Trying to be a first-rate reporter

Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach's 'St. Matthew's Passion' on a ukulele."

-- Bagdikian's Observation

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Chicago Tribune: Lipstick on a Pig?

Next week the Chicago Tribune will debut a redesigned three-section newspaper. It is the latest Tribune Co. newspaper to get a makeover ordered by Sam Zell. The objective is to attract more readers with flashy graphics, big photos and maps and charts, while saving newsprint and operating with fewer reporters and editors.

For Tribune video, click HERE.

For WTTW interview video, click HERE. Sphere: Related Content

LIFE Comes Back From the Dead ... Again ... Sort Of

By KEITH J. KELLY

New York Post

September 23, 2008 --

The Life name is getting a new lease on life.

After having shut down three times as a magazine, the Life title is being resurrected as part of a joint venture between Time Inc. and Getty Images that will launch a Web site offering free, downloadable photos from world-renowned photographers.

The partnership, which will go under the corporate name See Your World Llc, will bring back the life.com name and go live sometime early next year.

The venture is expected to be announced today at the Interactive Advertising Bureau's MIXX conference.

For Time Inc., the venture is a bit of a gamble, as the publisher has tried repeatedly to resuscitate the venerable magazine that started as an oversize glossy in 1936.

It most recently shut down in April 2007 as a newspaper supplement.

For Getty, which was taken over by Silicon Valley venture firm Hellman & Friedman for $2.4 billion in July, the deal is a chance to battle the inroads that the Internet had made into its main professional photo market by aiming for the consumer market for the first time.

Only consumers who use the images for non-commercial purposes will be permitted to tap into the photos, which will include 3,000 new downloads from Getty plus the extensive archives from both Getty and the original Life magazine.

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