well as Lamar Mackson, who publishes the PCTV advisory board's blog).

Spivey had sent an email invitation to his Plainfield contacts several weeks ago, giving the details of the event, and was eagerly anticipating who might attend. Besides the bloggers, folks came out representing FOSH, the YMCA, the Drake House and Historical Society, the Plainfield Public Library and the Friends of Muhlenberg, all of whom were excited at the prospects of broadening their community outreach.

The Plainfield microsite (see here), which has been up since September (see my sneak preview here), is a truly revolutionary tool for any Plainfield organization to get out the word about its activities, plans or offerings of interest to the wider community.

For everything from notices of theatrical productions to sports team schedules, from solicitations for charitable causes to the explication of public policy initiatives, and all sorts of notices from the City and the school district, the microsite offers a free and easy-to-use outlet to get the word out about what's going on in Plainfield.

Grzella pointed out that Spivey, who edits the microsite, culls items posted to it for both writeups as new stories to appear in both the print and online editions of the paper, and as brief items to be forwarded to the person who assembles the 'Community News' page for the print version of the paper.

After the lambasting (unfair, by my lights) both the Courier and the Ledger had to endure at Monday's Council meeting, I thought that what Grzella and Spivey showcased was the perfect tool for just those critics -- a totally self-empowering tool for those who feel Plainfield's 'good news' stories get short shrift to put in their own 2-cents-worth by posting their own online news AND PHOTOS at any time of the day or night from their computers.

When asked by a participant about the scarcity of 'Plainfield' items on the community briefs pages, Spivey said could only recall receiving ONE such brief from the City in the past year. Wardlaw-Hartridge was cited as an example of an area institution that is making good use of both the microsite and, by extension, the print edition of the paper, to reach out to the widest possible audience with news of importance and interest to its constituents.

This is a wonderful opportunity for both the City and the schools to get the 'good word' out about what is going on in Plainfield of interest to its residents.

Let's hope they will be able to get up to speed on this valuable new tool as soon as possible.

---

• Website:  "Plainfield.InJersey"
• Plainfield Today: "Sneak peek of Courier's new Plainfield microsite"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Sneak peek of Courier's new Plainfield 'microsite'

Courier's new Plainfield 'microsite'.

Got a Google internet alert that gives a sneak peek of the Courier's new website highlighting Plainfield.

Plainfield has been added to a growing list of communities that Gannett New Jersey is outfitting with their own individually tailored websites (see Plainfield's here) or 'microsites'.

While Courier reporter Mark Spivey had said a couple of months ago that the project was under way, I had no idea it was so far along until the Google alert arrived in my inbox.

The site sports all the Courier's Plainfield-related news stories, plus photo galleries and links to Plainfield websites and blogs (including the usual suspects), as well as a Twitter feed and a 'flyerboard' (a bulletin board for community flyers; seems to be empty at present).

And, of course, ads.

Gannett's papers, along with every other newspaper in the country -- including the Ledger, whose advertising income is down yet again, prompting another buyout -- are trying to figure out how to make money online.

The Courier, I am told, does make money off its online advertising and a robust online readership.

One of the things that market research has shown the newspapers, though, is that readers have an insatiable interest in local news (and, judging from the Ledger's community forums, trash).

Map shows current roster of microsites.

Gannett's 18 (so far) 'InJersey' sites seem intended to capitalize on this.

What does this mean for the Plainfield blogs?

Since we're not in competition with the Courier, the new website's links should garner even more readers for Plainfield's very active blog community.

As for my CLIPS blog, which aggregates news about Plainfield from many sources, the Courier included, I'm expecting continued growth in readership, since it's likely to be snowcone-time-in-Hades before Gannett decides to put links up to its competitor's stories.

Be sure to check out the new 'microsite' and Mark Spivey's accompanying (and punningly named) new blog 'In the Field' (see here).

---

• InJersey:  "Plainfield InJersey"
• Mark Spivey's blog:  "In the Field"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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NJ Newsroom caught by Dan in an ethical lapse?

NJ Newsroom is a highly-respected online news source.

