The outlook for retail advertising during the holiday season is uncertain — at best. When asked during a Knight Ridder Q3 conference call in mid-October about holiday activity, Steve Rossi, president of the newspaper division, responded with the proverbial shrug: They just don't know what to expect.

Continue ReadingHoliday Retail Ad Outlook Uncertain

Long Island Press has discovered that an employee of one of its carriers dumped papers at a salvage yard on at least two occasions, reports Newsday. The independent carrier has since fired the employee. According to the Newsday story, a separate (and unidentified) newspaper distributor says that he first notified Long Island Press about the dumping 15 weeks ago, and raised the issue again a couple of weeks ago -- when he saw enough papers being offloaded at the salvage yard "to fill a dump truck." Long Island Press recently ran stories about Newsday dumping papers, and Newsday is now under federal investigation for its circulation practices.

Continue ReadingQuid Pro Quo? Newsday Reports Long Island Press Paper-Dumping

In May 2004, Willamette Week staff writer Nigel Jaquiss called Oregon State Senator Vicki Walker. He wanted to talk to her about the business dealings of Neil Goldschmidt, a prominent Oregonian and former governor. Instead, she tipped the reporter to what would become a major scandal. Portland Monthly tells the story of how Jaquiss, through months of tireless investigation, revealed the long-buried truth that Goldschmidt had sexually abused a 14-year-old girl; and how one reporter's efforts led the alt-weekly to scoop The Oregonian, a major daily with a staff of 300.

Continue ReadingThe Story (and Reporter) Behind Willamette Week’s Big Scoop

Bruce Dobie, co-founder and editor of Nashville Scene, will be leaving the paper next month. The 46-year-old father of two tells the Nashville Post that alt-weeklies "need to be young" and that he doesn't have as firm a grasp on how best to cover the city for a young audience as he once did. To adapt to the 24/7 news cycle favored by many 18-35-year-olds, he believes that the paper must establish an online presence and be willing to continually reinvent itself. Dobie's successor will be current associate editor Liz Garrigan, who's been at the Scene for eight years. "The Scene's a great paper now," she says. "With new energy and more aggressive reporting, it will be better."

Continue ReadingDobie to Step Down at Nashville Scene

Lloyd Brown, editorial page editor at the Florida Times-Union since 1993, has resigned after a task force established by the paper found three instances of plagiarism and many other instances of lack of complete attribution. The task force was formed in the wake of Folio Weekly's Oct. 12 cover story, written by a former Times-Union staffer, which accused Brown of publishing editorials with portions lifted directly from documents produced by right-wing groups. In a letter that appears in the Times-Union's Nov. 2 edition, publisher Carl Cannon writes, "I have a high level of respect for [Brown's] philosophy."

Continue ReadingTimes-Union Editor Accused of Plagiarism by Folio Weekly Resigns

More than 70 percent of the newspapers measured by the Audit Bureau of Circulations lost circulation during the last six months, according the ABC FAS-FAX report released on Monday.

For the six-month period ending September 30, 560 of 841 daily newspapers lost circulation. Overall, the daily circulation for these papers slipped by 0.9 percent to a circulation of 47,711,751.

Continue ReadingCirc Continues to Erode at Major Dailies