St. Louis News Blog

For the last six months, Evan Benn has been editing and writing about topics that go down easy -- like craft beer -- for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

But the new St. Louisan used to cover much meatier subjects, especially during his time spent in Northwestern University's Medill Innocence Project. And because of that Benn now finds himself right at the center of a pretty big news story about reporters' privileges.

The Medill Innocence Project, an investigative journalism program that dispatches students to examine potentially wrongful convictions, has a platinum reputation in the media business. Its work is the main reason that former Illinois governor George Ryan in 2000 ordered a moratorium on the state's death penalty.

But according to the Cook County State's Attorney's office, past Medill students paid people for interviews. Enter Benn. 

www.chicagotribune.com

Evan Benn, center, flanks his former Northwestern professor, David Protess, after a court hearing in Chicago on Tuesday.

​In the course of gathering reporting that could potentially exonerate a Chicago man named Anthony McKinney, Benn and a fellow Northwestern student conducted a key, videotaped interview with a man who said McKinney was innocent of killing a security guard in 1978.

That interview took place just across the river, in Swansea, Illinois, back in 2004. 
 
"I have to say, when we conducted this interview, five years ago, where Tony Drakes confessed his involvement and said Anthony McKinney had nothing to do with it, I thought it would be days or weeks before McKinney walked out of a prison a free man," Benn tells Daily RFT. "Five years later and it's come to this."

Photo Via

Joe Mahr

​Let's start with the bad news: the imminent departure of St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigative reporter Joe Mahr (who the RFT just named its Best Reporter of 2009 earlier this month.) You probably saw his byline, along with that of fellow muckraker Jeremy Kohler, atop this past weekend's smackdown of the municipal judicial system.

A memo to newsroom staff says Mahr is moving on up to the Chicago Tribune, where he'll sniff out corruption and other shenanigans in the metro suburbs.

Mahr joined the Post's masthead in 2005. He's revealed abuse inside group homes for the mentally retarded, and pointed out how numerous folks with felony warrants go free. Mahr also worked with Kohler on the St, Louis police department towing scandal that led to former police chief Joe Mokwa's resignation.

In other news, no more layoffs for now. In fact, the Post is hiring...

Love this headline in today's Post-Dispatch: "Trucks carrying giant arms, legs head through St. Louis."

www.sewardjohnson.com

J. Seward Johnson works in bronze.

The header refers to a very large sculpture that's, uh, headed -- via two flat-bed trucks -- to Chesterfield today.

"The Awakening," by the American sculptor J. Seward Johnson, will be installed in the 'burb with help from Chesterfield Arts, according to the AP story.

"This story is worthless without photos," notes commenter "Lord Dreadlow."

Um, yeah.

But Daily RFT found one. And by the way, it's giant arms, legs and a head that commuters may see coming through the region today...   

Update on David Bonetti's retirement tomorrow from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Executive editor Arnie Robbins tells Daily RFT that he will not replace Bonetti, who reviewed all visual arts and architecture for the Post.

"We will cover art well, however, because art is so important to a community and to the well-being of a community," says Robbins in an e-mail. "We don't have specific plans yet but I would expect that we would use some staff members and some freelancers. Our goal will be to cover art as well or better than ever."
​ 

David Bonetti, art critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, will be punching the clock at 900 North Tucker for the last time this Friday.

stltoday.com

Shrinking, and shrinking, and shrinking

​Bonetti tells Daily RFT he's taking a "voluntary layoff," an option the local daily has given to some staffers which allows them to leave with benefits -- and which makes it possible for a P-D employee who's been involuntarily laid off to get his/her job back.

Not clear yet if the newspaper will hire another art critic or use the $$ freed up by Bonetti to hire back a laid-off staffer in another department.

Much as some in the arts community love to hate Bonetti, it's unlikely anyone would be happy if the newspaper chose not to replace him.  

Bonetti says he may be headed for Boston (on a permanent basis) by way of Europe or South America (temporarily).

