The aforementioned newsroom efficiency study is rolling along. Eight younger journalists, 11 days, kind of like an extended reality TV show, without any cooking or exhibit A or Paris Hilton. Their requirement is to produce a proposal for change in newsroom structure, two or three hours a day until the deadline of July 10. There's an open meeting on Tuesday for other newsroommates' input.

Insider and sports videographer Nick Eaton gives the scoop.

Spokesman Radio

Here's one of two new radio signs, matte decals on the wall outside the studio. A bigger one will be attached on the inside wall. Expect a one-hour radio show soon... August.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pretty tame meeting this morning, no deep discussions about anything in particular, but here go a few editor kudos:

• Citizen Journal: Goal fulfilled with fundraising walk
• 'Everybody wants their saloon back' (Spangle bar fire aftermath)
• John Blanchette: Sonics exit Emerald City
• School year budget tops $300 million

In other notes, there's a new ad at the bottom of business page A9. The spot is booked for Thursday and Saturday for a year. "I can just feel the revenue stream coursing through the building," said managing editor Gary Graham, formerly known as Big G.

Happy 4th of July, from the Muppets

RE: Reporter Parker Howell's story about the square dance convention coming to Spokane, some staffers recall square dancing in high school gym class - It's also Washington State's official dance.

"I guess if you can't spank a kid..." there's always the option of imposed dance lessons, reporter Dan Hansen said.

On a sidenote, "do social liberals square dance?" asked editor Steve Smith.
"No." said reporter Kevin Graman
"Because they can only turn left," said reporter Jim Camden.

Banana steps aside for new sexy fruit

The talker story on Spokesman Radio is about watermelon having a "Viagra-like effect," though it has to do with the rind and not the inside. Watermelon sales could go up, folks said. CNN video story | CBS text story | what bloggers are saying

How much watermelon does it take?

"That is a good question," says [Bhimu Patil, PHD, director of the Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center at Texas A&M University, College Station] "Unfortunately, "I don't have an answer for that."

Editors' picks

With stories about quitting smoking | ATM hackers | cost-effective meals | mentoring prisoners' children, "A Spokane paper if there ever was one," said assistant managing editor Carla Savalli.

In other news

Some ground beef sold at Idaho Fred Meyer’s has been recalled so check your refrigerators.

• The economy still sucks, the budget situation is still dismal, stuff is expensive, and other newspapers are worse than here. But the best antidote to news industry doom and gloom is to focus on doing good work, editor Steve Smith said.

• No layoffs for the time being, and a quasi hiring freeze. The budget will be reexamined in the fall. More details then, but meanwhile we've been "extraordinarily conservative" in spending when it comes to extras like travel and other personnel-related costs.

• The possibility of reorganizing the newsroom structure in an innovative way (Smith handpicked 8 younger staffers to conduct an efficiency study and make recommendations about how they'd build an ideal newsroom)

• The aforementioned decreases in word quantity (scroll down to the Newsroom News heading)

Online redesign update

Two months later, the first phase of redesign is done. Online director Ryan Pitts' walkthrough of the new prototype site led to intense inside-baseball debate. How much of the online audience overlaps on the print-paper audience? Will it look mildly familiar to the print newspaper? How much of the newspaper's identity will it include? (FYI SpokesmanReview.com will gradually ease into Spokesman.com url eventually)

The Web site content will not only reflect what appears in the print edition but have the super-cool breaking news or audio/visual stuff. Features the new site will include: ability for readers to instantly bookmark their favorites, email a story to friends, maintain one's own "profile" and have a user account, comment on stories, view stories by location, e.g. by neighborhood, browse story by tags/other metadata, browse stories by media type (e.g. text, video, audio, data...), view the multimedia associated with any particular story, without going to another section of the site...

More later.

Here are a few slices from this morning... an in related newsroom news, there will be an insider staff meeting today. Some minimal details may be provided on the blog (it's a private staff meeting after all) but we'll know more later.

• New tanker works faster than WWII-era plane: Many editors including sports editor Joe Palmquist will miss seeing the 1946 PBY Tanker 85 from this story.
• Council approves big-box stores
• Fireworks laws vary, but sales are brisk
• Girl from Spokane team racing her way to Beijing: Kudos from editor Steve Smith, who said it's harder in the summertime to publish nice features about young people (because off the school and sports season)
• Doug Clark: One last drive-and-yak day: We'll also be tracking the Web hits for Clark's column as a result of his writing about calling Paris Hilton's cell phone. He didn't reach her.

