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DAD ROASTS DEVIL TOT | The District Weekly

Started by districtweekly · 3 months ago

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32 comments

  • Reader

    8 months ago

    Let's do the math: 126,000 circulation with 45 reporters in 2004 compared to 88,000 readers with 10 reporters now. That's about 70% circulation with 22% the staff. Sad as it may be, if it's a business - which it is - that makes sense.
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  • Andy

    8 months ago

    Actually, it makes no sense, unless your ultimate goal is to go out of business. If it were, revenue would be going up, up, up.

    You can run a railroad with less folks because technology can do certain jobs that people did for years. You can't do that with news reporting.

    Technology can't replace reporters. Good content leads to readers. Readers lead to advertising. Lousy, insufficient content makes it irrelevant.
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  • Number Cruncher

    8 months ago

    I wonder where that 126,000 number came from. Sounds like it might be a more than slight exaggeration.
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  • schlarb

    8 months ago

    Another fantastic article Dave. Thank you.
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  • Beachcombover

    8 months ago

    It is reported today that Ron Kaye, the hard-hitting, pugnacious editor of MediaNews' LA Daily News, is being forced out. His sin: digging up and cutting through the crap for the readers and expressing his concerns over downsizing. Kaye leaves. Rich Archbold, who has spent his career showering the powers-that-be with Valentines, stays. A fitting addendum to your excellent piece on the P-T's self-inflicted implosion.
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  • The Commish

    8 months ago

    Wow, what a walk down memory lane for this former staffer. Thank you for that terrificly well written piece. When you think about what happened to most all the people who left, voluntarily or otherwise, they've gone on to get degrees, teach, run a race track (you go, Wigginton!), and generally do great things, it's an even greater asset loss for the P-T. I'm glad Stan Leopard isn't around to see this. Of course, he would have written a great song parody...
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  • Paul Oberjuerge

    8 months ago

    Dave: A nice recap of PT history. I grew up in Long Beach, my family never left and now I'm back after 31 years in the Inland Empire. Weird, how it all came full circle. When I was at Long Beach State, I aspired to work for the PT. But I had to go out of town first before such a high ambition could be realistic. Back when the PT practically required serious experience before it would talk to you. When the sports department was loaded with stalwarts such as Loel Schrader, Ross Newhan, Don Merry, Gordon Verrell ... And now the PT is reduced to hiring children -- when it hires at all. I went to San Bernardino to get a job, and that ended up working out just fine. I had a great time almost to the minute that Singleton fired me, after 31 years plus as sports columnist and editor. ... I've checked in on the PT regularly, because of my family ties, and it's been sad to watch it dissolve into the same nothingness that has crushed The Sun, in San Bernardino, as well as the L.A. Daily News, the San Gabriel Tribune, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, ad nausem. I'm glad you're on record with some history of the PT, because memories of these newspapers is all that we -- and their now-underserved communities -- have left.
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  • Tracy Johnston Kittinger

    8 months ago

    My father was Johnny Johnston, local political consultant. He was best friends with Sam Cameron, the really truly big man at the Press Telegram and the Independent in the old days.

    Those were the great days of the paper. My dad and Sam were such good friends that I have a sister Rhonda Johnston Thomas who was nicknamed "Sam" after him and another little sister Cameron Johnston Aguilar,
    named Cameron after him. In those days news was real news. A story was followed up on immediately and real news, contraversial or not, was published.
    My grandfather owned two theaters in Long Beach the "Laughlin" on Pine Avenue and the "Tracy" at Seaside and Collins way. He also owned a Cafe at Pier Point Landing named "Tracy". He spent a lot of money during the depression and World War II, advertising in these papers. What a Shame, What a Shame that we are where we are today.

    It is happening everywhere, we have become numbers at the grocery store, we must listen to recordings to reach anyone on the phone. Big business is buying up little business and leaving us with no choice but to shop big box. The Brewing Industry, tried to kill off all the little Breweries. But later Micro Breweries popped up.

    Now with our own Newspaper being gobbled up by stingy wealthy Mr. Singleton who has not heart; we wonder what to do? Well fortunately, we do have a choice, www.lbreport.com, The District, The Grunion Gazettes, The Signal Tribune, The Beachcomber etc. They will grow as we lose the one major paper that still was a real local paper until Mr. Singleton decided to kill it off. Thank you Mr. jSingleton and your future unemployed will thank you too.
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  • Tracy Johnston Kittinger

    8 months ago

    SORRY FOR THE TYPO
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  • Daniel de Boom

    8 months ago

    The Grunion Gazette?
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  • Tracy Johnston Kittinger

    8 months ago

    I get it Daniel, but it is still read pretty well in my neighborhood.
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  • Daniel de Boom

    8 months ago

    It has the highest circulation of any paper in Long Beach.
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  • Daniel de Boom

    8 months ago

    I'm pretty sure I'm not making that up...
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  • Harry Saltyballz

    8 months ago

    Daniel De Boom,

    Singleton/ Media News owns the Grunion Gazette !!!!!!

    An its fired onto every lawn and porch to those who want it or not.

