Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Thoughts on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

By Steve Smith of The Caravan of Dreams

-- Allow us to bid farewell to Wes Turner, who is stepping down as publisher of the Startlegram at the end of the year. Although I have A LOT of quibbles with the S-T, I always respected Wes. I liked him a lot personally and thought he tried to do right by his people. I wish him a long and happy retirement.

-- The McClatchy-ization of the Star-Telegram begins! Gary Wortel, president and publisher of The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, S.C., will succeed Turner. I'm a little surprised that they selected someone from another old Knight Ridder paper. I'm not surprised that no one inside the building at 400 West 7th was selected. This line jumped out at me from the press release announcing the move:

"Gary did a stellar job as publisher in Myrtle Beach, one of the fastest-growing, most attractive markets in the country," said Lynn Dickerson, McClatchy vice president, operations, who oversees 11 McClatchy newspapers in Texas and the South, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Sun News. "Under Gary’s leadership, The Sun News delivered excellent revenue and profit growth, circulation growth and editorial excellence over the past few years. Weekly Surge, an alternative newsweekly, was started last fall by Gary and his team, and they have been innovative leaders in online traffic and revenue growth," added Dickerson. "Gary is an excellent candidate to lead the Star-Telegram during these challenging times in our industry."

Indications of things to come in Fort Worth? Obviously, something has to give. McClatchy earnings have been in the tank since the Knight Ridder acquisition and the pressure from Wall Street to do something about it will only continue. Online revenue growth will be essential to that solution. And right now there is a lot of room for improvement. I'm also wondering if an alternative newsweekly will also be in the cards. Stay tuned.

-- Although this here blogger and Bud Kennedy don't see eye-to-eye on every issue, sometimes you just gotta put down the brickbats and say Bonne chance, mon ami. The occasion? Bud's getting hitched. The 52-year-old Kennedy proposed to Shelly Seymour, 47, in Austin on Saturday. It will be the first time jumping the broom for both of 'em. No date is set yet. Congratulations, Bud. Best wishes!

-- The best and worst of the Star-Telegram on Sunday both came from the op-ed page. The Best: Bob Ray Sanders' excellent defense of Huckleberry Finn as it relates to the recent Birdville controversy. Well done, Bob! The Worst: J.R. Labbe's column on labels in local political races seemed to deplore the use of party affiliation in other knee-jerk labels, but then went to label just about every damn candidate running. Thanks for helping cut through this issue for the voters. In a word, lame.

Pegasus News content partner: The Caravan of Dreams

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