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“Obama Takes Charge”

richard

Updated January 22

Newspapers Keep Pace With Demand for Souvenirs

"Newspapers that saw skyrocketing demand for extra copies after Election Day were a bit more prepared today for an expected boost from Barack Obama’s inauguration, with numerous dailies increasing their single-copy press runs, some by as many as 800%," Joe Strupp reported Wednesday for Editor & Publisher.

"The Chicago Tribune, which sold an extra 400,000 copies the day after Obama was elected, printed 475,000 more copies today, increasing its single-copy run from the usual 57,000, according to Communications Manager Michael Dizon. That is in addition to the usual 500,000 home delivery copies."

"There were lines for copies here at the Tribune Tower, but not like what we experienced back in November," Dizon told Journal-isms. "That’s primarily because we were taken by surprise by the overwhelming demand for newspapers after Election Day. This time around, we are better prepared, and we’re doing a better job of making sure that everyone who wants a copy of today’s edition of the Chicago Tribune gets one."

Around the country, graphic designers competed to produce banner headlines and front-page layouts worthy of keepsakes. Quotes from Obama’s inaugural speech were popular: "Hope Over Fear," "Remaking America," or simply "So Help Me God." Others went for "Ready to Lead," "Mr. President" or headlines that used the words "hope" or "lead." In Washington, both the Washington Post and Washington Times bannered, "Obama Takes Charge."

"At the Chicago Sun-Times, the usual 420,000-copy press run was more than doubled to 950,000, according to Editor Michael Cooke," Strupp’s story continued.

"’Every time I think I have a handle on the public appetite for newspapers reporting on Obama, I underestimate,’ said Cooke."

At the New York Times, "We printed about 2 million copies, which is about 800,000 more than we normally print," spokeswoman Catherine Mathis told Journal-isms. "We replenished newsstands around New York City throughout the day since they kept running out. People bought multiple copies.

"At our building there was a line to buy papers," which ebbed and flowed, she said.

At the Washington Post, "In terms of what we printed, we’ve sold approximately 95% of yesterday’s paper according to early estimates," spokeswoman Kris Coratti told Journal-isms. We won’t know for sure, or about today’s paper until the end of the week at the earliest."

The total Post print run for Tuesday was 1,549,613, and on Wednesday, 1,828.972.

The E&P story continued, "One week after publishing its largest Page One photo – of the downed [U.S. Airways] plane in the East River – The Wall Street Journal offered another first, the largest front page headline ever.

"Proclaiming, ‘President Barack Obama’ in a rare five-column wide display, the Dow Jones paper ran the headline atop a photo of Obama. Spokesman Robert Christie said the header was believed to be the largest ever.

"In addition, the paper printed an extra 20,000 copies for Washington. D.C., single-copy buyers.

"USA Today, which normally prints 2.3 million copies, bumped it up to 3 million for today, while the Los Angeles Times printed 350,000 more copies than usual."

"Folks have been lined up since first thing this a.m. and we expect online sales to be brisk as well," Times spokewoman Nancy Sullivan told Journal-isms at midday.

Poll at Inauguration Finds Most Get News From Cable

A poll of 462 people attending the inauguration in Washington on Tuesday found that most said their primary source for news was cable television, TV One and the National Association of Black Journalists, which jointly sponsored the poll, said on Thursday.

Cable was cited by 59.3 percent, followed by 25.8 percent for the Internet, 9.7 percent for radio, and 5.2 percent for newspapers.

“In a day and age where information is power, the survey results will be helpful in determining what governance issues are important to the African-American community, and how our community chooses to receive information,” Barbara Ciara, president of NABJ, said in a news release.

The poll was conducted by Ariel & Ethan Polling and Market Research of Bethesda, Md., through face-to-face interviews during the Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony and parade. The survey also found:

In addition, 54.5 percent answered "yes" to the question, "Does President-elect Barack Obama present a hope for dealing with African-American issues more than any former U.S. president?"

The District of Columbia estimated on Wednesday that 1.8 million people attended Tuesday’s inauguration.¬†¬†[Added Jan. 22]

On Day One, Obama Acts for Transparency

"Addressing his new White House staff in a ceremony this afternoon, President Barack Obama spoke repeatedly of the importance of open government to his new administration," Clint Hendler reported Wednesday for Columbia Journalism Review. "’Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones,’ he promised, shortly before signing several new executive orders, two of which were specifically designed to increase access to government information.

