Mainstream Media

Re: ProJo Watch

By Carroll Andrew Morse | July 29, 2008 |

The news of buyouts at the Projo reminds me of this item, from Glenn Reynolds, on a major reason why he believes newspapers have fallen on hard times… I’ve said for years that hard-news reporting is the killer app for Big Media, but they just don’t want to do it. They want to tell people…

ProJo Watch

By Marc Comtois | July 28, 2008 |

As always, Ian Donnis has his finger on the pulse of what’s going on at the Journal. Working off of his initial story about ProJo parent Belo Corp cutting around 500 jobs throughout the company, Ian also found out that ProJo will cut around 50 jobs or seek buyouts. He’s talked to some veterans over…

Dear Ink-Stained Wretches: People Think You’re in the Bag

By Marc Comtois | July 21, 2008 |

Ian Donnis has been keeping tabs on the fall of the newspaper business, particularly the ProJo, for a while, most recently noting that “[t]he bottom line…is that the erosion of newspapers hurts us all.” That’s certainly true. And a couple recent Rasmussen polls point to some of the problems newspapers (as part of the larger…

RE: Tony Snow, R.I.P.

By Marc Comtois | July 12, 2008 |

As Don has noted, Tony Snow has passed away after a battle with cancer. Snow recently served as Press Secretary for the current Bush Administration, but he was perhaps best known as a conservative commentator and newsman (FOX). Undoubtedly partisan, he was also a class act. Snow’s tone and tenor is something sorely lacking in…

Waiting for that Hard-Hitting, Old-Time-Journalism Scott MacKay Column on Barack Obama’s Misplaced Priorities

By Carroll Andrew Morse | July 9, 2008 |

Presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama had this to say yesterday, in an address to the League of United Latin American Citizens in Washington D.C…I fought with you in the Senate for comprehensive immigration reform. And I will make it a top priority in my first year as President — not only because we have…

ProJo Spins 75% Approval of E-Verify

By Marc Comtois | July 7, 2008 |

Hey, you. The one who was part of the 75% percent of Rhode Islanders who said they approve of Governor Carcieri’s E-verify Executive Order (and presumably the E-verify bill that just got killed by Senator Theresa Paiva-Weed). Guess what? The Journal’s Steve Peoples and/or Cynthia Needham think you were just confused…or something…by the question (the…

Bob Kerr, Grim Reaper

By Justin Katz | June 26, 2008 |

Bob Kerr tries to make it seem as if he wants more news coverage of the various war efforts in which the United States is currently engaged: … this week, we learn there is even less effort than before to keep the wars, especially the war in Iraq, in front of the people who pay…

Tim Russert

By Marc Comtois | June 13, 2008 |

Via Dan Yorke, the New York Post (and MSNBC confirms) that “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert died of a heart attack today. MORE: Needless to say, this is simply a shock, especially to those of us tuned into the world of politics and punditry. No one can dispute that Russert was one of, if…

Jim Baron’s Biggish Thoughts on Smallish Legislation

By Carroll Andrew Morse | May 5, 2008 |

I tried to excerpt down Jim Baron‘s weekly column in today’s Woonsocket Call, but couldn’t find much to cut out. It’s worth fighting through the lack of proper spacing between paragraphs to read the whole thing.

Raising Concerns

By Justin Katz | May 5, 2008 |

Methinks there’s a missing “my” in Karen Lee Ziner’s “Remarks raise concern” piece on the front page of yesterday’s Local News section: A nonprofit group whose board members include First Lady Sue Carcieri asserts that nearly 45 percent of all immigrants in Rhode Island — legal and illegal — lack high school diplomas and “this…