When NJ Newsroom posted an item yesterday on the recent outbreak of gang violence in Plainfield, it caught my eye while preparing the daily CLIPS blog (see here).

The highly-respected website devoted to New Jersey news -- featuring some of the state's best journalists as well as wide-ranging OpEd opinions -- has not previously, to my memory, ever done a story on Plainfield, nor can I recall a story of such 'street-corner' detail.

It is far more likely you would find a carefully thought out piece on an initiative by the governor or the Legislature, with its implications statewide carefully laid out.

But a run-of-the-mill gang story (after all, Plainfield is hardly the only town with gang issues)? Most unusual.

Scanning the story before putting the link up on the CLIPS blog, it did not seem to add anything to previous coverage in the Courier (see here) -- in fact, it had an identical quote from Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig as reported by Mark Spivey in his original Courier story --

From the Courier: "They don't seem to care," Hellwig said of the gangs' attitudes toward the increased presence of law enforcement. "We've been trying to keep the peace down there, because there's certainly been some things brewing." (see story here)

and from NJ Newsroom --

"They don't seem to care," said city Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig. "We've been trying to keep the peace down there, because there's certainly been some things brewing." (story archived here)

It is not unusual for different media outlets to cover the same story (in fact the Ledger covered this one also -- see here), however competing media take great pains to strive for a slightly different perspective, or additional telling details, and there certainly wouldn't be word-for-word identical quotes unless all the reporters had been in a press conference or group interview.

What caught my eye about the NJ Newsroom piece was that it DID NOT have any additional information or distinctive angle. So, I decided to quickly reference the Courier article alongside it and move on, leaving this entry --

Gangs: "Bystanders caught in middle of Plainfield gang feud" -- Story makes NJ Newsroom website; contrast with original Courier article here.

When I got back to my computer yesterday evening, I had been tipped that the story was taken down. The page I had left open all day without refreshing displayed the story as originally posted.

Screenshot of NJ Newsroom's original posting of the story.

This allowed me to capture the original text as posted on the NJ Newsroom site, which I have archived here.

Upon refreshing the original page, I got this error message --

Screenshot of error message when reloading original page.

Now, I have a high regard for the NJ Newsroom folks and dropped them an email early this morning suggesting they create a 'corner' on their website where they could post corrections or clarifications for the reasons stories are either modified or taken down altogether. I hope they take my suggestion seriously.

Here is the text of my email --

Good morning,

NJ Newsroom ran a story yesterday AM on recent gang activity in Plainfield.

I aggregate links to news stories of interest to Plainfield readers on my blog CLIPS, and posted a link to the story in my usual fashion.

As I scanned the item preparatory to putting up a link, it seemed very similar to my recollection of the Courier News item "Three injured in Plainfield shootings as gang feud escalates" of 5/17/2010, and I put a link to their story alongside the one to yours. (The story was actually broken on my local news blog, Plainfield Today, early Monday AM as part of a roundup of police news -- "3 shot over weekend, pedestrian struck, plus unremarked bias incident")

I was told by someone yesterday afternoon that your story had been taken down, and that Plainfield police director Martin Hellwig had confirmed that no one from NJ Newsroom had contacted him about the story, though there was a direct quote in your piece.

As a news junkie (and retired public information officer for the City of Plainfield), I have had the highest regard for NJ Newsroom since its inception and admire both the news stories and the wide variety of opinions expressed on issues of concern to New Jerseyans.

This experience, however, has left me feeling uneasy. In print media, there might be a correction or a small notice about what had gone awry. Scanning your site, I don't find somewhere that a reader could turn for clarifications or corrections or admissions that a mistake or ethical lapse had been made.

I hope you will consider a little 'corner' for such, so that your deservedly good reputation will remain of the highest order.

Sincerely,
Dan Damon

Meanwhile, a Google search for a text string from the NJ Newsroom story shows that it is still online in its original form on at least two other websites as of the time of this writing: Hoboken City Guide (see here) and The Black Urban Times (see here).

We'll see what happens.

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• Plainfield Stuff: "Gangs | Bystanders caught in middle of Plainfield gang feud | NJ Newsroom"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Plainfield's NJ Monthly standing drops from 'one of top 10' to ...

