All Good Things ...

The time has come to close the doors on The E&P Pub.

New E&P Editor Mark Fitzgerald and Senior Editor Jennifer Saba will keep you up to date on all the latest newspaper industry business news at the Fitz & Jen blog, and E&P Online remains your first source for news on the digital side and the critical role it will play in newspapers’ evolution.

As the old bar-closing cheer goes, “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

Visit the Fitz & Jen blog and E&P Online now. And thank you for your continued readership.

-- The E&P Staff

In E&P’s 100th Anniversary Issue, The Future Looked A Lot Like Today

For its 100th anniversary issue in 1984, Editor & Publisher asked the famed industry researcher Leo Bogart (left)  to imagine what newspapers would look like in another hundred years. Poynter Institute librarian David Shedden dug up a copy of the issue when The Nielsen Company announced E&P's closing, and on Friday the Institute's media business analyst posted a column on his blog that noted how many of Bogart's predictions have effectively already come true.

People would wear "wrist-watch picturephones" that seem an awful lot like iPhones with a wristband, and they would watch moving pictures transmitted by telecommunications to "lap boards" that presage the coming new generation of tablet e-readers.

Read the entire Edmonds column here and all 12 of Bogart’s predictions for E&P here.
--Mark Fitzgerald

The End of 'E&P Pub'?

Sorry that we did not post here at all yesterday--after announcement from Nielsen Co. that E&P would cease publication in print and on the Web.  Staffers will mainly be around until the end of the year so we expect to return here today.  Thanks for the thousands of emails and tweets (#4 on the trending list yesterday) of support and even offers of sending money, plus dozens of articles, such as this one.  

'New York Times' Buyouts Include Hyperlocal Editor

Among The New York Times staffers taking the paper's buyout this week is Tina Kelley, one of two Times scribes who helped launch hyperlocal sites for the paper in March.

Kelley has been overseeing one of the sites, dubbed "The Local," that posts news about three New Jersey towns: Maplewood, Millburn and South Orange. The other site, run by staffer Andy Newman, focuses on two Brooklyn neighborhoods.

In a post today, Kelley wrote: "I will deeply miss the privilege of collecting news for this fine organization. But in January, I am going to join the staff of Covenant House, which serves homeless and runaway teens, where I’ll be co-writing a book or two of profiles about homeless teens."

She adds that the newspaper remains "deeply committed" to the hyperlocal effort. -Joe Strupp

Volcker at 'WSJ' Conference: Wake Up!

From London, The Times Online reports that at a conference of high-level bankers yesterday in England, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker excoriated bankers for failing to grasp they are overpaid and somewhat delusional about the benefits of financial innovation that gave the world credit default swaps. The paper notes his broadside “punctured a slightly cosy atmosphere among bankers and regulators, assembled in a Sussex country house hotel to consider reform measures.”

The conference, called the Future of Finance Initiative, was organized by the The Wall Street Journal. “I wish someone would give me one shred of neutral evidence that financial innovation has led to economic growth — one shred of evidence,” Volcker told them. And on the subject of pay: “Has there been one financial leader to say this is really excessive? Wake up, gentlemen. Your response, I can only say, has been inadequate.” When bankers insisted any new regulations should not hamper financial innovation, “a clearly irritated Mr Volcker said that the biggest innovation in the industry over the past 20 years had been the cash machine.” --Barbara Bedway

Roland Hedley Exiting Twitter?

The esteemed Mr. Roland Hedley, fearless Fox News correspondent, says he may soon drop his popular Twitter feed that made him even more famous. You may know him under his less famous nom de plume "Gary Trudeau," who allegedly does a comic strip called "Dumbboobie" or "Doonesbury" or something like that. Anyway, after coming out with a book that collects his tweets, he now says he may give it all up, wishing to get rid of all that pressure. Let's hope not.

Lineup Announced for 'Journopalooza II' Charity Concert

Journopalooza, the National Press Club's for-charity concert that in January raised about $15,000 for the Committee to Protect Journalists and the NPC, has just announced the lineup for its sequel, Journopalooza II.

Scheduled for Jan. 8, 2010 at the National Press Club ballroom, the Journopalooza II benefit show will feature two bands from the last fundraiser, Nobody's Business and Suspicious Package (pictured), along with Dirty Bomb and Charm Offensive. A release states the music performed will be “a mix of covers and originals, including the premiere of selections from Dirty Bomb's original rock opera chronicling the saga of Jack Abramoff (seriously).”

Proceeds will benefit CPJ's Journalist Protection Fund, The Eric Friedheim National Journalism Library, and Reporters Without Borders. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door, and will go on sale to the general public Dec. 14 via Journopalooza.com. -- Shawn Moynihan

 

Who Needs A Pay Wall? Just Post No News

The Daily Post in Palo Alto, Calif., minces no words about online content on its Web site:

“You won't find any news on this site. Giving away news online is a dumb way to do business. News is valuable. We put our news in print. The news creates demand for our paper, and increased readership makes our ads more effective than advertising in any other medium.” --Mark Fitzgerald

McSweeney's Newspaper Appears

The much-awaited special edition of the famed journal arrived today in San Fran at $16 a pop.  Here's a look at some of it. 

Health Plan Debate: Sickly?

n DebateHighway to Health - Senate Fight '09

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Janet Coats Leaving Tampa

Press release this afternoon:

Janet Coats, vice president for news for the Florida Communications Group and executive editor of The Tampa Tribune, is leaving the company, effective December 18th. Coats said the decision is motivated by her desire to spend more time with her husband, Rusty Coats, who has been based in Knoxville since he accepted a job with the E.W. Scripps Co. “We’ve been commuting between Tampa and Knoxville for the last 20 months and we’d like the opportunity to live together in the same zip code,” Coats said.

Coats said she does not plan to move immediately into another full-time position, but expects to continue to work on the issues facing journalism’s transition to the digital age in some capacity. “Journalism is the only career I’ve ever known, and all I’ve ever wanted to do,” she said. “I’ll take a break to evaluate what I want to do next, but I expect to keep my hand in the business in some capacity. I once said journalism is worth fighting for, and I still believe that.”

Lyndon Baines Obama?

By Rex Babin, Sacramento Bee.

The Wang Dangle Doodle

Gawker trumpets Toronto Metro running photo of young people frolicking, without noticing that guy in front was, uh, quite a bit exposed.  They showed full shot at their site -- then took it down when it came out that the guy was still in high school. 

Is This the Future of News--Simulated, Animated?

Is this the future of news? I posted that fun video, now viral, from the Apple Daily company that puts out newspapers in Taiwan and Hong Kong on the Tiger Woods case a few days ago, which raises that question. Now others are asking--most notably, a big piece just up at NYT quoting Keith Olbermann among others. Partly animated "news coverage" incorporates Simsy or Second Life or Pixar-like animation and more, all in 90 seconds. Here's their followup to the Tiger crash viral video, this one depicting the tales of the mistresses, going right into the motel rooms...

'Git Down, 9-1-1 is a Joke in Yo' Town...'

The Washington Post's latest correction is one that Public Enemy's Flavor Flav would either find hilarious or deeply offending: "A Nov. 26 article in the District edition of Local Living incorrectly said a Public Enemy song declared 9/11 a joke. The song refers to 911, the emergency phone number."

The song, "9-1-1 is a Joke," was a big hit for Public Enemy in 1990. Check out the video, below. Flayyyva Flayyyve!