    The PT should and probably will do that soon.

    http://www.cnpa.com/Bulletin/011204/index.html

    January 12, 2004 John and Fran Blowitz last week announced the sale of their two Long Beach community weeklies, the Grunion Gazette and the Downtown Gazette, to West Coast MediaNews LLC, a whollyowned subsidiary of MediaNews GroupInc.The couple had owned and operated theGrunion since 1981, and they started the Downtown Gazette in 1988. The free tabloid papers have a combined weekly distribution of 65,000 and reach more than 190,000 readers. MediaNews CEO William Dean Singleton reportedly expects to name anew publisher in the next week, but the Blowitzes will stay on as consulting pub-lishers for the next two months, and the Gazettes’ 17-person staff and distinctivecommunity focus will remain, accordingto a Jan. 8 Gazette article by Executive Editor Harry Saltzgaver.“We took care of our employees, which was first and foremost. Everybody isguaranteed a job,” John Blowitz told CNPA last week. As part of the sale, hestipulated that the head of the nation’sseventh-largest newspaper company mustcome and speak to the staff personally. Singleton “assured everybody that MediaNews wanted them and that they would remain independ-ent,” Blowitz said. MediaNews’ LosAngeles Newspaper Group(LANG) also owns the Press-Telegram, Long Beach. Terms of the sale were not disclosed,but a Press-Telegram article cited industry sources who put the price at $10 million.

    Don't think they aren't slowly whittling away at the Gazette, I think the " staff " is now down to 9 ? if that.
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  • Daniel de Boom

    8 months ago

    Dave wants me to ask if Harry Saltyballz is your real name.
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  • Daniel de Boom

    8 months ago

    "I think the ” staff ” is now down to 9 ? if that."

    Don't worry 'cause Harry does everything from writing to editing to taking the pic-tures to...

    Now really, I've got to get to the bar. That beer ain't gonna drink itself.
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  • Harry Saltyballz

    8 months ago

    See ya at The Cellar for a cold PBR

    ...and yes thats a traditional Irish name, originally Shamus Sawltibawls, my Great Grandfather changed is on Ellis Island and when he joined the Dead Rabbits gang.

    May the bearer of the news be safe.
    Gura slán an scéalaí
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  • Andy

    8 months ago

    I remember seeing that before the P-T moved, that they had a HUGE archive of images that they were basically going to toss. I mentioned that to one of the librarians at the downtown branch and she was pretty eager to get a hold of 'em before they were pitched.

    I hope they did get 'em, even if they were a lot of car crash and puppy parade photos.
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  • Editor for a day

    8 months ago

    Steve Lowery Keep your head-up, you had the Ballz to bail early not drag it out like some Newspaper editors do.
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  • Editor for a day

    8 months ago

    http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/04/cityb...

    oops! I didn't mean the District....
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  • daniel de boom

    8 months ago

    I was the recipient of some of those photos from the PT.
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  • Leah Reiter

    8 months ago

    It's funny, the day my husband read this story to me I was just telling him how as a new journalist at the p-t in 1986, a paste-up guy (it has to be the one you referred to) threatened to cut my fingers off if i touched the type again. And he called me "little girl," which added insult to (almost) injury. It didn't help that I was one of the new designers and that pagination had thinned the ranks of his cohorts. I was afraid to go to paste-up for weeks.
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  • now-former journo

    8 months ago

    Great article Dave...keep up the awesome work!
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  • Andy

    8 months ago

    Hey DDB: Any idea what happened to the rest of the images?
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  • daniel de boom

    8 months ago

    I asked for them all, but wasn't granted that request. I was assured however, that they were not thrown away. I'll see if I can find out.
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  • daniel de boom

    8 months ago

    in the meantime, if you ever need a photo of monkeys or robots or Paul McCartney...
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  • Andy

    8 months ago

    Not for me, but you might want to contact this guy...

    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-386233...

    We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread...
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  • Dennis McDougal

    8 months ago

    David, your outrage becomes you. O that Archbold could be so infected.

    My favorite streetline from the old I P-T era evolved out of a dull Sunday night in 1977 (I'm pretty sure that was the year and that these details are correct, but my wife occasionally accuses me of having developed early Alzheimer's). None of us on the city desk came up with any story that suited the late, great Independent night managing edtior Hank Fishbeck who had the wire editor comb the nation for anything that might sell newspapers. Shortly before deadline, a story came over the AP wire from Indiana about a barn dance where a group of bikers rode in, incited a brawl, and stabbed someone who later died. Two thousand miles away at 6th & Pine, Fishbeck smiled. The following morning, Burt Fleischman broke his own previous sales record with "Revelers Dance in Dying Man's Blood"

    You are correct about the bottom feeding scum at MediaNews. In one of my last conversations with Otis Chandler, he warned against Singleton by name as the grim reaper of American journalism. But to paraphrase Edmund Burke: all it takes for bloodsucking jerks like Singleton to succeed is for the Archbolds, Allisons and Glickens to do nothing.

    Ah Rich. Ah humanity.
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  • Don't drink the kool-aid

    8 months ago

    Dennis I want to have drink with you and make some bad decisions.

    The Archbolds, Allisons and Glickens are a bunch of lost balls in high weeds.
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  • Dorothy Korber

    8 months ago

    McDougal: What do you mean EARLY Alzheimer's? Good piece, Dave. David is smiling in the astral Press Club.
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  • Sabrina Steele

    7 months ago

    Well, my good buddy Thair Peterson pointed me to this piece - here's to the best 10 years of my life spent learning about life. And to Dorothy, Natalie, Thair, Dave W. (who was always a great and fiery writer), Todd Cunningham, Howland, Beshears, Erin DeGroot, Rachel D'oro (who I visited with in Anchorage a few years ago), Robin Hinch, Francisco Delgado, Neil Strassman (who is working for the county commissioner near Ft. Worth,Texas), and the rest of my brothers and sisters in the newsroom.And to those who have passed - Stan Leppard, Kelle Russell (who I went to school with and later took her own life), Linc Haynes, Helen Guthrie Smith (who I remember being called Helen "Girlie" Smith. We have come a long way girl) and David Levinson (who officiated at my third and final wedding. My David is a keeper).
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  • Tracy Johnston Kittinger

    7 months ago

    Thank you Dorothy, what a trip down memory lane. I miss you, hope all is well.
    reply

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