Today's print edition; click on the image for a bigger view. The Phoenix paper, Gannett's largest by circulation after USA Today, offers a new angle on the mortgage crisis: "As the number of home foreclosures escalates, many distressed homeowners are left with one more difficult task - giving up their pets,'' reporter Samantha Hauser writes today. "'Foreclosure pets,'" as they've come to be known, have dramatically increased the number of animals in shelters across the Valley. The Arizona Humane Society has received more than 1,000 abandonment calls this year, nearly double the number at this time last year."The article also points to the Republic's Pets page, where readers are encouraged to comment on the story, and start a pets blog.
Earlier: How blogging changed my view of journalism
Related: The New York Times explains why hotel heiress Leona Helmsley bequeathed up to $8 billion for the care of dogs
Does your paper or TV station have a pets site worth recommending? Post a note in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, use this link from a non-work computer; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Hi -- I'm a former Gannett employee and since I left last summer, I started my own pet Web site as a way of learning more about my computer (MacbookPro). It's not very sophisticated, but it meets my objectives --spending time with my favorite hobbies (photography and writing) while at the same time encouraging pet adoptions from shelters and rescue groups. Please take a look, it's www.mypetgazette.com. It's focused at pet owners in the NW Florida area.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
BTW: Good luck to all my friends still in Gannett.
God, that is one ugly front page ad, and so frickin huge!
ReplyDeleteWhoever thought it was good policy to allow a magenta 2x4 on the front page was colorblind or nuts. We don't even allow that garishness on our web page.
That's actually not a "new angle on the mortgage crisis." Without giving myself away, the local NBC TV affiliate here did a story on this months ago as I'm sure others already have. The Republic hasn't presented an original idea on A1 since 1995. Which was about the same time they won any national design awards.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't going to mention it, but I agree. As a pet lover, I've been reading these stories about families having to give up their pets for months..
ReplyDeleteAside from the awful color, the problem with the front page ad is that nowhere is it stated that it's a Paid Advertisement. Are readers to assume this might be a news story? Or does it matter anymore? I think we give readers too much credit for distinguishing the differences in the newspaper (news or editorial, news or analysis, news or commentary, news or ad). No wonder the industry is masturbating itself to death (or at least into blindness).
ReplyDeleteFor the record, the pink thing on the front page pays people's salaries. You might not think it's pretty, but it certainly caught your eye! Only a bunch of journalists would say it needs to be labeled "paid". Geez...I'm sure there are thousands of readers in AZ who are confused by this. Get a grip - the front page isn't the sacred domain of the news dept. If ads can coexists on pages 2-infinity, then I imagine page 1 isn't much different!
ReplyDeleteFYI...and Jim, your comment above where I can post this indicates "you're journalists..." Guess again...
I agree about the pink ad. Honestly, I was one of those in the news meeting who hated ads on the front page. And hated the ads at the top of the section fronts. But you know what? After leaving the biz a year ago, and spending more time looking at news sites and other sites online, ads on the front page do not bother me at all. On Web sites there are ads prominently displayed. Hey, if it helps you guys still in the trenches -- especially the paid for 40, working 60 types -- go ahead. Make 'em pink and and purple for all I care.
ReplyDelete