Notes on a photo

Remember the underwater photo from sports, a few days ago? When we asked how the photo was made, photojournalist Rajah Bose said he used a fish tank. Picture pushing down a 10-gallon fish tank without letting the water spill into the middle, and then holding a camera inside, aiming through the Plexiglas.

On a puzzling note

Yesterday's crossword had the wrong clues. Download yesterday's correct clues here | And here's the grid (PDF)

The snafu may result in an Accuracy Watch correction. It didn't happen for today's paper,

"But we did correct Elvis," said assistant managing editor Carla Savalli about the error we made about the year Elvis died.

"God help us if we didn't," editor Steve Smith said.

At today's iSalon, we got ankle-deep in reader information absorption habits.

Multimedia producer and djangoer Brian Immel brought his eight questions to get everybody talking - no right or wrong answers. By the way, if any readers are interested in taking this survey, email it to thuyn@spokesman.com or post your answer as a comment and we'll bring it to the next iSalon meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, may we present the questions:

(1) Does information have the same value that it used to?
(2) Where do people get their news?
(3) Is the news industry lazy?
(4) Is our brand identity diluted?
(5) What is the company/newspaper/industry's relationship to its audience?
(6) What is S-R's tone?
(7) Does S-R meet the needs of its audience?
(8) Is S-R a service or a product?

(1) Does information have the same value that it used to? Here's some of the argument:

No: Information has less value because it is increasingly more available in multiple forms, and the sheer volume decreases the value of any one piece or source of information. Also the number of sources has increased dramatically in the past five years. People may also be less likely to pay for their information, if we can look at the word 'value' as a monetary value.
Yes: Valuable information is valuable no matter the era - for example tax information is valuable to a person who seeks it, a recipient being the one to dictate the value based on his or her individual need. One editor posed the question, how does Consumer Reports stay in business if Google and consumer reviews are all over? It looks like CR is still a trusted source and people are still willing to pay.

(2) Where do people get their news?

Wherever they want to, perhaps. Reporter Kevin Graman brought up a talking point cross-posted in the Romenesko blog - ever so popular among journalists and news nerds - about a small Midwest town in which false Obama rumors fly like crazy from person to person. Here's the MSNBC version of the story

(3) Is the news industry lazy?

Specifically, 'lazy' when it comes to creating transition to different information platforms. "If we were innovative we would have created Craigslist - or eBay," said assistant managing editor Carla Savalli about the news industry as a whole. She added that it's harder for the industry to be innovative when it doesn't feel the need to be: Because it's hard to set aside the practical matter of tending to the physical print product - the source of most of a newspaper's revenue - in order to take risk in other platforms. Multimedia editor Nancy Malone also asks - How can we predict the successes of these risks in advance? So does that mean the news industry has brought decline on itself?

(4) Is S-R's brand identity diluted?

No: Pushing our brand and name in whatever form is terrific - it's a matter of getting the word out.
Yes: Sometimes it feels diluted because when the newsroom is feeding multiple platforms - the question that comes up is, do some platforms suffer because we're feeding others?

Click in to read the rest.

Read the rest of this entry »

What's up with the crossword today? Alien robots - AGAIN. Because of an error by the company that publishes our crossword, today's had the wrong clues. Many apologies to our wordies - Please click here to download (PDF) and breathe a sigh of relief. As for this past weekend, here are some of the thick slices and editor picks.

THE KING: We published the wrong date for the death of Elvis, a factoid that appears in the Sunday feature about CBS radioman Stephan Kaufman (has audio clips). The correct year is 1977.

THE REAL NEWS CAPSULES: Company file storage at a per-box per-month rate. "They not only store it - they hide it," said photojournalist Jesse Tinsley, noting that they have their way of organizing the boxes. Editors joked this morning about how much it would cost to store investigative reporter Bill Morlin's gigantor file trove.

TELE+COMMUTING: Reminder - the hands-free cell phone law starts Tuesday. Which means today is the last day you can yak on the phone and drive.

News capsule

Cute as they may be, "that's about all they've got going for them," said Matt Houston, owner of Skunkworks Nuisance Animal Management. Houston says he gets as many as 1,200 marmot complaints a year from Spokane-area residents who report problems including vehicle damage (they crawl inside and chew wiring) and landscape destruction.Read more: Liberty Lake marmots wear out their welcome

Video from the weekend

We watched a piece by Nick Eaton:

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

Newsroom news

iSalon meets today at 2 p.m. as always, this time actively extending the invitation to other company departments. The discussion topic today will be a wildcard about how people find and use news on the Web. More later.

