Hi folks:

Someone left a comment on one of my posts that choked my whole blog. I pasted it into a Word file -- It was 140 pages.

It looked to be the entire text of a book.

Please don't do that.

While I love additional information from visitors that will help me learn more about a topic, please just put a link in the comments, not a huge document. E-book-length documents dumped in a comment will be remaindered.

 

The BBC has a blog watch, composed by its Magazine department. Deep Throat and the EU Referendum were the two main topics

To the surprise of no sentient creature, the U.S. is far more religious than its closest allies and is much more tolerant of religious intrusions into public life, a poll has found.

   more »

Tom Tomorrow has a wryly funny cartoon at Salon on how the Watergate scandal would have played out back then if today's attitudes applied (free with a day pass).   more »

Andrew Coyne posted a hilarious Michael Kinsley (L.A. Times editorial page editor) column:

In this great country, there are newspaper editorial pages of every political stripe, from nearly insane far-left rantings to the Wall Street Journal.

But when the United States faces a danger to its most important institutions and values, Americans can count on the newspaper industry to put aside petty differences and speak with one voice.

Now is such a moment. The enemy is invisible, indeed inexplicable, but could be fatal to all we hold dear. In short: Some evil force is causing people to stop reading newspapers!

The pissing and moaning amongst American newspaper types is ubiquitous. But in other parts of the world, newspaper circulation is actually up. Now why would that be?

   more »

An interesting excerpt from an NYT piece about how the U.S. news media is still recovering from Watergate:

   more »

India is developing quite the thirst for energy resources. But it's starting to run into China no matter where in the world it bellies up to the energy bar.

   more »

JimBobby has "tagged (my) ass" and invited me to play in a little blogosphere game involving books. There's three questions:

   more »

The Toronto Star looks at the whistleblowers of today in the United States and the different media and political climate that exists compared to the time of Watergate.

   more »

Byron Calame, a recently retired editor from the Wall Street Journal, is now the second public editor at the NYT. Here's what he'd like to accomplish, following in the footsteps of Daniel Okrent.

   more »

A new atlas from the United Nations Environment Program shows the impact the growing human population is having on Earth.

Here's a look at Las Vegas from the skies:

   more »

After 127 years, it was time to cash in, shareholders of the family-run Pulitzer Inc. have decided.

The name that goes to the top prize in U.S. journalism will no longer be on any newspapers, as Pulitzer is selling out to Lee Enterprises Inc.

   more »

Congrats to the Toronto Star, which won four of 20 National Newspaper Awards Saturday night.

Read the Star's modest account:

Toronto Star journalists picked up more National Newspaper Awards tonight than any other Canadian newspaper, reaffirming the Star’s dominant position in Canadian journalism.

And that, folks, is just the lede! :)

See CanadianJournalist.ca for a full list of winners.

If you're looking to binge on dark movies this weekend and you live in Toronto, consider this double-header at the Royal: Sin City and Old Boy!

I've written about Sin City before, and pointed to an article about Oldboy's director.

Neither film is perfect, but in general, they were both well-accepted by the critics. Both are definitely worth a look.

As Bruce Springsteen said, they pass you by. And as this Globe and Mail story notes, what a difference 33 years, a publisher and an editor can make.

   more »

Gee, you'd think it was pre-9/11, the way the neo-cons are talking about China these days. Here's the latest blast from U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

   more »

A move to give the pornosphere its own domain suffix -- .xxx -- has not been received well in some quarters.

   more »

Some big institutional shareholders are saying Wal-Mart has to improve its employment practices. They've written a letter to the giant retailer urging it to shape up.

   more »

If I had the power to send people to re-education camps, I'd start with whoever said blogs would replace journalism.

Then I'd send every journalist who based all or part of a column or article on chortling about that statement to re-education camp as well -- although a different classroom.

Which brings me to the insightful mind of Ivor Tossell.

   more »

Attentive regular visitors to this site might notice a subtle change to this blog's title -- It's now Bill Doskoch: Media, BPS*, Film and Minutiae.

The BPS stands for Big Picture Stuff. I thought that was a better category for much of what I like to note on this site: Iraq, the future of oil, terrorism and security, urban issues, etc.

However, the overall content won't change. Those of you who come here to read posts about manic squirrels, shameless hussies, urination and farting will not be going away disappointed in the future.

Your genial host,

Bill D.

PS: I've been a lazy bastard in assigning posts to categories. I beg your forgiveness while I tackle the backlog.

After all, with what you're paying to read this blog, you have every right to demand much better service than this -- don't you?

The Beeb Online is asking people to write stories for them -- yet another sign the citizen journalism beast is rising.

   more »

This NYT looks at the talent-heavy CBS flagship news magazine show 60 Minutes, and the problems it might have accomodating all the egos.

   more »

The BBC's Peter Bowes talks to some journos about their thoughts on covering the Michael Jackson trial. But does Bowes dish any dirt on his Jon Stewart appearance? No-o-o-o!!

   more »

Media lawyer Dan Burnett thinks Canada's trial courts have forgotten about a little SCOC ruling called Dagenais when deciding on issuing a publication ban on evidence.

   more »

Robert Greenwald, the guy who brought us Outfoxed, is training his cameras on Wal-Mart. And he'd like your help.

Here's a link to his website. While donations would be appreciated, so would stories, photos and video about the world's largest retailer, the one with all the eerily happy, smiling, money-saving people in its commercials.

When the film comes out in November, Mr. Greenwald would be most gratified if you hosted a screening.

Actually, this seems like citizen journalism in action, meaning getting people to actively participate in the newsgathering process. 

Read the Alternet blog posting for a bit more.

The Washington Post's Bob Woodward on his history with the FBI's Mark Felt, starting with a chance meeting at the White House in 1970, how it developed into a friendship and culminated with Felt assuming the role of Deep Throat in the Watergate investigations.

   more »

Sydney Blumenthal writes in Salon about how the Bush administration's self-righteous reaction to the Amnesty International report hurts U.S. national interests.

And the NYT's Thomas L. Friedman wonders whether the legacy of 9/11 will be ...   more »

After all the U.S. has done for human rights, Amnesty International poops down the mighty eagle of freedom's windpipe. That's the thanks it gets.

OK, Dubya didn't say that on Tuesday. But he might have.

   more »

This story caught my eye, especially after a recent experience.

   more »

Here's what you visitor types found interesting in the merry month of May:

   more »