We finally found something interesting to read in the Herald-Press.
In Thursday's edition (p.2), the paper finally printed its Statement of Ownership, a form required by all periodicals to file stating circulation figures.
Over the past year, the Paxton-held Herald-Press has been promoting its circulation as 6,500 during the week and 7,000 on Sundays. As we noted in an earlier post here, those numbers were highly dubious. our guess was somewhere in the 4,000s, and with Thursday's document, we were proven correct.
Current paid distribution is listed as 4,221. That number represents a 25 percent decrease in circulation since Paxton took over ownership of the Herald-Press.
Even in an industry that is struggling to keep readership, that is a huge number, especially in a small town, where readership has been generally less impacted than in major metro papers.
Now that advertisers know the true number of readers they are reaching, how many will be willing to continue paying the prices they are now, considering they are only getting to only three-fourths of the numbers they were told they were reaching?
Just one other note on the statement. The name of the publisher listed for the Herald-Press was not Andy Eads, who has the title of publisher. The name on the form was Neal Ronquist, the uber-overlord who oversees all five papers in Paxton's Central Indiana Group. Makes you wonder what Andy Eads' real role might be?
It's been easy to take shots at the Herald-Press, considering all the troubles they've had in the last year or so.
True, they've turned over an entire new staff, replacing a highly-experienced group with one that has virtually no experience, from the editor on down. We get frustrated with the inexperience, because we'd like our newspaper to give us the information we need. We want the reporters to go out and get the story, rather than wait for someone just to give it to them. There's no leadership, and no one who really knows how to gather the news.
We don't want our news two days late. By the time a story arrives in the Herald-Press, it's already old news. It's been in the Fort Wayne papers or on TV. Sports stories are the same way. In a time of instant news, running stories two days old is unacceptable.
But we also have some sympathy for the editorial staff. While they make their share of basic journalistic errors and omissions, they've also been hamstrung by the bizarre conditions thrust upon them by Paxton management.
Paxton's paradoxical way of running newspapers is the major reason for the precipitous decline of the Herald-Press. No paper, regardless of the experience of the staff, could endure under those conditions. Ridiculously early deadlines don't allow for timely reporting. Misguided priorities on coverage take away from the basic tenets of journalism. Flawed business models exchange a quick profit for long-term failure.
Paxton's mission is not to provide news to the community, but to squeeze out whatever cash they can get before dropping the local business either as a shell of what it was, or leaving it to fail altogether.
While not officialy a public utility, local newspapers are seen as a public trust, a vehicle to tie the community together. The newspaper informs, it acts as a watchdog of the community. Without a newspaper to inform, the main form of information becomes rumor and word of mouth. Fewer people are engaged in the processes that drive a community. Who knows where that apathy leads?
We know people who once were once quite involved in community activities who dropped the paper and now rarely take part in local events. This is not an isolated situation.
This is what Paxton has done to our community.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Downward spiral continues
As if were even possible, the reporting at the Herald-Press is getting even worse.
There have been a number of big stories in Huntington County lately, and while feeble attempts have been made to report on them, the Herald-Press has failed miserably.
The Mel Hunnicutt story has taken several strange turns, and the reporting from the Herald-Press has been not only incomplete, but pretty much incoherent. Even a casual reader would have a dozen questions to ask, but apparently no one from the Herald-Press has bothered to ask any of those questions.
As always, the reporters seem to be sitting in the newsroom waiting for a press release to be dropped on their laps.
Reporting on the Bible trailer episode was pathetic and embarrassing, if even for the fact that when the H-P finally got around to trying to write a story, it was days old and had already been reported on by every other news outlet in the area, perhaps the state, since it was on the Associated Press wire for at least two days before the Herald-Press ran something.
A follow-up story after a school board meeting was also an embarrassment. Mia Blocher, trying to compose a story, wrote the word "except" when the word she meant was "accept."
Where's the editor? What is Rebecca Sandlin doing? Is she reading stories? SHe's not laying out the paper. Her byline hasn't been in the paper for days. Why is she even there? If she IS reading stories, she's certainly missing a lot. It can't be called editing. No one with the title of editor would allow this kind of junior high journalism to appear in print.
This week, there was an attempt to write a story about a murder-for-hire trial coming up. Not one quote was used in the story. Reporter Drew Stone apparently didn't talk to one person about the case. Again, it looked like it came from a press release.
Even in the lead of the story, Stone used quotation marks around the words "murder-for-hire." To use quotes around words or phrases, it has to be quoted from somewhere, just as I've done above, quoting it from the newspaper story. If Stone used quotation marks, someone must have said "murder-for-hire." Either that, or no one there knows the proper usage of quotation marks. Again, I think the latter is true. Also again, where's the editor to catch that mistake?
And while we're talking about style, a recent overuse in the paper is the Herald-Press referring to itself in stories, as in The Herald-Press did this or The Herald-Press did that.
First of all, every time it's used, it's put in italics. In proper Associated Press style, nothing is ever italicized. We looked that one up. Actually, anyone can look it up, except for the H-P editor, that is.
Secondly, it's really bad reporting to cite yourself in that way. If the Herald-Press tries to contact someone for comment and fails to get a comment, just write, "Attempts to reach Joe Smith were unsuccessful." We all know it's the Herald-Press. The name is at the top of the page.
But that's nitpicking. The Herald-Press has much bigger problems than a few style errors. If only those were the lone problems.
Learning basic story structure would be a start. Learning what questions to ask might be next. Leaving the building to go find stories might help, too.
Just a few more tidbits:
The Herald-Press ran a reaction story to President Obama's speech to schoolchildren. A proper story, only it ran two weeks after the president's speech. Another example of the fine sense of journalistic timing on display at the ol' H-P.
