Currents
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November 1, 2012 12:00 AM
Talk to the hand
A long-running journalism inside joke gets new (after?)life
Eight years ago, the Chicago Tribune put the halogen searchlight of public attention on an age-old international media conspiracy—an inside joke among journos to try to sneak a certain seemingly descriptive but actually meaningless phrase past their editors.
“It was as if an occult hand”—or some derivation of it—has appeared in publications from the Los Angeles Times to The...
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November 1, 2012 12:00 AM
Language Corner
There, there
There are many ways to start articles and sentences. There is often a way to avoid beginning with the phrases that begin these two sentences. It can save words, but—more important—it can get readers into the meat of the matter more quickly.
“There are hundreds of apps aimed specifically at babies” can easily be “Hundreds of apps are aimed specifically...
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November 1, 2012 12:00 AM
Gifted
'Tis the season
If you love a journalist, you know how hard it is to find the perfect gift—they’re so neurotic! So idealistic! Never fear. The following quick-and-dirty holiday gift guide has you covered.
• The Nuru Project offers gift certificates for work by photojournalists (above), and donates part of the proceeds to charity.
• “Trust me! I’m a journalist” T-shirt, $27...
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November 1, 2012 12:00 AM
Open Bar
The Anchor Bar
The Anchor Bar 450 West Fort Street, Detroit, MI
Year opened 1959. It’s been in its current location since 1993, after its purchase by the Derderian family.
Who drinks here Union members, hockey fans, post-shift cops, and newspaper and TV journalists.
Signature drink “The coldest beer anywhere,” says owner Vaughn Derderian ($3 bottles).
Oops In 1970, when the FBI investigated alleged gambling at...
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November 1, 2012 12:00 AM
Death becomes … who?
What the NY Times obits say about America
The New York Times is, more than any other single publication, the nation’s arbiter of erudition, prosperity, and success. So what better tool to gauge our collective sense of who and what matters, and how that has changed through the years, than to analyze the newspaper’s obit section? What does it take to merit an obit in the Times?
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November 1, 2012 12:00 AM
Behind the news
Give me a visual
Serious graphic novels, like Maus or Persepolis, have proven that comics aren’t always funny. But what about graphic journalism? This fall, Symbolia, a bimonthly publication that blends reporting with illustrations, will launch on the iPad. Symbolia defines graphic journalism broadly: The first issue, entitled “How We Survive,” includes several hand-drawn comics, infographics, and animation. Symbolia has a multisensory aspect,...
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November 1, 2012 12:00 AM
Title Search
Python developer
Alexandre Conrad is a Python developer for SurveyMonkey. Jay Woodruff interviewed him in September.
Have you ever been slapped in a bar after sharing your job title?
I wish!
What’s the weirdest reaction you’ve gotten?
I think from myself. When I moved from Paris to the Bay Area and realized that being a Python developer was no longer...
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November 1, 2012 12:00 AM
A matter of time
Pretty in Finke
In October, auto-racing and truck-leasing scion Jay Penske announced that he’d bought Variety, the storied Hollywood trade publication founded in 1907. Penske was quick to note that the brand would remain distinct from his other media holdings, which include HollywoodLife.com, edited by Bonnie Fuller, and Deadline.com, the domain of Nikki Finke. But would it be so terrible if a little...
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November 1, 2012 12:00 AM
Hard Numbers
Election edition
54 Percent of Americans who knew that General Motors’ decision to close its plant in Janesville, WI, happened before Barack Obama was president, not on his watch, as Romney supporters have charged
25 Percent who knew the claim by Obama supporters that Mitt Romney asked the government for a taxpayer-funded bailout for one of Bain Capital’s companies while he...
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November 1, 2012 12:00 AM
DIY celebrity profile
Fill in the blanks
“It is half-past 10 on another soullessly sun-kissed Los Angeles morning. And (promising young star) is late. I’ve been sitting for an hour in (boho-chic diner/farmers’ market/trendy hotel lobby) worrying that maybe I had gotten the time or place wrong, when suddenly (s/he) bursts in, all apologies and assuring me (s/he) is normally never late. (S/He) orders (meaningless, nonrevelatory menu item)...
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October 9, 2012 11:15 AM
The Lower Case
Headlines that editors probably wish they could take back
- Erie Times-News, 6/13/12
- BBCNews.com, 6/12/12
- The Des Moines Register, 7/5/12
- Brand Republic News, 7/5/12
- Bellingham (WA) Post, 8/2/12
- The New York Times, 7/2/12
- Winona (MN) Post, 6/27/12
- The New York Times, 7/11/12
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October 5, 2012 11:33 AM
Parting Shots
Death, where is their sting?
The world of American letters is considerably poorer now than just one year ago. Last December was Christopher Hitchens’s final winter of silver-tongued discontent. And this unseasonably grievous summer, Nora Ephron, Alexander Cockburn, Gore Vidal, and Robert Hughes left us in quick succession. Among their gifts as writers, the five shared a talent for trenchant bon mots and withering ripostes....
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October 4, 2012 11:00 AM
Beyond ‘Deep Throat’
Reporters find themselves in odd situations
Eric Zorn, columnist, Chicago Tribune
I covered a nudist convention for the Tribune in a health club. Going with the “When in Rome . . .” philosophy, I disrobed upon entry and began reporting. The publicist found me and said the organizers had a few minutes to talk to me. They, however, had been manning the front desk outside the club...
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October 3, 2012 10:49 AM
Last lick?
A fudgsicle fan can't escape his past
On a hot August day in 1995, a Baltimore Sun photographer snapped this picture of three-year-old John Boias. It sparked a citywide discussion on childhood obesity, and brought Boias the kind of micro fame that haunted him as he grew up struggling with his weight.
The paper published the photo again at the end of ’95 in a “best-of”...
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Desks
The Audit Business
- Audit Notes: pyramid people, Disney and ABC, no USA Today paywall Roddy Boyd digs into a diet-shake pyramid scheme
- Hot air Rises Above on CNBC An anchor pins a minor dip in stocks on the TV appearance of a minor politician
The Observatory Science
- Dull news from Doha UN climate summit a ho-hum affair for the press
- Highway to the danger zone Following Sandy, HuffPo and NYT dig into the folly of coastal development
Campaign Desk Politics & Policy
- NBC News sets good example for Medicare reporting People perspective leads to clear explanation of impact of proposed changes
- In Pennsylvania, a niche site with wide reach PoliticsPA drives political conversation in Keystone State
Behind the News The Media
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