• Dith Pran, ‘Killing Fields’ Photographer, Dies at 65 - New York Times
  (tags: photojournalism nyt dithpran killingfields cambodia)
• The Last Word: Dith Pran | The New York Times
  Nice video interview and profile of the Cambodia killing fields survivor.
  (tags: photojournalism dithpran nyt cambodia killingfields video)

So the Chicago Tribune’s Michael Tackett blogs today:

Just yesterday, according to the most reliable records on the subject, the death toll for U.S. forces in Iraq hit 4,000. The number was known quickly, the name of the fallen was not.

In very few places was the number even front page news in a war now five years old.

Among those “very few places” with a mention of the Iraq death toll on the front page: USA Today, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, Newsday, San Francisco Chronicle, Newark Star-Ledger, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Detroit Free Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Oregonian, San Diego Union-Tribune, St. Petersburg Times, Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, Kansas City Star, Indianapolis Star, San Jose Mercury News, Baltimore Sun, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Columbus Dispatch, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, San Antonio Express-News, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Charlotte Observer, Seattle Times, Tampa Tribune, Louisville Courier-Journal, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Cincinnati Enquirer and the Hartford Courant. As well as dozens of smaller papers.

Research! It’s what’s for dinner.

• The Photograph That Shocked America, and the Victim Who Stepped Outside the Frame - The Digital Journalist
  Nice story on the victim of the assault depicted in the iconic Stanley Forman photo of a white man attacking a black man with an American flag in 1976.
  (tags: photojournalism boston racism pulitzerprize newspapers)

• Journal Standard of Freeport, Ill., redesigns
  "We knew we had to change. Our newspaper had become boring. It was a collection of long, hard-to-read stories. Alternative story-telling formats, such as breakout boxes, were rarely used, and the visual presentation lacked consistency. It was obvious that
  (tags: newspapers design redesign)

Michael Bazeley, who worked at the San Jose Mercury News for 11 years, writes (prematurely, it is hoped) the paper’s obituary.

Managers from parent company Media News will continue to downsize the editorial staff until it’s down to several dozen people. (It’s at about 200 FTEs now, and will be 170 after Friday. New publisher Mac Tully has told the staff that downsizing could continue for the next 18-24 months.) They’ll consolidate the copy and design desks with their other Bay Area papers. They’ll work aggressively to get rid of union representation so they can bring salaries and benefits down to the substandard wages they are paying at their non-union papers. That will drive away whatever senior reporters are left, except those who are close to retirement (most of them are gone already) or who cannot find work elsewhere. And it will turn the paper into a waystation for young reporters looking to hone their skills and pad their resumes until something better comes along (being a mid-tier paper, that was already the case to some degree). The quality of the product will suffer.

Also, Ryan Sholin's advice: "So change. Or die."

Incidentally, the Merc reported today that enough employees took buyouts to avert layoffs.

Update: As Ashley points out, that story, though posted on the Merc's site, was from the Contra Costa Times and actually referred to other Bay Area publications owned by Media News Group. The Merc today laid off 15 in the newsroom and 19 from other departments.

» RIP Mercury News [Media Grunt: Michael Bazeley]

If Saul Bass did the Star Wars titles:

(via Calacanis)

Wow. Matt Mansfield, deputy managing editor and business development director at the San Jose Mercury News, is leaving the paper.

It’s also one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. Without question, I love the Merc: the work, the people, the place.

Leaving here will be a heartbreaking end to an amazing ride and, yet, the time feels right to exit. The buyout seemed an appropriate moment to hit the reset button.

I must admit to being more than a little sad right now, but I think that’s just because I’m nostalgic for a time that was, ultimately, unsustainable. That’s the difficult truth for many of us in newspapers right now.

What amazes me, looking back on it, is how much of myself has become tied up in my Merc personality. I’m humbled by the work we have been able to do here. And I’m genuinely indebted to my colleagues — present and past — who have worked tirelessly to make the Merc smart, successful and daring. They made me look good every day.

At our best, I hope we were able to set a pretty high benchmark.

He says he's not quite sure what's next yet, other than finishing up some redesign work for the Merc and doing some consulting and traveling.

Matt's been a good friend of this blog over the years. Good luck, Matt! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

» He’s leaving the Merc: Matt Mansfield to exit [SND Update]