Lafayette, Ind. | This hometown's disadvantage: when Hoosiers basketball isn't local news, what is?

In late August, the top editor of the Journal & Courier in Lafayette, Ind., handed employees a set of talking points to deal with any readers angry about cuts the paper was making in news coverage. Howard Witt suggested emphasizing:

"Our aim is to give print readers more of the in-depth, community-focused news, features and sports content they consistently tell us they want and that no other news provider in this region can match."

Fast forward to Monday, when Witt memo'd staff that one of the paper's handful of photographers is leaving for the much larger Indianapolis Star -- and won't be replaced.

What's this mean for that promised additional local news at the 25,000-circulation daily? Witt didn't say, telling staff only this: "We’ll be adapting our shifts and expectations to account for the fact that we’ll be down a photographer."

But it gets worse

Less than two weeks ago, the paper laid off its star sportswriter, Jeff Washburn, who'd covered Indiana high school basketball for some 40 years -- earning him a spot in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame two years ago. The day he was canned, I'm told he was simply escorted out of the J&C building.

Let's just pause here for emphasis: H-e-l-l-o, Corporate? Local news? Indiana basketball? Did anyone back there even see 1986's Hoosiers?

To his credit, Washburn told his apoplectic 3,800 Twitter followers that sacking him was not Witt's doing. "Decision was not a local one," he tweeted, ironically. "Very sad. Numb right now."

For sure, these lamebrain decisions are being made all across Gannett's newsrooms. In August alone, the company eliminated more than 400 jobs throughout the U.S. newspaper division, with more than a few held by journalists. They included the über-popular Joe Heller, editorial cartoonist at the Green Bay Press-Gazette for 28 years.

But it's particularly galling when we know CEO Gracia Martore will once more boast about the company's "hometown advantage" when she briefs Wall Street about the third-quarter results on Oct. 21. In Lafayette, Ind., readers would have a far different opinion.

Related: watch the trailer for Hoosiers, starring Gene Hackman.

Wisconsin | More layoffs reported today; GM is out

[Updated at 6:06 p.m. ET.] In a comment, a reader reports a total of 31 layoffs today across all 10 Wisconsin newspapers.

[Updated at 6:01 p.m. ET.] Another reader tells me there were seven layoffs in Green Bay.

My original post: A reader who told me about these layoffs said details were still scarce. The cuts were at Wisconsin's Green Bay Press-Gazette and the Appleton Post-Crescent.

At The Sheboygan Press, the general manager-executive editor, Nhia Yang, is leaving to become director of marketing at Lakeland College, the paper says. The Press' story does not say whether she will be replaced.

New pubs in Shreveport, Fort Collins and Green Bay

I was offline today when Corporate announced a series of management changes at three of the 81 U.S. community dailies:

Judi Terzotis, publisher of the Fort Collins Coloradoan, was named publisher of The Times in Shreveport, La. Terzotis joined the Coloradoan in 2011. Prior to that, she was associate publisher of Freedom Communications' Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colo.

In Shreveport, she replaces Don Bailey, who resigned unexpected in March.

Kathy Jack-Romero, business development director at the Coloradoan, was promoted to publisher there. Jack-Romero has been with paper since 2005. She has also held management jobs in two other Gannett markets, in Nevada and Montana.

Scott Johnson, publisher of Minnesota's St. Cloud Times, will be moving home to his roots to be the publisher at Wisconsin's Green Bay Press-Gazette. Before St. Cloud, Johnson was regional advertising director of Gannett Wisconsin Media in Green Bay. He also was advertising director at the Press-Gazette and has had various advertising roles at other outlets in Iowa and Wisconsin.

Corporate's statement didn't detail plans for Johnson's replacement in St. Cloud.

In Green Bay, Johnson succeeds Kevin Corrado, who was named president and publisher of New England Newspapers Inc. in March. Johnson is the only the sixth publisher in the Press-Gazette’s nearly 100-year history, according to the Press-Gazette's story about Johnson's being hired.

It's worth noting that another very high-profile publisher's job must still be filled: at The Des Moines Register, after Laura Hollingsworth was promoted to the Nashville Tennessean yesterday, with significantly expanded responsibilities as president of the newly merged South and Central group of papers.

Ethics 101 | When publishers and politics collide

Many of you know that 25 news employees at five Wisconsin papers got in trouble in March when public documents revealed they'd signed petitions calling for a vote to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker. The case prompted a blistering ethical debate on how much a newspaper can limit the free speech rights of news employees in order to shield the paper from charges of political bias.

