Friday Morning in the Blogosphere

Cebu Airport, Philippines 

At war with the truth - Washington Post

Publishers Bullish on Talent, Tech and Growth in 2020 - Folio

Warren Buffett gets out of the newspaper business - Courier-Tribune

Manila Bulletin Engages Audiences With Tourism Photo Exhibition - INMA

What is the cost of keeping yourself safe when you’re a journalist? - Editors Weblog

News Publishers Have a Clear Focus with Finding Innovation and Success in 2020 - EP

Letter: Corporate profits hurting newspapers' ability to report - Chico Enterprise-Record

Gannett-backed Scroll launches subscription service for ad-free journalism - USA Today

Minneapolis Star is driving paid digital growth while holding on to print subscribers - Poynter

WaPo's editor sends memo to staff after backlash over handling of reporter's Kobe tweets - CNN

Poynter gets Facebook funds for MediaWise project

The Poynter Institute has gotten funding from Facebook to launch a national media literacy program called the MediaWise Voter Project (#MVP). The program’s goal is to reach 2 million American college students, teaching them to be prepared and better informed as they vote for the first time in the 2020 election, Poynter says.

“Poynter is dedicated to elevating fact-based expression so that everyone can actively and confidently participate in our democracy,” said Neil Brown, the president of the Poynter Institute. “Facebook’s investment in this initiative will help first-time voters have access to independent, non-partisan and credible information so that they can make the most of their new civic responsibility.”

The MediaWise Voter Project builds on the momentum created by Poynter’s digital literacy project for teens called MediaWise — which teaches middle and high school students how to identify factual information, put posts in context and avoid sharing misinformation in their social media feeds.

“In line with all of Poynter’s work, the MediaWise Voter Project will be nonpartisan,” said Katy Byron editor and program manager of Poynter’s MediaWise franchise.

News and Tech

Today in Labor History January 31st

Ida M Fuller

12,000 pecan shellers in San Antonio, Texas, walked off their jobs at 400 factories in what would become a three-month strike against wage cuts. The pecan-shelling industry was among the lowest paid in the country; workers made between $2-$3 a week. – 1938

Ida M. Fuller was the first retiree to receive an old-age monthly benefit check under the new Social Security law. She paid in $24.75 between 1937 and 1939 on an income of $2,484; her first check was for $22.54. – 1940

12,000 pecan shellers walk-off their jobs, Ida M. Fuller was first retiree to receive a benefit check from Social Security, UFW ends boycott on grapes, lettuce and win, the New Orleans school board fired every teacher in the district…CLICK TO TWEET

After scoring successes with representation elections conducted under the protective oversight of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board, the United Farm Workers of America officially ended its historic table grape, lettuce and wine boycotts. – 1978

160 gravediggers represented by SEIU Local 106 were locked out after they went on strike against the Cemeteries Association of Greater Chicago over wages and benefits. They reached a contract agreement after 43 days. – 1992

Union and student pressure forced Harvard University to adopt new labor policies raising wages for the lowest-paid workers. – 2002

Five months after Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans school board fired every teacher in the district in what the United Teachers of New Orleans saw as an effort to break the union and privatize the school system. – 2005

Visit the Voices of Labor Online Store

NYT’s News Provenance Project moves forward

The New York Times’s R&D team has published a proof of concept based on research from its News Provenance Project (NPP), an exploration of  possible solutions to what the Times says is the growing spread of misinformation online.

First introduced in 2019, NPP started with the hypothesis that adding context to news photos (such as photographer name, original source, date and location) in the form of metadata might help media consumers make better decisions about the credibility of images they see on social platforms and elsewhere online.

Starting with blockchain technology, the R&D team worked with technologists and designers from IBM’s Garage to build its proof of concept on IBM’s blockchain platform.

The team conducted interviews with daily users of social media, with a mix of political leanings and media preferences, to examine how they view and interpret images they see online. 

The proof of concept simulates a social media network, and acting as a research tool, demonstrates what it might look like for publishers to display provenance info on news photos.

In the next phase, the team will shift to execution to show how an “end-to-end solution can help users share trusted news with confidence,” according to the NYT. 

News and Tech

RE-ELECT LA VERNE MAYOR DON KENDRICK

Mayor Don Kendrick re-election in depth interview. On March 3 RE-ELECT LA VERNE MAYOR DON KENDRICK. 

