No one can accuse Graphics Editor Grey Blackwell of not having the Christmas spirit.
Well, OK, they can. Blackwell's latest animated cartoon, has attracted more than 25,000 viewers in its first half-day on our Web site.
The two-minute animation depicts fired ACC and SEC football coaches getting the boot from a Santa that some viewers will find familiar.
The new work is lighting up the blogs that devote themselves to ACC athletics. "Kinda classless for N O since they are gone.
..but funny nonetheless," reads one post on The Wolf Web.
For this cartoon, Blackwell drew from characters he has lampooned before: recently departed coaches John Bunting (UNC) and Chuck Amato (NCSU) as well as some whistle-carriers new to his online work.
Blackwell is a native of Oxford and a graduate of NCSU who has worked at The News Observer for nearly 10 years. The animation work is only part of his job, but the animations usually take about 60 hours for one minute of cartoon in motion.
An anonmyous letter was the tip that got Dan Kane and J. Andrew Curliss interested in how former House Page Coordinator Ann Lassiter
sent teenage pages to live with her son, a convicted felon, admitted she'd made a mistake in doing so, retired and went on to a new job as House historian. Speaker Jim Black made it happen, read how it worked in
Many such stories have come from tips -- scribbled on scraps of paper, left on voice mail messages, sent by email and so forth.
A tip is just that, offering a direction for reporting. Kane asked me to tell potential tipsters his address here at The N O: , or 215 S. McDowell St.
, Raleigh, 27602. Twelve-year-old boy wants Nintendo Game Boy Advance. Great-grandmother wraps Game Boy, places under Christmas tree and tells boy not to open.
She finds gift unwrapped. Mother calls police. Boy is charged with petty larceny.
You might have read this in The News Observer or on newsobserver.com. It was written by Monica Chen from our sister paper in Rock Hill, S.
C. You are seeing more stories in The N O from the other McClatchy papers in the Carolinas The Charlotte Observer and five papers in South Carolina: The State in Columbia, The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, The Herald in Rock Hill, The Beaufort Gazette and The Island Packet in Hilton Head. Three of these papers joined McClatchy when it purchased Knight Ridder this summer.
We are now actively working to share content to make all of our reports better.
We share stories with the other McClatchy papers in the Carolinas as soon as we write and edit them. So you could see a story in The News Observer and The Island Packet in the same day.
But because we re based in the same state, most of our shared coverage is with The Charlotte Observer. N O readers consistently find The Observer s excellent Panthers and NASCAR coverage in our paper and Web site. Sometimes, our two news departments work together on coverage, as we did recently when a deadly tornado struck.
Our business news staffs worked together recently on a holiday gift guide and have more joint efforts planned. Joining the resources of the seven news organizations will make each of us better.
A sub-headline on a front-page story today contained a major error, incorrectly saying that Peyton Strickland of Durham was killed by UNC-Wilmington officers last weekend.
As the story correctly reported, Strickland was shot and killed by New Hanover County sheriff's deputies; the sheriff's department thus far has refused to identify them.
The News Observer regrets the error and apologizes to UNC-Wilmington and its police officers. We will publish a front-page correction in the print edition Thursday in a spot as prominent as the original error.
We have corrected the error on our Web site.
The N O recently initiated a new version of our annual series, a feature that provides information about nonprofit organizations that serve the needy. At this time of year, we are especially aware of the impulse in the community to share blessings with the less fortunate, so you will see a variety of how-to-help features in the coming weeks.
You may also see more articles similar to the by retail reporter Sue Stock published on Saturday's front page. Sue closely examined appeals by several national chains and local stores in which the purchase of a particular item is promoted as a contribution to a deserving charity, such as medical care for children. It's not our intent to throw cold water on people's good feelings, but we also aim to get the bottom of things and to watch out for the interests of our readers.
Sue discovered that some of these sales resulted in just pennies to the charities from the dollars you hand over for certain items.