The Herald-Press ran a photo feature on the Huntington North High School homecoming, but instead of letting Rob Edwards' photos stand out, the whole thing was wrapped by a line of advertising. Now, it's understandable to find ways to get advertising in a tight market for newspapers, but the whole thing looked horrible. Again, it was embarrassing to the paper, and ruined a fine effort by Rob.
The deadline situation at the Herald-Press has been well-documented here. The H-P newsroom had a 5 p.m. deadline to get stories to Marion, where the paper is designed and printed. That means no local sports gets reported on time, and appears two days later. The same goes for most news stories.
With that deadline for stories, it would seem that the paper must be printed in the early evening in Marion.
Apparently, that's not the case. Last Tuesday's Herald-Press had a story of Monday night's Indianapolis Colts game. Hmmmm. That game didn't end until around 11 p.m. Given a half-hour for the AP to send a story after the game, that means the Herald-Press must have been printed no earlier than around midnight.
But a 5 p.m. deadline for stories? Doesn't make sense.
The only answer is that the people from Paxton don't care. Despite all their bluster about "hyperlocal" coverage, they could care less about the readership of Huntington.
Paxton has screwed over the people of Huntington. These are people in the journalism business who don't give a hoot about journalism. They've ruined a decent newspaper that gave the county news on time, kept tabs on public officials and let the residents the information they need and deserve.
Paxton has squeezed just about all it can out of the Herald-Press. Despite all the cuts and other slashing, the profit margin must certainly be dropping.
Even the lame cash-grab attempt of making the Herald-Press online a pay site is falling flat. Now people can't even look at obituary online without having to pay for it. That's just wrong.
It's only a matter of time before Paxton will just close down the Herald-Press. There may still be a paper with some Huntington news, but it will be some form of the Chronicle Tribune out of Marion.
It's really sad. Yes, the newspaper industry is fading, but that's no excuse for what Paxton did to the Herald-Press. There are still people in Huntington that would like to get local news. There are people who would sign up again for a subscription if there were some attempt to gather and report the news in a coherent manner.
But there are no signs that it's ever going to happen.
There have been a number of big stories in Huntington County lately, and while feeble attempts have been made to report on them, the Herald-Press has failed miserably.
The Mel Hunnicutt story has taken several strange turns, and the reporting from the Herald-Press has been not only incomplete, but pretty much incoherent. Even a casual reader would have a dozen questions to ask, but apparently no one from the Herald-Press has bothered to ask any of those questions.
As always, the reporters seem to be sitting in the newsroom waiting for a press release to be dropped on their laps.
Reporting on the Bible trailer episode was pathetic and embarrassing, if even for the fact that when the H-P finally got around to trying to write a story, it was days old and had already been reported on by every other news outlet in the area, perhaps the state, since it was on the Associated Press wire for at least two days before the Herald-Press ran something.
A follow-up story after a school board meeting was also an embarrassment. Mia Blocher, trying to compose a story, wrote the word "except" when the word she meant was "accept."
Where's the editor? What is Rebecca Sandlin doing? Is she reading stories? SHe's not laying out the paper. Her byline hasn't been in the paper for days. Why is she even there? If she IS reading stories, she's certainly missing a lot. It can't be called editing. No one with the title of editor would allow this kind of junior high journalism to appear in print.
This week, there was an attempt to write a story about a murder-for-hire trial coming up. Not one quote was used in the story. Reporter Drew Stone apparently didn't talk to one person about the case. Again, it looked like it came from a press release.
Even in the lead of the story, Stone used quotation marks around the words "murder-for-hire." To use quotes around words or phrases, it has to be quoted from somewhere, just as I've done above, quoting it from the newspaper story. If Stone used quotation marks, someone must have said "murder-for-hire." Either that, or no one there knows the proper usage of quotation marks. Again, I think the latter is true. Also again, where's the editor to catch that mistake?
And while we're talking about style, a recent overuse in the paper is the Herald-Press referring to itself in stories, as in The Herald-Press did this or The Herald-Press did that.
First of all, every time it's used, it's put in italics. In proper Associated Press style, nothing is ever italicized. We looked that one up. Actually, anyone can look it up, except for the H-P editor, that is.
Secondly, it's really bad reporting to cite yourself in that way. If the Herald-Press tries to contact someone for comment and fails to get a comment, just write, "Attempts to reach Joe Smith were unsuccessful." We all know it's the Herald-Press. The name is at the top of the page.
But that's nitpicking. The Herald-Press has much bigger problems than a few style errors. If only those were the lone problems.
Learning basic story structure would be a start. Learning what questions to ask might be next. Leaving the building to go find stories might help, too.
Just a few more tidbits:
The Herald-Press ran a reaction story to President Obama's speech to schoolchildren. A proper story, only it ran two weeks after the president's speech. Another example of the fine sense of journalistic timing on display at the ol' H-P.
The Herald-Press ran a photo feature on the Huntington North High School homecoming, but instead of letting Rob Edwards' photos stand out, the whole thing was wrapped by a line of advertising. Now, it's understandable to find ways to get advertising in a tight market for newspapers, but the whole thing looked horrible. Again, it was embarrassing to the paper, and ruined a fine effort by Rob.
The deadline situation at the Herald-Press has been well-documented here. The H-P newsroom had a 5 p.m. deadline to get stories to Marion, where the paper is designed and printed. That means no local sports gets reported on time, and appears two days later. The same goes for most news stories.
With that deadline for stories, it would seem that the paper must be printed in the early evening in Marion.
Apparently, that's not the case. Last Tuesday's Herald-Press had a story of Monday night's Indianapolis Colts game. Hmmmm. That game didn't end until around 11 p.m. Given a half-hour for the AP to send a story after the game, that means the Herald-Press must have been printed no earlier than around midnight.
But a 5 p.m. deadline for stories? Doesn't make sense.
