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23 Dec 2011 01:09

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Politics: Reporting on the campaign trail: Harder than you might think

  • on camera A candidate like Mitt Romney, for example, fields questions day in and day out, and it’s not an easy racket. NBC’s Chuck Todd explains: “[It’s] tough to have the 75th interview in the last 72 hours. Everything’s been asked.” It’s a game where being first and asking the best questions is key.
  • off camera Members of Romney’s press bus tour have traveled since June. NBC reporter, producer and cameraman Garrett Haake explains it as such: “You’re running around. You’re on buses. You’re on planes. You don’t see your family, but you wake up in the morning and you still really want to do it.” source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Dec 2010 01:12

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U.S.: Michelle Obama does something nice for Christmas while looking Grinchy

  • So, let’s say you’re Michelle Obama and you’re about to do something really nice for kids on Christmas Eve. How would you want that presented? Well, if you’re Reuters, you’re going to pick a file photo that makes her look like she’d rather be anywhere else in the world. Way to go, wire services, for negating the positive press! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Dec 2009 11:04

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Culture: Golf writers admit to being clueless about Tiger Woods

  • Everywhere I go these days, people who know what I do for a living keep asking the same question: Did you have any idea this was going on? I smile and sheepishly shake my head: No, I did not, never even a whiff.
  • Washington Post golf writer Leonard Shapiro • Discussing how the golf press missed the Tiger Woods story pretty badly. Why’s that? Simply put, they rarely dealt with him off the golf course, and when they did, it was during carefully vetted 10-minute interviews. Shapiro asked his industry colleagues if they had a hint of Woods’ private life, and none of them did. Surprising, to say the least, especially since these were the guys that put Woods on a pedestal all these years. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2009 09:42

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Politics: The Wall Street Journal on Tiger Woods: Gossip can be useful

  • The Tiger gossip is replete with moral messages and motivations that are compelling, instructive and powerful. Moral guidance can often sound like a collection of tired bromides when expressed in the abstract. But when told as part of a compelling drama—as gossip—it can appear as an eloquent demarcation of good behavior.
  • Wall Street Journal columnist Nicholas DiFonzo • In an article defending gossip’s usefulness in the media. He’s says that why much gossip can be ugly, sometimes it can teach lessons to outsiders. Woods’ situation is especially messy – the cheater passed off as the wholesome family man, the do-no-wrong sports figure doing lots of wrong – but it makes the lessons stronger. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Oct 2009 22:07

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World: Is Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi on a mission to suppress the press?

  • We ask the prime minister to stop the campaign of accusations against journalists and to tell the truth.
  • Italian Press Federation head Franco Siddi • On the lawsuits Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been filing against major newspapers in Italy. The PM, who either owns or is related to the owners of many major Italian media outlets, has been suing newspapers covering the major sex scandals against him. Silvio Berlusconi says the protests are a joke. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Sep 2009 21:55

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Culture: Daily poll: Do you trust the media more or less nowadays?

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Aug 2009 12:12

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Sports: Three examples of awkward Caster Semenya press coverage

  • From this NYT article: “Medical experts said assigning sex was hardly as easy as sizing someone up visually. Even rigorous examinations can result in ambiguous findings.”
  • From an L.A. Times article: “An Italian rival, Elisa Cusma Piccione, called her a man. Russian runner Mariya Savinova agreed. ‘Just look at her,’ she told journalists in Berlin.”
  • The BBC notes that what’s down there isn’t enough for the judges: “They will look at her external genitalia, but they will also look at hormone levels and her chromosomal make-up.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

24 Mar 2009 22:49

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U.S.: Oh yeah, we heard Obama was on TV tonight

  • It took many years and many failures to lead us here. And it will take many months and many different solutions to lead us out. There are no quick fixes, and there are no silver bullets.
  • President Barack Obama • In a rare prime-time news conference tonight, where he defended his budget, spoke honestly about the challenges the country faces, focused on the economy and those pesky AIG bonuses, discussed a couple of other things (because, remember, the economy is but one problem this country faces), and pre-empted “American Idol.” Sounds like he filled a lot into a single hour. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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