‘CITIZEN’ FACES POSSIBLE MAY 9 D-DAY

The Tucson Citizen‘s reprieve may be nearing its
end.

Gannett has informed those who toil in the afternoon daily’s
newsroom that the Citizen will maintain its publishing schedule
until at least next Saturday, May 9. Beyond that, details are sparse to
nonexistent, so that date could mean any of a number of things.

Perhaps Gannett company higher-ups gave Citizen management a
place on the calendar to appease ever-increasing concerns about a lack
of information; perhaps a sale deal could be close.

Gannett has been in sale talks with David Ganezer, publisher
of the Santa Monica Observer. If a sale happens, it will
be at a rate far less than what Gannett originally requested when it
priced the publication and its limited assets. (Gannett is selling the
Citizen name and archives, basically, but wants to keep its
ownership in Tucson Newspapers, the agency created by the U.S.
Justice Department-approved joint operating agreement with
Arizona Daily Star owner Lee Enterprises.) That
original asking price, sources tell us, was an amount that no sane
buyer would accept.

Gannett’s newfound willingness to enter into serious negotiations
might have somewhat appeased the Justice Department, which has been
investigating the company’s sale of the Citizen.

Regardless of the outcome, the Citizen‘s days as an afternoon
daily that employs more than 60 people are near the end. If a new owner
comes in, that overhead would be trimmed dramatically, an option
slightly better than what would happen if a sale never happens: the
paper’s closure, barring more government intervention.

Many Citizen employees—who were prepared for the paper
to close on March 21, plans which changed thanks to a last-minute
reprieve—are already in the transition phase, ready to move on to
the next step pending a final outcome.

HE WON A PULITZER, BUT HE DOESN’T WORK THERE ANYMORE

Reporter Paul Giblin got the news while covering a U.S.
Senate hearing in Phoenix on immigration.

Giblin and fellow UA grad Ryan Gabrielson had been awarded
the Pulitzer Prize for their five-part series “Reasonable Doubt,”
published in Mesa’s East Valley Tribune last July.

“It’s a terrific feeling. I never imagined I’d win a Pulitzer,”
Giblin told us. “It’s been a terrific feeling since then.”

Six months after the feature ran, and three months before the April
20 Pulitzer announcement, Giblin was laid off as part of the
newspaper’s massive cutback effort, as it changed from a traditional
daily to an online publication with free print distribution four days a
week (with that being reduced soon to three days a week).

Giblin is now the senior political editor and co-founder of the
The Arizona Guardian (www.arizonaguardian.com), an
online publication that covers government and politics.

“We have outstanding reporters,” Giblin said. “We’ve been working
hard every day since the (state legislative) session opened. We’re
having some impact. It’s going well.”

The “Reasonable Doubt” series looked at how an enhanced interest in
immigration policies in the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office affected
the response times on citizen calls.

According to the Pulitzer Committee, the reporters earned the award
because of their “adroit use of limited resources to reveal, in print
and online, how a popular sheriff’s focus on immigration enforcement
endangered investigation of violent crime and other aspects of public
safety.”

GERSHON NEW PUBLISHER AT GOAZCATS.COM

Josh Gershon has replaced Jim Storey as publisher of
goazcats.com, a UA sports
site affiliated with rivals.com.

“I am extremely excited for this opportunity,” said Gershon in a
press release. “I enjoyed my time working with Jim as senior editor,
and I feel like I’m ready to run both the editorial and managerial
sides of this Web site.”

Under Storey’s guidance, goazcats.com became a major player in UA
athletics coverage, and has broken its share of stories. But with that
has come controversy: Storey blurred the line between fandom and
journalism (goazcats markets itself as the “Totally Unofficial UofA Fan
Site”) and was often less than appreciated by members of Tucson’s
sports-reporting fraternity.

Moreover, he was tournament director of the Arizona Cactus Classic,
a showcase for high school basketball players that took place at McKale
Center. The event has received significant scrutiny and is among the
focal points of an ongoing NCAA investigation into possible
improprieties focusing on player benefits. It is possible those
allegations could lead to sanctions affecting the UA men’s basketball
program.

The press release says Storey has relinquished his duties with the
Web site to focus on other business endeavors.

Goazcats.com is a direct
competitor with wildcatsportsreport.com, an
ESPN-affiliated Web site operated by Brad Allis. While I have no
direct involvement with wildcatsportsreport.com, I do work with Brad on
UA football and basketball pregame and postgame radio broadcasts on
KCUB AM 1290.

PUBLIC MEDIA FUNDRAISER GOES WELL

The economy may be bad, but Arizona Public Media delivered
strong numbers during its recent three-station radio and television
pledge drive.

Big increases in online donations came to KUAT Channel 6,
KUAT FM 90.5 and KUAZ FM 89.1/AM 1550.

Overall, the pledge increases ranged from 16 to 22 percent, which
flies in the face of national trends that have shown dips of more than
30 percent in PBS-affiliated actual-dollar donations nationwide.

“This is very good news in this down economy,” said Jack
Gibson, director and general manager of Arizona Public Media, in a
press release.

This is the first year Arizona Public Media has combined its top
three stations in a membership drive.

This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2009.