The only answer is that the people from Paxton don't care. Despite all their bluster about "hyperlocal" coverage, they could care less about the readership of Huntington.
Paxton has screwed over the people of Huntington. These are people in the journalism business who don't give a hoot about journalism. They've ruined a decent newspaper that gave the county news on time, kept tabs on public officials and let the residents the information they need and deserve.
Paxton has squeezed just about all it can out of the Herald-Press. Despite all the cuts and other slashing, the profit margin must certainly be dropping.
Even the lame cash-grab attempt of making the Herald-Press online a pay site is falling flat. Now people can't even look at obituary online without having to pay for it. That's just wrong.
It's only a matter of time before Paxton will just close down the Herald-Press. There may still be a paper with some Huntington news, but it will be some form of the Chronicle Tribune out of Marion.
It's really sad. Yes, the newspaper industry is fading, but that's no excuse for what Paxton did to the Herald-Press. There are still people in Huntington that would like to get local news. There are people who would sign up again for a subscription if there were some attempt to gather and report the news in a coherent manner.
But there are no signs that it's ever going to happen.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Hello? Anybody there? WAKE UP!
This is a quick one.
It's Thursday morning, and after a quick scan of today's Herald-Press (it can't be anything but a quick scan), we still haven't seen a story on the settlement of the suit concerning the Bible trailers in the Huntington County School Corporation.
The suit was settled and announced on Monday, with the school corporation paying out $31,000 to the complainant. Other area news outlets began reporting in on Tuesday. You would think that even the sharp tools at the Herald-Press might have stumbled across it somewhere by Wednesday. It's probable that people in the community even called the newsroom about it. It's likely that no one was even in the office, though.
This is another pathetic example of the lack of concern on the part of the Herald-Press to provide our community with important information.
It is a HUGE story when the school corporation, supported by OUR tax dollars, has to pay out $31,000 to settle a lawsuit.
Would someone please wake up down there? At least try to put forth an effort.
It's Thursday morning, and after a quick scan of today's Herald-Press (it can't be anything but a quick scan), we still haven't seen a story on the settlement of the suit concerning the Bible trailers in the Huntington County School Corporation.
The suit was settled and announced on Monday, with the school corporation paying out $31,000 to the complainant. Other area news outlets began reporting in on Tuesday. You would think that even the sharp tools at the Herald-Press might have stumbled across it somewhere by Wednesday. It's probable that people in the community even called the newsroom about it. It's likely that no one was even in the office, though.
This is another pathetic example of the lack of concern on the part of the Herald-Press to provide our community with important information.
It is a HUGE story when the school corporation, supported by OUR tax dollars, has to pay out $31,000 to settle a lawsuit.
Would someone please wake up down there? At least try to put forth an effort.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Online product: Just as good as the original!
The following came from one of our loyal contributors:
If the goal of the teasers on the Web site is to get us to pay to access the lame-o stories within, you'd think that the geniuses making decisions at the Herald-Press would at least entice us to read the stories.
So we look at the new-and-improved pay-to-play online product and we find this headline: "Man gets 187 year for child molesting." Nothing like a grammatical error in the headline to demonstrate your professionalism — particularly since it's in the online headline, which could be fixed if anyone either (a) cared or (b) knew better.
But wait, there's more!
The first line of the story on the Web site says this: "A convicted child molester received practically the equivalent of a three-lifetime sentence."
You have to love the phrase "practically the equivalent." It must mean it's just like it, almost, kind of, sort of.
It's brilliant journalism for the 21st century, however. It says everything, even as it says nothing.
You know what? It's worked! Sign me up for the pay site. I want more of this!
Paxton Media -- in tune with the times.
If the goal of the teasers on the Web site is to get us to pay to access the lame-o stories within, you'd think that the geniuses making decisions at the Herald-Press would at least entice us to read the stories.
So we look at the new-and-improved pay-to-play online product and we find this headline: "Man gets 187 year for child molesting." Nothing like a grammatical error in the headline to demonstrate your professionalism — particularly since it's in the online headline, which could be fixed if anyone either (a) cared or (b) knew better.
But wait, there's more!
The first line of the story on the Web site says this: "A convicted child molester received practically the equivalent of a three-lifetime sentence."
You have to love the phrase "practically the equivalent." It must mean it's just like it, almost, kind of, sort of.
It's brilliant journalism for the 21st century, however. It says everything, even as it says nothing.
You know what? It's worked! Sign me up for the pay site. I want more of this!
Paxton Media -- in tune with the times.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
More moves sure to fail
It's been a few weeks since the start of school and the new high school and college sports seasons, and we see that the Herald-Press is all over the Vikings and the Foresters.
Well, sort of.
Because of the new, ridiculously-early 5 p.m. deadlines, sports results are now two days old in the Herald-Press. A Tuesday cross country meet that ends at 5:30 p.m. won't have a story in the paper until Thursday.
School board meetings on Monday don't reach readers until Wednesday. Most breaking news that happens during the day gets reported on two days later.
How brilliant is that?
The newspaper that preaches local ("hyperlocal" they call it) isn't able to report on ANYTHING timely. A paper could have the greatest writers around (the Herald-Press doesn't), but if they can't report timely, what does it matter? Especially when the readers can go to the Journal-Gazette and get results the next day? Heck, people can sign up to the Viking Connection from Huntington North High School and have the previous day's results e-mailed to them automatically the next morning.
Where is the new editor? The new publisher? Why aren't they standing up to the powers-that-be and telling them how ridiculous the situation is?
To that end, why aren't they telling their readers why stories are two days late?
———
Speaking of content, the pickings in the Herald-Press getting even slimmer. Twice in the last week, the top stories have been about the opening of small business. We're all for new businesses in Huntington, but we doubt it takes precedence over actual news going on in the county.
