Live BLOG: Murdochs face MPs in Phone-Hacking Scandal

July 19th, 2011

Britain’s Channel 4 is live blogging hearings here.

 

 

Differentiating “Gray” from “U.S.”

July 17th, 2011

Regarding warranties for photo equipment: I just came across this site and it seems to provide good info for those interested or serious about photography: Mint Mog Store. When I was younger, I experimented with Gray Market purchases. But now, I don’t.

That doesn’t mean that others shouldn’t.

Wow! A Very Savvy 17-Year-Old Youth

July 13th, 2011

The Daily News reported:

A Bronx teen said two cops roughed him up when he mouthed off after one of them stepped in a pile of dog doo.

After he was beaten, according to the News, the youth, Tyre Davis, contacted Internal Affairs and the NYPD duo – Joseph Murphy, 26, and Jose Ocasio, 28 – was arrested. There’s no mention of a lawyer helping the youth. There’s no mention of how the News got the story.

But if this story is accurate, it’s impressive that this kid was savvy enough to fight to protect his rights. Hoorah!

Headline: ‘It smells like doo-doo’ quip prompted cops’ attack, Bronx teen Tyre Davis saysFull story here.

Why I Love the National Writers Union

July 13th, 2011

A barracuda that writers need:

Dear NWU Member:

We need your help with a publisher who is refusing to pay his writers for their work.

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New York Times Headline: For Years, the Tabloid’s Sting Kept British Politicians in Line

July 9th, 2011

[Missing NYT Sub-Headline: Murdoch-ian Journalism Made Milquetoast of a lot of New York City Politicians]

July 9, 2011
By 

LONDON — In 2004, Clare Short, a Labour member of Parliament, learned what could happen to British politicians who criticized the country’s unforgiving tabloids. At a lunch in Westminster, Ms. Short mentioned in passing that she did not care for the photographs of saucy, topless women that appear every day on Page 3 of the populist tabloid The Sun, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. “I’d like to take the pornography out of our press,” she said.

Big Mistake.

Read full story here.

Guardian.Co.UK: News of the World Is Closing

July 7th, 2011

The News of the World is to close, James Murdoch has announced. It follows a series of revelations that the paper illegally hacked into phones, and amid calls for Rebekah Brooks to resign. The News International chief executive is said to retain the support of Rupert Murdoch.

Live Coverage here.

Anyone wondering what’s happening at the New York Post?

 

 

The Dark Side of the News Coverage of the Casey Anthony Trial

July 6th, 2011

The Ethics Committee of the Society of Professional Journalism Decries Checkbook Journalism – Again – With News Coverage of Casey Anthony

No Surprise Here!

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Dominique Strauss-Kahn: Duke University Spectacle, Yes [Tawana Brawley, No]

July 4th, 2011

That’s the assessment of WNYC’s Jami Floyd, whose opinion should not be ignored:

Take the Duke Lacrosse case, in which the district attorney of Durham County, NC, Mike Nifong, failed every measure of prosecutorial conduct and judgment. He tried his case in the media for nearly a year, failed to turn over exculpatory evidence to the defense and court even when he had it, and he was ultimately disbarred, fined and sentenced to a symbolic one day in jail.

In the DSK case, Vance is to be credited for his due diligence and coming to terms early on with the impossibility of proceeding with a accuser lacking credibility. At the same time, he and his investigators had to know what they were up against – a fully financed defense, with its own top-notch investigators that would no doubt uncover the same damning information about the accuser.

Read full article here.

Tawana Brawley Redux? A Knee-Jerk Response

July 1st, 2011

New York Times headline: Strauss-Kahn Accuser’s Call Alarmed Prosecutors

Twenty-eight hours after a housekeeper at the Sofitel New York said she was sexually assaulted by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, she spoke by phone to a boyfriend in an immigration jail in Arizona. Investigators with the Manhattan district attorney’s office learned the call had been recorded and had it translated from a “unique dialect of Fulani,” a language from the woman’s native country, Guinea, according to a well-placed law enforcement official.

When the conversation was translated — a job completed only this Wednesday — investigators were alarmed: “She says words to the effect of, ‘Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I’m doing,’ ” the official said.

This news feeding frenzy reminds this writer of the Tawana Brawley paroxysm of news, fact, hysteria, race, class. bullshit and more. This is a knee jerk response to breaking news. Something less knee-jerk is in the offing.

Maybe.

An Ethical Dilemma & Mom & Dad

July 1st, 2011

Nope.

Date: Tue Jun 28 10:52:39 EDT 2011
From: [Spring MEDP292 Student]@aol.com
Subject: Campus MovieFest Article
To: “Greggory W Morris” <gmorris@hunter.cuny.edu>


Hello Professor,

A girl I interviewed, named [Anonymous], for her participation in a movie at Campus MovieFest, said that she needs her name removed from the article posted on HunterWORD[sic]. Her reason is that she kissed a girl in the video and her parents searched her name, found the video, and have her on lock down threatening to make her drop out of school. She needs to cut all ties with the video and article so her parents will let her stay in school. Though she agreed to the publishing of the article, she believes her reputation and education are at stake and would like to be removed from the article. Please get back to me as to whether this can be done.

Thank you,
[Anonymous]
Media292
Section 002
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

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