To personalize the blog header, I took this photo of Griffith Observatory, one of my favorite sights along my hike around the Hollywood Hills.  It was recently reopened after a $93 million renovation and last month was spared from being consumed by the Los Angeles Station fire thanks to the enormous efforts of local firefighters. 

I thought it was a perfect symbol for a blog about communications.

I’m so glad the observatory is still standing, as it houses the most visited telescope in the world–the 12-inch Zeiss refracting telescope.

Did you know that 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy (IYA), which celebrates the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s telescope observations?

For more information about the IYA and events at the Observatory see the website: http://www.griffithobservatory.org/

For my fellow astronomy lovers…

As soon as I posted this I was alerted to Jeff Bercovici’s piece at Daily Finance. Go see here.   Is Nikki jumping the gun?  Perhaps no firm decisions yet.

 The only thing that surprised me about the announcement today that The Hollywood Reporter would discontinue its print edition was that it will happen so soon.  I must admit, I’ve been predicting this to friends and colleagues for a while, much to their denial and bewilderment, but I was saying, “in a year”…

 According to Nikki Finke’s post today in Deadline Hollywood Daily,  THR had wanted to go digital as early as next month.  It’s not clear if the online edition will still be free but the subscription print edition will be totally digital.

DHD also reports that Variety will start charging for both their online and digital edition. Good luck with that.  There will be a core group who will still subscribe to both trades for a while, but I see that audience shrinking over a short period of time as well. 

The success of the professional blogosphere is history at this point, and so is the tiny entertainment trade business linked to a small B2B audience that finds them relevant.  The next generation industry people who I know tell me that sure, they pay attention to the trades, but they read a lot of other online sources as well.  If the Hollywood trades still exist at all in a few years, I see them as narrowly focused and run by a skeletal staff.  But I’m not betting on it.

While Finke feels that “too many people need the niche content”,  the relationships between the trades and the industry may be changing as well.  Deadline Hollywood Daily only proves this point, as Ms. Finke broke the Variety story today before Variety.  Really.   It’s just that the trades had a hold on the industry–and their dwindling advertising dollars–when there was no competition, and no Internet publications to turn to. 

Now, not so much…

How can we raise the level of civil discourse when we can’t even be civil? Or civilized? 

I was going to fill in the blanks of my long absence here by explaining that I had spent so much time watching, listening to and reading about last year’s presidential campaign that I ended up not writing about it. There was so much commentary and drama ad infinitum that I didn’t think another voice was needed in the conversation. However, after all the campaigns were over and I had fully digested the political spectacles on both sides, there was one word left that pretty much summed up those long months for me and what I thought of the level of public discourse:  disgusting.

On the Republican side there was the egregious name calling, lying and fear mongering of the lowest levels, and on the Democratic side there was also mudslinging and a well oiled pr campaign that was almost too slick, too seamless, and too flawless. No one’s that perfect. Creating that kind of celebrity status for a presidential candidate left me feeling very uncomfortable, and I’m not sure that I can explain why.  We already have too much emphasis on the cult of personality over substance, and I so wanted substance.

It was no wonder that then candidate Obama’s personal and political eloquence was such a breath of fresh air, rescuing us at moments from the hype und drang. Granted, one can argue that that’s what makes presidential politics so much fun, and I must admit, it’s the only sport that  I follow with glee.  But there was something in all of the primaries and the subsequent presidential campaigns that just left a bad taste in my mouth.  It got downright uglier than usual, in my estimation.  Having watched for years from the inside of the news when I worked at TIME, where I lived through two presidential campaigns, I perhaps have a different perspective than most casual viewers. Those of us on staff who were curious enough (that would be me) would question writers just off the campaign buses and planes to dish out the gossip on both sides of the political circus. Always yummy fodder. But it wouldn’t get reported or spoken about much outside of those hallowed and, for the most part, discreet halls.  I personally wouldn’t dream of repeating hearsay to anyone outside of the office. How unseemly.

But something has changed in our 24/7- live-out loud-in-public-on-the-Internet-with-no-boundaries-or-shame society.  It seems to this observer that we now live in a time when apparently nothing is sacred. Now things that might have been told to me in whispers seem to be shouted out loud to the media by the guilty parties themselves.  I just don’t know what to make of this. Honestly, I’m in culture shock at my own culture.