Before the meeting, investigative reporter Bill Morlin walks by wheeling a rolly cart. Bill--Bill--what are you doing, asks assistant managing editor Carla Savalli. He says he's moving files. It takes a cart to do that. He pushes it to the other side of the room. Morlin has a humongotrove of documents and has a reputation for remembering exactly where to find material from years past.

As an example of Morlin's story memory, photo editor Larry Reisnouer said when white supremacist Buford Furrow shot people at a Jewish community center several years ago (1999), Morlin went to him and said, Hey Larry we have photos of him (of Furrow). Lo and behold, we did. They hadn't even been published yet by then. A close-up at right, taken by Sandra Bancroft Billings of The Spokesman-Review.

Multimedia rundown

The MarQuee Lounge (produced by Parker Howell)

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

Racecar driving class (produced by Dan Pelle)

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

And the non-smoking, non-drinking, plant-eating local όbermusician and recording engineer Joe Varela is moving to sunnier climes. Mr. Varela, Spokane will miss you.

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

Keyworded slices

BALLS: All ages descend for Hoopfest check-in.

GUNS: Gun-rights backers hail decision (local story) | Seismic ruling on gun law (newswire)

SACKS: Museum believes vintage flour bags, once used for everything from dresses to towels to underwear, might also make a fine exhibit. Kudos - a story you don't expect to ever read, until you're almost done reading it, editor Steve Smith said.

SWIMS: 2 Spokane club members head for trials. For this story, folks wondered how photojournalist Rajah Bose took the below underwater shot. There are two possibilities, Reisnouer said - either Bose has his own underwater equipment, or the photo department also has sealing bags. More information later.

Mason Shaw of Coeur d'Alene and and Jenni Dole, a Mead graduate, are headed to the U.S. Olympic Trials in Nebraska. RAJAH BOSE The Spokesman-Review

Coming Up

A surprise story about critters. The accompanying photo has a marmot. We should say "Buy this paper or we gas the marmot," Smith suggested. (Animal-lover Carla Savalli says: "Mean!"). But the surprise story promises to be good, so "There's no point in writing anything else tomorrow," said reporter Kevin Graman who is working on something else today. (Savalli: "Nice try, Kevin")

Also, a story in the Today section about DNA testing for dogs. Good for.. breed determination, paternity tests, sex crimes?

Pretty tame meeting this morning - A series of thin slices today. On an odd note, remember the circumhorizon arc from last year? Watch for another to be published soon, this one also taken by a Plonka.

CELEBRATION: The S-R staff has received the first request for a same-sex wedding announcement - It's in the pipeline for publication.

REVELATIONS: Mr. Irrelevant living large in California. Editor Steve Smith started a discussion thread about this year's last pick at News is a Conversation.

Sprint boat racing, by Nick Eaton

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

Thin slices

• Pool planners kick into high gear: In quick turnaround, work starts soon on pools, pads
• Amid choking smoke, rescuer reaches kids: Man heard mother's cries for help as home burned
• Crowd urges hospitals' sale: But hearing attendees want to see buyer's plans for charity care in writing
• Study finds child welfare disparity: Minorities more likely to enter system
• Helicopter report leaves questions: Rescue missions not addressed, lawmaker says
• The 5 Browns – and one amazing show: Juilliard-trained siblings land at Fox with five grand pianos in tow S-R's Jim Kershner asked the obvious question: Where do you find five pianos for a venue? From a truck that travels with the posse. They also play Flight of the Bumblebee. An interview:

A few highlights from the Voices

• Cheney boasts homes fit for hobbits: Livable dome houses like in Bag End
• Front porch: Someday, I will shower alone
• Chalk it up to art: Sara Van Camp's entry wins Best of Show at the ChalkArtWalk in Hillyard Saturday
• Surprising a deserving friend: Skills Center instructors customize K.C. Chapman's wheelchair as a gift

When all the senior management is out, at the bureau offices or otherwise, the 10 a.m. meeting is very short. Today's could be a record at 9 minutes 45 seconds. And as a minute-related video, the Minute Waltz comedy routine with Victor Borge and Leonid Hambro:

Thick slices

• Plan aims to protect lake: Monitoring key to effort to keep nutrients out, metals in place: A complicated issue written in a way that makes perfect sense, editors said. Story by Becky Kramer.
• BlueRay faces securities fraud suit: Action says firm should repay $4 million: Kudos from editors - This story by reporter Parker Howell is part of a long string about plans for a BlueRay plant in Spokane.
• Mr. Irrelevant: Life at the bottom is all fun and games: For others who aren't in the loop, an explainer about the title bestowed on the last pick in the NFL draft.

