Wednesday, April 26, 2006
The new MediaNews monopoly
Story by Florence Brown
MediaNews Chief Executive Dean Singleton called the San Jose Mercury "the crown jewel" of the Knight Ridder company today as he eagerly bought it from McClatchy. I almost gagged.
It's like watching a movie set in colonial times where greedy entrepeneurs sit around a map of Africa and slice it into pieces while they pat each other on the back and smoke Cuban cigars. The crown jewel? Was he serious? Does the package include a fleet of elephants and a harem of servants?
I recently acquired a job with MercuryNews.com (the San Jose Mercury's site) and my colleagues gleefully love to point out that I could not have entered at a more turbulent time. The week I signed my contract, Knight Ridder sold to McClatchy. The week I began training down at the office, McClatchy sold to SingletonCorp, err, I mean MediaNews.
It doesnt mean much for my job in particular since I'm just a lowly part-time web producer. Nothing will change about what I do every morning when I wake up at 4 a.m. and edit the news site. For thousands of readers across the Bay Area, however, it signals an end to an era of diverse newspaper options and the freedom to choose how one consumes media. There are two choices now for those who call this area home - the San Francisco Chronicle or the MediaNews monopoly.
I chose to apply with Knight Ridder papers solely because I liked their style of multimedia and writing. The Alameda News Group, which is owned by MediaNews, never appealed to me particular. Turns out the choice has been made for me anyway, as I unwittingly enter the mysterious Walmart-like business of cost-cutting and penny pinching media monopolies.
I hope I'm wrong. Maybe San Jose Mercury employees will say "damn the man" and continue business as usual with their trademark style and flair. Perhaps one day I'll look back on this blog and laugh at how worried I was that the big bad Denver-based media giant would consume the Bay Area. Either that or I should place bets on that sh*t and get my money's worth. I'm not quite sure.
Either way, I'm worried most about the disposable nature of my little tiny job in the saga of big-time newspaper sales. Only time will tell, so I guess I'll report back in a few months if I, and the Mercury, are still keeping our heads above water.
MediaNews Chief Executive Dean Singleton called the San Jose Mercury "the crown jewel" of the Knight Ridder company today as he eagerly bought it from McClatchy. I almost gagged.
It's like watching a movie set in colonial times where greedy entrepeneurs sit around a map of Africa and slice it into pieces while they pat each other on the back and smoke Cuban cigars. The crown jewel? Was he serious? Does the package include a fleet of elephants and a harem of servants?
I recently acquired a job with MercuryNews.com (the San Jose Mercury's site) and my colleagues gleefully love to point out that I could not have entered at a more turbulent time. The week I signed my contract, Knight Ridder sold to McClatchy. The week I began training down at the office, McClatchy sold to SingletonCorp, err, I mean MediaNews.
It doesnt mean much for my job in particular since I'm just a lowly part-time web producer. Nothing will change about what I do every morning when I wake up at 4 a.m. and edit the news site. For thousands of readers across the Bay Area, however, it signals an end to an era of diverse newspaper options and the freedom to choose how one consumes media. There are two choices now for those who call this area home - the San Francisco Chronicle or the MediaNews monopoly.
I chose to apply with Knight Ridder papers solely because I liked their style of multimedia and writing. The Alameda News Group, which is owned by MediaNews, never appealed to me particular. Turns out the choice has been made for me anyway, as I unwittingly enter the mysterious Walmart-like business of cost-cutting and penny pinching media monopolies.
I hope I'm wrong. Maybe San Jose Mercury employees will say "damn the man" and continue business as usual with their trademark style and flair. Perhaps one day I'll look back on this blog and laugh at how worried I was that the big bad Denver-based media giant would consume the Bay Area. Either that or I should place bets on that sh*t and get my money's worth. I'm not quite sure.
Either way, I'm worried most about the disposable nature of my little tiny job in the saga of big-time newspaper sales. Only time will tell, so I guess I'll report back in a few months if I, and the Mercury, are still keeping our heads above water.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Jesus and His Peeps
Story by Mike Wille
Easter is upon us, the holiest of holidays when devout Christians will gather at churches en mass to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A holy day is so important that even those with minimal devotion will make Easter one of their two annual days of mass (the other being Christmas, of course).
It might be a little harder for Minnesotans to remember the holiday, however, due to a ban on decorations in the City Council lobby. The state’s human rights director, Tyson Terrill, called for the removal of the Easter bunny and pastel colored eggs relaying the message “Happy Easter” to passers by. Terrill argued that the decorations on display might be offensive to non-Christians, resulting in a national debate – “to decorate or not to decorate?” is that even a question worth asking?
