Chris Wilson in Slate explains how and why news organizations decide to acknowledge a country’s or political subdivision’s name change.
I didn’t even know Mumbai was Bombay!!
Archive for the ‘Medialites’ Category
Thought balls?
Posted by Ron Coleman on May 4, 2008
a thought born embalmed as a cliche, already tiresome from anticipated over-expression before being sincerely expressed in the first place
Wow, he’s so out in front of whatever it is he’s talking about that I, for one, have no idea what on earth he’s talking about.
Posted in Medialites, Politics and Poker | 3 Comments »
Not the Al Franken decade?
Posted by Ron Coleman on May 2, 2008
From the kitchen table in his tranquil suburban neighborhood, Brodkorb for the last year has used his blog “Minnesota Democrats Exposed” to launch a furious political assault on Franken. He’s labeled the former comedian and liberal commentator a “mean-spirited and un-Minnesotan” candidate who’s running a “desperate and ridiculous” campaign.
That’s routine stuff in the world of political blogging, but in the last two months Brodkorb has
scored two direct hits that have the Franken campaign reeling. Brodkorb scooped the traditional media by detailing extensive bookkeeping problems in New York and California that ultimately prompted Franken, this week, to pay about $70,000 in back taxes to 17 states.
The stories have knocked Franken off balance as he prepares to take on Sen. Norm Coleman, in what’s expected to be one of the most expensive and toughest-fought U.S. Senate races this year.
Pretty cool, considering that Al Franken can be expected to get all the MSM boosting he can — even from oddball conservatives like Ben Stein who share his show biz milieu. (Tinsel runs thicker than water.)
Posted in Medialites, Politics and Poker | 2 Comments »
Why they know it all
Posted by Ron Coleman on April 22, 2008
Mickey Kaus quotes Chris Matthews on his Pennsylvania prediction for Hillary —
Eight points. I think eight points is the over/under. If she gets a victory of less than 8 I think shes going to have a hard time arguing that she should stay in this race. …. [S]he cant call it a victory winning five or six or seven up here. Shes got to get at least an 8.
And then, thank God, adds:
I wish I could report that he said it with a knowing, ironic appreciation for its absurd arrogance. …
Yes, and no, Mickey. Yes on the arrogance, but maybe not for the reason you think. The fact is that Matthews is 100% right: That eight points is exactly the margin of victory he, himself — and his friends in the Business — will declare to be “the one.” It is a self-fulfilling prophecy, not a prediction of some phenomenon based on an analysis of objectively observable phenomena.
And yes, yes, it is arrogant. You got a problem with that?
Posted in Medialites, Politics and Poker | Leave a Comment »
No shields
Posted by pennywit on April 17, 2008
Amid the ongoing debate over a federal shield law (see, for example, editorials pro and con from Thursday’s USA Today), Slate scribe Jack Schafer has taken the opposite tack, arguing that journalists don’t need a shield and even that a shield would hurt the First Amendment. Today, Schafer offered the best argument against such a shield: poor choice in sources. Schafer writes:
Although I have great admiration for some journalists who have held themselves above the law and committed acts of civil disobedience that have earned them a ticket to jail, not all subpoenas are created equal. And not every source arrangement outside of “on the record” should require conscionable reporters to go directly to jail if slapped with a subpoena.
Some reporters invite subpoenas by practicing what I call “poor source hygiene,” granting confidentiality too liberally to sources who don’t deserve it.
Hear, hear. Schafer cites the recent Plame affair as well as the case of a USA Today writer who faces a fine because she refuses to give up the sources she used in reporting on the anthrax scare. In his devastating conclusion, Schafer chides the press for not undertaking enough self-criticism.
And, quite frankly, I would add a little more. Rathergate originated with an anonymous source. John McCain and the lobbyist? Again, mostly anonymous sources. I could go on, but there’s no need. At Slate, Schafer dubs such things “Anonymice” and has written extensively about their infestation.
The old rule for anonymous sources was first, to always try to verify an anonymous source’s statements through an on-the-record source and second, to dole out promises of anonymity and confidentiality sparingly. It is clear that that the press, particularly the national press, no longer adheres to this rule. And as the Plame affair and Rathergate illustrate, those confidential sources are only too happy to drop bombshells to compliant or sympathetic members of the press, who then publish allegations without undertaking even a hint of due diligence or exercising an iota of discretion.
Which brings us back to the question of a shield law. A federal shield law would essentially extend to members of the press a right not revealed by the public at large. If this right is to be extended, it is fair to ask, first, if the public interest would be served by extending that right and second, whether members of the press would exercise that right responsibly. Recent events illustrate the answer to both questions is a resounding “no.” Therefore, the press does not merit a legislative shield, and the federal government should not provide it.
Posted in Medialites | 2 Comments »
Miami days
Posted by Ron Coleman on April 16, 2008
Still here, in Miami. Mom will be staying till some time during the weekend — hopefully not more.
They live in Boynton Beach, actually. But Miami is not that far, and, conceptually, it is dominant in the area. In my mother’s case, in particular, it is always interesting, because it is truly a multi-national city, the main nationality being Cuban, like my mom herself. The Cuban staff members at the hospital — from orderlies up to senior physicians — get a kick out of the surprise bursts of Cuban Spanish (Spanish so bad that if there had not been Puerto Ricans, Cubans would have invented them) from the 60-something Jewish lady recovering from abdominal surgery. (Thank you to the well-wishers in the comments! Her prognosis is very good.) They are even more surprised to hear it from her fair-haired younger sister dressed in orthodox Jewish garb.