Design for banner on City Hall flaunting Plainfield's selection in 2001.

How could Plainfield have dropped so far in the NJ Monthly 'Best Places to Live!' issue?

From 'one of the top 10 best places to live' in its March 2001 issue, in the March 2010 issue Plainfield fell to ... number 543 (of a total of 566 communities ranked -- see the story here).

Plainfield still 'outranks' Newark, East Orange, Atlantic City and Elizabeth.

But what happened?

Has Plainfield really become so unlivable while we evidently weren't (or were) watching?

I don't think so.

NJ Monthly's illustration for the 'Best Places' story.

Rather, it seems NJ Monthly has clambered aboard the LISTS mania bandwagon bigtime -- with all sorts of 'benchmark' criteria by which to sort New Jersey's communities.

I suspect there are two reasons at play in this development -- 1) the magazine probably got static from some communities that Plainfield 'aced out' in 2001; and 2) the magazine has realized what a powerful (almost narcotic) draw these list thingies are as far as magazine readership goes.

Given the tough times magazines -- and all print media -- are having these days, one can hardly blame them for going the 'list' route.

Does anyone buy into a community based on the list?

Does anyone move out of a community based on the list?

You would have to believe in the 'greater fool theory'.

At least NJ Monthly has not gone to a swimsuit issue.

Yet.

Plainfield and its neighbors in the rankings (click to enlarge).

---

• NJ Monthly: "Best Places to Live - 2010"
• Table: "Best Places to Live (full list, with criteria)" (PDF)
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Fox's Diaz wraps Plainfield Schools 'Shame' segment this AM

Fox 5's Arnold Diaz is renowned for his 'Shame, Shame, Shame' segments.

Word from Plainfield schools situation watchers tipped me that Fox 5's Arnold Diaz was taping at the BOE's Myrtle Avenue headquarters this morning.

Leaping from my computer and flying to the site, Diaz pulled away as I arrived, but I caught a few words with his camera person. Hastening to the site, I pulled up as Diaz was driving away, but I was able to catch a few words with his camera person. (And do a rewrite at the suggestion of a blue-pencil-toting reader....;-)) --d)

Diaz, renowned for his investigative reporting, began covering the situation with Plainfield schools superintendent Steve Gallon III several weeks ago, when he surprised Gallon as he was leaving a BOE meeting.

The NJ forums have been abuzz ever since with rumors and wonderings about when or whether a piece would be aired on Fox 5.

Here's what I was able to learn from the camera person --

WHEN WILL THE 'SHAME' PIECE AIR?

The footage shot in front of the BOE headquarters at 1200 Myrtle Avenue this morning is what is called a 'wrap' and is the final portion of the filming for the "Shame" segment, which I was told will PROBABLY air next Wednesday, February 10. In any event, there will be plenty of 'teaser' copy over the station in advance, so regular watchers will not be caught off guard. Should you become a 'regular watcher' if you want to see the segment? Hey, what do you think it's all about?

WHY HAS IT TAKEN SO LONG?

The story has grown beyond its original scope, thanks to the revelations about staffers registering their children in the South Plainfield public schools while not living in that school district. That has engendered extra footage, and I was told that Diaz and the camera person had been to South Plainfield ALREADY THIS MORNING, to film footage to be included in the final report. Word of this will probably make its way to the NJ forums, where some have begun posting about the situation on the South Plainfield forum site. It may become difficult -- if not impossible -- for South Plainfield schools Superintendent Negron to avoid making any public comment on the situation as a result of the Diaz piece when it airs.

HOW CAN FOLKS WATCH?

The Diaz 'Shame' piece will air live on Fox 5, and will then be archived on the station's website, where it will be available for viewing for six months following the airing (see here).

Diaz, who has won 36 Emmy awards, began his career at WCBS and subsequently moved to ABC, where he worked on the famed 20/20 show. His bio on the Fox website notes that since coming to Fox in 2006 --

...[h]e continues his longstanding investigative career with his infamous "Shame, Shame, Shame" pieces. His reports regularly expose wrongdoing and incompetence by private industry and government agencies, and often lead to actions by law enforcement officials, as well as the enactment of legislation. His reports have been cited by numerous prosecutors as being instrumental in obtaining jail time for several scam artists.

