This Is Retarded. Twitterviews? Give Me A Break …
I don’t think I have to say a thing about this:
Anyone Else Sick of Lame Commentary on Why Stocks Are Down?
Filed under: Journalism, Recession, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
Okay, here’s the headline of the number one story on Bloomberg’s front page:
U.S. Stocks Decline on Buffett’s Remarks, World Bank Warnings About Economy
I’m not sure why they even posted the reporter’s story, they said it all right there in the headline. Today after the stem cell press conference by President Obama, I took a gander at Google Finance’s front page. Although the Dow showed down, you could tell there had been a spike up around 1 p.m. or so. One of the stories in the feed was headed: “Shares Rocket on Stem Cell Announcement.”
This is getting stupid. Or, how about the partisans who like to point out that the market is down since Obama took office. Bubba Please!
I’m not an economist, I lost $8k one summer trying to “roll stocks,” and I suck at math. But, I do get up every morning and pay attention to what’s going on in the world. I read a lot. I can tell you this – stocks are down because we’re in a helluva recession and they’re going down some more. I said 7K for the Dow last fall and we’ve blown that. At the time I based it on one thing and one thing only: Big Bad News. I knew there would be more — and there’s more to come.
All of the official economic indicators seem to be still in freefall. The latest interesting thing I’ve heard about large institutional investors and hedge funds is that they’re buying gold – not a lot, but some. It doesn’t matter what Warren Buffett or Rush Limbaugh or Dalai Llama says on any given day. We’re in this for awhile.
Final thought: One thing we don’t need is the media going all drama on us. I personally would like to hear the Warren Buffetts and Timothy Geithners of the world talk us through this thing. I also know these guys are going to clam up if every move they make is laid out over a chart of the DJIA. We’re not hearing enough from financial wizards in or out of government. I hope the media doesn’t turn them completely reticent.
Columbus Dispatch Newsroom to Shrink This April
Sometimes you love the local paper, other times (like when they endorse GW Bush TWICE) you hate them. But, folks, we need them. The Columbus Dispatch’s announcement today that it will layoff 45 members of the editorial staff on April 3 is bad news indeed.
When I left Ohio in 1993 and returned in 2007, the newspaper landscape had completely changed. The Akron Beacon Journal and Dayton Daily News, once prestige papers were shadows of their former incarnations. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, once covering the Statehouse like a rug, was down to two folks in the bureau. There’s more snark from Round the Rotunda than actual coverage of state government.
Then there was a pleasant surprise. The Columbus Dispatch was now the de facto newspaper of Ohio’s record. There are no less than seven reporters or editors covering politics and state government full time. I have a problem with the Dispatch’s fixation on state employee pay and stories about porn surfing ODOT employees, but there are as many stories for those trying to follow policy as there are those about state employees behaving badly.
Cuts in an editorial staff could mean a lot of things. Perhaps there will be fewer photographers, columnists or editors of various stripes. But, we’ll probably lose some good reporters and that means fewer people devoted to paying attention to what it is our government is up to every day while we’re at work.
Let’s hope that sometime soon, for the sake of society as we know it, someone will figure out what the next step is for daily journalism.
The Daily Graphic: Media Source by Generation
Newspapers have an uphill battle according to the latest News Media Consumption Survey recently released by the Pew Research Center. The graphs below show the percentage of answers, by generation, of questions regarding what sorts of media did the respondent consume “yesterday.”
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Rocky Mountain News To Close with Friday’s Edition
The News was founded in 1859 before Colorado was a state and before the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times first published.
It covered the mining rush, which first brought settlers to Colorado, the Indian Wars and the settling of the American West. Scripps bought the paper in 1926.
Obama Administration Will Allow News Media to Cover Return of the Dead from Iraq/Afghanistan
Being reported by POTUS on Sirrius/XM. Look for Def Secy Gates briefing later today. With this move and honestly funding the entire cost of Iraq in the next budget, we’re seeing the veil of lies and secrecy being lifted from the Iraq War.
‘Imminent Arrest’ in Chandra Levy Case Would Be Partially Result of Great Investigative Journalism
It’s hard to remember what the biggest news story was just prior to 9/11 — it was the Chandra Levy disappearance case. Levy a Washington, D.C. federal intern was having an affair with then-Congressman Gary Condit and she disappeared off the face of the map. Her body was eventually discovered and the case has been an usolved murder.
Last year, two Washington Post reporters produced this 13-part investigative series on the case. It made for compelling reading, but more importantly it showed the power of the Fourth Estate to ferret out truth and force government’s hand in fixing its mistakes. The series pointed out a multitude of mistakes on the part of police investigators, most notably getting fixated on Condit and not pursuing whether or not a Salvadoran immigrant’s attacks on female joggers in the D.C. park where Levy was last seen was tied to Chandra’s disappearance.
We may find out in the next couple of days that it was – eight years later.