The Plonkavision theory

A question we hear sometimes - "Is that a Plonka photo?" The running joke is that photojournalists Brian and Kathy Plonka make photos feature various body parts, particularly heads and feet. While the complete Plonkavision collection actually features a great variety of shots, editors tend to remember those various body parts.

"Eventually we'll put them all together," photo editor Larry Reisnouer said yesterday.

At right are four photos that prove this point, the top two by Brian and the bottom two by Kathy. The lake-and-feet photo was published today on the front page.

The captions! Clockwise from bottom left

» Three-year-old Jade Harlow, of Coeur d'Alene, plays Monday at the edge of Lake Coeur d'Alene. KATHY PLONKA The Spokesman-Review

» Chad Phillipe of ACS Ponies and Petting Farm with one of their dozens of friendly farm animals, June 12, 2008, available for hands on enjoyment. BRIAN PLONKA The Spokesman-Review

» Some 60 plus years after Denis Mikkelsen survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 5, 2007, Christmas lights in his Airway Heights home have long replaced the bombs and confusion on that fateful day. BRIAN PLONKA The Spokesman-Review

» A member of Spokane Blind Bowlers club waits for the competition to begin at Lilac Lanes in Spokane on March 20, 2008. KATHY PLONKA The Spokesman-Review

No 'Gut Flush Plan' story today in the Today section, contrary to what it said at the bottom of yesterday's front page.

They decided the subject of the story has a conflict of interest. The story was a feature on a nutrition book called 'The Gut Flush Plan.' But homeopathic author guru Ann Louise Gittleman has strong commercial ties to UniKey, a company selling many of the products she promotes in her book.

The features department cancelled the story late yesterday, swapping in a story about plastics.

Thin slices

• As customers cut back, workers who depend on tips suffer
• Verner wants to retain AMR: Ambulance firm fined in 2006 for overcharges
• Silver Valley seeks National Heritage Area designation
• Projects help fill affordable housing needs: New and renovated units will serve Spokane's low-income population
• Religion poll finds diversity, wide tolerance
• Doug Clark: When bugs move in, kindness won't cut it
• One reader called in to remind us to check our "avenues" versus "streets." (For those of you not from around here Spokane "streets" go north/south and "avenues" go east/west)

News capsule

Research puts a date on Homer's 'Odyssey': Astronomical events coincide with 1178 B.C.. The definitive events were as follows:

» The day of the slaughter was a new moon, a prerequisite for a solar eclipse.

» Six days before the slaughter, Venus was visible and high in the sky.

» Twenty-nine days before, the constellations Pleiades and Bootes were simultaneously visible at sunset. Read more...

On the Web

A piece on the journalism blog Romenesko links to a guy who says the Internet has made people stupid, versus a guy who disagrees.

Tribute to George Carlin, with Katie Couric

Orlando Sentinel unveiled a radical design overhaul today for their print newspaper (sample below), which brought up the discussion of a possible redesign of The Spokesman-Review, to prevent the dreaded concept of "get a cardboard sign, stand by the freeway, 'Will report for food.'"

Does the print edition of S-R need to be redesigned? Yes, say some staffers at this week's iSalon meeting.

Redesign is a floating bouncing idea at this point. Some goals - to make news quicker, easier to read, more accessible with more variety. Here are some of the discussion points, hairy on both ends:

» How does redesign change a newsroom? Using interesting layout formats requires switching your staff to a different reporting strategy and workflow, assistant managing editor Carla Savalli said. Reporters and editors may do stories in differently sized chunks. They won't group their gathered information in the usual way. The pace of the day will be different. But it'll come down to not having enough staff, to have a layout-intensive design like the Sentinel, reporter Kevin Graman said. And news from wire services is still a straight hit from the water hose - To reorganize information from the newswire, it needs to be digested by human editors at the usual rate.

» What about commentary, analysis, and other meaningful material that can be better conveyed without bullet-lists and flashy colors? asks online producer Andrew Zahler who used to be a night copydesk wizard. Some qualities are special to the print newspaper: The newspaper industry can't rely on breaking news to sell papers anymore, said deputy city editor David Wasson, noting that many newspapers in the business still do - even though breaking news is a thing of the Web, while print provides meaningful reporting and analysis.

