“I am stepping down as Publisher and CEO of our company,” says Philadelphia Media Network’s Greg Osberg. “My good friend and partner, Bob Hall, will immediately become Publisher and CEO.”

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working with all the various people throughout our organization. So much so, that I have agreed to stay on as an advisor to Bob and the owners in matters pertaining to digital strategy and advertising sales. I will be operating out of my office during this engagement.

Osberg’s memo is after the jump. Read More

- From Slate

The journalist who forwarded this typo swears the copy wasn’t altered. (“I love Slate and would never make them look silly on purpose.”) Slate has since changed “men who have sex with me” to, of course, “men who have sex with men.”

* FDA panel approves HIV-fighting pill for preemptive use (Slate)

Like many news outlets, the Jersey Journal invites high school students to submit photos for its online prom gallery.

Editors at the Journal were curious about the three batches of 20 photos emailed by Albert Morales because “they were really well-captioned, but it didn’t say where the photos were taken,” says Journal deputy managing editor Ron Zeitlinger. “Everything was done so perfectly, but important information was left out.”

Albert Morales and Gabriela Peraza: The couple seen on prom photo galleries around the country

Also, some photos that arrived on May 9 claimed to be from a local prom that had yet to be held.

While Zeitlinger fired off some questions to the email address that accompanied the photos, a colleague did Google searches on the prom-goers.

That led them to find photos of the couple on cleveland.com, a Minnesota website and many other places, the editor says in a phone interview. “They were the same photos we received.”

Journal editors sent another note to Morales and asked why he was submitting photos all over the country. (They’d since discovered he was from California.)

“We said we wanted to know why you did it, and that we’re not mad,” says Zeitlinger.

Morales emailed back:

“We just wanted to have the prom pictures to be published and as seen by many people as possible. … Just trying to have fun by remembering good prom memories.”

Zeitlinger tells Romenesko readers: “I thought that maybe there was some agenda, but I don’t think so. We thought it was funny they did this. It’s almost like they’re poking fun at the fact that so many things can go online and not get vetted. We’re just glad we vetted them.”

* California couple relive prom memories on websites around the country (NJ.com)
* Websites that ran the California couple’s prom photos (NJ.com)

Andrew Julien

Hartford Courant veteran Andrew Julien has been named editor of the paper, replacing Naedine Hazell, who is stepping down “for personal reasons” and will take a yet-to-be-determined role in the Courant’s newsroom, says a press release.

Julien has been with the Courant for 23 years and most recently served as Integrated Media Editor for the paper and FOX CT.

The release is after the jump. Read More

Highlights from Reddit users’ chat with an anonymous Google employee:

Is it considered taboo in Google culture to go home at 5pm, like it is a lot of places in the software industry lately?

I don’t think it’s taboo to go home at 5. I sometimes go home much earlier. My personal policy is that if I realize I am being entirely ineffective (say, I’m overly tired or having a bad day, or just not in the groove), I won’t waste my or Google’s time by sitting and staring at my workstation – I go home. On the days where I’m in the groove and making great progress, I’ll keep working from home in the evenings (because I want to).

Does anyone work from home or is it compulsory to work at the office?

Tons of people work from home. If you can do your job, there’s no real requirement on where you are. Of course, there are advantages to being in the office – face to face time with coworkers, being able to be in a meeting in person, etc. But there’s no requirement that you be in the office at any time.

What’s the dress code like?

I don’t think we have one. I think it falls under the other codes, primarily “don’t be a jackass.” But I’ve seen folks in suits, kilts, pajamas, sweats, etc.

What is the use of Google products like inside Google, like would it be acceptable to submit a report or document using Docs or have a professional long distance meeting over a hangout?

Extensive. If anyone submitted a report or doc with something other than Docs, they’d get funny looks and probably get mocked mercilessly ;) We use hangouts all the time. We really believe in “eating our own dogfood”./CONTINUES
Read More

I asked some leading journalism schools about their freshman class numbers for fall 2012. Their reports:

From Columbia Graduate School of Journalism admission and financial aid director Leon M. Braswell:

This year we experienced a 4.4% drop in applications across our three degree programs. However, our yield remains strong (the number of people who responded affirmatively to our offers of admission) which is a testimony of the strong interest in journalism. Our overall yield is 75% which is quite high. So, while the applications number dropped a bit, Columbia’s programs continue to enroll serious students who are interested in the profession.

In terms of young people’s interest, I think it is increasing. Even though we had a drop, we continue to see growth among those who are just graduating from college. Our enrolling class is getting younger, suggesting that people who have jobs may be delaying or completely forgoing any advance training via graduate school.

Medill chief marketing officer Michael Dizon:

Historically, interest in Medill’s journalism program among high school seniors has been high, and we see that continuing.

Regarding the number of applications, I’m unable to share that with you. As you know, we’re a private university, and we compete with other journalism schools around the country. We will not be making those numbers public.

From Missouri School of Journalism:

There were 2,380 incoming freshman applications for fall 2012 classes vs. 2,256 in 2011 and 2,208 in 2010.

I’ve asked for stats from other schools and will post them if they come in.

Bob Ashley, who resigned as Herald-Sun executive editor in 2011, is returning to that position after serving as Preservation Durham executive director for 13 months. (Nancy Wykle is stepping down as editor to take a job as Department of Social Services volunteer programs director.)

There’s only one comment on the story announcing Ashley’s return to the paper. Here it is:

Bob Ashley? Really? This is the guy who violated every canon of journalistic integrity when he spun Crystal “Meth” Mangum‘s fraudulent claim of rape into a full-out assault on every buzz word on his liberal agenda: Duke students are elitist, athletes are entitled, males are sexist, whites are racist, etc, etc, ad nauseum. Presented the opportunity to simply report the news, caution forebearance, and let the justice system take its course, Ashley instead took up the torch and fanned the flames of the lynch mob. And you’re handing the reins to the newspaper back to him, giving him once more a stage from which to spout his liberal drivel? Well, good luck with that. This isn’t a step back; this is a plunge off the cliff. And Ms Wykle, if you truly consider Ashley a mentor who taught you about the emphasis of local news, you were poorly served.

* Former editor to return to the Herald-Sun (HeraldSun.com)
* Earlier: Ashley admits Herald-Sun erred on Duke lacrosse case (billboard.com)

Dave Bakke points out that the ’70s-era “Deadline” newspaper-themed board game “did not take the country by storm.” Its creator — journalist Michael A. Smith — tells the Springfield, Ill. columnist: “In truth, I think only about 100 of these games have ever been sold. I have six or seven here at home. The rest I gave away.”

* Newspaper board game originated in Springfield, Ill. (State Journal-Register)

UPDATE: New York Post associate editorial page editor Eric Fettmann writes on my Facebook wall:

This is hardly the “only” newspaper-themed board game. I have 23 different ones, dating back to “Around the World With Nellie Bly” from 1890, and including “The News Boy Game” (1895), “Five-Star Final” (1937), “Boake Carter’s Star Reporter” (1938), “Swayze” (1954), “Calling Superman: A Game of News Reporting” (1954), “Scoop” (1956), “Woody Woodpecker’s Great Newspaper Chase Game” (1980) and. most recently, “The New York Times Photo Archives Trivia Game” (2008).