Archive for March, 2008
Online Newsrooms: Time for Change
I invite you to read my commentary today in Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog online newsletter: Apples to Oranges: Most Online “Newsrooms” Tired and Boring, Not Timely and Relevant.
Middle East Managed “News” Event
An event called, The Arab Broadcast Forum, is scheduled for early May in Abu Dhabi. It appears to be primarily for those few journalists who have the time luxury to attend such shows. The agenda seems a bit too plain vanilla and avoids many more important issues that journalists should be focusing their attention on [...]
A Remarkable Day for the World
It is Friday, the 21st of March, and I am in Haifa, Israel on business. But, I have stopped to think about this remarkable day – Today is Naw-Ruz, marking the New Year in the Baha’i Faith. Jews here in Israel are celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim, which dates to the Old Testament. It [...]
The Image of a Crutch
Even before New York Governor Eliot Spitzer got caught up in a prostitution scandal, I have been reflecting on the habit of politicians to face the media with their wives at their side when such controversy hits. Quite a bit has been written and said on the subject, especially in the last week since the [...]
Rules of “Off the Record”
“Off the record” has always been a risky thing to say to a reporter. It is unfair and can be interpreted as manipulative. Under the traditional rules of journalism, when someone says, “off the record,” in advance of what they say, the journalist is honor-bound not to use anything that is said. It, consequently, begs [...]
Superb Story + NPR’s Style = Great Coverage
This is an outstanding example of how one organization worked with National Public Radio to achieve terrific coverage on NPR’s popular Morning Edition program. It also shows NPR’s style of merging traditional coverage with the dynamic communications elements of Web 2.0 – Layli and Gil Miller-Muro, two members of the Baha’i Faith in northern Virginia, [...]
Conflicting Threat Levels: Triple Lutz
The confusing issue of the nation’s terror threat level has only gotten more wacky through the government’s communications efforts. The Department of Homeland Security, which has grown into an enormous government bureaucracy, has kept the terror … or is it, terrorism, or maybe just fear factor … threat level at airports at “ORANGE” level since [...]