World Press Photo Award Winner Is A Picture of Unraveling Economy in Cleveland
U.S. photographer Anthony Suau, shooting for Time magazine, took this photo of Cuyahoga County Sheriff Deputy Robert Kole moving about a foreclosed home in Cleveland, Ohio. Suau’s photo is the winner of the 2009 World Press Photo Award. There is a good article about Suau and his work in The Plain Dealer.
First BS of Obama Presidency: Won’t ‘Speculate’ on Who in Mideast Has Nukes
Filed under: Barack Obama, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Journalism
I think Helen Thomas just put herself back into the wilderness with another White House Press Office. She asked the one tough question at tonight’s press conference that had President Barack Obama bullshitting us all from here to Jerusalem.
Her question (emphasis mine):
Mr. President, do you think that Pakistan and — are maintaining the safe havens in Afghanistan for these so-called terrorists? And, also, do you know of any country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons?
His Answer:
With respect to nuclear weapons, you know, I don’t want to speculate. What I know is this: that if we see a nuclear arms race in a region as volatile as the Middle East, everybody will be in danger.
Thomas tried to follow-up, but Obama was too quick. Well, readers, if you didn’t know, Israel has nuclear weapons. I know, it’s hard to believe. When the Israelis aren’t treating the native Palestinian population like a modern version of Wounded Knee, they’re stockpiling nukes. President Obama knows darn well they’ve got nukes. An otherwise brilliant man looked silly tonight saying, “I don’t want to speculate.”
Here’s some speculation early on for the latest president who pledges to bring peace to the Mideast: Nobody’s getting anywhere over there as an honest broker if they continue to pretend Israel does no wrong. If, as a nation, we can’t even admit that our friend has nukes, how do you expect to overcome the Arab sense that the game is forever rigged in favor of the Israelis?
Here’s hoping this wasn’t a foretaste of more half-assed U.S. diplomacy.
Priceless: Columbus Dispatch Tackles BDSM
A Winter Wickedness Perversion Festival for the Good People of Worthington
I don’t think anything like this paragraph has been written in the Columbus Dispatch before:
A Web site, adventuresinsexuality.org, says the event prohibits illegal drugs, firearms and animals. But it also discusses “play space” rules that allow cutting, needle and fire play, and the use of drop cloths, gloves, condoms and tarps.
Tarps. LMAO. The article goes on to discuss the sleep the Worthington Health Department is losing this weekend and how hotel employees are to deal with “waste.”
Again. LMAO … You can read all about it here.
Drudge: Dick or Curmudgeon?
Like it or not, the Drudge Report has an effect on the national news cycle. Just watch it for a couple of days or a week. Drudge’s culling of the news and his spinning of the stories into catchy and sometimes spot-on headlines influences everything from blogs to the nightly cable newsertainment shows.
Drudge more than “leans” to the right on most days and his story selection and headlines reflect that – especially today.
Let’s give it a day or two before we start comparing President Barack Obama’s inaugural address to the best from history, but it’s undeniable, it was great. The historic moment of the son of a Kenyan immigrant being elected the first African-American president is lost on no one.
So what story lines is Drudge serving up today?
- Obama, Chief Justice flub oath of office
- Bush mocked
- Carter snubs Clintons
- Stock market down over 300 points – Cold Welcome for Obama
Something tells me that Matt didn’t spring out of bed today and feel good about being an American.
At any rate, this is one of those days that even the Drudge Report’s formidable effect on the news cycle can’t take the wind out of America’s sails. Outlook for tonight’s cable infotainment – Fox excepted – looks positive.
I’ve Got a Job for Bill Gates
Another major city daily newspaper is dying, but this one may have a chance because of its city’s most famous citizen.
The demise of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wouldn’t be good for Washington state – or the whole Northwestern U.S. for that matter. Redmond, the headquarters of Gates’ Microsoft Corp. is part of the Seattle metro area. One of the largest corporations in the world, and arguably the most important tech company in the world needs to be located in a healthy, vibrant city. Part of that mix is a genuine arm of the Fourth Estate, a healthy daily newspaper.
Gates has an opportunity here. He has the personal wealth to swoop in and be the angel investor that keeps journalism in Seattle. Today, we may say that a “healthy daily newspaper” is integral to a world-class city, but Gates has the opportunity to turn that notion on its ear. Gates is a visionary, a strategist. A man like Bill Gates – with an imagination and understanding of technology and the power of the World Wide Web – matched with an equal sized pocketbook has the opportunity to incubate the future of daily journalism in his own back yard.
Most rich guys would swoop in and try to remake the P-I in some sort of image of themselves, hence perhaps sacrificing objectivity and information for opinion and fluff. After hearing this interview with Charlie Rose, where Gates talked about his commitment to information and education – and affordable access to both, Gates may be the man to view the P-I opportunity not only as a way to be civic-minded, but as a way to make a bigger impact on society and create the business model that in the least saves the utility of the daily newspaper.
What I would hope Gates wouldn’t do is turn the P-I into an arm of Microsoft. Sure, MSNBC could be involved in some way, but in creating this new business model for daily journalism, the entire world of technology and ideas about communication needs to be considered. Gates, “semi-retired” from Microsoft is in a better place in his life to do this. Several years ago, I fear the P-I would have become part of the Microsoft franchise or brand and the journalistic integrity would have suffered, even if only in perception. No, this should be a Bill Gates project, not a Microsoft project.
