Final Days? A Newsroom Diary
by Ian Lind, Star-Bulletin reporter
Final Days? A Newsroom Diaryby Ian Lind, Star-Bulletin reporter
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I had just hit my chair in the morning when a colleague sidled over to whisper conspiratorially, "Did you see Burl's column?"It was the start of what turned out to be a troubling and tumultuous Friday in the newsroom, despite the emerging sense of optimism about future prospects and the staff gathering at noon--complete with pizza--to celebrate our continued survival.
Lunch was the high point of the day, as staffers lined up around the city desk, where publisher John Flanagan shared some thoughts about the last year and the year ahead.
John is still constrained by the court-imposed confidentiality of the bidding process, but said there is at least one "very serious" buyer who has been impressed by the level of community support, and, more importantly, support among advertisers for the Star-Bulletin. As a result, John is now quite optimistic about the paper's survival, although there is still a long way to go, with the need to negotiate everything from transferability of telephone numbers to a reasonable schedule for the transition period.
Burl wrote:
Then came the pizza, which came in sufficient quantity to survive the onslaught with enough left over to provide snacks throughout the afternoon.
A good time was had by all, at least for the moment. That's webmeister Blaine Fergerstrom, with Honolulu Lite columnist Charley Memminger leaning into the photo.
But the festivities were tempered by a clash over a column by Burl Burlingame which appeared on the editorial page in Friday's S-B.
Burl, a military historian and WWII buff, seized on an unfortunate analogy in trying to express what it has felt like to be under pressure for the last year.
I don't know what the reaction was elsewhere, but in the newsroom opinion was running strongly against Burl. Some reacted strongly, emotionally, and negatively. Others were more private, but equally negative, in their reactions. Burl had few defenders through the day.
Sometime in the afternoon, business editor Ed Lynch posted his own personal reply, which strayed beyond the day's immediate dispute to characterize this diary as a "self absorbed reflection" that wrongly portrays staffers as "anxiety-ridden victims obsessed with our own situation."
Ouch, ouch, ouch!
The hallway conversations ranged from boisterous debates to whispered commentary, but clearly we were all in stormy waters.
To further complicate the situation, Burl is a Guild rep in the newsroom, a member of the ESOP committee, and tender of the SaveStarBulletin.org web site, so what might otherwise have been dismissed as the excesses of a single staffer instead appeared to implicate us all to some degree and seemed to demand response.
It may be hyperbole, but the whole scene reminded me of what happens when a strange cat tries to breach the home turf out here in Kaaawa. Our normally mellow cats rush to defend the boundaries. Fur flies, adrenaline rushes, and when the intruder flees our cats turn on each other--they are, after all, the only available targets, even though they live together relatively peacefully at all other times.
There was another flurry in the newsroom on Friday, this time a rush to elect members to stand by for service on a bargaining committee in what appears to be the increasingly likely event that the paper is sold. Nominations were hastily sought and ballots distributed, with votes to be counted Monday afternoon at 3 p.m.All seem to understand that things will happen quickly as soon as a buyer is designated. It will quickly turn into the proverbial three ring circus.
Coincidentally, Friday's Star-Bulletin also reported on the new contract at the Maui News approved by the Hawaii Newspaper Guild, Honolulu Typographical Union Local 37 and Graphic Communications International Union Local 501M. The contract drops the starting pay for new hires with little experience from $733 to $500 per week by adding in several new steps at the low end of the scale.
It's an indication of the kind of pressures we'll be facing in bargaining with a new owner.
This morning was again ushered in by a helicopter landing and taking off from the beach park just a few hundred feet below us in order to transport an accident victim to a hospital in Honolulu. This time it was between 4:30 and 5 a.m. Not a happy way to start the day.
I received several comments over the weekend in defense of Burl's use of the Nazi metaphor in his column. Here's the most printable:To be kind, Burl's Nazi metaphor was colorful. To be unkind, it was overkill.
The difference between color and overkill is a matter of degree.
Let's put aside the difference in degree and look at the core of his metaphor.
In 1961, Adolph Eichmann's Nazi war crime defense was, "Orders are orders."
A common theme in big business is, "It's just business."
I see no difference between "Orders are orders" and "It's just business."
