Archive for journalism
Greg Osberg and the Transformation of Media
How will the mainstream media survive? This interview with Greg Osberg, the new CEO of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News (and the website, philly.com), provides some thoughtful consideration as to how this might happen. It won’t be by hunkering down in what he calls the “silos” (like something called “newspapers”). That hasn’t worked, despite [...]
Avril 50
The PW (Philadelphia Weekly) is a reliably entertaining, often deliberately provocative, local rag that fuses youth culture, politics, and a kind of literate F***-you attitude. This week’s issue is a cover-to-cover reminder that life is passing me by, as it sets out a quirky buffet of the city’s “hidden treasures” across an inexplicable but somehow [...]
Don’t Depict, Don’t Tell
This article showcases both the importance and the limits of law in advancing the cause of equality. A Utah newspaper refuses to show pictures of a gay male couple — no, wait, they don’t want to include the couple at all — in the wedding announcement section.
Even though the couple was validly married in California, [...]
Zeitoun — One Katrina Family’s Story
In the compelling Zeitoun, Dave Eggers (best known for “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”) has created a piece of advocacy journalism that deserves to be read and discussed. I plowed straight through the first 200+ pages on Sunday night, stopping only when I simply couldn’t stay awake. Then I finished it last night, after [...]
The Revolution Will Be Greened, Blogged, Tweeted…but not Televised
I’m hopeful that my savvy and terrific webmaster can turn me green tomorrow. I always bear in mind that we don’t know, with certainty, who won the election — but it’s clear enough for me to take the plunge in solidarity with the reformists in Iran. Fellow bloggers: Stand up and be green!(H/t Andrew Sullivan [...]
Iran Comes Apart
After a weekend of thought about the whole DOMA/DOJ fiasco, I’d planned on writing a short summation, and the text of a speech Obama should — but won’t — give that might do for gay and straight relations what his Philadelphia race speech did for race relations .
That’s still in the works, but I’m pushing [...]
Floating Like a (Meta)Butterfly
If MTV’s Celebrity Death Match were brought back,* here’s how the tilt between Jon Stewart and Tucker Carlson would go:
Carlson, by dint of his superior nastiness and single-mindedness, gets hold of Stewart and seemingly strangles the life out of him - but then the audience descries a wavering, astral being slowing descending over the oblivious [...]
The End of Journalism
Driving home last night, I heard the antepenultimate (there’s a word best avoided!) installment of the NPR show “News and Notes.” The show, which alone among the network’s shows features an African-American point of view, is a casualty of the economic crisis. And I don’t understand the decision to cancel the show, given that many [...]