The Cubans really do connect with each other, and across generations, too. At this point, of course, there are three generations of emigres that that have made South Florida their home and, for most, likely permanent exile. My grandparents, Polish-born Jews who emigrated to Cuba in the ’30’s, left Cuba in 1956 for New York, retired here and are both buried here. There is a rapidly growing orthodox Jewish community throughout the area, too, concentrated in North Miami Beach, so there are plenty of resources for me when I’m here. Also plenty of palm trees, which it’s hard for me not think are being planted just to demonstrate to everyone what a warm place this is, Disney-style. Why does an American place need palm trees?
Right now it’s unusually cool, but frankly until they air condition several counties I don’t expect to be here that often. Hopefully Mom will be up and at ’em as expected, very soon, and I won’t have to come for undesirable reasons. Heading back up tonight.
Posted in Americana, Medialites | 2 Comments »
Coveted Carter endorsement held back tantalizingly
Posted by Ron Coleman on April 13, 2008
ABC News reports that former President Jimmy Carter will not be endorsing any Democratic candidate soon. “The only thing I know is that, I have not made an endorsement, and don’t intend to, until the time of the convention,” said America’s most contemptible living former President.
The charming thing is that this news story seems to have been written without any sense of irony whatsoever. Carter is not only a vacuous and egocentric moral pygmy. He also has no national political influence or credibility. To the contrary, he is an ongoing embarrassment to Democrats, and he and the Clintons — whom you would think would be natural allies — had avoided each other since forever. Carter’s endorsement, which seems likely to go to Obama, can hardly be sought by any legitimate Democratic candidate, except to the extent that any 11 year old boy seeks to be kissed by his mustachioed aunt.
So is Jimmy at least being a decently loyal Democrat and avoiding tarring either candidate with the brush of association with his wretched self until it hardly matters? Or is he merely trying to gin up some ongoing media interest by spinning a thread of such unbearable suspense? Given his self-regard, the latter seems more likely. And, in typical Carter fashion, even more pathetic.
UPDATE: Oh, he is really unbelievable!
Cross-posted on Right Wing News.
Posted in Medialites, Politics and Poker | 7 Comments »
More from a day in a lawyer’s life
Posted by Ron Coleman on April 11, 2008
The excitement wasn’t over after I blogged about my shoes and other critical societal concerns yesterday! Through a process I have yet fully to comprehend, in mid-afternoon I found myself at ABC Studios answering questions about employment law in front of a camera!
Don’t laugh. I have litigated, even tried (successfully, of course!) a number of cases involving employment discrimination. I’m no one-trick-IP-pony.
The issue here was a pending Pennsylvania bill that would prohibit employers from asking job applicants about marital or parental status, which is legal in about half the states. They could not find anyone who would go on camera to explain why an employer would have a fundamentally economic justification to ask such a question — in other words, to go on the record “against motherhood.” So ABC somehow worked its way down the food chain and got to me. (You know what an old hand I am at this!)
I had no trouble saying that. I also think you should be able to ask about religious observance — anything that will affect, or may affect, your degree of commitedness to the job and your ability to be there during the hours for which you were hired.
A very short sound bite, meant mostly to give the impression of balance in a piece that will surely be very anti-employer (i.e., anti-freedom of contract), will probably be on tonight’s World News Tonight with Charles Gibson at 6:30 Eastern time some day, maybe. How I will come out sounding when they’re done dicing and slicing, I have no idea. But I promise you I was brilliant, charming and profound in the studio. Of course.
Oh, and I brushed past a much-taller-than-I-imagined Curtis Sliwa on the 1 train on the way to the studio. Presumably he was on the way from the studio (he does radio there). That’s a good omen, right?
Posted in Lex scripta, Medialites | 4 Comments »
A trillion here, and trillion there…
Posted by Ron Coleman on April 9, 2008
Posted in Gelt, Medialites, Politics and Poker | 3 Comments »
“Celebrity Identification Disorder”
Posted by Ron Coleman on April 7, 2008
David Plotz wrote this about Charlton Heston in 1998:
At 73, Heston does remain an awesome presence—tall, grandfatherly, astonishingly handsome,
his voice as magnificent as ever. President Heston has already employed that godly bass to great effect. His NRA speech produced a memorable sound bite thats being played and replayed on newscasts. Hestons ascendance seems to be filling some conservatives with what-if regret. Why didnt he run for office when he was in his prime?
Hestons fans are falling victim to Celebrity Identification Disorder, the same malady that causes people to write letters to soap opera characters. Heston periodically says, “I am not Moses,” but his admirers dont quite believe it. Hes been associated with extraordinary men for so long that they assume he must be one.
Yep. I said the same thing about Fred Thompson. He is also a great actor, tall, stentorian, authoritative, and a very impressive and effective person in real life. But in both cases, the role and the man tended, in some people’s minds, to get confused — not a sign of political maturity.
Posted in Americana, Medialites, Politics and Poker | 8 Comments »
