News-Press Reporters Ready to Rally

I'm going to buy a copy of the News-Press, note who is advertising, and send letters to as many advertisers as I can stating that I will be boycotting their businesses for supporting an evil regime. I urge others to do the same.

Here is an AP story about Bloody Monday. Has Cappello now taken the place of Milstein as Wendy's spokesman of choice? Isn't Cappello also Rob Lowe's lawyer, per Vanity Fair? Hmmmmmmmmmm

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryne...

Is the Doctor -- Agnes Huff -- now frozen out of Wendy's inner circle? Agnes didn't seem to know about the massacre and we haven't heard from her since Wendy's now famous bloated black muu muu and plastic wine glass pic was featured in on the business front of the New York Times.

start at 3 p.m. and go to 5 p.m. every day in De la Guerra Plaza See you!

Funny how the AP keeps repeating that the News-Press was `founded' in 1855. Actually, the News-Press was founded on April 21, 1937. The pedigree back to 1855 is quite convoluted... see the Wiki.

But, I suppose, `Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.'

The AP also keeps repeating "41,000 circulation" despite the fact that 39,000 was cited in the last audit--and even that's an inflated number given that the N-P has apparently continued delivering to many former subscribers.

My heart goes out to those dedicated journalists who lost their jobs Monday and Tuesday.

John Zant?!? I've been following this Greek tragedy from the day Travis' wrote his epically-biased "family dispute" letter on the front page in July. It has all been horrendous. But when I saw John Zant's name I let out an audible scream. I've read his articles since before I could read. (Back when I only would look at/read the sports section. I'm 43, he's been at the paper for 38 of them. Mark Patton must be the senior member of the staff now; how long does he have? I cancelled my subscription in September, and the only thing I miss is the local sports news. With JZ gone, and if MP goes, what will be left to read? The restaurant reviews and the real estate section I guess.

Schadenfreuder: I was thinking the same thing you are which is to say that I'm 45 and when I did the math I realized I was in 2nd grade when Zant started there. (!)

Here is a question that someone who reads this might be able to answer: I have been hearing that the News-Press has very few stories on local events, in other words, the News-Press relies heavily on feeds from other sources. Is this true? If it is, it's appropriate to note that when Mrs. McCaw took over people were relieved that it was under "Local ownership". Another thing: I also remember hearing through the grapevine that the direction in which the paper would be taken after she purchased it was toward "Investigative Journalism". As you can tell, I don't read the paper but from what I gather investigative journalism isn't happening.

Let me know if I am wrong on these points.

Bill Clausen, News-Press alumni 2004. (What's she going to do, sue me?)

I heard from a dependable source that the News-Press inflates it's figures by reporting newspaper inserts they leave at local schools. (And possibly businesses, if memory of the conversation serves me correctly) Can anyone shed light on this? Also, I noticed in the Mercury News article, they didn't say WHO was fired.

The NP delivers huge stacks of papers every day to every K-12 school in the county, even in summer. They count ALL those papers as "circulation."

I used to work at the News-Press in the Classifieds department doing obituaries all day. Not only was that depressing, a total of 5 people either quit or were fired in the 5 weeks that I was there. I initially thought about going back but I just couldn't do that to myself. What a depressing and sad institution it has become.

Scarch: Thank you for jogging my memory. What you write is exactly what I remember being told. -Bill-

Something crossed my mind tonight: What Wendy is doing reminds me a lot of Hitler's "Scorched Earth" policy.

For those who don't know what I'm referring to, Hitler's generals knew the war was over and saw that it was futile to carry on the already lost battle. Hitler, being the maniac he was, didn't want to take any advice from anyone so he decided that since the battle was lost he wanted his troops to destroy Germany itself so that the conquerers would have nothing to take as loot.

At some point even McCaw's closest hired guns will have to realize they are on a sinking ship and will either bail out, or tell her that she must change course. In the latter scenario, I simply can't see her taking any advice so I'm wondering what's going to happen if she simply fires everyone and shuts down the paper in her own version of simply destroying everything in her path?

I realize I'm rambling and operating on very little sleep but somehow this scenario doesn't seem so far fetched.

Also, how can the paper continue with all these people being fired? Are there THAT many new reporters lining up for jobs there? -Bill Clausen-

Bill-I think the scorched earth concept has crossed a lot of minds regarding the NP. There is no logic and obviously no business plan. Everything Wendy does is reactionary. She is very much like the queen of hearts from Alice. That is a character we laughed at when growing up, as it seemed so absurd. I don't think anyone ever imagined a real human being could be so similar to that character!

