* Correction: Han Solo, not Luke Skywalker (jimromenesko.com) | @EvilDarthVader)

The Boston Globe is adding a stand-alone eight-page Business section in December and hiring additional staff. “We’ve got everything but a new name, which is currently, to my chagrin, ‘Business,'” Globe editor Brian McGrory writes in a memo. “Please offer better ideas.”

He adds: “We’re aiming to make our business coverage a signature part of the Globe, both in print and online, which shouldn’t be hard, given that we’re starting from a very strong position.”

From: McGrory, Brian
Date: Thu, Nov 13, 2014 at 3:07 PM
Subject: The Business section

Hey all,

We’d like to fill you in on some terrific developments in our Business department, all of them designed to build on the exceptional work that went into our Market Basket coverage and so many other news and enterprise stories over the past year.

First, we’re reconfiguring the paper to give Business its own section front on Tuesdays through Fridays, starting the first week of December. In fact, Business will get a free-standing eight-page section, somewhere between Metro and Sports. We’ve worked with Mark Morrow and Dan Zedek, as well as an entire team of creative editors and reporters, to conceive a bold new approach to business coverage, both in form and function. There’ll be a more contemporary look, a plethora of new features, and a renewed commitment to the most insightful and energetic business coverage in New England. We’ve got everything but a new name, which is currently, to my chagrin, “Business.” Please offer better ideas./CONTINUES Read More

– Photos from Kansas City Star (left) and Pitch

Romenesko reader Brig McCoy writes: “Seems strange that the local alt paper (The Pitch) ‘blacked out’ the billboard in question. Kansas City Star, on the other hand, printed the billboard as is.” (There’s a controversy over the city trying to have it removed to make way for a hotel.) I asked Pitch editor Scott Wilson about this and he wrote in an email: “It was a Sprint ad, and we simply didn’t want to seem to endorse or advertise for Sprint.”

* Lowball condemnation offer on billboard lands city in court (pitch.com)
* Courtroom battle over billboard affects hotel proposal (kcstar.com)

I’ve seen similar ads in other papers, including ones here in Chicago, and can’t get worked up about them. “I generally defend these things,” writes journalism prof and media critic Dan Kennedy, “since I like it when news organizations find ways to make money. And it’s clearly labeled; it’s not at all deceptive. But still, this is a wow. If the Globe hasn’t crossed a line, perhaps it has moved the line past where we always thought it was.” | Another reaction.

Update: My Facebook commenters aren’t bothered, either.

* Here’s the huge UMass Boston Globe ad (dankennedy.net)
* Earlier: UMass student paper explains full-page A1 ad (jimromenesko.com)

Malcolm Gladwell tells Bloomberg TV that suspending Bill Simmons “was totally the wrong decision” by ESPN. “I thought that in the course of expressing their opinions, sports columnists are allowed to draw conclusions. Apparently not. Apparently you get suspended for that. I thought that was an embarrassingly low moment.”

Gladwell on the Amazon-Hachette war (transcript provided by Bloomberg TV):

It’s cost me a lot of money. That’s for sure. I mean, it breaks my heart a little. I had thought of Amazon as in partnership with writers. And for a company to try and make a business point by turning its back on – you know, I have sold through Amazon – millions of books. I have contributed mightily to their bottom line. I would have thought they would have seen me as an asset. I have brought people – me and other writers have brought people to their site in droves. And now they’ve, you know, turned on us. I mean, it – as – it is – to say the least, a puzzling strategy for a business – to turn on its assets. And – so I – yeah, I remain – I’m – I would love to have a conversation with Jeff Bezos about – you know, the self-destructive nature of this particular strategy.

On whether NFL is doing enough to combat head injuries:

No. I mean, I think the sport is a moral abomination. …Basically when you watch football on Sunday, a third of the players you are watching are in the course of playing the game incurring an injury, some kind of, which will significantly impact their life. Can you point to another – industry in America which – as – in the course of doing business maims a third of its employees, right? This is untenable. We’re not just talking about people limping at the age of 50. We’re talking about brain injuries that are causing horrible, protracted – premature death. This is – you know, the idea that we are paying people to engage in a sport for our own entertainment that causes irreparable damage to themselves is appalling.

On NFL’s handling of recent domestic violence issues:

I mean, this is a sport that is living in the past, that has no connection to – I think, no connection to the realities of the game right now and no real connection to American society. I mean, if you look at that the whole Ray Rice issue was – in a microcosm what’s wrong with the N.F.L., which is they are completely disconnected from the consequences of the sport that they are engaged in, right? That they are socializing young men into a culture of violence, right? And so is it at all surprisin’ that you see the kinds of corollary social damage surroundin’ players that we see? Not at all surprising at all, you know? That’s not – they’re – they’re off on this kind of 19th century trajectory which is fundamentally outta touch with the rest of us.

On whether football disappears:

I don’t see how it doesn’t. I mean, I think – you know, once there’s – there’ll be – it’ll start to shrivel up at the high school and college level. And then the pro game, I think it will eventually wither on the – on the vine. I mean, look, boxing was one of the biggest sports in this country in the 1920’s and ’30s. Where is it now?

