InkBlots

After a little more than a year at the helm, John Newhouse resigned as publisher of The Clarion-Ledger Tuesday. No reason was immediately given, but Newhouse, who came to the Jackson daily from Louisiana, was praised by executive editor Ronnie Agnew for his responsiveness and leadership after Hurricane Katrina. The storm hit Mississippi just days after Newhouse arrived in August 2005. He took the reins of the paper from Michael Craft, another former Louisiana publisher for Gannett who retired last year.

The Jackson Free Press wags are predictably atwitter over the development.

Amy McCullough has joined The Greenwood Commonwealth as a general assignment reporter…the Jackson State University PR department has been poaching a few of The Clarion-Ledger’s staff lately, it appears.

The Student Press Law Center reports: Almost half of the press run of the University of Southern Mississippi’s student newspaper disappeared from racks last week, but editors say the police are relunctant to investigate the theft because the newspaper is free.

In other Student Printz news, The Hattiesburg American profiles David McRaney, the USM editor whose been earning a lot of ink for himself these days.

Mobile blogger Rob Holbert opines over the precipitous dip in circulation for the Press-Register, which he says oustripped the national trend by seeing its numbers fall 5 percent in six months. He also notes an uphill battle in Pascagoula/Gautier, where The Mississippi Press is still trying to recover from last year’s devastating hurricane.

For the record, the Press’ 2006 Statement of Ownership recorded daily circ at 19,095, about 6 percent off its pre-hurricane levels.

This is getting to be a habit. The city of Jackson will pay The Mississippi Link more than $45,000 to settle a lawsuit with the newspaper.

The Mississippi Supreme Court has rejected The Clarion-Ledger’s last-ditch attempts to open records involving the impact on electricity consumers from Entergy’s special contract with Nissan.

Writes Sun Herald staffer Kat Bergeron on making 30 years with the Biloxi paper: What better way to celebrate 30 fascinating years with this newspaper than with a pair of good binoculars, especially if the words Sun Herald are emblazoned on them. Binoculars signify vision, clarity and a better ability to study what is around us. What more could a veteran journalist ask for?

The Clarion-Ledger made its list of endorsements Sunday morning: “Endorsements are not meant to ‘tell people how to vote.’ But the endorsements, like editorials, represent the opinion of the newspaper and not individuals, on issues we hold important as an institution attempting to serve the best interests of the state.”

Writes syndicated columnist Sid Salter: While the incumbents have been dutifully going through the motions of campaigning and the challengers have given it a good effort, the 2006 congressional elections in Mississippi have never really been in doubt.

Why? Because in modern politics, money talks and good intentions walk.

Money produces and buys TV and newspaper ads, yard signs, push cards and direct mail pieces. Lack of money puts you on the side of the road holding a sign.

A well-known north Mississippi lawyer has spent more than $5,000 of his own money on ads criticizing a circuit judge seeking re-election. Jim Waide is running broadcast and print ads in the Columbus and Starkville area in opposition to Judge Jim Kitchen’s re-election. One newspaper in West Point refused to run his ad, Waide said.