Personally, I feel this was the thread Burl was reaching for.Another former staffer offered the opinion that we really haven't been hard enough on Gannett. They deserve this and more, in his view. "They brought this on themselves. They're not nice people," he said.
And Burl's column also caught the eye of media watcher Jim Romenesko, who included a link to the original in today's version of his popular MediaNews.
Meanwhile, over in the Advertiser newsroom, business continues. On Friday night, a notice of eleven vacant positions was posted on the bulletin board. I'm not sure how many of these are new positions, but it appears Gannett is expecting the injunction to be lifted and is preparing to dangle offers before some S-B staffers. Whether they will choose to jump ship at this late date remains to be seen, although the long range stability on that side of the hall might appear greater from our current perspective.
But the prospect of possible offers in the works is bound to be divisive in any case.
It's damage control time as Gannett/Hawaii Newspaper Agency execs try to reassure their top 100 advertisers following attempts by Canadian publisher David Black to obtain advertising commitments for an independent Star-Bulletin. A letter signed by HNA president Mike Fisch to advertisers tries to undercut Black's efforts."We are concerned that the impression may have been created that the [sale] process is over and that a buyer has been found," Fisch wrote. After reiterating that an unspecified number of bids have been received, Fisch cautions: "It would be premature to speculate on which of the offers, if any, may lead to the sale of the Star-Bulletin."
Fisch continues with bland assurances that "all of us at The Honolulu Advertiser are committed to making certain that The Advertiser remains the print and Internet advertising medium of choice in Hawaii."
What a chuckle! For several years, Gannett blocked the S-B from selling any advertising on Starbulletin.com, either directly or indirectly, in a gross reminder that their preferred strategy is to eliminate choices for advertisers and instead channel them into a Gannett monopoly at a "take it or leave it" price.
A more revealing memo went out to HNA advertising staffers from Mark Adkins, HNA's senior v-p for marketing, along with copies of Fisch's letter. Adkins' memo notes "a lot of activity and speculation with our top 100 advertisers recently concerning a potential buyer for the Star-Bulletin," and acknowledges that sales staff "have been receiving questions from customers" concerning the recent activity.
"For anybody who submitted an offer that claims or suggest they are the buyers is very premature and speculative," Adkins states, in an obvious reference to Black and his execs, who were contacting advertisers during their recent stay in Honolulu.
Adkins directions to HNA sales staff: "If questioned, please reiterate the elements of this letter. Do not speculate."
Hunker down. Deflect questions. Good idea, guys.
No indication of how this is going over with advertisers, but with so little substance it is doubtful they will find any reason to be reassured.
Tuesday was another day for contrarian rumors, fanned by second hand whispers allegedly heard from across the hall at the Advertiser. According to the tales, folks over there are again saying that we're doomed, that all bidders will withdraw or be declared ineligible by next week's court deadline, after which the state will drop its lawsuit and, presumably, we're out on the street. It's one of those rumors that is so off the wall and so obviously off-base that it seems impossible, then begins to gnaw at the corners of consciousness, leaving niggles of doubt about its authenticity.That's sort of what happened yesterday, as the "rumor" was passed around ("have you heard what they're saying over there?") and repeatedly resisted rational assessment.
The problem is that a similar rumor about 14 months ago provided an early warning of the plan to close the Star-Bulletin. At that time it was whispered that some Advertiser folks had been asked to list S-B staffers they would want to hire. That off the wall rumor, which seemed so absurd, turned out later to have been true, giving all subsequent tales at least some minimal level of initial credibility, despite best efforts to remain rational.
The election results for our standby bargaining committee were approved Monday night by the Guild board, and tentative steps are quietly being taken in parts of the newsroom to lay the groundwork for a 7-day a week publishing schedule. At this stage its all very basic, but it shows folks are beginning to look ahead instead of remaining mired in the litigation limbo.
The list of Advertiser job openings made a brief appearance on the S-B newsroom bulletin board earlier in the week. Quite interesting.In most respects, this list does not reflect the bold expansion plans announced by Gannett after last year's deal to close the Star-Bulletin. These look like more running in place.
The exception are two positions on Maui, one for hard news and the other for arts and culture, perhaps a defensive move to beef up island coverage in the face of the Maui News' shift to morning publication, which may be be cutting into Advertiser circulation there more than has been recognized. But it could also signal Gannett's intent to push circulation in the rapidly growing county.