» Who will be pleased? For the regulars who know exactly where to find everything every day, a redesign will probably be rough, reporter Jim Camden said. The newspaper always loses subscribers with a redesign, said photo editor Larry Reisnouer who has worked with the company since 1968. But interesting-looking pages can also boost single-copy newsstand sales, when appealing pages 'pop' and attract readers to the newspaper vending machine. Here's a post from BrassTacksDesign about selling more.

» More discussion questions: What if a redesign is taken transitionally, experimentally, with inserts? What if we take a survey or work with focus groups? (opinion page editor Doug Floyd) What if the industry and the readership change by the time you're done with your research? (reporter Alison Boggs) Can you lose your print readers by trying to appeal to young webby readers? (Camden: Yes) Could, or should, a print newspaper want to be a print version of its Web product or should it strive for a different standard? (How do we make more money? Who killed JFK? What is the meaning of life?)

We also mentioned the From Newsdesigner.com, the Bakersfield Californian redesign (more information: An overview of their overhaul, Online Journalism Review on Bakersfield overhaul)

Read the rest of this entry »

Assistant managing editor Carla Savalli just walked by with a giant rolled-up decal/signs for news powered by The Spokesman-Review on 790 KJRB.

More details later.

The comedian died at what journalists would consider an inconvenient time to die, due to weekend printing press deadlines. Some editions of S-R don't have the news about George Carlin's death - it turns out the page plate was subbed out midway through the printing process, which means some households have the Carlin news on Sunday page A2, and some households do not.

As for how we're taking the news, "I'm not sure I'm prepared for a world without George Carlin," said reporter Kevin Graman. The classic STUFF routine is below. (And if you're in the mood, his gargly seven dirty words routine is here). Be advised - This Stuff routine has a few curse words here and there, but not as much as the seven dirty words routine.

Newspaper news

The Spokesman-Review is going to be slightly smaller. Some updates from the morning:
• S-R is trimming the equivalent of one page's news content for each of the A and B sections. Newsroom hopes to apply this for a few days a week, for the next several weeks or more.
• Same strategy with Sunday sports, and with Outdoors section.
• Spokane7 is going to be four pages smaller, but features editor Ken Paulman said the content is being rearranged for efficient layout - the content won't suffer much.
• Will we able to increase space for special coverage weekends such as Hoopfest? photo editor Larry Reisnouer asked. Probably, editor Steve Smith said, also for elections coverage.
• Another idea floating around, Smith said - a possible redesign, aiming for even shorter stories and more visual elements for lists and infocapsules (breakout boxes).

Keyworded thin slices

FOR NEWS JUNKIES: 'Wash Post' Ombudsman Probes Broder and Woodward - something about their acceptance of speaking fees, something they're not supposed to do. Also discuss this topic on News is a Conversation.

FEELGOOD STORY: Pancake mix: Every other weekend, new friends gather on the South Hill for breakfast and conversation: A story about civil society that reassures you of human goodness, folks said. The story appeared on the front page of the Today section on Sunday.

STORIES WITH SLIDESHOWS: Event is a challenge for triathletes and volunteers alike, with a slideshow with photos by J. Bart Rayniak | Ex-players topple No. 1 Shock with slideshow of photos by Dan Pelle

STAY AND PLAY: In case you're wondering, KXLY and S-R have a cross-promotion deal for the Stay and Play feature. KXLY is telling people to read more in The Spokesman-Review, and S-R makes reference to KXLY in links, etc.

GOLF WITH SHOTGUNS: "Must be an Idaho story," said radio reporter Dan Mitchinson, but one of the men interviewed in the video did use the term "golf with shotguns" to talk about sporting clays shooting. Watch the video by Colin Mulvany.

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

Happy Friday, folks, or Happy Happiest Day of the Year according to a Welsh psychologist who devised this formula for an ice cream company. But it's not the day, June 20 - it's this particular Friday of June. S-R radio reporter Dan Mitchinson included this story in his morning newscast. Every year, we media latch onto this "Hey Martha getta loada this" story about the sci-guru Cliff Arnall's happiness formula:

O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He

Where O = outdoors and outdoor activity, N = nature, S = social interaction, Cpm = childhood summers and positive memories, T = temperature, He = holidays and looking forward to time off

Find more: Google Blogs | Technorati | 2008 | 2006 | 2005.

From the Muppet Glee Club:

Thick slices

RACEWAY PARK: Raceway sale postponed indefinitely: This story from Bill Morlin included the list of bidders - The Spokesman-Review paid a large sum of money to get it through legal action Edited at 3:44 p.m. due to editor discussion error: No money paid for legal action - The list was acquired through investigative journalistic pestering. Some discussion points that came up: Does the average reader care that The Spokesman-Review fought in court for that information? Should the names have been broken out into a graphic, such as a list or table? Should there have been more detail about who these people are? Folks decided if there wasn't enough information on all bidders, it wouldn't be fair to describe only some of them - so today's approach worked out.

