Newscoma

Aunt B. and Lindsey are absolutely right.

When I saw this yesterday on Twitter, I have to say I was appalled.

I have been asked on occasion why I don’t branch out and move to the city as it suits me. As I have lived in several cities including Nashville, Montreal and Amsterdam and am always on the constant lookout for the perfect sushi roll, I always reply if I found a job where I could pay my expenses and still afford the perfect sushi roll, I’d take it in a minute. How’s that for an impossibly long, rambling sentence?

With that said, it’s stuff like this that scares the bejeebus out of me and makes me take pause.

The 2008 downturn in the local economy and continued weakness in many traditional advertising sectors have led The Commercial Appeal to announce a reduction in work force.

Readership of the print and online versions of the newspaper continues to be outstanding, but slippage in major account, recruitment and automotive advertising over the past 12 months will result in the loss of about 55 jobs at the newspaper, said publisher Joe Pepe

And that, campers, is one thing that anyone in the news biz is going to watch. I’m a bit behind the curve in learning certain aspects of digital media and by trying to educate myself with limited resources, I have to admit it’s not easy. It’s a lot of hit and miss. And I would be lying if I didn’t say that the misses sometimes outweigh the hits.

But I am trying. And I would recommend others do as well.

The world of communication is changing.

This is a big deal.

The board of Cincinnati-based E.W. Scripps Co. has approved management’s plan to separate the media company into two public companies, effective July 1.

The board authorized management in October to pursue the separation.

One company, Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., will include the cable networks HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living Network and Great American Country and online comparison shopping sites Shopzilla and uSwitch. The other, E.W. Scripps, will have 10 broadcast television stations and newspapers in 15 U.S. markets, the News Sentinel, Rocky Mountain News in Denver and The Commercial Appeal in Memphis.

Read the rest here.

R. Neal says:

I’m not real good at math, but does this mean the Scripps board puts the value of their cable/interactive business at three times the value of their broadcast TV and print business?

Umm, who is Mayhill Fowler.

Just a bit of trivia, for those who don’t already know this: Mayhill Fowler, the blogger who first posted the “bitter” remarks that have gotten some small-town Americans so mad at presidential candidate Barack Obama, describes herself as “born and bred in Tennessee.”

I live in rural America. Umm, who is this person?

Link, my dear Commercial Appeal, Link please.