By the way, coverage of the 4-H Fair was pathetic. Yes, there were a few photos and some front-page stories, but the reporting of results was an act of futility. Results were just stuffed in nooks and crannies wherever they could be found.
There was a "Special Keepsake Issue" for the 4-H Fair, which was nothing more than a handful of group photos with no results. Far from a comprehensive issue.
———
We also saw recently that the Herald-Press is reporting that its circulation is 6,950.
Wow! We've heard some whoppers in our day, but that one might stand above them all. We know enough about the Herald-Press and people who have been and still are there to know that the figure quoted is nowhere near the actual number. If the Herald-Press still has 5,000 subscribers, we'd be surprised.
A large number of subscribers bailed when Paxon Media took over, the old staff left and quality dropped off. Even more are leaving now that news is two days late.
There might be a total of 6,950 printed, but then there are nearly 2,000 that never leave the truck.
———
The most recent move by Paxton Media is to take the Herald-Press Web page to a pay site.
Now, to be fair, there has been a lively debate in newspaper circles about whether sites should be free or pay. No one wants to give anything away for free; that's understandable.
But on the other side, the whole idea is to drive traffic to the Web site, where newspapers can tell advertisers that a certain number of visitors are coming to the site.
A free site, obviously, generates more traffic, which can elevate ad rates, but does not generate anything from the news content. With a pay site, traffic drops off markedly, which lowers ad revenue, but brings in more from online subscribers.
There are models out there that say pay sites can work, but a newspaper must provide a large amount of quality content to viewers. If you're the New York Times, you can get away with it. With the Herald-Press, there just isn't enough on the site to make it worthwhile.
Publisher Andy Eads stated that the number of pay sites are rising "exponentially," which is a poor choice of words if he knew what the word "exponentially" meant. But that aside, the numbers just won't add up.
Say the Herald-Press somehow was able to sign up 1,000 people as online subscribers (an unrealistic number, but good for working a math example). At $6 a month, that's $72 per year per person. That makes for $72,000 a year. Even with that outrageously unrealistic number of online subscribers, $72,000 a year won't get the job done.
Plus, advertisers won't sign on just to reach 1,000 people.
A free site might generate 10,000 viewers a month. Tell 60 advertisers they can reach 10 times as many people with a free site than a pay site, charge them $100 a month, and the newspaper can generate the same amount of revenue.
Eads also cited the features of the Herald-Press Web site, including the Community Sports Desk, the venture started last year to give locals a chance to create their own sports content. To date, there have been exactly zero entries on that site. No one had posted a thing. A huge waste. Again.
———
One thing that Eads did not address about the new pay site was how often content would be updated. He never said when stories might be posted. Will they be the next day? Two days late like the print product? What special content will the Herald-Press provide?
If it's going to be two days late, why bother?
———
There's been a staff change at the Herald-Press. Jennifer Kannon (real name: Kleber) is gone, finally. She was replaced by Drew Stone. We don't know much about Drew other than he's not much better of a writer than Jennifer was.
New editor Rebecca Sandlin doesn't seem to be doing much editing, but considering her level of experience, maybe she is editing and it's just not very good. It's not enough just to get spelling correct. The quality of reporting has to improve.With the inexperience of this staff, though, that's a big request.
Well, sort of.
Because of the new, ridiculously-early 5 p.m. deadlines, sports results are now two days old in the Herald-Press. A Tuesday cross country meet that ends at 5:30 p.m. won't have a story in the paper until Thursday.
School board meetings on Monday don't reach readers until Wednesday. Most breaking news that happens during the day gets reported on two days later.
How brilliant is that?
The newspaper that preaches local ("hyperlocal" they call it) isn't able to report on ANYTHING timely. A paper could have the greatest writers around (the Herald-Press doesn't), but if they can't report timely, what does it matter? Especially when the readers can go to the Journal-Gazette and get results the next day? Heck, people can sign up to the Viking Connection from Huntington North High School and have the previous day's results e-mailed to them automatically the next morning.
Where is the new editor? The new publisher? Why aren't they standing up to the powers-that-be and telling them how ridiculous the situation is?
To that end, why aren't they telling their readers why stories are two days late?
———
Speaking of content, the pickings in the Herald-Press getting even slimmer. Twice in the last week, the top stories have been about the opening of small business. We're all for new businesses in Huntington, but we doubt it takes precedence over actual news going on in the county.
By the way, coverage of the 4-H Fair was pathetic. Yes, there were a few photos and some front-page stories, but the reporting of results was an act of futility. Results were just stuffed in nooks and crannies wherever they could be found.
There was a "Special Keepsake Issue" for the 4-H Fair, which was nothing more than a handful of group photos with no results. Far from a comprehensive issue.
———
We also saw recently that the Herald-Press is reporting that its circulation is 6,950.
Wow! We've heard some whoppers in our day, but that one might stand above them all. We know enough about the Herald-Press and people who have been and still are there to know that the figure quoted is nowhere near the actual number. If the Herald-Press still has 5,000 subscribers, we'd be surprised.
A large number of subscribers bailed when Paxon Media took over, the old staff left and quality dropped off. Even more are leaving now that news is two days late.
There might be a total of 6,950 printed, but then there are nearly 2,000 that never leave the truck.
———
The most recent move by Paxton Media is to take the Herald-Press Web page to a pay site.
Now, to be fair, there has been a lively debate in newspaper circles about whether sites should be free or pay. No one wants to give anything away for free; that's understandable.
But on the other side, the whole idea is to drive traffic to the Web site, where newspapers can tell advertisers that a certain number of visitors are coming to the site.
A free site, obviously, generates more traffic, which can elevate ad rates, but does not generate anything from the news content. With a pay site, traffic drops off markedly, which lowers ad revenue, but brings in more from online subscribers.
