John Freeman Leaving Dallas, But Not Going Where You Heard (Maybe)

John Freeman has been a member of at least a dozen bands during his on-again, off-again tenure in Dallas (Dooms U.K., the Dutch Treats, Telethon, the Golden Vipers, N.I.B. — and those are just the ones I had the fortune of seeing). He was also instrumental in the late, great Good/Bad Art Collective and, briefly, ran Sloppyworld, a venue-and-more in Expo Park. Among many other things. Now he’s moving again. He’s selling off Sloppyworld’s P.A. system to help pay off debts and fund his departure, ostensibly to move to NYC to write rock operas with his pal Corn Mo. But that might not necessarily be true. I think we’ve reached the point where we need to, oh, you know.

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Tax A Lot, DMN

A tax-minded FrontBurnervian points to the following paragraph in the news item about taxed purchases on Amazon.com:

The state’s tax-collecting agency didn’t know Amazon.com was operating a facility here until this week when The Dallas Morning News called to ask why the online powerhouse wasn’t charging Texas customers sales taxes, said Robin Corrigan, the comptroller’s team leader for sales tax policy.

The FrontBurnervian wonders: “So not only might we be stuck paying sales tax for Amazon purchases, we have the DMN to blame for it. Tattle tales. And isn’t this pretty much creating news instead of reporting it?” I see his point.

Rene Syler’s New Gig

Former Dallas anchor Rene Syler no longer works at CBS’ morning show. (For a refresher of her experiences there, check out D’s 2003 profile of Syler.) Syler has now joined Meredith Corporation and will host a show on Parents.tv. Good luck with that. [via]

CliffDweller Sold to Advocate

Rob Shearer confirms that the CliffDweller has been sold to the Advocate. The deal should be finalized this summer. When I asked him if he’d tell me the purchase price, he said, “No. And I know too many people who know you. They’d tell me to stop talking to you right now.”

Well played, sir. Well played.

Ethics 2.0 And What The Law Says About New Media

(Alt. Hed: Where I Spent An Hour And A Half This Morning)

The media relations committee at the Dallas Bar Association put together a panel addressing “The Legal & Ethical Issues of ‘New Media.’” The panelists: Joe Chumlea (lawyer), Bill Murchison (columnist), Mike Raiff (lawyer), Dr. Randy Reddick (journalism professor) Paul Watler (lawyer), and Robert Wilonsky (Big Bob). If you’re keeping score, that’s three lawyer types and three journalism types. What did they talk about? Oh, all sorts of things but nothing particularly revelatory. But if you’re interested in some of my notes, let’s meet after the jump.

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Vanity Fair Does the Hunt Story

Ever since we published our story in March about the fight inside Dallas’ wealthiest family, I’ve been waiting to read Vanity Fair’s version, written by Alan Peppard. Yes, that Alan Peppard. Sources tell FrontBurner that Peppard got permission to write for the glossy because he has compromising photos of Bob Mong doing a beer bong with Matt Leinart. Anyway, the wait is over — at least for me. An advance copy of the article from the upcoming June issue found its way to me (hi, Lizzie!). I can’t post the PDF, but I took a picture of the printout for you. You might be able to make out a red box I drew there in that second column of the opening page. That’s my favorite sentence in the whole story:

She disassociated herself from the controversies over her father’s polygamous propensities and his right-wing political views — in a self-published 1960 novel, Alpaca, H.L. proposed a Utopia where extra votes were apportioned to those who paid higher taxes — by pouring her energies into domestic life with her husband, the handsome and athletic Al G. Hill Sr., and their three children.

I’m still trying to diagram it. Wonky editing concerns aside, though, the story’s strongest point is the detailing of Al III’s financial straits. Peppard has some good numbers we weren’t able to get. But, then, our story had more sex. Which magazine did the story better? You’ll have to wait a few days to read for yourself. Hang in there, Hunt family.

Nancy Brinker Is 45/100 Influential

That’s not a fraction. Brinker is more like 100 percent influential. Maybe even more so. TIME noticed, naming her one of the 100 Most Influential People. She’s listed as “45 of 100,” but I’m sure that’s just for organizational, not ranking, purposes.

Matt Zoller Seitz Stops Being a Film Critic, Starts Being a Filmmaker (Again)

You may (and should) remember Matt Zoller Seitz from the Dallas Observer, maybe for this story or some of these reviews. Since he left the Observer a decade or so ago, Seitz has been plying his trade for a number of outlets, most recently at the New York Times. No more. He’ll be in Dallas in July and August to shoot a movie that involves puppets, stuffed animals, and green screens that is “sort of a chance for me to indulge my fantasy of being George Lucas and Jim Henson at the same time,” he says.