But what happens if a publisher in another state posts a comment on the widely read Huffington Post, urging the defeat of President Obama? Does the publisher get a pass because he isn't a newsroom employee?

Indeed, a comment just like that appeared this month on a Huffington story about the Supreme Court's upholding the health care reform law. "Hope the headline soon reads 'Obama defeated in a landslide,'" the comment says. "This guy has to go!"

Facebook login signature
A Gannett publisher signed the comment using their Facebook login, according to one of my readers. I've written to the publisher, on the chance that a family member with access to their Facebook login posted the remark. I cc'd the publisher's top editor on my note, too, but haven't heard back from either one.

In Wisconsin, the papers didn't disclose the names of employees who signed the petition. But it said none of them were reporters or assigning editors.

Nevertheless, management accused them of crossing an ethical line. Whether the employees were ever punished wasn't made public at the time. But in a memo, the managing editor of the Post-Crescent in Appleton said: "This is a serious matter that calls for serious measures."

So, would it be an equally serious matter for the publisher in question?

Here's a thread for your Wisconsin recall comments

Walker

Gannett Bloggers continue to debate last week's disclosure that 25 of 223 Wisconsin news employees had signed petitions seeking a recall of Gov. Scott Walker. The debate touches on newsroom ethics, freedom of speech, and the lengths to which employers can dictate workers' off-the-job activities.

I'm offering this thread for comments on this subject exclusively. Please post your replies in the comments section, below.

Shafer: Let's make journalists' political views public

From a column by Reuters media columnist Jack Shafer about a move by some of Gannett's 10 Wisconsin dailies to discipline employees for signing a recall-the-governor petition, an alleged violation of the company's ethics policy:

In a just and utopian world, news organizations would permit modest political activism by journalists – campaign contributions, placards on their lawns, bumper stickers on their cars, attendance at rallies, even the signing of recall petitions, etc. – as long as the journalists were willing to declare it. This proposal isn’t as radical as it sounds. At the core of the current journalistic codes is the notion that judging journalism requires us to judge the conduct of the journalists producing it. Instead of suppressing the political lives of journalists, why not allow that which is now covert to become overt and give readers more information to assess coverage?

Appleton | Papers' staff snared after investigation; memo: 'serious matter' calls for 'serious measures'

From a Page One column in today's Post-Crescent of Appleton, Wis., by Genia Lovett, publisher of the paper and a regional vice president over Gannett's other nine Wisconsin newspapers:

Walker

Last week, the Gannett Wisconsin Media Investigative Team broke a story that appeared in the Post-Crescent, exposing 29 circuit court judges who signed petitions to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker. It was a story we were proud to bring to you. It was watchdog journalism in its finest sense, a role we take seriously.

Today, in the interest of full transparency, we are informing you that 25 Gannett Wisconsin Media journalists, including nine at the P-C, also signed the Walker recall petitions. It was wrong, and those who signed were in breach of Gannett's Principles of Ethical Conduct for Newsrooms.

The breakdown
In addition to the P-C's nine, the other staffers were at the Green Bay Press-Gazette (seven), the Oshkosh Northwestern (five) the Wausau Daily Herald (two), and The Sheboygan Press (one), according to one of my readers.

The memo
In an e-mail yesterday afternoon, Appleton's managing editor, Jamie Mara, alerted staffers to the impending news:

From: Mara, Jamie
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 4:49 PM
To: APC-News All
Cc: Lovett, Genia
Subject: Recall petition-PLEASE READ NOW

All:

I want to alert you to a column from our president and publisher, Genia Lovett, that will appear on Saturday's Page A-1.

Genia will alert our readers to an ethical lapse by a number of newsroom employees in Appleton and at several other Gannett Wisconsin Media sites who signed public petitions in the Gov. Scott Walker recall efforts. The employees — none of whom are news reporters or assigning news editors — will not be named in the column.

As you know, in the new business, credibility is our most precious possession. Journalists must make every effort to avoid even the perception of bias. Gannett's Principles of Ethical Conduct for Newsrooms guide us in this vital mission.

Management became aware of the signatures this week after an outside source contacted one of the employees who had signed. We then checked a searchable database of petitions to determine the extent of the matter. The revelation came on the heels of this past Sunday's watchdog report by the newly created Gannett Wisconsin Media Investigative Team that exposed the fact that at least 29 circuit court judges in Wisconsin signed the recall petitions.