Also on the list are several general assignment reporters, some neighborhood reporters, a high school sports writer, an artist, and so on. Nothing pops out here as a position designed for a raid on the Star-Bulletin's best and better.
I neglected to mention the anniversary cake delivered Monday morning courtesy of the group, Save Our Star-Bulletin. Longtime democratic (with a small "d") activist and former Democratic Party (big "D") leader Richard Port joined Guild stalwart Lucy Witeck in making the presentation in honor of our survival. Port is one of the plaintiff's in the SOS antitrust lawsuit, which is on hold pending the outcome of the sale process. If a buyer is approved and the deal closes, the legal action will be settled. We probably wouldn't be here today if it hadn't been for their stepping forward on our behalf.
Meda's been off this week to a conference in Minneapolis, so I'm alone at night with the cats. Several hours ago I was pried out of a sound sleep by a faint "eek", which registered in my brain on the second or third pass. When I got the light on, there was Leo splayed out next to me, happily playing with a wee ratty he had found and detained. I encouraged him to play somewhere other than the bed, and luckily he seemed reasonably happy to comply.
The rumor lines were buzzing Thursday. In the continuing wake of the last week's "Nazi" reference" controversy, Burl Burlingame has apparently stepped down as webmaster for SaveStarBulletin.org, which is actually sponsored by The Newspaper Guild. Burl's prose has quite a bit more bite than my own, and has prompted reactions from the Guild on a couple of prior occasions, but the move is clearly linked to the flap over last week's column. It's a shame, because apart from the controversial reference, he was right on point.
This bit of spontaneous commentary appeared on an announcement of "HNA Family Fun day" on the newsroom bulletin board. At the bottom of the flyer was this note about lunch, with a hungry looking dinosaur growling, "Where's Burl?"
"Where's Burl?"
There was also buzzing that a complaint may be filed with the court over the timing of the Advertiser's recent job posting. Attorneys representing SOS are said to be concerned that announcing staff openings at this critical juncture in the sale process could hurt the Star-Bulletin's chances by encouraging additional staffers to jump ship, and therefore could violate terms of the injunction which has been in place since last October.It looks like there will be fireworks in this case until the bitter end.
I was blind sided yesterday by the latest feint in the ongoing battle. We're just a week out from the Sept. 29 court-approved deadline which is supposed to mark the end of the bidding process. Negotiations between Gannett and several bidders are reportedly underway on the west coast. We know there's at least one very active bidder, Canadian newspaper publisher David Black. But a wave of uncertainty swept across the Star-Bulletin newsroom on Friday, leaving emotional eddies swirling in its wake.First came the realization that at least one S-B reporter has already applied for one of the Advertiser positions posted last week, and there could be more expressing interest. This was tough to process. Folks are trying to be understanding of individual circumstances, but this is a critical juncture and there's a sense, perhaps self-serving, that one of our main assets in the proposed sale is the paper's existing staff, and odds of survival will be whittled away with each staff departure.
Then came the real jolt, a sharp, painful, and unexpected rap on the knuckles in the form of the suggestion that Gannett could still surprise everyone and unilaterally withdraw the offer to sell the Star-Bulletin, walk out of the current negotiations, and instead choose to take their chances at trial. Bidders would be left empty handed, and we would be thrown back into the worst kind of uncertainty. It would be a risky proposition for Gannett, since withdrawal at this stage could easily be seen as a sign of bad faith, and would make subsequent courtroom defenses more difficult. But Gannett might perceive an opportunity in the departure at the end of next week of Joel Klein, head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, which will reduce the odds of intervention from that quarter, at least until a new director is in place and in gear.
Gannett might also see some courtroom leverage in the outcome in San Francisco, where the Judge's decision in the Chronicle case and, more importantly, the messy political outcome would appear to make aggressive government intervention in our case unlikely.
It isn't clear what, if anything, prompted articulation of this doom 'n gloom scenario at this time, or if there is any basis at all, even if filtered through the distortions of multiple retelling. It might be simple posturing in an attempt to increase Gannett's leverage in negotiations with bidders, and it might be nothing at all, triggered by our own jumpiness.
