Glossing over bloodbath

Newspapers were never very good at reporting their own news, but this morning's Press-Telegram really takes the cake for its lack of candor. The headline on the Web site is "New P-T publisher named" and much of the story is devoted to the selection of Mark Ficarra. Thing is, Mark Ficarra is already publisher of the Daily Breeze (as of January). As Kevin Roderick reported at LAO yesterday, the Press-Telegram and the Daily Breeze will be folded into a single operation - a point not exactly explained in the story. But we do get to learn a bunch about the "new" publisher's background as vice president of advertising for the East Valley Tribune in Phoenix and general manager of the Phoenix Pennysaver. Also included is his canned statement: "I look forward to working with all of the employees and management at the Press-Telegram to best serve our readers and advertisers in these great communities." Talk about not fessing up to what this is really about: An implosion of the Socal Singleton papers. The elimination of the P-T publisher and managing editor positions received similar press release treatment. Shouldn't faithful readers be told straight up that their newspaper, as they’ve known it, has pretty much ceased to exist? (And don't blame the reporter - I'm sure she was only following orders.)