Jennifer Henn and Judith Miller in the same paragraph

That's according to "The Epoch Times," an "independent newspaper." An anonymously-sourced story by Henn in the Scranton Times-Tribune led to a civil court order demanding that she divulge her source. The case is on appeal.

Feds say Times-Tribune's 'Better Together' campaign was not illegal in a pro-Casey kind of way

Maybe not illegal, maybe without merit (says Larry Beaupre), maybe silly (says George Lynett), but a newspaper billboard with Bob Casey's name on it in 4,000-point type was incredibly bad judgment.

Jim Lehrer comes to NEPA for a speech

He dodged Iraq questions and is a bus buff (!) who knows about the Martz. Other than that, nothing you wouldn't expect, according to Josh McAullife's Scranton Times-Tribune story.

Al Zobel says NEPA people are all negative

The former WYOU/WBRE boss landed in Madison, Wisc., where he is running a station there. The Wisconsin State Journal Q&A is mostly about his new job, but there is this line: "The thing about Wilkes-Barre and part of Northeast PA is the negativity. [...] After four years of it, I just couldn't do it anymore. It was pervasive throughout the community."

Nice story about the radio reading service

Josh Mrozinski of the Tunkhannock paper writes about the volunteers who read NEPA newspapers on the radio for the blind. This operation is not to be confused with the Radio Home Visitor on the King's College station, WRKC-FM.

Beaupre inducted into new U. of Illinois j-hall of fame

It was the first class - Hugh Hefner was also an inductee. No mention of the post-party. The 'story' has a nice summation of Beaupre's career.

TL, Times-Shamrock may try to buy Sunbury paper

Whatever. The TL is leveraged to the hilt. The Renita Fennick story almost sounded like a plant to make Richard Connor and the TL to sound more like players than they really are.

Scranton Times-Tribune: The Jews are coming!

Holy shit. Is the Scranton Times-Tribune anti-semitic or just stupid? Didn't anyone read these stories, these headlines before publication? The Times-Tribune ran a big Sunday package about, well, Jews. Allegedly with a news peg of a Brooklyn congregation moving as many as 1,000 (we'll see) families to a city of more than 70,000, the Times-Tribune tells its readers:

-- The Jews don't return our calls, therefore they are conspiring (why won't they explain their nutty religion?)
-- The Jews are taking over a nice township in New Jersey (implication = is Scranton next?)
-- The Jews will "keep to themselves," their Realtor promises (until Christmas!)
-- "Their tendency to collectively pursue their own agenda can lead to friction" (those pushy Jews!)
-- "What concerns Mr. Hobday is not the size of the community but how it wields its formidable clout." (the levers of power)

and the money line...
-- "Deep down, they are nice people." (except that they killed Jesus!)

OK. That line about killing Jesus a cheap shot. But this package has to be one of the worst pieces of journalism to be published in northeastern Pennsylvania in years. A story about a particular group (a congregation in NYC)... that doesn't include any interviews with that particular group? Can The Times-Tribune not read a road map? Is two hours too far to drive for an interview? And what was with the pointless sidebar about the Catskills? Those crazy Jews go on vacation too? Here's what was with the pointless sidebar: An editor must have had some Jews move in next to his regular summer vacation spot. Presto, it's a story.

Isn't anyone looking at these pages before publication? Are they ill? Are they mad? Headlines like "political takeover alleged?" I'm glad I'm not a rabbi in Scranton. I would have shit my pants this morning. I suspect the Lynetts shit theirs too.

Local buyer for WNEP unlikely, consultant says

That's according to James Haggerty of the Times-Tribune.

TL appeals reassessment decision

The newspaper is arguing (unsuccessfully, so far) that Luzerne County commissioners broke the law when they secretly decided to postpone reassessing all the properties in the county.

Iseman does a good - and funny - job of explaining the reassessment lawsuit

Good stuff from the TL's managing editor, who might make a good columnist if the newspaper is hiring.

Here's a story about the WNEP sale from Renita Fennick and Jerry Lynott

A rare appearance in a local NEPA story by NYT spokeswoman Catherine Mathis.

WNEP goes up for sale

The year of turmoil for northeastern Pennsylvania media continues. The New York Times Co. is selling WNEP-TV; hard to tell if all the stations will go for one money or if they will be auctioned individually.

Horrible 9/11 lead in TL makes Gawker's parade of shame

How does the Times Leader's Ron Bartizek make New York gossip and media blog gawker.com? With the most tasteless 9/11 lead in history. Behold: "Five years after clouds of debris billowed up from the toppled towers of the World Trade Center, a silver lining may be forming in Northeastern Pennsylvania." Stay classy, Times Leader.

NEPA could be Wall Street West if everyone weren't so stupid and technically backward

Richard Connor writes a nice sendoff for carrier killed in crash

Good work.

CV tees off on TL on editorial page

A little late, here's the CV's editorial from earlier this week regarding the TL's secret owners and Richard Connor's poo-poohing of the whole story. The editorial is thoughtful, sharp and well-written. A first on the CV editorial page.

CV goes after TL on editorial page for not identifying owners

This may be the best editorial I've ever read in the Voice. Thoughtful. Well-written. Sharp. It makes a good case why identifying the local TL owners is so important.

71-year-old man won't be charged in crash that killed TL carrier

One question after reading the Ed Lewis report: We know what the dead carrier was doing with his van parked on the side of the road with its flashers blinking - delivering newspapers. What was the old guy doing driving around Kingston in the rain at 5 a.m. Sunday?

TL loses lawsuit against county commissioners

Terrie Morgan-Besecker reports that the TL is considering whether to appeal Judge Mark Ciavarella's ruling against the paper, which alleged that the commissioners violated the state's open-meetings law when it kind of voted in secret over the phone.

Woo-hoo! Connor column makes it online, three days later

This happened with his W-B party column - published in the paper on Sunday, online on Tuesday. Maybe he's a believer in embargoing online content for a few days until everyone can read the print edition? In any case, it's a must-read. Here's the short version:

1. Readers don't care who owns the paper.
2. The subscribers of the paper, all 60,000 (huh?) of them, own the paper in Rich's mind.
3. Who owns the paper isn't important.

He doesn't say how much the subscriber-owners get if he sells out.

Congrats to the George Lynett family

George Jr. got married over the weekend. Kudos.

Another reporter goes to the TL from the CV

Tom Vesnesky, the CV's longtime outdoor writer, is writing for the TL as of Saturday. It's a little strange that the TL, which for years has ripped anyone involved with the CV as incompetent morons, has now picked up two veteran CV reporters in as many months.

TL carrier killed in freak accident

Kevin Church was standing in front of his parked van when another auto rear-ended the van, pushing it into the carrier, who was then pinned to the curb.

Read the CV's story on the crash

TL runs a story about two of its investors

The Ron Bartizek story plays catch-up with the CV story from a few days before. However, the promised Richard Connor column explaining why identifying the local investors isn't important (I'd love to hear what Iseman has to say about that) didn't turn up in the Web edition of Sunday's paper.

The sounds of silence

Friday's TL carried no story about the ownership stakes held by Frank Henry and Chuck Parente Sr. Ouch.