Kevin Allman

USLA ToTimesDay

I've become slightly totally obsessed tracking media layoffs -- according to PaperCuts, the casualty toll was more than 2000 in January alone, including 300 from the Los Angeles Times, which seems hell-bent  to see which it can drive away fastest: readers, subscribers or advertisers.

The paper's latest move is to discontinue its decades-old Metro section (which has been called "California" in recent years), folding all local coverage inside Section One and mushing it together with national, international and op-ed. From PaperCuts, here's the letter from publisher Eddy Hartenstein:

Beginning March 2nd the paper will be presented in four main news sections:

A/Main News will be repositioned to present local, national and international coverage and opinion together - as each informs, impacts and shapes the others in our everyday lives. The California section report will lead A, followed by The Nation, The World and then Opinion. The result will combine the stories and reporting of our two most widely-read print sections into one cohesive section.

Business will be the second section in the paper, and the report will be enhanced by bringing back the “Company Town” feature, which will serve as the anchor for our “business of entertainment” coverage. The obituaries and weather pages will remain at the back of this new B section.

Sports will be the third section, and we’ll be moving the classified advertising pages to the back of this new C section.

Calendar will be the fourth section, and this move allows its deadlines to be pushed deep into the evening (aka “second-daily”), allowing us to make our primary space for entertainment coverage more news-driven. This will enrich this current “must read” section even further, enabling us to add features such as overnight reviews.

And it struck me where I'd seen this exact same lineup before:

The new L.A. Times:

News/Opinion • Business • Sports • Calendar

The old (and new) USA Today:

News/Opinion • Business • Sports • Life

The only thing missing is the spiffy weather map, and the color-coding. I don't think the Times can compete with USA Today's weather map, but Calendar will look lovely in purple.

Goodbye, Washington Post Book World. You were great.

I've got a roundup of new mysteries in Sunday's Washington Post Book World. It'll be my last -- I'm not going away; they are. Book World as a stand-alone pullout will be no more in two weeks.

Not a surprise, unfortunately; as newspapers cut back, stand-alone book sections have become regarded as a luxury that don't support themselves through advertising. (The Los Angeles Times dissolved its book section in 2007, and dismantled its Metro/California section this week, showing the difference between the two papers; the Post is reacting to nearly inexorable market forces, while the Times is being run by chimpanzees who shouldn't be in charge of watering a ficus, much less running a once-great newspaper.)

A group of readers and critics signed a "Keep Book World" petition written by the National Book Critics Circle, but it didn't change things. The only thing that could've saved the situation was more print advertising by publishers, and they're spending their promotional budgets in other places these days and probably forever.

So the Post's book criticism and news is going to move into other sections -- Style, Opinion, etc. -- and the staff (which was already down) is going to remain in place, at least for now. I'll miss the good writing in Book World, and I want to thank my fine editors, Dennis Drabelle and Ron Charles, as well as the others I worked with who have gone on to other things: Jabari Asim, Chris Lehmann, Marie Arana, and the rest. Good luck to all of you, and thanks for your utter and complete professionalism.

The Rocky Mountain News liveblogs a toddler's funeral

Proving that they're on the cutting edge of social media, the Rocky Mountain News sent reporter Berny Morson to liveblog the funeral of a 3-year-old who was killed by an out-of-control car while he stood in line at an ice cream parlor...

Samples:

family member says marten is with grandmother who died last year. ' marten we loved you,' he says. People sobbing. about 9 hours ago from txt

video shows marten blowing out candles on birthday cake, marten with dog. last images are of headlines. about 8 hours ago from txt

people again are sobbing. rabbi again asks god to give marten everlasting life. about 8 hours ago from txt

family members shovel earth into grave about 7 hours ago from txt

Did this jackass really sit in the back of a funeral home with his Blackberry, text-messaging this to the Internet?!?!?!?

I figure that's good for, oh, about 1000 cancelled subscriptions by tomorrow night. And nationwide headlines.

...Oh, and people too.

Current headline graphic at Fox News:

Write for free!: Huffington Post's massage oasis at the Dem convention

Arianna Huffington and the Huffington Post can't afford to pay the site's bloggers -- it's not part of the business model, don't you know, darling -- but somehow she can dig up the shekels for this:

[W]e've decided to demonstrate that a balanced life is possible even during the most compulsively hectic days in the political calendar. So during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, HuffPost's Living section will offer harried conventioneers -- including delegates and members of the media -- a chance to unplug and recharge at the HuffPost Oasis.

The Oasis will feature complimentary yoga classes, Thai massages, hand massages, mini-facials, healthy snacks and refreshments, music, and a comfortable seating area for lounging and unwinding.