JPS Health Network’s Unique Crisis Management Style

The Star-Telegram is about halfway through a six-part series about Tarrant County’s JPS Health Network. Executives at JPS aren’t too keen on having employees read the series while at work. So what do they do? They block access to the Star-T site. It’s the online equivalent of shutting one’s eyes tight, sticking fingers in one’s ears, and going “Lalalalala. I can’t hear you. Lalalalala.” It totally works.

Scott Burns On Journalism, Newspapers, and More

The News personal finance columnist on why it took so long to eliminate stock listings from newspapers and other stuff. Why does he like business journalism?

It focuses on verbs rather than adjectives. It’s the language of human action.

Wishing Willie A Happy Birthday–And A Lot More

OK, Willie Nelson’s 75 today, which is wonderful. But, really, isn’t today’s DMN editorial and the Texas Monthly May extravaganza all bordering on some serious overkill? Willie’s been responsible for some great songs and he’s a Texas “icon” and all, but come on. The TM oral history is thousands and thousands and thousands (and thousands) of words about Nelson from people like Jimmy Carter and Robert Redford. Evan Smith even tells us he “reacts emotionally” when he hears the first notes of “Whiskey River.” When I hear them I think: “Oh crap; not that one again.” Happy Birthday anyway, Willie. Hold one in for me.

Lone Star Park Mixtape Publicity Ploy Works (On Me)

(Full disclosure right off the bat: I’ve met Lone Star Park Vice President G.W. Hail a few times and he’s a nice guy. Nice enough that if he asks me to do him a favor, I’m inclined to oblige. I’m especially inclined when the favor involves promoting me as an almost pseudo-celebrity. And yes, I realize I’m falling in to his publicity trap by mentioning this stunt on FrontBurner … just as he planned it. Well played, G.W.)

What am I talking about? A week or so ago, G.W. asked me to create a Lone Star Park music mix to be broadcast during live racing days — songs to be played during downtime. G.W. said he was going to ask other media types to contribute (people like Norm, Newy, and Clarice). Apparently I was the first to turn mine in and so mine will be the first to enter the rotation — starting tomorrow, G.W. tells me. I obsessed over the mix like I am wont to do. I had to account for varying age groups, differences in preferences, sensitivity to mood (upbeat, but not too cheery for the frowny-faced bettors), yet still staying true to songs I truly like/love. For those who are curious, the final line-up is after the jump.

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When Pregnancy Is Child Abuse

As the father of four Allisonettes, ages 16-23, I am disgusted by the latest CPS announcement that 31 out of 53 girls rounded up in the FLDS raid are either pregnant or have given birth (one, in fact, gave birth today). However, I remain skeptical. For one thing, the CPS is working overtime to justify its actions, and many of its leaks to the press have been as inaccurate as the original grounds for the search warrant. For another, as Scott Henson points out, its numbers either don’t add up or are deliberately jiggled. But there’s another point that goes to the heart of the matter, which I’ll address after the jump:

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Blake Andrews Is Now Dating Jessica Simpson

That’s according to People magazine. Alan Peppard caught their boner.

Evan Smith Interviews Jim Moroney

The Texas Monthly editor queries the DMN publisher on circulation, discounted copies, web traffic, and more here. Interestingly, while circ is down (as planned), Jim says the latest Scarborough study shows readership is up .6% in the four-county Dallas area.

A.H. Belo Tries To Put A Good Face On It

Looking at the bright side, it reports that its first-quarter loss was less than last year’s first-quarter loss, $8.7 million vs. $9.4 million. On the other hand, revenue fell 9%. Ad sales fell 12%. I can sympathize. Market jitters hit D Magazine, too: our ad revenue is down about 5% for the same period.

As for the News’ circulation loss of 11% reported by Eric below, I believe it is necessary. The News has traditionally overdelivered because department stores wanted maximum market coverage. But this is a different day: smaller, more targeted circulation that pays full freight is the new rule for newspapers that hope to survive.

Weird. We Were Just Talking About How Crazy Dale Hansen Is.

Didn’t see this when it happened, but I’m glad someone caught it when Dale Hansen suggested the Cowboys sign Osama Bin Laden, just so the sports-blogging world could be exposed to his temperamental lunacy. Says Michael David Smith at AOL’s FanHouse: “I’m not familiar with Hansen’s work, but based on this video clip, I’d have to conclude that he’s unhinged.” No, Mike, I’d say you’re pretty much up to speed.

UPDATE: A fingers-of-fury-having FBvian pointed me toward better video here.

