Biker babe: Blog leads us to video

Have I mentioned the Biz Newz Layoffs blog before? It was created to track layoffs at the American City Business Journals.

But there's more then layoffs - like this item:  ACBJ publisher debuts in office “bloopers” video? 
Let me help you out some -  Lisa Bormaster was named publisher of the Dallas Business Journal in Novemer 2007.

Also, since ACBJ is part of the Advance family the Newhouse newspapers and other publications and sites get discussed. (Just in case you too need to feed an Advance Addiction.)

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 Here are few other posts where I mention the American City Business Journals:
New family quietly launches Portfolio?  Aug. 13, 2009
Son folows father Aug. 3, 2009
Business journals cutting salaries? April 15, 2009
Could Advance workers tap that perk?  March 28, 2009

Writers confernce almost here

The 2nd Annual Rochester Writers' Conference on Saturday, October 3,  has presentations available for fiction and non-fiction writers. It is for both new and published authors. Hurry, and you might get the special $99 rate.


Chip St. Clair, author of The Butterfly Garden, is giving the keynote. You get to select four of 12 presentations at this Michigan event in the Detroit area.

Column on 'amazing' feat provides answer, connects Michigan and Maine

Sweet. Brad Flory of the Jackson Citizen Patriot wrote "Girlfriend's strength proves to be lifesaving,"  about a 115-pound female carrying a 160-pound male after an accident. It's a touching story that gets better with a comment left by someone else involved with this effort. The couple are from Michigan and the event took place in Maine. The Internet scores.

Advance addiction fed by Alabama lawsuit

I can't stop. It's my new addiction - following the retirement virus spreading through publications owned by the Newhouses and uncovering writers and photographers who suck me into their blogs with a lure of details on something about something related to Advance Publications and Conde Nast.

I watch the Live Traffic and the Recent Readers feeds, study the stats from Feedburner, Google Analytics, and StatsCounter, and wonder who you are. (Oh please, Spring Lake and Farmington share who you really are.)

I envy the cities with alternative news organizations or people who are keeping an eye on the big media.

Sometimes, I worry. Is this blogging erecting a barrier to future employment? Am I contributing to the ruin of my Advance Publication pension? Is this an unhealthy obsession with a former employer? How many more will run, unwilling to acknowledge a relationship on Facebook or Google?

Still, I can't stop and get almost giddy when I find that the Poynter Institute has posted a copy of  Howard Bronson's filing against the Mobile Press-Register, Advance Publications, Mark Newhouse and "fictitious defendants one through one hundred persons."

Isn't that delicious - the workings of the Newhouses and their organizations are so complex that even Bronson, who became publisher in 1992, can't name the individuals and organizations he wants to sue. Instead, his lawyers seek through the discovery process the names of people and businesses behind the decisions that led to the rescinding of a long-time job pledge, the request for his retirement, and more. For now, Bronson sues:

 "FICTITIOUS DEFENDANTS ONE )THROUGH ONE HUNDRED, persons, ) firms, corporations, partnerships, or ) other legal entities whose names are ) presently unknown to Plaintiff but who ) have participated in, have conspired with, ) and/or has aided and abetted others in ) committing the violations of law alleged ) in this Complaint."

Is that a hint that Bronson was surprised with Advance Alabama/Mississippi, which was announced when Bronson's replacement was named?  Or that Bronson's retirement was planned before Aug. 10, the day he was first asked to retire since his replacement, Ricky Mathews, left the Sun Herald July 21..)

Yet, I have to ask why Bronson is surprised after reading the details of his recruitment into the Newhouse organization. The effort lasted from September 1991 to February 1992, and designed to replace then-publisher William Hearin who was allowed to stay on with a title and some sort of job until his death in 2001. I'm reminded of the person surprised when someone who cheated on someone to be with her continues the cycle.

In a similar way, I am surprised why anyone believed the lifetime job pledge was written in stone, written in forever.

In the court filing, Howard Bronson explained why he wanted assurances that the longtime Newhouse job security pledge - "no full time, non represented employee would be laid off because of economic circumstances or technological change" - was staying if he accepted an offer to run the Mobile Press-Register in Alabama.

"Bronson was concerned that there would be a family upheaval leading to the implosion of the companies or a takeover by a public company, as he saw with the Ewing family which owned newspapers in Shreveport and Monroe, Louisiana. Bronson explained that once a family-owned company gets to the point of being run by the second and third generations (the Newhouse companies were just getting into the third generation), the estate/income taxes start to eat at these generations which leads to family friction and ultimately collapse. Donald Newhouse assured Bronson that the Newhouse family had the tax issues worked out for three more generations and that what happened to the Ewings would not happen to the Newhouses."