There are models out there that say pay sites can work, but a newspaper must provide a large amount of quality content to viewers. If you're the New York Times, you can get away with it. With the Herald-Press, there just isn't enough on the site to make it worthwhile.
Publisher Andy Eads stated that the number of pay sites are rising "exponentially," which is a poor choice of words if he knew what the word "exponentially" meant. But that aside, the numbers just won't add up.
Say the Herald-Press somehow was able to sign up 1,000 people as online subscribers (an unrealistic number, but good for working a math example). At $6 a month, that's $72 per year per person. That makes for $72,000 a year. Even with that outrageously unrealistic number of online subscribers, $72,000 a year won't get the job done.
Plus, advertisers won't sign on just to reach 1,000 people.
A free site might generate 10,000 viewers a month. Tell 60 advertisers they can reach 10 times as many people with a free site than a pay site, charge them $100 a month, and the newspaper can generate the same amount of revenue.
Eads also cited the features of the Herald-Press Web site, including the Community Sports Desk, the venture started last year to give locals a chance to create their own sports content. To date, there have been exactly zero entries on that site. No one had posted a thing. A huge waste. Again.
———
One thing that Eads did not address about the new pay site was how often content would be updated. He never said when stories might be posted. Will they be the next day? Two days late like the print product? What special content will the Herald-Press provide?
If it's going to be two days late, why bother?
———
There's been a staff change at the Herald-Press. Jennifer Kannon (real name: Kleber) is gone, finally. She was replaced by Drew Stone. We don't know much about Drew other than he's not much better of a writer than Jennifer was.
New editor Rebecca Sandlin doesn't seem to be doing much editing, but considering her level of experience, maybe she is editing and it's just not very good. It's not enough just to get spelling correct. The quality of reporting has to improve.With the inexperience of this staff, though, that's a big request.
Monday, July 13, 2009
We're back and better than ever (?)
We tried to stay away. We really did.
But recent events and the lack of coverage or the butchering of those events by the Herald-Press just screamed out for comment.
But first, a little background. The Herald-Press deadline was recently moved to 5 p.m., despite the fact that the press run for the newspaper in Marion isn't until sometime after midnight. Stories need to be planned four days ahead, leaving no room for any kind of breaking news. Basketball games, which don't end before 5 p.m., don't make the next day's paper, putting them in the paper two days late.
The editorial staff in Huntington makes no decisions on story placement. All those decisions are being made in Marion. Presumably, editing of stories is being done in Huntington, but as we've seen lately, very little in the way of editing is being done. Either that, or writers and editors have absolutely no grasp of basic grammar or basic newspaper style rules. There's also no one in Huntington who knows enough of what's happening in city government, law enforcement, schools, etc., to chase down the stories that are important to the public knowledge.
OK, back to the rundown:
Early in the afternoon of Sunday, July 12, there was a fire call to the southern part of the county, near Mt. Etna. It would have been worth sending a photographer and even a reporter down to check it out. Anyone with an emergency scanner would have heard the fire and police department dispatched.
Events changed quickly when officers discovered that someone with a weapon was supposed to be around the area, possibly after having a meth lab blow up. In any event, the fire department couldn't get in to put out the fire, and a total of four buildings burned to the ground. In addition, a manhunt began for the person suspected of having the weapon.
The manhunt became huge news on local television as officers from three counties and the state police went on the search. Updates were given on TV, and Fort Wayne newspapers updated information on their websites. A story was even posted statewide by the Associated Press.
All this managed to escape the people at the Herald-Press. No one there knew anything about what was going on until Monday morning, by which time the manhunt ended with the suspect dead, either in a shootout or by a self-inflicted gunshot.
The Herald-Press did finally manage to post a story on their web site Monday afternoon. Even then, the incoherent story was a travesty of journalism, with confusing information poorly constructed.
The lede of the story gave a clue to what the rest held.
"Police’s search for a man they believed was out to kill his father ended early Monday morning in a deadly shootout."
POLICE'S? Did the writer actually begin the opening sentence of the story with POLICE'S?
"Barton L. Thompson, 34, Warren, was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:47 a.m. Monday after he got into a gun fight with officers from multiple police agencies. Huntington County Coroner Leon Hurlburt said Monday it is still under investigation whether Thompson’s death was caused by police fire or a self-inflicted gunshot wound."
At the scene? Where is the scene? Got into a gun fight?
"Thompson’s house at 8584 S. 600 West, as well as three nearby barns caught on fire, and were eventually completely destroyed."
Just for everyone out there, something is either destroyed or it is not. There is no degree of being destroyed. You don't say "completely destroyed." It's like being pregnant, either you are or you aren't. You're not completely pregnant or partially pregnant. The house was destroyed. Otherwise, it's just damaged. You might think that's being picky. No, it's just a matter of being correct. Nothing wrong with that.
"Huntington County Sheriff Kent Farthing said they believed Thompson escaped into the nearby woods, but would go to his father’s house 7365 W. 1000 South next. At around midnight, officers backed away for the night, except for state police officers, who stayed guard over the father’s home. Surrounding homes were evacuated for the night, Hurlburt said."
I don't know where to start. Let's just look at "officers backed away, except for state police officers." That's like saying "everybody got a lollipop, except for those who didn't." Just bad writing.
"Outside the house, Thompson came out of the woods and got into a shootout with waiting police that ended in his death. Hurlburt said it’s believed Thompson had several firearms at his disposal during the fight. No one else was injured in the fire or the following investigation and gun fight, Hurlburt said."
Good to know that no one was injured in the investigation.
One more note: The photo that was used with the story (a photo taken by the state police, not the Herald-Press photographer) also had a dandy of a caption.
"The foundation of the house set on fire by Barton Thompson is all that remains following Thompson's suspected arson on Sunday. Three barns were also completely destroyed in the fire."