The Story Behind The Thin Blue Line

I was just catching up on the May issue of GQ, which is a good’un. In particular, there’s a profile of documentary filmmaker Errol Morris, who many may know as the director of 1988’s The Thin Blue Line, the movie that exonerated Randall Adams of the murder of a police officer in Dallas in 1976. The magazine profile (timehook: Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure) is full of goodies, or, at least, goodies that the movie had that I forgot. Read the whole thing. (Or don’t. It’s up to you.)

News Website Up 90% In Traffic

We hear a lot of complaints about the News website. (Ok, we make a lot of complaints about the News website.) But from March of last year to March of this year, its traffic has almost doubled, according to Nielsen.

Bad News Coming From Belo

Robert Decherd sent this letter to shareholders on Monday, saying the new newspaper company will miss first-quarter expectations set by the company as late as January 31. However, he goes on to note a number of positive actions that are starting, he says, to bear fruit.

Rod Dreher Does Not Heart Bruce Tomaso

Hey, Eric, you still holding a grudge against Bruce Tomaso? Rod Dreher appears to be with you. (Apologies to all FrontBurnervians not entertained by tempest-in-a-teapot, internecine media catfights. But it’s not every day that you see such an openly hostile comment from one co-worker to another. I bet Dreher will get his nosed rubbed in it by management.)

D Magazine Intern Scores “A-” on Profile of Tim Rogers

Caitlin Myers is one of our capable interns. She’s a journalism student at SMU. When she asked if she could profile me for a student paper, I said sure, as long she didn’t mind my posting it on the blog. Below you’ll find her effort, submitted with a few comments.

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Ben Stein, Others Party For New Flick Like It’s 1999

Belo8 film critic Gary Cogill was among hundreds partying at the Palomar Hotel Wednesday night after the world premiere here of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, a controversial new documentary about the Establishment jihad to suppress proponents of “intelligent design.” The flick stars Ben Stein, a prolific writer but probably best known as the boring teacher in the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. “I’ve always admired Ben Stein,” Cogill said at the party. “He’s one of the few intellectual conservatives who have a sense of humor–something that’s rare among conservatives and intellectuals.” Jump to find out how Ben Stein reacted to that.

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WFAA Uses a Hammer to Smash a Fly

Yesterday afternoon I got a call at work from Jolee Healey, the principal of my son’s elementary school. She sounded shaken. “Oh, no,” I thought. “What has the boy gone and done now? He better not have brought a trebuchet to school or something.” But no. Turns out Healey was worried about a news report that was about to air.

Jump to learn about the shockingly startling news at Hexter Elementary and how Channel 8 bravely brought the story to light.

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J.Lo Is New NBC Weathermeteorpersonologist

Ed Bark reports that the outgoing and out-going Rebecca Miller has been replaced. NBC5 has hired meteorologist Jennifer Lopez, an eight-year veteran from The Weather Channel. And, yes, she’s heard about the “J.Lo” name coinky-dink a’plenty.

Two Last Comments About Rod Dreher and Woodrow

Surely you’ve been following along. But if not: Dreher said Woodrow is a good school — if you’re white. Even Dreher’s own co-workers got all riled up. Jim Schutze called him an idiot. And the discussion continues all over the Internets. Eric and I had a 15-minute discussion yesterday about Dreher — and about race, class, culture, and education. We even let Trey join in.

So here’s the thing. While I disagree with Dreher (who is many things but certainly no idiot), I’m thankful for the column he wrote. That’s what a newspaper should do. Spark debate. Get you thinking. Rather than worry about redesigns, the DMN needs to figure out how to do this more often.

Finally, Dreher’s wife has shingles. He and his family are all stressed out. I consider them friends, so I gave Dreher some advice. I’ll pass it along publicly here. He needs to stop issuing such hot sports opinions. Take a cue from most of the other columnists at the paper. Go easy, man. Move to the suburbs. Write about how much you hate flying. Or how your gas mileage improves if you drive slower. And just feel that stress magically melt away.

Filmmakers: Moroney Wanted To See A ‘Treatment’

It’s no secret that the new documentary called Stop The Presses: The American Newspaper in Peril pretty well skewers Belo’s Dallas Morning News. Filmmakers Mark Birnbaum and Manny Mendoza (from left, with Ed Bark, at Saturday’s Uncle Barky Show at Stratos Greek Taverna) set out originally to examine the DMN buyouts, after all, before casting their nets much wider. But it was still interesting to hear the filmmakers describe this weekend how DMN bigwigs Robert Decherd and Jim Moroney III conducted themselves during the documentary’s making. Jump to find out.