For more information see donkendrick4mayor.com 

Delta Media buys Ripon paper

After 57 years, the Ripon Commonwealth Press and Express in Ripon, Wisconsin, has new owners. Effective Jan. 1, the Lyke family sold the paper and shopper to Delta Media Group, based in Kiel, Wisconsin. The company owns a digital marketing agency and several papers.

Julie Bergman of Grimes, McGovern & Associates represented the Lyke family in the transaction.

Delta Media Group is an affiliate of the O’Rourke Media Group, a family-owned, Chicago-based company that owns and operates community papers, associated digital products and a marketing agency in northwestern Vermont.

Joe Mathes, general manager and a partner at Delta Media Group, will assume added responsibility for managing the Ripon business.

The Lyke family also owned Ripon Printers, which was acquired in a separate transaction by Walsworth, a family-owned commercial printer and publisher of yearbooks based in Marceline, Missouri.

Between the two acquisitions, nearly all existing employees are expected to be retained, according to a release.

News and Tech

Thursday Morning in the Blogosphere

Reelect Mayor Don Kendrick for mayor of La Verne 

The billionaire bailed on his newspapers - Poynter

The Last Time Democracy Almost Died - The New Yorker

Chicago Journalism Town Hall 2020 to convene Feb. 23 - Robert Feder

BBC News to close 450 posts as part of £80m savings drive - BBC News

How women leaders are transforming newspapers - Americas Newspapers

Tribune en español, an alternative after Hoy’s shut down in Chicago - Borderzine

San Diego stations hit by wave of firings and potential job cuts - San Diego Union Tribune

Want More Revenue for Local Journalism? Develop an Engaging Voice - Reynolds Journalism

Morning Call Editor-in-Chief Terry Rang retiring amid newsroom reorganization - Morning Call

International Newspaper Group and E and P to Honor Operations ‘All-Stars’ - Editor and Publisher

Country Media buying Oregon papers

Country Media has made a deal to acquire the daily paper in Coos Bay along with weekly papers in Bandon and Reedsport (all in Oregon), the Curry Coastal Pilot reported. The company purchased the Del Norte Triplicate and Curry Coastal Pilot last summer.

Country Media President Steve Hungerford said the deal will close Jan. 31.

Southwest Oregon Publishing, a subsidiary of Lee Enterprises, is selling the World in Coos Bay, the Western World in Bandon and the Umpqua Post in Reedsport to Country Media.

Country Media is an Oregon family-owned company with headquarters in Salem, according to the Curry Coastal Pilot.  

Country Media also has twice-weekly papers in Crescent City and Brookings as well as papers serving Lincoln City, Tillamook, Manzanita, Cannon Beach, Clatskanie and St. Helens, Oregon; Langdon and Bowman, North Dakota; and Baker, Montana. 

News and Tech

Today in Labor History January 30th

Saul Alinsky

'Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.' - Saul AlinskyCLICK TO TWEET

Organizer Saul Alinsky was born on this date in Chicago, Illinois. – 1909

The Paris Peace Conference established the Commission on International Labour Legislation to draft the constitution of a permanent international labor organization, founding the International Labour Organization (ILO).  Today, as part of the United Nations, the ILO is charged with drafting and overseeing international labor standards. – 1919

Support us on Patreon at patreon.com/voicesoflabor

Sonoma Media acquires Sonoma County Gazette

Sonoma Media Investments has announced its purchase of the Sonoma County Gazette (California) from Vesta Copestakes, publisher and owner of the Gazette since 2003.  

The Sonoma County Gazette will continue as a monthly publication written by readers and local residents with 35,000 printed copies distributed to 1,000 locations throughout Sonoma County. Copestakes will continue as publisher in 2020 to assure a seamless transition in ownership.

“We welcome the addition of the Sonoma County Gazette into our portfolio of local products,” said Darius Anderson, principal owner of SMI and CEO of Kenwood Investments.  

Sonoma Media Investments was formed in 2012 by Darius Anderson and several local investors to return the Press Democrat (Santa Rosa), Petaluma Argus Courier and North Bay Business Journal to local ownership. Today Sonoma Media also includes The Sonoma Index-Tribune, Sonoma Magazine, Spirited Magazine, La Prensa Sonoma and now the Sonoma County Gazette.  

Kenwood Investments has managed a variety of real estate and business ventures over the past 20 years.