Stay tuned.

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• FoxNY (5): "Shame, Shame, Shame"
  

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UPDATE: Plainfield Asset Management mess breaks into news big-time

It's a small pleasure for Plainfield Today to get the jump on the big guys sometimes. As in yesterday's post wondering about the relationship between P&F Management (AKA Dornoch Plainfield) and Plainfield Asset Management LLC, the hedge fund coming under criminal scrutiny.

P&F Management, the entity that seems to be in charge at The Monarch condos on East Front Street, has been billed as a joint venture with Plainfield Asset Management LLC, and I am wondering if there will be any spillover from the Manhattan DA's and Connecticut AG's investigations that will ripple into New Jersey's little cesspool.

Besides the condo project in Plainfield (more here), Glen Fishman is, or has been, involved with a development called The Savoy in Rahway (see Rahway Rising blog here), which has yet to get off the ground, a large project called The Vistas at Great Falls in Paterson, also apparently stalled, and the rescue of Kara Homes noted yesterday.

Today, the Plainfield Asset Management investigation has made the news in the Wall Street Journal (see here), Business Week (here), and the New York Times (here).

A Google search for news in the last 24 hours on Plainfield Asset Management returned Plainfield Today in the fourth slot -- behind Business Week and the Wall Street Journal, but ahead of the New York Times.

Beating out the New York Times?

Patting myself on the back?

Me?!!!

Never!!!

---

• Business Week: "Plainfield says it's cooperating in Manhattan probe"
• Wall Street Journal: "Manhattan prosecutors probe Plainfield Asset Management"
• New York Times: "As markets rose, Plainfield was left behind"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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PolitickerNJ: Zero to 1800 overnight!

The new PolitickerNJ logo, 12/29/2009.

UPDATE, 12:30 PM: PolitickerNJ seems to have relented -- at least for now -- to a firestorm of critical comment on this morning's move to a for-pay site.

Plainfielders who check the PolitickerNJ website (see here) for the latest political stories will get a rude shock today.

Much of the site's content appears to have been put behind a paywall overnight, and access to the full offerings -- including bloggers such as 'Wally Edge', Bob Torricelli, Carla Katz and the site's archives, will now have to pony up $1,800 for an annual subscription. This even includes the 'Morning News Digest' -- a roundup of links to political stories from Garden State media sources (just like my CLIPS blog -- see here, only statewide).

The Morning Wake Up Call logo.

I was shocked as I was on the site late last evening and there was no indication of the change. When I refreshed a page this AM, the article was 'gone', replaced by a spiffy update of the layout and graphics -- and the paywall.

I can understand the site's owner (Jared Kushner, of the Kushner Kushners, who also owns the New York Observer -- see here) wanting to make it pay its way, but I wonder if they have shot themselves in the foot.

This poor blogger, now living on what is euphemistically referred to as 'a fixed income', makes no money from his efforts. Am I going to shill out $1,800 for access, good as the site is?

Will I be found eating cat food in Aisle 9? I don't think so.

My guess is that the number of pols prepared to shill out this kind of moolah is finite, and growing more so by the day, as political giving goes down, and pay-to-play (which would fund this kind of largesse) is under increasing pressure and scrutiny.

What is an entrepreneur to do?

Will PolitickerNJ go from being a plump and juicy source of Garden State political news to just another media raisin shriveling in the sun?

The old PolitickerNJ logo.

---

• Websites --
• "PolitickerNJ"
• "New York Observer"
• "CLIPS"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Plainfield story recycled and recycled and...

Rev. Eric Jones, formerly of Plainfield, preaching to his congregation
in Charlotte, NC. (Photo: AP)

The news that Pastor Eric Jones moved his congregation from Plainfield to Charlotte, NC, in 2006 just keeps going 'round and 'round.

I picked up the story in its first iteration in CLIPS on August 17 (see here), from the Charlotte Observer, whose reporter Tim Funk reported the original story (see here).

