Whispers gettin' louder ...

     The story's been out there for a while, tiny little pieces of info blowin' around.  But today the press release hit and it's official:  The Globe-Democrat, last seen as it faded away in 1986, is headed back in an online way that seems to have serious financial backing, a serious publisher and the prospective professional gravitas to fill a huge hole in the market that will likely have all the other online STL daily newspapers with hyphenated names scratching to catch up.
     In a conversation this afternoon, publisher Dan Rositano, who was maddeningly non-committal about the source of his funding, editorial direction (the old Globe was notoriously Conservative) and even writers and back-office and technical staff did allow that he was planning for a paid staff of about thirty, most of whom will be drawn from the ranks of the unemployed and laid-off STL media folk.
     In addition, Dan told me, all of the staff will have access to first-class technical gear to support the mission, including video and audio reports.
     Rositano, who spent ten years as the IT Director at KPLR/11 and was one of the unlucky ones who were let go during the ridiculous merger with KTVI/2 early this year, told me he considers this the perfect culmination to his career, a project that will allow him to put together everything he's learned in a twenty-year career in IT and broadcasting.
     The date of first online publication (and it will be online only...and free) is set to be Tuesday, 8 December, 2009.  If I was Lee Publishing right now, I'd be watching my online turf pretty carefully.
    
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