The filing says the pledge was important to Bronson as his family was leaving long-time roots, he was 55 years old with a career in newspapers and the pledge allowed him - not an age - to decide when to retire.

Actually, although Howard Bronson probably got a few more years out of the business by leaving Gannet for Newhouse I think Bronson was right to worry about the next generation of Newhouses as generations change priorities for businesses. Starting a business or organization takes a lot of energy, but the founders are eager to spend the time, the money and energy because they are passionate about what they have started. But as the leadership of a business or organization hands down the passion often becomes diluted.

Consider this: Do you expect your offspring to like your music enough to stand in line for tickets to a concert? (Actually, do you stand in line anymore or just hit redial on the cell or reload on the computer screen?)

In many ways, the Newhouses are stuck. There's no market to sell a chain of newspapers so the privately owned company changes to reflect want the new generation of owners.

In many ways, those who work for a Newhouse newspaper, or a CondeNast magazine or an Advance Publications unit are stuck. They will find little in the 45-page document filed in Alabama to calm the fear that more layoffs and restructurings are coming.

When I read in the lawsuit: "In fact, the Newhouses viewed Bronson as having too much integrity to be their hatchet man" I wonder if the upcoming charges with the ending of the job pledge are behind the Advance retirement virus.

Did Victor Hanson III decide to leave the Birmingham News and Fred Stickel the Oregonian rather then watch the dismantling of their products become the next Ann Arbor News or Flint Journal?

Bronson says he believes the pledge is so important to recruiting and retaining employees that when he was told in July 2009 that an Aug. 5 announcement would notify employees the pledge would be gone in February he "questioned the legality, morality and wisdom of their plan."

Bronson believes he did the right things, listing items such as changes that led to the "voluntary buyout of approximately 36 full-time positions and, with additional belt-tightening, the newspaper’s full-time employment was down approximately 51 positions compared to the same time in 2008 and 63 positions compared
to the 2009 budget; all this while adding substantial work for the Huntsville and Pensacola newspapers. For all this, the Newhouses were giving Bronson extra kudos."

The passage reminds me of words from a boss: "We'll take as much as you're willing to give" when he recognized how close I was to burning out physically and mentally far earlier then I did.

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I have written about Howard Bronson before, including his lawsuit, "retirement" and some speculation about his leaving. I also wrote about him when the newspaper picked up some extra business.

Or maybe you wanted more about what's up in Advance's Ann Arbor efforts, or The Grand Rapids Press orThe Birmingham News or The Cleveland Plain Dealer or The Oregonian.  I need to index the rest of the entries.

Mlive.com, other Advance Internet sites roll out community features

There are non-working bells and whistles - links, too - but Advance Internet rolled out its community-building  upgrade on its sites this weekend on mlive.com, cleveland.com and eight other sites.

You - you being anyone who contributes words, video or photos to a site - can create profiles, follow people, recommend a post (see the illustration below).

Plus, comments are now threaded so you can directly reply to one in a long list.You can even subscribe to a profile or  the comments.

There are also "Popular Tags" boxes on many blogs, like the one I show that came from Runners Finish Line.

You  possibly use an Open Id account to log-in. (Updated 9/21/09 - You can.)

Technically, the upgrade is a move to Movable Type 4.2. I thought we were moving closer to the unveiling, once expected in Flint in June, because of a recent column on al.com.

Joey Kennedy, who has tackled  the roughness of anonymous commenting recently, shared some of the social networking features coming to al.com and the rest of the AdvanceInternet sites.

Actually, most of the detals come from Matt Cuthbert, a web producer for AdvanceInternet. He had offered up some smart advice earlier:

"I try not to let dumb comments get to me. It's hard to weed them out, but in my mind, the smart commenters recognize the dumb ones for what they are."

Alabama got  peak at the new tools  in late July.I got a peak when a potential employer found my name attached to some community-building tools at silive.com, one of the sites in the Advance family. We correctly guessed the work was left from my years of mlive.com work via The Flint Journal.

Cuthbert expects the ability to create profiles  and the ability to display your real name will improve comments.

We hope, too, that the changes will help dissuade some of the spammers and trolls (though we're not foolish -- we know they'll always be there) because the user profiles will build reputation. If you're always a loudmouth jerk in the comments, people can see it on your page. If that's the sort of reputation someone builds, they won't find themselves with many people listening

Plus, you may discover new things.

"By following the activity of your favorite people, you'll be able to weed out some of the garbage. You'll discover new things that you might not otherwise have seen, based on the recommendations of your peers."

