My first wedding anniversary is coming up in a few weeks. This morning it occurred to me that this means I’m celebrating another anniversary. Exactly one year ago I quit my full time job and struck out on my own as a freelancer. (Yes, I quit my job just a few weeks before the wedding. […]
Random acts of radio
Round three of the Public Radio Talent Quest is underway. For this round, the 7 remaining contestants were asked to conduct an interview with… pretty much anybody. And also to be interviewed by a public radio host in their home towns. The participants interviewed everyone from an 11 year old African American who sings Chinese […]
Bush vs. Zombies: fun with press conference tape
This American Life ran a piece 10 years ago that made me fall in love with radio. OK, that’s probably an overstatement I was obviously listening to radio at the time, or I never would have heard the story. But at the time I was a college student immersed in media criticism, and something in […]
Mr. Sulzberger, tear down this (Times Select) wall!
The New York Post is reporting that The New York Times is getting ready to eliminate its Time Select subscription service. Unlike pretty much every other newspaper on the planet (with the exception of the Wall Street Journal), the New York Times has maintained a wall between free and subscription content online. The idea might […]
Radical transparency in the blogosphere
Yesterday some kid who happens to share a name with a product manager at Google sent a juicy tip to several high profile tech blogs about some soon to be announced new Apple products and upgrades. Gizmodo went ahead and published an article based on the tip, labeling it as a rumor, albeit one from […]
Historic church may have to sell its Tiffany Windows
I have a piece on Weekend America this week about a historic church in Elizabeth, NJ that may have to sell its stained glass windows. A hundred years ago, Elizabeth was one of the wealthiest communities in the state, and St. John’s Episcopal Church could afford to commission expensive windows from Louis Comfort Tiffany. Elizabeth’s […]
Insignificance Tour of the American Museum of Natural History
A few weeks ago I read a story about a new tour at the American Museum of Natural History. As part of an educational program for college students, 19 year old Jing Li had designed an “insignificance tour” of the museum, which he’s been conducting throughout the summer. The idea is for students to come […]
Where’s “the fold” on web pages?
Newspapers put their best stories (the ones most likely to sell issues) on the front page, above the fold. In other words, since most newspapers are folded in half, you can only see the top half of the paper from a newspaper box. That’s the half that the top stories have to be on, because […]
4 dead in news chopper crash: this is what’s wrong with TV news
Four people have died in a helicopter crash in Phoenix Arizona. The accident occurred when news choppers following police involved in a high speed car chase collided. There were no survivors. The story is tragic, both because of the lives lost and because of how unnecessary their sacrifice was. Journalists have died uncovering the truth […]
1,621 posts and counting
A few months ago Engadget’s Ryan Block wrote his 5,000th post for the technology blog. I’m no Ryan Block, but a week or two ago I noticed that I was about to hit my 1,500th post for Weblogs Inc sites including PVR Wire, Download Squad, and TV Squad. I made a mental note to take […]
YouTube/CNN debate roundup
Early today I had planned to write a thoughtful response to the first ever “user-generated” presidential debate. But then I got all busy and stuff and didn’t find the time. So here’s my two cents: The questions were excellent, well thought-out, and asked in an unusual, personal way that should have prompted the candidates to […]
CNN/YouTube presidential debate tonight
Tonight the first CNN/YouTube presidential debate will air. The Democratic candidates will tackle video questions submitted through YouTube and moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Last time I checked out the video submissions I was less than impressed. But that was last month. In the meantime, it seems like some folks rose to the challenge and […]
A look at Philly newspapers after a year under new management
Last year McClatchy put the parent company of the Philadlephia Inquirer and Daily News up for sale. There had been major newsroom cuts at both papers in recent years in response to shareholder pressure. In reporters’ circles, the speculation was that anybody who bought the company would be likely to close the Philadelphia Daily News […]
Collaborative writing project on collaborative news writing
Paul Bradshaw is preparing a paper on the use of Wikis in journalism. And he wants your help. Conveniently, he’s set up a wiki for anyone who wants to contribute. For the uninitiated, a wiki is basically piece of online software that lets a group of people easily collaborate. You can use a wiki to […]