In the past few months we have been witness to:

-Governor Mark Sandford’s confession: Yes, I played hooky from my job, disappeared and lied to everyone I know, including my family, to be with a mistress whom I love more than my wife, but you should still want me to work for you because I am the chosen one…

-ditto Senator John Ensign: Yes, I’m an adulterer with a mistress whose family happens to work for me and to whom my parents gave thousands of dollars, but I’m still a good person and I confessed so it’s all better now…

–right wing radio and TV talk show hosts happlily spewing  their daily doses of vicious hatemongering, with no censure…

–right wingers carrying signs of the president of the United States as Hitler in a Nazi uniform and pugnaciously shouting down their elected officials in public forums.

But this week left me flummoxed. I couldn’t believe my ears or eyes. Say wha? –

–Congressman Joe Wilson: I can heckle the President of the United States during a serious address to the nation, while the world watches, and I will only apologize when forced  to and now you should give me money….

–Kanye West–I am a complete and utter boor in public in front of millions of people (which includes my fans) and I think this is OK because…

–Serena Williams–It’s normal to lose my temper and show off my potty mouth because millions of sports fans are not watching me on TV in one of the most important tennis matches of the year…

and even, heaven forbid, President Obama–Of course I can use foul language in public to a news anchor since my mic isn’t on and, after all, they never talk…

People, please, don’t apologize in public or share your private moments.

Here’s what I want:   Be ashamed.  Be very ashamed. 

Sometimes shame is a good thing. It’s a responsible feeling.  Shame says, “I know that I have done something very, very wrong, and I feel bad about that. I should amend my ways.” 

What happens when uncivil and uncivilized behavior goes unchecked? What kind of society do we want to have?  The word “civil” is derived from the Latin word “civilis”, which means “citizen”.   I’m for that. Let’s put civility back in the citizen. 

Civility seems not only to have left the building but also the continent. Can we raise the level of public discourse in this frothing fray?  I voted for intelligence and rationality.  At least in public, we can show a little class. Media training, anyone….?

New posts, videos, and a new book.  See you soon!   JS

Boy, where did the time go?  I’m back now and will soon be blogging at my new website www.judysandra.com, but for now I’ll post here again for the time being.

WGA Strike     Day 16     Hollywood Blvd. Rally

Who are these people, why are they on cell phones in the middle of the WGA strike rally in Hollywood, and why is JS smiling at Ray Romano?

Tuesday, Nov. 20, was day 16 of the WGA strike and thousands of WGA writers, producer/showrunners, and SAG actors showed up to march down Hollywood Blvd.  in support of the ongoing walkout.  Also there to lend some muscle was the Teamsters Union, who parked three enormous rigs on Hollywood Blvd. 
  It seems that lots of folk are jumping on the bandwagon (there was an actual band wagon, where Alicia Keys performed two songs) to support the striking writers. I even saw a small contingency of nurses, who arrived with their union signs and joined the march.  Lending culinary support were members of CAA who walked around with mountainous trays of scrumptious scones and provided hot cider.

So, who are my mystery people on phones and why was JS at the rally? I was invited to join entertainment professional Philippa Burgess, of Creative Convergence, pictured in the above left photo with the showrunner/executive producer of “Lost” Carlton Cuse.  Philippa and her partners were conducting a live teleconference with over 100 emerging writers around the country, letting them experience the strike first hand.  Philippa and I marched with the strikers and lent our support while we asked anyone we recognized within range to give the teleconference writers some words of advice and/or encouragement and answer the big question of the day “how can these writers who live far away support the strike?”  

 Besides Mr. Cuse, also joining the teleconference were Ray Romano (pictured above with yours truly) and, on the right, Jonathan Lisco, showrunner/executive producer of the new TV show “K-Ville“.  In addition, speaking to the cell conference was a showrunner from the Disney Channel and the very gracious and lovely Debra Messing.

Talk about a moveable feast! Or was that a moveable feat?  While marching with thousands of people shouting strike slogans, and the ever present choppers above, we could barely hear each other speak, yet somehow these notables managed to keep pace with the crowds and talk on the cell phone to the writers around the country. My hats off to them for a) being troupers and showing up for the strike with no fanfare or self-agrandizing and b) lending their impromptu support to strangers on a phone thousands of miles away.

The rally ended two hours later at Grauman’s Chinese Theater with some rousing speeches by the WGA and Teamsters reps and a heartfelt talk by Sandra Oh.  All left feeling well supported and pumped, and hoping for a happy Hollywood ending.  Soon.