Well... the Herald-Press has apparently already convicted Thompson by saying he set the barn on fire. BUT WAIT! Just a few words later, Thompson is only "suspected" of arson. Journalist nullification. We close out with another "completely destroyed."
Always end on a high note.
———
There was another recent whiff by the staff.
Two city police officers were busted for looking at porn while on the job. There was an intial story in the Herald-Press, noting that one officer had been suspended, with no names or reasons. The reporter was told that they were not able to get the information because it was a "personnel matter," even though a public official had been deemed guilty and punushed. Apparently, no one at the Herald-Press has ever heard of the Freedom of Information Act or Indiana's Open Door Policy, in which information has to be provided upon request.
The Fort Wayne newspapers know that, and they were able to get the information, and thus got the story. Although, only one of the officers was mentioned in any of the stories. The second officer was allowed to retire and walk away unscathed.
After the story naming the first officer made Fort Wayne television and newspapers, the Herald-Press followed up with a weak story, which looked like it was based on the story from the Journal-Gazette. No one seemed to do any real reporting, or any follow-ups on the second officer or what the police department was going to do now that they are two officers short.
This is an important oversight by the Herald-Press. Newspapers are the watchdogs for the public trust. If there's no one to ask questions, then there's really no accountability for any public official. If no one covers what goes on, any missteps, wrong-doing, etc., can go virtually unknown by the public. That's a bit scary.
———
There has also been outright willful ignorance of events in the community.
Heritage Days is the biggest community event of the year, and the naming of the Chief of the Flint Springs Tribe the centerpiece celebration, where a member of the community is honored for his or her lifetime of service to Huntington County.
The Chief's breakfast happens on Thursday morning. The Herald-Press editor was there, as was a reporter to cover the event, as Steve Mason was deservedly bestowed the honor of Chief.
But despite have Herald-Press staffers there, was the story in Friday's paper? No. Was it in Sunday's paper? No.
Finally, on Monday, after Heritage Days had ended, the story finally ran in the paper.
An oversight? Nope. It was planned that way. Apparently, all the available space had been allocated, and there was just no room to get in that story. Not that it was important or anything, or that newspapers are supposed to be TIMELY!
The writer of the story, who knew that the story wouldn't run for four days but couldn't do anything about it, felt he had to apologize to Steve Mason. The editor then had the audacity to follow up later in the week with an editorial lauding Mason as well-deserving of the honor.
Well-deserving of the honor, for sure, but apparently not well-deserving enough to run the story as timely as possible.
Sickening. Steve Mason deserved better than he received from the Herald-Press, which deliberately kept the story out of the paper for four days.
———
One of the bigger local stories lately was the murder-for-hire plot by a Roanoke doctor. The story reached something of a conclusion last week when the doctor made a plea deal. The story was the lead in the Fort Wayne papers, made statewide news everywhere but in the very county where it happened.
The Herald-Press never ran a story about the plea deal.
Speaking of big stories, the death of Michael Jackson topped newspapers around the world, and his funeral service was equally a huge event. For sure, the news media went a bit overboard in the coverage, but none went so minimalist as the Herald-Press.
On the death of Michael Jackson, the Herald-Press ran a small story on Page 2 announcing his death.
For the funeral service, an event witnessed by countless millions around the world and splashed on the front page of every paper on Earth, the Herald-Press ran no story. Ooops, they did run a two-paragraph story on Page 2, noting that people gathered in Jackson's hometown of Gary to watch the service on TV.
————
Like we said at the beginning of this post - we tried to stay away. Despite having a new editor, things are no better at the Herald-Press, and in many ways, it's getting worse. The paper may look a little better, but the content is just as lacking. There is no one doing any real editing. News judgement is non-existent. Many, many important stories are being missed. Other stories run days or even weeks late. Deadlines are now so ridiculous that the Herald-Press can hardly be called a newspaper.
On top of that, advertisers are still bailing. Revenue and subscriptions are falling.
The decisions being made for the Herald-Press, both out of Marion and the Paxton Media home base of Paducah, make absoutlely no sense. If someone was deliberately attempting to put the Herald-Press out of business, then could not do any better job than what is being done right now by the current management.
It's all so very tiring, frustrating and maddening. Small towns need a paper that cares about delivering the news. The Herald-Press no longer is doing that.
But recent events and the lack of coverage or the butchering of those events by the Herald-Press just screamed out for comment.
But first, a little background. The Herald-Press deadline was recently moved to 5 p.m., despite the fact that the press run for the newspaper in Marion isn't until sometime after midnight. Stories need to be planned four days ahead, leaving no room for any kind of breaking news. Basketball games, which don't end before 5 p.m., don't make the next day's paper, putting them in the paper two days late.
The editorial staff in Huntington makes no decisions on story placement. All those decisions are being made in Marion. Presumably, editing of stories is being done in Huntington, but as we've seen lately, very little in the way of editing is being done. Either that, or writers and editors have absolutely no grasp of basic grammar or basic newspaper style rules. There's also no one in Huntington who knows enough of what's happening in city government, law enforcement, schools, etc., to chase down the stories that are important to the public knowledge.
OK, back to the rundown:
Early in the afternoon of Sunday, July 12, there was a fire call to the southern part of the county, near Mt. Etna. It would have been worth sending a photographer and even a reporter down to check it out. Anyone with an emergency scanner would have heard the fire and police department dispatched.
Events changed quickly when officers discovered that someone with a weapon was supposed to be around the area, possibly after having a meth lab blow up. In any event, the fire department couldn't get in to put out the fire, and a total of four buildings burned to the ground. In addition, a manhunt began for the person suspected of having the weapon.
The manhunt became huge news on local television as officers from three counties and the state police went on the search. Updates were given on TV, and Fort Wayne newspapers updated information on their websites. A story was even posted statewide by the Associated Press.