So, what now?

This is a serious matter that calls for serious measures.

Aside from opening up to our readers via Genia's column, we are in the process of planning supplemental ethics training for all news employees. We need to ensure that everyone understands the Principles of Ethical Conduct and their practical applications. We also are in the process of addressing discipline.

In the meantime, I ask these things of each of you:

• Do not respond to any media requests or other communication you might receive from outside our office in relation to this matter. Instead forward such items to me.
• Review the principles below and recommit to them.
• Do not let this throw us off course. Remain focused on the important work you do.

I am confident we will learn from the experience and emerge stronger.

Thank you

Jamie

Lafayette, La. | New publisher, top editor named

Corporate said in a statement today it had hired a former media consultant as publisher of The Daily Advertiser in Louisiana's Lafayette and the Daily World in nearby Opelousas. Karen Lincoln has been president and owner of Lincoln Media and Consulting Services of Dallas.

Also today, Corporate said it had promoted Karen Lincoln Michel to executive editor of the two papers, from assistant managing editor of the Green Bay Press-Gazette in Wisconsin.

(Note: Yes; they have very similar names.)

Lincoln replaces Ali Zoibi, who retired on March 15. The job originally was going to Richard Roesgen, who is general manager/executive editor of The Reporter and Action Publications in Fond du Lac, Wisc. Citing "personal matters," however, he pulled out just a week after his appointment was announced in late February.

Michel replaces to Brian Tolley, who was earlier named top editor at The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss.

Lincoln Michel is a board member of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and American Indian Science & Engineering Society Publishing, according to the Advertiser's story about her appointment. She also is a past president of UNITY: Journalists of Color and is a member of the Gannett Leadership and Diversity Council..

Green Bay | Man needs a hand finding his hand

"It sure would be nice to get it back."

-- Craig Andersen, speaking to the Green Bay Press-Gazette for a story today about losing his prosthetic hand while running errands in the Wisconsin city on Jan. 3. "After retracing his steps and searching for weeks," the paper says, "he is convinced that the hand fell out of his pocket and was picked up by a passer-by. He hopes whoever has it will realize its significance and return it."

Green Bay | Black, white -- and (partly) red all over

A reader recommends yesterday's Wisconsin Green Bay Press-Gazette, covering a milestone event:

Got a Gannett front page to recommend? Find it in the Newseum's page one database, then post a link in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Image: Newseum]

Green Bay | Pub in quixotic war against GCI dies

Frank Wood's long newspaper war with Gannett in Wisconsin's Green Bay, from 1980 to 2004, was chronicled in The Chain Gang: One Newspaper versus the Gannett Empire. The book was written by Richard McCord, hired by Wood to tell the story of his paper's battle against the publishing giant.

Wood died yesterday in De Pere, Wisc. He was 82, the Green Bay Press-Gazette said today.

Wood bought what he renamed the Green Bay News-Chronicle in 1976. The paper had started four years before by a labor union striking against the dominant Press-Gazette over the paper's conversion to cold type. GCI entered the market in 1980, when it bought the Press-Gazette.

Wood eventually gave up the fight, selling the News-Chronicle plus 22 other dailies and other publications to GCI in 2004, for an undisclosed sum.

In a statement announcing the deal, GCI said no immediate changes in operations were planned for the News-Chronicle. Wood, then 76, said he was pleased that his employees would "have the additional opportunity offered by becoming part of a much larger organization." The statement also quoted Ellen Leifeld, then publisher of The Post-Crescent in Appleton saying:

“We want to spend some time to better understand the publications, get to know the employees, and develop a plan to carry on the tradition that Frank started 51 years ago when he and his wife, Agnes, bought their first weekly newspaper in Denmark, Wisc.''

A year later, June 2005, GCI closed the paper, merging its operations into those of the Press-Gazette. At the time, blogger Jim Romenesko quoted a GCI spokesperson saying: "The Green Bay News-Chronicle is a business that has not been successful for years. It’s a business decision.”

The shuttered paper's circulation had fallen to an estimated 5,000 copies, according to this Wikipedia article. Today, the surviving Press-Gazette's weekday circulation is 43,278.

