Remembering Bill Spoon

On Friday, Bill Spoon died. Even if you never ate his barbecue, you might be familiar with his name. That was his joint down on South Boulevard (now run by his grandson, Stephen)–the one with the sign that says “We use the whole pig–it makes the difference.” Or something to that effect. Bill Spoon’s place consistently cranks out the best Eastern NC-style barbecue in the city. But it won’t be the same without Mr. Spoon behind the counter, taking IOUs, pushing the banana pudding, and rounding down bills. The Observer published a nice article today on his funeral, and I really recommend you read this profile that we published in June 2001. Written by then-senior editor Will Boye (who’s now with the Charlotte Business Journal), it’s a great piece, and it tells the story of who Spoon really was and how he started his restaurant. —R.T.

Pardon our dust

As you may or may not have noticed, we are in the midst of launching an all-new Charlotte magazine website. While we’re getting that done (and putting out a magazine at the same time), we may not be blogging much for the next few days (but don’t worry, we’re still collecting lots of juicy stuff to share with you!). Also, we’ll be working out kinks in the new site for a few days, so thanks for your patience as the site evolves. And trust us–it’s going to be cool. —R.T.

P.S. We’ll also soon be launching a new web site for our sister publication Charlotte magazine’s Home & Garden. Lots going on around here!

How long will The O’s Lawrence Toppman keep his job?

There’s an interesting article in American Journalism Review about the future of the local newspaper film critic. In a word, that future is limited. As can be expected, as newspapers cut back staff, they’re cutting back in areas where they can get the same coverage elsewhere and for cheaper. An obvious target: the movie review. After all, why pay a Lawrence Toppman (The Charlotte Observer’s venerable film critic and also perhaps the nicest person working in local journalism) to write movie reviews when you can just buy Roger Ebert’s reviews off syndication?

One could argue (and the AJR article does, after a fashion) that Toppman is a franchise player for The Observer. People know him by sight; he appears on TV and the radio. But the guess here (and this is pure speculation) is that still might not be enough to keep him around for the long term, at least in his current job. Thus far, The Observer has avoided making wholesale job cuts (the AJR article cites Denver’s Rocky Mountain News as having offered buyouts to 17 newsroom employees and the Tampa Tribune buying out eight). But McClatchy’s stock has been pummeled since buying the Knight Ridder papers, and Observer staffers seem more worried than ever that layoffs or buyouts could be headed their way. Toppman has been there a while, and veteran newsroomers are the ones who get the buyout offers. Still, my guess is that if The O decides to buy syndicated movie reviews, it will keep Toppman on and assign him to the film beat (the local movie-making industry, film festivals, etc.) as well as some other arts/pop culture beat. I hope so, because he’s talented and smart and knows the area and, like I wrote earlier, really nice. He’s also a good film critic. —R.T.

P.S. The AJR article also spends some time on newspapers’ online arts coverage. It’s kinda long, but an interesting read.

Observer Update-Redux

Earlier today, I posted part of an email from county commish Bill James. He told us that The Observer is operating without a reporter covering county gov’t. Since then, I’ve heard from O honcho Rick Thames, who assures me that is not true: “We’ve already named Emily Achenbaum to the county beat, and Steve Harrison to the Transportation beat. Both of these reporters will be superb in these roles.”

But that’s not the interesting part. Here’s the interesting part: I Googled Emily’s name to learn more about her, and I found this fascinating article by Carl Sessions Stepp from the April/May 2007 issue of American Journalism Review. In it, Stepp, who began his journo career at The O 30 years ago, interviews a bunch of twenty-something Observer reporters, and they have some very interesting things to say. Among them:

“I came here to work for a company that doesn’t exist anymore,” transportation reporter Richard Rubin, 28, who joined the paper in 2001, told me in January. “I’ve got 39 years until Social Security checks start coming in. Is Social Security going to be there in 39 years? Will the newspaper industry be there in 39 years? I’ve started to think about it that way, and it is daunting.”
—and—
“Out of all my friends, single or married, about my age, one of them gets the paper, and he only gets it on weekends,” says reporter Deborah Hirsch, 24, who covers adjacent York County, South Carolina. “Everybody thinks it’s cool to know a reporter, but when it comes to do they really care or are they reading on a daily basis, the answer is no.”

While several still swear by ink-on-paper, most of those I interviewed prefer to read the paper online. Several admitted neglecting or not even subscribing to the paper version. “I subscribe,” says clerk-reporter Emily Benton, 24, “but I’ll be honest. They pile up outside my door on weekdays.”
—and—
Emily Achenbaum, based in nearby Union County, thinks newspapers will eventually become the kind of specialty mementoes “you get through a Vermont country store that tracks down old items.” Belated attempts to lure the young through blogs and entertainment features are “doomed,” she says. “They always feel like the not-cool kids trying to force the cool kids to be their friends.”
—and—
Outside the meeting room, the Observer devotes about 14 journalists full time to the Web, with regular contributions from the paper’s news staff of about 250. Managing Editor Cheryl Carpenter, 49, knows her young staff members would like to see even more energy flowing into the Web. But she is quick to show me a chart showing where the paper’s advertising revenue comes from–far more from print than online.

And there’s a bunch more stuff like that. It’s really a fascinating, rare inside look at The Observer newsroom. My two cents on the article: Neither the young bucks nor the old steeds seem to get it. The young ones want hip, edgy content on Page 1A. The established crowd wants to get on the internets and the blogs, but is afraid of jeopardizing the print product. But I don’t think it’s about being hip and edgy, and the print product has already been jeopardized (The O continues to eke out circ gains, but it would be difficult not to gain as fast as this market is growing). Just produce great journalism, of all types, in whatever medium people want it, then get out of the way.

Observer Update

In the May issue, I wrote a story about The Charlotte Observer (which was picked up by Romenesko), one year after its purchase by The McClatchy Co. After talking with several people, including Walker Lundy, who edited three Knight Ridder papers, and a key industry analyst, I concluded that The O used to be a very good paper, is now a good paper, and in the future will struggle to even be that. Since McClatchy bought Knight Ridder, the newspaper industry has gone into tailspin, and there are now signs that The O, one of McClatchy’s most profitable papers, is starting to be affected. Today, County Commissioner Bill James sent me this email:

“Read your article about ‘paper chase’ and the Charlotte Observer. I don’t know if they are in trouble or not but I can attest that they have no regular county reporter anymore. In the ‘old days’ a reporter would call the leading Democrat or Republican to find out what was coming up or was on the agenda. About a month ago Carrie Levine and her husband/reporter Richard Rubin (AKA “Mr. Traffic”) left for greener pastures in Washington, DC. No one has been slated to replace them. This says something. I don’t know if the other political reporter positions are being consolidated or eliminated. Regards, Bill James (R, District 6), Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners, Matthews, NC

 

PS – Tell your readers thanks for the award. One man’s ‘blowhard’ is another’s “political breath of fresh air”.”

(The postscript refers to May’s BOB Awards, in which our readers voted him for the Blowhard category)

This is indeed significant. Before Carrie covered local government, her husband Richard did. If true, it’s pretty amazing that a major local daily is operating without a reporter dedicated to covering county government. —Rick Thurmond