In the newsroom, though, it triggered ongoing and debilitating hallway debates as shifting groups of staffers tried to digest the possibilities.
Not a good Friday.
A friend forwarded this old photo yesterday, which seems an apt visual representation of what it's been feeling like in the midst of our ever evolving situation.
Yesterday's cliff jumping photo inspired another foray into history, this time a vignette provided by my sister, Bonnie. There's nothing here that relates to the Star-Bulletin, but it's Sunday, so I'm claiming some leeway.
Bonnie wonders whether my "pot-stirring tendencies" might be inherited from David Lorenzo Brittain, my great-great-grandfather, who died in Lakeport CA in 1869. He was about 37.
It seems that in the middle 1860's a group of business people at the south end of Clear Lake decided that they were going to profit from San Francisco's need for drinking water. They formed the Clear Lake Water Company and proceeded to build a little dam at the outlet of Clear Lake with the intention of shipping water down to San Francisco. They promised the ranchers at the upper end of the lake that the water level would rise a maximum of 1'.
David BrittainAfter the second winter of the lake level being in the middle of main street in Lakeport, the ranchers decided to take care of things themselves.
Several hundred of them were involved; just over 300 are named in the resulting lawsuit, including our great-great-grandfather. Whether they were a group of concerned citizens or an unruly mob depends on your point of view.
In any case, in mid-November they spent the evening traveling down to Lower Lake. They 'detained' the local constable, blew up the dam, and burned the lumber mill, grist mill and warehouses associated with it. In the process they lowered the water level in the lake.
All the named participants went to trial -- except our ancestor, who by that time had died, probably as a direct result of his adventure. He was tuberculin, and undoubtedly got awfully cold and wet that November night. The case was heard outside Lake Co., the fines were small, and were payable in something like $5/month installments.
Ironically, Bonnie works at Hetch Hetchy, the water system that successfully moves water across California to San Francisco -- while our ancestor was actively blowing up one of its predecessors!
This is the home stretch. The current round of bids should be evaluated by Friday's court deadline. At that time, we should at least have enough information to assess the last round of dire rumors, and will know whether any bids have survived close scrutiny.The other scuttlebutt on Friday, largely overshadowed by the hints of bidders bailing out, was the secondhand report that the Advertiser is doing a wholesale remake of its weekly TGIF section, including not only a redesign and a new editor, but a complete change of staff up and down the line, from writers to page layout. Demotions, promotions, and lateral movements all involved, it seems. This drew a lot of comment in our newsroom about the heavy handed and top down way that Gannett approaches such situations. We'll obviously be hearing more about this shakeup in the next few days.
And, at home in Kaaawa, the word is:
Don't ask, don't tell.All I can say is that Sunday began with a bit of a surprise for us.
One picture says it all.
'Nuff said about that.
Bids submitted for the Star-Bulletin will be presented to the court in a closed session tomorrow, according to a story in today's Honolulu Advertiser.According to the story, newspaper broker Phil Murray, who is handling the sale, said the session is "to see where we are and what the next step is."
I think I'll wait to see what S-B writer Rick Daysog has to say about the process. He was strutting up and down the hallway Monday afternoon, occasionally stopping to peer over the top of the divider to the left of my desk with the look of a crazed but satisfied Cheshire cat. I think it means that he has a good story on its way soon.
I took some flak for yesterday's entry which described the reactions in our newsroom to a secondhand report of a section shakeup across the hall. Advertiser staffer Elizabeth Kieszkowski, who is reported to be taking the helm of the revamped section, commented: "Your information about the Advertiser and TGIF (both the changes and the process) is distorted -- again."
I can see what I believe her point is--that yesterday's entry reported a rumor without independently checking out its validity, a basic reporting step. The confusion here is that I'm trying to report what's going on in our newsroom, and the fact is that the rumored Advertiser shakeup was very much a topic of conversation, and I think I accurately conveyed the substance of the newsroom conversation, including the perception--distorted or not--of what is taking place across the hall. I pointedly described it as secondhand scuttlebutt, obviously a clue that the substance of the report was rumor rather than gospel.
For accurate "hard news" reporting, rely on Daysog, and the archive of stories by Peter Wagner. But for the pulse of our newsroom, stay tuned here.
