Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Our medium is dying!

Item 1:

"When a newspaper cuts its staff, those who remain in the depleted newsroom
become valuable. But as The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. slowly says farewell
to 151 newsroom folks who took buyouts last month, at least two longtime
journalists have been reassigned to the mailroom.

Reporter Jason Jett and Assistant Deputy Photo Editor Mitchell Seidel have
been filing, sorting, and delivering mail for more than a week, according to
sources.

Jett and Seidel could not be reached for comment."


Item 2:

"Talk about a sign of the times in the journalism industry. Staffers at the
Longmont Times-Call recently received an internal e-mail inviting them to
work as valets at a private Christmas party for the Lehman family, who own
the paper. And at least two employees have already accepted the offer.

The party honors Ed Lehman, who's currently in his 51st year as the
Times-Call's publisher, and his wife Connie -- and Dean Lehman, the paper's
editor and president (and Ed's son), says valets are needed because many of
the guests are elderly and may need a little extra help. So, too, do
small-market journalists in a struggling economy, so Lehman saw it as
natural to give Times-Call workers the chance to earn a little extra cash as
Christmas approaches. He says valets will earn the same rate of pay they
receive at their day job for the hours they work.

Although most Times-Call employees aren't invited to this bash, they'll have
a holiday celebration of their own. Lehman says the entire workforce is
invited to a catered sit-down luncheon. Presumably, there'll be no need for
valet parking at this event."

Item 3:

"Ken Edelstein, editor of Atlanta Creative Loafing for the last ten years, 'was fired in a time of crisis because he talked back to [the CEO],' says one staffer. Last week, Edelstein said that CEO should trim the general administration staff before cutting the editorial side."