Here's more of his explanation from that column:

"A simple way to explain it is that we're adding social networking to the site. In that sense, we'll have features similar to Facebook or Twitter where you'll be able to follow the activities of your favorite newspaper columnists, beat writers, photographers, etc., and also other users. So if you think AcidReign is a sharp commenter, you can keep up with everything he/she says. Likewise, other users can follow your activity as well."

"But we're not trying to be Facebook. Far from it. We're simply adopting elements of social networking that will hopefully make your experience on al.com better."

I wanted to see if the same user name will work across all of the sites. Unfortunately, I don't remember tge password for the login Advance chose for me and the password recovery system wasn't working Saturday night. I've got two other user names, but both only get me errors. I also wanted to see about using my Google, AIM or Livejournal accounts, options explained in the Frequently Asked Questions.  section.

The upgrade is started at the following Advance Publications Advance Internet sites al.com, lehighvalleylive.com,   masslive.com,    mlive.com, nj.com,  nola.com, oregonlive.com, pennlive.com, silive.com, syracuse.com, 

So, I'll try to be patient as the sites hurry to change the generic links to the site links in the how-to pieces and get the rest of the updates pieces working. It's a long overdue improvement.

Anyone want to guess which print-affiliated staff person will put up a photo with their profile first?
(let's make it more of a challenge - the first print-affiliated staff person who is NOT the online person too. That leaves out Bernie Eng in midMichigan, and and Brian Cubbison  (with his two profiles) in Syracuse and Jerry Casey in Oregon and Lynn Cunningham in New Orleans, among others.)

You will find  Donnie Webb and Dave Rahme over at syracuse.com

Always more to say: Following up on Stickel, Cahir, Bronson

A marching band, present and past employees and even some folks from the neighborhood showed up to say good-bye to retiring Fred Stickel in Portland, Oregon. The surprise party for the 87-year-old publisher of the Oregonian included cake and confetti and lots of words. Follow those links and you'll know more of the story that I started to tell in a post.

One employee posted: "Under his leadership, we Oregonian employees have had it damn good -- much better than most other journalists in this country. I truly believe he has fought for us, has protected us and has given us the best he could."

I encourage you to read an article about one of the last gatherings honoring the journalist turned Marine. It starts "Bill Cahir had a gift for using words as weapons of mass persuasion." It's a nice follow to some of my posts on the former Advance Publications reporter.

For a followup to Ex-publisher sues newspaper, Advance Publications read Details on an ex-publisher's lawsuit and some pending cuts in Alabama are the focus of a post on Lagniappe. Rob Holbert says a 46-page document explains Howard Bronson was offered six months salary and tells of a speech Bronson was to give to employees regarding the revocation of the pledge.

Ex-publisher sues newspaper, Advance Publications; says forced retirement, pledge change wrong

Howard Bronson, publisher of the Press-Register in Mobile, Alabama, until a month ago is suing the newspaper and its owners.

Published reports, including one on al.com, say that Bronson, 72, claims owner Advance Publications was wrong to tell him last month he was retiring in two weeks.

Bronson's suit, filed Friday in Mobile, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against defendants including Mark Newhouse, a member of the Newhouse family that bought the paper in 1966.

Bronson said Newhouse officials in July 2009 reneged on a longstanding job security pledge for the paper's employees (staffs told in August) and in August told him that he had two weeks to leave.

Bronson's unhappiness with the furloughs and other changes at Advance newspapers has been reported in a number of blogs and Tweets.

For example, one blog post included:

According to inside sources, there have been a couple of developments related to the company’s economic climate. First, publisher Howard Bronson apparently told employees at a company meeting that if he’s forced to do furloughs again he’ll opt for straight pay cuts equivalent to the loss of 10 working days. Earlier this year it was announced that P-R employees will have to take furloughs without pay. Whether this new method of cutting pay will come into play is unclear.

 An article about Bronson's retirement on Al.com said that he  joined the Press-Register as publisher in 1992. He supervised the design and construction of the newspaper's present printing plant and office building and introduced the newspaper's Sound Off column, as well as the practice of printing corrections on page one.

The article on Bronson's retirement included this quote:

"The Press-Register has become over the past 17 years one of the best-read newspapers in the country. This is because of the dedicated and hard-working employees, who over these years have made me proud to serve as their publisher. My wife Dorsey and our family fell in love with Mobile, a magnificent, 300-year-old city, and we have put down roots, making it our permanent home. We look forward to the rich future Mobile has earned."

It's hard to leave.


Update 9/21/09: Poynter Online has posted a copy of the lawsuit.  Also see More to say for more about the lawsuit.

