April 2002, News Briefs |
Storm strikes Hondo, again
HONDO — ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’
That was the headline on the March 21 Hondo Anvil-Herald and aptly so.
History repeated itself in Hondo March 19 when a freak storm dropped baseball-size hail on the town, causing widespread damage.
Hondo was still recovering from a tornado in October that skipped through the town, randomly hitting buildings and residences.
One of the then targets was the newspaper building. The staff had just settled back into new digs at the newspaper and South Texas Press, just a few blocks away, after two category 2 tornadoes ripped though town and took off part of the roof.
While the newspaper building only had minor damage from the March storm, South Texas Press, a printing facility jointly owned by Hondo, Pleasanton Express and Uvalde Leader News, was not so lucky this time.
The press building, which sits a few blocks away, will need a new roof. About 50 windows also were broken out, South Texas Press part-owner Bill Berger said.
El Paso to get back 2-newspaper town distinction
EL PASO — El Diario, a newspaper based in Ciudad Juarez just across the Texas-Mexico border, has set up shop in downtown.
El Paso was one of the last Texas cities to have two large competing dailies — the El Paso Times and El Paso Herald-Post, which folded about four years ago.
Residents already have been able to buy and subscribe to El Diario but within a year the newspaper will be operated and printed in El Paso.
Industry analyst predicts advertising revenue turnaround
HOUSTON — Slumping newspaper ad revenues will turn around soon, an industry analyst told attendees at the Texas Daily Newspaper Association meeting last month.
“Right now the economy is having its way,” said Orage Quarles III, chairman of the Newspaper Association of America and a board member of The Associated Press. “We’ll adjust, tighten down and get through this. Right now there is guarded optimism for our newspapers.”
Quarles said the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States provided another hit to ad revenues but the tragedy highlighted newspapers’ ability to bolster readership through powerful storytelling, the Associated Press reported.
“Readers have told us they want relevance to their lives. once the intense focus of the terrorist coverage fades, papers will have to replace that with something else relevant to people’s lives,” he said.
Noble Welch, publisher of the Henderson Daily News, said smaller-market newspapers such as his have an advantage in increasing readership.
“We are closer to the people,” he said. “We can react quicker to what they want.”
Wes Turner, president and publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, said he agreed with Quarles’ interpretation that the grim situation would rebound.
“I think the future is bright,” Turner said.
PA daily develops ‘pet’ project
PHILADELPHIA — The Daily News ðarnered national attention last month when it began accepting death notices for pets. The service debuted March 7 and allows pet owners to memorialize their dead animals with an obituary for around $50. Photos of the pet also are accepted.