FOURTH WALL: Did photojournalist Brian Plonka wake the man up to get his name for the photo caption? Here's what it reads: "Just right: Joe French catches a nap Thursday in Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane. He was among many outside enjoying the warm weather." Click to enlarge photo.

PIECE OF CAKE: The Slice's Paul Turner is casually surveying the region for a The Slice summer internship that does not exist (yet!). Check out the intern interview questions here, which managing editor Gary Graham said he will consider at his next opportunity to recruit interns.

CHILD ABUSE STORY: Kudos for some very telling details in the front-page story about 3-year-old Kyra Wine: 'Little clues' hinted at abuse: Girl was isolated, afraid, St. Maries neighbors say (story by Jody Lawrence-Turner)

LIGHTS OUT: The last picture show?: Backers hope Magic Lantern's closure is short-lived: Kudos to business writer Parker Howell for this week's 7 cover story, features editor Ken Paulman said.

MORE NEWSROOM NEWS: There's a roughly 50-50 balance between news content versus advertising today in the B section. Lately, the space standard has been 55 percent news, 45 percent advertising, but the company overall wants to strive for 50-50 shares. Because of the fluctuation of ad volume throughout the month, the ratio isn't always that close. One more factor - S-R lets advertisers select which section in which to publish their ad. Another sidenote, there's talk about converting the Tuesday paper into a "Monday configuration," which means a day in which the Northwest section is inside the A section.

VISITORS LOG: Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick and executive command staff attended the morning meeting.

The newsroom is eliminating the acronym "ACE," for "assistant city editor" because the title is now "deputy city editor." (There used to be one deputy and two or more assistant, but now they're all DCEs, DeCEs? DICE?)

When staffers introduced themselves to a visiting DCE candidate, and to a reporting intern, DCE Scott Maben accidentally introduced himself as city editor. City editor is actually Addy Hatch.

"This is how we're handling the downsizing," Smith joked - "I'll name you all city editor" and there will be a gladiator fight.

The term "boink-fest"

Columnist Doug Clark used the term in his column when referring to what happened between Rep. Richard Curtis and gay porn model Cody Castagna. Editors wondered whether readers would have found it offensive, but so far no complaints. The term is not incredibly popular-use, but editors also figure it's a Doug Clark column and that only the Doug People will be reading as far as "boink-fest." Two pretty edgy parts of the column were "boink-fest" and "stroked."

Great reads from the cyber news hole

• Tanker deal flawed, GAO says: Contract broke Air Force's own rules, report finds
• Cold water course for Ironman: Some are worried that 55-degree lake is too cool for safety
• State helped GOP lawmakers get to party convention: Timing of meeting draws criticism
• Mother, boyfriend jailed after girl, 3, hospitalized
• Volunteers driving 'Great Eight' pit bulls to St. Louis
• Man run over by bear (Rich Landers column)
• Cottages slow to grow in Spokane, with video below:

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

MORE NEWS YOU CAN USE: In brief: Registration for public school under way

FROM VOICES:
• Following bridal traditions: Families hand down wedding dress, veil through generations, photo at right by Rajah Bose.
• Swimsuit donations 'a lifesaver': Community centers accepting suits for needy kids
• Smoking ban helps bars ... maybe not
• Green Bluff fights back

RADIO: is working on a story about scooter use on the rise, that people who are using scooters are not necessarily trained to use them, "especially in Idaho," said radio reporter Dan Mitchinson - But wait! He was actually referring to curvy dangerous Idaho roads.

Must be intense to switch from big rural driving machine to two-wheeled urban driving machine, another editor said.

"How do you hang your rifle on a scooter?" asked photo director Larry Reisnouer who adds that he owns a truck.

GONZO FOR PRESIDENT

For the story, "Mother, boyfriend jailed after girl, 3, hospitalized," editors talked about whether it should be a story on page A1.

"Pretty horrible story, same old pattern," said editor Steve Smith (referring to cases of Summer Phelps and Nevaeh Miller). The public shock/outrage factor would make it worth putting in a prominent spot, editors generally agreed.

Unless details are sketchy, assistant city editor Scott Maben said, but city editor Addy Hatch added that S-R also has a copy of the related police report for the details, so...

As of now, a front page story it will be.

