Dawn Girocco has been hired by the L.A. Times to head the advertising department.

From L.A. Observed: "Those fears within the Tribune about Sam Zell's radio-izing of the company look even more justified now. A day after the Los Angeles Times hired a top executive with roots in the Phil Anschutz empire, he hires a new advertising senior VP from FM radio. Pretty sad that being mentioned as one of Los Angeles Magazine's ill-fated 64 Best Things is written into a bio as a mentionable plus."

Roderick's got the memo. We didn't even finish reading it. It's our birthday, and we feel no need to make ourselves sad.

Nicholas Carlson at ValleyWag pens "5 Ways The Newspapers Botched The Web":

Here's our theory: Daily deadlines did in the newspaper industry. The pressure of getting to press, the long-practiced art of doom-and-gloom headline writing, the flinchiness of easily spooked editors all made it impossible for ink-stained wretches to look farther into the future than the next edition.

He also delves into some botched tries at using the internet to create revenue.

It's an industry autopsy done by the replacements. Ouch.

Jack Ewing pens a piece for Business Week with the title,"Where Newspapers Are Thriving." The subtitle reads,"Germany's papers are doing fine despite the ad flight to the Web. What's their secret?"

Holy crap! Good question! They're doing something in Europe that works? A business model in a business magazine?! Do tell! How do they make money in spite of the internet siphoning ad revenue? Throw us a line oh Business Week. Enlighten us about all those viable Teutonic newspapers!

That pressure helped Bild maintain its focus on original content. It uses almost no wire copy and brags that every story is an exclusive. Even during the crisis years, Bild kept its 800-strong editorial staff intact. What advice does Diekmann have for American newspapers? "It's too late."

Yeah, thanks...that's great. Very helpful. Jerks.

TellZell has started an online petition urging everyone in Los Angeles who knows how to read and write (and Joel Stein) to sign a petition calling for Sam Zell to add two seats to the Tribune board of directors -- "one to represent the workers and another to represent readers."

For those with a vested interest in a quality local paper (and Joel Stein), here's the petition site.

We were delighted to find actual local news on the front page of this local paper. Of course, for all our talk about small and medium dailies needing to focus on community issues, we didn't actually, um, buy a San Luis Obispo Tribune. But in fairness to us, we were just passing through.

Earlier:
News Box: The State of the State's Newspapers Part I

We took a week to tool around the state, heading north along Route 1 on a lil' family vacation. But we didn't forget you, dear Fishbowl Fans. All along the way we shot pics of news boxes that, we think, tell a pretty clear story of what is right -- and wrong -- with the state of print today.

Here, for instance, are the side-by-side boxes of the beleaguered Santa Barbara News-Press and the far-more-respected Santa Barbara Independent. Guess which one still has readers.

Our thanks to Vishal Iyer and his blog Interaction Design for this photo.

The newspaper announced it officially on Saturday.

We asked our favorite (as if there are others) Newsroom Angel of Death, Erica Smith what she thought of the news. She sent us this email:

It's heartbreaking, of course. The Chronicle's announcement pushed the number of layoffs and buyouts this year above 7,000. (There are more, of course, because some papers have not said how many people have been laid off or have accepted buyouts.) Adding in the cuts at the Chronicle and the Modesto Bee, about 17 percent of all layoffs/buyouts this year have been in California.

We better find some gays or illegal immigrants to blame this on - quick!

In a move of sheer idiocy, the L.A. Daily News has banned jeans from the workplace. As if journos in these tight economic times could afford slacks! L.A. Observed as the skinny, as well as news that editorial page editor Chris Weinkopf is hiking up his Levis and shoving off.

A tipster has alerted us to a rumor that the Los Angeles Daily News is getting ready to condense its news/sports/comics into one section and completely shutter features. Our outraged tipster notes, "Even the NY Post has features."

The tipster, a local publicist who relies on places like newspaper feature sections says, "Sorry for my lack of 'corporate speak,' but this just sucks. The state of journalism in LA is really concerning -- the solid reporters/editors who are getting laid off, early retirement, marginalized or just shown the door really does not bode well for the community and nation as a whole."