Free Republic

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will cut its workforce by 8 percent, some 184 jobs, and eliminate its "geographically targeted news sections" as part of a cost-cutting plan the paper announced Wednesday. "The moves come amid an advertising revenue slump that has ravaged the newspaper industry and has been made worse by rising costs for fuel and newsprint," the paper reported. The paper reported that "job cuts, which will occur between August and October, will mainly affect the news and advertising departments at the company. They will be accomplished through voluntary buyouts, layoffs and job eliminations." The company currently has about 2,300...

Date/Time: 6/24/2008 2:25:24 PM Title: Klibanoff resigns from Journal-Constitution Posted By: Jim Romenesko Memo from Atlanta Journal-Constitution managing editor/news Hank Klibanoff To: The AJC staff From: Hank Date: June 24, 2008 I don't have an anecdotal lede, a way to foreshadow a suspenseful ending, or some clever device to hook you. I have some news that is difficult to write and best served straight up: I am leaving the paper. This is just about the hardest thing I've ever done. In an action-packed six years here, I have fallen fully in love with this newsroom, this staff, this company. We've...

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution eliminated 21 jobs in its information technology department, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, which added the June 18 cuts were part of a restructuring. AJC spokesperson Jennifer Morrow told the paper that 30 full-time positions were eliminated but nine of them were open, resulting in 21 employees cut. The job cuts come less than two months after the paper announced a restructuring of its circulation department, cutting 62 positions and reducing distribution operations down to 49 counties. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the paper saw a daily circulation drop of 8.5% to 326,907, in...

The American Jewish Congress submitted this understated advertisement about the status of women in Israel to Ms. Magazine. Underneath the attractive photographs of Israel's foreign minister (Tzipi Livni), Supreme Court president (Dorit Beinish), and speaker of the Knesset (Dalia Itzik), the ad reads: "This is Israel." I think it is fair to say that in most parts of the United States it would be deemed an utterly innocuous ad. Ms. rejected the ad. Yesterday the AJC issued this press release with the following comments: "What other conclusion can we reach," asked Richard Gordon, President of AJCongress, "... a significant number...

John C. Mellott, the affable publisher of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is moving his forearm up and down like a lever. “This,” he explains, “is the skillful management of a toggle.” Where is a photographer when you really need one? Of course, if I were a “mojo”—“mobile journalist”—for the AJC, I’d have my digital point-and-shoot at the ready, and then I’d whip out my laptop and file something online. That is, if I could figure out precisely what Mellott’s arm gesture means for the future of journalism and the Journal-Constitution. I’ve been asking Mellott to describe the business model behind the...

A fissure in Cobb County's relations with its Hispanic community has widened in recent days amid sparring between Cobb and Hispanic leaders. The head of an organization that represents Latino politicians statewide quit the Cobb County Hispanic/Latino Initiative, saying the county has shown a "consistent lack of open, honest and transparent dialog" on issues affecting the Hispanic community.Commission Chairman Sam Olens responded that advocates for the Hispanic community are making the county's actions a "racial'' issue by implying that new rules are targeted at Hispanics. One new ordinance limits the number of adults who can live in a house.

Former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) has sued The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and its parent company, Cox Enterprises, claiming the newspaper libeled her in editorials and news articles. The lawsuit also charged that bomb threats were telephoned to her office from the newspaper's office in Cobb County last year.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. David Scott has used his campaign account to pay more than $500,000 to four family members and his family's business, according to an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Atlanta Democrat, who graduated from the prestigious Wharton School of Business, also had had more than 40 tax liens — some dating to the 1980s and 1990s — placed against his home and business, the Atlanta-based Dayn-Mark Advertising.

Every once in a while I come across an op-ed that leaves me speechless – so utterly flabbergasted that I have to walk away for a day before I can come up with a cogent response. That was the case when I read Cynthia Tucker’s piece on our “worn military” committing “massacres” in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on May 11. Her complete and utter failure to grasp even simple facts still has me shaking my head. Tucker laughingly described Haditha and the Anbar province as “restive” in November 2005. She must have overlooked the Marines killed in an ambush less...

