"Ken Duberstein, former Republican chief of staff to President Reagan, told MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell today that the pick of Palin has undermined John McCain's credibility.
"What most Americans I think realize is that you don't offer a job, let alone the vice presidency, to a person after one job interview," Duberstein said. "Even at McDonalds you're interviewed three times before you're given a job."
As I predicted last month, circulation figures released today for the latest reporting period show the Herald's readership continuing its sharp decline.
"...daily circ [at the Herald] was down 11.8% to 210,884. Sunday was down 9% to 279,484."
By comparison "The Orlando Sentinel lost 3.3% of its daily circ to 206,363 and about the same on Sunday (-3.2%) to 307,976 copies" which means the Orlando Sentinel now has a larger Sunday circulation than the Herald.
The Herald once boasted the largest circulation of any paper in Florida. The St. Petersburg Times now has a larger daily and Sunday circulation than the Herald.
And as the latest fiigures show, The Orlando Sentinel has surpassed the Herald's Sunday readership and has posted smaller daily circulation losses than the Herald. It's quite possible that if the Herald continues to experience similar circulation losses that it will find itself as the state's third largest newspaper.
The Herald has posted an AP story on their site on the just released circulation figures but it doesn't contain any info on their own dismal numbers. It will be interesting to see if they have a local angle to this story in the paper tomorrow.
Some analysts are already dissecting the latest circulation numbers and reading between the lines. Former Knight Ridder exec Ken Doctor explains what he believes is behind the double-digit declines in circulation at some newspapers:
"One big reason the numbers are declining is the product itself. In the last year, we've seen unprecedented cuts in the product -- and the customers are noticing. It looks like the amount of newsprint is down about 10-15%; some in stories, some in ads. Trusted bylines have disappeared overnight. Readers notice, and talk to their friends, and they're saying: it's not the newspaper it used to be. When the subscription notices come, they're a little less likely to be acted upon."
I couldn't agree more, especially when it comes to the Herald.
The Herald's Ace Crime Reporter David Ovalle breaking a story late this afternoon that's sure to set tongues wagging at the courthouse tomorrow.
Ovalle did some digging and came up with a disturbing story of Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Douglas Chumbley getting himself arrested back on Sept. 25 after allegedly exposing himself in a Starbucks bathroom on the University of Miami campus. Chumbley was busted after following a male student into the Starbucks restroom.
Ovalle tells us that the hizzoner is a Palmetto Bay Republican and a former English teacher at a Catholic high school. He was appointed to the bench by Gov. Jeb Bush in 2006. Chumbley served as a judge in the juvenile division.
Chumbley's bio and photo have disappeared from the website of the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida but Random Pixels was able to find the page in Google's cache.The question Ovalle leaves unanswered in his otherwise excellent story is why Republicans seem to be fascinated with bathroom stalls!
Random Pixels welcomes America's newest instant celebrity. Joe the Plumber! Enjoy your 15 minutes, Joe!
Joe was mentioned no fewer than 20 times during the hour and a half debate.
Joe talks about the American Dream among other things in this interview:
"...my American Dream was to have a house, a dog, a couple rifles, a bass boat. I believe in living life easy and simple. I don’t have grand designs. I don’t want much."
Yeah, but who's he voting for? He told the AP: "That's for me and a button to know."
A newsroom source now tells Random Pixels that Herald publisher David Landsberg said as recently as yesterday that the talked about and anticipated job cuts in January may not be necessary. ...
A few brief notes on the current state of affairs in the newspaper business:
A source at the Herald tells me that despite two rounds of buyouts in the space of three months, some staffers are bracing for more bad news.
Executive editor Anders Gyllenhaal has already told his staff that more cuts in the newsroom may be necessary - as early as January. As many as 10 more staffers may lose their jobs.
The newsroom buzz is that with the previous round of cuts taking a toll on reporters, photographers and support staff, some senior editors may now find their heads on the chopping block.
My source tells me that some of them [editors] are sitting at their desks with "thousand-yard stares. They're shell-shocked."
Some Herald staffers are complaining about the Herald's new website re-design. "While it may look like it's new and improved, all they did was put lipstick on a pig," said one newsroom insider. "They did it on the cheap." Another staffer tells me that the design was mandated by the Herald's parent company McClatchy. The source says that all McClatchy papers will soon have similar looking sites.
Another Herald source tells me that the Herald's Broward bureau in Pembroke Pines has become a ghost town. He reports that many days he's the only person in the once-busy building. "It gives me a creepy feeling," says the staffer.
And here's something that Herald executive editor Anders Gyllenhaal is no doubt paying attention to:
While newspapers will never get back subscribers who have migrated to the web, they're trying desperate measures to hold on to subscribers they still have.
Tampa Tribune executive editor Janet Coats thought she'd come up with a sure fire way to re-invent her paper. Coats decided that what her readers wanted was a more compact and condensed version of the Tribune. The problem is she never asked the readers what they wanted.
The Tribune rolled out a one section paper back on Oct. 6.
Less than a week after launching the slimmed down version of the paper, Coats had to apologize to readers and announce that the Tribune will it resume publishing a multi-section paper.
The Tribune is in a no-win situation. It competes with the St. Petersburg Times for readers. The St. Petersburg Times, which is considered one of the best newspapers in the country, outclasses the inferior Tribune in circulation and and quality. The only way the Tribune can beat the St. Pete Times is to give away a $20 bill with every paper they sell. Giving readers less of a newspaper is not the answer, as editor Coats has painfully learned.
The incident just proves that some people who run newspapers have no idea what readers want.
The McCain campaign’s recent angry tone and sharply personal attacks on Senator Barack Obama appear to have backfired and tarnished Senator John McCain more than their intended target, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll has found. [...] .... the poll found that more voters see Mr. McCain as waging a negative campaign than Mr. Obama. Six in 10 voters surveyed said that Mr. McCain had spent more time attacking Mr. Obama than explaining what he would do as president; by about the same number, voters said Mr. Obama was spending more of his time explaining than attacking.
Ol' Cranky certainly isn't helping himself with performances like this either. Perhaps after the election is over, whomever was responsible for allowing John McCain to make these sorts of appearances before video cameras can explain why they thought it was a good idea! But by all means, let's have more like these!
As I predicted last month, circulation figures released today for the latest reporting period show the Herald's readership continuing its sharp decline.
The Herald's Ace Crime Reporter David Ovalle breaking a story late this afternoon that's sure to set tongues wagging at the courthouse tomorrow. 
The question Ovalle leaves unanswered in his otherwise excellent story is why Republicans seem to be fascinated with bathroom stalls!