Update: Amazon and Hachette settle their dispute (nytimes.com)
* Gladwell: Amazon has turned on us writers (bloomberg.com)
* Gladwell: Football is a moral abomination (bloomberg.com)

* Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Bill Livingston was ordered to write an apology letter to Cavs owner Dan Gilbert. (clevelandleader.com)
* A Palm Beach Post story prompts the sheriff’s department to pull its online booking blotter. (mypalmbeachpost.com)
* Choire Sicha on The Awl’s redesign: “I care more about agility, speed and readers’ ability to discover things than I do about colors or fonts or whatever.” (capitalnewyork.com)
* John Cook is leaving First Look Media’s The Intercept and returning to Gawker. (huffingtonpost.com)
* “Serial,” the podcast, becomes a cultural obsession. (washingtonpost.com)
* “Good Morning America” led network morning shows with 30,000 U.S. Senate-focused ads during the 2014 election cycle. (publicintegrity.org)
* Noted: “‘The James Franco Review’ is not meant as a joke. (latimes.com)
* PlayBuzz had more Facebook shares than BuzzFeed in October. (newswhip.com)
* What does it take to “break the Internet”? (time.com)
* Matt Taibbi is writing sports features for Grantland. (@BillSimmons)
* Stephen Bloom‘s latest is a multi-media nonfiction package titled “Three Seconds: A Murder, Place, and Time.” (factionmagazine.com)
* JOBS: A Northwest weekly is looking for reporters. (Romenesko Jobs)
* Twitter users conclude that Twitter is broken because Twitter’s mission statement is broken. (recode.net)
* Roll Call’s Abby Livingston is named Texas Tribune Washington bureau chief. (texastribune.org)
* Buffalo News proposes no raises for the paper’s journalists. (buffaloguild.org)
* A Florida community college tells faculty members they aren’t allowed to talk to student journalists about contract talks. (insidehighered.com)
* A Bloomberg terminal gets a starring role on “The Newsroom.” (buzzfeed.com)
* Send anonymous news tips, link suggestions, memos, reports of comment spam, and typo alerts to jim@jimromenesko.com | Romenesko on Facebook | Romenesko on Twitter | Romenesko on Instagram | Romenesko’s Starbucks Gossip on Twitter
* Advertise your job opening for just $25 a week. Contact Tom Kwas at jimromads@yahoo.com for information. (He’ll take care of your Sponsored Post or display ad, too.)

* From latest E&P: Fun with Google search term numbers! (@EditorPublisher)

Print is not dead !

— Ernie Boch Jr. (@ErnieBochJr) February 22, 2013

On Monday, Boston University Daily Free Press launched a $70,000 fundraising campaign to save its print edition.

On Wednesday, the paper announced it’s already exceeded its goal, thanks to a $50,000 contribution from Boston philanthropist Ernie Boch Jr., $10,000 from Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly, and donations from others.

The BU paper says:

The support from the Boston community, FreeP alums and the greater sphere of journalists all over has been overwhelmingly encouraging. We can not thank all of you enough for helping to spread the word and donating.

We will be closing the gofundme soon, and we will begin assessing our funds and deciding how to handle the surplus immediately.

In early 2013, auto magnate Boch showed interest in the Boston Globe and, at that time, tweeted “Print is not dead!”

* The BU Daily Free Press print edition will live on (dailyfreepress.com) | (BostonInno)
* O’Reilly called FreeP staffers and explained his donation (bostonglobe.com)
* Editor: “This goes to show how important student journalism is” (@kyleplantz)

A reporter writes: “For some reason, I am on an email list for Ditto Public Affairs, a PR agency, which sent me a link to an internal piece explaining – presumably to clients – why it is worth it to pitch to local media. It is worth it because it builds a body of clips or videos that can lead to national coverage/publicity. My natural response would be: Note to ditto: screw you. Signed, local media, aka, not your stepping stone.”

From Ditto’s post:

Even in smaller markets, such as Austin or Milwaukee, sitting down with local media is a good idea. But why is that worth your time? The answer is two-fold.

First, many people who hire a PR firm have never done an interview before. Local media can be a great introduction for them. It provides a way to refine messaging and generate a good base of interviews ranging from TV to radio. It also acts as a way to improve recognition amongst stakeholders and influencers in and around a metro area.

In addition, local media provides a PR firm with clips from TV, radio and print stories to send to national media. Yes, there you have it – local media can result in national coverage.

* Why local media is worth it, according to Ditto PR (dittopublicaffairs.com)

My bullshit detector blew a fuse reading this.

Chicago Tribune managing editor leaves to pursue personal interests http://t.co/LLSdfMcvvY

— Robert Channick (@RobertChannick) November 12, 2014

Just before I posted this, a Romenesko reader emailed me with the link and wrote:
“I’m a cynical old hag, so my first reaction is ‘personal interests, my a$$.'” Paging Chicago Tribune people! Please tell me – not-for-attribution – what’s really going on here. jim@jimromenesko.com.

Update: “This isn’t a move engineered by somebody else, or a money-driven downsizing, or an unhappy editor who’s had enough,” a veteran Tribune staffer tells Romenesko readers. “This is a wonderful person who, after 25 years in a succession of high-pressure jobs, wants to do something different while she’s still young and able.”