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I recently wrote about another lawsuit involving Advance Publications, an Oregonian employee who wanted a buyout. I also have written about Howard Bronson before, including his retirement and some speculation about his leaving. I also wrote about him when the newspaper picked up some extra business.

Oregonian employee sues, says Advance Publications wrong to deny buyout

A long-time, but not long enough, Oregonian employee heads to court to argue he deserved a buyout from the Newhouse-owned Advance Publications just days after top-guy announced he's ending his 30-plus year stint as publisher.

The ad clerk had 24.82 years but needed 25, according to the lawsuit. There's more involved - a 10 percent paycut, a change in the company pension plan, promises from a former boss - according to the third-generation employee. He wants the buyout offer and more.

In Lawsuit claims wrongful denial of Oregonian buyout we learn The Oregonian wrongfully denied veteran employee James Bixler the company's 2008 buyout offer, a lawsuit against the company claims.

Willamette Week's James Pitkin uncovered the suit, which largely centers on one's reading of this phrase, with The Oregonian's underline:

All salespeople with less than 25 years of service.

That is one item in a list of people to be excluded from the buyout offer. Both parties appear to agree that Bixler was employed in sales for approximately 24 years and 10 months.

But Bixler contends that his service to the company includes his work as a paperboy, which began in the 1970s. He also alleges that the 25-year exemption was crafted specifically to exclude him from the offer.

Willamette Week has PDFs of the lawsuit, the buyout offer and an email to the boss on its web site.

I wrote about Fred Stickley's plan to exit and mentioned The Oregonian before in posts - links on the right. I accepted a buyout offer in 2007 and left the Flint Journal, an Advance Publication in Michigan, in May 2008.

Going back: Happiness better then safety

At least three journalists are returning to Advance Publications newsrooms.

Former Star Ledger political columnist and Montclair resident TOM MORAN, who quit the paper in February 2008 for a safe job in PR, is back at the Ledger. The tip came from Journalism gets one back over on the Baristanet.

She refers to "After safe exit, a journalist returns" in the New Yrok Times, where David Carr talks about ways Moran's mood changed while he worked outside the news business and interviewed the editor who hired Moran back. “We are missing a lot after last year’s departures, but one of the bigger things we were missing was a political columnist during a very overheated gubernatorial race," Jim Willse is quoted as saying.

At NJ Voices, Linda Stamato welcomed the political columnist back. Moran's got a post up in NJ Voices - reminding us there are seven weeks until the NJ governor's race is settled.

In Michigan, JENNIFER JORDAN KILDE has returned to The Flint Journal. I first noticed her staff status on a print report on the people who guessed the weight of a Dale Chihuly chandelier in the Flint Institute of Arts. She recently confirmed her return as a features writer.

Also back at The Journal is TERI BANAS, who met her husband John Foren when both were at the newspaper. She's been back in the suburbs but also has had some Flint datelines.

Also going back is another Advance newspaper. The Oregonian is going to give readers more "local daily news" as part of a "strategy by the newspaper to get back to giving readers daily news and information that's more specifically targeted to their part of the world -- where they live, work, have kids in schools."

Also promised are pages specifically targeted to specific cities on OregonLive.com

Two more publishers leaving Newhouse newspapers

At least one reader of this blog must have smiled when learning that two more publishers in the Advance Publications chain are retiring.

Back on Aug. 29 I wrote about some moving at the Newhouse family's Alabama properties, including the leaving of a 72-year-old publisher. Anonymous wrote:

"72 year old Editor? In Portland, the Publisher is 87? I see a theme here...I understand loving the business, but are these the people we are counting on to take us into the future? to embrace change and new technology? Time to hand over the reigns was about 20 years ago."

Fred Stickel, 87, announced last week that he's done with the Oregonian on Sept. 18. His 59-year-old son Patrick F, president of the Oregonian since 1993, will serve as interim publisher but will not seek the permanent post he's long been expected to get.

Today, we learned the younger Victor Hanson III will retire as president and publisher of The Birmingham News. Hanson, 53, told employees Dec. 1 is his last day. He is the fourth generation to serve as publisher during the 100 years his family has been associated with the newspaper.

There's no mention of a replacement but last month oversight of the Birmingham News was part of a new role in Alabama. Ricky Mathews was named president of Advance Alabama/Mississippi the same day he became publisher and president of the Mobile Press-Register, the Baldwin Register and the Mississippi Press.

The Birmingham Business Journal said that under Hanson’s leadership, the News switched from evening publication to morning with the now-defunct Birmingham Post-Herald. It purchased the remaining years on the Post-Herald’s joint operating agreement in 2005 and moved into a new downtown building in 2006.