His most recent item in the paper isn't exactly arts-related. The blog post, entitled "Incredibly Annoying People," ticks off a list of people he can't stand. It looks like "the entire Danforth family" makes up the only locals tucked into the list.

 

Several former Suburban Journals staffers tell Daily RFT that the regional chain of free weeklies laid off an undetermined number of sports and news reporters yesterday.

​
At the same time, the Journals managers told staff that the chain is restructuring its editions, and going from sixteen to ten. The South County Journal and the South Side Journal, for instance, have been condensed into one paper called the South Journal. Similarly, readers will no longer see a West County Journal and Mid-County Journal. Instead, the new edition will be called the West Journal.

All Journals employees this side of the Mississippi will now be working out of a lone office in Town & Country. (The chain has several Illinois editions. Not sure how they are affected.)

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch newsroom last night lost another four people: three news researchers (who compile material for reporters) and a photo assistant.

Executive editor Arnie Robbins announced the cuts in a memo to staff this morning, saying, "We left a handful of positions unfilled over the course of the summer, and reduced some of our fixed costs (wire services, travel, etc.) to keep the job losses to a minimum. Still, it hurts and we are sorry to have to give you this news."

According to a brief published this morning on STLtoday.com, the Post also laid off fourteen employees in its operations and advertising departments.

Today marks the third round of pink-slipping at the P-D this year. The fall of '08 saw several rounds of layoffs as well.

​ 

Christy Bertelson, the deputy managing editor for features at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, announced today that she's retiring after 23 years at the daily.

​Bertelson grew up at the Post - literally. Not only did she advance through the ranks, from reporter to columnist to editorial page editor and then features editor, but her father, Arthur Bertelson, spent his whole career at the (then-Pulitzer-owned) paper, including a stint as executive editor from 1966 and 1972.

Under Christy Bertelson's direction, the Post's editorial page was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, twice. She oversaw several makeovers of the daily's features section since taking it over in 2007. (She's the second editor in the paper's top ranks to step down this month.)

Those who read Bertelson's parting memo (published after the jump), will lament all the years it's been since her byline appeared atop a St. Louis Post-Dispatch story.  

The rank-and-file in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newsroom has been busy speculating about more changes in upper management at the Lee Enterprises-owned newspaper ever since Pam Maples, the managing editor, suddenly announced she was resigning.

​Fueling the chatter: a recent BlockShopper blurb about the P-D's publisher, Kevin Mowbray, putting his home on the market.

Mowbray bought the five-bedroom Frontenac house three years ago for $1.25 million, according to BlockShopper; he's got it listed for $1.36 million.

Mowbray in an e-mail tells Daily RFT he's not leaving the boundaries of the 63--- zip codes. "My wife and kids love it here," says Mowbray. "I am planning to buy another home in St. Louis."

Yes it's true. Peeing in the shower is NOT unhygienic, according to this piece in the Post-Dispatch. Plus, it would apparently conserve hundreds of gallons of year per household.

Why, there's a little TV spot running right now in Brazil that advocates shower-peeing for everyone - aliens and basketball players alike.

Check it out!

Following up on yesterday's post containing departing managing editor Pam Maples' farewell e-mail to her St. Louis Post-Dispatch staffers...

Executive editor Arnie Robbins' internal memo announcing Maples' sudden resignation late Friday appears after the jump.

Robbins says in the long note, "To say that I will miss her is an understatement."

Robbins also says he will not replace Maples.

​

Pam Maples, managing editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, announced late Friday that she'll be punching the clock at 900 North Tucker Boulevard for the last time on August 18 -- a big surprise to the newsroom's rank-and-file, according to folks who spoke to The Daily RFT.

Executive editor Arnie Robbins told the staff he will not be replacing Maples. (Robbins held the ME job himself at one time, though the post was vacant for about a year when he left it to become editor.)

Maples' farewell e-mail, as well as one from Robbins (which we'll put up later today or tomorrow), have the newsroom gossiping about the reason for her sudden departure. "It's entirely a head-scratcher," as one reporter put it.

