Molly Ivins has passed away. We’ve lost one of the sharpest voices in political journalism, an erudite and empassioned observer. The CNN report is here. I’ve followed Molly’s words on and off for the better part of two decades and I have found her cool judgment and sound reasoning cause…
If you couldn't make it to Washington, DC, many local communities sponsored their own anti-war protests today. The one I attended was sponsored by the St. Louis Instead of War Coalition. The sponsors assembled the several hundred participants into groups to be photographed, those photos to be delivered to new Missouri…
Because I’ve taken the time to read my local newspaper today, I am well-informed. I now know that everybody at the South St. Louis County Dierberg’s grocery store is excited that the winning Powerball ticket was sold right there.
But that’s not all.
Under “Top News,” I can read that the St. Louis Cardinals probably will not be signing a pitcher who was with them last year.
But there’s more: From a local trial, we now know how a St. Louis area man allegedly broke his girlfriend’s neck. And there’s even more news: The colorful banner at the top of the front page reminds me to get ready for this week’s Auto Show at the downtown convention center. Don’t forget the teaser at the bottom right: Buy Sunday’s paper and you can read an article about beer and the Bible.
All of this important information on a single front page! Can you believe that they make their reporters spend years at journalism schools in order to write things like this?
If I were a journalist who worked for this newspaper, this front page would embarrass me. I would keep it a secret that I worked for this paper.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch is not a locally-owned newspaper. It is owned by Lee Enterprises. If you visit the website homepage of Lee Enterprises, you will see lots of web headlines about growing the revenue, increasing the circulation and controlling the costs. You will not see the word “journalism.” …
I was going to meet a friend for coffee yesterday. But when I called him, he said that he couldn't because he was subpoenaed by the FBI to give a deposition in the Devlin case. "Devlin case?" I asked innocently. You see, I stopped watching TV (as discussed here), I…
The reclusive artist behind the Doonesbury comic strip is interviewed for the Washington Post Magazine (here) in October 2006, and I only found it today. I figure that this fits neatly in with the recent theme of media issues.