A new newspaper player in Texas

 I was wondering who Cherry Road was, seeing them advertising for several openings on the Texas Press Association website.

And, this is them, by national newspaper presence.

OK, here in Tex-ass? In my area, Sherman-Denison used to be Gannett-Craphouse. Can't remember who owned Van Alstyne and Melissa-Anna. Waxahachie and Midlo used to be American Consolidated Media. So, at least some of their pickups are papers being dumped by midsize and larger players.

They appear to have some concept of "clustering," which the companies they bought from often didn't.

That said, Cherry Road Media is just one division of a much larger company. They're big IT folks, if companies like Oracle and DocuSign are listed as partners, even if there's some puffery behind that. They're big on data.

So, what will this clustering from this new owner involved? Good question. Expect a bigger push to online, and data mining and targeting as part of that, even more than a Gannett-Craphouse did, perhaps?

US media misinformation about Russia-Ukraine media censorship

This is Sunshine Month in the media world. And, in the past, at various newspapers of mine, I've had no problems running outside guest columns. Often, the Texas Press Association serves something up via its news service.

Well, this year Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, was in the bullpen. And, I took a pass. Here's why (couldn't find this year's column linked at FOIFT, so this is via TPA:

As Ukrainians fight and die for democracy, Russia is arresting its own citizens who are protesting the war and threatening prison for journalists who report the truth. 

The attempt to crush a democratic government and stop the flow of information comes as American news organizations and transparency advocates observe Sunshine Week from March 13-19, a time for highlighting government openness and a free press. 

Certainly, let’s commemorate the freedom of information we enjoy – and constantly strive to improve – in the United States. But it’s imperative to contrast it with what’s happening around the world and understand how devastating it is when a government allows only its own tightly controlled version of events to trickle out. 

Earlier this month, Vladimir Putin’s government changed its domestic media laws to make it a crime to distribute what it deemed to be “false news” about the war. Doing so could mean up to 15 years behind bars. Many news organizations pulled journalists out of the country or shut their operations; the government also cut off access to major social media sites, the Neiman Journalism Lab reported in its thorough rundown on the severe restrictions. 

The censorship amounts to an “information dark age,” according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which called on journalists everywhere to stand in opposition. 

Thwarting free speech isn’t only happening in Russia. We simply need to think back to the Olympics a few weeks ago to remember the spotlight on China’s crackdowns on dissent and free expression and its control of internet content. And, of course, there are other examples.

As I tweeted to her and FOIFT, Ukraine as well as Russia has engaged in media censorship. And, Ukraine as well as Russia did it before the start of the war. Don't believe me? Here.

Beyond that, in years past, via what WAS and IS on the FOIFT website? Shannon has never mentioned Israeli censorship of Palestinian media, attacking even US media when it thinks it can get away with it, and more. 

None of this is meant to condone Putin's invasion. Nor are my other observations meant to condone Palestine's own suppression of media and many other things. Nor are these observations meant as any "moral equivalence."

Rather, it's to say Ms. Shannon should be more inclusive in her international examples or else not use any. And, that's not even to discuss misinformation by omission at the national level being part of maintaining "access" or even cheerleading.

American media cannot go around fact-checking when, by omission if not commission, it commits errors like this itself. And, given the Iraq War, it can't make mistakes like these and not have to face the music on allegations of being cheerleaders for the government.

Aggie administrators kill print version of The Battalion

Innnteresting, and per the Trib, apparently was done with ZERO forewarning to journo students, or input by them.

President M. Katherine Banks (always distrust people who go by first initial, middle name, until they prove otherwise!) made the call herself, according to A&M's dean of students. Banks claimed that, per a 2021 recommendation to bring back a journalism department there (dead since 2003), it was inline with focusing on digital journalism in general.

Problem? That journalism department ain't back yet, and who knows if it will be. A working group first discussed that as a possibility, nothing more, the day before Banks killed the print paper. Besides, Battalion staff note that most ad money for them still comes from print. Oops.

Good journalism students there are of course, and rightly, journalistically skeptical, even suspicious, about the official line on this.

How long will people still subscribe to the Gainesville Register?

 I had teed up another post about the Texas paper, but eventually deleted it, as I decided it was too nitpicky.

Not this time.

I don't know everything about the newspaper world, but I do know this much. 

You should NEVER lead with a weather story, and by weather story, I mean prediction about a future storm.

Weather damages story? Absolutely.

Weather prediction story? NEVER at a non-daily, and that was true even pre-Internet.

It's true in spades today, especially when due to a mix of numerous factors, exact paths for a winter storm can change dramatically.

