InkBlots

Think Worldcom (Now MCI). Or Kmart Corp. (Now Sears). When times are tough, a name change might be in order. Such is the case with Hollinger International, publisher of The Chicago Sun-Times and once one of the largest publishers of community newspapers in the U.S. The company announced Monday it was changing its name to Sun Times Media Group in an effort to distance itself from its major stockholder, Hollinger Inc., once controlled by mighty Conrad Black. The company was a major international media congolmerate, controlling vast numbers of papers in Canada, as well as major, respected dailies in London and Jerusalem.

Back in the day, Hollinger operated in the U.S. under the American Publishing banner, and owned an assortment of newspapers in Mississippi, including The Meridian Star, Laurel Leader Call, Starkville Daily News and West Point Daily Times Leader, among others. The company eventually sold off most all of its holdings outside the Chicagoland area to buyers like Liberty Group and CNHI. Sales of papers in the late 90s are what eventually led to Black’s legal troubles, which began in earnest a couple of years ago.

What you’ve all been waiting on…results from the Oregon Newspaper Association 2006 Better Newspaper Contest, which we judged this spring.

We ran across this profile of The Sun Herald on the McClatchy Website.

Waco (Texas) Tribune-Herald Opinion Page editor John Young invokes the memory of 19th century Mississippi newspaper editor William McCardle, a vehement opponent of Reconstruction, in his argument against Congress overstepping its bounds and dictating boundaries for the Judicial Branch.