CV: Kingston Mayor Haggerty accuses TL of playing politics with FOI lawsuit

TL editor Matt Golas agrees to be interviewed by CV reporter James Conmy, which is a nice professional courtesy. (Scranton Times editor Larry Beaupre has vowed in print not to be interviewed by the Times Leader). Otherwise, pure vanilla in the CV's report on the TL's FOI lawsuit against Kingston and its running-for-state-office mayor James Haggerty.

TL has a big Sunday story about its potential sale

A mixed bag from writers Renita Fennick and Dave Iseman. The Times Leader, congentially unable to report on itself, suddenly starts writing about its "healthy" operating margin of 20.4 percent in 2004. Twenty percent! No wonder Allison Walzer was banking so much.

On a positive note, it is nice to see some reporting that approached objective and unbiased. On a negative note, it seems awfully self-serving. It's hard to admit that the TL is a dead end, from a business point of view. The first newspaper in a two-newspaper town that is losing traction in every metric, despite all the fluff pieces about the downtown movie theater and so on.

Kurt and Stacy Knapek head south

TL editor Matt Golas broke bread with Dave Iseman and the Knapeks last night. Sports editor Kurt Knapek and designer Stacy Knapek are heading to Myrtle Beach, S.C. to work on the newspaper. Isn't Lane Filler there?

TL sues Kingston for police info

One of the cool things about not really having a boss (like the people at the TL) is that you can sue everyone like crazy. What are they going to do, fire you? Is there even a Knight Ridder corporate office that the Times Leader is answerable to? Anyway, Mayor Jim Haggerty calls the lawsuit "a thinly veiled attempt to torpedo my candidacy for state Senate and hijack a primary election." He's probably right, but he should have thought of that every time he stuck it to the Times Leader for the past three years over penny-ante police blotter info.

TL: A day late, here's our story about the MediaNews deal

This ain't a weekly here, folks. Renita Fennick namechecks Ron Burkle in her story about how the supermarket magnate and FOB is still interested, along with the newspaper guild, in buying the last of the KR orphans in places like Wilkes-Barre and Akron. A funny reality show would be a race to see who can -- by automobile -- visit all the rump KR cities first. Requirements would finding the diviest bar in each city and having a drink. Start in Duluth and work your way east. Good times.

Jane Jacobs gets a mention in the Scranton Times after all

Reporter Dave Falchek notes that Jacobs once worked on the Scranton Republican, which later became part of the Scranton Tribune, which later became part of the Scranton Times. She thought that demolishing three blocks of Lackawanna Avenue to build a mall was a bad idea, and many local urban-planning types worship her. That's all we learn about Jacobs as far as Scranton is concerned.

Newspaper Guild: We'll still love the CV even if we buy the TL

"To leave hard-working newspaper people feeling like cattle in an auction is reprehensible," Matt Golas, editor of the Times Leader and friend of the working man, tells TL reporter Renita Fennick in a story that also features CVers Heidi Ruckno and Angela Wolfer.

An interesting story. We learn that a) apparently no buyers have been to the TL to kick the tires and b) The CV, which once had 200 unionized employees, now only has 135 total employees. Could the Lynetts be thinning out the ranks to make room for TL refugees once the day of rapture arrives?

Sphincters tighten in W-B as the best 'KR orphans' go off the market.

Oh, shit.

The Times Leader's hope of being the player to be named later in a giant newspaper deal involving the heavies in St. Paul and San Jose just went out the window.

Hearst, MediaNews, Gannett and the Stephens all worked out a deal that gets the Pioneer Press in St. Paul and the Mercury News in San Jose off the market, along with two other California newsapers. One in three reporters west of the Mississippi will be working for a new publisher by the time the dust settles.

The TL is now knocking around with a motley crew that includes the likes of Aberdeen, S.D. and Fort Wayne, Ind. It's telling that the last two words in the AP's thousand-word opus were these: "Wilkes-Barre, Pa."

The best thing that could happen is that the TL is packaged with the Philly papers and sold to someone who is willing to pay more than the Lynetts.

Did you know: writer and urban theorist Jane Jacobs once was a reporter for the Scranton Tribune?

You learn something every day. Jane Jacobs, famous for her book "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," was born and raised in Scranton and even worked on The Tribune long before it was folded into the Lynett empire. Regrettably, the Times-Tribune does not seem to ever have written of her, at least in the last six years. How interesting a story would it have been had the newspaper paid her way to come back to her hometown for a few days, walk around, and write something up for her old paper? Her take on urbanism in Scranton in the 21st Century? She was only one of America's preeminent thinkers on the topic. An opportunity squandered, regrettably but not surprisingly.

CV: Newspaper Guild, please don't buy the scab TL

The story, which is by reporter Nichole Dobo and quotes reporter Heidi Ruckno, is about the CV union's unhappiness with essentially funding the purchase of the TL. Not an unreasonable concern. But if the local at the CV thinks anyone in the world who matters in this deal gives a shit about them, they are sadly mistaken.

