Nick Bergus Thoughts on what media do, and can do better, and other things

The Des Moines Register has finally found someone to replace longtime political columnist David Yepsen. Kathie Obradovich, the paper’s poltical editor, took the post. The Register‘s story announcing the change mentioned, in a throwaway line at the end, that Obradovich “is married to Jim Obradovich, a lobbyist for multiple Iowa organizations including the Iowa Environmental [...]

When The Des Moines Register isn’t firing its high-profile staffers, they’re quitting. David Yepsen, the Register‘s senior political columnist, is expected to leave to become the director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, the paper reported. (The New York Times‘ political blog The Caucus sounds pretty convinced that that he [...]

And he has every right to be. Brian Duffy, recently laidoff cartoonist at the Register whose cartoons graced A1 for a couple decades, is pissed. And WHO, in true TV news fashion, is more than happy to play it big and dramatic.

Earlier this week, Gannett slashed at least 1,900 jobs by one tally. The Des Moines Register and the Iowa City Press-Citizen are among the Iowa newspapers Gannett owns and both saw layoffs; 41 at the Register and 11 at the Press-Citizen. Sure the economy is in bad shape, and newspapers have been shedding jobs everywhere, [...]

If only we could have historic events every day, maybe newspapers wouldn’t be in such trouble. Some very nice A1s ran this morning. The nicest A1 I saw was from Mr. Obama’s hometown tabloid, the Chicago Sun-Times. Simple. The Des Moines Register‘s was simple and effective and I’m a fan of not trying to make [...]

Ralph Gross remembered the glory days of The Des Moines Register and he didn’t like what it had become. “Thirty years ago,” he wrote in a 2005 issue of the Columbia Journalism Review, “I would pass in front of the Register building and with great pride read a display that said: ‘The Des Moines Register has [...]