Thursday, June 12, 2008

Will This Dog Ever Hunt?


Has Wendy McCaw's News-Press ever made so much of so little? Although they announced his hiring with great fanfare back on May 16th, "investigative reporter" Robert Eringer has had only two by-lined articles appear in the paper since then.

The first was a column that ran on May 31. He was not heard from again until Tuesday, where he had a front-page news article about the Montecito Associations' announcement that it would be sponsoring three community forums on the possibility of incorporating as a municipality.



I don't know about you, but in my book following up on a press release hardly qualifies as "investigative" reporting.

Apparently, the pages of the News-Press are not the only place where "Snoop Dog" is hard to find. He has seldom if ever been seen in the newsroom despite the fact that the paper had a private work area built there for him.

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New and Improved? The newspress.com website invites visitors to "Click here to see the all new and improved News Press TV." But if you click over to the News-Press TV website you will find, that as of Wednesday night, the most recent news story posted is the May 30th funeral of Father Virgil.

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One more reason not to subscribe. Wednesday's News-Press had an article about a potbellied pig that is recuperating after undergoing surgery last week to remove a 35-pound tumor. Accompanying the article was a color photo of the tumor.

Don't be surprised if Farmer John tries to pull its ads from the paper.

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Only in L.A. "Judge suspends obscenity trial after conceding his own website had sexual images."

No truth to the rumor that the News-Press has put in a bid to purchase the judge's used computer for its newsroom.

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One item guaranteed not to appear in "On The Move." Jerry Jeremy Bradfield, who resigned early last month from his position as National Advertising Manager for the News-Press has joined Maps.com, a local company that provides print and online classified advertising solutions, where he will work as a sales manager.

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Boston Ventures, the company that owns a controlling interest in KEYT, has acquired a stake in Richard Petty's NASCAR racing team.

What's next? John Palminteri as a "pit" reporter?