Well, summer is upon us, and so is seasonal journalism at its best and worst. In recent days, the Washington Post has done a raft of these old standbys, including the one about the guy who built his own baseball stadium, the one about the lifeguards from ex-Soviet republics (rip-off of this story?), and the one about the last day of school.

So that’s what the Post has been up to. Over at the Washington Times, those folks don’t have the resources to cover the seasons quite as exhaustively. So they do other things, like this piece on the EU from the AP. I must confess to great troubles making my way through stories on the EU, but this one is different; it’s about the EU’s action freezing the assets of Iran’s biggest bank. This could signal a critical turning point in the EU’s relations with this rogue state and send ripples throughout the Western alliance, such as it is. Or perhaps it’s just another act of bureaucracy–only time will tell.

But one thing about the Washington Times‘ presentation of that EU story: Has anyone out there mentioned or pointed out that this great new site is a bit too much? I mean, check it out. It’s too much black space, with altogether too many bells and whistles attached. If you’ll recall, this is the site built by the great Interneterian Roger Black. Credit WaTi with signing up the best in the biz, but in this case the best in the biz may have gone just a bit too designy on us. Check it out for yourself.

First official weekend of summer, and from a news perspective, it feels that way. Just not too much popping out there. Our regional paper of record has started out summer with a lot of sappy seasonal fare, from the guy who constructed a baseball field in his front yard, to the women from the ex-Soviet Union who come here to work as lifeguards (huge ripoff from this Washington City Paper story), to the piece on the last day of school.

Over at the Washington Times, they have fewer resources with which to exhaustively cover the seasons. So they go for the AP story on how the candidates are sparring over the federal role in flood-prevention, given the disasters going on in the Midwest in recent days. But as you shop for your AP on the WT site, you do notice that the redesign went, well, perhaps a bit too far into the future. Open this site, and it’s like WHOA, I’ve just stepped into Web 200.0! I mean, I know those folks at the WaTi were all talking about vid and multimedia and bells and whistles, but this is whistling perhaps a bit to much.

And regarding what is certainly the hottest topic in local news–our Nabe Issue, that is–a certain blogger appears to be hammering us a bit for our take on the Carryouterbanks!

Hey, WaPo’s Outlook section on Sunday ran a piece by toe-sucker Dick Morris. The idea here was for Morris to give presumptive Republican nominee John McCain some unsolicited advice on winning the presidential campaign against Barack Obama.

Talk about surprising editorializing! Morris urged McCain to not worry too much about the far right, let the Rev. Wright speak for himself, and–this is the utterly shocking part–tack to the center! You don’t say, do you, Dick? You still believe in going up the middle? Amazing that anyone still listens to this guy.

*Politico fires up this piece on Elizabeth Edwards. No Clinton endorsement! Hold on–isn’t that something of a nonstory? I mean, who at this point would stick neck out to endorse Clinton?

*WaTi’s Sean Lengell gives us the latest on Sen. Edward Kennedy’s status (Resting at hospital.)

Former Postie Sharon Waxman laments the buyouts at the Washington Post, saying that the paper has “jumped the shark.” This thought appears on Waxman’s very own blog, which features this terribly precious little note to readers:

Why this site?

Why indeed? It’s been over a year now that friends have been urging me to enter the new millenium.

But I’ve been delaying. I think: I already write for The New York Times. I am working on a new book. How much more do people really want to read? And how much more do I really have to say?

These questions remain unresolved. Personally, I’m still divided on the topic.

As FishbowlDC is narrating, the Washington Times this week is following up on an ominous memo sent out earlier this spring by Editor John Solomon. Though he thanked his colleagues for tips on saving money, he noted that staff reductions were in store.

Fishbowl puts the tally of the fallen at twelve, with more likely to come. Newsroom staffing stood at about 200 when Solomon took over in late January. Word is that staffers are bracing for a meeting at 11:30 this morning to discuss the ongoing “restructuring.” As in so many other newsrooms these days, that word is just a euphemism for giving people a box and telling them to get their shit out of here by noon.