All this managed to escape the people at the Herald-Press. No one there knew anything about what was going on until Monday morning, by which time the manhunt ended with the suspect dead, either in a shootout or by a self-inflicted gunshot.
The Herald-Press did finally manage to post a story on their web site Monday afternoon. Even then, the incoherent story was a travesty of journalism, with confusing information poorly constructed.
The lede of the story gave a clue to what the rest held.
"Police’s search for a man they believed was out to kill his father ended early Monday morning in a deadly shootout."
POLICE'S? Did the writer actually begin the opening sentence of the story with POLICE'S?
"Barton L. Thompson, 34, Warren, was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:47 a.m. Monday after he got into a gun fight with officers from multiple police agencies. Huntington County Coroner Leon Hurlburt said Monday it is still under investigation whether Thompson’s death was caused by police fire or a self-inflicted gunshot wound."
At the scene? Where is the scene? Got into a gun fight?
"Thompson’s house at 8584 S. 600 West, as well as three nearby barns caught on fire, and were eventually completely destroyed."
Just for everyone out there, something is either destroyed or it is not. There is no degree of being destroyed. You don't say "completely destroyed." It's like being pregnant, either you are or you aren't. You're not completely pregnant or partially pregnant. The house was destroyed. Otherwise, it's just damaged. You might think that's being picky. No, it's just a matter of being correct. Nothing wrong with that.
"Huntington County Sheriff Kent Farthing said they believed Thompson escaped into the nearby woods, but would go to his father’s house 7365 W. 1000 South next. At around midnight, officers backed away for the night, except for state police officers, who stayed guard over the father’s home. Surrounding homes were evacuated for the night, Hurlburt said."
I don't know where to start. Let's just look at "officers backed away, except for state police officers." That's like saying "everybody got a lollipop, except for those who didn't." Just bad writing.
"Outside the house, Thompson came out of the woods and got into a shootout with waiting police that ended in his death. Hurlburt said it’s believed Thompson had several firearms at his disposal during the fight. No one else was injured in the fire or the following investigation and gun fight, Hurlburt said."
Good to know that no one was injured in the investigation.
One more note: The photo that was used with the story (a photo taken by the state police, not the Herald-Press photographer) also had a dandy of a caption.
"The foundation of the house set on fire by Barton Thompson is all that remains following Thompson's suspected arson on Sunday. Three barns were also completely destroyed in the fire."
Well... the Herald-Press has apparently already convicted Thompson by saying he set the barn on fire. BUT WAIT! Just a few words later, Thompson is only "suspected" of arson. Journalist nullification. We close out with another "completely destroyed."
Always end on a high note.
———
There was another recent whiff by the staff.
Two city police officers were busted for looking at porn while on the job. There was an intial story in the Herald-Press, noting that one officer had been suspended, with no names or reasons. The reporter was told that they were not able to get the information because it was a "personnel matter," even though a public official had been deemed guilty and punushed. Apparently, no one at the Herald-Press has ever heard of the Freedom of Information Act or Indiana's Open Door Policy, in which information has to be provided upon request.
The Fort Wayne newspapers know that, and they were able to get the information, and thus got the story. Although, only one of the officers was mentioned in any of the stories. The second officer was allowed to retire and walk away unscathed.
After the story naming the first officer made Fort Wayne television and newspapers, the Herald-Press followed up with a weak story, which looked like it was based on the story from the Journal-Gazette. No one seemed to do any real reporting, or any follow-ups on the second officer or what the police department was going to do now that they are two officers short.
This is an important oversight by the Herald-Press. Newspapers are the watchdogs for the public trust. If there's no one to ask questions, then there's really no accountability for any public official. If no one covers what goes on, any missteps, wrong-doing, etc., can go virtually unknown by the public. That's a bit scary.
———
There has also been outright willful ignorance of events in the community.
Heritage Days is the biggest community event of the year, and the naming of the Chief of the Flint Springs Tribe the centerpiece celebration, where a member of the community is honored for his or her lifetime of service to Huntington County.
The Chief's breakfast happens on Thursday morning. The Herald-Press editor was there, as was a reporter to cover the event, as Steve Mason was deservedly bestowed the honor of Chief.
But despite have Herald-Press staffers there, was the story in Friday's paper? No. Was it in Sunday's paper? No.
Finally, on Monday, after Heritage Days had ended, the story finally ran in the paper.
An oversight? Nope. It was planned that way. Apparently, all the available space had been allocated, and there was just no room to get in that story. Not that it was important or anything, or that newspapers are supposed to be TIMELY!
The writer of the story, who knew that the story wouldn't run for four days but couldn't do anything about it, felt he had to apologize to Steve Mason. The editor then had the audacity to follow up later in the week with an editorial lauding Mason as well-deserving of the honor.
Well-deserving of the honor, for sure, but apparently not well-deserving enough to run the story as timely as possible.
Sickening. Steve Mason deserved better than he received from the Herald-Press, which deliberately kept the story out of the paper for four days.
———
One of the bigger local stories lately was the murder-for-hire plot by a Roanoke doctor. The story reached something of a conclusion last week when the doctor made a plea deal. The story was the lead in the Fort Wayne papers, made statewide news everywhere but in the very county where it happened.
The Herald-Press never ran a story about the plea deal.
Speaking of big stories, the death of Michael Jackson topped newspapers around the world, and his funeral service was equally a huge event. For sure, the news media went a bit overboard in the coverage, but none went so minimalist as the Herald-Press.
On the death of Michael Jackson, the Herald-Press ran a small story on Page 2 announcing his death.
For the funeral service, an event witnessed by countless millions around the world and splashed on the front page of every paper on Earth, the Herald-Press ran no story. Ooops, they did run a two-paragraph story on Page 2, noting that people gathered in Jackson's hometown of Gary to watch the service on TV.