[News Flash, 11:50 a.m.: Canadian publisher David Black has been named the sole qualified bidder during a court hearing this morning. Details available at StarBulletin.com.]As expected, Rick Daysog came through with an interesting story on the three known bidders yesterday, including a review of financial problems faced by Hadland Communications, the owner of several Los Angeles-area weekly newspapers.
Although not mentioned in Rick's story, the S-B ESOP is still in the mix. I'm not privy to any specifics, but the ESOP's representatives are almost certainly reaching out to other bidders in the background and trying to build a relationship that will carry over into an ultimate ownership interest.
Two bidders say they would rely on printing facilities of RFD Publications, publisher of MidWeek. Rick's story didn't probe this further, but my limited understanding is that RFD's press is probably not capable of putting out a daily newspaper of the same size as the existing Star-Bulletin. It would likely require a change in format and/or a reduction in the number of pages.
It will also pose a challenge to the union coalition that has been backing the S-B, since I'm told RFD is not a union operation, and it would most likely mean loss of those union printing trade jobs here at HNA if the Star-Bulletin is printed elsewhere.
In addition, former RFD staffers question whether the company could print a morning paper, because of its location at the edge of a residential community. The added traffic and noise during evening and early morning hours caused by a morning publication schedule could draw neighborhood opposition, and there's no telling where that could lead.
So although technically feasible, printing by RFD is not a perfect solution. On the other hand, continued printing by Gannett will probably mean continuing problems verging on sabotage, such as those experienced by the S-B over the last year.
Attention Dave Donnelly: Only cat people should check this link to Buster's Tale, my brief recollections of one of our favorite cats, or this week's adoption notice.
The word spread through the newsroom soon after the hour-long conference between attorneys for the various parties and Magistrate Judge Kurren ended. Judge Kurren made it official: Victoria B.C.-based Black Press Ltd was named the sole qualified bidder. A yell went up from the web guys corner of the newsroom, and there were quick smiles all around, but overall the initial reaction was subdued.Details became available as Rick's story for 2nd edition went online just before noon.
"It is good, isn't it?" some staffers asked. There seemed to be a general reluctance to put too much emphasis on this announcement. "We've just been thrashed so many times before," another friend observed.
But as tv news crews arrived for interviews, and requests for comment came from other media, optimism seemed to gradually build among S-B staffers. After all, a year ago we were preparing to close, with all experts, and our owners, announcing that no one would possible be interested in buying a failing newspaper. Now, a year later, the court has accepted one of three competing bids, all willing to invest millions in the deal.
Sometime after noon, there was a stir as a new sign was added on the door to the newsroom, the door that happens to face the Advertiser's newsroom: "NOW HIRING".
One S-B ESOP leader declined a request for comment from an Advertiser reporter. She reportedly explained that she was just afraid their story would be screwed up again, dragging her comment along with it.
This set off rounds of laughter as staffers spun off likely approaches the Advertiser might use to keep the picture gloomy despite approval of the buyer that Gannett said would never exist."Only one bidder for failing paper" was one suggestion. "Bidder qualification is just the first step in a long and difficult road to a final deal to bail out the dying Bulletin," their story might continue.
And when the Advertiser story appeared this morning, it turned out our parodies actually fell short of the real thing!
Their nut graph: "The order marks a significant but still inconclusive step in the bid to keep alive the 118-year-old newspaper that Gannett and Liberty Newspapers have said would not be profitable if published independently."
Much to the delight of most S-B staffers, the new issue of Honolulu Magazine features a column, "Trashing the Awards", which tells the story of Advertiser Managing Editor Jim Kelly publicly throwing away a 2nd place award received in a competition sponsored by the Hawaii Publishers Association. If it sounds familiar, it's because you read the story here back in May.Honolulu Magazine was able to go further with the tale, however, because an anonymous source sent them the award plaque itself, retrieved, so the story goes, from a trash can in the shared library between the Advertiser and Star-Bulletin newsrooms.
According to an anonymous letter, quoted in the magazine, Advertiser management are angry at being continually coming up short in journalism competitions, and "seem to believe that they are getting a raw deal from the state and national judges due to factors that range from anti-Gannett feelings to resentment about their attempts to close the Star-Bulletin."
