Search

The article reports on the sale of "Point Reyes Light," a weekly newspaper in Marin County, California, to editor and publisher Robert Plotkin in November 2005. The newspaper is legendary both in journalism circles and in Northern California because of its former editor and publisher, Dave Mitchell. The paper won more than 100 state and national awards during the time of Mitchell including the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1979. A hallmark of the paper is its creative approaches to immigration stories.

The article reports on the dismissal of Baltimore Sun newspaper editor Bill Marimow. Marinow was an award-winning investigative reporter during the glory days at the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. The Sun's publisher at the time was Mike Waller, a gravely voiced former editor who remained a newsman until the day he retired. It is unclear exactly what precipitated Marinow's abrupt dismissal. During the Sun's bitter negotiations with the Newspaper Guild, The Tribune Co. took a hard line. Marinow publicly embraced the company position, but behind the scenes lobbied unsuccessfully for a less harsh approach. That turned out not to be a popular move with Tribune. And while Marinow had reduced the newsroom staff significantly via attrition, he adamantly resisted layoffs in his department. The editor's beheading triggered newsroom fears of yet more dramatic incursions by the bean counters. Some voiced concern over the fate of the paper's foreign bureaus. Jim Warren, a Chicago Tribune newspaper deputy managing editor, warned against casting his paper's parent company as an unfeeling meanie stomping on the cause of quality journalism. Newspapers like the L.A. Times and the Sun are true treasures. If the budget ax is wielded to beef up profit margins, it will be obvious.

The article provides information on the appointment of Mike Connelly as editor of the Sarasota Herald Tribune newspaper. Connelly is the former vice president of Congressional Quarterly journal. Connelly says that when it comes to journalism values, the difference between men and women is scant. He looks forward to continuing the Herald-Tribune's ambitious tradition of multimedia news and thoughtful enterprise pieces. He started his journalism career at the Wall Street Journal as a copy editor in 1981, becoming deputy bureau chief in Chicago, Illinois for the paper four years later and moving on to editor posts at the Saint Paul Pioneer press and the Baltimore Sun.