Category Archives: press issues

In the end, Guardian editor puts Earth on front page

At the end of a distinguished career at The Guardian, editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger thinks back over his long tenure. With a few months left to serve one of the finest reporting and writing operations of news on the planet, does he have any regrets? Not many, he says, except that he thinks because of theContinue reading “In the end, Guardian editor puts Earth on front page”

Reporter: In defense of the gotcha question

Somebody had to defend the much-despised "gotcha" question.  Ron Fournier, veteran reporter, digs into the legend and finds all kinds of juicy examples. Writes it up with great depth and precision.  For example, where did the phrase "gotcha" come from? Fournier agrees with another reporter, and suggests that Bill Clinton might have introduced it intoContinue reading “Reporter: In defense of the gotcha question”

How the super-rich live: far above the rest of us

By sheer coincidence, this weekend both the L.A. Weekly and the New York Times ran stories on how representatives of the super-rich, are taking over the heights of the city. Call it unaffordable housing — penthouses for the super-rich. Not the 1%, but the .01, the Thousandth Percent. Apartments that cost tens of millions of dollars. It'sContinue reading “How the super-rich live: far above the rest of us”

Ojai fracking panel agrees: more transparency please!

Over the last four or so months I put together a panel on fracking for the Ojai Chautauqua, a centrist group that holds public forums/discussions on controversial issues at the Ojai Valley Inn. (Think I'm beginning to learn how to do it: This is the third such panel I put together this year, and theContinue reading “Ojai fracking panel agrees: more transparency please!”

Drought hits Central America: as predicted?

Four years ago an eminent climate researcher named Michael Oppenheimer at Princeton published a study predicting that climate change would increase the chance of a devastating drought hitting Mexico. He warned that it could drive farmers from their fields and send them across the border looking for work.  a new study published in the prestigiousContinue reading “Drought hits Central America: as predicted?”

Unstable jobs the new norm: LA + NY Times

Tiffany Hsu, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, has this year done a terrific job of documenting changes in the nature of work today, especially here in California. Her conclusion to a recent piece on how "non-employees" (aka free-lancers) are becoming a powerful force deserved the lede I thought:  The number of so-called non-employersContinue reading “Unstable jobs the new norm: LA + NY Times”

How to confuse the media and public: Butter ’em up

A few months ago the rapturous reporting of a new study on saturated fat caught my eye. Sounded too good to be true, and, well, long story short, that's exactly what it turned out to be. Here's the opening, from the USC Annenberg/California Endowment's Reporting on Health site: Time to jump on the bandwagon ofContinue reading “How to confuse the media and public: Butter ’em up”

The future vs. here and now: NYTimes + Carl Jung

Along with Bob Garfield of National Public Radio and the pretty hilarious Bobosphere, perhaps the most thoughtful media columnist around must be David Carr, who last week had a great column on the helplessness of print media in the face of the firehouse of information that is 24-hour television and the Internet.  In a modeContinue reading “The future vs. here and now: NYTimes + Carl Jung”

American public exceptionally dumb: Ted Rall

The 'toon below from Ted Rall is factually accurate. It's a fact that the much-reviled mainstream media reported on the NSA spying on Americans long before Edward Snowden spoke up. (To give an example, back in 2012 James Bamford in Wired reported that "The NSA…has the ability to eavesdrop on phone calls directly and in realContinue reading “American public exceptionally dumb: Ted Rall”