Speaking of the Herald ...

Good news for those of you who love reading about the Miami Herald and all the drama at One Herald Plaza.

There's a massive and detailed 6,000 plus word story on the paper  by Erik Bojnansky in the April issue of Biscayne Times.

The piece titled "Farewell, My Lovely Miami Herald," contains some fascinating information on the paper that many in South Florida love to hate.

It's must reading for anyone who wants to know more about the Herald and its future. But what sets it apart is that it's the kind of business story on the paper and the problems it faces that you'll never see in the Herald.

There's a ton of information in Bojnansky's piece....along with some telling quotes from current and former Herald staffers and South Florida business types.

Here are some of the best:

“The people who are here are still doing very good journalism. There are fewer of them and it’s a challenge. But I think, especially when compared to other papers, they’re still doing some serious journalism.” -John Dorschner, retired Herald business writer

“If I wanted to do a story on the Herald, it would be how corporate in Sacramento has set up what I call the death spiral. It’s inexorably leading to the Herald’s demise.” -Anonymous Herald staffer

“They overpaid for Knight Ridder, and now [McClatchy] is too far in debt. The Herald is a profitable newspaper in and of itself. The problem is that it’s not profitable enough to meet the company’s needs.” -Jim DeFede, former Herald columnist and CBS4 Investigative reporter

“It’s still a terrific newspaper. There’s no news organization that comes close to it in Miami.” -Joseph Treaster, retired New York Times reporter

“They’re an important institution and they are the major newspaper of the community. They wield a lot of influence in the community and they have the ability of causing a lot of things to happen.” -Norman Braman

“Any newspaper in this nation would be delighted to have those people and others like them who still work in the Herald newsroom.” -Martin Merzer, retired Herald senior writer

“What’s left of the staff seems heavily weighted toward interns, and much of the daily report seems thinly reported and/or misplayed. Also, the Herald has been getting badly beaten on some sports scandals and other stories lately.” -Martin Merzer

“The paper’s technical quality has diminished, with frequent typos, grammatical and punctuation errors, erroneous geographical references.” -Martin Merzer

“Every time there’s cost-cutting, I think maybe they’re dressing it up to be sold.” -Seth Gordon, Miami media consultant

“Something called the Miami Herald will be here in five years and probably in ten years, though no one can say what form it will take. Twenty years? I’m not so sure.” -Martin Merzer

“I hope they have fun. The only fun I’ll have is when they bulldoze the son of a bitch.” -Tim Chapman, retired Herald photographer on his decision not attend a recent reunion of current and former staffers