Mom called me around 9 a.m. September 11, 2001, to tell me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.
“Turn on the television,” she said.
Best Headline And Story of the Governor Mark Sanford Farce
June 24th, 2009“Sanford Admits Affair, State Paid for Argentina Trips” – From the Charleston City Paper
Thoughts About “That” Mess in Albany?
June 24th, 2009I wrote the original text for this post  (well below the picture) a few hours before I watched the Tuesday 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. news; I’m not sure what was specifically bothering me then regarding the news coverage, probably that it was inadequate. Now, I guess I would have liked to have seen reporters getting in the faces of politicians and asking serious questions or asking serious follow-up questions to the lame responses from the few pols who wanted their faces in the evening and late evening news.
Viewers have been getting the typical unchallenged, wishy-washy responses, i.e. sound bites, allowed by TV reporters in the field. Most sound bites are awful.
I think now, on reflection, I wanted to see reporters assailing the pols the way it is done with perp walks.
NAM Calls on Ethnic Media to Take A Stand on Immigration Reform
June 24th, 2009From New America Media Executive Director Sandy Close:
For the first time, New America Media is asking ethnic media across the country with whom we work to take a collective editorial stand on an issue that directly impacts the lives of millions of our audiences: Immigration reform.
“In New York, Number of Killings Rises With Heat”
June 19th, 2009This New York Times June 18 special project on homicides in New York City provides good resource material for aspiring journalists interested in writing about, well, murder and crime. And I will most likely try to incorporate into the reading list of one of my advanced news writing classes. Story and the multimedia can be found here. And that recommendation allows me, in good conscious, to segue to this recollection: That period in my journalistic life when murder was on my mind.
NYTimes: “For Teenagers, Hello Means ‘How About a Hug?’”
June 19th, 2009There is so much hugging at Pascack Hills High School in Montvale, N.J., that students have broken down the hugs by type:
— There is the basic friend hug, probably the most popular, and the bear hug, of course. But now there is also the bear claw, when a boy embraces a girl awkwardly with his elbows poking out.
—There is the hug that starts with a high-five, then moves into a fist bump, followed by a slap on the back and an embrace.
One can guess that youths’ nervous systems are picking up the pitter-patter of day-to-day life effected by the bleakness threatening their dreams, and they want a reassurance that is difficult to describe. However, this kind of NYT anecdotal lifestyle piece overlooks the reality of the hugbug, so to speak: It cuts across generations. Asking for a hug is becoming as common place as people bumming for cigarettes or asking strangers for a light.
Jobs, Internships, WORD Writers: Reasons to Celebrate
June 17th, 2009Jessica Lawson, you can read one of her masterpieces here, has been accepted for a fall internship at NY1. And Hannah Levine, who interns at L magazine and is the Arts and Entertainment Editor for the Envoy, an independent, student news operation at Hunter, and also writes for pomponline.com and blogs at hannahmiet.blogspot has been offered a job in advertising.
“This Video Will Piss You Off and Break Your Heart” — Robert Greenwood, Brave New Foundation
June 20th, 2009Rethink Afghanistan: Civilian Casualties
Originally published in the WORD as an Op Ed in Byting Words.
Tags: Afghanistan war, Brave New World, civilian casualties, collateral damage, Robert Greenwood
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