Here are headlines from McClatchy's Washington Bureau and McClatchy Newspapers for Thursday, June 2, 2011:

ECONOMY

• Bad economic news piles up, sending stocks down

POLITICS

• Romney to make it official on Thursday, in divided New Hampshire
• Texas Sen. Cornyn says Perry would be good presidential candidate
• S.C. immigration bill would require businesses to use E-verify program
• U.S. Attorney Holding to leave after John Edwards case
• California lawmakers quietly shelve bills that police their behavior
• McConnell blasts EPA over regulations

WORLD

• AIDS at 30: Killer has been tamed, but not conquered
• Egypt sets Aug. 3 for Mubarak's 'trial of the century'
• Prisons in chaos: Another warden gunned down in Mexico
• Honduras' OAS membership is restored
• IAEA: Japan underestimated tsunami threat to nuclear plant

NATION

• Garridos face sentencing in Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnapping
• All Joplin tornado missing persons have been found
• In national spelling bee, words are the weapon of choice
• Author: Tenure is hurting students and universities

OPINION

• GOP will keep democracy from running amok
• Deficit reduction requires shared sacrifice
• Oil speculators' influence on market must be curbed
• A few rulings from the 'Word Pope'

Here are headlines from McClatchy's Washington Bureau and McClatchy Newspapers for Thursday, May 19, 2011:

POLITICS

• Consumer finance agency proposes simpler mortgage forms
• Despite Limbaugh's support, Perry still says 'no' to presidential run
• Is compromise dead in DC? Gang of Six's unraveling suggests so
• Ten Commandments battle is costly for Kentucky counties
•  Sanctuary cities bill halted by Texas Senate panel
• S.C. House approves Amazon tax break deal
• Bill seeks more judges for federal bench in California, Arizona
• McClatchy's Thomma wins prize for covering presidency
• 4 years after scandal, senators say care of wounded vets still lags
• Air Force One aborts landing then lands on second try

WORLD

• Obama will call for billions in aid to Egypt and Tunisia
• Obama administration imposes sanctions on Syria's Assad
• Day that claims 28 lives shows range of Afghan violence
• Bahrain tries newspaper editors for 'fabrications'

NATION

• Unabomber Kaczynski says FBI investigating him for 1982 Tylenol poisonings
• Deadly virus sickens horses in California county

OPINION

• When Obama speaks to the Arabs
• Latin America must police their own police
• Obama should resist quick Afghanistan withdrawal
• Muslim faith caught in terrorism's shadow again
• John McCain knows why torture doesn't work
• Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'True Lies'

BLOGS

• Suits & Sentences: Inside Harry Reid's inner sanctum
• Planet Washington: Obama campaign raising money on "birther" T-shirts

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Here are headlines from McClatchy's Washington Bureau and McClatchy Newspapers for Thursday, May 12, 2011:

BIN LADEN

• Even after bin Laden, U.S. can't walk away from Pakistan
• After seeing bin Laden photos, lawmakers differ over release
• Obama's bin Laden coup has GOP at a loss for words

POLITICS

• Senators call for crackdown on oil speculators
• Obamas' invitation to rapper Common rouses conservatives
• Gingrich plunges into 2012 fray, carrying heavy baggage
• Democrats are split over the federal budget; Republicans aren't
•  Fla. Sen. Rubio calls for more sanctions on Syria
•  Fracking chemical disclosure bill passes Texas House
• Alaska Sen. Begich stands firm on oil industry subsidies
• House GOP lets you vote on which programs to cut
• GOP lawmakers resume bid to sink San Joaquin River restoration plan

WORLD

• Guantanamo prisoners may get family visits
• Iraq's Maliki: al Qaida jailbreak attempt was inside job
• Iraqis will discuss whether some U.S. troops should stay

NATION

• California's export business rises for 17th month
• Bill would make job training mandatory for U.S. troops
• Rise in Hispanics in South Carolina census numbers

OPINIONS

• Persecuting professors with open government laws
• The new Freedom Riders
• Texas lawmakers are fighting fish tales
• Security based on appearance or religion is false security
• Immigration agent twice helped to foil bin Laden

BLOGS

• Planet Washington: McCain: Claim that torture led to bin Laden "false"
• Mexico Unmasked: The narcos' 'ghetto tanks'

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eMail via Gina Falcone-Rupp
Managing editor, mcclatchydc.com

POLITICS

• Former Palin aide Bailey calls ethics complaint 'baseless'
• Obama touts border successes, mocks GOP immigration policy
• As deficit-cutting talks proceed, what about Social Security?
• Lawmakers threaten to subpoena White House budget official
• N.C. lawmakers seek more abortion limits
• Analyst's report slams California's high-speed rail plan
• Republicans push drilling off California coast; Democrats say no
• Republicans accuse Obama of 'enemies list' in Boeing case

