"With negative inflation in 2009, even flat salaries mean no loss in buying power," Bob Papper, professor of journalism at Hofstra University and the survey's director, told RTDNA officials.

Television reporters, managing editors and art directors saw the biggest salary increase, about 10 percent, according to the survey. The biggest drop - 10 percent - was for sports reporters.

In 2008, local television salaries dropped 4.4 percent while local radio salaries dipped 1.8 percent.

The RTDNA/Hofstra University Survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2009 among all 1,770 operating, nonsatellite television stations and a random sample of 4,000 radio stations.

The survey noted that the average annual salary for television news directors in U.S. markets 51 to 100 (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is market No. 54) is $90,000. A TV news anchor was paid an average of $70,000, while television reporters earned $34,000, and weathercasters took in an average of $60,000. Sports reporters took in an average of $30,000 and sports anchors made $50,000.

The median radio news director salary for a midsized market such as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was $30,500 annually, according to the report. Radio salaries were better for those whose companies were privately owned. Radio news reporters at group-owned stations averaged a yearly salary of $25,500 while their counterparts at independently owned stations averaged $35,000.

Overall, in the last five years, TV news salaries have slipped further behind inflation, growing far less than the consumer price index, 2.9 percent versus 13.6 percent, according to the study. The 10-year picture is better, but overall salary growth, 17.6 percent, still lags well behind inflation, 28.8 percent.

Experts to give tips

HarperCollins Publishing editor Cal Morgan and literary agent Jon Sternfeld are scheduled to join two journalists at a symposium in Scranton next month to offer tips on book publishing and freelance writing.

The symposium, which is sponsored by The Society of Professional Journalists' Keystone Pro Chapter, is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 23, at the Scranton Cultural Center at The Masonic Temple.

Mr. Morgan, editorial director for Harper Perennial, Harper Paperbacks and It Books and executive editor at the Harper hardcover imprint, and Mr. Sternfeld will speak at a difficult time to author a traditionally published book, according to a news release from the SPJ.

Mr. Morgan will touch on his experiences with an array of bestselling authors during more than 20 years in publishing while Mr. Sternfeld will draw on the lessons learned at an agency that has represented authors who have appeared on best-seller lists more than 120 times.

New York City-based writers Julia Dahl and Michael Luongo also will lead a discussion about freelance writing.

STACY BROWN writes about the media each week in The Times-Tribune. Contact him at sbrown@timesshamrock.com.

In 1982, when reminded of Mr. King's honor, Mayor James McNulty famously quipped: "Since then, we've changed the locks."

Mr. King last promoted a heavyweight title fight in Scranton at the old CYC in 1983 between Larry Holmes and Lucien Rodriguez. Mr. Holmes retained his World Boxing Council championship with a 12-round win.

In 2008, Mr. King co-promoted a nontitle bout between Ola Afolabi and Francisco Palacios in the city. He's currently promoting Scranton lightweight Mike Latorre in a bout in November locally against Oz Goldenberg of Israel.

"Scranton was once a mecca," Mr. King told The Times-Tribune recently. "It still can be."

For the better part of 40 years, Mr. King has been in the spotlight. He has graced the covers of Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, Ebony, Jet and a slew of other magazines. Even an unauthorized HBO biography based on Mr. King won a Golden Globes award.

A member of boxing's hall of fame, Mr. King was named to Sports Illustrated's list of the "40 Most Influential Sports Figures of the Past 40 Years" and The New York Times named him among the 100 African Americans who have helped shape the country's history during the 20th century.

During a recent telephone conversation, as Ray Charles' "America the Beautiful" boomed in the background, Mr. King barked, "Only in America," the slogan he's famous for. "My country tears (sic) of thee, we boast. We have to keep working towards those majestic words," he said. "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That's our creed, but we must be able to live up to it. The pot never runneth over. John Henry did his share, George Washington did his but, everybody's share is not enough. We have to continue to work toward a better understanding as Michael Jackson said about looking at the man in the mirror, we've got to make a change."

As he does at press conferences and interviews, Mr. King spent the better part of 45 minutes talking about America. He recited numerous lines from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and recounted decisions of the Supreme Court, both landmark and obscure.

