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Who created Scoopy?

Hello. I am using my Moms email but was wondering about Scoopy. Was he really designed by Walt Disney? Thank you very much.
Sincerely, Joshua Reams


Thanks for the great question! People often ask about our mascot, Scoopy. He (and Gaby, McClatchy's radio mascot) were created by Walt Disney Studios in exchange for a $1,500 McClatchy donation to the Army Relief Fund during World War II. Scoopy and Gaby made their front-page debut at all three Bee papers (Fresno, Sacramento and Modesto) on Sept. 4, 1943. (See this image of the original Scoopy).

The pair were requested by Eleanor McClatchy, then president of McClatchy, "to lend personality and a familiar identity to all the products" of the company. (Disney lore says they were actually created by Disney staff artist Hank Porter, although they have the Disney trademark of three fingers and a thumb). Over the years, Bee staff artists added -- with Disney's approval -- Flutey (for the company's FM stations) and Teevy (for its television stations).

Your mom might remember Teevy: Each broadcast day on Channel 24 ended with a cartoon of Teevy tucking himself into bed and bidding the audience good night.

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We in the newspaper business make our living communicating, but when it comes to explaining ourselves, we have long fallen short. So it's no surprise that misconceptions abound about what we do and why we do it. Here, you can ask us why we do what we do and we'll try to answer it.
E-mail asktheeditors@fresnobee.com.

Fresno Bee Editors

Senior Vice President & Executive Editor
Betsy Lumbye
blumbye@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6207

Betsy Lumbye was named senior vice president and executive editor in 2006. After coming to Fresno as assistant managing editor in 1997, she was promoted to managing editor the following year. She was managing editor at The Herald in Rock Hill, S.C.; was metro editor at The Record in Stockton; was a reporter, assistant city editor and city editor at The Knoxville (Tenn.) Journal; and was a reporter at The Colorado Springs Sun. She graduated from the University of Virginia, where she majored in English and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society.

Managing Editor
Jack Robinson
jrobinson@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6410

Jack Robinson came to the Bee in 2006 from the Los Angeles Times, where he worked for nine years as an assistant metro editor, editor of the paper's Orange County edition and assistant business editor. Previously he was a reporter and editor at The Press-Enterprise of Riverside.

Assistant Managing Editor for Presentation
Kris Eldred
keldred@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6463

Kris Eldred joined The Bee in 1992. She also has worked for The Bee as copy desk chief, assistant news editor, interim business editor, metro team leader and news editor. Previously, she was a copy editor/designer at the Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y.; a reporter, copy editor and assistant city editor at the Tracy Press; and a reporting intern at the Merced Sun-Star.

Assistant Managing Editor for News
John Rich
jrich@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6663

John Rich joined The Bee in 1984. He became assistant managing editor in 2005 after four-plus years as metro editor. Previously, he worked in the sports department, including five years as sports editor. John has also worked at The Modesto Bee.

Senior Editor
Rich Marshall
rmarshall@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6443

Rich Marshall oversees newsroom administration. He has been with The Bee since 1980. Previously, he worked at the The Milwaukee (Wis.) Sentinel and the Red Wing (Minn.) Republican Eagle.

Editorial Art Director
Andrea Cooper
acooper@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6634

Andrea Cooper is the editorial art director of The Bee. She has been with The Bee since 1984. In that time, she was first a designer with advertising/marketing and then a news artist with editorial. Before joining The Bee, Andrea was art director at Normart Advertising.

South Valley Bureau Chief
Gene Garaygordobil
ggaraygordobil@fresnobee.com
(559) 622-2408

Gene Garaygordobil is The Bee's bureau chief for the South Valley. He joined The Bee in August 2003, returning to Visalia after a five-year absence. Gene began his career in 1988 as a reporter for the Visalia Times-Delta. His tenure there included a yearlong stint as assistant city editor and 2.5 years as city editor, with a stint as interim managing editor tucked in between. Gene left Visalia in 1998 for stints as assistant city editor at the Riverside Press-Enterprise and Bakersfield Californian.

Director of Photography
William Haines
bhaines@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6376

William Haines is the director of photography and has been at The Bee since 1999. He previously was director of photography and graphics at The Saginaw News (MI) and assistant photo editor at The El Paso Times. Before that, he was a general assignment photographer at the Sioux Falls, South Dakota Argus Leader and several papers in Oregon.

Features Editor
Alison Lucian
alucian@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6351

Alison Lucian joined the paper in 1998. She also has worked in the features and metro departments at the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel, The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Fla., and the Daily Press in Newport News, Va.

Metro Editor
Kathy Mahan
kmahan@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6491

Kathy Mahan joined The Bee in 2000 as an assistant metro editor. Previously, she spent five years with the Reno Gazette-Journal, where she held positions as business editor, assistant business editor and copy editor. Kathy also spent a year and a half as an editor and reporter for the Daily Independent in Ridgecrest, Calif.

Business Editor
Mike Nemeth
mnemeth@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6329

Mike Nemeth has worked in the newspaper business for 21 years, mostly in Alaska and Washington state. He has a wife named Peggy and three children. He drives an old VW bug.

News Editor
Steve Provost
sprovost@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6466

Steve Provost joined The Bee in 1997. Previously, he was sports editor and news editor of the Tulare Advance-Register and Visalia Times-Delta; a copy editor in Visalia; and an education reporter in Tulare.

Head Librarian
Nancy Ramirez
nramirez@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6380

Nancy Ramirez has been Head Librarian since December 2005. She joined the editorial library in 1990 as an Editorial Librarian. She has worked at The Bee since 1978.

Interactive Media Editor
Jennifer Ward
jward@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6363

Jennifer Ward manages the content team for FresnoBee.com. She joined The Bee in 2003 after working for as a site developer and interactive editor for DallasNews.com. Jennifer began her career as a programmer, making the move to newspapers in 1999 as a copy editor for the Carlsbad (N.M.) Current-Argus. She eagerly awaits the completion of her 1965 Mustang.

Sports Editor
Robert Zizzo
rzizzo@fresnobee.com
(559) 441-6340

Robert Zizzo joined The Bee in October 2001 as deputy sports editor and became sports editor in October 2002. He previously served as news editor for the Wisconsin State Journal. He also worked in sports and news at the Las Vegas Sun after spending six years as sports editor at the Sheboygan (Wis.) Press.