In regards to Bill's comments about circulation figures being inflated by delivering huge stacks of newspapers to schools, I can confirm this. I am a teacher. Before the NewsPress mess, our school had to request papers. The NewsPress was generous, but strict about the number of papers they would deliver; they gave just enough for a couple of classes. Every now and then the teachers would receive warnings about taking these papers for personal use because it would deprive the students. Now they do indeed deliver the "huge stacks" spoken of. These stacks sit around in the common rooms and every teacher can take as many as they want. At the end of the day there are still dozens of copies remaining. The most illustrative point however, came when I went to my school to do some work over the Christmas holiday; there were "huge stacks" of papers delivered on those days as well--even though there were no students present!

Is Craig Smith right? The News-Press has just two city news reporters left--equal to the staff at the Daily Sound?

Not that there's anything wrong with it, but one of the remaining reporter's professional background, before working for the newspaper, was in chocolate fountains at weddings:

http://www.santabarbarawedding.com/direc...

when i was a little girl, i used to spend some of my summer vacation days at my dad's print shop in de la guerra plaza. we would eat lunch on the grass and i would listen to journalists talking about the stories they worked on. it was those journalists who inspired me to become a journalist myself.

ironically, i worked at a similar newspaper with a longer reputation for bad behavior:

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrob...

and exerpts from an archived atlanta journal constitution story:

"MDJ alumni and current employees could recall few black reporters or editors. According to former reporter Elizabeth Neal, Brumby has been known to refer to gays as pansies...

"Brumby has, according to several former and current employees, ordered his feature staff to do no more stories on people who live in public housing, AIDS sufferers and immigrants in Cobb because none of those groups tends to read his paper."

for those of us who don't live in santa barbara, i suggest boycotting their online advertisers.

Another news account with photos of this event, from a correspondent on the ground there:
http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?id=...

A dozen video links also forthcoming, to be referenced in a future comment here.

more on brumby... do you think ms. mccaw took pages from his book?

source: ajc archives

"He got used to it. As managing editor of The Marietta Daily Journal, Jesse Tullos grew numb to the fulminations of his perfectionist boss, publisher Otis Brumby. By Tullos' count, 19 editors resigned or were fired in the 19 months before he left in December. Five circulation managers came and went, one starting on a Tuesday and calling in his resignation the next Monday. The staffers had a name for the nervous condition that seemed to afflict many of them: "Otisitis." But even Tullos, inured as he was, had to raise his eyebrows the morning a friend from circulation stormed up to his desk and threw down her time card. He asked what was wrong.

"You didn't hear?" she replied. "Otis fired the circulation department last night.""

and...

"...a Brumby tirade is a sight to behold. His veins bulge, his face flushes, his voice rises to a nervous sputter, "and he stomps you, and you crawl out from under the door inspired to revenge."
"There was no telling what would set him off. It could be something insignificant," says Bobby Nesbitt, who resigned in 1987 after almost two decades as Brumby's top editor. He recalls one meeting in which the publisher fired several editors for filling out their time slips incorrectly, only to rehire most of them the next day."

Anyone know how to post a PDF file here? I have a copy of their latest ABC audit as a PDF...it shows a 5.5% drop in home delivery just from June-Sept. of last year. Anouther roughly 5% delivered as educational copies through-out the summer. A number crunchers dream actually...

Folks, since protests and calls for meetings and cancellations don't seem to get Ms. McCaw's attention, how about we try freezing out the News-Press's access to news? They are our events, after all, just like it's her paper.

Just an idea.

go ahead and send the PDF to me, and I can post it: matt@independent.com

Drudge has a link to the turmoil!

The ABC audit of circulation will be the thing to use with advertisers. Even if they don't pull their ads, they should demand lowered rates based on the lack of value of dumped educational or other bulk copies versus the more valuable subscriptions and newsstand sales.

As for the deal with the circulation numbers, it's actually common practice to include the max possible circulation, including the papers that end up not being read.

Re audit of circulation . you are right. For a cursory view the total number would be accepted but advertisers and especially media buyers at ad agencies know how to look further into it. Ad agencies should be made aware (especially if they are out of SB) of what is going on with the current circulation.

Dear MonkeySam:

It may be common, but it is definitely looked upon as suspect circulation; so much so, beginning in 2004 many major city dailies gave back overcharges based on inflated circulation to large ad agencies. The current environment has large agencies challenging the claims of dailies of their "other Circulation" and curbing the excesses of the past.

The N-P, as usual is heading in the other direction.

On another matter entirely, the N-P imbroglio was only the 4th highest rated newspaper story of 2006 in Editor & Publisher -- maybe next year Wendy will reach #1!!!