The now-infamous “Names in boxes” memo at the AJC came out Thursday and, in the words of one staffer, it so emotionally devastated the newsroom that it’s a miracle an edition of the paper was printed that evening. Essentially, the memo lays out which jobs are going to be kept under the paper’s re-structuring. More importantly, it also conveys which jobs aren’t going to be kept. About half the staff had their names “in the box.” The rest are going to have to apply for new jobs within the newsroom and the fear is, of course, that if you don’t...

According to Goethe, a poet, thinker, statesman and scientist, and the most recognized icon of German culture, "to simply tolerate is an insult." As a participant in the European Enlightenment movement, which clarified and defined how we understand human rights and provided the foundation on which much of the U.S Constitution is based, Goethe advocated that "tolerance should actually only be a transitional attitude, one which must lead to the acceptance of equality."

United States Rep. Cynthia McKinney, embroiled in controversy since a March 29 altercation with Capitol Hill police and facing a tough Democratic primary in her Georgia district, has demanded that the Atlanta Journal Constitution retract an editorial critical of her. Contrary to other media reports, McKinney has not yet filed a lawsuit against the newspaper, according to her attorney. Capitol Hill Officer Paul McKenna stopped McKinney in March when she tried to bypass a metal detector. She was not at the time wearing a pin identifying her as a member of Congress. According to the police report, McKinney struck the...

McKinney dismissed the recent poll in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and said her attorney sent a letter to the newspaper demanding that the newspaper stop publishing poll stories that show Johnson in the lead.

A Democratic congresswoman from Georgia is suing The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for libel. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney filed charges against the newspaper's editor Cynthia Tucker and publisher John Mellott for an editorial column that ran in the Sunday July 30 paper about McKinney’s alleged altercation with police, according to All Headline News.

NEW YORK An Atlanta Mercedes-Benz dealership has apologized for an Atlanta Journal-Constitution cartoon, according to the conservative NewsBusters.org blog. Mike Luckovich's cartoon showed a hooded figure holding an American flag while reading a book on torture etiquette to an al-Qaida member. "Lest anyone think THEY were sponsoring the cartoon, the dealership paid for a full-page ad in the paper to beg for forgiveness," wrote NewsBusters.org. NewsBusters.org quoted the dealership's ad as saying: "We are sorry! While we strongly affirm the right of free speech, the June 22 Mike Luckovich cartoon depicting the U.S. as torturers on par with al-Qaida was...

When I read this full-page ad in the AJC this morning, I wanted to jump up and shout, then go down to RBM and buy a car. Reality soon set in since they are a Mercedes dealer, but I am SO PROUD of them I could pop. Hope you enjoy this full-text version of the letter in their ad. Wvoter To Our Clients: We are sorry! While we strongly affirm the right of free speech, the June 22, 2006 Mike Luckovich cartoon depicting the U.S. as torturers on par with Al-Qaida was very offensive to us. Moreover, to publish this...

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean addressed the American Jewish Committee on Wednesday, where he claimed the Democratic Party is more inclusive and a better choice for Jewish Americans. I was recently asked about the difference between the Democratic and Republican parties," Dean said. "When it comes right down to it, the essential difference is that the Democtrats fundamentally believe it is important to make sure that American Jews feel comfortable being American Jews." But the facts don't back up the DNC Chairman's assertions. Virginia Democrat Rep. Jim Moran blamed the war in Iraq on the Jewish community, claiming, "If...

US President George W. Bush said Thursday at the American Jewish Committee conference in Washington that the United States had a strong and inalienable obligation to ensure the security of Israel, referring to the threats Iran had made against the Jewish state. Bush repeated his pledge that the United States will not deal with the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority as long as Hamas refuses to disavow terrorism and to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. The US president also said that he would keep pushing for a strong resolution at the United Nations to curb Iran's nuclear programs. "America will continue to...

What civil war? By Mike Luckovich | Tuesday, March 7, 2006, 07:15 PM

On 10-26, i did an illustration depicting the word “why” using the names of the 2,000 troops who had, at that time, died in iraq. here on this blog, the feedback from readers, both pro and con was enormous. in response, a young woman, an 11th grader, has created the response above. what do you all think?