Provo Daily Herald's Executive Editor Gets a Pink Slip

Executive editor Randy Wright was released from his duties at the Provo Daily Herald after laying off nine other employees last week.

Wright, 58, confirmed Thursday he was the only one let go in a second round of cuts, the result of cost-cutting at the Lee Enterprises paper. Last week, the company laid off nine employees in various areas of the operation. The paper’s president and publisher, Rona Rahlf, declined to comment Thursday, saying only that it’s "a matter of policy we don’t respond to questions of an HR matter." In a Daily Herald online story last week, it was noted that the company had reduced "cash costs" by 3.7 percent in the quarter ending Dec. 30, compared with the same period a year earlier. Davenport, Iowa-based Lee has fallen victim to declining ad revenue and falling circulation as readers have moved to digital news.

Lee Enterprises, based in Davenport, Iowa, owns the Daily Herald, which has a daily circulation of 24,000.

What President Obama Will Not Say During the State of the Union Address But I Would Like to Hear

Good evening fellow Americans. Tonight I report to you that the United States is in good shape. North Korea has shown that it continues to improve its nuclear capability, and Iran is not far behind. Unemployment has been steady at about 8 percent or higher since I took office four years ago. Our deficit has grown from $1.3 trillion in 2009 to $16.5 trillion today. Health-care costs are increasing, and thanks to Obamacare small businesses are enjoying more paperwork. Gas prices have double since taking office. Guantánamo Bay is still open. Our military is still in Afghanistan, and there are still 45,000 of our bravest sons and daughters serving in Iraq.

Honesty would be refreshing.

Fake News and Pranks

Is it any wonder why so many people mistrust the media these days? The Daily Currant ran a "satire" piece on Feb. 4 that reported that Sarah Palin was joining Al Jazeera America.

Just weeks after leaving Fox News, Sarah Palin is bouncing back by joining the fledgling Al Jazeera America news network as a host and commentator. The former vice presidential nominee confirmed today that she has signed a multi-million dollar deal to host her own shows and to provide commentary on United States issues for Al Jazeera, which is best known for its news coverage of the Middle East. After leaving Fox News, Palin said she was hoping to reach a broader audience with her message. When contacted by phone, Palin said Al Jazeera - with its extensive international network - offered her the best opportunity to broadcast to millions of people.

In an effort to double down on stupidity, The Washington Post ran it as fact, then later had to correct itself.

An earlier version of this post and the post’s URL incorrectly reported that Sarah Palin had signed on as a contributor to the Al Jazeera America news network. The blogger cited a report on the Daily Currant Web site as the basis for that information without realizing that the piece was satirical.

Nice ... Even worse, CBS in LA was a victim of a Howard Stern prank call. KCBS/KCAL put on a guy on the air who had told them that he was an official from the U.S. Fish and Game Commission. He had claimed to have information about the

CBS Los Angeles learned that lesson the hard way during their coverage of the shootout between ex-Los Angeles Police Department officer Christopher Dorner and law enforcement agencies. In the call, a man who identifies himself as Captain Janks pretended to be a California Fish & Game official and said his agency was the first to spot Dorner, but then things went a bit astray. "It was confirmed that there was gunfire. We don't know at this point. We believe it was Ronnie the Limo Driver firing at Mr. Dorner." Janks said Ronnie was driving to a block party when he spotted Dorner. The problem is, Ronnie is a popular feature on Howard Stern's radio show and not a game and fish official. Janks called the CBS reporter a few choice words before getting cut off. He has been a long-time fan and popular caller of the Howard Stern Show.

I'm old school. But this is total stupidity on "Captain Janks' " part.

George Bush's Emails Hacked: What Happened to Ethics?

From Paul Farhi at the Washington Post:

The Smoking Gun published apparently private Bush family photos from the hacker’s cache, such as a shot of George H.W. Bush sitting up in his hospital bed in December (the photo was taken down a few hours after it appeared). It also quoted from e-mails that revealed deep family concerns about the elder Bush’s health, including one from George W. Bush seeking input from his relatives for a eulogy to his father. Further, it posted images of paintings made by the younger Bush that he had sent to his sister Dorothy, including paintings of a man showering and one in a bathtub.

The Smoking Gun went way out of bounds here. There is no journalistic value in publishing such private communications. No public policy is affected by these emails.