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23 Jul 2010 23:42

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Politics: Rick Sanchez’s journalistic high horse rings hollow to South Florida

  • One thing you may not know about Rick Sanchez is, before he became the iconic anchor who obsessed over finding interesting tweets, he was a longtime if-it-bleeds-it-leads-style anchor in South Florida, often focusing on the most lurid, ratings-grab stories he could find – which reportedly hit a peak during the overblown Elian Gonzalez era. At least thats how Broward-Palm Beach New Times puts it. So, the irony of him talking about journalistic integrity, as he does in the Fox News-chiding clip above, is a little striking to folks in the Miami area. (Thanks Billy Wachsberger) source

26 Mar 2010 16:33

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Offbeat: Protip to TV news anchors: Don’t reach across the desk

  • “I’m FINE. I’m fine, I’m fine.” This isn’t nearly as amazing as keep ducking that chicken, but really, not a lot is. Still though, this lady’s desire to pinch her co-worker totally got the best of her, but she managed to dust herself off and try again.

03 Sep 2009 11:23

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23 Jul 2009 10:12

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Politics: Was journalism icon Walter Cronkite really worthy of our trust?

  • If the nostalgia for Cronkitian news values were genuine, you’d expect PBS’s soporific News Hour would be drawing huge and growing numbers of viewers. … Alas, the NewsHour’s Cronkite-lite approach has failed to attract much of an audience.
  • Slate columnist Jack Shafer • Discussing why the legacy of someone like Walter Cronkite – the trustworthy face of journalism for a generation – was bad for news consumers. Shafer suggests that today’s era of multiple opinions all over the place is a much better market – and that trust, especially of a information source like Cronkite is a bad yardstick to follow. He ends his piece by saying: “Be skeptical, news consumers, especially of the journalists you trust most. It will make you smarter and keep them honest.” • source

18 Jul 2009 11:24

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Culture: There’s a reason Walter Cronkite was so easy to listen to

  • 124 words per minute – the speed at which Cronkite spoke source

14 Jul 2009 08:55

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U.S., World: Returning to war coverage: ABC’s war-wounded Bob Woodruff

Probably the most notable modern media icon injured in war, the ABC News anchor returned to Iraq yesterday after being seriously hurt there in 2006. source

01 Jul 2009 02:12

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Offbeat: We’re not sure if we’re the drunk guy or the anchor in this video

  • Here at ShortFormBlog, we’re drunks. Straight up alcoholics. But we’re journalists, so even though we usually act like the guy making life a nightmare for the man-on-the-street anchor, our hearts are totally with reporter Steve Ryan, who gives the drunk dude the smack he deserves for screwing up his Michael Jackson bit.source
 

11 Jun 2009 21:41

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Politics: Shepard Smith has another one of his amazing moments of levity

  • In response to the Holocaust shooting yesterday, Smith went on a tirade against right-wing extremism, claiming it’s ticked up since President Obama took office. He has these moments once a year or so where he gives us straight talk, and we wait patiently for them. Because they rock. (Though some conservatives no likey.)source