Later this month, look for another piece examining further the question of effective giving.
This idea was part of a discussion in the newsroom on how to cover the on Raleigh's Poplar Street.
We recognized that thousands of our readers are enthused about the gift of a decent home for the family of a woman who has given so much over the years to her neighbors. Again, we are charged to take a step back and balance that coverage with the realities of the disruption to the surrounding communities and the fact that this venture also benefits certain commercial interests. Moreover, what happens when the television cameras and crowds leave Poplar Street?
How does the family cope with the new expenses of maintaining a different kind of home and the increased tax bill from the improved property?
This morning in Life, etc., readers saw a universal question answered in unconventional form.
Students at N.C. State University contemplated, in print, what they thought their lives would be like 40 years from now.
Their stories were presented as they wrote them for professor Bob Kochersberger's advanced journalism class. The idea came from reporter Thomas Goldsmith, who covers generations and aging.
Goldsmith says his spark came from a conference he attended in New York City in September.
He started thinking about where he could find young folks to present their thoughts on aging, and thought of Kochersberger.
The result: thoughtful and sometimes surprising musings.
Long-time readers of The N O (and I mean really l-o-o-ong-time readers) remember Charles Craven, reporter and columnist in the 1950s, 60 and 70s.
Charlie had a knack for capturing the everyday sights, sounds and people of Raleigh. He took his readers to the unofficial Raleigh, a world away from the striped-pants crowd at City Hall and the legislature.
Charlie s spirit lives on in The Word From, a short weekly feature in our City State section.
The N O should have a distinctive feel to it, unlike any other newspaper in the country. We want to be the Triangle s newspaper and Web site, and we want to take you to people and places that no one else does. Check out today s Word by Matthew Eisley, a nicely written on live holiday music at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
Charlie, who passed away years ago, would like it.
Newspapers, including this one, often are criticized for reporting the bad news and not the good. It s a valid criticism.
We take our watchdog role seriously, and most of us are more motivated by that instinct than we are by tales of triumph and heroism.
There are exceptions. Our coverage of high school and other youth sports is an example.
Our main high school reporters, Tim Stevens and Edward G. Robinson III, don t flinch from writing about bad sportsmanship or other problems. But they also write frequently about the amazing kids and coaches involved in amateur sports.
This week, Stevens wrote about North Mecklenburg boys soccer coach Marc , whose team lost a taut game to Broughton for the state championship. When Calderone read some negative comments about the game on a soccer Web site, he sought to change the tone by congratulating both teams. Robinson wrote recently about the Second Round Boxing , which is supported by the Triangle United Way, and Green Hope High freshman Nathan , who has cerebral palsy but runs for his school s cross country team.
This is the time of year when we are finishing up with football while basketball and other sports are active, so our Sports staff is fully engaged. For example, at the N.C.
State-ECU football game tomorrow night, we will have A.J. Carr writing the game story, with ECU beat writer Jaymes Powell and N.
C. State beat writer Chip Alexander focusing on key angles of the game for sidebars. And Chip and Jaymes will be developing those as the game progresses.
Columnist Caulton Tudor will also be at Carter-Finley. The big question hanging over the game is the fate of N.C.
State coach Chuck Amato. Lots of silence so far from the State athletic department. Different takes on this from our columnists.
...
.
The game starts around 7 p.m.
, thanks to ESPN, which is carrying it on the hard-to-get ESPNU (great if you own a sports bar with a dish, bad if you are a Time Warner Cable subscriber). Bad if you have tickets and are forced to shivver as the temperature heads to the mid-30s. Did I say 7 p.
m.? Usually, a 7 p.
m. game starts at 7:08, 7:10. Televised games usually run around three and a half hours, so it may be 10:30 p.
m. when it is over. Maybe ECU won't pass so much, and it could be shorter.
Our State edition press Saturday night rolls at 11 p.m. So it will be a scramble for that edition.