I might suggest that as a bridge, perhaps the first place to look to save a few dollars and a few trees would be to begin with a scaled-back model regarding print circulation. It’s probably not a public service to go completely electronic at this stage. What about all the oldsters who do not have internet access? What about the people who can’t afford internet access? A lot of these folks can still afford 50 cents to a dollar a day to get a good quality newspaper. I might also suggest that the last place to look for savings should be the newsroom. It might be the first place to look for performance management, but content is King and content comes from people reporting, thinking and presenting.
Mr. Gates: To borrow some language from another venerable northwestern firm, “Just Do It.”
Will I Read Ann Coulter’s Stupid F’ing Book? No. Will I Trash It? Yes.
Let’s apply the same intellectual rigor and honesty to Ann Coulter as she applies to the rest of the world. In other words, let’s bash the shrew.
The Drudge Report says tonight that the stringy-haired bitch has been BANNED from NBC, MSNBC, 37 states and all the provinces of Canada. Hallelujah!
In her new book, I Was Unloved As a Child, Coulter reportedly refers to President-elect Obama as B. Hussein Obama and ridicules First Lady to-be Michelle Obama’s style. I say reportedly because I have not read Coulter’s new book, Dan Coulter: My Transgendered Journey.
As happens often with those who have nothing redeeming to offer humankind, Coulter is again reverting to name-calling and inanity. This shrew will not be tamed.
New Year Wish: Print Journalism Does Not Die
Newspapers – or at least print journalism – cannot be allowed to die.
I’ve always had a soft spot for good print news reporters. Many of them become deep experts in the subject matter of their beats and find enlightening ways to bring this background to their often limited space in the newspaper. Many also have an uncanny ability to quickly take in information, retain it and apply it to the bigger picture of our world. Learning about sometimes complex issues and being able to write about them in a way that is accessible to the masses is a huge talent. Finally, the best journalists are endlessly curious. Intellectual curiosity is a gift and journalists share this gift with the world every day.
A Reuters story caught my eye the other day. Frank Nicastro, a Connecticut lawmaker, wants to extend the economic bailout ethic to the newspaper industry. He’s asking other legislators to support his proposal for the state to prop up some of Connecticut’s local papers.
Nicastro and fellow legislators want the papers to survive, and petitioned the state government to do something about it. “The media is a vitally important part of America,” he said, particularly local papers that cover news ignored by big papers and television and radio stations.
2008 was a year with lots of bad news for newspapers big and small all over the country. Many dailies cut staff, including newsroom personnel. Others announced plans to cease publishing newsprint editions on certain days of the week. The Christian Science Monitor, one of the best sources for international news for decades has ceased to publish a print edition, period.
Since this country’s founding, a free and active press has been crucial to our democratic institutions and a necessary adjunct to good causes such as the abolitionists, worker health and safety and civil rights. The free press has been described as the “Watchdog” over government. It’s even been described as the “Fourth Estate” – or the de facto fourth branch of the federal government.
What lengths would Nixon et al have gone to without the investigating of the Washington Post? More recently, the Post exposed major problems with the medical care being given to veterans and service members at the Walter Reed Amy Hospital. The Toledo Blade’s news coverage of “Coingate” expedited the state government response to corruption in public office.
Put simply, we need the Fourth Estate. Television news is often rushed, vapid infotainment. Radio news, outside of NPR, CBC or the BBC is practically non-existent. Radio talk, while sometimes entertaining, is an abysmal source for information because it’s mostly cloaked in a partisan fog.
The news pages of newspapers are the last bastion of daily, objective, dispassionate dose of information one can use to be better informed citizen. Newspapers cover the things like city council, zoning boards and civic events that TV and radio only cover when there’s death or dismemberment involved. Newspapers are the only purveyors of news where a sense of journalistic, civic duty seems to be still alive.
Is Nicastro’s government bailout of newspapers a good idea? Loans, maybe. The Reuters story also said:
Relying on government help raises ethical questions for the press, whose traditional role has been to operate free from government influence as it tries to hold politicians accountable to the people who elected them. Even some publishers desperate for help are wary of this route.
Providing government support can muddy that mission, said Paul Janensch, a journalism professor at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, and a former reporter and editor.
“You can’t expect a watchdog to bite the hand that feeds it,” he said.
The newspaper industry needs to do one thing. The best minds in journalism, the business of advertising-supported media and the internet need to work together to build the next business model for delivering the news the public needs. We can’t lose the sense of objectivity or the ideals of journalistic ethics just because we may quit soaking newsprint with ink. Shame on publishers for not recognizing this and coming up with the business model that will support their noble business through the next decades. Because they’ve lagged behind technology, unfortunately many more of the nation’s newspapers will die than was probably necessary.
Publishers across this country need to ask themselves everyday: “How do I translate the daily newspaper into a business and medium that serves society as well in the 21st century as it did for the last 300 years.