Green Bay | A gauntlet is thrown in bowl coverage

Step aside, Post-Crescent! says one of my readers. Gannett's paper in Appleton, Wisc., may be publishing a cool build-a-player poster. But the Green Bay Press-Gazette won't be tackled (ouch!)  in its coverage of the Super Bowl. After all, Green Bay is home to the Packers, who are facing the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dallas tomorrow.

My reader writes: Coverage of perhaps the nation's largest sports event by one of GCIs mid-sized papers (43,678 Monday-Friday; 55,964 Saturday; 68,567 Sunday) includes:

1. Extensive coverage on two websites -- Green Bay Press-Gazette and Packers News -- that has drawn millions of pageviews during the Green Bay Packers' run to the Super Bowl.
2. A team of 10 (!) in Dallas.
3. A Packers football blog.
4. A Packers fan blog.
5. A live daily chat hosted by our Packers reporters.
6. Daily video and photo coverage, including reader-submitted videos and photos.
7. Social media coverage via Twitter (@gbpressgazette), two Facebook pages (one Press-Gazette and one Packers News) and text messaging.
8. A print extra put out the night of Jan. 23, after the Packers beat the Chicago Bears to reach the Super Bowl.
9. Special print sections on the Packers-Bears rivalry, the Packers' 12 championship teams and Packers fans.
10. There's nationwide demand for these special print sections, along with postgame papers, so they're being packaged and sold online.
11. We also are doing a book on the Packers' run to the Super Bowl.

Whew!

Meanwhile, here's today's front page, via the Newseum:

Green Bay | Chicaco defeats Dewey and Truman

Following is Monday's front page of Wisconsin's Green Bay Press-Gazette, circulation 43,678; this hed bust made it all the way through final edition, a reader tells me.

"And yes," says page designer and Des Moines Register alum Charles Apple, "that’s a front page that you’ll see time and time again, whenever page-one errors are talked about. This is up there with 'Dewey defeats Truman.'"

The paper apologized to readers in a Page-One note yesterday.

Apple, it's worth noting, has cautioned against centralizing copy editing amid the development of the five Design Studio hubs now being rolled out.

Earlier: What are your latest press deadlines?

[Image: Apple]

In Wisconsin, musical chairs resonate across GCI

Two of Gannett's 10 Wisconsin newspapers have just experienced a game of executive musical chairs during the current round of job reductions, according to one of my readers. Explaining these complicated swaps makes my head hurt.

They're significant, however, because they reveal a continuing trend within GCI's executive ranks: More publishers, general managers and other top supervisors are now expected to juggle multiple responsibilities, often across several communities. Fewer executives doing more work saves big bucks.

Moreover, the broader lesson for everyone is this: Publishers and GMs get their jobs because they're best at doing Corporate's bidding. Now, however, Corporate's message is more clear than ever: No one's job is guaranteed, no matter how loyal they may be to the top brass.

In Wisconsin, the changes involve The Herald Times Reporter in Manitowoc, and The Sheboygan Press. They're about 33 miles apart along Lake Michigan. According to my reader:

• Manitowoc lost its managing editor, and its head of circulation. (Barely a month ago, the ad director left for the Green Bay Press-Gazette, and hasn't been replaced.) Meanwhile, Manitowoc's general manager will also serve as advertising director for the paper, and for the Sheboygan daily.
• Sheboygan lost its advertising director. Its general manager (who's also the paper's managing executive editor!) will now also be managing executive editor at Manitowoc. Plus, Sheboygan's head of circulation will now also run circulation in Manitowoc.

Got all that? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Green Bay | Weeklies consolidated, 10 jobs cut

A wave of cost-cutting among Gannett's weeklies appears to be picking up steam.

The company plans to merge three weeklies near Green Bay, Wisc., into a single title. Also, two arts and entertainment guides will be combined into a single publication, and a free distribution "shopper'' will be shuttered, according to a story in the Green Bay Press-Gazette. The publications are in Door and Kewaunee counties.

“These steps are being taken to improve efficiency, streamline operations and ensure that local news coverage in both counties remains in place,” Press-Gazette Publisher Kevin Corrado told the newspaper. “We’ve devoted months of study and review to make sure these publications remain viable in today’s economy and continue to serve our readers and advertisers."

Ten employees will be laid off as a result. They will get so-called transitional benefits, and be eligible for future openings, the Press-Gazette story says. Gannett replaced traditional severance benefits with transitional pay, starting with the July 2009 layoffs. Transitional pay is combined with unemployment benefits to equal an employee's weekly wages.