​

Maples says in the note that she doesn't yet have a new gig lined up. She also references the blows the paper has suffered in the last year, specifically several rounds of layoffs in which Maples personally had to show numerous staffers the door.  

See the e-mail after the jump. Watch for more on this. 

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch website is reporting that managing editor Pam Maples resigned today.

​

zazzle.com/blog+tshirts

Last week editors at the Post-Dispatch asked readers to take a poll weighing in on the voluminous number of comments often appended to articles on its stltoday.com website.

The poll, which followed an incident in which a commenter allegedly made a vulgar remark on the site (what it was the paper didn't elaborate), yielded some 673 votes.

By an overwhelming margin, 57 percent of readers voted in favor of the site eliminating all comments. Another 23 percent agreed that the comments were "worth having" but needed improvement.

Just 4 percent agreed that the site should leave things as they are with stltoday.com editors trolling the site for offensive comments and censoring or deleting the must slanderous.

Another 8 percent believed the paper should ban comments on potentially sensitive stories while 7 percent said that they should not monitor the comments at all, allowing people to post whatever they want. (The latter, "free-speech" model, is what we employ here at Riverfront Times).

So what does the Post-Dispatch plan to do? 

Lee Enterprises, parent of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and the St. Louis Newspaper Guild, which represents many of the local daily's employees, including most of the newsroom, have still not worked out a new contract.

The current contract expires this coming weekend.

Updates on the Guild website show that Lee wants P-D staffers to agree to a 23 percent pay cut that would take place over the next three years (15 percent the first year, 5 percent each of the following two years).

Lee also wants to scratch paid maternity leave; the 401-K match; company cars for photographers, and health care and life insurance for retirees.

Last week the Guild voted to accept a second week of furlough for this year, as long as Lee does not lay off anyone during the contract negotiations.

See the full list of Lee's demands after the jump.

 

Unreal has learned that the local daily laid off 39 people today.

And actually reported (an apparent press release) on it!

According to the un-bylined brief, the P-D let go of 36 people in circulation and 3 people in classifieds. Most of the jobs are being outsourced to Indiana. (Dave Sinclair ain't gonna be happy about that one. But maybe he'll buy some air time somewhere else to gripe about it.)

The Daily RFT is the usual source for news about goings-down over at 900 North Tucker Boulevard, especially where lay-offs are concerned.

 

Late last week Lee Enterprises informed all the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's non-union editors and managers that they are required to take a *second* week-long furlough in 2009.

According to the memo circulated, the furlough days must be taken between June and September 27. This time, pay will be reduced incrementally instead of in one fell swoop.

The news hole is expected to be affected, too. According to the St. Louis Newspaper Guild website, the Post-Dispatch notified the Guild -- which represents the paper's reporters -- that its members would be asked to take another furlough before end-September as well.

The Guild must first put the issue to a vote.

 

Zealous high school principals have been using "scared straight" style presentations in the school auditorium to warn teens about the dangers of drunk driving for decades, probably since the first hillbilly hopped-up on moonshine wrapped his Model T around a tree and lived to tell a horrific tale about it. 

Bruno David Gallery in Grand Center announced yesterday that one of its more controversial artists, Cindy Tower, was hand-picked for a group exhibition going on this weekend at Art Chicago.

Wikimedia Commons

As I understand it (never been), Art Chicago is the international and contemporary art fair in the Midwest. The group exhibition of which Tower is a part, "Partisan," shows work "dedicated to the artistic exploration of social and political ideas."

Tower last made news just a month or so ago when the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's art critic David Bonetti put forth a withering review of her latest work. Bonetti said Tower has "an ego out of control" and would be "better off teaching herself to paint in her studio" than traipsing her palette and canvas over to East St. Louis wastelands to paint scenes of disrepair right on site.

The review sparked a ton of outrage and prompted Tower to create a video piece that essentially called Bonetti a big fart. (See the video after the jump.)

Wonder if Bonetti and Tower will bump into each other at Art Chicago this weekend? 

Smith's phone hasn't stopped ringing since I blogged about him last week.

