Raleigh

The topic at breakfast downtown this morning was the cutbacks at the N&O – and consolidation with The Charlotte Observer. “Society and democracy took a hit this week,” one friend said. He believes the cuts mean less competition among the papers, less news coverage and less scrutiny of government. “But the papers have to face…

When it comes to brute cunning it’s hard to match the Wake County School Board – it’s budget time and they’ve met the County Commissioners in fiscal battle head-on. The Board says it can cut dropout rates and graduate ninety percent of its students by 2013 – but there’s a catch. It needs more money.…

Frank Daniels, the acid-tongued former N&O publisher, greeted a Raleigh reporter recently thusly: “Still got a job?” It’s a question of lot of newspaper employees are asking these days. Two big trees fell last week: Paul O’Connor with the Winston-Salem Journal and Chuck Riesz with the Wilmington Star took buyouts. Word is that more axes…

Some members of Governor Easley’s email study commission are privately critical of the news media – like the N&O – for both covering the story and being part of the story. The commission members believe the dual role has led to slanted coverage. They think media representatives have been unreasonable and inconsistent in their appearances…

The Wake County Manager’s trying to hold the line on spending – but he’s getting no sympathy from the School Board. He offered to increase the school’s budget more than any other local government agency – but the School Board told him to take a hike. That just won’t cut the mustard; it wants another…