(Again, thank-U ESPN.)
The Final edition -- which goes to Triangle readers -- will be on the presses at 12:40.
We will also be putting results and a quick game summary online at newsobserver.
com.
Over in Durham, earlier in the day, UNC and Duke will be finishing up their forgettable seasons with a noon start at Wallace Wade. Joe Giglio will be covering that game, along with who has been in New York at the NIT Pre-Season tournament with the Tar Heels.
Columnist Ned Barnett will also be in Durham. Some of the (well all of the) drama has been taken out of that game because John Bunting's fate has been resolved, and today, we learned from that Duke's coach, Ted Roof, will be back next season.
Chavez, the Duke beat writer, will be helping out with the football coverage, and then will be covering the basketball team's game against Davidson Saturday night.
Also in Durham, will be covering Delta State at North Carolina Central in the NCAA Division II playoffs, which starts at 1 p.m.
Have I mentioned that Luke DeCock is in Boston covering the Canes vs.
the Bruins today at noon? Or that Robbi is still up in New York covering the Tar Heels in the consolation game against Tennesee this afternoon? Or that A.
J. will be at the RBC Center covering Gardner-Webb at N.C.
State?
Features editor Thad Ogburn tells me he's gotten around 100 comments, mostly emails, about the proposed comics changes we're making next week.
This is an excerpt from what Thad wrote earlier this week on the Life, etc.
front:
"On Nov. 27, we'll be adding four new comic strips to our daily lineup. They are:
- "Pearls Before Swine.
" This topical, irreverent strip features four wacky animals: Rat, Pig, Zebra and Goat (with occasional appearances by crocodiles). "Pearls" is the hottest comic in the newspaper business these days, and many of you have asked when we will finally get it. You now have your answer: Nov.
27.
- "Frazz." He's a spiky-haired elementary school janitor who is both friend and role model to a group of students.
Edwin "Frazz" Frazier also is a bit of a Renaissance man who knows about topics ranging from literature to music. We think you'll find this strip both clever and funny.
- "Edge City.
" This comic seems to have been written with the Triangle in mind. It's all about a two-career, two-child family in a high-tech area. They struggle to fit it all in: working out, picking up the kids at carpool, getting to the next conference call.
Sounds familiar, huh?
- "Watch Your Head." This strip also should ring true to many in the Triangle.
It's about a group of college students on their own for the first time at the predominantly black Oliver Otis University. Their adventures in dating, dealing with roommates and going to class are true-to-life and witty.
To make room for the new strips, we'll be saying goodbye to four comics.
One is "Boondocks," which is no longer being offered. Cartoonist Aaron McGruder seems to be more interested in his "Boondocks" TV show than his comic strip now.
The others departing are "Hagar the Horrible," "Cathy" and "Drabble.
" These are old friends who have served us well. But we feel it is time for fresh blood. Their last appearances will be Saturday.
Also, look for our special farewell salute to them Nov. 27.
Starting Dec.
3, "Pearls," "Frazz" and "Edge City" will be joining our color comics lineup, replacing "Hagar," "Cathy" and "The Wizard of Id."
On Friday, we'll have interviews with the cartoonists who draw these new strips and tell you more about the characters."
So far, according to Thad, around 46 people told him to keep Cathy, another 40 wanted to keep Drabble, and around 33 want to keep Hagar.
Some said we should make room for their favorites by getting rid of Sylvia and others said that we should retire Gil Thorp.
You can share your thoughts with us at or send them to Thad Ogburn, Features Editor, The News Observer, 215 S. McDowell St.
, Raleigh, NC 27601.
Thad says that he could revisit some of our choices if there's a big groundswell for a comic, which is why he's asking for comments. No guarantees.
He has to balance whether a new comic might have broader appeal than one we're now running. Newspapers have changed comics for as long as comics have existed, which is why you don't see the Katzenjammer Kids in many papers anymore.
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