Todd Smith, the Suburban Journals scribe who got shot at the infamous Kirkwood City Council meeting of February 7, 2008, and who recently found out that taking a bullet for The Man does not save your hide in a recession, will soon start freelancing for St. Louis' online-only newspaper, the St. Louis Beacon.

Of the seven people shot at the Kirkwood meeting, Smith is the only person still alive. The New York Times today ran a piece on his axing.

The frequency or type of Smith's new freelancing gig at the Beacon hasn't been specified, according to associate editor Bob Duffy.

Todd Smith is looking for a new job.

The Suburban Journals, sister paper to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, last week laid off the reporter who took a bullet in the hand during the infamous February 7, 2008, Kirkwood City Council shootings.

Todd Smith, 37, and a Journals reporter since September 2006, was the only person injured in the shootings to survive. He said the newspaper laid him off last Wednesday for budgetary reasons.

"I got called in Tuesday and told I needed to be at a meeting on Wednesday," Smith said. "I'd heard that the Post and [an unnamed] reporter won an award for the Kirkwood coverage, so at first I thought it might be about that."

www.sylvesterbrownjr.blogspot.com

I carried on so with that blog yesterday about Sylvester Brown's tempestuous departure from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that I completely forgot to include some information about who will replace Brown as a metro columnist.

Editor Arnie Robbins told me he's not sure if the paper *will* replace Brown. "Right now I am not even thinking about that," said Robbins. "That's something we'll have to think about."

Brown was one of a handful of African Americans in the Post's metro newsroom, and race was a frequent subject in his columns. Other African American columnists in other departments at the paper: Bryan Burwell covers sports, Kevin Johnson covers music and Debra Bass covers fashion.

Meanwhile, we've come up with a few candidates of our own to replace Brown. Check out our poll and vote for your pick. As of this posting, erstwhile St. Louis American city editor Alvin Reid has a slim lead over fictional Onion columnist Smoov B.

 

An anonymous tipster tells me (briefly) that Lee Enterprises'/St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Suburban Journals is laying off its "creative department" today. (By my tally, the last pink-slipping, of 45 employees, occurred last fall.)

Supposedly the creative jobs are being "outsourced." Not sure how many people may be affected, or if the tipster means the jobs will go overseas or to a U.S. contractor.

Anybody have details?

Photo: Nick Lucchesi

Brown had a message for management yesterday: "Be careful."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editor Arnie Robbins told me this morning that ex-columnist Sylvester Brown was shown the door over "one issue only: a violation of our ethics policy."

Brown, who was one of few African Americans in the newsroom, yesterday made overtures that his March 26 D.C. trip was being used a scapegoat because of complaints he's been making about racially unfair policies at the paper.

So, what is the P-D's ethics policy?

I got a copy, but it's long, so I'll excerpt what appear to be the relevant sections.

First, the introduction states, "We realize that even the appearance of a conflict of interest can erode the vital, fragile bond of trust between the Post-Dispatch and the public....When you're faced with a question or see a possible problem, discuss it with a supervisor and draw on others in the newsroom to get a clear and full perspective. It's better to err on the side of raising an issue for discussion than letting a problem slip by. By putting our heads together, we usually can figure out how to do the right thing."

On the subject of "Financial Matters and Outside Employment," the policy reads: "All newsroom staff must exercise care in the way they deal with businesses and other institutions. Don't use your professional connections to get discounts or preferential treatment or other personal advantages, and don't mention the Post-Dispatch in any way when you have a personal complaint or dispute with a merchant.

"To maintain independence, don't work for or accept honoraria from organizations you cover. Other outside work or payments may also pose problems, particularly from organizations your own department covers. If a potential conflict arises, discuss it with your supervisor. "

As for "Food and Gifts," "Journalists must act independently in covering the news. To avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived, newsroom staff should make it a practice to decline meals, gifts or other favors from anyone with whom they deal as journalists."

And, finally, on the subject of "Travel," the ethics policy states: "In no instance may news and editorial staffers use their newspaper connections to solicit or accept free travel, junkets or discounted rates for personal use."

