Bill Doskoch: Media, BPS*, Film, Minutiae

The NYT gets a new one ripped

Bill Doskoch — Sun, 11 May 2008 18:50:06 -0400

From the deck for David Olive's column in the Sunday Star: "Unprecedented ineptitude and complacency are leading America's paper of record into irrelevance."

Jayson Blair five years later

Bill Doskoch — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:49:46 -0400

It's been five years since a journalistic time bomb named Jayson Blair finally exploded at the New York Times, leading to an article published on the newspaper's website with the following sombre headline: "Times Reporter Who Resigned Leaves Long Trail of Deception."

Rick Salutin's day at the Newseum

Bill Doskoch — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:17:02 -0400

The sometimes media critic writes on his thoughts about the $450 million temple to the news biz that recently opened in Washington, D.C.

Shopping in Afghanistan

Bill Doskoch — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:56:12 -0400

Globe and Mail reporter Katherine O'Neill on her first order of business upon arriving in Afghanistan: Buying a burka.

Tanks for the memories

Bill Doskoch — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:53:33 -0400

From the BBC:

Russian tanks and intercontinental missile launchers have been paraded through Moscow for the first time since the collapse of the USSR.
The Russian leadership has decided to revive the Communist-era custom of featuring military hardware in the annual Victory Day parade.
New President Dmitry Medvedev said the army and navy were getting stronger.
Observers say the point of the parade was to demonstrate that Russia is a serious military force.
The Kremlin insists the event, which marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, is not meant to threaten anyone.

Stick to the facts, journos; the world doesn't need more spin

Bill Doskoch — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:45:30 -0400

Guardian columnist Roy Greenslade stands up for journalistic tradition.

I think Denton, and others who support his view, are wilfully misunderstanding the digital revolution. They think that "factual news" appears on the net by magic. It's put there by agency journalists and stringers - the downtrodden peasants of the modern journalistic class structure - and then the squirearchy back at base can play with it to astound readers with their interpretative "stories". Finally, the nobility - the high-profile columnists - can employ their dazzling writing skills to give their own spin at £10 a word.
By this time, the readers may have been entertained but will they be properly informed? Will they have had the chance to assess all the facts? It is a fundamental distortion of the digital revolution to wish away the separation of news and comment as some kind of old-fashioned newsprint tradition that is somehow past its sell-by date.

The Denton to which Greenslade refers is Nick Denton of the Gawker Media group. He posted the following at Gawker: Why the (NYT) should abandon the news-opinion divide.

Globe and Mail wins six NNAs

Bill Doskoch — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:32:17 -0400

From Globe and Mail Update:

The Globe and Mail's (sic - BD) was recognized with six prizes last night at the 59th National Newspaper Awards in Toronto, more than any other news organization in the country.

The newspaper had 15 nominations among the 21 categories heading into the annual dinner that salutes the best of Canadian print journalism, also the highest number among Canadian news organizations for the ninth year in a row. ...

Among other winners last night were Montreal's La Presse, which won five awards, and the Ottawa Citizen and the Toronto Star, which each won two.

Speed Racer

Bill Doskoch — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:27:22 -0400

The movie I was keen on seeing did not get kind reviews.

From A.O. Scott of the NYT: "Speed Racer goes nowhere, and you’d be amazed how long the trip can take."

Rick Groen of the G&M: "... From adults through teens to tykes, there's something here for everyone to dislike - the whole clan can have fun making fun of this thing."

I got the point. :)

But we gave you that money to fight terrorists!

Bill Doskoch — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:34:11 -0400

Pakistan is hemming and hawing about a report that the U.S. wouldn't cut it a cheque in February to fight al Qaeda and Taliban militants. Seems Washington is wondering if that's where the money actually goes.

I wonder how much debate went into this BBC headline?

Bill Doskoch — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:24:17 -0400

Observe for yourself:

Some editors wait their whole lives for a chance to get away with writing a headline like that. :)

Here's the actual story.

Incidentally, it was the most e-mailed story on BBC as I write this.

'Sex? Yawn. Politics? That’s Hot!'

Bill Doskoch — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:00:14 -0400

Americans' newfound interest in presidential politics has been noticed by the celebrity magazines.

A forward-thinking move by the NYT

Bill Doskoch — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:49:03 -0400

From the World home page of nytimes.com:

A Place to Read and Comment on Times Articles in Arabic

By ROBERT MacKEY

As part of Generation Faithful, our ongoing series examining the lives of young people across the Muslim world, The New York Times has established an Arabic-language blog.