The story had an interesting note: The Guild/Yucaipa people will be in the TL soon to talk to employees. Have there been any other buyers kicking the tires in the TL newsroom?

TL's Golas: We are tough when it comes to right-to-know stuff

A 90s TL open-records case involving the Hazleton Area School District has popped up in a brawl the Inky is having with a Philly suburb. Matt Golas uses the occasion to give the Times Leader a shout-out for its tireless FOI work. Amazingly, he restrained himself from calling out the Citizens' Voice, which has (ahem) a short history of FOI battles.

Golas also did a nice job of glossing over the fact that the TL lost the Hazleton case (actually the state supreme court declined to hear it, allowing the unfavorable appeals court ruling to stand) and now that case is being used against newspapers across the state.

Stephen Daily named new Scranton Times business editor

Longtime Scranton Times business writer Stephen Daily is the paper's new business editor, according to a story in the Sunday newspaper. The story does not mention that he is the third business editor in three years.

Scranton Times shield law debacle gets a little statewide attention

Philadelphia First Amendment attorney Michael Berry writes in The Patriot-News of Harrisburg about two threats to Pennsylvania's shield law for journalists -- including the court order (on appeal) for The Scranton Times to disclose its confidential source for a story about a a grand jury investigation of corruption at the Lackawanna County Prison. The issue deserves a lot more attention than its gotten.

Kudos for CV staffers for winning some state awards

Michael Hockenbury, Leonarda Bilbow, Steve Bennett and Jonathan Bombulie all hit it big on something called the "Keystone Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Spotlight Contest." Party on.

It should be noted that it helps to have friends in high places. The local SPJ chapter is run by CV lifer Pat Trosky. That may or may not have anything to do with why the TL never ever wins anything, according to the "Keystone Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists" Web site.

Froggy 101/98 KRZ payola investigation spreads

The New York AG was already investigating the two Entercom-owned stations in NEPA. Now the feds are getting involved too.

TL sues Hanover schools over secret settlement

The parents of a special-ed student got $69,000, and the TL wants to know the inside details. "It seems outrageous to us that the district would make a secret payout and expect that it would go unchallenged,” Iseman tells Kris Wernowsky. You tell 'em.

Frank Andrews Shimkus: His master's degree is from an unaccredited school

There's no personal animus with this guy. Really. But the greasy way he lied about his name, worked as news director while talking about running and continues to consult while running rubbed us the wrong way.

So we checked around.

And it turns out that Frank's masters degree is from Antiedam Bible College/Biblical Seminary and Graduate School in Hagerstown, Maryland. The school, which has a .org Web address, is not accredited by any agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Repeat: The master's degree Frank Andrews Shimkus has on his resume -- and teaches at the University of Scranton with -- is from a school so low you can't get a federal student loan to go there.

Antiedam notes on its Web site, www.antietambiblecollege.org, that it is accredited by the "Transworld Accrediting Commission," which has a Web site of www.traccom.org and sounds official enough. Problem is, Transworld is not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, an oversight organization that operates with the blessing of the federal education department. Transworld might as well be five guys at Gonda's in Wilkes-Barre.

Now, this is not the same as a diploma mill. But the school is unwilling or unable to meet the minimum standards set by nationally known and accepted accrediting agencies. And Frank Andrews is bragging about having a master's degree from the joint. Just the guy I'd want leading my news operation.

Search the Council for Higher Education Accreditation database:
http://www.chea.org/search/search.asp

Search the U.S. Department of Education database:
http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.asp

See where AndrewsShimkus says he has the degree:
http://local.wnep.com/10years/v2/bios/andrews.html

TL to Pulitzer committee: Drop dead!

The TL was shocked -- shocked! -- to read that the Pulitzer bigshots in New York City bemoan the lack of vigorous investigative journalism at small to midsize dailies. Because, darn it, the TL is just the best little newspaper in the world and no one could possibly question their journalistic vigor. Sherwood, blah blah, Sunshine Act, blah blah. Smaller papers than yours have won the Pulitzer Prize. If the TL has not, why not?

The TL's Rory Sweeney: A bad man

So says the granddaughter of the angry grandma in the classic Larksville Basketball Hoop Spat. Her grandma is just THE BEST, and would never hurt anyone, and rules are rules, and she is the best grandma EVER, and Rory Sweeney contributes to "media-fueled fanaticism." P.S.: When I read the line calling Sayso "a forum where people could voice their heart-felt thoughts and concerns," I thought it was another letter from Iseman's mom.

Dean Singleton close to buying Calif. KR orphans

The downside for the TL: McClatchy's willingness to sell KR orphans in small groups means that the Lynetts of Scranton have a better shot on their presumptive TL-only bid. Polish up those resumes, fellas!