Officially titled the “2007  LA Arts Town Hall”,  a rousing turnout of 800 artists and arts organizers gathered downtown this past Saturday at 9:30 a.m. to hear the mayor and a distinguished panel of LA and California arts leaders discuss the state of the arts in LA. Held in the auditorium of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, the main event was the two hour plenary session, kicked off by the opening remarks of Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa, who very graciously posed for this photo.

The mayor was introduced by Claire Peeps, Executive Director of The Durfee Foundation and the co-moderator of the panel, who set the tone for the day’s discussion about collaboration amongst LA’s arts organizations. Villaraigosa then launched into an inspiring speech on the importance of the arts in LA, a subject about which he feels passionately.  Reminding the assembled of how he saved the Department of Cultural Affairs from extinction only a few years ago, he mapped out his new direction for the arts in LA.  The mayor’s grand vision  for the city of Los Angeles is  a “Venice of the 21st century, thriving at the crossroads of culture and trade”, and he congratulated the artistic community here for “pushing the envelope” in music, art and theater.  He insists that this creativity defines LA as a city, and that he sees LA as the cultural capital of the country.  Making his case, he pointed out that more people who come to LA visit the Getty Museum than Universal Studios.  While acknowledging that for their own sake, “arts have a way of lifting the soul”, for the sake of the city the arts here generate $140 billion dollars in revenues.  One can only wonder how that figure is arrived at, but it is impressive. Concluding, Villaraigoa mapped out his agenda for promoting the arts: increasing public support of the arts and artists by creating public/private partnerships.  His first act in this regard was to hire Olga Garay, the mayor’s choice for General Manager of the Department of Cultural Affairs, who participated on the plenary panel, as she insisted “just to listen”.

Olga Garay, soon-to-be General Manager, LA DCA

But, in fact, Ms. Garay had much to add to the discussion, having just arrived from New York City, where she was a major arts consultant and former program director of the Doris Duke Foundation, and ready to start her job here on August 1. The official title of the panel discussion was “The Arts in LA-Taking Charge of our Future”, and this is one sharp arts administrator who is ready and able to take charge. In explaining how she came to be enticed to take the job and move to LA, Ms. Garay laid out her main reasons:
1) LA has world class cultural institutions
2) LA has the largest creative workforce in the U.S.
3) LA has a “vibrant neighborhood structure and a plethora of ethnicities”
4) LA has an active “eco-system for the arts and culture”. 
As if she didn’t heart LA enough, she is of the opinion that LA is a “national and international leader and crossroads in the arts”.   We can only wish her well and look forward to see what she will do in this important position.  I, for one, personally welcomed her and promised to send a fruit basket. In my opinion, this city is lucky to have such a delightfully vibrant and experienced arts manager.

Next to speak was Laura Zucker, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Arts Commission. In 2005 Zucker partnered with Eli Broad, with whom she developed and launched Arts + Culture LA, a nonprofit that promotes and markets LA as a cultural destination.  A dedicated arts administrator with a very positive outlook, Ms. Zucker sees the LA arts community as a “vast marketplace with room for everyone”. She expressed the need for a comprehensive cultural calendar, a particular challenge for the 88 municipalities of LA county, the largest county in the U.S., and also reiterated the morning’s theme of more collaboration amongst arts organizations. 

Speaker John E. McGuirk is the new Arts Program Director of the San Francisco based The James Irvine Foundation, the largest multi-discipline arts funder in California, with an arts grants budget of $20 million.  His talk focused on a recent working paper by the Foundation and AEA Consulting, called “Critical Issues Facing The Arts in California”.  The paper identifies five critical challenges facing the arts: access, cultural policy, arts education, the outmoded nonprofit business model and preparing the next generation of artists and arts managers. You can read it here. 

Sam Miller, President and CEO of Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) is working on healthcare issues for artists, which he claims will also impact any type of self-employed person. Working with the Actors Fund, he has created a group called “Artists United for Healthcare”. Learn more about them here:  artistsunitedforhealthcare.org.

The final speaker was Danielle Brazell, who is the Managing Director of Arts LA, a nonprofit arts advocacy organization.  She began by praising the arts community of LA, which she characterized as “a visionary arts community that does more with less and who know how to work together.”  Unfortunately, in this case, less is not more, although Ms. Brazell herself tripped over those words.  She has been working to create and build relationships with policy makers in local and national government and stressed advocacy as a top priority for arts groups. 