With Ruth secured in a hyper-secret, undisclosed location, Wemple gives the scoop on the Post’s ‘Outlook’ section, the National Journal’s website, Governing.com, and some family-friendly insight from the Washington Times. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry…your inner wonk will start doing jumping jacks!

Sports! We all watch them. And what a weekend it was for Washington’s teams. The Caps, holding onto their postseason life, and the Wiz showing again that they’re not in the same league with the Cavs. Even though they are.

*Wizznuttz–whaddaya say about this series? C’mon, it’s playoff time, yet you fellows can’t give me a weekend update? C’mon!

*On Frozen Blog has a great meditation on the woes of Flyer Mike Knuble and the implications for the rest of the Caps series, in which the home squad is down 3-2 heading into a big game on Monday night and then–locals hope–Tuesday night.

*WaPo draws a powerful link between the local econ and one of the most environmentally devastating practice of modern times–mountaintop mining. The fundamental: Washington needs more and more power, and more and more of it is coming from coal. The coal has to come from somewhere, and it often comes from mountains whose buzzcuts make them look like “Mars,” in the characterization of an environmental activist.

*Recycling feat of the weekend: Examiner puts story on its site about how burglaries are up 21 percent in the District. Credits and links to WTOP. Go to WTOP, and find that WTOP links to and credits the Washington Post, which actually did the journalism.

*Columnist Mike Wise makes a good point about the Wiz–until and unless Abe Pollin’s team actually wins a series against this “rival,” there’s no rivalry. Just a one-sided relationship of sorts.

*Check this out on the Washington Times site: Ollie North executes hit piece on Jimmy Carter.

Our look-back at the weekend starts with the Washington Post’s look-back at the MLK Jr. riots of 1968. A perfectly fine story, but one that the Post has done so many times, not just on riot anniversaries, but every time a city-in-transition story comes about. I’m sure I’ve read it at least 20 times–always a variation on this: “Gloria Robinson, 55, an office administrator, grew up in Columbia Heights, where a new shopping center and condominium apartments stand on a street devastated by the riots. She is convinced that the promise of rebirth eludes poor and working-class African Americans.”

*Check out the Washingtonian’s top blog post of last week.

*The latest Department of Public Works newsletter provides tips for recycling, plus: Don’t forget that the special springtime hazardous waste throwout day is…..April 26 at the Carter Barron Amphiteater!

*For years, area residents have been sending back the D.C. Examiners that wind up on their lawns. Well, now the paper is fighting back, with sex!

*Not a lot cooking on the Washington Times site, so might as well read about the impact of tax rebates on tourism.

Thanks for checking in. And stay tuned to our blog today! Among other things, there’s big stuff going down in the media world, as the Pulitzer Prizes are awarded. The Post is a shoo-in for one prize, for the series on Walter Reed. But what about the Cheney series? The coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre?

Before taking the helm at the Washington Times about two months ago, John Solomon worked for years as a reporter at the Washington Post and AP. Never let it be said, however, that the guy couldn’t write like a CEO.

Last night, Solomon sent an e-mail out to his people seeking to update them on “some important developments.”

Then came a line about “reshaping the newsroom for the challenges of the 21st century”–a classic of ’00s newsroom rhetoric. This reshaping, noted Solomon, will require “tough decisions.”

After that, Solomon thanks his roughly 200-member staff for cost-cutting suggestions submitted as part of something known at the paper as “Blue Sky questionnaires.” Those suggestions, he says, have moved the paper closer to profitability.

But not quite close enough! And if you’re in the news biz, you know what that means. A new budgetary year for the Times started on April 1, and profitability considerations, says the editor, “will require us to say goodbye to some colleagues we have known for many years and to celebrate their many accomplishments as they leave us.”

We all know what those celebrations feel like. Some cake, some tears, and a corny newspaper mockup by the folks in the art department to fete the outgoing victims of downsizing.

Full memo after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

And boy does she have stories to tell. Actually, she doesn’t have any stories, save one about stealing from first class on an airplane. Still, Ms. Samuelson dutifully “sampled” her way through South African media and came home with her favorite: the Star.