The ghosts of Gitmo haunt U.S. counterterrorism efforts

Bill Doskoch — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:13:03 -0400

From the NYT:

When the Pentagon announced in March that Maj. Gen. Jay W. Hood would become the senior American officer based in Pakistan, it reflected the military’s aim to put a crisis-tested veteran in a critical job at a pivotal time in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

But nearly two months later, the military has quietly canceled the assignment of General Hood, a 33-year Army veteran who was excoriated in the Pakistani news media for one of his previous jobs: commander of the United States prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

During General Hood’s command from 2004 to 2006, military authorities force-fed with tubes detainees who were engaging in hunger strikes at the Guantánamo prison, a step they justified as necessary to prevent the prisoners from committing suicide to protest their indefinite confinement. Also during General Hood’s tenure, reports that an American guard may have desecrated a Koran stirred wide protests in the Islamic world.

The decision to withdraw General Hood’s assignment has not been announced, but it appears to reflect the widening shadow that the military prison at Guantánamo is casting over American foreign policy. While the United States considers Pakistan a close ally in its counterterrorism efforts, the accounts by Pakistanis who have returned to Pakistan after being held at Guantánamo Bay have added to anti-American sentiment in the country.

Rather files amended lawsuit against CBS News

Bill Doskoch — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:22:55 -0400

From AP via Google News:

Dan Rather has filed an amended lawsuit against CBS that says other TV networks refused to hire him because of the damage executives at his former company did to his reputation after a disputed 2004 report on President Bush.

Fewer, but better, newspapers

Bill Doskoch — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:04:24 -0400

From CP via CBC.ca (May 7):

Readers appreciate good content and will always pay for newspapers, but only the strongest brands will survive the decades ahead by adapting with the times and giving people what they want, Thomson Reuters (TSX:TRI) deputy chairman Geoffrey Beattie said Wednesday.

The newspaper industry needn't worry about a future when readers demand free content because people value a good product and the relationship they build with a brand, Beattie told an audience at a joint conference of the Canadian Newspaper Association and the Canadian Community Newspapers Association.

"Everybody in the world doesn't want everything for nothing," Beattie said, adding that readers will pay for the best brands of newspapers known for their reliability and integrity.

"By paying for something and getting something of value, you're differentiating yourself and you're forming a relationship."

Deeper in the story, Beattie paints it as a packaging problem.

"We haven't come up with a way of presenting the content of a newspaper in a way that makes it attractive for people to pick it up and start reading it," he said.

"I don't think people's appetite for expertized, editorialized, high-value added, interesting content ... is actually going to decline."

So then what, exactly, are we seeing happening to newspapers, particularly in the United States?

Small (but possibly cool) summer movies this year

Bill Doskoch — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:45:10 -0400

Film critic Richard Crouse identifies some of the small summer films that look to be worth checking out between popcorn movies.

For example, Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen and David Carradine are in the biker movie Hell Ride (woohoo!).

Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg, The Foot Fist Way and Lou Reed's Berlin are among the other promising flicks.

Kinda makes you want to work for Tim Hortons, doesn't it?

Bill Doskoch — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:08:44 -0400

From TheStar.com:

A day after she was fired for giving away a single Timbit to a child, a Tim Hortons employee in London, Ont., has her job back.

Nicole Lilliman, a single mother of four, has been rehired at another Tim Hortons restaurant after what the chain described as an “overreaction” by a manager.

Lilliman was fired yesterday after she was seen giving one of the small blobs of fried dough to a small child who came in with a regular customer on Monday.

The 27-year-old woman, who worked at the outlet for three years, said she didn’t see any harm in giving away the 16-cent treat, since Timbits are often doled out to children and dogs.

But a manager fired Lilliman after telling her that giving food away free was against the rules.

Hours later, Lilliman received a call offering her a job at another Tim Hortons store.

Here's a rather terse and to-the-point news release from the coffee-and-a-donut king.

Attack on Somali TV journalist condemned

Bill Doskoch — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:16:44 -0400

From IHT.com:

A press rights watchdog condemned on Wednesday the attempted murder of the last woman openly working as a journalist in Somalia's northern Puntland region.

Reporters Without Borders said Bisharo Mohammed Waeys, a talk ...

