Michigan media making news again

Just a quick roundup of things I've posted here, there and everywhere or read about Michigan media today.

Livingston County Press cuts staff
My stepmother may have to change her media plans. She was counting on the Livingston County Daily Press and Argus to become her main source for news instead of reading the Detroit newspapers online. The long-time subscriber to the Detroit newspapers had praised the hometown newspaper for its coverage and said it was "good enough" and better than going online to read the news.

But today, an article by Mike Malott probably means the amount and type of news in the Livingston County newspaper will change. At least 10 percent of the staff is being laid off, according to the article. Executive Editor Rich Perlberg declined to specify the total number of layoffs, but said the number was "more than 10" from a total work force of 95.The layoffs included Managing Editor Maria Stuart and Metro Editor-Features Henry "Buddy" Moorehouse.

Perlberg blamed declining advertising.

I found it ironic that Stuart's March 29th column was "What would you do to save a co-worker's job?" She wrote about the efforts of the Howell Education Association. She's followed that up with "The Search for Silver Linings," calling it my chance to say goodbye.

"Lesson learned: In this fast-changing day and age, we should treat every conversation we have as if it is our last. We should leave nothing unspoken."

Moorehouse, who worked for the newspaper for 26 years, also penned a piece: Thank you and goodbye.

Job in Detroit
It's good news that journalism jobs in Michigan are opening. A reTweet of @NancyAndrews: We are posting our job opening for digital host/tv web anchor today. @elishaanderson is in charge of hiring. #dfpchanges

Update: Here's the job posting.

(Did you see that hash tag? #dfpchanges - go to search.twitter.com, type that in, and you can see all the tweets that will tell you about the Detroit Free Press changes; you can even get an #dfpchanges rss feed)

That reminds me that @BillSeitzler said Scripps & Fox create local news sharing deal in Phoenix, Detroit and Tampa; complete story on Broadcasting and Cable.

"Starting this month, the service "will pool content-gathering resources at general market news events, allowing the stations to save on duplicate efforts," the groups said in a statement. "By reducing costs, the stations will be able to increase their focus and resources on specialized franchise reporting." "

In Detroit, the stations are WJBK (Fox) and WXYZ (ABC).

TVNewsDay also reported:

"Content produced by the local news service can be used across multiple platforms, including over-the-air broadcasts, and online and mobile reporting. All employees involved in the shared operation will remain employees of their respective news organizations."

Oakland Press stopping paycheck
The Oakland Press is making news again. Hat tip to Paper Tiger No More, which led me to T.C. Cameron's blog The Write Referee and the post "Sacked by Citizen Journalism." Cameron says that an email informed him the newspaper would no longer pay for the syndicated version of The Write. A followup email invited him to post for free as a citizen journalist - an offer refused.

Cameron is no fan of citizen journalism, a big component of The Oakland Press' strategy.

Cameron says in his blog:

"Citizen journalism is the ingenious creation of editors lacking for legitimate journalistic resources and the financial inducements to compensate said legitimate journalists. As advertising revenue plummets, so does pay for real writers. What newspapers and an endless list of Internet blog sites offer is byline stardom in return for copy. The byline is the payment for the copy. All the newspapers pay for is the editor responsible for making sure it's true -- that's code for a once-over to make sure all the key facts of the story seem to be in place -- and the online platform they publish within."

However, you'll remember that The Oakland Press's executive editor Gil Gilbert said in December 2008 that Citizen Journalism will shape the new face of the Oakland Press.

The paper offered an academy to train citizens interested in contributing to the news organization in mid-Michigan. The first classes had 53 people participating.

Another Gilbert article in January said Citizen Journalism off to a good start, second class scheduled.

Gilbert acknowledged in that article that the idea of citizen journalism attracted some negative attention.

"Where it will lead is anyone’s guess, but it could be interesting. Our goal is to be more of a true voice of the people."

For now, it looks like it will be one less blog on the Oakland Press' web site.

Still waiting to see if other bloggers, like Tim Skubick, will follow. Of course, since Skubick also is now blogging for The Dome, perhaps not him.