--virtual Award Winner

I am curious, as I am sure others are as well, why are their still advertisers filling the News-press? Full-page color ads. This website lists those advertisers:

http://www.santabarbarasblog.com

That is where the attention should now be turned

Sorry for the delay, but here is the News-Press circulation audit. Download it in PDF form here.

In general, SantaBarbarasBlog sucks and is out of touch with the community. (They said that the Church of Skatan should be thrown out of town -- how lame is that?!?!?) Though I do like that they've posted the N-P advertisers, even though they'll probably get sued.

Dear Wendy,
You know me. We've sat together at dinners and fundraisers around town, talked about current events in our city, and you've even patronized my business a few times. Personally, you have always been friendly and respectful toward me, and I have always thought of you as a quite likable person.
As an observer of the goings-on at the News-Press, I am concerned. My concern is for not only the newspaper's readers and employees, but for you as well. Everyone in our community can see that something is amiss, considering the recent departures of so many of your top-shelf employees. And, despite your personal resources, it must be very difficult, if not painful, to see yourself--a person who has done much good--portrayed locally and nationally in such unfavorable light. I suspect that beneath your anger lies some sadness and embarrassment.
Certainly, any employee that tries to put their own employer out of business deserves, in my opinion, to have their employment terminated. Such tantrum-like behavior is naive, childish, and will not help employees win much sympathy because most fair-minded people view it as emotional, irrational behavior. Perhaps it is their legal right to engage in such behavior as they claim---I am not a lawyer and I don't know about labor law---but allowing such behavior doesn't make sense to me.
But neither does your behavior make sense, Wendy. You appear to be taking advice from people who want to escalate a fight with the News-Press employees, not try to foster a business where there is a sense of common purpose, commitment and family. Most of your employees want to love their jobs, their co-workers and their employer. It's an old-fashioned notion, but it is fundamentally true.
I am not a journalist, but I clearly understand the role of a free press in a democratic society. Your meddling in petty news matters (the Rob Lowe thing, for example) makes some folks think that the newspaper's reporters and editors are expected to be sensitive to your personal issues and your biases as they produce the newspaper. While that may have been expected of journalists of the late 1700's, it not the case for credible, respected newspapers today. A responsible journalist must not, as a matter of ethics, tolerate your attempt to flavor the news. (The editorial page, on the other hand, is all yours to do with as you wish. Nobody should begrudge your right to say what you want on the editorial page.)
It appears to me that you are caught in a wringer with only a few face-saving ways to escape.
One way, of course, would be to sell the paper, tell the community, "I did my best", and move on to other things that are important to you. You would have to endure a financial loss in doing so, but unlike some of your former employees, you are fortunate that you can afford a loss.
The second, and much more difficult, would be to hold face-to-face meetings with some calm, rational employees who can intelligently articulate their needs and concerns. (And hopefully any screaming, hot-headed, irrational union activists would not attend; because this meeting would be about solving problems, and angry screamers don't solve problems). From such a meeting can come a blueprint for the future that both you and the employees can live with. And, who knows, the employees may then figure out that they don't want to give part of their paycheck to some union, as they realize that only the owner of the paper has the power and authority to solve their problems. The union will try like hell to stop you from meeting directly with your employees, because they want to be paid by your employees to "bargain" on their behalf. But maybe the employees, believing that you are sincere, will be able to find a way to move forward without barriers.
The third way would be to step away and hire experienced, respected professional management for the newspaper, with an ironclad agreement that you will not influence their decision-making in any manner (with the exception of the editorial page, which you could reserve as your personal forum, if you wish). Not even the most experienced and most ethical management will appease all of the employees, because not all of the employees have any understanding of newspapers as a business. But their issues regarding editorial integrity will be properly addressed, and the ethical foundation of the newspaper will be apparently restored in the eyes of the community. (And you'll still get to collect the paper's profits every year.)
I think you should consider that, in order to restore the community's confidence in the News-Press (as well as to make it a better newspaper), it will be necessary to restore the employment of some of your top writers and editors whose jobs you have terminated. This will be done not because it is what someone who has swallowed the union Kool-Aid wants you to do; but you (or your new experienced, professional, ethical management) will do because it is what is in the best interests on the News-Press and the good people of Santa Barbara.
Well, Wendy, that's my opinion...and I'm sticking to it.
Thanks for reading it.
Scott

This situation can be resolved NOT by picketing in front of the News-Press, but rather by picketing in front of a couple of the local business that continue to support the News-Press by advertising in it.

While secondary boycotts such as I propose by employees of a business resisting union-organizing or -negotiating are illegal, such boycotts by persons not associated with the union are not. How could they be?

I suggest, as a start, the two mentioned today, Macy's and Cox. How long would they stand for a bunch of locals, cum or sans bullhorns, marching in front of their doors before cancelling their ad campaigns?