Also coming up

True story of a man being "run over" by a grizzly bear. Not eaten, not mauled, but run over, as if run over by a car. The bear was apparently in a hurry, folks said.

The story of Chewie, Rita and the other six pit bulls seized from a dog-fighting operation has had legs. Perhaps too many, judging from the bad jokes and rolled eyes at this morning's meeting.

The latest, of course, is that the "Great Eight" will head to St. Louis today to live at a rescue center instead of being euthanized.

Editors and reporters, no doubt, are as happy as about the outcome as the advocates and caretakers at SCRAPS. But general sentiment suggested that these dogs have had their day on the news pages.

One unanswered question: How does a dog live out its days at a refuge center? But despite reporter Jim Camden's offer to arrange for a greeting party in St. Louis, we probably won't produce that.

Screaming or raised voice headline?
Editor Steve Smith thought the lead, six-column A1 headline about the Washington jobless rate jump looked a little heavy for the news. There had been discussion at yesterday's 4:30 meeting about avoiding a "screaming" headline but making sure it at least had a raised voice, city editors said.

The B1 centerpiece on Meals on Wheels programs dealing with higher food and gasoline costs could have been A1, Smith noted.

Deputy city editor David Wasson thought our front-page centerpiece offering was equally strong. It concerned a family grieving after their 10-year-old son's death in a drunken driving accident. "A perfect example of over-report, under-write," Wasson said, citing a journalistic catchphrase. Reporter Meghann M. Cuniff had struggled to find an angle she liked for the story, but by continuing to report turned out a solid piece, he said.

'A master storyteller'

Video Journal has this new offering from photojournalist Dan Pelle, which accompanies a story appearing in Thursday's Valley Voice.

Multimedia director Colin Mulvany noted that Pelle gets better and better with each piece he does.

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

The sales tax methodology story had a bit of an oxymoron, editor Steve Smith said, pointing out that a coalition was hoping to "streamline and simplify" sales-tax laws. While the new laws apply to businesses, and consumers just pay the taxes without having to think about how they're calculated, editors said the story has little impact on most average citizens.

With that in mind, should the story about the florists rescuing the apartment-dweller have been the centerpiece on the front page instead? Smith asked. Feel good, people, feel good: TV news had the hero story yesterday evening, and the tax story is something only a newspaper can talk about in-depth.

We don't make deals...

...with anybody. In the case of gay porn model Cody Castagna's charges being dropped, he called the city desk last night and talked to assistant city editor Scott Maben. Yes, that Castagna, from the extortion case involving Richard Curtis and an erotic shop and a hotel room. Castagna wanted a say in which photos would be published of him, suggesting some glamour shots from his MySpace page. He said the police mugshot and other staff photos were unflattering. He offered an exclusive interview in exchange. Maben said no.

Sports picks

• Tiger Woods was front-page item for a lot of big newspapers around the country, managing editor Gary Graham said. "Joe, am I missing something here?" he asked sports editor Joe Palmquist. But to get an idea of readership, at least the countable ones, the story about Jeremy Pargo got almost twice the number of hits on the Web than the Tiger Woods story, said online producer Andrew Zahler. Those other newspapers also have a more national focus, and people are probably getting their Tiger Woods news elsewhere anyway, Palmquist added.

• Editors enjoyed the Blanchette column: Mariners' ship keeps sinking oh-so-slowly into troubled waters

• Kudos to reporter Nick Eaton for "Around the world and back again: Then & Now with Tony Roig
." On a sidenote, Eaton will be switching to 80 percent videography after the Indians season, producing video for the sports department.

Other newsroom news

S-R newsroom's mobile journalist (mojo) has been renamed a 'slojo' and a 'slomojo' today, recovering from an outdoors-related injury. "This is why the wilderness life isn't for the most of us," Smith said at the morning meeting.

Innovation meeting today was some talk about element mapping, and some notes about video storytelling. Here's what happened today:

» NEWSPAPER VIDEO ETHICS vs. TV NEWS ETHICS. (TV news ethics can be much more fluid, someone added) In the case of Nick Eaton's EWU mascot tryouts video, he saw a TV reporter not only telling the videographer what to shoot, but also taking some creative license by telling the judges how to react on camera. There's a discussion on multimedia editor Colin Mulvany's blog which includes both videos side-by-side... But when a print reporter or a photographer walks into a room with a notebook or camera in hand, don't people behave differently anyway? Newspaper journalists also make judgments when they put stories together, including or excluding information we gather. Reporter Dan Hansen also brought up the sticky issue of only being able to photograph students who are not exempt by media waivers. Stuff we pondered.