His initial foray into public consciousness occurred in 1972, after a stint in prison, when he fought to save a Cleveland hospital from closing. To help, he enlisted Muhammad Ali.

The champ and Mr. King became fast friends and, in 1974, he promoted the historic "Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight title fight between Mr. Ali and George Foreman in Zaire, Africa.

Although Mr. King's financial backers bailed, he still secured a then-record $10 million purse for the fight through an arrangement with the government of Zaire.

"I didn't have any money, but I pulled it off," Mr. King said. "A guy named George Bernard Shaw said, 'Some people see things as they are and ask why. I see things that never were and say why not.'"

Mr. King has promoted more than 500 championship fights and nearly 100 boxers have earned at least $1 million from his promotions. Nearly every modern day superstar has been promoted by Mr. King, including Mr. Ali, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones Jr., Felix Trinidad, Bernard Hopkins and Mike Tyson.

A block of Mississippi Avenue in Atlantic City, where it meets the Boardwalk, was renamed Don King Plaza in 2006 and streets in Newark, Irvington and Orange, N.J., also bear his name.

He also promoted the 1984 Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 "Victory" tour, which grossed $175 million. A separate endorsement deal with Pepsi Cola that Mr. King brokered netted the singer millions more.

"At the end of the day, I want people to know that I worked for the day when all people would be clothed in dignity," Mr. King said. "Nothing makes me happier than to promote a fight card with boxers from 10 different countries. With the fighters, the corner men, the media, the business people involved, the thrill comes when these people, who would never normally come into contact with one another, work together on an event. They learn that no matter what color, race, religion or whatever you are, underneath the skin we are all the same on the inside."

Through the Don King Foundation, established more than 20 years ago, Mr. King has supported organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and National Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

"You could do anything with public opinion and nothing without it. That's what I live by," Mr. King said. "Patrick Henry said 'Give me liberty or give me death.' Freedom is not free and you have to sacrifice and struggle. Look, as the mind can conceive, the body can achieve. You must have the will to do so."

That will keeps Mr. King, now 78, going. "You cannot rest on your laurels," he said. "You have to be able to deal with yesterday, today and tomorrow. We are all searching to find someone, promoters are going through different European countries trying to develop a new hero. A good American heavyweight would be platinum. I promise he will rise to the creme de la creme. There will be another hero."

Stacy Brown writes about the media each week in The Times-Tribune. Contact him at sbrown@timesshamrock.com.

Mostly, though, they are anonymous, simply going by pen or screen names.

Regardless of their identities, some who post content on YouTube (www.youtube.com) have made quite a living doing so.

Some of the posters live right here in Northeast Pennsylvania, according to YouTube officials who said hundreds of people are making thousands of dollars per month under the website's "partner program."

"There are some people earning six-figure salaries," said YouTube spokesman Chris Dale.

One of the top partners in Scranton is "Maggie," who, according to site statistics, has more than 3.2 million total viewers to her page. Posting content under the screen name, "andemarg," Maggie's most popular video to date is "It's Getting Hot In Here: Scranton Style," which has recorded more than 1.1 million page views.

Another Electric City area user, "1992karim" posted a video titled "prikol," which had more than 335,000 views.

"Rimshaw002" posted a video titled "Brian Regan - Buying a House," which received 312,000 plus page views.

Even a video posted by "JoMiFu," titled "Steamtown - The Ice Train," a video showing snow accumulation along a railroad line with an oncoming train presumably near the Mall at Steamtown, got more than 268,000 page views.

Efforts to reach the posters were unsuccessful.

While YouTube won't reveal how much a person earns by posting content, USA Today reported some partners with more than 450,000 viewers have earned as much as $6,000 per month.

Partners also earn additional cash when major advertisers run ads on their page.

YouTube usually approaches users who have big subscription bases, who upload videos regularly and respect the community guidelines. Then it runs ads against their content. Sometimes advertisers approach YouTube users directly, Mr. Dale said.