Fred Stickel came to Oregon in 1967 as general manager, moved up to president in 1972 and became publisher in 1975. In The Oregonian article, Stickel said he first thought about retiring at age 65 but Donald Newhouse, president of the private Advance Publications, had talked him out of retiring several times. (Stickel worked with Donald at another Advance newspaper - The Jersey Journal - 58 years ago.)

An Associated Press article quotes Tim Gleason, dean of the University of Oregon's School of Journalism, as saying Stickel is one of the few American publishers with so long a tenure, and that he Stickel was a force for newsroom innovation.

"The Oregonian is and remains today one of the best regional newspapers in the United States, and he's the publisher who built that."

That gets debated throughout Oregon, including on a post with a headline of Buying himself out.

Like most news organizations, circulation dropped during Stickel's time and he's had to implement buyouts, pay cuts, furloughs and other cutbacks. In February, Oregonian employees lose their long-time job pledge.

Oregonian writer Richard Read said Stickel also warned more is coming.

"This newspaper's going to have to restructure. It's too big for the revenue base."

Buying himself out also is where you can read that Stickel is retiring now "to be sure to get my retirement tributes in the paper before it folds" and learn which Michigan resident blogger Jack Bog thinks should replace Stickel.

Check out the comments for more opinions about the Oregonian's place in the community, the Newhouse's Internet strategy and why OregonLive disabled comments on the announcement.

Williamette Week published the announcement sent to all employees.

The Oregonian's editorial board did a piece Saturday - "Fred Stickel, uncommon leader." Among other things, it mentioned he appointed the newspaper's first African American editor, William A. Hilliard, in 1986, and the first woman editor, Sandy Rowe, in 1993.

The Oregonian's Editor Blog also had announced the retirement. No byline as it is almost word for word the press release.

Stickel's age as a hindering factor to success today is suggested in a comment on an article on the retirement by the Portland Business Journal, another publication in the Advance, Newhouse family. Guess they didn't know he is on Facebook, (I suspect he joined to ensure he sees timely photos of his grandkids. His wife died last year. Her obituary listed survivors as daughters Daisy Medici and Bridget Otto; sons, Fred Jr., Patrick, Geoffrey and James; 10 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.)

Despite pressures of the Internet, Stickel is optimistic that the Oregonian will survive.

(Update: The 72-year-old publisher says he was forced out at the Mobile Press-Register and has sued.)

The Oregonian's publisher, Fred Stickel, announces his retirement

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I've written about The Birmingham News from time to time. The Oregonian pops up too.

Digital media course a bargain for journalists in Michigan

Gee, I think someone has noticed the high rate of unemployment for Michigan journalists. A second course offering folks a chance to update their skills is set for October.

This one is from the Society of Newspaper Designers and includes an ex-Mlive.com person among the instructors.

Yes, Michigan State University graduate and Mlive vet Shawn Smith will return to the East Lansing campus Saturday, Oct. 10, as part of the lineup for SND’s Digital Media Quick Course.

The description says

"You’ll learn about the best ideas for Web site design, free online tools, the Detroit Free Press’ new e-reader platform and hands-on techniques for using social media, mobile and other internet tools to bring your online content to life."

It will set you back $50 but you'll learn:

• Where the sites are
• Where the tools are
• Where the readers are
• Where the connections are

Karl Gude, the ex-Newsweek journalist now teaching at MSU put the session together (with help, of course). He is looking for folks to participate in a "lightning round" of presentations of innovations at your company or organization. Send him at email: gudek over at msu.edu

You can register for the course online - head to the SND post and follow the registration link.

I'm still waiting for details on the free session from the Online News Association.

Quick: Answer by Monday on 'Parachute Training' for journalists in Michigan

The Online News Association, AnnArbor.com and Poynter Institute will offer a free, day-long training session on new media skills for journalists, citizen journalists and bloggers in October in Ann Arbor.

The program is part of ONA's Parachute Training Initiative, funded by the Gannett Foundation.

The date and location will be announced soon. Meanwhile, ONA is inviting people who might be interested in the training to take a short, online survey to identify what training is needed in this land of formerly employed journalists.

I did the survey - and discovered some great reminders of the digital skills I have acquired over the years. Another question reminded me I need to revise my business plan, especially the five-year part. An offer to help ONA returned a confidence-building reply from a woman I met last year while stuffing bags, checking in conference and job fair attendees, and opportunity-solving at ONA's annual conference in Washington DC. If the date is right, perhaps you will see me at this FREE event.

AnnArbor.com also wrote about the training program.

Or go directly to the survey.

Sources: Tony Dearing at AnnArbor.com and Online News Association.

