Al Diamon
The AP Backs Down
The AP’s new pricing structure would have reduced costs for many Maine newspapers, but not by as much as some of them wanted.
To put pressure on the AP, which is a cooperative owned by many of the newspapers and broadcast outlets it serves, several Maine dailies began a story-sharing arrangement in September.
Because the decision to halt the new pricing plan will reduce AP’s revenues next year, officials at the wire service say they’ll be forced to make staff reductions, with layoffs likely.
Prophetic headline of the day: Here’s the sub-headline that ran above a story in the Oct. 24 Morning Sentinel, on that newspaper and its sister publication, the Kennebec Journal, winning an award for their town-specific Web sites:
“Contest is designed to bust readership, innovation in news industry”
Seems to be working.
(Possibly because of the award-winning excellence of its Web site, the Sentinel didn’t run this sub-headline with the online version of the story.)
Good work, if a little late: As part of an Oct. 24 package of stories about the casino question on the November ballot, the Bangor Daily News and reporter Diana Graettinger finally got around to asking Maine Indians living in Washington County how they feel about the proposal to build a gambling facility in Oxford County.
In 2007, the Passamaquoddy Tribe tried unsuccessfully to convince voters to allow them to build a casino near Calais. As Graettinger points out, among the places that voted against the Indians last year: Oxford County (she mistakenly lists the countywide vote as being statewide) and the town of Oxford, where the proposed gaming facility would be built.
How’s that playing out in this campaign?
“Hell, if we can’t have it here,” one Washington County resident told her, “they can’t have it there.”
I’d have thought more news organizations would have jumped on this rather obvious story angle a whole lot sooner.
Good work, right on time: Ex-Portland Press Herald reporter Kevin Wack continues to do an excellent job of covering the U.S. Senate contest between Republican incumbent Susan Collins and Democratic challenger Tom Allen at his blog, “The Maine Race.”
Wack’s detailed analysis of Collins’ recent TV spot is a first-rate piece of reporting (of a kind rarely seen in his Press Herald days, which makes me wonder what the problem was – bad editing, maybe?) and his take on the often-mind-numbing debates is fresh and insightful. If you haven’t read his stuff, you’re not ready to cast an informed ballot.
Unfortunately, his blogging on local politics will end soon. Wack is heading to Washington D.C., for an internship shortly after the election. I doubt we’ll see him back in Maine.
Al Diamon can be e-mailed at aldiamon@herniahill.net.
Posted on Saturday, October 25, 2008 in Permalink
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Reader Comments:
I'm not so sure racial prejudice is at play in the casino vote.
Sure, the reporter points out that Oxford and Oxford County voted against the 2007 proposal, but both had higher yes votes than the statewide average.
Town of Oxford: 48.6%
Oxford Hills (11 towns): 51.2%
Oxford County: 49.0%
State: 47.7%
So, it could be argued that voters in the Oxford area are LESS prejudiced than the statewide average.
Now, look at the 2003 casino vote. Back then, the yes percentages were even smaller, but Oxford voters were again the more supportive.
Town of Oxford: 41.2%
Oxford Hills (11 towns): 40.9%
Oxford County: 37.5%
State: 33.0%
As you can see, from 2003 to 2007 support for an Indian casino increased 14.8% statewide, 11.4% in Oxford County, 10.3% in the Oxford Hills, and 7.4% in Oxford.
I'd interpret that as the state actually catching up with Oxford in supporting a casino. The question is, will that increase in state support grow enough to enable passage of the 2008 referendum question?
Support looks to have been growing at 2.96% per year, which would put this year's yes vote at 50.7%. If this casino were on Indian land, I think it would actually pass this year. However, I suspect questions about the Carey-authored bill will sink Olympia's chances, even with Mainers being more desparate than ever for jobs.
I'm expectng a 49/51 split.
wdh
That's my opinion. Your milage may vary.
I think you're right about editing being a problem at the PPH, Al. I've long suspected an institutional mandate to stomp the life out of copy. Granted, some writers there probably need a heavy edit.
I'd be remiss if I didn't update the item above on the Maine tribes' views of the casino referendum by mentioning the excellent piece by Matt Wickenheiser in the Oct. 26 Maine Sunday Telegram (pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=218143&ac=PHnws). Not only does this story give more detail on the Indians' political views, but it also provides the first report I've seen on the Penobscots' planned confrontation with the state over gambling laws. A must read.
Al Diamon
I used to work in Portland. Kevin Wack is a good reporter. His editors? Not so much.
The AP facing staff reductions? Shame. And hopefully not at the State House. Poor Mal Leary will be doing every newspaper's job then. (By the way, I think it stinks that he shared his "notes" with you about Cindy Michaels and Todd Palin. She didn't make herself the story that day.)
Where is Kevin Wack going to have his internship?
I don't know the name of the institution where Wack will be interning, although he did tell me it's on Capitol Hill. You can e-mail him through his Web site, www.themainerace.net.
Leary sent me audio of the Michaels-Palin encounter, not notes. He recorded it in a public place at a public event. It wasn't anything private or secret.
Al Diamon