As L.A. Register closes, owner offers another definition of failure

Good morning. Here are 10 media stories.

1. Los Angeles Register closes: O.C. Register owner Aaron Kushner immediately ceases publication of the newspaper, which launched in April. “Pundits and local competitors who have closely followed our entry into Los Angeles will be quick to criticize our decision to launch a new newspaper and they will say that we failed,” a memo says. “We believe, the true definition of failure is not taking bold steps toward growth.” (LAT) | That notable bit of Kushner-speak has echoes in this amazing quote from him following buyouts in June: “Everyone says our strategy has failed. Perhaps they should be saying that our strategy has not succeeded?” (OC Weekly) | Another quote! Kushner on the the L.A. Register’s launch: “Only in the newspaper business would someone criticize a business for opening in a market of 10 million people with a great quality product.” (Los Angeles Register) | Justin Ellis called this one yesterday. (Nieman)
2. NYT debuts “Watching” feature on homepage: A feed on its desktop and mobile homepages “offers a tailored feed of the news of the moment, such as early outlines of developing stories on NYTimes.com and curation of the most newsworthy and trusted reporting from around the web. It also features tweets from Times reporters and others, as well as photos and YouTube videos.” The content “follows the same standards of The Times’s news report. For example, its editors will indicate when a story is developing or when specific news that is being reported is still being verified by The Times newsroom.” (NYT Co.)
3. Atlantic Media shuts down The Wire: The publication’s staff will be integrated into The Atlantic’s, J.K. Trotter reports. (Gawker) | “Former Gawker editor in chief Gabriel Snyder was hired in 2011 to run the site, which he did until he left at the beginning of the year. In June, news editor Dashiell Bennett was named The Wire’s editor in chief. Most of the current staff, including Mr. Bennett, will run TheAtlantic.com’s news coverage.” (New York Observer) | “Atlantic Media plans to retain The Wire’s homepage and social media feeds, which will be used to highlight Atlantic.com news stories.” (Capital) | “The Wire shutting down should serve as a reminder what a remarkable story of staying power Gawker Media is.” (@jbenton)
4. Tribune Media Co. prepares for to join stock exchange: The now-newspaperless entity files plans to become fully publicly traded. Besides its broadcast holdings, Tribune Media’s real estate division owns 80 properties; its biggest tenant is Tribune Publishing. (Chicago Tribune) | Tribune Media CEO Peter Liguori made $8.8 million last year. Plus: Paydays for other execs. (Robert Feder)
5. Alessandra Stanley didn’t think readers would take her seriously: “I didn’t think Times readers would take the opening sentence literally because I so often write arch, provocative ledes that are then undercut or mitigated by the paragraphs that follow,” the NYT critic tells Public Editor Margaret Sullivan about an article that is driving lots of people bonkers. Sullivan: “The Times has significant diversity among its high-ranking editors and prominent writers, but it’s troubling that with 20 critics, not one is black and only two are persons of color.” (NYT) | “If all your readers are somehow ‘missing the point,’ then the problem is you and your writing, not us.” (Jezebel) | “Why write a lede at all if your goal in the body of the piece is to undercut it?” (WP)
6. Ferguson Fergs onward: The city of Ferguson, Missouri, alerted reporters to plans for town hall meetings, then banned reporters from the meetings (saying that was Justice Department policy), then canceled one “to simplify things for residents.” (WP) | “Dena Iverson, a Justice Department spokeswoman, did not respond to an email on Saturday, asking about whether the department would be checking ID’s at the door.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
7. Queens publisher disputes cops’ entertaining account of her arrest: Forum publisher Patricia Adams “was arrested Thursday after an altercation with her neighbor led her to drive her car into a tree on his lawn,” Eli Rosenberg reports. Police say she told them, “Do you know who the f— I am? I run The Forum, I’m going to have your job. F— you.” Adams told Rosenberg she’s “not a thug,” never drove on her neighbor’s lawn and will “beware not to believe everything I read in a criminal complaint.” She plans to write about the incident. (NYDN)
8. Geezers found geezing: Cory Blair profiles Baltimore’s Aging Newspapermen’s Club, whose members gather weekly. “‘Are you writing obituaries?’ asks the gentleman sitting across from me. ‘If so, you’re a few weeks early.'” (AJR)
9. Front page of the day, selected by Kristen Hare: The Tampa Tribune references the White House’s fence troubles as it trumpets news of bombings in Syria.

    

10. Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin: Adam Sachs is now editor-in-chief of Saveur. He is currently editorial director of TastingTable. (New York Times) | Will Lee is now editor of People.com. Previously, he was vice president for digital content for The Hollywood Reporter. (The New York Times) | Jane Armstrong is now editor-in-chief at The Tyee. She was a reporter and editor at OpenFile. (The Tyee) | Randy Gyllenhaall is a reporter at WCAU in Philadelphia. Previously, he was a reporter at WPBF in South Florida. Mitch Blacher will be an investigative reporter at WCAU. Previously, he was an investigative reporter at KGTV in San Diego. (TV Spy) | Job of the Day: The San Antonio Express-News is looking for a sports editor. Get your résumés in! (Journalism Jobs) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org

Suggestions? Criticisms? Would like me to send you this roundup each morning? Please email me: abeaujon@poynter.org.