InkBlots

Writes C-L reader Dick Acker of Madison: “Why is it that The Clarion-Ledger has to repeatedly add the words ‘who is a former tobacco lobbyist’ after Gov. Haley Barbour’s name whenever his name appears in a news article? What has that got to do with the price of eggs?”

Responds Charles Freeman of Brandon: “I don’t think so. Even though Haley Barbour is governor of Mississippi, he shows his true colors by keeping taxes low on cigarettes, keeping taxes high on groceries.”

And Walley Morse is glad the newspaper in his neck of the woods is not running things: “None of them seems to have a grasp on what taxes are. According to them, it is just a tax shift to tax the existing smokers in the state, some half million smokers, an additional $184 million in taxes. That is a TAX my friends.“

Longtime Neshoba Democrat publisher and editor Stanley Dearman will be presented the Silver Em Award from Ole Miss next month in Oxford. Dearman, who retired in 2001, led the Democrat during one of the most turblent periods in the state’s history and covered the infamous civil rights murders in Philadelphia.

A French newspaper of Christian persuasion has picked up on The Reflector coverage of Playboy Magazine’s recent visit to the Mississippi State University campus.

The Reflector editorial board goes out of its way to prove it’s the good guys in the brouhaha over its coverage.

Charged with covering the story, this reporter was dismayed to find Starkville was relatively smut-free.

The Tunica Times has launched a new publication aimed at the bustling tourism industry in Northwest Mississippi. The weekly paper will premiere Tunica Visitor at hotels and other venues at the end of the month.

“It’s a way for attractions, local restaurants and shops to reach visitors in a way that hasn’t been available before,” Visitor Publisher Brooks Taylor said. “It is a product of Tunica Publishing Company and copies are free.”

The Sun Herald’s editorial board has a stern reply for Sen. Hob Bryan of Amory, who has said the newspaper “could not be trusted to print the truth about casinos or casino-related legislation because it receives advertising revenue from casinos. Presumably this means that no one acts out of principle - only for money. And, presumably, the senator believes that the integrity of this newspaper is negotiable - which it is not.

Franklin Advocate editor Mary Lou Webb responds in the pages of The Clarion-Ledger to comments from the U.S. Attorney’s office she says “blemish” the memory of her husband, David Webb, linking the late newspaperman to Klan activities.

The Hattiesburg Police Department has denied the Hattiesburg American’s request to see the transcript or listen to the tape of an emergency call that led to the Feb. 25 arrest of a bagel shop owner.

UPDATE: The Hattiesburg Police Department has released one of the public documents requested by the American two weeks ago. One of two requested log sheets documenting the time a 911 call was placed to the police by Southbound Bagel Shop owner Chris Hackbarth Feb. 24 was faxed to the newspaper’s attorney Thursday.

Wednesday’s Commercial Dispatch was printed - and delivered - five hours later than usual, due to problems with equipment its imagesetter. The paper’s production crew regrouped in Tupelo.

The Democrat in Senatobia takes issue with The Clarion-Ledger’s heavy-handed front page treatment of Sen. Tommy Robertson, the Finance Chairman who let the Tobacco-Grocery Tax Swap legislation die this week…

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal on the Toyota site prep: “The start of clearing illustrates the intensity with which the goal of opening the plant in 2010 is pursued, and next week, another major step is scheduled in the preliminary work.”…

The DeSoto Tribune on the death of the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi: “Mississippians should understand that the loss of the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi should not necessarily mean that the partnership’s work is dead.”

Former Mississippi publisher John Fitzwater, now at the Ledger in Lakeland, Fla., has announced his retirement after 45 years in the business…Steve Mullen, a former assistant Metro editor for The Clarion-Ledger, was recently promoted to managing editor of The Bakersfield Californian. By the way, the Californian is noted for having one of the most innovative designs for an American newspaper.