Times is tight: The early-retirement offer made by the Denver Post a few months back ("No Scoop for You," August 30) has found more takers, including a trio with very recognizable bylines. Post managing editor Larry Burrough verifies that feature writer Joanne Ditmer, columnist and Capitol bureau chief Fred Brown and veteran police reporter Marilyn Robinson are all scheduled to exit early in the new year. But this isn't Robinson's first stroll down retirement lane, and she may have difficulty reaching its end again. She's currently on "indefinite leave," according to the Post's Ingold, who's been filling in for her on the police beat, but she continues to call in tips from home. "She just keeps working the phones," Ingold says. "She never stops."
The same can't be said for raises at Media-News, parent company of the Post. The hundred or so corporate staffers who occupy the 21st floor of the Denver Post Building have been told that, for now, they won't be receiving any salary boosts -- and MediaNews CEO Dean Singleton emphasizes that he's included in this edict. Such moves are becoming commonplace in journalism these days (New Times, Westword's parent company, has a wage freeze in place), but Singleton says the move is mainly intended to show solidarity with several papers in the MediaNews chain that have taken this step. Singleton insists that there are no current plans to impose similar restrictions on Post employees. But he admits that previously announced plans to add a dozen new editorial employees at the paper may have to be "slowed down some" because of the soft economy: "It's been a pretty tough year, and next year isn't expected to be much better."
Joe Forkan
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Nonetheless, he isn't worried about the Post's plummeting circulation, which by most measures is down by over 100,000 copies per day since this time last year. He notes that advertisers were told around the time the JOA was imposed that the combined figures from the Post and the News would be around 600,000 Monday through Thursday, 650,000 on Friday and Saturday, and 800,000 on Sunday, and that's where they are. Furthermore, he says he won't panic if the levels dip a bit more, because delivery duplication has fallen (now just 8 percent of households get both papers, as opposed to more than 20 percent pre-JOA) and because "the most important number is penetration" -- a kinky-sounding term that concerns the percentage of people the paper reaches in its circulation area. "We have the highest penetration of any top-fifty market in the country," he says. "Our main goal was to lead the industry in major markets in penetration, and we're there."
And it feels so good.
The amount of dough the Post is spending to keep correspondents in or near Afghanistan isn't causing any substantial monetary strain, Singleton says, but that doesn't mean he's ready to set up permanent bureaus overseas: "My sense is that the war on terrorism is going to move around a lot, and I want us to have the flexibility to move with it." Post insiders say that some decision-makers at the paper feel their coverage is on par with that of the New York Times -- an assertion that doesn't seem to have a high reality quotient. Even Singleton won't go that far, noting that "we're not trying to do coverage at the same level as the New York Times, which we've been using a lot of; it's been excellent. They're putting more people on it than we ever will." Yet, he goes on, "I think what we've done is outstanding. Our mission has been to cover things we thought the New York Times or the Associated Press or the Los Angeles Times weren't covering. This is the story of our generation, and we're tailoring it to what we believe will interest Colorado readers."
Clearly, circulation drops haven't affected Singleton's bravado. When asked about a lawsuit filed last month in Denver District Court by representatives of the Utah family that previously owned the Salt Lake Tribune, which is now in the MediaNews portfolio, Singleton says, "It's kind of like having to swat a gnat in the summertime."
If that doesn't kill it, there's always early retirement.
A sporting proposition: In the December 4 Denver Post, TV columnist Joanne Ostrow wrote that Jim Conrad, a sports anchor at Channel 2 for more than two decades, is "retiring" at year's end. But according to inside sources, that word in quotes is a euphemism: The station, which is still losing ground to Channel 31 in the 9 p.m. newscast ratings battle, isn't renewing his contract. Marc Soicher, principal sports anchor at Channel 4, appears to be facing a similar situation. Neither Soicher nor Channel 4 vice president and general manager Marv Rockford offered a comment, but reliable informants report that Soicher was told last week he would not be brought back after his contract expires in 2002. In the meantime, Channel 4 gave an indication that it may be de-emphasizing sports in the future: Its new, half-hour 5 p.m. weekday newscast, which debuted December 3, contains no regular sports segment.
What all of this means is anyone's guess, but it's clear that Denver, which is always touted as a great sports town, currently has the weakest crop of TV sports anchors in recent memory -- maybe ever. Consider: Conrad is a nice fellow, but he's fumbling and dull on the air; Soicher hardly registers; Channel 9's Tony Zarrella comes across as an unctuous homer; Channel 31's David Treadwell hasn't measurably improved since his amateurish debut; and Channel 7's Lionel Bienvenu, a cable veteran, is still searching for the right tone.
You'd think that anything would be an improvement over that. Then again, we're talking about television.
