InkBlots

Writes Chris Peck, editor of The Commercial Appeal: “A short 24 days after she was stabbed seven times in her own garage by a drug-crazed criminal, Vickie Patton quietly went back to work.

“‘I thought it would be better for me than sitting around at home,’ she said after her first day back.

“Patton, 50, sells advertising for the DeSoto Appeal, the daily Mississippi edition of this newspaper.

“Her story of random crime became ours.”

The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday agreed that the Hattiesburg American was improperly denied access to documents into an investigation of the seizure of reporters’ tapes of a 2004 speech by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

The decision comes more than two years after the newspaper appealed the U.S. Marshals Service’s refusal to allow access to records pertaining to the seizure of tapes of Scalia’s speech at Presbyterian Christian School in April 2004.

Wrote the newspaper in a followup editorial: “That is an awfully long time to wait for what should have been a simple decision.”

A Harrison County Chancery Court judge has ruled in a lawsuit brought by The Sun Herald that the videotape of the beating of inmate Jessie Lee Williams Jr. is public record.Williams, 40, of Gulfport, died Feb. 6, 2006, two days after a beating in the jail booking room.

However, Chancellor Jim Persons said Wednesday that he cannot order the release of materials that the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department no longer has. Persons said the newspaper will have to go to U.S. District Court.

The Rankin County News has gone online.

Recent finds from a University of South Alabama Survey in Jackson County: Over half of the respondents said their primary source of news about county government is the newspaper. Another quarter said newspapers are their secondary source of information. Television followed with 70.3 percent listing newscasts as the primary or secondary sources of information on the county. However, less than a third of respondents listed television as the primary source of information.

Judging by the record feedback we’ve had to today’s anniversary post (three emails!), there are indeed some people out there paying attention. Guess we’ll have to mind our act going forward.

The Jackson Free Press is paying attention, too (darn those Google News Alerts!). We caught an eye earlier today by including, then removing a link to a post about a 2006 dustup over The Clarion-Ledger’s Distribution Network. Turns out this is the one we meant to revisit (wink, wink).

We’ve been at this for a solid year now, for no other reason than to indulge our passion for newspapers and gossip. The two, as it turns out, often go hand-in-hand. In honor of this blog’s first anniversary, we offer a Rorschach’s assortment of some favorite posts from the past 12 months.

In chronological order…

• May 25, 2006: Ghosthunters explore The Meridian Star pressroom.
• June 1, 2006: AJR profiles four exemplary Mississippi weeklies.
• July 19, 2006: Emmerich publishers play Survivor, Deliverance-style.
• August 17, 2006: Youthful Jackson store clerk knows of Tang, but only from TV dramatizations.
• August 23, 2006: A Massachusetts egghead takes a tired swipe at Mississippi.
• September 6, 2006: Oprah and BFF Gayle King stop for fries at BK in Kosciusko.
• November 10, 2006: Alabama fan does his English Comp professor and Debate Club sponsor proud.
• November 14, 2006: Rep. Rangel serves own foot for early Thanksgiving dinner.
• November 27, 2006: Vegans flabbergasted by enlightened newspaper article.
• December 7, 2006: Pigs fly; have layover in West Point.
• December 18, 2006: Secret Santa brought joy to many during his life.
• March 11, 2006: Hinds County official proves one can’t have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.
• March 25, 2006: Playboy does Starkville.
• May 2, 2007: Former reporter begs pardon for Cash.

Gray Swoope, executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority, is proud of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal for not spilling the beans about Toyota. Turns out the paper was well aware of the intricate mating dance leading up to the announcement of the automaker’s decision to build a plant in Union County.

“The projects that play out in the paper are the hardest to work on,” he added, noting that though the Journal knew well in advance of Toyota’s interest in the Tupelo area, the newspaper did not publicize the information out of fears of blowing the deal.

The Delta Democrat Times is redesigning its Website.

We don’t have a Web link, but the May 10 edition of the Clarksdale Press Register reports Richard Webster, former mayor of the Delta town, has taken over as publisher. He succeeds Stone Ellis who resigned, according to the paper, for health reasons. An editorial in that day’s edition frankly discusses some of the problems the newspaper has faced in recent months, including staff turnover, which has also involved a number of positions in the newsroom.

We did find what is apparently Ellis’ last column for the paper, dated May 9, addressing delivery problems in adjoining counties.

Webster, 59, had been serving as ad director when he was named publisher. He was a four-term mayor of Clarksdale from the late 70s-90s and also had served an earlier tour in advertising at the paper a few years back. Webster is a radio football analyst for Delta State University, where he earned his business degree.

To recap, Bubba Burnham recently returned to the newspaper as editor. He had left the CPR in 06 after serving for a period as its sports editor. The May 10 edition also noted the return of Larry Binz as a staff reporter. Binz resigned earlier this year after a stint as news editor and a run in sports.