Good evening, 919 Gang. Here’s a new topic a lot of people
can address:
PRESTON TUREGANO
writes:
Thursday (Feb. 2) is the 25th anniversary of the
merger of The San Diego Union and The San Diego Tribune (formerly The Evening
Tribune). Remember how the company told the public (via a newspaper story) that
only “the best and brightest” of each paper were being retained to guarantee the
best news-reporting product, or something like that? So, with the merger in
mind, I’d like to open a new dialogue thread on 919: Do you think the business
ploy was a success, and how did the merger change your life? For good, or bad? in
my case, I got the job of the U-T’s first dedicated/full-time Arts News Writer,
which stunned me. It was my dream job. Before that, I had been a Tribune GA,
who dabbled in arts and entertainment stories and reviews. I fully expected I
would be laid off come merger time. It was a golden opportunity for management
to get rid of a big pain-in-the-ass. But, obviously decision makers considered
my journalistic abilities/qualifications over my personality. But, surprise,
surprise: Those abilities and qualifications stemmed, to great degree, from my
personality. In short, for me the merger was very good.
REBER: It’s really an
interesting question, Preston. The merger was good for me because it moved me
to senior management. What surprised me about the merger was how many of the
people who were retained figured they would be getting a promotion. One day
there was tremendous anxiety in the newsroom about who would have a job the
next day, and then, among a few people, there was this feeling that they didn’t
get enough from the merger.
There
were some unexpected consequences. For instance, one Tribune reporter had a
guaranteed weekly extra assignment that earned him five hours of overtime every
week. Of course, the merger ended that, meaning he took a big pay cut.
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THANE McINTOSH
writes:
Your mention of Kay Jarvis Prokop
brought back many great memories when she and I would produce Fashion sections.
We did, I suppose, six or seven sections with full cover-page color art, at
least a dozen black and white pictures inside. Kay and I would decide upon a
theme (Zoo, Balboa Park, Shelter Island, etc.), anything that gave us good
backgrounds and a place to headquarter the models and the outfits we got from
the advertising stores. Kay would coordinate getting the clothes all in one
place and hiring the models. We used local experienced models (mostly women but
occasionally a man) because we shot a lot of setups and we could not waste
time. Kay would usually leave me alone to set up the ladies and get the shots
but I welcomed her input because she was a very sharp lady. My first fashion
cover was made down at the docks near the 10th Ave Terminal. I used a 4x5
Graphic for the color because I could flash-fill synch with studio strobes.
Kay
and I did a lot of fashion shoots together. However there was one that I will
never forget. We were shooting at Balboa Park near the zoo. I had a 1968 Dodge
van and Kay and I decided to use it instead of messing around with renting a
van. We used three models. They would get dressed in their outfits and we would
drive around the area looking for good backgrounds. Then we would go back to
wherever our dressing room was and do another set. But when we got ready to go
with a full load of models Kay’s foot slipped as she climbed up into the van
and she fell to the ground. Panic ensued. The three models climbed out of the
van to help me attend to Kay who was in pain from a twisted ankle. The models
did not hesitate, they made me drive to the nearest hospital emergency room (I
think it was Mercy) to get Kay examined. I drove up and parked outside the
emergency room entrance and all of us, the limping Kay, myself and three
beautiful gorgeously attired ladies filed in looking for a doctor. Our little
group made quite an impression in the ER.
After
explanations Kay was examined and treated. I don’t remember how bad her injury
was or how we finished the day, except that we did the remainder of the set-ups
quickly. What I do remember was Kay’s assurance to me that she would not sue me
for the mishap. For that alone and a lot of other reasons I have always
considered working with Kay a highlight of my career.
----------------------------------------------------
STEVE LIEWER
writes:
Jack, it's good, if a little bit surprising, to find you and
Janet Lowe are fans of Omaha and the World-Herald! I have become one, too. I
have shallow roots in Omaha, but deep ones in Nebraska -- the fourth generation
in my family to work in newspapers in the state. (I actually grew up in
Washington state -- but that's a story for another day.)