One of the wonders of the Internet is that I can keep tabs on articles that contain the words 'Plainfield' and 'New Jersey'.

Lo and behold, there was a notice in the wee hours of this morning that the very same story was being recycled by the Winston-Salem Journal (see here).

Then, on checking the Courier website, the story also appears in today's online version (see here). If you get the dead tree version, however, you won't see the story.

So...

My guess is that you will see it in tomorrow's (Sunday) print edition.

Who says 'good news' doesn't have a long shelf life?

---

• Charlotte Observer, 8/17/09: "Most of church follows its pastor to Charlotte"
• Winston-Salem Journal, 8/29/09: "Called to Charlotte"
• Courier, 8/29/09 (online): "Most of NJ church follows its pastor to Charlotte"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Big changes at the Courier...again

Plainfield's Courier News readers will have to adjust to further changes.

In a move reported on the Gannett Blog (see here and the memo here), copy desks for the Courier News, the Home News Tribune and the Daily Record of Morristown are being consolidated into one operation that will be housed in the Neptune headquarters of the Asbury Park Press.

Copy editors that covered the day and night desks as well as sports, business, and entertainment will have a chance to bid on the reduced number of slots. Those who are not winners will be losers, meaning severance will be offered.

Though technology makes this change feasible, it is really driven by the twin crisis of falling ad revenues and declining readerships for print papers.

If the quality of the news product suffers as a result, Gannett can expect further punishment by its readers.

---

• Gannett Blog --
• "Four NJ papers create regional copy desk"
• "Text of memo on realigning NJ group copy desk"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Ledger furloughs mandated, news outsourced

A Ledger byline showing the story is by a Ledger staffer.

This byline shows the Ledger story has been outsourced.

Plainfielders concerned about the ever-shrinking print editions of the Star-Ledger may have noticed one change, but be unaware of a second.

The graphics above illustrate the bylines of two different stories in recent days. The first is by Union County Ledger reporter Alexi Friedman, whom many will recall seeing on a frequent basis up until a year ago as he went about covering Plainfield's city hall, city council and school board beats.

In recent months, he was moved from the Ledger's Union County offices in Kenilworth to a desk in Elizabeth, from which he frequently writes about topics all over the county.

The second graphic illustrates what is happening to the coverage of local news by the Ledger: it is being outsourced.

Ledger editor Jim Willse admitted to E&P last month (see here) that an organization was being built outside the Ledger newsroom (and presumably outside of union contracts and benefits liabilities, too) to provide local coverage to the Ledger and its online presence, NJ.com.

Those stories identified as being 'for the Star-Ledger' are emanating from this newly-formed organization, known as Local News Service.

This past week, Advance, the Ledger's parent announced that it was mandating a 10-day unpaid furlough (see more here).

At the same time, E&P reported that Gannett, the Courier's parent company, was ordering a second round of one-week furloughs to be taken before July (see story here).

The Gannett papers, unlike the Ledger, put a brief story about the furloughs in their local papers.

The furloughs are undoubtedly very hard on the news staff, and there seems to be no end in sight as both Advance and Gannett continue to report steepening losses in advertising revenues -- especially national accounts such as automobiles, and locally in classifieds, both of which traditionally gave a hefty boost to a newspaper's bottom line.

Lurking in the wings are other, and more drastic measures, that may yet have to come. Some Advance papers have gone to three-day schedules. Other large newspapers have disappeared entirely or gone to Web-only opeations.

The Times, they are a-changin'...

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• Editor & Publisher --
• "Ledger to use Local News Service to supplement coverage"
• "Ledger parent Advance announces companywide furloughs"
  
• "Courier parent Gannett orders second round of furloughs"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Star-Ledger ponders unpaid furloughs

Plainfielders can probably count on even less coverage by the Star-Ledger if a report on Editor & Publisher's website (see here) turns out to be true.

Citing printouts said to be of email exchanges between Publisher George Arwady and Editor Jim Willse, the story details how a proposal to furlough employees for ten days between now and the end of the year -- as well as changes to pension and 401(k) plans -- would be undertaken.