————
Like we said at the beginning of this post - we tried to stay away. Despite having a new editor, things are no better at the Herald-Press, and in many ways, it's getting worse. The paper may look a little better, but the content is just as lacking. There is no one doing any real editing. News judgement is non-existent. Many, many important stories are being missed. Other stories run days or even weeks late. Deadlines are now so ridiculous that the Herald-Press can hardly be called a newspaper.
On top of that, advertisers are still bailing. Revenue and subscriptions are falling.
The decisions being made for the Herald-Press, both out of Marion and the Paxton Media home base of Paducah, make absoutlely no sense. If someone was deliberately attempting to put the Herald-Press out of business, then could not do any better job than what is being done right now by the current management.
It's all so very tiring, frustrating and maddening. Small towns need a paper that cares about delivering the news. The Herald-Press no longer is doing that.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Let's try this and see if it works
Let us be the first to break news about the Herald-Press, before you see it in the Herald-Press.
The H-P will start using CommunitySportsDesk, a web-based service that allows youth and recreation leagues to use the company's software to create news stories and post information about teams. There's a lot of buzz words about "hyper-local" and "reverse-publishing" that are the new hot terms in the newspaper industry.
For sure, youth leagues don't get reported on much in any newspaper, so this is a way to get that information published locally, albeit not in the print product, whch has less and less coverage all the time.
The company line will talk about getting coverage for this segment of the communty, but what it is is they are trying to drive more traffic to the newspaper's web product in hopes of seeling some advertising. There aren't many statistics yet about how well this kind of things works, but advertising is drying up with any newspaper product, and the general consensus is that this won't work, either.
The coverage from the Herald-Press is also drying up, but that's for another blog entry at another time.
Here's the information from Editor&Publisher, a newspaper trade publication:
-----
Paxton Group Deploys CommunitySportsDesk
By E&P Staff
Published: February 26, 2009 3:56 PM ET
NEW YORK Paxton Media Group has selected CommunitySportsDesk (CSD) to collect, organize and present community sports and recreation content for its online and print products in five Indiana communities where Paxton publishes daily newspapers.
CSD's structured software collects, manages and serves user-generated content online and back in print, according to Group Publisher Neal Ronquist.
"It's like having extra stringers, coached by the software, working in a uniform way to provide content that we couldn't otherwise reach," Ronquist said in a statement. "The result is an online site that stays fresh and keeps the community engaged."
Tentatively branded as CentralIndianaSportsNetwork.com, it will include online advertising and reverse-publishing options for Paxton's five central Indiana properties, the Marion Chronicle-Tribune, the Peru Tribune, Wabash Plain Dealer, The Times of Frankfort and the Huntington Herald-Press.
CommunitySportsDesk is a hosted Web-driven product of Media Innovations LLC, a subsidiary of privately owned newspaper publisher United Communications Corp., Kenosha, Wis., where it was the Kenosha News developed the flagship Kenosha Sports Network.
CSD Managing Director Bill Dunbar said the Paxton group will provide strong community engagement for further development and extension of patent-pending CSD technology and business modeling.
CSD provides a database-driven structure to collecting and displaying grassroots sporting events, creating mini-sports pages for teams and online sports sections for community leagues. It also offers back-office functionality for league administrators. At the option of the media affiliate, selected results can "roll up" electronically for publication in print. CSD staff trains and supports media companies, leagues and team representatives.
---
The H-P will start using CommunitySportsDesk, a web-based service that allows youth and recreation leagues to use the company's software to create news stories and post information about teams. There's a lot of buzz words about "hyper-local" and "reverse-publishing" that are the new hot terms in the newspaper industry.
For sure, youth leagues don't get reported on much in any newspaper, so this is a way to get that information published locally, albeit not in the print product, whch has less and less coverage all the time.
The company line will talk about getting coverage for this segment of the communty, but what it is is they are trying to drive more traffic to the newspaper's web product in hopes of seeling some advertising. There aren't many statistics yet about how well this kind of things works, but advertising is drying up with any newspaper product, and the general consensus is that this won't work, either.
The coverage from the Herald-Press is also drying up, but that's for another blog entry at another time.
Here's the information from Editor&Publisher, a newspaper trade publication:
-----
Paxton Group Deploys CommunitySportsDesk
By E&P Staff
Published: February 26, 2009 3:56 PM ET
NEW YORK Paxton Media Group has selected CommunitySportsDesk (CSD) to collect, organize and present community sports and recreation content for its online and print products in five Indiana communities where Paxton publishes daily newspapers.
CSD's structured software collects, manages and serves user-generated content online and back in print, according to Group Publisher Neal Ronquist.
"It's like having extra stringers, coached by the software, working in a uniform way to provide content that we couldn't otherwise reach," Ronquist said in a statement. "The result is an online site that stays fresh and keeps the community engaged."
Tentatively branded as CentralIndianaSportsNetwork.com, it will include online advertising and reverse-publishing options for Paxton's five central Indiana properties, the Marion Chronicle-Tribune, the Peru Tribune, Wabash Plain Dealer, The Times of Frankfort and the Huntington Herald-Press.
CommunitySportsDesk is a hosted Web-driven product of Media Innovations LLC, a subsidiary of privately owned newspaper publisher United Communications Corp., Kenosha, Wis., where it was the Kenosha News developed the flagship Kenosha Sports Network.
CSD Managing Director Bill Dunbar said the Paxton group will provide strong community engagement for further development and extension of patent-pending CSD technology and business modeling.
CSD provides a database-driven structure to collecting and displaying grassroots sporting events, creating mini-sports pages for teams and online sports sections for community leagues. It also offers back-office functionality for league administrators. At the option of the media affiliate, selected results can "roll up" electronically for publication in print. CSD staff trains and supports media companies, leagues and team representatives.
---
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