To answer Janet's question: Yes, the World-Herald has
remained viable. It helps that the Great Recession was gentle in Nebraska,
thanks to a farm economy that remained strong. There were a few layoffs in the
late aughts, but nothing like the carnage that prompted me to regretfully leave
the U-T in 2010 for a media-training job with the Army. The World-Herald was
employee-owned from the 1960s until hometown boy Warren Buffett bought it in 2011,
at the beginning of a newspaper-buying binge. I was hired to cover the military
in 2013, after the Army decided it didn't really need media trainers at its
Staff College after all. During that year, the newsroom actually added four new
positions!
We owe a lot of our success, frankly, to the Nebraska
Cornhusker football team. Their following is rabid, and you can't be a true fan
without reading the World-Herald's year-round coverage. On the news side, we've
got what strikes me as a pretty decent formula: strong coverage of city hall,
kick-ass investigative reporting, and lots of people-oriented columns and
stories. We put breaking news online, but non-competitive enterprise stories go
in print first. So there's still a reason to buy the print edition. The
population here skews a little older and we've retained a lot of loyal readers.
There's a reservoir of goodwill towards the World-Herald that I haven't
experienced as much other places I've worked.
Not everything is rosy. The farm economy has soured the
past three years. National advertising and readership have slipped a bit (print
circulation's around 100,000), and the World-Herald now home-delivers only in
the eastern third of Nebraska and a few counties in western Iowa. There haven't
been raises in a long time, but no reporters or editors have been laid off,
either.
The best part of living in Omaha is Omaha. Friendly people,
big (900,000 in the metro area) but not congested, highly affordable housing,
theater, opera, sports, nightlife, and, yes, the BEST zoo in the country. Nope,
no ocean, just a muddy river. It does snow -- some years. This year? We've
totaled about four inches. Less than Mt. Laguna!
I do miss San Diego, especially in February. Fingers
crossed, I'll be back in the fall, for the commissioning of a new Navy littoral
combat ship that's going to be home-ported in San Diego.
The USS Omaha.
------------------------------------------------
REBER: Suzanne Mack wrote
last night about a visit to the soon-to-disappear Anthony’s restaurant.
SUZANNE MACK
writes:
I
forgot to mention that while waiting for a table at Anthony's Bill spotted a
man who was a dead ringer for Alex Spanos. Bill went up to the man and asked if
anyone had ever commented on his resemblance to the Charger owner. The man said
it happened a lot, but it was more fun before Spanos became a pariah in town.
NICK CANEPA
writes:
The original Anthony's Fish Grotto was on the corner of
Pacific Highway and Laurel Street, about three blocks from where I grew up. My
mom loved the Manhattan clam chowder and would send me there for a tub every
once in a while. Mama Ghio, who founded the place, lived up the hill from us
and made the chowder in a washing machine. It was quite a coup when they got
the spot on the Embarcadero. Anthony ran the business, brother Todd got the
fish, sister Adele and her husband also were involved. To the end a family op.
Star of the Sea Room was a great restaurant. Teresa and I had dinner there with
Herb Klein and Jack Kemp. I saw Anthony not long ago. The Ghios had been one of
the bidders to put something new there. Brigantine people got it. Really like
Anthony, always kind to me. I asked him what happened. He said: "We got
screwed." Just a great city we live in, hooked on tradition
----------------------------------------------------------------
REBER: We can’t leave
January without wishing a Happy Birthday (Jan. 31) to Nancee Lewis.
-------------------------------------------------------------
JAMIE RENO
forwards:
Cancer Clinical Trial Does
Wonders for Ground Zero Rescue Worker
Bart Zagami was running out of options to treat his
lymphoma when a cancer trial for the drug ibrutinib gave him new hope
P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.
