A Sordid MediaNews Tale

http://www.gradethenews.org/2007/bowman.htm"Inside the Inside the Bay Area's newspaper giant" -- a sordid tale on the Grade the News Web site. "The average reader of the Oakland Tribune or Daily Review, or Tri-Valley Herald or Fremont Argus or San Mateo County Times would be appalled or even a little frightened if they knew how we put out those newspapers," said John Bowman, a 31-year veteran journalist who resigned over working conditions under the MediaNews banner, according to the article. A few items mentioned in the story: At the San Meteo County Times building, the heating and air conditioning went without repair for months. Thieves had sawed out the copper hot water pipes and stripped some of the building's wires. Rats had been a problem and maggots were discovered in the women's bathroom. OSHA has been by to inspect.In Bowman's view, the story continues, "the condition of the building is a metaphor for journalism under Dean Singleton, the self-made Denver entrepreneur who now owns almost every paid daily newspaper surrounding San Francisco, San Pablo and Monterey bays."Budget and staffing cuts that are comprimising the ability of copy editors -- the last line of defense in preventing errors in a newspaper -- to do a good job, Bowman said.MediaNews execs Kevin Keane and Pete Wevurski flatly denied Bowman's comments."Wrong on all counts!" Keane declared.For more read:http://penpressclub.org/2007/06/ex-editor-john-bowman-rips-medianewshttp://penpressclub.org/2007/09/former-editor-colleagues-were-told-to