Today she jumped on a story about all those bus stop benches that aren’t necessarily at bus stops. While there are only a few specific bus stops around the city–like the mall and downtown–the advertising benches seemed to have just blossomed through the cracks like weeds.

The GUARDIAN remembers when the ad scam got started in about 1973. The Ada County Highway District got a piece of the action–which was something like 10% of the gross. Apparently some 700 benches have been dumped all over the city. At one time the city got federal grants to build bus stops at Vista/Overland and Capitol/University among other spots.

Both Boise City and the ACHD want to control access to the public right-of-way and eliminate the benches. If they are like the EMS folks they will go into business and do their own advertising signs.

Kreller’s other no nonsense story was a routine report on the Boise Police Department’s “annual report.” She jabbed the chief about forgetting some of the unsavory aspects of the look back at the previous year’s activities.

He said “no corporation” puts that stuff in an annual report. TILT! Chief Mike Masterson is the COP–not the CEO. Good job Katie.

Newspapering makes strange “bedpersons” in the case of the local daily in Boise where a 35-year-old “veteran” of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has just been appointed as publisher.

Mi-Ai Parish takes the helm after Mike Petrak jumped ship over the weekend. If the McClatchey group can get news in the paper as fast as they switch publishers there is hope for the local daily which has had more publishers and owners in the past year than it did in the previous 10.

In an episode straight out of Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion, Boise has a couple of midwerst ladies at the top of the local publishing game who were once crosstown competitors in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. They have apparently followed the advice of Horace Greeley–“go west young lady. Go west.”

Vicki Gowler is Executive editor at the Statesman and only a few months ago she was competing head-to-head with her new young boss. Gowler was an editor at the St. Paul Pioneer-Press and Parish held a similar post at the Star-Tribune.

Gosh! Newspaper brass are joining their TV cousins as being the highest paid most attractive migrant workers in town. We give Parish a month before she gets courted by Dr. Bob at BSU and invited to join hospital, charity group boards, the Airid Club, etc.

Insiders at the local paper are encouraged that Parish has a background in news. She has not worked in advertising, circulation, or finance. All we want is decent news coverage anyway, so who cares?

They had three owners in less than a year and changed the format to compete with YAHOO web sites. With top editors on well deserved vacations, those who read the local paper are treated to reruns of two year old stories, no local follow up on national stories, mix ups on which “target editions” get what stories, and young reporters who don’t know Boise from Garden City.

We noticed Wayne Hoffman”s front page puff piece last week about official Idaho birds, horse, flowers etc. This week Hoffman, the P.R. guy for the Idaho Department of Agriculture, is featured on the editorial page carrying the water for Republicans. If they like his work so much, they should have offered him a good wage to stay. But then again, they don’t have to pay him at all now.

Like car dealer rebates, the local paper is giving itself away to entice subscribers otherwise unwilling to sign up. One of the prime motivations for the GUARDIAN was the lack of intelligent and timely coverage of Boise news. We figured if we could be a little “in your face” the locals would jump on good stories. We still hold out hope. Chartering a plane for aerial shots of the explosion in New Plymouth was a nice touch.

Not even with our twisted sense of absurd humor would we run a picture of a horse’s patute–with tail raised no less–under the headline, “STILL SINGING OF IDAHO AFTER 116 YEARS.”

This may the first time in journalistic history the once proud Boise daily newspaper has published a photo featuring a horse’s ass that wasn’t running for office or a member of a political party!

TV KUDOS

The GUARDIAN was deprived of TV Dope Award potential Monday as the first wildfires of the season made news in the Foothills of Boise. Both KTVB-7 reporter Ysabel Bilbao and KBCI-2 reporter Michelle DeGrand appeared on camera dressed like professional news reporters sans yellow shirts, hard hats, and grimy faces so common of TV-actors.

He issued the following statement regarding a clash he had with the Idaho Statesman:
“It is with great pleasure that we announce the cessation of all boycott activities against the Idaho Statesman.  

“As of this week they have started listing all the candidates for the congressional race within the coverage of the primary elections. This change in attitude and policy should be acknowledged as a first step to fairness for readers and voters.”

He had asked for coverage of his United Party candidacy and the Statesman refused because he was running unopposed–which means an AUTOMATIC VICTORY in the primary election.

Hedden-Nicely supporters put stickers on Statesman news vending boxes prompting publisher Mike Petrak to send a threatening letter to the congressional candidate.

The GUARDIAN can only presume that Hedden-Nicely would like people to read the Statesman now–especially if they say something nicely about him!

The new local news coverage policy at the Statesman did not include coverage of the flap.