Yeah, sure...and the ump was blind, and the ref was looking the other way, too.
In the flashback file: My wife, Meda, recently ran across this note in one of her stacks at the University. It's what she jotted down from my call the morning September 16, 1999, when Rupert Phillips announced the closing of the paper.
"One week of severance pay for each year, pay thru Nov 15th, Merry Christmas. That's it," she wrote.
117 years?!
"make more $ on the mainland," referring to Rupert's professed reason for closing the paper.
It's a little bit of history that gives a quick insight into what we were feeling on that grim morning.
"-holding up relatively well," she noted. And we still are.
It was a pretty high energy day in the S-B newsroom, as the confidence level builds that this deal is going through.
Strains of "O Canada", the Canadian national anthem, could be heard, emanating from the other end of the newsroom. One version was downloaded from the Canadian government web site, while a couple of sing along attempts could also be heard.
Lunch, served as part of an Aloha United Way fundraising effort, came complete with the anthem's score, as well as flag.
Another writer announced he had phoned around town and found a source for flags, and intends to hoist a Canadian flag in the window above his desk.
"Mainly to aggravate them," he says, waving towards the Gannett offices.
There was also more reaction to the divergent coverage of this week's court action, including this version of the "pros and cons" list based on the original which appeared in Friday's Advertiser:Some of the assets and obstacles media analysts see for David Black, the Canadian publisher selected as the only person qualified to bid on the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:ASSETS
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin has a loyal readership and a relatively strong home delivery base of about 50,000 on O'ahu.
-- The Oahu circulation for the Advertiser is only a few thousand more readers. The 110,000/63,000 figures often quoted actually represents an incomplete picture of the two newspaper's circulations. Anyone thinking that Black wants to maintain the status quo has to be living in Disneyland.A sale would include the newspaper's name, Web site, subscriber and advertiser lists, syndicated features, wire services and some office equipment.
-- And include a staff that's determined to prevail over the competition. A team of journalists that continues to produce work judged substantially superior, time and again, in local and national competition.Keeping the Star-Bulletin alive would appeal to those who want a second
editorial voice in Honolulu.
-- It would also appeal to those who would otherwise lose their jobs. Above all, it provides a point of view not often presented by the other paper: a balanced one.The newspaper has a well-established staff that knows the community.
-- A staff that historically cares about all ethnic communities.The owner is an experienced newspaper operator who is familiar with such issues as marketing, competition for advertising and labor relations.
-- He also knows how to scrap.
OBSTACLES (besides Gannett)
The operation would require a start-up investment of between $10 million and $50 million and could lose millions more before it became profitable, if ever.
-- No businessman in his right mind would even bother to attempt a bid if it weren't seen as potentially profitable. Very few businesses end up in the black in its first year of operation. To proclaim failure before a start is just unsubstantiated wishful thinking. A quality product would attract readers. It would also bring in ad clients and thus, revenue. Controlling costs is how you avoid "losing millions".The newspaper would have to hire staffs for its circulation, advertising and administrative departments and would have to establish new offices and find a press. Those operations are presently shared with The Honolulu Advertiser.
-- It could possibly attract the best talent among those interested in working for a company with a great deal of growth potential and better quality (along with far more esprit de corps) than the competition.Afternoon newspapers across the country are suffering from declining circulation, and switching to a morning cycle would be costly and complicated.
-- Not necessarily. Starting up is costly. But switching to a morning cycle would be "costly" only to the Advertiser and "complicated" in that they'd have to develop strategies to compete for revenues against what would truly be a second newspaper.Competing against The Advertiser means going up against Gannett Co. Inc, a multibillion dollar company that publishes 100 daily newspapers in the United States.
-- And so is it inconceivable that a small weekly tabloid like Midweek can take away all the grocery ads and large ad clients like Fisher Hawaii?The trend over the past 30 years has been against two-newspaper markets.
-- Trends, like odds, never address specific events or situations. Here are some trends which once prevailed: 1) Anything heavier than air will immediately fall to the Earth. Such machines simply cannot fly. 2) Computers take up tremendous amounts of space and cost millions of dollars. 3) The earth is the center of the universe and is obviously flat!Tomorrow, a new month. Come November, a new owner and a new future. With luck, at least.
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