» STUFF BY ANOTHER VJ (Video journalist): Michael Rosenblum blogs about training people to do video storytelling. This particular one features a team of breast cancer patients getting ready for dragon boat races. This video was produced by a newspaper guy, John O'Boyle from Newark Star Ledger. Assistant managing editor Carla Savalli hopes the newsroom can organize more training sessions for our journalists in-house. Already underway are plans to add three more mobile journalists - two from Spokane7 and one from Business.

» WE LIKE: Des Moines Register made a great newsmap on the aftermath of the tornado damage in Parkersburg, Iowa (image at right). The map has different storytelling elements such as storm-chaser video clips, before-and-after land parcel photos, reader-submitted stories/comments... Can S-R do something like this? It'll definitely be easier to do after the redesign, said multimedia producer Brian Immel.

» DEEP BREATH, FELLOW NEWS JUNKIES. Editorial associate editor Rebecca Nappi remembers finding an old how-to manual for Microsoft Word, from back when the newsroom sent folks to a training workshop. Someday years later, Nappi said, we'll look back on today's 'new' concepts and they'll be utter nonsense - especially after our brains have changed.

There was a discussion late Friday about whether to use the below photo as Saturday's centerpiece, because it came with very little information and was taken three days earlier. But the photo was incredible - Editors agreed to publish it late because the tornado news was still relevant and the photo was more visually compelling than the political convention.

The photo wasn't distributed on the newswire until Friday. Photo director Larry Reisnouer preferred that it be published in full color because black and white didn't have the same effect. He said the person probably took the photo then ran like hell.

In a photo taken Tuesday but not distributed for national publication until Friday, a tornado touches down in Orchard, Iowa. Local news reports said Lori Mehmen, of Orchard, took the photo from outside her front door. No injuries were reported.

Tagged thin slices from today and the weekend

MAY MAKE YOU CRY: A story by Alison Boggs, "Investing in recovery: Increased state funding for chemical-dependency treatment paying dividends in restored lives, economic savings"

FATHER'S DAY: Staff writer Paul Turner's rundown on the evolution of fatherhood.

WHEN STRUCK BY LIGHTNING, BUY A LLAMA - or several. At least that's what happened to Monica Phillipy who started a petting farm. Read more...

PRIDE PARADE: How'd we cover it on Saturday? There was a photo but no story, because the newsroom didn't have enough people that day to cover all the bases. But check out Jill Wagner's blog post here.

AVISTA STADIUM: John Blanchette's Sunday column was a feature on the Indians stadium - goes with video by Nick Eaton:

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

FUNNYMAN: Jim Green is one of the nation's few legally blind stand-up comedians. He delivers a mix of political sarcasm and social satire with a dollop of adult humor. The story is here, and the video is below. Watch for Jack Nicholson.

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

Special for the campaign season, a related video from the Muppets.

As with the Republican con, so with the Dems con. We will be blogging and vlogging live at venue. Find us at Spin Control 2.0 for live updates.

Spokane City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin performed with Doug Clark and co-conspirator Joey Brasch today at Street Music Week.

She sang that sappy song "Close To You" by The Carpenters.

Near the end, the falsetto voice singing "Laaa! la-la-la-la..." that's Clark.

Get the Flash Player to see this audio player.

A few weeks ago, multimedia editor Colin Mulvany was shooting video to send to Europe as part of a request from Innovation International Media Consulting Group. They laced in a British accent, edited it into a documentary to present in Sweden and uploaded it into YouTube. We're on YouTube:

Kudoslices and editors' picks

• Water rights law modified in court: Judge undoes parts of 2003 legislation: Kudos to Olympia bureau reporter Richard Roesler because the topic of water rights is "almost impossible to convey in less than a thousand words," reporter Jim Camden said.

• More news you can use: In brief: Public pools opening Monday, and Lands Council gives away light bulbs

• Grad Tab (called so because it used to be a book-style tabloid newspaper size), this year's graduation edition of the Voices, had oodles of photo-department-generated material instead of borrowed courtesy photos from other sources. And as a result, photo director Larry Reisnouer said, it was definitely worth the extra effort.

• New law requires schools teach safe-sex practices: Opinions expressed to CVSD board nearly unanimous against changing curriculum: What do other schools, parents and students think of this news story from the Valley Voice?

• Doug Clark: Kids make music for his ears, with Mailbox Rock and marimba extra. Clark's still out there for the Noon-1pm hour every day for today and tomorrow, with friends on various street corners in the downtown area.

As for another marimba, presenting The Muppaphone