Last week Hedden-Nicely and Statesman publisher Mike Petrak exchanged e-mails in which Petrak threatened Nicely with legal action, commenting that Heddon-Nicely’s resources could be drained if stickers were not removed from Statesman newspaper boxes.

Here is the text of Heddon-Nicely’s letter to his supporters:

JOIN THE BOYCOTT, BUT DO IT IN A LEGAL WAY – PLEASE!

Thank you.

Heddon-Nicely, not the GUARDIAN, offers the misspelling of “PETRAK” as “PETROCK.”

Of late he has appeared on KBCI-TV channel 2 (8cable) in a point-counterpoint segment.
Now he is running for congress as an independent on something called the United Party and demanding coverage in the Idaho Statesman–coverage they are reluctant to provide.

Hedde- Nicely wants to have his voice heard during the primary campaign and claims the Statesman has refused. They say wait for the general election since there is no opposition.

Now he is urging a boycott of the paper he wants to cover him. What’s more, some of his supporters have taken to placing stickers on Statesman boxes.

“I have urged everyone to refrain from defacing the Statesman’s or anyone else’s property,” said Hedden-Nicely.

“I am like Hamas, I have no authority over people. All I can do is urge them to do the right thing and not put stickers up,” he said.

Meanwhile the attention he sought in the newsroom has come from the front office at Idaho’s largest daily. Hedden-Nicely released the following e-mail he says came from publisher Mike Petrak:

Andy:
Please remove all stickers and any related matter from the vicinity of our racks. They are private property. It is illegal for you to deface private property. Damages will include all lost sales and potential sales. We have alerted our sales crews in all areas of the Treasure Valley to inspect all racks today.

If I find one remaining by 1 p.m. today you will have our response on your desk by 5 p.m. Andy, I am so sorry you’ve chosen this course of action. Again, you leave us little choice.

Perhaps this is your way of bringing notice to yourself. I fear it will only drain your resources and distract from the message of who you are and what your represent.

Andy, we said we will provide coverage of your views during the general election, as we do with all candidates.

You understand our policy and why we feel it is fair to all. I am sorry you disagree with it. Committing a criminal act may not be the best way to solve your disagreements with the Statesman.
Mike

Stay tuned to the GUARDIAN as events develop.

Thursday the new editors and publisher made a gracious gesture to the “Statesman Alumni” living in Boise (most work for government agencies), sharing their news presentation plans while offering a peek at the new design. They used terms like “jazzed, buzz, and flippers” describing the excitement of staff and habits of readers.

We don’t have samples, but the GUARDIAN can offer a “scoop” on what to expect from the latest addition to the McClatchy newspaper chain, based on mock ups we were shown. The California based company wants to be the “local paper” for Southwest Idaho. Might as well, everyone else is from the Golden State!

Like a TV station, the Statesman invested a bunch in surveys and consultants to offer “just the right mix of news and features.”

Newspapers today are under assault by TELEVISION, INTERNET, and BLOGS.
So what do they offer? A front page that looks like it came straight off a YAHOO or GOOGLE home page…and they plan to offer TELEVISION in the form of streaming video after publisher Michael Petrak watched the NCAA March madness on his desktop.

Top half of the new format will have only one or two stories which they can conveniently swap in or out of the spaces for “localized” editions in Boise, West Ada, and West Treasure Valley. This “new” distribution theme was standard practice 35 years ago.

Bottom half of the “cover” as page one is known today will be YAHOO style with a batch of short headlines and teasers which require you to figuratively “click” to view the story…found on other pages inside the paper.

Some other changes or at least new wrappers for the same products:

–News Assistants will do what we used to know as “rewrite” and offer up short items about clubs, schools, communities, churches, etc. under the heading of “Communities.”

–”Varsity Extra” will potentially be a money maker. Like the TV stations and their Prep helicopters, the Statesman has 3 new sports reporters and claim they will cover 42 schools 5 days a week.

–Editorials will now be “Opinions” and there should be more of them from more viewpoints.

–In what has to be a concession to fads, they will offer a “sudoku puzzle” daily, despite the fact none of the editors can pronounce it.

–A desperation move to run yearbook photos of high school seniors has the potential of daily “corrections,” (mixed up names and spelling errors) but they may sell a paper if Johnny’s mom can say, “Johnny had his picture in the paper today.”

–Tim Woodward, probably the best writer on the staff, has been recycled yet again. Instead of covering Lewis and Clark’s 200 year old journey, he is going to visit and report on where people go when they are not at work or at home. This could be fun if they let him try the strip clubs, massage parlors, bars, movie theaters, and other secret spots in the area…which won’t be secret after he tells us about them.