Meet Dmitry Medvedev

Bill Doskoch — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:06:21 -0400

Who does Russia's new president love more: His wife, Deep Purple or Vladimir Putin?

To be perfectly frank, my CTV.ca feature doesn't address that question (it's a bait-and-switch effort), but it does give an overview of Dmitry Medvedev, a long-time Putin associate who officially became Russia's president today.

Alas, I fear he won't be the same human quote machine as the Putinator, nor be likely to provide amazing photo ops like this:

Precrime reporting at CBC.ca

Bill Doskoch — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:46:19 -0400

Note the date of the originating event for this story. Shades of Minority Report, I tell you:

Will this show up as a 'Drivel' item in Frank?

Bill Doskoch — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:42:50 -0400

Post odds, if you wish.

YouTube: Not just for The People any more

Bill Doskoch — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:30:41 -0400

The zany populism of YouTube appears to be under siege by governments and other powerful entities. Case in point? A vid by Jordan's Queen Raina.

'If you use Outlook e-mail, meet Xobni'

Bill Doskoch — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:06:33 -0400

Hate the sucky search function built into Outlook? There may be a solution available.

Iraqi reporter shot dead

Bill Doskoch — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:41:21 -0400

From AP via TheStar.com:

Gunmen shot dead an Iraqi reporter on Sunday after pulling her out of a car in northern Mosul, a notoriously violent city where journalists are often targeted and live in fear of their life.

Police said Serwa Abdul-Wahab, in her mid-30s, was on her way to work when gunmen forced her from her taxi in eastern Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad, and shot her once in the head.

A colleague said she had received a text message on her phone three weeks earlier warning her to stop reporting or she would be killed.

Allow me to refer you back to this post.

The downside of having a radio while in captivity

Bill Doskoch — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:32:36 -0400

The BBC's Alan Johnston tells the Globe and Mail's Sarah Hampson he heard a report that he'd been killed.

U.S. wanted me to snitch on al-Jazeera: Sami al-Haj

Bill Doskoch — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:00:21 -0400

From AP (May 5):

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — An Al-Jazeera cameraman released from the U.S.-run Guantanamo Bay detention center last week described it Monday as the worst prison mankind has ever seen.

The Democrats and Fox News, or Strange Bedfellows

Bill Doskoch — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:42:08 -0400

From the May 2 NYT:

Standing in front of a television camera last week, the chairman of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign, Terry McAuliffe, uttered four words that the Fox News Channel would not soon forget.

“Fair and balanced Fox!,” he exclaimed, noting that the network was the first to project Mrs. Clinton’s Pennsylvania primary win.

Fox executives could not have asked for a more rousing endorsement. The next day it showed up in promotions.

All of a sudden, the once-frosty relationship between Fox News and the Democratic candidates seems to have grown warmer. Mrs. Clinton and Barack Obama, who steadfastly refused to attend Fox-sponsored debates last year, are now giving plenty of interviews as they court Fox’s viewers, who are largely white, conservative and undecided.

“It’s probably true that we appeal to white working-class voters,” said Brit Hume, the network’s Washington managing editor and the host of “Special Report.” “The candidates are going where the voters are.”

Conversely, Fox seems to have softened its stance toward the Democrats, mindful of the intense viewer interest in the prolonged primary season. Although Fox News remains firmly in first place among news channels, CNN has crept up in the ratings on primary nights. So Fox wants to appeal to people who might otherwise flip the channel in search of more time with the Democrats.

In short, Fox News and the Democrats abruptly find each other useful.

'We don't need faster horses'

Bill Doskoch — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:35:13 -0400

Economist Todd Hirsch says that too many argue Canada's economy needs what he calls "faster horses" -- more tax cuts for business, more social spending for the poor.

But the problem is a horse-drawn-buggy economy, when Canada needs to think about a transformation on the scale of mass production of automobiles (his opening anecdote is based on a Henry Ford quote: "If we had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

Info control and the Tories

Bill Doskoch — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:25:54 -0400

The Globe and Mail's Lawrence Martin uses the Conservative government's decision to kill the Access to Information database to review the many and creative ways the Harperites attempt to control the information agenda.

Busted

Bill Doskoch — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:20:00 -0400

The Tories quoted ATI expert Alisdair Roberts in question period today to justify their decision to kill the CAIRS database. Roberts then uncharitably crapped on their talking points.