Should we launch a national ban on the boiling unfertilized chicken embryos, painting their coffins and hiding them throughout the house and yard for children to seek simply because it may be offensive to non-Christians and vegetarians alike? This tradition stems back to the 4th century, when the church forbade the consumption of meat and eggs during the 40 days of Lent, when there was an surplus of eggs to consume at the end of the fasting period.
Of course, abstaining from eggs became next to impossible once Teflon was created and the three-egg omelette entered the breakfast scene. The inception of the Denny’s 3x3x3 – 3 eggs, 3 pancakes, and 3 pieces of bacon served with hash browns and an English muffin, smothered in the triad of American sauces: ketchup, tobasco and maple-flavored high-fructose corn syrup also makes it difficult for Christians to stay on the egg wagon.
The American Egg Board would not be too happy to see a ban on eggs, which might affect their increase in sales from 73.2 million to 104 million eggs the week before Easter. The website states that egg sales do not taper until the week after Easter, re-inforcing the idea that the whole symbolism of eggs at Easter time is more consumer driven than purchased for religious reasons. Ironically enough, the Easter holiday takes its name from the pagan festival of Eostre, the goddess of spring according to Anglo-Saxon mythology.
Other symbols highlighting the theme of the religious holiday are bunnies and chicks, representing fertility and the new life of the spring season. I somehow fail to find the connection between chocolate bunny rabbit and the body of Christ. And fluffy little chicks today are most commonly seen in the form of granulated sugar coated marshmallow candy dyed to a pastel perfection lovingly known as “Peeps.” The wonder-food of sugar, gelatin, egg whites and palm wax has an undetermined shelf life and is notorious for being indestructible – unlike the religious holiday which seems to be on its way out.
Who claims these peeps as holy and sacred and who could possibly find them offensive? Is there really a connection so deep and so subliminal between the peeps of Jesus, his apostles; the peeps of Christianity; and the Just Born brand marshmallow peeps factory in Bethlehem, Penn. (yes, the peeps factory is in Bethlehem, click here for the virtual tour) that we should pull them from the shelves of Walgreens? The traditions and symbols may be alive and well, but the religious meaning is about as hollow as a molded chocolate bunny.
Easter is upon us, the holiest of holidays when devout Christians will gather at churches en mass to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A holy day is so important that even those with minimal devotion will make Easter one of their two annual days of mass (the other being Christmas, of course).
It might be a little harder for Minnesotans to remember the holiday, however, due to a ban on decorations in the City Council lobby. The state’s human rights director, Tyson Terrill, called for the removal of the Easter bunny and pastel colored eggs relaying the message “Happy Easter” to passers by. Terrill argued that the decorations on display might be offensive to non-Christians, resulting in a national debate – “to decorate or not to decorate?” is that even a question worth asking?
Should we launch a national ban on the boiling unfertilized chicken embryos, painting their coffins and hiding them throughout the house and yard for children to seek simply because it may be offensive to non-Christians and vegetarians alike? This tradition stems back to the 4th century, when the church forbade the consumption of meat and eggs during the 40 days of Lent, when there was an surplus of eggs to consume at the end of the fasting period.
Of course, abstaining from eggs became next to impossible once Teflon was created and the three-egg omelette entered the breakfast scene. The inception of the Denny’s 3x3x3 – 3 eggs, 3 pancakes, and 3 pieces of bacon served with hash browns and an English muffin, smothered in the triad of American sauces: ketchup, tobasco and maple-flavored high-fructose corn syrup also makes it difficult for Christians to stay on the egg wagon.
The American Egg Board would not be too happy to see a ban on eggs, which might affect their increase in sales from 73.2 million to 104 million eggs the week before Easter. The website states that egg sales do not taper until the week after Easter, re-inforcing the idea that the whole symbolism of eggs at Easter time is more consumer driven than purchased for religious reasons. Ironically enough, the Easter holiday takes its name from the pagan festival of Eostre, the goddess of spring according to Anglo-Saxon mythology.
Other symbols highlighting the theme of the religious holiday are bunnies and chicks, representing fertility and the new life of the spring season. I somehow fail to find the connection between chocolate bunny rabbit and the body of Christ. And fluffy little chicks today are most commonly seen in the form of granulated sugar coated marshmallow candy dyed to a pastel perfection lovingly known as “Peeps.” The wonder-food of sugar, gelatin, egg whites and palm wax has an undetermined shelf life and is notorious for being indestructible – unlike the religious holiday which seems to be on its way out.
Who claims these peeps as holy and sacred and who could possibly find them offensive? Is there really a connection so deep and so subliminal between the peeps of Jesus, his apostles; the peeps of Christianity; and the Just Born brand marshmallow peeps factory in Bethlehem, Penn. (yes, the peeps factory is in Bethlehem, click here for the virtual tour) that we should pull them from the shelves of Walgreens? The traditions and symbols may be alive and well, but the religious meaning is about as hollow as a molded chocolate bunny.