To become a YouTube partner, a person must meet requirements that include creating original videos suitable for online streaming. Ownership or express permission to use and monetize all audio and video content uploaded must be obtained and a partner must regularly upload videos that are viewed by thousands of YouTube users, according to company rules posted on the website.

Last month, YouTube and Google jointly announced a new grant program that would distribute $5 million to new and emerging YouTube partners.

The grants will allow producers to invest in better equipment and hire more talent. According to Google officials, there are very few restrictions on what the selected producers can do with their money. The grants will serve as an advance against the partner's future YouTube revenue share.

"We think this is an important investment to make in the future of our original-content partners," George Stomplos, partner development manager at YouTube, told the Los Angeles Times. "They've invested in us for years by creating content. And now it's our turn to invest in them."

STACY BROWN writes about the media each week in The Times-Tribune. Contact him at sbrown@timesshamrock.com.

Ms. Sherrod, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture worker, was fired after a small portion of a video of a speech she gave was posted on the Internet and suggested she was racist.

A firestorm of controversy was sparked after it was learned the video, posted by political blogger Andrew Breitbart, had been altered.

Last week, Ms. Sherrod spoke at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in San Diego and said she would file a defamation lawsuit against Mr. Breitbart, whom she said edited the video to depict her as racist.

The portion of the video posted by Mr. Breitbart purportedly showed Ms. Sherrod describing how she had discriminated against a white farmer who had applied for aid from the USDA.

Truth be told

Released later, the full video revealed something else. Noting how her father was murdered by a white man, Ms. Sherrod said her first instinct was to only do the minimum when the farmer came to ask for help.

But, in the full video she said she had learned how all people, not just blacks, had been discriminated against and Ms. Sherrod went on to help the farmer avoid foreclosure. The farmer later confirmed Ms. Sherrod's account and noted how the two had become good friends.

"Bloggers enjoy the same First Amendment rights as journalists, but they don't have the same ethical structure," said University of Scranton journalism professor Matthew Reavy, chairman of the school's department of communications. "In journalism, you have an underlying ethical structure. This is your livelihood. Bloggers are bound only by their personal ethics rather than by law."

There has been an ongoing wrestling match between freedom of speech and responsible speech which, to some extent, plays out in the world of bloggers, said Dr. Ken Lord, associate dean of the Kania School of Management at the University of Scranton.

"It's hard to imagine, from a business communication perspective, any discussion that wouldn't take a fairly strong position that a communicator operates with veracity and fairness," Dr. Lord said. "I think bloggers have an ethical responsibility, as we do in any form of communication, to tell the truth. It's not very complicated."

Tainted words

CNN anchors Kyra Phillips and John Roberts said there was a dark side to anonymous blogging and each pointed out that what had been posted about Ms. Sherrod was not reflective of what she said.

The time has come when bloggers must be held accountable for disparaging individuals, said Ms. Phillips.

Ms. Sherrod's story accounted for 33 percent of the airtime on television last week, twice as much as the oil spill in the Gulf, according to the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

"The first time I looked at the clip, I thought there was more to it than meets the eye," Mr. Reavy said. "Mr. Breitbart is part of a new or returning breed of journalist that operates from a political position rather than simply looking for objective facts."

Dr. Lord likened the story to that of Connecticut talk show host Hal Turner, who was arrested earlier this year after authorities spotted an entry on his blog that called for residents to take up arms against the local government.

Mr. Turner was upset about a proposed law giving lay members of Roman Catholic churches more control over parish finances.

Mr. Turner pledged to publish the addresses of lawmakers who sided against church officials and wrote that the officials should be made an example of as a warning to others in government.

"Obey the Constitution or die. If any state attorney, police department or court thinks they're going to get uppity with us about this, I suspect we have enough bullets to put them down too," Mr. Turner reportedly blogged, according to The Wall Street Journal.

He was charged with felony inciting to injure persons. After two mistrials, Mr. Turner is now awaiting a third trial.

"Clearly, the issue is that the legal system hasn't been able to get a strong consensus on how potentially dangerous you could be as a blogger and have it hold up in court and be prosecuted," Dr. Lord said.

STACY BROWN writes about the media each week in The Times-Tribune. Contact him at sbrown@timesshamrock.com.