Laboring over what's next

So, how's your Labor Day? It's not a very happy holiday for most in Michigan, where an AP report says the state will lose its one millionth job early next year. To be fair, most of the article focuses on how the state is turning to entrepreneurs to create new jobs. There's even a couple of Flint businesses mentioned and the University of Michigan-Flint program that helped.

The family broke tradition and celebrated Labor Day a day early this year. We did it so some of us could rest up for the upcoming move to Tennessee. Add in another stop to see doctors who want to make sure my daughter is healing well enough to move on. (I think the doctors face a losing battle there - my daughter wants to return to work NOW.)

I get that work ethic. I'm still struggling with being jobless at age 55 even as my head knows many dream of early retirement, even as I can dream of possibilities.

A local organization is looking for someone with a passion for graphic or web design or playing with a digital camera ... someone who wants to work with the mission in the communications department.

Sounds like the perfect opportunity for someone who has created or managed at least 45 web sites and discussion boards, tweeted, blogged, Facebook'd, etc. But despite the offer of a cubicle and cake on Fridays, I haven't jumped at this chance. I would volunteer, but the organization prefers interns.

I've been struggling with why I'm uncomfortable applying for an internship but am willing to volunteer.

I think internships can be a great way to add to your resume and I admired the laid-off TVGuide editor who became an unpaid intern at wowOwow.com, the Women on the Web site aimed at those over 40. She wanted to learn some new media skills. I like the WOW program even.

I know I would learn some new things. And, since I am willing to work for free as a volunteer, it certainly isn''t the pay that stops me from applying for the internship.

A post by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who learned unpaid interns are illegal. helped clear up some of my confusion.

Cuban wanted to "assemble a group of unpaid interns that would acquire video, write game reports, track unique stats, do interviews, interact with fans, and then compile all of this incremental media and provide it free to any and every outlet."

But his human resource department discovered U.S. Labor Department guidelines say unpaid interns can not provide anything of value to a company. There's more on Cuban's post, much of what seems to come from this blog post. I can't make the pdf link work or find the specific rules outlawing unpaid internships on the labor department site.

Still perhaps that's my problem - I want to provide value, not make some employee's job harder.

Or is it that I still equate value with a paycheck, unwilling to believe on some level that 40 plus years of earnings clears the way to explore another way of living.

Or perhaps I'm still in search of what it is that I'm supposed to do with this life that has not gone the way I planned. With my daughter's move out and on, the unexpected caretaker role is over.

Let me leave with you three happier links, proof that social media can indeed help you get a job:

• How Twitter saved my career ... and my life
• Social media maven jump-starting PR in hard-times Flint
• The cat's out of the bag - I've got a new gig

Plus, Shawn Smith ended his three-month avoidance of New Media Bytes by sharing how to determine your next move in this time of furloughs, layoffs and paycuts. (Shawn left his senior producer job at mlive.com to become a self-employed entrepreneur on June 5.)

I'm off resting, supervising, resting, surprising, driving and resting.

Keeping story offline keeps story alive

A writer who focuses on the impact of the Internet on global politics asks if Conde Nast is suffering the Streisand effect with its decision to not keep GQ"Vladimir Putin's Dark Rise to Power, out of Russian or online.

Evgeny Morozov links together most of the significant postings on the decision. He wisely notes that most of us would not even remember the article without the controversy, much the way Barbara Streisand's effort to forbid publication of an aerial photo brought more attention then the original photo would have.

Over at the Atlantic, Julian Sanchez tells us that self-censorship went out with denim vests. It's an interesting read crediting the editors who tipped NPR to the action, but questioning why they listened to their legal advice. Perhaps, the editors like getting regular paychecks in this landscape of furloughs and layoffs. You've already got McKinsey & Co.looking at Conde Nast for possible job cuts and savings plus how many magazines are hiring these days.

Mother Jones also talks of the Conde Nast Conspiracy.

GQ and Wired are two subscriptions that still pour into our house, purchased long ago when employees of newspapers branch of the Advance Publications got a deep discount. I read Wired cover to cover and occasionally drool over the ads and lifestyle perpetuated in GQ. If the GQ stays out long enough, I get sucked into an article or two.

"The art of getting lost" intrigued me enough to move past the illustration of a woman's backside. The title reminded me of my mother's tendency to get lost and her ability to turn the prolonged trip into an adventure so I can easily answer the author, David Amsden, when he asks what do we lose, if no one is ever lost in the age of GPS. We lose the chance to explore the unmapped roads and dive into the afternoons of unplanned stopped.

In these days of the Internet, we lose the ability to keep information quiet once it has been released.