"One will require Obama and past presidents to consult with the solicitor general and the attorney general before they claim privilege over information.

". . . Judging from Obama’s description, the second transparency-related order seems designed to reverse President Bush’s widely reviled guidelines on how information officers should respond to Freedom of Information Act requests.

"In the early days of the Clinton administration, Attorney General Janet Reno issued guidance encouraging disclosure of information upon request under FOIA, unless ‘foreseeable harm’ would result.

"Attorney General John Ashcroft, early in the Bush administration, issued new policies that encouraged information officers to search the full reach of FOIA exemptions before releasing requested records, a signal that many interpreted as license to deny worthy requests as long as a technical excuse for a denial could be found. By 2006, a study of Justice Department data by the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government found that FOIA requests were taking longer and were less likely to be fully fulfilled than at any point since 1998, when the relevant data started being archived."

Meanwhile, John Eggerton reported for Broadcasting & Cable that "Network neutrality, media diversity, and parental control of the media are at the head of the new administration’s tech policy agenda, at least according to the agenda section of the White House Website.

"According to the revamped site, the new president and vice president ‘will work to ensure the full and free exchange of information through an open Internet.’"

The Oval blog on the USA Today site reported that, based on the newly made-over White House Web site, at whitehouse.gov, "It looks like the White House wants to put on prominent public display the reports filed by the reporters who will be in each day’s small ‘pool’ of journalists following the new president."

Web Sites Reach Record Traffic for Inauguration

"People flocked to CNN.com, MSNBC.com and other sites Tuesday afternoon to witness President Barack Obama’s historic inaugural speech, setting records, and in some cases, causing technical hiccups for some sites," Amanda Fung reported Wednesday for Crain’s New York Business.¬†

"Web traffic is still being tabulated, but preliminary results are in: CNN.com set an all-time record, serving more than 21.3 million live video streams globally since 6 a.m. MSNBC.com served more than 14 million video streams, including about 9 million live video streams and about 5 million on–demand video streams as of 1 p.m. Traffic to MSNBC.com surged to 80 million page views. Sites such as Hulu.com and NYTimes.com also carried live video of the inauguration but did not provide traffic results."

On television, "Early numbers for the inauguration of Barack Obama are impressive but, perhaps surprisingly, could come in below those for Ronald Reagan’s first term in 1981," Rick Kissell reported for Variety.

"Preliminary Nielsen estimates show that 29.2% of U.S. households were watching the presidential inauguration ‚Äî easily the largest in decades but below the 37.4 household rating for Reagan. Obama’s figures include viewership on roughly 15 broadcast and cable networks, while the Reagan ceremony was viewed only on ABC, CBS and NBC; also, they do not include the huge online viewing this time around.

"The Raleigh-Durham market had the largest percentage of households tuned in to the inauguration (51%), while host city Washington, D.C. came in second (48%). Seattle-Tacoma had the lowest with 18.8%, and the West in general delivered much smaller audiences than the rest of the country due to the earlier start time."

Raleigh-Durham had six inches of snow.

Seven Questions for President Obama . . .

"In the spirit of exploration," the staff of the Columbia Journalism Review Wednesday offered "seven tough questions on seven perhaps-overlooked issues, questions that the press might consider asking in the weeks and months to come." They are:

. . . That Is, if You Don’t Want to Work for Him

"Barack Obama, sworn in as U.S. president yesterday, may be hounded by reporters asking for more than just interviews," Greg Bensinger wrote for Bloomberg News.

"Journalists from Time magazine and the ABC television network took government jobs ahead of Obama’s inauguration and more may follow. With their knowledge of the inner workings of the Capitol, reporters can be an attractive hire for incoming department chiefs, said Ellen Shearer, a journalism professor.

"’These can be good jobs for reporters,’ said Shearer, who teaches at Northwestern University’s Washington program. ‘They get to view the government from a different perspective and can make contacts that are helpful later on.’

"A slump in the newspaper industry makes positions in the new administration even more desirable."

 

A Day That Cried Out for Commentary

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