Maybe they'll want to update that logo to 'Some Things Jersey'.

The Star-Ledger headquarters in Newark.

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• Editor & Publisher: "'Star-Ledger' Appears to be Planning Unpaid Furloughs"

-- Dan Damon

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The Daily-Ledgord News-Times?

Coming soon to Plainfield newsstands: All the latest from Buffalo?

Under increasing financial pressure from rising costs and declining ad sales and readership, mainstream news media are fighting back.

Five large newspapers in the NY-NJ area have formed the Northeast Consortium to share news stories and photos: The Star-Ledger, the Bergen Record, the NY Daily News, the Albany Times-Union and the Buffalo News.

All the news that's fit to print from Buffalo?

Actually, it could work out fairly well for news junkies who live in New Jersey.

The real news here is that the Ledger and Record are merging their statehouse operations. This will give New Jersey the largest statehouse press corps in the country and, hopefully, restore the in-depth coverage of Trenton that New Jerseyans cannot get from either the New York or Philly press (especially since the NYTimes virtually shut down its New Jersey operations).

Additionally, Jerseyans will get ace coverage of New York State's legislature -- whose activities impact us in many ways, from shared quasi-governmental agencies like the Port Authority to laws and regulations affecting New York City, where many NJ residents work.

And Buffalo?

Well, we can get all the latest on the Buffalo Bills and chicken wing recipes.

And watch the live cams of the ice melting in Buffalo Harbor, which usually disappears by the end of May.

Yes, May.

I grew up in the area and know whereof I speak.

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• Ledger: "The Star-Ledger, Record merge N.J. Statehouse reporting"
• Record: "Record, Star-Ledger to combine Trenton bureaus"
  
• NY Times: "5 Big Papers to Share Articles and Photos"
• Editor & Publisher: "NJ's Largest Papers to Combine Statehouse Bureaus"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Obama, Dan and the Ledger's recycled SPAM

SPAM: Miracle in a can.

True confession: Dan still thinks SPAM is a real food, and stories featuring the eye-catching blue and yellow can stop him in his tracks. As on the front page of last Wednesday's Savor section of the Ledger.

Can he be the only Plainfielder of whom this is true?

My taste for the famous meat product goes back to my childhood, while my father, one of the 'greatest generation', was in the Navy. He was a SeaBee, the unit famed for quickly building the airstrips on far-flung Pacific islands that allowed the U.S. Navy to hopscotch across the thousands of miles that brought it to within striking distance of Japan's home islands.

SPAM was one of the meals my mother prepared for me and my brother while he was in the service. She always gave us the impression we were getting a special treat, and the knowledge that it was a budget-stretcher was gained much later in life.

SPAM became one of several 'comfort foods' which bring back those childhood memories of a world at war and a home front with a considerably tightened belt. Along with steaming boiled rice served in a soup bowl with milk and a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar, or the no-egg chocolate cake she would whip up with mayonnaise as a substitute.

Anyway, back to the Ledger. The story was credited to McClatchy's wire service.

Thinking to put a link on CLIPS (you know my twisted sense of humor), I scouted the Ledger's website and its internal search, failing to turn up the article.

Then I Googled a few words of the text, which usually turns up several newspapers that have carried an article, and would provide me with a link.

It did.

But, lo and behold, the article originally appeared in July 2008 (see here). And with different recipes entirely.

I set the whole idea aside for later, when I read the Ledger story again, carefully, and found that it has two threads -- SPAM is inexpensive (who knew?), and has been eaten by President Obama in a Hawaiian incarnation called 'SPAM Musubi'.

Obama snack: SPAM Musubi.

So, the Ledger shows us that on the Internet nothing every really disappears, no matter how many times it is recycled, AND that it can chop up the parts and blend two old stories (last summer's SPAM story and last December's story on Obami and his musubi) into a completely NEW news product.

Sort of like the way real SPAM is made.

Me? I'm going to whip up some SPAM Musubi.

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• SPAM: "Miracle in a can"
• Huffington Post: "Obama's Hawaiian Lunch: History, recipes and video"
  

-- Dan Damon

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