A question and answer session led by co-moderator Cora Mirikitani, President and CEO of the Center for Cultural Innovation then followed. Ms. Mirikitani also organized Saturday’s event, for which she got a standing ovation.  Three salient points emerged during the Q & A as agendas for the LA arts community: 1) a need to collaborate with and be more involved with the private sector; 2) a need to bring together and film/TV and arts community; and 3) more engagement between the arts community and civic leaders.

Here are some salient facts and statistics offered by panelists and publications that were mentioned at the event:

City of Los Angeles
GOOD numbers:
*LA generates $140 billion in revenues from the arts
*There are over 15,000 arts related businesses in Los Angeles
*As a group, 87% of artists vote, in disproportion to the general population
*LA outranks NYC in the number of creative establishments (27,121–13% higher) and creative workers (346,000–47% higher than NYC’s 236,000). [Figures are from the Otis College report "Creative Capital" and are based on the 2005 ES 202 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics].
Baaad Numbers:
*The LA Department of Cultural Affairs currently contributes LESS money to the arts of Los Angeles than does the post-Katrina City of New Orleans. 

State of California: (statistics are from The James Irvine Foundation brochure)
GOOD numbers:
*Nonprofit organizations add $5.4 billion to the state economy
*California has the largest number of artists in the country: 330,635
*California has 10,000 arts organizations
*There are 86,012 arts related businesses that employ 484,657 people
Baaad numbers:
*California spends only 11 cents per person on the arts, ranking it as LAST in the nation in per capita arts spending at number 50.

For lots more statistics and fabulous research on the arts, see the following reports and studies:

The James Irvine Foundation:
“Critical Issues Facing The Arts In California”

“Crossover: How Artists Build Careers Across Commercial, Nonprofit and Community Work”

Otis College of Art and Design:
(Thanks go to Matthew Fleischer of LA Weekly for posting a link to this report in his article about the study on March 1, 2007 ["Creative Capital: New Otis Study"]
“The Creative Economy of LA”

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA):
“The Arts and Civic Engagement: Involved in Arts, Involved in Life”
(Did you know that arts fans are sports fans? Check it out.)

Come on LA and California, step up to the plate. See my future post on why the U.S. needs a department of culture.

David Willis, Allison Hope Weiner, Giles Harrison, Blair Berk, Rob Nelson

More accurately, last Thursday night’s panelists vigorously discussed and debated the question of celebrity “news” and the “stalkarazzi”, but I do love alliteration.  Officially titled “HOLLYWOOD GROUND ZERO: Where Celebrity, Paparazzi and the First Amendment Collide”, the event was sponsored by the LA Press Club and PR Newswire  and took place at the Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood.

Moderated by BBC World News correspondent David Willis, the panel consisted of Blair Berk, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney whose client list includes numerous A-list celebrities; Giles Harrison, top-earning paparazzo of London Entertainment/Splash News; Rob Nelson of KABC-AM790 and E! Entertainment THS Investigates; and Allison Hope Weiner, a Los Angeles based reporter for The New York Times (who is currently covering the Anthony Pellicano story).

The evening began with a ten minute viewing of the E! channel’s hour long program THS Investigates: Paparazzi. Hosted by panelist Rob Nelson, the investigative story covered the current state of celebrities and the paparazzi in Los Angeles and the legal issues involved. Two of the panelists had appeared in the story: Berk was interviewed in her office, and Harrison took Nelson with him one day as he drove around in his vehicle, on the job as a paparazzo. In one scene of Nelson’s story, we see Katie Holmes with baby Suri emerge from a building and arrive at the sidewalk. As the paps lunge for her, they practically knock down the woman next to her–Tom Cruise’s mother.  Another issue is that car chases become commonplace on the highways when the paparazzi spot a celebrity in their car, knowing not only the type of car they drive but also the license plate number. In another scenario, Jude Law leaves his house with his children. When he spots the cameras on them, he crosses the street to where the paparazzi are standing, blocks the TV camera lens with his body and in a very angry tone of voice threatens to turn in the photographers for being pedophiles if they don’t take their cameras off his kids. End of scene.

