Cox Sells Waco Trib to Local Family

Before ya'll get too excited, read again Robinson's quotes about coverage of Baylor. You don't have to read much between the lines to understand that coverage of Baylor (both athletics and university) just got a lot less aggressive. And with Baylor setting the tone for so much in Waco, I'm not so sure as some that this is a great step forward.

 

I talked to a Waco Trib reporter tonight, and he said that positive stories about Baylor are already being suggested. However, he said, he's just damn glad to still have a job, and I bet a lot of his co-workers feel the same way.

 

A little more for the Waco employees to chew over ...

http://www.wacotrib.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2009/08/01/RobinsonFrontpage.html

"In God We Trust" got the play on Romenesko, but the real message from the new boss got overlooked. Some excerpts:

"The Waco Tribune-Herald ... needs local ownership and tweaking as it moves into a new age."

"Cox Enterprises [the outgoing owner] has well served the broad Waco community," Robinson writes, but he makes plain his view of that stewardship with his comparison of it to the previous ownership, by the Harlon Fentress family, whose "long and successful ownership was created by honest and fair reporting, expressing opinions on hot issues generally homogenous [sic] with the opinions of readers in the universe it served. ..."

"It’s time for a change, and hopefully our values and opinions will be well received by our advertisers and readers."

What values would those include?

"Insurance, investments and real estate. Philanthropy is also an important mission, supporting animal rescue, civic projects, scholarships, McLennan Community College and Baylor University."

Journalism and accountability are notable by their absence from that list, and indeed the entire memo. So is public service.

Glad to have a job or not, I'm not sure the folks in the Waco newsroom signed up for coverage of puppies, the Lions Club and Clifton Robinson's friends.

 

If there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say

 

And the folks in Waco will be just fine with coverage of puppies, Lions Club and Clifton Robinson's friends. His buddies all go to the right church after all.

 

Eh. I suspect it'll work itself.

Were I in this position, I'd gladly work for a newspaper novice who had A LOT to learn, but saw my face in the office and knew my work, rather than a CEO 3,000 miles away who was completely unaffected not only by the way I covered a particular college, but whether or not I starved as he robbed money out of my pocket to fund his shiny new cable TV venture.

If this guy has editors with common sense and balls, and he's half-way sensible, it'll work itself out. If not, I'd wager that newsroom is still in a far better position than most right now.

 

He bought a newspaper. How sensible can he be?

 

In God We Trust ... in publishers, not so much.

 

Touche, sir. Touche.

:'(

 

This guy won't be any worse than Gannett and most of the chains.
There's no way you can criticize this, no way, not in today's climate.

 

Coverage of puppies is one thing. Coverage by them is another altogether.

Sunday's Waco Trib featured a column 'written by' Clifton Robinson's dog, Annie Poo.

http://www.wacotrib.com/search/content/news/opinion/stories/2009/10/04/10042009wactopcolumn1.html

 

This is disturbing on many levels, beginning with a dog named Annie Poo and then going from there.