In addition, Travis would be hard-pressed to get security to roust the picketers from in front of Macy's.

How about all advertisers including the Real Estate advertisers and Job listing? Will they be a part of the plan to boycott advertisers?

I have to say the turn out today at De La Guerra plaza wasn't what I expected it to be. Probably 20 or so former employees marching around with 20-50 people standing around watching them. I have to agree with Michelle, I can't wait for the boycotts of the advertisers. As a non-union, non-newspresser I would help march in front of their offices/stores. As a spectator today, I heard over and over from people that if you want marchers/protestors in Santa Barbara you have to provide free food and people will show up. Just a thought. I'm up for Macy's, anyone else? I'm angry about the 21% on my credit card! Let's get 'em.

While we (some delaguerra plaza neighbors) might support their cause, we can't say the same about the demonstrations themselves, especially of late. Very distracting!! Is McCaw even around to hear this racket?

In response to Michelle DuNoire's comment about pickiting the buisnesses which support the News-Press, the problem with this is that it would only hurt the buisiness and since Wendy has practically unlimited funds so it doesn't matter if she loses $$$ since she has an almost bottomless pit of money and is in this for what she perceives as moral principle.

Scott, thoughtful letter. I sincerely hope she reads it and listens. She probably won’t. The lawyer-driven “advice” about how to manage her business won’t permit it. Her boyfriend needs a job. This blog is probably not on her reading list. And she doesn't appear ready to cave in to threats.

You had three rational suggestions, but she will dismiss them without thought:

Idea 1. Selling. She should sell and get on with a life where a bloated picture of her isn’t featured occasionally across the U.S. on the New York Times business page. She won’t sell, however, not because of financial loss, but because of the loss of face. She’s also not sophisticated enough to know how to sell. Neither is the former food writer.

Idea 2. Dialogue (other than “cease and desist"). Sitting down and speaking with her employees constructively is something she apparently doesn’t have the personality, talent or training to do. She reportedly has never run a business before. She got her money through divorce. You found her capable of social chit chat, but, for anything more complex, she appears strange and “reclusive.”

Idea 3. Professional management. Hiring professional talent is something she’s done before, and it worked when she left them alone, but no one in the newspaper industry would now trust her to not breach her “ironclad agreement” to not interfere ethically with the news. She promised this to the community before, in writing, on page one, when she first purchased the paper – and she broke her word. The only thing that might work would be to have a corporate board of directors, like most companies do, which would have to have the protections against a hostile shareholder found in public companies. She wouldn’t have to do any work, could receive all of the profits and could blast away on the editorial page. But she and her boyfriend would have to keep hands strictly off, find a way to save face to avoid admitting their utter failure at managing the paper over the past six months or so, and that’s something she hasn’t shown the smarts, business experience or temperament to do.

So, while thoughtful input, Scott, the forecast is for stormy weather for years ahead, with lots of lawyers fees, court appearances, terrible treatment of humans and lousy, lousy news coverage.

Scott, your remedy sounds calm and rational, but I agree with "Thanks, Scott" that that train left the station. Wendy -- I'll bet she pays someone to read this blog -- could have had a peaceful resolution to this situation had she plunged in in July, but she let it (and helped it) escalate. Believe it or not, she could have had a cooperative relationship with the union, and even today could still have one, though at this point, she would have to offer reinstatement to many of the folks she has unceremoniously ousted. Chances are, many of them would refuse the offer; some would return, and help make the NP a productive, congenial place to work again.

It was the union that tried to establish a dialogue with her, or her representatives, at several points along the way, and if a credible NP agent or even intermediary came forward now, there could still be a dialogue, and it could still prove beneficial.

It is Wendy who sends "cease and desist" letters, sues people, threatens them, fires them at the drop of a hat; it's clear she has a lengthy "hit" list. It is Wendy who is resisting collective bargaining. Scott forgets that the newsroom staff voted 33-6 to be represented by a union. That election has significance that can't be erased without the union's agreement. In fact, Wendy could not engage individual employees in the dialogue of which Scott speaks without the union's consent; it would simply be illegal for her to do so, even if she were so inclined, which she evidently is not.

Despite what her now-absent PR flack Agnes Huff said at the NLRB hearing a month ago, it is Wendy who is treating this like a war, it is Wendy who has the "enemies list", and she doesn't much care how she inflicts casualties.

Notwithstanding all that's happened since July, however, there still could be a fruitful dialogue. There would be a lot more to talk about now than there would have been, say, at the end of July, or at the end of September, but it's still possible, and the pressure -- mounting with each passing NP legal failure and embarrassment -- is all there is to move us to that hopeful point.