After introductions by the panelists, Willis got the discussion going by asking the important questions: Do the paparazzi go too far? Should the press and/or the paparazzi be regulated?  Who are these people? He called on the expertise of each panelist and asked for their take on the situation.  Panelist’s positions were clearly defined: Weiner was opposed to any press regulation, defending a free press and fearful that trying to regulate the tabloids could lead to putting a stranglehold on all press. Berk defended the rights of celebrities as individuals who deserved a degree of privacy and spelled out the personal and public safety issues of paparazzi gone wild. Harrison tried to create a more balanced view of the paparazzi, reminding the panel and audience that they are not all aggressive stalkers, including himself.  Harrison, who prides himself on his forthright behavior as a paparazzo, was introduced as someone who had once spent time in jail for an incident early in his career. 

Why all the paparazzi madness? With the proliferation of supermarket tabloids and the pressure for lurid stories and photos, there is more money than ever for the photo agencies and the swarms of paparazzi have increasing competition for the high-paying scoop shots.  ”Reality” TV shows also feed into our voyeuristic culture, often including celebrities who expose far too many details of their private lives. At the same time, there is the growing mainstreaming of an industry of “celebrity news”, for example AOL owned TMZ.com.  But is it really “news”–stories about actual events?  Or just old-fashioned gossip–innuendo, hearsay and outright lies?

After the much publicized car crashes of Lindsay Lohan and Scarlett Johansson (see “Scarlett Johansson Crashes Car While Fleeing Paparazzi”), both of which were caused by being chased by paparazzi, as well as the actions of an aggressive photographer at the Disney theme park with Reese Witherspoon and her children, Democratic Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez introduced a California state bill aimed at the paparazzi. The bill, which became law on January 1, 2007, triples the damages celebrities can claim from paparazzi if they are assaulted while being photographed. Further, the bill prohibits photographers from making money on any photographs taken during an altercation. 

But, commenting on this new law Thursday night, lawyer Berk deemed it virtually ”useless”, as it calls on celebrities to press charges and file lawsuits, which most are reluctant to do since that only draws more attention to the situation and then creates …another tabloid story! 

Nonetheless, Gov. Swarzzenager was more than happy to sign the bill. As reported on MTV.com “When Schwarzenegger was an actor, he testified against two photographers who used their cars to surround his as he was picking up one of his kids from school in a 1998 incident. At one point, Schwarzenegger had suggested creating a buffer zone between paparazzi and celebrities.”  In fact, it turns out that panelist Harrison was one of those photographers.

This particular incident was mentioned in today’s Sunday LA Times West Magazine cover story by Robin Abcarian, which profiles the owners of the X17 photo agency.  X17 is noted for hiring amateurs, including former waiters and valet parkers, and “it is considered to be something of a rogue.”  According to Abcarian’s story: ” X17 is understood to be the Britney Spears specialist, with a seven-man team devoted just to her. She is their bread and butter…Each morning, MBF [name of the Britney team] arrives at Spears’ doorstep off Mulholland Drive around 10 a.m. and follows her around town until she retires for the night.” 

Sounds like stalking to me.

The problem, of course, is that the celebrities don’t mind a little of this; they want to be noticed in a positive light at least and seen in the tabloids for the free publicity. But the relentless chase for photos has gotten to the point of being non-stop, excessively invasive, overly aggressive and overtly dangerous.  As Berk says on camera in Nelson’s THS story “It’s not a matter of if, but when” someone is going to get killed.  Commenting on her onscreen prediction, she said at the panel that she believes it won’t be another celebrity, like Princess Diana; it will be the innocent bystander on the street or someone in a car who is driving nearby on the highway.

For an example of this paparazzi pandemonium in the streets, see the video here posted by TMZ.com on February 21, 2007. Britney Spears is mobbed by paparazzi as she steps into a car, which is being driven by a friend [?]. (Be sure to listen for the number of camera shutters you can hear clicking away).  A police car comes to their rescue (did they dial 911?), disperses the paparazzi on foot in the street who are blocking the car and other traffic, and, over a foghorn, instructs Britney and friend to make an illegal and potentially dangerous right hand turn from the left lane and around the other cars stopped at a red light in front of them.