Update: Burying the lede, and everything else*

Remember the post about GQ's decision to bury the article that was critical of Vladimir Putin? Simon Owens who blogs at Bloggasm stopped by to let me know he interviewed Gawker's Nick Denton about its decision to run a Russian translation of the story on its site.

Denton talks about copyright and why he thinks the Conde Nast wing of the Advance Publications family opted from posting the article.

New j-school class: Investigative Twitter and other tales

Did you see this breaking alert from the Chicago Tribune intern who will teach a course focused on Twitter?

Gawker wrote about the class in Twitter 'Investigative' Journalism 101 and even included a copy of the syllabus.

The class actually is "Journalism 520: Digital Editing: From Breaking News to Tweets."

A news release says DePaul also is offering:

• Niche Journalism: Examines the explosion in magazine and trade publication journalism that targets specific audiences with content designed exclusively for them.

• Reporting for Converged Newsrooms: Equips journalists with ability to assemble and produce stories that can be published and distributed across integrated media platforms.

• Backpack Reporting: Gives students the practical experience they need in news gathering and distribution within the converged landscape of electronic newsgathering.
  

• Entrepreneurial Journalism: Focuses on how journalism students can create their own place on the Internet and become known as content specialists in particular niche areas.

Speaking of journalism classes, former Flint Journal editor John Foren stepped back into the classroom at Michigan State University. He's teaching computer-assisted journalism. The three-credit, 400 level is described as including "Electronic information gathering using online databases, videotex, bulletin boards, and public records. Research and reporting strategy. Development of computerized news gathering."He's already been called professor.

Speaking of jobs, John also wrote recently for The Center for Michigan - Connecting students to good jobs that DO exist. (He left his editor post July 31.)

See, everything is connected.

Burying the lede, and everything else*

Gary Scott posts about a Conde Nast article missing from the web site in Burying the lede, and everything else*:

"David Folkenflik had a fascinating and highly disturbing piece today on Morning Edition about a story written by reporter Scott Anderson for GQ that was buried so deep it's been scrubbed from the Internet. The story was entitled 'Vladimir Putin's Dark Rise to Power.' From NPR's web story:

[Anderson's] investigative piece, published in the September American edition of GQ, challenges the official line on a series of bombings that killed hundreds of people in 1999 in Russia. It profiles a former KGB agent who spoke in great detail and on the record, at no small risk to himself. But instead of trumpeting his reporting, GQ's corporate owners went to extraordinary lengths to try to ensure no Russians will ever see it.

The corporate owners don't seem to have any concerns over the accuracy of the story or with Anderson's safety. An email from Jerry S. Birenz, a lawyer for Conde Nast, the corporate owner of GQ, indicates financial motives were at play:

[Birenz] ordered that the article could not be posted to the magazine's Web site. No copies of the American edition of the magazine could be sent to Russia or shown in any country to Russian government officials, journalists or advertisers. Additionally, the piece could not be published in other Conde Nast magazines abroad, nor publicized in any way.

Scott also reported that Gawker is working on a Russian translation of the GQ story and has scanned the article.

Also reporting on the missing article was the New York Times

Newspaper gets crime-fighting role

Gawker - hey, it's a fun read - and the New York Times Gadget blog were chatting about using a newspaper bag to protect your laptop. The $85 bags are called "the perfect repellent for criminally-minded urban digerati, much like the classical music piped outside convenience stores to discourage teenaged loiterers."

But over on the manufacturer's site I found this picture of a smaller bag against crime. The Barcelona design firm Mitemite also has a duvet cover with crime scene positions drawn out and lazy Sunday pants.

For much less, you can own one of my daughter's cancer-fighting purses made from Flint Journals. Meanwhile, she's done with radiation - and heading next week to Tennessee, where the job she left in December waits. (Translation: Blogging may be light.)

Here are some of the purses; more on Facebook. If you're interested, we can arrange delivery. She's even willing to make more if there's a special newspaper you want incorporated. (Translation: She hates owing money, but at least only her college loan is charging interest. I hate that she owes but we ended up concentrating on getting her cancer-free instead of doing another fund-raiser. Maybe later. Maybe not. Let's see how the payment plans work out. Or when I get my energy back.)

New GSUSA guidelines will help girls use latest tools safely

Tripping through the Internet has uncovered more evidence that some Girl Scouts are serious about moving faster.

Girl Scouts of the USA just sent out updated guidelines on the Internet, recognizing that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can help with product sales. That's a great follow to the launch of the lmk.girlscouts.org and the reaction to one girl's cookie website.

