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21 Jul 2010 12:40

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Politics: Underhanded: The Daily Caller names names in Journolist exposé

  • While journalists are trained never to presume motive, Journolist members tend to assume that the other side is acting out of the darkest and most dishonorable motives.
  • Daily Caller reporter Jonathan Strong • In yet another piece about Journolist, the e-mail list run by Ezra Klein that forced Dave Weigel out of his job a few weeks back. The list has long been an off-the-record spot to vent. But The Daily Caller, which once had a member that was part of Journolist, isn’t following that, giving SPECIFIC examples and specific names, and likely hurting numerous journalists in the process. While some of the attacks were harsh and underhanded (including a whole conversation about shutting down Fox News), the fact is, off the record is off the record. And The Daily Caller isn’t bothering to respect that in its articles. Protip to Daily Caller: More RNC spending exposés, fewer attacks on fellow journalists. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 7 Comments • Permalink

16 Feb 2010 10:45

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Politics: The British National Party: We’re not soft, we throw out journalists

  • That we’re not going soft was shown to millions of viewers who will have seen the report of us ejecting a lying Times journalist from the press conference. That’s not the actions of a snivelling PC party, but of an organisation that has had enough of being lied about.
  • BNP President Nick Griffin • Regarding an incident where Times journalist Dominic Kennedy was forcibly ejected from a meeting where the party considered opening up beyond the British National Party’s whites-only membership. Good way to twist a fairly controversial moment, dude. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Aug 2009 21:54

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Culture: Dominick Dunne, Vanity Fair’s biggest smart aleck, dead at 83

The author, known for his ability to find humor in media circuses like O.J. Simpson’s murder trial, is probably bristling that he died the same day as Ted Kennedy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Aug 2009 23:19

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Politics: They don’t build journalists like Robert Novak anymore

  • For a half-century, Novak worked like a wheat thresher, feeding and grooming his sources until they gave him the harvest of news—or he beat it out of them.
  • Slate columnist Jack Shafer • Describing Robert Novak and what he did to get his scoops, no matter how small. It was a approach that worked for him, but not without imperfection – his methods managed to out CIA operative Valerie Plame, a saga which sullied his reputation late in life. (Though attacks by “The Daily Show” didn’t help his image, either.) All in all, he lived life as the ultimate D.C. insider. This is a great piece on Novak; we suggest you read it. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2009 22:18

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Biz, U.S.: Pay-for-play journalism with the Washington Post? No way, Jose!

  • We will not participate in events where promises are made that in exchange for money The Post will offer access to newsroom personnel or will refrain from confrontational questioning. Our independence from advertisers or sponsors is inviolable.
  • Marcus W. Brauchli • Executive editor of The Washington Post, talking about a report in Politico about a series of “salons” to offered lobbyists access to Washington Post journalists in exchange for their soul … er, money. The first meeting was reported to be at the publisher’s house July 21, and was going to have Post reporters, Obama administration officials and Congressmen. Word is that the flyer for the event leaked early and without proper vetting, and it was likely a marketing person’s vision. In other words, someone’s getting yelled at in a boardroom right now. (Disclosure: ShortFormBlog editor Ernie Smith is affiliated with The Washington Post’s Express, but the blog itself has no ties to The Post, nor does it express the opinions of the company.) • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2009 15:04

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Biz, Politics: Explaining himself: Why a Boston Globe reporter voted no to cuts

  • They didn’t want more work from us, they didn’t want less holidays, they didn’t want fewer vacations, anything we could have offered besides just our money, they were uninterested. And I feel like they were insensitive to a lot of people who have already sacrificed quite a bit for them.
  • Reporter Scott Allen • A member of the Boston Newspaper Guild who voted no on a 8% pay cut, and since the measure failed, guaranteed himself a 23% pay cut. He claims that The New York Times Co. stacked the cards against employees who hadn’t gotten a raise in four years due to wage freezes. Of course, in the wake of all of this, the paper could close. Scary. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 May 2009 08:56

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World: Jailed journalist Roxana Saberi to be set free by Iran today

  • As I understood it, she is free to leave Iran. They explained me that the two years were conditional and would not be carried out if she would not commit any crimes in the coming five years.
  • Attorney Abdolfattah Khorramshai • Regarding news that Roxana Saberi’s sentence was reduced from eight years to a two-year suspended sentence. Saberi’s plight – a young journalist who was arrested for espionage – had garnered significant international attention. She remains banned from working as a reporter in Iran for five years, but there is no word if she’ll return to the U.S. with her parents, who have remained in Iran to bring attention to her case. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

27 Apr 2009 22:05

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Politics: Quote of the night, from D.C. journalist Jaclyn Schiff

  • Modern journalists need to help people navigate information overload, sift through the garbage, and identify great information.
  • Jaclyn Schiff • Discussing the swine flu outbreak in general, Twitter’s role in the disseminating information the outbreak, and journalists’ role in informing the public of the outbreak. Ms. Schiff, you’re awesome. We both live in D.C. Wanna go grab a cup of coffee sometime so we can nod our heads in agreement on this particular key fact? I’ll treat. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Apr 2009 11:13

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Offbeat, Tech: He’s 90, but David Perlman still knows his science news

Science writer David Perlman of the San Francisco Chronicle will end a newspaper career that’s lasted 78 years. (!) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Apr 2009 10:18

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U.S., World: Roxana Saberi, the jailed U.S. journo in Iran, is on a hunger strike

  • She will keep it up until she’s freed, her dad says. Saberi, a freelance journalist convicted of espionage, told her rather Reza Saberi in a short phone call that she had been on a hunger strike since Tuesday and would keep it up until she was released. Saberi says the call was short and that “she did not give us the chance to tell her not to do it.” Saberi’s arrest and conviction has met with worldwide criticism of Iran. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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