Commission Goes Fishin' for IDs of Memphis Daily Online Posters

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)The Shelby County (Tenn.) Commission yesterday voted 8-5 to endorse subpoenaing the E.W. Scripps. Co.-owned Memphis Commercial Appeal (MCA) to determine the identities of anonymous posters on the daily's Web site,  the MCA reported.

The lion's share of 1,200 online comments following the MCA story about the subpoena vote were critical of the Commission, according to the daily. Commission attorneys in June filed a motion in federal court to derail referendums by six county municipalities seeking separate school districts.

The Commission contends referendum supporters want to create discriminatory white-majority suburban school districts from the newly formed unified school system, and argue that knowing the identities of anonymous bloggers who made racially charged comments in the online edition of the MCA will enable the body to discover whether the same critics backed legislators who sponsored bills advancing the referendums.

Strangely enough, Shelby County Commissioners didn't consult this blog before Monday's vote, but the ever-eager to help "TUOL" staff nevertheless is happy to opine: What were you guys thinking? 

Sticking a governmental nose into the operations of  a daily newspaper and betraying the privacy interests of thousands of readers who choose to share their opinions anonymously on the flimsy premise that the identities of a handful of the fake-monikered commenters might pertain to the Commission's referendum litigation goes beyond a mere "fishing expedition" all the way to a full fleet of Japanese trawlers on a frenzied tuna run.

Worse than going overboard, the Commission has gone over-broad in its request, to the detriment of MCA readers and the First Amendment.

Memphis Daily Shrill Over Shill

Image via WikipediaPoynter.org reports the E.W. Scripps Co.-owned Memphis Commercial Appeal is sulking because it believes it was misled by Lori Willis, communications director for the Schnucks grocery store chain out of suburban St. Louis.

The Appeal claims that Willis denied rumors that the supermarket chain was going to unload its Memphis stores to Cincinnati-based The Kroger Co., the nation's largest supermarket chain. When the transaction was announced last week by Schnucks, which means the loss of jobs for hundreds of Memphis residents, the Appeal felt like, well, Schnooks.

Roland Klose, Appeal business editor, deflected criticism that his paper was caught napping by not reporting on Schnucks exiting Memphis, arguing it would have been irresponsible to print rumors that Willis already had vehemently denied.  For her part, she claimed the two supermarket giants had an agreement that prevented her from commenting on the sale and that she told the Appeal "the best information I had at the time."

The Memphis Commercial Appeal may be in a snit over being "spun" by a foodstore flack, but "TUOL" can't help but recall advice received from his favorite journalism prof.: "If your mother says she loves you, check it out." Having its reporters line up at the "10 follow-up interviews or less" register might have tipped the paper to Schnucks' departure.

E.W. Scripps Co.'s 1Q Results Follow Media Conglomerate Script: Print Performs Poorly

Image by SeeMidTN.com (aka Brent) via FlickrCincinnati-based media conglomerate E.W. Scripps Co., whose nationwide holdings include 14 newspapers and 10 television stations, released 2011 First Quarter earnings that show a 6 percent drop in newspaper revenues and losses of nearly $9 million, according to an Associated Press story.

Scripps, which among other newspapers, owns the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Ventura (Calif.) County Star and Naples (Fla.) Daily News, reported 1Q newspaper revenues of  $106.2 million. Meanwhile, its television holdings experienced revenue growth of 3 percent during the same period, the AP article noted. The company lost $8.9 million in the First Quarter of 2011, compared to $880,000 during the first three months last year.

Nationally, print ad sales plunged 28 percent compared to the First Quarter a year ago, local ads declined 10 percent, and classified ad revenues were off 4 percent. The company blamed the poor showing, in part, on Easter occurring in April this year. An odd explanation, but don't expect any resurrection of newspaper advertising revenues anytime soon.