A woman whose daughter is involved with Girl Scouts gives a good example of why youth groups try different ways to raise funds. We're all different. The Evil Eye Cafe: A subscription in begging post explains why the annual magazine drive is a favorite of hers:

"Come to find out that I personally love the magazine sale because a giant pile of product doesn't end up stacked my dining room waiting to be delivered.

"If I have to be stuck in the non-stop world of fundraising (which I am), then at the very least I would like to support the one product that inconveniences me the least."

It's true that fund-raisers for organizations like Girl Scouts do take a lot of time and space for the adults involved. I do not miss the days of figuring out how many boxes of cookies will fit into what vehicle or whose garage.

Done right, though, the sales efforts are a big plus for girls. They can help the girls gain financial literacy as they learn the reality of the cost of manufacturing goods, how to set individual and group goals and conduct sales campaigns. The product sales through Girl Scouts also give girls practice in running a business, a good skill set to develop as more people are seeing their own business the best way to stay employed.

The new Girl Scout how-to manual, Volunteer Essentials, also pulls the sales efforts into its keys to leadership programming theme. These sales let the girls:

• Discover a strong sense of self and her values as she makes decisions about money-earning, customer-management, and so on.

• Connect with their group members as they set goals. Then, the girls can meet families, mentors and business owners who have worked as accounting managers, event planners, public relations specialists, and graphic designers to learn more about the roles and how those roles can lead to a successful group sale.

• Take action as they learn to map neighborhood business and other resources that can help them consider community service needs. Girls use product sale money to make a difference in their communities, whether through a take-action project or a philanthropic donation.

I think it well help volunteers learn the sales are more then a fund-raiser. Yet, I recently was surprised how important product sales are to my local council. (Councils are charted to run the national program in specific areas. The annual membership fee - now $12 - goes directly to the national organization, leaving the local council to raise funds through product sales, grants, and other means.)

I've been away from the nuts and bolts of my local Girl Scout organization for awhile but recently volunteered to help produce an introduction event for new troop leaders. I was surprised when I thought product sale profits funded about 30 percent of my local council. I was shocked to learn it actually is 61 percent.

Fortunately, it looks like girls and adults working with them will be able to use social media tools to improve the efficiency of sales. At least that's my reading of a document just released by the Girl Scouts of USA.

The latest update to Safety-Wise, the guide to keeping all girls involved in Girl Scouts safe, carefully outlines what girls and adults can do on the Internet as far as product sales or money-earning activities. The revision says:

"Girls can use e‐mail and age‐appropriate Internet functions as online marketing tools to let family, friends, and former customers know about the sale and collect indications of interest."

The new guidelines also allow adult-supervised e‐mail and texting as a marketing tool, and/or use of a customer commitment tool (such as an e‐card or blind e‐mail provided by product vendors) to communicate with family, friends, and former customers.

There are, of course, restrictions including:

• No broadcast e‐mails to parental membership lists or place‐of employment e‐mail directories.
• Only the magazine vendors can accept online payments.
  
• Girls are not to use their personal e-mail address or post their address or phone number.
• Sales need to be limited to the ZIP codes of the girl's council (relatives are an exception.)

The online girlscoutcookies.org site will direct potential customers to the closest council which must have a way for girls to benefit from the sale.

There's also detailed advice on using Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, YouTube and Myspace, with a reminder to check out lmk.girlscouts.org for its social network safety ideas.

The 11-page update includes an updated GSUSA Online Safety Pledge for girls to sign, plus new guidelines for creating content online whether its on an independent site or Facebook or a similar site.

Progress.

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It's a love-hate relationship (both ways) so I often write about Girl Scouts. A few recent posts are how some councils are on Facebook and some on Twitter.

Scooped by site when content keeps flowing?

Wow. Talk about being watched. Nieman Journalism Lab over at Harvard University came out Wednesday with another post about AnnArbor.com.

Joshua Benton suggested that the site architecture meant a top story didn't get top billing all day. Tuesday, Gina Chen wrote about what bloggers added to the site.

Benton wrote about this story: a business connection between the University of Michigan’s football coach Rich Rodriguez and a booster banned from another college football program.

The problem: Benton noted that the standard view has the newest postings floating to the top so this story was soon out of sight. A commenter reminded Benton that clicking the most popular button gets the story to the top again.

Ben Cohen, who interviewed chief content Tony Dearing for his Nieman post In Ann Arbor, designing a news site that doesn’t look like a news site, reminded us that keeping top stories top of mind was in the works.

Enjoy the post (with a site snapshot) and the comments. Don't forget to check the AnnArbor.com story.

Besides Chen's Community voices in Ann Arbor: a glimpse of local journalism’s future? on Neiman's site, Martin Langeveld wrote about the site in AnnArbor.com: A new look for local news