Raleigh, N.C. — The News & Observer in Raleigh is cutting salaries of all employees earning $25,000 or more per year and also eliminating 78 jobs in the latest series of cost-cutting measures.
- http://www.wral.com/business/story/4748286/
While this was not unexpected it is nevertheless disappointing news. It is especially sad to think not only of the 78 employees who will lose their jobs but also of all the remaining employees who are taking significant cuts in pay and forced furloughs. Boy, McClatchy has certainly made a mess of things with their desire to be bigger (and better?).
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Interesting essay on newspaper failures
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/03/28/sirota/A quote:"In place of comprehensive, complex and idiosyncratic coverage, readers of even the most serious newspapers were offered celebrity and scandal, humor and light provocation," says journalist-turned-director David Simon, whose HBO series "The Wire" examined this trend.
Another Approach
Familiar with the "e-edition" of the N&O? In an email, they say:
For subscribers, they say:
So if you like and/or don't mind reading online and won't miss a printed paper in your hands, this is a bargain, as everyday for 4 weeks now costs $14.08 and for 52 weeks, $183, compared to everyday e-edition being $5 and 52 weeks for $65. Best that I can tell, the "e" version does not include access to the archives, and that might matter to some. So will the next jobs to be eliminated be the driver delivers who will go the way of kids on a bike tossing papers?
I Hope Not - That May Be Good Money For Some
"So will the next jobs to be eliminated be the driver delivers who will go the way of kids on a bike tossing papers?"I'm not sure what the ages are of the people who deliver the N & O but I delivered the Miami Herald when I was in graduate school. Although the hours were lousy (2-6AM) I had 500+ customers and the money I earned was much better than any other job I could do while in school. I had to practice my salesmanship as well since I had to talk (con) someone into helping me on Sundays since the Sunday edition was always so large. And you really get to see some interesting things driving around neighborhoods at that hour!
Newspapers Kindle 2
I have read several books on the Kindle 2 from Amazon. Is one of best electronic book readers I have seen. Screen is not backlit and uses a process called e ink and is very readable. Can store up to 1500 books and includes free 3G connectivity. Books take seconds to download. You can surf web, wikipedia and has dictionary access. You can also subscribe and read newspapers on the device. Not sure if NO is included but well worth looking into. Thx
Amazon's digital text platform
Here is some info from Amazon on the Digital Text Platform. Original name huh? :)
Digital Text Platform
That's neat. Just like digital music on the web either stolen or legitimate (ex. itunes) the web is democratizing the creation of music, video and literature. Anyone can produce music, video or literature and distribute it without having to go thru some controlling corporation interested only in profit.Thx
44 arrested in Charlotte protesting Duke Energy coal plant
Five hundred protesters took over downtown Charlotte yesterday, stopping at Governor Perdue's office on the way to Duke Energy where they delivered a "Call to Conscience" to CEO Jim Rogers to cancel the Cliffside coal plant. Forty four were arrested at the front entrance of Duke Energy as they protested every aspect of coal-burning from the radically damaging mountaintop removal mining to the toxins released from the plants to the fact that we can ill-afford to accelerate the production of greenhouse gases when time is running out so quickly on our chances to avoid climate catastrophes. The protesters, who came from across North Carolina and the Appalachian coal fields, were also highlighting the hypocrisy of CEO Rogers who has crafted a public image of himself as the "green" utility executive while simultaneously opposing governmental restrictions on coal burning and efforts to institute authentic alternative energy and energy-efficiency.So today the N&O highlighted the death of some polo ponies, a biting dog whose sentence was commuted, and some geese who built a nest at a local mall. Which is more of a threat to newspapers - the Internet or the decision to run shallow irrelevant stories instead of covering the important issues of our time?
Charlotte Observer article
The N&O's sister paper - how difficult would it have been for the N&O to run this story?http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/676813.html
it IS in the N&O, just buried
It's on Page 7B of today's N&O, at least in the edition that circulates in Wake County.
The low profile as compared to big coverage in Charlotte?
You have to remember that Wake County is Progress Energy territory and the fact that a substantial part of their readership are Duke Power customers (like Orange County) is probably lost on the editors.
The N&O does have online stories at
http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1494029.html
and
http://www.newsobserver.com/1565/story/1493175.html
Buried and very, very condensed
The other thing to remember is that the N&O has traditionally acted as if it is a subsidiary of Progress Energy. I'm sure this makes cocktail hour at the Capital City Club a lot more enjoyable for the N&O, Progress, and Duke Energy execs who gather there - not to mention the legislators that appreciate their campaign donations.