Well, that's one way to make sure you keep getting hand-massaged press for your online company. Marshall McLuhan was right: the medium is the massage.

Anyone at the convention want to keep tabs on which poor overworked beleaguered members of the media are lining up for a free facial and hand massage from Arianna? And are bloggers eligible for Arianna's ministrations, or is it just "delegates and members of the media"?

The newspaper and the dumb dress code

Years ago, I worked at a beleaguered big-city daily where the managers decided that the best way to address sagging morale was to restate the already-existing dress code. Such a move, of course, was a red flag in front of a bunch of badly-dressed bulls, and it was promptly ignored...except by the young woman who pushed the mail cart, who had the delightful notion of showing up the next day in a prom dress.

With elbow-length gloves.

She was sent home and the dress code was not mentioned again.

All this is prelude to the three-act play enacted last week in the newsroom of the even-more-beleaguered Los Angeles Daily News, which is reeling from layoffs and stress and downturns and all that modern newspaper wonderfulness. The story unfolds at LA Observed:

Act One, Thurs., July 31:

The rest of L.A. may be more casual than ever, but at the Daily News denim is now banned:

* Managers and professional employees should dress for business daily; never jeans or tennis shoes. If unsure, recall how you dressed when you interviewed for your position.
* Casual Friday is an option. Business casual always presents a good appearance, never jeans, running shoes, T-shirts, flip-flops or beachwear.
* Business casual is a good choice for evening work in all departments outside of production.
* Clothing should be clean, unwrinkled and in good repair.
* Denim including designer jeans is never appropriate for the workplace.

(Designer jeans? Have we teleported back to 1979 and the Age of Gloria Vanderbilt?)

Act Two, Fri., Aug. 1:

I'm told via email that "EVERYBODY is wearing jeans today in the newsroom of the DN. Heh-heh."

Act Three, Mon., Aug. 4:

Editor Carolina Garcia just put out the word:

All,

After serious review, the proposed dress code has been dropped from consideration. Let's continue to dress professionally and to use our best judgment in choosing the right attire for the task at hand - whether covering a city hall news conference, chasing a fire or working the night copy desk.

Thanks to everyone for your involvement in helping arrive at this decision.

Carolina

I wonder if anyone had the balls (or the fashion sense) to wear a prom dress.

This year's White House Correspondents' Dinner: now with extra breasts

This weekend brought the annual White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner, where the press gathers to yuk it up with the people they're supposed to be covering. Frank James of the Chicago Tribune provides a wrapup that's as good, or at least as typical, as any. Not that he's deaf to the criticisms of press whoredom:

There's been much talk in recent years of how the White House Correspondents' Association's annual dinner has perhaps outlived its usefulness.

But there's probably something to be said for an event that may be of the world's greatest flesh-and-blood mash-ups. That, for no other reason, probably argues for its continued existence....

Everywhere you turn, there's someone who used to make headlines, is making them now or will be. It's one of the biggest parades of the fabulously wealthy and famous you're ever likely to see. Where else outside Hollywood can you see Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, Martha Stewart, Marcia Cross and the Jonas Brothers gliding by your table?

Yeah.

Anyway, The New York Times now refuses to confuse journalistic ethics with a Comedy Central roast (the paper refuses to buy a table at the charade any longer), and the general reaction at the D.C. lunch table seemed to be: Too good to sit with us? Who the hell does she think SHE is?.

James makes a point of quoting this year's emcee, Craig Ferguson, who faux-twitted the Times in the roomful of twits:

"Oh, the New York Times. The New York Times unfortunately did not buy a table. They felt, I just want to make sure I got this right, they felt this event undercut the credibility of the press. It's funny. You see, I thought that Jayson Blair and Judi Miller took care of that."

(Ferguson got one of his biggest laughs at this point.)

"...Well, let me try this, shut the hell up New York Times, you sanctimonious, whining jerks. Look for my good review there coming up soon. I'm guessing Monday morning. 'He's a star.'

Actually, that wasn't just Ferguson's opinion. He tapped into a sentiment held by journalists in the room who thought the NYT might be missing the ethical forest for the trees on this one. Also, what does that make the rest of us, stenographers for the administration? (I know I'm inviting trouble with that question. As the president might say "Bring it on.")

That sound you hear is Craig Ferguson's sarcasm whizzing right over Frank James' head.

You can enjoy James's stenography -- along with photos of Pamela Anderson, Karl Rove talking to Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas, George Bush standing on a chair ("This got a lot of laughs and applause") and Colin Powell pointing at Jenny McCarthy's chichis -- on the Tribune's website.