Circulation plumments; Investor clawed

By Bogdan
Morning Scratch editor

An open letter to the Investor:

Dear Investor,

Stop complaining! You're killing my circulation.

Now, feed me Temptations.

Monday Bunday + Copy Editor Appreciation Week

By Bogdan, Morning Scratch editor

For my basil-loving bun friends: You can look, but you can't munch!

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As you can maybe tell from yesterday's post, the Investor is very upset about the state of things in newsrooms. So she's decided to declare this Copy Editor Appreciation Week. Expect some ranting. I hope she gets it out of her "systsem" soon. Here's her first contribution.


see more pwn and owned pictures

Investor says: "Everyone needs a copy editor. Everyone."

News Flash: Without a full copy-editing team and the laid-off Web guru, Camria (uhm, that's Cambria) is spelled wrong in a headline on the local paper's Web site this morning... Way to cut costs without impacting product!

Bogdan: "Investor, drop the treat already. ... Before I bite you."

The Sunday Paper - new and improved for ad revenue, smaller staff!

The Morning Scratch - SUNDAY

Editor's note: The Morning Scratch is launching a Sunday edition in an attempt to make itself more appealing in a faltering journalism industry. Won't you read this paper and keep me in my overpaid editor position? Here, you will get links to the must-read posts and stories of the week in the Cat Blogosphere and beyond. And if you don't read our Sunday paper, OK. What do I really care? I just want another way to collect ad revenue. And, yes, this is just links to other paper's stories. No original content. That's because in order to cut costs, we had to lay off most of the copy editors and reporters. Don't you want to read us now?
- Bogdan, the editor

Reporter's note: We care if you read it! (Sara: "Hey, guys. We should have started a union.")

The slow, painful death of journalism

Kat 3 prepares to bunny-kick a Business section:
"Bad editors! Bad editors!"

Who the neck feeds copy Editors? We has spellcheck.
"The inessentialness of copy editors is underscored by the advent of sophisticated spellchecking systems which have introduced a hole new level of error-free proofreading. No longer can we say that the editor's penis mightier than the sword. The sword's main foe is a computer now, and the computer is up to to the task."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/19/AR2008061902920.html

Your local city council meeting story, written and edited...
from India!
"An Indian company will take over copy editing duties for some stories published in The Orange County Register and will handle page layout for a community newspaper at the company that owns the Pulitzer Prize-winning daily, the newspaper confirmed Tuesday."

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D91GQIK80.htm

News you can use! (What to do with these "improved" newspapers.)
http://daisythecurlycat.blogspot.com/2008/06/wordless-wednesday-news-you-can-use.html

Daisy shows off the latest fashion trend: Don't read the paper...
wear it!

Or ... fill your litter box with it, and poop on it!!

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But ... Easy Like Sunday Morning:
A breath of fresh air

The wind direction changed, and here on the Central Coast, the sky finally turned blue-tiful.

To see where the fires are in California.
http://www.oes.ca.gov/WebPage/oeswebsite.nsf/InteractiveMap?readForm
(We are to the south of the two fires south of Santa Cruz)

Kitty survives Trabing wildfire that destroys its home.
http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_9728002?nclick_check=1

More on the Big Sur fire, near us.
(The Investor is very worried for some of the most beautiful and beloved spots in the WORLD).
Among the sites in Big Sur that are threatened is the home of Henry Miller.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9725016

UPDATE: It appears the San Jose Mercury News links no longer work. But I'm going to keep up the links just because. Maybe the tyrant owner Singleton doesn't want anyone linking to his newspaper who is critical of the "kill journalism" approach management is taking at nearly all U.S. papers today. The links likely died for another reason... but it's more entertaining to think it's the first reason.

Yet another award, for excellent journalism!

I have an award to add to The Morning Scratch Wall of Awards! Beside the Purrlitzer we won last year, I hang this award from Monty Q.


Thanks, dude!

I now pass on this honor to Skeeter.

Skeeter may have kidney failure, and he needs to go back to the V-E-T Monday morning. I am concerned about my good friend. Please purr for him.

Emil, we will miss you

The Cat Realm

Oopz.

more cat pictures

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

What's been going on??

By Bogdan
Morning Scratch editor

So, the staff and I have been away for quite awhile. Here's some of the news events that have hindered publication:
1. I allowed the Investor to take a two-week vacation to visit family in the Washington, D.C., area. In her absence, family in California took care of us at home. This meant I continued to eat lots of vishus deer. NOM.
2. I gave the Investor my blessing to take a new second job. This meant she was busy interviewing and resigning and such. She will now be working in PR for environmentally friendly companies (no longer as a copy editor at a newspaper). I told her I expect tons (literally) of organic catnip.
3. Jeffrey needed some training. He has mastered the "I don't care" look (a-la-Bogdan) and managed to poop several times in the house in choice stepping spots. I am now proud to call him a member of my Morning Scratch staff.
4. Napping. Duh.

You know what's the worse thing? No new photos of us! But this is what I do have, thanks to my private investigator, who was following the Investor (aka: The Man) ...

Cousin Morgan, from Maryland:

Cali, from Northern Virginia:

Amber, Cali's older sister:

And last, but not least: The Investor... What the heck is she doing?!