The Political Whore

And the newspaper war continues.

The Tampa Tribune has “suspended” its summer internship program in a cost-saving move. Managing Editor Duke Maas told internship seekers in this e-mail (obtained by Romenekso):

From:
Date: Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 9:55 AM
Subject: The Tampa Tribune 2009 summer internship program.

To:

I bring you sad news regarding The Tampa Tribune’s 2009 summer internship program.

Due to our current economic situation, we have had to make some difficult choices regarding our newsroom budget.

It is unfortunate, but we have decided to suspend our 10-week summer internship program for this year.

I apologize to you for how all of this has unfolded. I know you have invested time, energy and hope in the applying for the positions we posted six months ago. Unfortunately, we were unable to foresee the current conditions that have led us to suspend the program.

My hope is that this news reaches you in time to apply for other opportunities with internship programs.

I wish you good luck in your search.

Sincerely,

Richard (Duke) Maas

Managing Editor
The Tampa Tribune

This, of course, is the same program that brought intern Jessica DaSilva (now an editor at UF’s Independent Florida Alligator daily) to the Tribune so she could blog how much she supported Coats’ efforts to reinvent the newsroom, even in the face of staffing cuts. Her blog post boosting Coats became a point of contention in the media blogosphere.

On the other side of the bay, the St. Petersburg Times is airing a television ad touting how popular it is and how chock-full of news its sections are in counterattack to Janet Coats-Denise Plumber’s frong-page declaration of war. I saw it yesterday morning on Bay News 9. (I’m told the video has been on the Times website for a few weeks.) The ad is shot at the Panera Bread location on S. Howard Avenue in South Tampa, where a Trib and Times box appear side by side. Times readers throughout the ad keep popping in two quarters to make the St. Pete purchase, while at the end of the and the Trib box is opened to show a super-huge stack of unpurchased Tribunes. (I’m trying to catch the ad on DVR so I can post it for you, but if you get a copy before me, holler.)

Game on!

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