These consolidations follow similar moves late last month: The weekly Clinton News will merge much of its news and advertising into the nearby Clarion-Ledger at Jackson, Miss., and three weeklies in Gannett's U.K. division will go web-only.

GCI profit margins -- and that jaw-dropping report

Some of you will recall that I published profit margins and advertising sales figures for each of Gannett's community newspapers in a November 2008 post that drew a lot of attention across the industry.

The data was a year old at the time, covering Periods 1-9 of 2007 -- basically, the first three quarters of that year. I published the figures as Gannett was on the verge of launching its single-biggest layoff, in December 2008.

The figures came from a confidential internal Gannett document called the Cost & Statistical Summary. A reader had supplied a copy to me, so long as I didn't share the full document with anyone. (Here's a glimpse of part of the report.)

Many of the papers listed in the report had eye-popping margins. The Green Bay Press-Gazette led the list, at nearly 43%; it had advertising sales of $25 million over those three quarters, the report said. (The report didn't disclose circulation or other revenues, however.)

I'm recalling that report now because a Gannett Blog reader just sent me an e-mail, wondering if that report is still be published -- or if it was replaced by another report. I said I would put that question to all of you.

What has become of the Cost & Statistical Summary? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Image: today's Press-Gazette, Newseum]

Gannett confirms comment moderation switch

The company started outsourcing a key part of online comment moderation at its dozens of U.S. websites late last week, the Hattiesburg American disclosed today, confirming a Gannett Blog reader's report two weeks ago.

The Mississippi newspaper's note to readers follows an editorial last week in the Green Bay Press-Gazette in Wisconsin. Editors there said software company Pluck -- which already powers social media tools on GCI sites -- is now in charge of moderating comments that readers have flagged as abusive. That task had previously been handled on the local level by editors at Gannett sites.

"Under the new system," the Press-Gazette editors say, "Pluck staff will address abuse complaints within 30 minutes, and often much more quickly. Moderators will work independently, but will be able to reach out to local editors to weigh in on abuse reports that are less clear-cut than others."

Pluck will delete comments, or allow them to remain, based on the paper's "established guidelines." Those guides ask readers to "keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent."

Given the guidelines' rather broad terms, however, it's unclear how Pluck employees hundreds or thousands of miles away will know to independently gauge local community tastes. Moreover, the Press-Gazette and Hattiesburg American don't say whether those Pluck staffers are based in the United States -- or offshore, where foreign employees might not grasp some of the nuances of what readers in Wisconsin or Mississippi find acceptable.

Should comment moderation be outsourced -- or should it stay local? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Image: today's Press-Gazette, Newseum]

Judge rules against GCI in Wisc. livestreaming case

Delivering a defeat to Gannett in a closely watched lawsuit, a federal judge today upheld the rights of Wisconsin's high school sports governing body to sign exclusive contracts for Internet coverage of state tournaments.

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association sued GCI and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association in late 2008, after Gannett's Post-Crescent of Appleton produced live streaming video of four football games without the WIAA’s permission.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette says in a new story that GCI and the newspaper trade group had asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit and affirm their right to livestream postseason tournaments, saying the WIAA is a public institution that's constitutionally required to give access to news organizations.

The WIAA cited a threat to its ability to charge fees for access to tournaments that it says are not public events.

Western District Court Judge William Conley backed the WIAA, writing in his opinion and order that, “ultimately, this is a case about commerce, not the right to a free press.”

Bob Dreps, the attorney who represented Gannett and the newspaper association, said in a written statement that the defendants were disappointed Conley authorized the "continued commercialization of high school sports." The defendants were considering their options, including a possible appeal, according to the Associated Press.

Green Bay | Recalling a reporter who died at 38

In a touching video, staff at Gannett's Green Bay Press-Gazette have shared memories of their colleague, Andy Nelesen, who died Jan. 28; he was only 38 years old. Nelesen was a reporter and photographer for the Wisconsin paper since December 1996. "He was at work, in the newsroom, when a blood vessel burst in his brain on Jan. 25,'' the paper says. Nelesen died 2½ days later.

Euphemisms 101: How to sell cutbacks to readers

"We'll walk you through some exciting changes we have in mind for our print and online editions.''

-- the Green Bay Press-Gazette, in a published note to readers yesterday. The "exciting'' changes include reducing the amount of news. Not mentioned: a year ago, the Press-Gazette had a 43% profit margin -- the highest among all Gannett dailies.