Archive for the ‘Writing/Publishing’ Category

Blame the Blackberry

From a very-well-worth-reading Reuters article about the News Corp/News International ‘clean up’ over phone-hacking: James [Murdoch] has consistently said that he did not know all the facts when he approved the [£700k] payment [to a hacking victim, soccer union boss Gordon Taylor] despite the revelation by the MSC in December of an email trail that [...]

Shit journalists say…

I recognize some of these! via stuff journalists like (not Fairfax stuff) The “We’ll do it live!” meme is, of course, Bill O’Reilly’s contribution to the planet. – P

Media neutrality vs being truthful

We’ve talked before about my distinction (not just mine!) between being ‘impartial‘ (or big O objective) versus being FAIR — which I (naively?) primarily define as telling the truth. Some partisans (who shall remain charitably nameless lest we upset their finely-balanced narcotic calm) seem to me to frequently stoop to spinning half-truths or outright lies [...]

When hyper-linking gets in the way

From a good article Why Christian Science Monitor stories have too many links, wrong ones by Justin Martin writing at Poynter: A visible link in a news story is a caesura, a stoppage that forces a cognitive pause. The word “caesura” is a poetry term and, just as in poetic writing, literary pauses must be [...]

Lack of truthtelling devastates media, old & new

Forget (for now) the place of unwanted ‘opinion’ in ‘news’ (or somewhere near by) — there’s a bigger issue at stake in modern media … whether (or not!) to call out politicians and other newsmakers for false statements they make. As noted elsewhere, I am troubled by political activists and proxies masquerading (or fancying themselves) as [...]

Mealy-mouthed

Heard on Radio NZ National’s World Watch this afternoon: “There’s strong evidence to suggest the worst of the eurozone crisis could be over…” Crikey. Ya reckon? How to say something without really saying anything or committing yourself. Shoot me (joke) if I write something so equivocal. Please. It’s almost as bad as hyperbolic self-promotion. – [...]

Liars can be truthful?

The weakest part of Piers Morgan’s attempted refutation of his former employee’s allegations that he (Morgan) must have known about phone hacking at the Daily Mirror while he was editor … Morgan, 46, has already dismissed Hipwell’s claims as the “unsubstantiated allegations of a liar and convicted criminal.” Trinity Mirror Group lawyer Desmond Browne also [...]

Trying to find our own truths

This, from Deborah Hill Cone’s farewell column Black-and-white thoughts on a world of grey in the NZ Herald today echoes something … I just write because I’m trying to work out things for myself, which is shamefully indulgent. So I really should be thanking you, Dear Fabulous Readers, after all. Thing is, we’re all just [...]

Paris Review: Hunter S. Thompson

As I noted, I’m reading (and thoroughly enjoying) Gonzo. So I looked up his Paris Review Interview: Hunter S. Thompson, The Art of Journalism No. 1 – Interviewed by Douglas Brinkley, Terry McDonell A great read. -P

Stop asking

Excellent article on the blogger claiming rights of a journalist controversy by Rebecca J. Rosen at The Atlantic … Perceiving attack, the Internet’s collective fur shot up on its back: Do bloggers not merit the same protections as journalists? Many people have argued that the medium in which you publish should have no bearing as [...]