Branstad’s judges; more media stuff than you can shake a drumstick at
It’s a safe bet — all but a sure bet — that the three new justices on the Iowa Supreme Court will be named by Terry Branstad, not Chet Culver. Culver’s operatives have been working the corridors trying to make sure he gets to name the replacements for the three justices tossed out by the voters this month, but the process is complicated and there are key people wanting to slow it down — some to screw Culver and some to screw Branstad. How’s that again? Culver wants the chance to name the judges before he leaves office in January — but some of the Democrats and Republicans he alienated in the past four years happen to have a say in the process. Others involved in the process want Branstad to make the choices, but for varying reasons. Republicans hope he’ll put conservatives on the court. But Democrats — saying the list of choices will be the same whether it goes to Culver or Branstad — want to saddle Branstad with what could be a political liability of choosing liberal to moderate judges, which is what the names on the list probably will be. ...
With politics now in limbo, Skinny rounded up a few interesting — and a few not-so-interesting — media items.
First a few bits on local radio.
Despite a 2.1 percent decline in the local radio listening audience from a year ago, Clear Channel Communication’s WHO continues to lead the way in the 12+ group with a 9.4 share. With all the political hype, some may wonder why the news talk station would see such a sharp drop during the political season. Maybe listeners had enough of Steve Deace, or maybe enough of politics in general.
Saga Communication’s oldies station (or not-so-oldies, depending on your age) KIOA showed a strong gain of 1.2 with a 7.4 share, as did Citadel Communication’s country boot-scootin’ station KJJY with a 1.7 gain to also finish at 7.4. Other local stations in the top five include Clear Channel’s contemporary hits station KKDM, which dropped .1 to 8.4, and Citadel’s Bob-Seger-infatuated KGGO, which held steady at 5.7. Add them all up, and 38 percent of the total radio listening audience tuned in to these stations. Or to put it another way, 62 percent tuned in elsewhere. Not included in this analysis is satellite radio. With Sirius XM radio recently welcoming its 20 millionth subscriber and its stock price rising from $.06 on Feb. 11, 2009, to a recent $1.35, maybe their paid model will truly work. Skinny’s analysis: What is left of central Iowa radio listeners are putting politics behind them, strapping on cowboy boots and craving for days gone by.
Now to the Web.
The Iowa Independent website, under the leadership of former Cityview reporter Jason Hancock, has made quite an impact with coverage of news and politics here. Not so much in New Mexico and Washington, where those two were shut down last week. The rest of the network is unaffected, Skinny is told, but those two programs were unable to sustain consistent funding.
Remember “mojos,” the mobile journalists that The Des Moines Register and other daily newspapers pushed their news reporters into becoming last year, complete with video cameras, tweets and forced blogs? Well it seems other media outlets are now joining in full force, too, as WHO TV 13 added a “multimedia journalist,” meaning that newly-hired Megan Brown will “wear many hats including reporting, videojournalist, web contributor, on-the-spot updates via Facebook and Twitter when out in the field,” according to WHO staff. Skinny knows times are tough in the television industry, but to model their news efforts after what daily newspapers are doing? Odd.
A piece on print. Despite declines in the daily newspaper business, some in the industry are prospering, at least according to a community newspaper publisher who shared his frustration with Skinny last week. The Iowa Newspaper Association’s executive director Chris Mudge, whose reported six-figure income was approved for another three years by the association, has left some publishers who are struggling to keep their presses running wondering if they should have applied. But, alas, the job is seemingly wrapped up in the family as Mudge’s long-time predecessor was her now-retired husband, Bill Monroe (not the bluegrass cowboy guy), proving that nepotism is still alive in the previously family-dominated industry.
And finally, Skinny reported that Bruce Bergman would soon retire as the city’s top lawyer. The Register caught up with the story, giving grudging credit to Cityview in its online version, only to have it edited out in print. Skinny assumes it must be due to the Register’s latest effort to save on ink. CV