–Finally the paper plans to devote a greater effort to their web site.

The GUARDIAN has never looked at the mainstreamers as competition, but if they start using terms like, COMMISHES, COUNCILOR, or “FOR YOU NON LIBRARY TYPES…”
we will all know where it came from. If they resort to talking about POOP and writing sarcastic bits about local government, we will declare war and go after their advertising dollars.

Remember, you read the inside poop about the Statesman on the GUARDIAN! We wish them well with the new product, but most of OUR content comes from YOU!

The mood in the newsroom was euphoria that they escaped reacquisition by Gannett, muted optimism about McClatchy, and a little remorse at the loss of Knight-Ridder before anyone really got to know them. They all rejoiced like emancipated slaves when Gannett sold out to Knight-Ridder only a few months ago. Now McClatchy, owners of a group of Californian papers, will be the master in the Big House. With 80% of the stock controlled by the family, it could be good news or bad for Boise readers.

Statesman old timer Tim Woodward has outlasted 8 executive editors, 8 publishers, and everyone in the newsroom in the past 34 years. Those numbers mean the brass had an average residency of about 4 years. It takes that long just to learn that Mormons don’t have beards, wear bonnets or long dresses and there is probably one within earshot as we speak.

The days of a kindly old man running the local paper or a brash young editor devoted to cleaning up public corruption are almost a thing of the past in American Journalism. Like the “ma and pa grocery,” the corner service station, and real hardware stores, hometown newspapers are few and far between.

Readers who peruse their morning paper view it as a source of news and information–sprinkled with comics, crossword puzzles, movie times, TV program listings, and letters from passionate readers. Mangement sees it differently.

Most of today’s newspaper publishers view a newspaper as a vehicle for advertising. It becomes a delicately balanced wheel (vicious circle). Cover the news to create circulation (readership), use the circulation to sell the ads which create the money to cover the news, then use the money to cover the news and create the circulation….round and round. The balance is lost when the money is sent off to some corporate headquarters–like the franchise fees for a fast food restaurant.

Toss television and internet blogs into the equation and the balance is thrown off even more, causing the wheel to wobble. Television competes for viewers with sensational stories of “Female, Mormon and Gay living in Idaho.” (a recent Channel 6 offering) Even the GUARDIAN attracts news hungry readers by covering stories the STATESMAN either misses or refuses to publish. At the Statesman they are still devoting coverage to Lewis & Clark and that story is 200 years old!

Bottom line is EVERYONE is competing for those readers and advertising dollars at the expense of good journalism. Like it or not the IDAHO STATESMAN is the prime news source in all of Idaho. The Associated Press, TV stations, radio stations, and even the GUARDIAN all depend upon the Statesman as a news source.

Unfortunately the growth and “boom” in Southwest Idaho create the ideal climate for corporate news peddlers–readers and advertisers. The trick is arranging a marriage of the two groups and “news” is the common denominator.

All of us–readers and writers alike–have a tremendous stake in the journalistic side of an institution like the Idaho Statesman that has served us for nearly 150 years. At least newspaper journalists tend to stick around longer than their migrant cousins in television.

In the Sunday edition Popkey fired some less than friendly sniper shots at
challenger Brandi Swindell, calling her “an extremist who opposes condom use and has zero experience with the collaborative skills it takes to make a city work.” Condoms and collaborative skills?

The only time the GUARDIAN would use CONDOM and CITY in the same sentence would be, “Taxpayers hope the city council uses a condom the next time it decides to finance a new building.”

All those people who get annexed against their will or have infill houses squeezed into their neighborhood would want the city to use a condom as well.

We predict the Republicans and Christians will gang up on Popkey with letters to the editor and requests for campaign donations based on his column. There is a long standing Statesman joke among politicians that goes: “If you really like me, please don’t endorse me.”

Statesman staffers are all silent about the departure of the last reporter who wrote unkind things about Brandi. That guy is simply, “no longer with us.”

The local Christians sent letters and e-mails complaining about his “sexist remarks” published in the the Statesman’s imitation of the Boise Weekly called Thrive.

While Popkey declares Swindell to be, “Not grown up enough” for the city councilor job, Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition in D.C. has sent a check for $1,000 to Brandi’s campaign fund.

In a passionate fund raising letter he praises the 28-year-old saying, “if she wins she will be an inspiration and role model for thousands of young people.” He claimed Swindell can bring home the winning votes for a mere $30,000.

This race is going to just get funner and funner prior to the November 8 election. Finally! A reason to vote.