Less than 72 hours before the Gainesville Register's Tuesday, Feb. 1, issue was on store stands, and just 48 hours or so before it was put to bed, the forecast for the Texoma area was predicting single-digit lows and several inches of snow. By the time I got said paper in my hands, Witter Storm Landon for this area still had some snow, and now ice, but all low temperatures above 12 degrees. So, on that part, as I look at Weather Underground, I think the National Weather Service is wrong.

But, right or wrong (and weather porn or not) ... you're engaging in a moving target when your readers can check the NWS website, Weather Underground, or weather apps on their smartphones.

Their sports guy is pretty good, and gets after it, but ... 

You can get sports from radio or streaming video. And, on the news side, with the competition of a "shopper" that actually offers more news at times than the paid paper?

Evan Smith says goodbye to the Texas Tribune

 After 13 years, Evan Smith has decided to leave the online newspaper/website he started Ross Ramsey, and John Thornton's money in the background.

The NYT piece gives Smith the respectful high-gloss spit shine.

In reality?

Some nonprofit new media sites, like the Colorado Sun, have done so without his help. Traditional newspapers that have eyed his model, like Salt Lake City, have sometimes struggled.

And, then there's John Thornton's money. After all, the man worked for McKinsey before going on his own, a black mark right there.

Or rather, his money as symptomatic of all those corporate donors.

As documented here on many an occasion, Ev and the gang have pulled punches on climate change stories, among other things, because of those corporate — and Texas university — donors.

When you have no paywall, and big money donors are your primary money stream (they are for the "events" as well), this:

“We have shown people all over the world that it is possible to do this work with integrity, with revenue diversity,” he said.

Ain't so true, Ev, and it's not just me to say that.

My biggest hot take was on the Trib's 10th anniversary. A few notes from that:

1. The Trib either does in-house advertorial or, like the Snooze until about 2 years ago, blends its digital marketing consultancy and its news writing. That's a diff, between the two, that makes no difference at end.
2. At that time, pre-COVID, Ev's profit margin was 3 percent. So, in the black, but not a robust success model, either. (Maybe, as Omicron threatens more festivals, and people get more used to virtual ones, Ev is seeing some fiscal handwriting on the wall.) 
3. Then there's Ross's suck-up pre-Trib relationship with John Sharp, a ConservaDem so conservative he ought to officially register as Republican.
   

At the five year mark of the Trib, I elsewhere noted that, at that time at least, Ev didn't have that integrity that the Times let him boast about. In there, I started with riffing on Jim Moore (sorry, his website is dead) talking about just who all those donations are from. I also noted that Ev may have been fudging some of his numbers, and that he might be overpaid.

That's not all, and certainly not all COVID related. Maybe Ev was hiring glorified interns even before the virus, but, this wasn't a good look during it.

Morning News, ie Dallas Snooze, hits new level of cheapness

 A week ago, in the pages of the Snooze, I saw a "tip your carrier" coupon. I was just grokking to see if the exurban issue, still weirdly delivered to the Fort Worth side of the north exurban Metroplex, ie, WEST of I-35, had surpassed the 15 percent mark, or even the 10 percent mark, on Thursday adhole. (NOT counting obits, it was right at 10 percent.) Because I was just grokking, I didn't check the details, so I don't know if you returned a check with your name and your subscription address or what. (What about people who don't have checkbooks?)

Anyway, the Snooze obviously can't be bothered to give a few extra red cents itself to its paid contractors, and is trading on some "Christmas Story" type legend that teens on bikes are delivering the newspaper, I guess.

Having lived in the Metroplex for almost all of the 2000-aughts, I can attest that such a coupon was NEVER in the Snooze back in the day.

And, it certainly never was a half page. (Which at least tied, if not ran solo first, for the largest ad in the Snooze.)

Alden Global Capital gets another black-eye profile

 Even for me, there's new things to learn.

I had run into "Mugger" Russ Smith on Twitter via Ken Silverstein ... did not know until reading this new Atlantic profile that he's the brother of Alden founder Randall Smith. Nor that Randall was a Grinch with his own family at Christmastime. Nor that he had Metroplex connections, per a linked D Mag piece primarily about son Caleb. That Alden was financed in the Trib takeover by the same people that paid for training of the Saudis who killed Jamal Khashoggi.

Wowza.

I did tag Ken in a Tweet and he said he's not disowning Russ because of his brother.

I don't know him online close to as well as Ken, who said they never met in person, so, I can't "disown" him even if I wanted to.

I will give any retweeting Ken does of Mugger more scrutiny. And, more thought on how he may have gotten the nickname. Probably something related to the larger Smith family story.

==

That said, as for that story? Since Randall does appear to have been an all-around Ebenezer Scrooge, the Alden treatment of newspapers isn't about newspapers, it's about him.