Photo: Nick Lucchesi

Brown said adios in a speech yesterday afternoon

Somebody help me out here - is there an editors' note re: erstwhile St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Sylvester Brown in the paper today, or online?

I have put in a request to chat with Editor Arnie Robbins and am waiting to hear back. In the meantime, I found a "note to readers" from Robbins and Managing Editor Pam Maples which was sent to and posted on a media blog.

You can read the note to readers after the jump.

Columnist Sylvester Brown says his employer, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, put him on paid administrative leave on Friday, March 27, and locked him out of the building over allegations that officials in East St. Louis paid for a trip he took to Washington, D.C.

Photo: Nick Lucchesi

Asked about who he would like to see as his successor at the Post, Brown said, "I haven't gotten to that yet. I hope whoever he is, he has a strong spine."

Brown, the metro columnist covering African-American issues and one of very few black journalists working at the local daily, denies the allegation.

He says he and the paper have been in a stand-off for the last week over his employment terms. Today he announced he is quitting. He also asked his union, the St. Louis Newspaper Guild, not to try to arbitrate on his behalf.

stltoday.com

St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Sylvester Brown's byline has been noticeably absent from the local daily for the past two weeks.

What gives?

American Journalism Review just published a piece about newspaper accuracy where layoffs-meet-the-Internet, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the main character in the 3,530-word article.

Only hard-core media wonks will appreciate all three-thousand of those words, so I've taken the liberty of posting a few excerpts about the new news culture within the P-D.

Let's start with AJR author Carl Sessions Stepp's great lede:

Sunrise approaches on a Friday morning, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Web site is being updated early - from Mandy St. Amand's bathroom.

St. Amand, the Post-Dispatch continuous news editor, has balanced her laptop on the toilet lid and, while drying her hair and prepping for the office, is reworking homepage headlines.

Not surprisingly, no copy editor is handy at 5:30 a.m., so St. Amand's work goes online unchecked by a colleague. She estimates that between 40 and 50 Post-Dispatch staffers can post directly to the site, often remotely and without a second read - a growing, troubling trend in these days of never-ending news cycles and ever-dwindling editing corps.

flickr.com/photos/bestrated1

From today's story on the death of the zoo's last polar bear, Hope, which died Monday of liver cancer at the age of 23.

Stltoday.com reader Robert Walsh wonders: "Without any polar bears, how will the Post-Dispatch illustrate its story on our first 100-degree day this summer?"

You're right, Robert. That does provide a quandary.

Honorable Mention goes to John F.  Appraised of the latest death at the zoo, John F. suggests, "Maybe the Zoo should look into hiring a full time taxidermist."

Ouch!

The dead polar bear does raise the question: How does one dispose of an 800-pound mammal? I tried to ask the zoo that question a few year's back after the death of another polar bear. The zoo declined to comment.

A little late on the draw here, but I couldn't let this week pass without noting the ruckus over Post-Dispatch art critic David Bonetti's review of Cindy Tower's latest work -- and her response, which has to do with flatulence. Read on. 

Tower, who paints scenes of complete despair over in East St. Louis, has a show ongoing at the Sheldon Art Galleries; Bonetti panned it in 334 words on March 9, writing:

"Tower must realize that she doesn't cut it as a painter, because she insists that her painting is merely the product of a heroic performance. She breaks the law painting on site! She puts her life at risk! There are rabid dogs prowling the site -- not to mention the humans! So, she hires a bodyguard -- an ancient man who looks as if he wouldn't be much good if any trouble occurred -- and she does her heroic thing.

"Sorry, but I'm not buying her schtick. What she's doing is not performance art, not even bad performance art. It's the result of an ego out of control. She would be far better off teaching herself to paint in her studio than wasting her time hauling canvases and paints back and forth across the river."

(To read the full review, click here.)

The criticism prompted an *immediate* outcry on the "Critical Mass" arts listserv, with some local artists pooh-poohing Bonetti, calling him and his work "lazy," "disrespectful" and "jaded," among other things. Others (sort of) defended the critic, saying they'd be tickled if he'd take the time to give their work a look.