A June 11 front page article headed “New chairman at Pennsylvania Academy of Music Consultant let go.” It then goes on to say, before continuing on an inside page, “The academy’s board of trustees voted this week to replace Ware, who has served on the board since its inception 20 years ago, with Dr. Robert Falk. […]

It’s banner headline on June 9th reads: “Feeding poor gets tougher” and goes on to say “Local agencies that provide food for needy facing longer lines, fewer donations. Among the hungry these days:  more families with children.” WATCHDOG: A wag of the tail for this well researched and articulated article. Over the past half year, […]

After suffering through Marv Adams’ tedious columnn of June 7th, across the page we came across a Letter to the Editor in which the writer says of the late educator John Bonfield, “A great man has passed, but his legacy is only beginning.” WATCHDOG: Would that the same moving tribute would apply to the lives […]

The June 7 banner across page one exclaims “Center gets occupancy permit” and goes on to report that an official opening date is expected to be announced on Wednesday. WATCHDOG: This may turn out to be the unusual case of “Better never than late!” However, a wag of the tail for the current board of […]

Its June 6 editorial “Cultural events enliven summer” claims “June also brings so much seasonal entertainment to Lancaster City that residents sometimes have to choose from among competing events.” WATCHDOG: In its listing of cultural events, it fails to mention arguably the most important of them all. The Pennsylvania Academy of Music is presenting “Vivace!,” […]

A June 5 article headed “Commissioners are not happy with the increases awarded by an arbitration panel” goes on to describe the 7% pay hike, retroactive to January 1, that arbitrators awarded prison guards. In the same issue, columnist Jeff Hawkes in “A city that’s fiscally unfit, with little fat” reports Mayor Rick Gray saying […]

Craig Newmark, founder of CraigsList.com, addressing a group of webmasters, suggested that the biggest problem facing the print media is their loss of trust. He attributed it to the tension between the financial interests of advertisers and the publisher, and the interests of unbiased news reporting and commentary. When asked if he felt at fault because […]

According to a report from the News Paper Association of America, newspaper ad sales shrank 28.3%, or $2.6 billion, from where they were during the same quarter of 2008. Print ad sales declined 29.7% to $5.9 billion Online sales down 13.4% to $696.3 million Classifieds down 42.3% to $1.5 billion Ad sales collapse 16.6% to […]

Front page on May 31: “Man is shot in stomach in city”, “Best in two out of three” about Meghan Ecker finishing first for women in Red Rose Race, “Putting the brakes on youngest drivers”, “Chased by police, driver abandon cars; it drifts into house”; “Welcome wore out” about a celebrity moving from a neighborhood. […]

A May 30 report, headed “Murdoch: Future of Newspapers is Digital”, reports: News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch said on Thursday that the future of newspapers is digital, but it may be 10 to 15 years before readers go fully electronic. Murdoch, in an interview with the News Corp.-owned Fox Business Network, also said that newspapers, […]

The May 28th front page, three column wide photo of a dejected youngster appears under the heading “Speller falls short; Early error costs Stevens girl at bee.” WATCHDOG: Is it poor taste on the part of the editors to portray (shame?) a young contestant in such a manner? A fourteen year old isn’t an adult […]

A May 27 article headed “Study finds half of men arrested test positive for drugs” reports: Not only do the findings show “a clear link between drugs and crime,” they also highlight the need to provide drug treatment, says Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, which will make […]

According to a May 26 article headed “N. Y. Times dropped tip on Watergate”, a reporter had lunch with acting FBI director L. Patrick Gray on Aug. 16, 1972 and was told point blank that former attorney general John Mitchell was implicated into the recent break in at the Watergate headquarters of the Democratic Party and was […]

On May 24, the popular “Perspective” section was packaged with the pre-printed and separately bundled display advertisements. WATCHDOG: Good move. Why would advertisers spend their money to appear in a separately bundled portion of the newspapers that many, if not most, subscribers simply toss in the trash! ‘Perspective’ is a section were a later deadline can properly be sacrificed to generating […]