Plus: Robert Mugabe, George Will, the Times‘ disappointing Metro section, and the Post’s new, unpronounceable word!

(So why is the Star the size of a Buick? While Craigslist may have made it to Johannesburg, safe to say it hasn’t taken over the market quite yet.)

Mr. Wemple, still flying solo, attacks the conventional wisdom. Print media is dying? Don’t tell that to the Post, which just unveiled a redesign. The Washington Times becoming more evenhanded? Tell that reporter to check his facts. And, finally, there’s been some talk that the Post has too many editors. Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a hole to fill.

Too much going down on an Easter weekend to waste any time in this space. Let’s get right into roundupping:

*Folks at Washington Post Co.’s Express appear to have had a nice weekend, as this feature on the ins and outs of ceviche is still fronting the commuter paper’s Web site.

*Don’t really understand why they’re doing it now, but Washingtonian chimes in with an essay on the turning points in D.C. history by a guy named Larry Van Dyne.

*The Washington Post has launched its 1,234th blog. It’s on lax.

*The Washington Times, for its part, is talking about just how the fighting between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama is boosting John McCain.

*Also, for the die-hards out there, D.C. institution and WAMU analyst Jonetta Rose Barras fronts the Outlook section of the Post with a piece in which she distances herself from the rantings of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright.

The big boss here recently broke the story that the Washington Times plans to eliminate the use of “scare quotes” (surrounding phrases such as “gay marriage”) and will try to stop calling human beings “aliens.”

But does this anti-hack movement mean the end of “Democrat Party” at the Times?

That surefire firestarter hasn’t been showing up in the Times much lately, except in quotes from President Bush and John McCain. And Times editorial writer Joel Himelfarb went off the reservation yesterday to get “Democrat Party” into his copy.

Himelfarb’s piece didn’t run in his own paper.

It’s gotta be a slow news weekend if….

The Washington Post’s lead story is a preview of a Supreme Court hearing. Sure, this is an important–and local–one: District of Columbia v. Heller. It’ll decide whether the District’s draconian gun law passes constitutional muster in this day.

*In The Trail, Post staffer analyzes pitfalls of a hard push by Obama in Pennsylvania.

*And here’s an editorial decision sure to get considered in the media jury room known as Fuego/Frio: The Post mag runs a feature on street monuments.

*S.A. Miller of the Washington Times takes apart a bad week for the Dems, sans the glee and gloating that may have been attached to such a story years ago.

*New York Times does a nice job of framing the issue with the superdelegates v. pledged delegates. Seems that many of the former are drifting toward a stance that’ll follow the popular vote in the contest between Hillary and Obama.

Elliot Spitzer’s frío as can be, but is the local media hot on the story? Hosts Ruth Samuelson and Erik Wemple are back with Episode #3,457 of Fuego/Frío—you know the drill:

Fuego: Dana Milbank, the Dupont Current, and today’s Post story about Michelle Rhee.
Nope: The Washington Times—who knew Pennsylvania and Ohio were similar?—and Deborah Howell for her take on Charlotte Allen’s stupid piece.

Got a story you’d like to see discussed on the next Fuego/Frío? Let us know in the comments.

Weekend marked an end to a mid-winter Sunday slump for the Washington Post. Readable articles this time included:

*Definitive assessment of ravages of condo conversion trend. Sure, story’s a decade old, but still compelling.

*More immersion on the drama of the superdelegate votes for Hillary and Obama.

*The last word, hopefully, on Charlotte Allen’s idiotic piece on women and her editor’s craven pursuit of buzz.

*A solid piece by Liza Mundy on the true meaning of those marriage vows that you parroted without really thinking about.

*The Examiner’s prize bit of wire copy discusses bad water being used by the troops in Iraq.

*The Washington Times could have come up with a less duh headline than this one: “Pennsylvania demographics resemble Ohio”. Well, you don’t say.

*New York Times Mag–in the Money Issue–goes deep on the impact of celebs in advancing do-gooder causes worldwide.