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Talking Truth to Boosterism

This is what a newspaper editorial ought to do, instead of the mush we usually get. Bravo to Rod Dreher for laying out the uncomfortable facts about Woodrow Wilson High School and our dismal failure to educate minority students.

Update: And not everybody over at the News is happy about it. The sort of reasoning on display in Michael Landauer’s response is useful only for those who want to cover up or ignore our failure. Instead of lauding “noble efforts,” which is all the News editorials usually do, what’s wrong with asking why they are needed? To say that even suburban schools have problems with educating minorities is an excuse, not a reply. The plain fact is, we are failing yet another generation of non-white children, as the facts cited by Rod clearly show.

Calling All Potential Playmates

Folks from Playboy will be in Dallas April 15 and 16 searching for the mag’s 55th anniversary Playmate. If that’s not enough to pique your interest, The Girls Next Door star Holly Madison is leading the charge and filming for the show’s next season will coincide with the auditions. (BTW, D gents, the PR contact is “more than happy” to set up a time for someone to talk to Amber Campisi, Holly Madison, or Bryleigh Rayne, a local girl who is currently gracing the cover of Playboy NUDES, whatever that is.) I’ll still have a B cup and my modesty next week, but those not so hindered should check it out and then pretty please write us and tell us all about it. Jump for audition details.

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Robert Decherd: $10 Million Man

The proxy statement for the new Belo Corp. is out (that’s the broadcasting company; A. H. Belo is the newspaper company). Below the jump is the executive compensation schedule. There’s no doubt the company split was good for one person. Actually, comparing 2006 to 2007, it was good for five people. (Remember, this is only one proxy statement. There’s another one, with another compensation schedule, to come.) And, of course, I need to note that Belo’s stock has fallen 30 percent since it went to market on February 1.

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Gloria Campos Is in the Market for a New Mattress

An alert FrontBurnervian points us to the video of Campos asking for your mattress recommendations. She says, “I don’t have to tell you women you don’t want to be hot — at least not in that way — in bed.” Yes, true. Let’s get this woman a comfortable mattress!

Kristin Campbell Talks About Fingers

It’s times like these when I remember why I decided to become a journalist: to make a difference in the world. I just interviewed Kristin Campbell, co-host of the DaFoWo Show, for a ditty we’re doing in the “print product” next month. You’ll have to wait for the full-on. But here’s a little taste.

Esquire Steals From D Magazine

On the left you see the May issue of Esquire, which has been leaked (and if you go to What Would Tyler Durden Do? you can see some really saucy pics of Jessica that will appear inside the magazine, if you’re into that sort of thing). On the right, you see the cover of the May issue of D Magazine, which has also been leaked. Do you see the similarities? Good grief. They clearly ripped us off. I mean, this goes against every journalism ethics rule in the book. They should be ashamed. Sure, their cover has Jessica shaving, and our cover has her right after she shaved, but they’re still too close. I don’t know if we can sue for this sort of thing, but a strongly worded letter from our lawyers is certainly in order.

Re: Magazine Welcomes New Managing Editor

Glad to be here, thanks for the welcome.  I expect you all to be nice for the next two days, then I know all bets are off. (Side note: Bob Schieffer has the softest hands of any man I’ve met.)

Magazine Welcomes New Managing Editor

Today is Kristiana Heap’s first day as managing editor of D CEO magazine. She’s been here four hours and hasn’t run screaming from the building yet, so I’m taking that as a good sign. A native of Odessa — her family owns an oil-field-supply business there — Kristiana comes from Park Cities People, where she worked first as the paper’s society editor, then as its real estate editor. She’s a TCU grad and also has a masters degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York. So, she’s really smart and accomplished. Come to think of it, with credentials like that, she actually may be angling for my job as CEO editor. Kristiana, are you trying to take my job?!

What Mike Shropshire (and Randy Galloway) Were Doing 33 Years Ago Today

The Last Real Season, Mike Shropshire’s wonderfully profane book about the 1975 Major League Baseball season, hits stores on May 14. The conceit is simple: it’s more or less the diary Shropshire kept while following the Texas Rangers as a beat reporter for the Star-T during the last year before free agency changed the game. After the jump is Shrop’s April 4 entry, featuring a cameo by one Randy Galloway.

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DaFoWo Show Continues to Work Blue

Every week, the kids over at the Star-T surprise me with what they can get away with on their little webisode thingy. [standing, clapping]

Marty Cortland Gets Religion

An alert FBvian points us to this blog, whereon it is revealed that Marty’s work for us has been the subject of a Sunday school class. I’m sure he’s flattered.