The deal, which closed Dec. 27, 2019, was brokered by Ken Amundson, with Grimes, McGovern & Associates, and Dave Gauger, broker with Gauger Media.

News and Tech

Wednesday Morning in the Blogosphere

Fun photo from Burj Khalifa

Sinclair settles Tribune Media lawsuit for $60 million - Robert Feder

Warren Buffett Will Sell His Newspaper Empire - The New York Times

2020: Süddeutsche Zeitung passes digi subs milestone - Editors Weblog

Lee Enterprises makes $140M deal to buy Berkshire newspapers - La Crosse Tribune

Gannett-backed Scroll launches subscription service for ad-free journalism - USA Today

In a Post-Truth World, Your Newspaper Beats Social Media for Facts - Editor and Publisher

Minute Media expects to churn out more than $100m in revenue and profits in 2020 - Digiday

Chicago Trib Reporters Desperately Seek Solution to Alden Acquisition - Subscription Insider

Government funding for journalism: necessary evil or just evil? - Columbia Journalism Review

Project matches investigative editors to the local newsrooms that desperately need them - Poynter

Miami Herald moving print

The Miami Herald Media Company is moving its printing operations from Doral to Broward County in spring, the Herald reported.

In late April, the South Florida Sun Sentinel will start printing the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald at its Deerfield Beach plant, the Miami Herald reported.

Seventy workers, around half fulltime, will lose their positions, said Aminda Marques Gonzalez, president, publisher and executive editor of the papers, the Herald reported. The Sun Sentinel may bring on as many as 18 Herald employees to help cover the jobs handling the papers and other products.

McClatchy owns the Herald.

The company relocated from its downtown Miami headquarters in 2013, and the papers have been handled at the Doral site since.

The Doral plant was constructed in 2012 and 2013 and sits adjacent to the Miami Herald Media Company’s headquarters on 91st Ave., the paper says. In 2016, the printing press building was sold for nearly $14 million to McClatchy’s pension plan.

McClatchy is in talks with the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. over pension obligations. McClatchy skipped a $12 million debt-interest payment due Jan. 15. The company also missed a pension payment.

News and Tech

Today in Labor History January 29th

9 to 5, the Movie

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal workers rioted on this date, prompting President Jackson to send in troops. This was the first time American troops were used to suppress a domestic labor dispute. Workers were rebelling because of terrible working conditions and low pay. The canal project had been designed by George Washington and was intended to facilitate transportation of goods from the Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio River Valley. Construction teams were made up mostly of Irish, German, Dutch and black workers who toiled long hours for low wages in dangerous conditions. The use of federal troops set a dangerous precedent that gave business leaders the confidence that they could count on the federal government to quash labor unrest in the future. – 1834

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal workers rioted, 6,000 railway workers struck to demand union recognition and an end to 18-hour workdays, The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 was the first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama…CLICK TO TWEET

6,000 railway workers struck to demand union recognition and an end to 18-hour workdays. Police and militia busted the strike. – 1889

After Firestone Tire & Rubber in Akron, Ohio arbitrarily fired a worker, workers staged a fifty-five-hour sit-down occupation of the plant. It was one of three occupations of the largest tire companies that happened in January.  The companies refused to recognize the United Rubber Workers of America union and ignored demands for fair work rules. – 1936

American Train Dispatchers Department were granted a charter by the AFL-CIO. – 1957

Dolly Parton hit number one on the record charts with the song 9 to 5, her anthem to the daily grind. – 1981

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 was the first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama, restoring the protection against pay discrimination that was stripped away by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The gender wage gap continued. – 2009

Visit the Voices of Labor Online Store

Alabama papers changing print schedule

Starting March 4, the Daily Home (Talladega, Alabama) and Anniston Star (Alabama) will produce print editions of the papers three days a week, Wednesdays, Fridays and a Saturday/Sunday weekend edition delivered on Saturdays. The papers had been printing five days weekly. The papers announced the new schedule.

The papers are also moving to mail delivery through the postal service.

“Our reporters and editors will continue to report the news every day and provide it first through our online platforms, including our website, Facebook, Twitter and our mobile apps,” wrote Executive Editor Anthony Cook in a FAQ on the changes.

The papers are owned by Consolidated Publishing, which also publishes The News-Journal (Jacksonville, Piedmont and Northern Calhoun County), The Cleburne News and The St. Clair Times. 

News and Tech

Good to be home

After a two month absence, we have returned to The States. This is Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates