Geezer Gazoot

The Tardy Times

The Geezer Gazoot
A journalistic supplement to the Tardy Times
Ruminations and old gossip
about the newspapers of Frisco and the Bay Area
Our array of reports, comment and news items could have been headlined “Notes from a Newspaper Lover.” It was written and edited by a retired geezer (Chronicle, Examiner, Mercury). It reflects dismay with corporate mismanagement, public indifference and the potentially ruinous effect of internet technology on the future of news journalism. If newspapers disappear, what will replace expectations of honesty and fairness in reporting, editing and illustration?

The Bronstein Era
His purges didn't stop the bleeding

WHEN troubleshooter Ward Bushee came out of the desert in February to take command, the stumbling San Francisco Chronicle had been stripped of any top editor who could give directions to UCSF, identify Joshua Norton I or explain anything whatsoever about the O’Shaughnessy Dam.
   At the start of this, Year VIII of the Hearst Takeover at 901 Mission St., editor Phil Bronstein could count at least 40 news executives and deputies who cleaned out their desks and waved goodbye between 2000 and 2007. And some, including veteran editors rooted in the complexities and unique history of the Bay Area, might have been candidates to take his job.
    Instead, Phil himself was the last man standing.
                                                                  To read more, click here.

Fran Ortiz
-- Obituary for the great photographer.
Gina Warren
-- She spent her life helping others, and then died alone.
Chronicle layoffs
-- Notes from two years of goodbyes.
Jerry vs. Wendy
-- The saga of Santa Barbara.
Neutered journalism
-- Is it neutral or neutered?
Electronic news
-- Electrons are cheaper than newsprint.
Dying newspapers?
-- If newspapers are dying out, why are there so many of them?
Back home in Indiana
-- We still miss Stephanie Salter.
Melba Beals
-- The warrior returns to Little Rock.
S.F. Chronicle scribbles
-- Troops' notes from the Voice of the West.
S.F. Examiner scribbles
-- Troops' notes from the Monarch of the Dailies.
Editorial: The Internet Sucks
-- It's that giant sucking sound.
Commentary: Page One ads
-- What next?
Kim Komenich's dad
-- A basketball team that deserves to be remembered.
Reg Murphy update
Whatever happened to him?
Goodbye to downtown
Sell the tower
Barrooms & newsrooms
Go together like bourbon & water

Paul Avery and the search for Judy
They went ahead and made a movie about the Zodiac and Paul Avery. It wasn't easy. After 30 years, the serial murderer’s identity is still a matter of guesswork. As for the late Chronicle reporter, his discontinuity from convention must have confused director David Fincher. The script for “Zodiac” depicts Paul as an investigative tosspot and not, more accurately, as an obsessive maverick.
Given the short-term memory of the newspaper business (who was “Herb Caen” anyway?), today’s journalistic moviegoers might naturally assume that failure to track down the cryptic killer of 1966-1968 would seem to stand as the most frustrating disappointment in Paul’s long career of extraordinary achievements. Perhaps. But he never forgot about Judy.
To read more, click here.

The Mercury's incredible shrinking newsroom

Jay Harris, a rare publisher with principles, failed to convince Knight Ridder's corporate geniuses in 2001 to refrain from shrinking the San Jose Mercury News editorial staff (then about 380). He had been boss for seven years.
   Harris quit.
   When Knight Ridder backed off from   its threat, executive editor David Yar-nold ceremoniously tore up the layoff list.
   Everybody cheered.
   Four years later, nobody cheered.
To read more, click here.