Pole Dancing, Hand-wringing In A Flick About Newspapers

There were short fun clips of newspaper people as portrayed in the movies, from Bogie and Kirk Douglas to Citizen Kane. There was generous footage of The Lodge, complete with pole dancers, since an ex-Dallas Morning News staffer now works at the local “gentleman’s club” as a manager. But the bulk of Stop The Presses: The American Newspaper in Peril–it premiered before a packed house of DMNers Wednesday night at the AFI Dallas International Film Festival–was an earnest, talking-heads take on newspapers aggregating all the conventional wisdom on the subject, sort of like a long article in the Columbia Journalism Review. Jump for the local connections, of which there were many. (more…)

Re: I’m Gonna Put This Out There.

Eric, I couldn’t agree more about Jessica, who’s been a stellar managing editor for two years at D CEO magazine. The good news for CEO is that–in the best spirit of intramural theft–we’ve swooped up the estimable Kristiana Heap from D’s People Newspapers group to succeed Jessica as CEO’s m.e. We’re breaking Kristiana in right now with the Anchorman references.

Why All Those Layoffs At Local TV Stations

It’s more than just the economy. So explains this analysis from the Baltimore Sun. But merely looking at dollars misses a critical point, as explained by George Gilder many years ago, arguing that differentiation in media would force broadcast into a downward spiral of vulgarity in order to try to keep some portion of the audience. Key point:

Television is not vulgar because people are vulgar, it is vulgar because people are similar in their prurient interests and sharply differentiated in their civilized concerns.

Tree Query

A curious FrontBurnervian asks the FB Nation:

Any idea why the DMA has chopped down all its trees along St. Paul??? The last one was being removed just a little bit ago.

The obvious answer is: Art for art’s sake. But I bet there’s another reason.

Harvard Lampoon Takes On National Geographic

Allisonette #2 works on the Lampoon, and she asks the FrontBurner Nation to run — not walk, run — to the nearest newsstand to buy a copy of its latest parody. I’ve read it flipped through it. If you’re the politically correct, puritanical group I think you are, do not buy this magazine.

Watch Michael Hogue Paint

I’ve long been a fan of Hogue’s work. He’s a DMN staff illustrator. So I dug this time lapse video of him at work. Worth a viewing if you have a few.

My New Favorite Thing: “Ben and Skin’s Hot Potato Salad”

Quick continues to show that it is not afraid to take chances. Read this and tell me it doesn’t make you laugh. I have added it to my RSS.

Layoffs at Channel 11

Wow. This is huge. Uncle Barky reports that Channel 11 has laid off reporter Robert Riggs and producer John Sparks. Reporter Kaushal Patel is gone, too, but with all due respect, the Riggs and Sparks sackings are the big news. This does not bode well for 11.

Update: I got Tracy Rowlett on the phone as he was preparing for his 5 o’clock newscast — meaning he didn’t have much time to talk. In short: “It’s a sad day,” he says. “It’s a station-wide deal. Every time a door closes, you wonder who is next. I’ve watched this happen so many times in this business. But it’s the economy. It’s going to hell in a hand basket.”

Dallas Mayor Chats With Austin Editor

The Austin editor in question is Evan Smith, who sits down with Tom Leppert for this week’s Texas Monthly Talks. I’ve watched the first half of the interview. So far, zero mentions of Leppert’s ultra-lengthy digits.

Jeff Crilley Calls It Quits at Channel 4

Uncle Barky has the scoop. The reporter plans to set up his own PR shop staffed solely with former practicing journalists. I would say something snarky, but I don’t want it to come back and bite me two years from now when I ask Crilley for a job.

The DaFoWo Show Hearts FrontBurner Hard

The Star-Telegram’s silly (in a good way) online webisode interslice thing just posted its second chapter, in which host Kristin Campbell kicks out a shout to FrontBurner — more specifically FB commentor Danno — for inventing the term “carsonist.” All well and fine. Thanks for that. But we urge McClatchy management to take a bigger role in the selection of Campbell’s wardrobe. As Eric noted earlier, the red sweater is handsome. Boo to the floral-print blouse.

Dirk’s Awkward/Awesome Turn at the Mike Last Night

Since The Big German has been reduced to showing off his Big & Tall semi-formal wear for the next few weeks, the gang at Fox Southwest had the bright idea of handing him a microphone and extremely shoddy earpiece for an interview during the Mavericks’ game against the Clippers last night. Pretty good stuff, though I’m not sure his use of “short bus” to describe an errant Corey Maggette jumper is kosher. (Hat tips: The Fanhouse and Odenized.)