Unca Darrell

MARCH 25 and 26 / Black Tuesday, Black Wednesday, whatever

MORE LINKS to stories and comments about the layoffs and related matters:

MARCH 26, 2009

Newspaper Death Watch (minimal Chronicle story = about one word per victim)

Financial Times (Chronicle mentioned in "Newspaper crisis deepens")

Houston Press (Another must-read from Richard Connelly)

Houston Press (Chronicle guts sports)

Houston Press (First-person account of getting the boot)

Lose an Eye (Features? Features?) 

blogHouston ("So, for now it's done." Plus "Cohen's pets.") 

Houtopia (Who's left to report the news?)

Clownville Chronicles ("The Chronicle is making me angry")

Dallas Morning News, WAOI,  and Minneapolis Star-Tribune (ran AP)

about:Chron (Reader responses -- e.g., why were no execs fired?)

MEANWHILE, why hasn't someone added a sentence or two about financial troubles and layoffs to the Chronicle's Wikipedia entry?

MARCH 25, 2009

Houston Chronicle (readers unload at About:Chron)

Houston Press (Editor Cohen ducks interview request)

Banjo Jones at Brazosport Facts News (thoughtful commentary)

Lose an Eye (good wrap-up)

Jim Newkirk ("Coverage of the fine arts remains unchanged.")

Romenesko (links to quickie story in Chronicle and HouPress coverage) 

Houston Press (Rice cancels Chronicle subscriptions)

Houston Press ("So Long, Suburbs")

Reuters UK (picked up from Wall Street Journal)

Reuters UK (combo story on Chronicle, Atlanta layoffs)

New Ledger (story on newspaper bailout bill mentions Chronicle)

Huffington Post (AP rerun)

Deadspin (blogger laments firing of college beat reporters)

Bakersfield Californian (paper chops own staff, mentions Chronicle)

International Herald Tribune (reprints AP)

Houston Chronicle Human Resources Department (looking for a Web developer, but it's too late to apply for internships)

After a day on the road, I've retired from keeping up with who got fired at the Chronicle. To see a  fine list, updated Thursday afternoon, go to the Houston Press.

 

MARCH 25 / No posting until this evening

MARCH 25 / Kicking the Chronicle while it's down

RICE UNIVERSITY cancels Chronicle subscriptions. Catherine Bratic is not amused:

That means no morning papers in the college commons. No morning crosswords over breakfast. No Style section, no Sports section, no Business section and no front page news.

MARCH 24 / Liveblogging Black Tuesday: "People just disappeared"

THE DRILL went like this for selected Houston Chronicle editors and reporters Tuesday: a telephone call, a trip to human resources, a severance packet, an escort out of the building.

Thanks. Best wishes. Goodbye. Come back for your stuff Saturday.

The long-awaited layoffs had arrived.

MARCH 24 / Thanks for the memories

HERE IS Editor Jeff Cohen's Black Tuesday letter to the Houston Chronicle staff:

The Chronicle employment cutback that Jack Sweeney has communicated to us began this morning. Each department in the newsroom is affected in one way or another.

MARCH 24 / Vote early, vote often

UNCA D's COUSIN, Gwen Choate, is a quarterfinalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.

Here's the contest site. You can find Gwen's entry by clicking "Fantasy," then scrolling to an entry titled The Sack. 

MARCH 24 / What is it with Hollywood and the editorial board?

MONDAY the Chronicle came out in support of unspecified incentives to attract filmmakers to Texas.

What incentives means, in this case (and in plain English), is taxpayer money. In the language of bureaucrats, taxpayer money is called grants. Either way, the Chronicle wants to write checks to out-of-state hotshots who probably dislike Texas as it is about as much as the Chronicle editorial board does.

MARCH 24 / Nice personal site by friends

 

 

THE DEMOCRATIZATION of publishing through blogs has inspired many to report on their lives. Here's Viajando05, a personal blog by friends Kathy and David Altaras. It recounts their travels, photography, reading, and other activities. 

MARCH 23 / Is the AIG-bonus tax bill unconstitutional?

PROBABLY NOT, at least under the bill-of-attainder analysis, say folks who ought to know -- libertarian and conservative law professors at the Volokh Conspiracy. They are sympathetic to the bill-of-attainder argument on policy ground but doubt courts would agree. Start here and click through the links to see a variety of useful opinions. 

MARCH 23 / Buyer's remorse?

THE NEW YORK TIMES unloaded on the president Sunday. It seems he's not enthusiastic enough about undoing the Bush administration's anti-terrorism and detention policies.

Even as [the administration] dropped the "enemy combatant" terminology, Mr. Obama's lawyers did not seem to rule out indefinite military detentions for terrorism suspects and their allies.

And where's the Star Chamber for George W. Bush?

Previous "Buyer's Remorse?"