WORLD

• U.S. commander: Bin Laden's death doesn't end Afghan war
• Files tie FARC rebels to Hugo Chavez, Rafael Correa
• Mass graves in Durango may set Mexican record
• In Bahrain, a candlelight vigil can land you in jail

NATION

• Nine states appeal federal rule limiting health insurers' profits
• TSA baby pat-down photo goes viral
• Study: Higher clean car standards could save lives

OPINIONS

• Homeland Security turns the page on a flawed round-up policy
• Are there rules for killing terrorists and dictators?
• Media needs to ignore the nutjobs
• Can California handle the 'silver tsunami?'

BLOGS

• Inside South America: FARC Files: awkward instances and a personal appeal
• Planet Washington: Baucus: Keep Social Security out of any deficit-reduction deal
• Mexico Unmasked: Bigger, badder, tougher

-----------------------------------

From the mailbag via Gina Falcone-Rupp
Managing editor, mcclatchydc.com 

Wyatt Buchanan/SFGate: Yee says Palin contract was shredded:

The students . . . said they found the documents on Friday in a dumpster outside the school's administration building in Turlock.

Old style, and well done.

I am not the editor of a newspaper and shall always try to do right and be good so that God will not make me one.
- Mark Twain, Galaxy magazine, December 1870

In this morning's installment, the Sages of Sacramento choose to continue their attack on those who directly provide services to the people of this great State. Titled Perks of the past return to haunt, this group, having devoted so very many resources to uncovering the blatantly apparent, devotes yet another substantial amount of columnar space to lies by omission.

Repeating for effect the contentions of a skewed long-form article, they have failed once again to nail the direct causes they themselves reported on their own front page. As if there were a direct correlation between pension costs and denigration of services, rising crime rates, and (of course) a vast increase in the incidence of male pattern baldness.

Horse hockey. When an editorial spins a 40% rise in contributions over eight years without noting that 25% was due to inflation, they've moved so far out of the realm of accuracy as to be functionally useless to the readers.

Maybe it's in our lousy water. Maybe it's because Bee management has made so many unforced errors over the past few years. Whatever the cause, the past two days have clearly shown the production of random fact is no substitute for real reporting.

Media Ownership Dashboard:

Top Newspaper Companies

Rank Company Total Weekday Circulation

1 Gannett 6,816,890
2 MediaNews Group 2,565,620
3 McClatchy Company 2,556,580
4 Advance Publications 2,429,970
5 Tribune Company 2,384,440

Complete charts of all media by type available @ the site.

Looking over the tv stats it's obvious that cable generally is still network's bastard stepchild. Good place to spend your 'free' time.

Image © IBM

Prachi Patel/TechReview: Solar-Powered Desalination:

When completed at the end of 2012, the plant will produce 30,000 cubic meters of desalinated water per day to meet the needs of 100,000 people.

Out here on the Left Coast we're getting ready to vastly increase the amount of water the North sends to the South. Much better build something 'local' - say, a few well-placed desalinators - than literally steal food from our farmers.

Photo © AP @ Poynter

Here's the offending lede:

Palin, Obama spar from a distance - Liz Sidoti/AP National Political Writer.

No, they don't, and to compare the two is but one of the many reasons why the takeover of the wire services by third-grade-level editors and reporters can be a dangerous thing for the rest of us.

Whoever thought comparing this particular President to Palin-the-iPimp was reasonable desperately needs anal-cranial surgery.

Image © Stef Lewandowski/Birmingham Post

Every morning for the past few years I've checked in at this place; enjoyed the variety of views from the posters and been able to watch the ebb and flow of contributors.

Image © DC Comics

AP/Yahoo: Initial jobless claims increase unexpectedly

'Fraidy Cat' @ Animated Halloween Props

AP/LAT: Second pick for transportation security chief is out

The Obama administration has called the job the most important unfilled position on Obama's team.

No wonder they're having a hard time getting people to come forward. Once submitted for the Senate 'interview', they're on their own. The old 'we'll-back-you-up-until-the-negative-shit-hits-the-fan kinda thing. Way to back up your people, dude.

Image © Cafe Press

Douglas+Lightman/McClatchy: TOP STORY - GOP's Cantor says Democrats exploiting reports of threats

That's pretty much as far as you need read, given that the balance of the 'article' is a continuation of the verbal ping-pong that has become industry standard in the Washington press corps.  And the 'why' of the thing, or the facts in the fatuous statements?  Not there.

Long stretch to call any of it 'reporting'.