Quick thoughts

On his way out, Jeff Mores apparently felt the need to give us just one more Crystal Bridges story. I guess in case we missed him. Seriously, though, good luck Jeff and congratulations on getting out.

Election dilema

Sheriff Keith Ferguson is looking for at least one more go of it in 2010, running for re-election to the position he's held since 2002. Any concerns anyone may have on that news are their own, as my issue has nothing to do with Ferguson or his performance as sheriff.
The announcement, however, creates questions for the newspaper about campaign coverage. On the surface, there is the logistical decision over which newspaper should spearhead the countywide election. Since the Morning News was entrusted (and I use that word with dripping irony) with editorial coverage and has kept the larger newsroom, it stands to reason the primary reporter would come from the Rogers newsroom.
And that brings us to our second issue. There were some questions about whether Rogers police officer and sheriff candidate Kelley Cradduck received a fair shake from the Morning News in 2008. Editorial decisions about story placement, coverage style and even story content was examined and debated by those on both sides of the newsroom walls. The biggest issue, however, is that Morning News metro editor Leeanna Walker was sitting awfully close to Ferguson at his last victory dinner, much closer than an impartial observer should have been.
So where are the battle lines in this year's coverage? Does Leeanna still hold the editorial sway she once did, or does Editor Rusty Turner, now that he has to answer to someone a little closer to home, have to maintain at least some pretense of objectivity. I'll have the play-by-play, because we all win or lose based on the outcome.

Quick thoughts

I wouldn't be harping on the nwanews.com Web site so much if they hadn't started charging for it. By making readers pay for site access, you would expect them to offer a product every bit as polished as the print version. Hmm, I may have to rethink that.
On Wednesday, the top story listed under "news" on the Daily Record and Morning News pages was the hard-hitting "Obituaries for Benton County." Not to be outdone, their counterparts to the south led with "Obituaries for Washington County." That's good stuff, that is. For the record (because they may actually be incompetent enough to do this), none of the papers led with obits on the front page.

Exodus, part II

Less than two weeks after the northwest Arkansas newspapers merged into the Northwest Arkansas Newspapers, the ranks are still thinning. This time, however, it's from voluntary departures.
The Daily Record's Jeff Mores and the Morning News' Anna Fry are splitsville, both reportedly for new (read that "better") jobs.

Merging newspapers fight against groupthink

So far, I've pointed out several ways in which the consolidation of editorial influences has seemed to impede the spread of quality information to the readers. I could be wrong. As always, I am only trying to encourage the discussion, but that doesn't mean the my words actually achieve that result.
Apparently, Doug Thompson, the sole editorial page editor left standing, apparently doesn't agree with me, as he rails against "citizen journalists" in Sunday's column. My favorite passage is the one that follows.

Quick thoughts

For the second straight week, there is no "Whatever happened to ..." story in the Daily Record. The standard Monday feature has run since the beginning of 2008, replacing the "Day in the Life" stories. The Monday issues are notoriously difficult to fill, as so little happens on Sundays in the Bible Belt. So far, the Monday pages have been filled from Little Rock, first with the inaugural merger issue and today with another story in Warren Stephens' veterans series. We must assume that there will eventually be something local to fill that space, but how will it ever compete with locally produced stories like "Whatever happened to cassette tapes?," "Whatever happened to the afro?," and "Whatever happened to Big Foot?"

Declaration of independence

The Daily Record took great strides Sunday to prove its independence from the Morning News.
To provide the context, we provide a snippet from a Nov. 1 editorial running in all four editions:

Sometimes the members of this choir will each sing his own tune. That will make things interesting. The differences among us are as much a part of this region’s strength as the cooperation. When everybody thinks the same way, nobody’s thinking, the wise heads say. Well, that has never been a problem around here.