Throughout the panel proceedings, Willis would ask Harrison his opinion on issues brought up by the other panel members. Harrison would invariably preface his answer with the caveat “Well, I don’t do that but…”  Finally, unable to contain his skepticism or curiosity any longer, Willis asked Harrison directly, if he was saying that he had never done anything wrong?  Harrison admitted only that one early altercation, for which he spent 39 days in jail, but since then he adamantly maintained that he has been as rigorous as he can in “not crossing the line”.  Willis then asked to what did he attribute such a high degree of professional integrity.  Without taking a breath, Harrison replied “39 days in jail.”

And, as it turns out, a very congenial man as well. I had the surprising but good fortune of meeting Mr. Hiller yesterday at the well attended 12th Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, “the country’s largest celebration of the written word”.  Vaguely aware that he was scheduled to speak, I passed over sitting inside at the panels for walking around outside on the beautiful, rambling UCLA campus in the breezy, Sunday afternoon sunshine. So, I was taken aback when there he was, looking very casual chic in his off-white sports coat, standing in the middle of the main LA Times booth, greeting anyone who happened to stroll in.  As Mr. Hiller isn’t exactly face recognizable to the average person, staff member Tracy Boucher was on hand, enthusiastically introducing him to anyone within range:  ”This is David Hiller, the publisher of the LA Times!” Well, it was remarkable when you think about it.  I heart LA, where just about anyone in town you’d ever want to meet becomes, at any given moment, oddly accessible. 

 I was delighted to meet this man of the newspaper hour and feel him out.  I introduced myself, told him I thought he was a brave man to stand there so openly, and mentioned that I write a blog on the media.  His immediate reaction was, “Have you written about the LA Times?”  to which I responded,  “Not yet.” But since you asked, David, this one’s for you:

As the Festival is, after all, an LA Times sponsored event, the paper had a large presence with a number of booths. (FYI, this is a very fun event and well organized, so go next year if you missed this one). 

The first LA Times booth I stopped at was selling subscriptions for the print edition of the paper. In particular, the Festival only “special offer” was for a weekend deal of Thursday through Sunday, for $39.00 a year delivered plastic wrapped to your door. Good deal, and perfect for me, as I work with designers, artists and entertainment projects in this city. So, I said sure, whipping out my debit card and making the salesman deliriously happy. But I wasn’t so sure about his sales pitch, which included his reminding me that the print version is sooo much better than the online version because one shouldn’t be looking at those computer screens for too long at a time, you know.  At which point I mildly suggested that he might want to tone down his sales pitch a bit: didn’t he know that the LA Times is trying to build up its online presence and viewers? 

 A short while later, there was another booth, this one with two young women and a sign that said, “Work for the LA Times”.  Huh? What sort of bad joke was this? I asked the two, “I thought the Times was downsizing and laying off people in the newsroom. What do you mean you’re hiring?”  Yes, they said they’re laying off on the editorial side, but on the business side, they’re hiring, like in the accounting department, for example.  Curiouser and curiouser.

Shortly thereafter I  arrived at the main booth, where Mr. Hiller and Ms. Boucher were so affably greeting visitors.  You have to give him a lot of credit.  The publisher and CEO of the LA Times was listening to comments and whatnot from the general public, being as amiable to everyone as he could.   As Deputy Innovation Editor, Ms. Boucher’s job is a new position created to coordinate innovations between the print and online departments. No small undertaking and so very needed and so commendable of the Times to create such a position.  They both seemed open to suggestion and willing to make changes that will help this paper thrive and grow.  I had a polite conversation with Mr. Hiller about the pain of editorial changes, having personally been on an editorial staff in the past where major shifts had happened.  I got the distinct feeling from him that this is one head coach who is not about to let his team down anytime too soon.

But David Hiller is a publisher and his job is to sell papers. I felt for him this morning, as the  Audit Bureau of Circulations revealed its most recent findings.  Reported online by Jennifer Saba in Editor & Publisher the ABC’s calculations comparing the numbers for the “six-month period ending March 2007 and the six-month period ending March 2006″ found newspaper circulations continuing to slide downwards.  The LA Times was particularly hit:  “The Lost Angeles Times lost 4.2% of its weekday circulation to 815, 723. Sunday was down 4.7%. to 1,173,096.”  Ouch. 

Even the numbers for The New York Times went down:  “The New York Times, which usually experiences small gains, lost daily circulation, down 1.9% to 1,120, 420 while Sunday fell 3.3% to 1,627, 062″. 

The LA Times has a long, tough season ahead of it, but as I said to Mr. Hiller on my way out of the booth, “I’m rooting for you”.   Let’s hear one for the home team.