Gossip authority
I will forever be a fan of I Don’t Like You… and Jossip, but my name favorite source for celebrity gossip is The Washington Post’s Celebritology. At first, I didn’t think that the Post would be the place to find gossip, but it is more interesting than the junky ET/Access/Extra shows that are out there.
What I like the most is that there are usually two posts per day from Liz Kelly. One is the usual round-up you’d expect from such a blog, but the second branched into wackiness. Sometimes, you just need some source of craziness that doesn’t come from Paris Hilton or your family.
I’m also digging Lipstick because it’s like del.icio.us for the Hollywood-inclined. There is some off-the-wall links there, but it’s a better source than del.icio.us ever will. Vanity and jealousy are the only games I play these days.
permalink | Comment [1] | media | 06/14/2006
News
My mother and I were watched “Dateline” last night after the telethon and saw some of the positive stories coming out of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. I also viewed CNN a great deal throughout the day.
This is what bothers me the most. There aren’t any positive stories about black families. Yes, many blame the lack of immediate response on racism, class division and prejudice, but we are not seeing any stories on how blacks are making it past ground zero. There are stories of other races being able to walk 15 miles to find an ambulance, make-shift families forming together to make it to dry land and families in Houston opening their doors to let strangers live with them.
I remember seeing a TV broadcast Thursday on how an elderly lady in good health was able to get herself and her two small dogs to safety. Yet, the best news I have heard about blacks would be of those who were able to evacuate before the storm and how they are rebuilding their lives with relatives. Those that are left behind are apparently the ones causing the most trouble. They are the ones that are stranded on rooftops with multiple health ailments.
Media needs to balance these stories out. The coverage we see of blacks now is the activity they deem as looting. They are showing the cursing. There are some bursts of coverage that show how children are affected by this, but those are lost in the negative.
I know that there has to be some family reunion waiting to be reported.
So, Bill O’Reilly last night criticizes those that stayed behind, saying that they should have evacuated when the officials said they should have. That’s a very easy thing to say without doing so. Where the people who left their homes for the Superdome stupid? Could these people simply have $300 in hand just to spend a week at hotels that quickly filled up? That estimate is being frugal. I bet that a hotel stay costed more than that. If there are those who didn’t have enough money to have medication to keep them healthy, how would they have it for transportation or lodging?
permalink | Comment | media | 09/03/2005
Quotation
Recently, a small North Carolina newspaper became the news of the week as two reporters and an editor resigned after the writers reportedly faked quotes for a man-on-the-street feature in the newspaper. Allegedly, the reporters used pictures and names from Facebook and made up answers to their questions.
Truthfully, I don’t understand why these reporters would fake such an easy assignment. Get five people, ask them a question, shoot their photo, write down what they say. Easy. The only hard part is coming up with a fresh question to ask each time. That’s what co-workers are for. Sure, it’s a small newspaper that publishes five days per week, but if these reporters can’t do more than this, what else are they not doing right?
permalink | Comment | media | 07/28/2005
Lucky
I describe myself this way today because I got the chance to design a page mostly on Live 8 for the Sunday paper. It’s one of those things that I like to give myself a pat on the back for and to say, “Hey, I put together how someone will remember something that made history.”
It’s a maddening process as you try to select the most touching images, edit the right amount of copy and build a page that will entice readers to stop and look at it. Also, you have the added pressure of telling history. This is the stuff people clip out and save in photo albums and scrapbooks.
The same thing was running through my mind during the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I didn’t design the front for the first day of war, but I did the second with the first causalities more than two years ago.
At the end, I selected images that I felt caputred the day, running about six photos to go with the story. I’ll get my feedback Tuesday.
permalink | Comment | media | 07/03/2005
What
I didn’t know this at all until just now, but almost six years ago I had a movie review that was picked up on the University Wire. That would have been useful information to know about when I did the big job search during my senior year of college. I was the assistant Arts & Entertainment editor for my college newspaper at the time, and it was at the start of my sophomore year. That stinks because my editor thought that my reviews were awful. After writing five of them, I stopped. Anyway, it was a review for Brokedown Palace.
ADDENDUM
O.K. I’m over it. I also found another one that was through U-Wire. It was a column I wrote my junior year. I forgive my fellow alumni for not letting me know about this.
permalink | Comment | media | 04/21/2005
Provocative
I try not to write about my work (both past and present), but when I saw this survey conducted by Salary.com, I can’t stop myself.
How in the world is a reporter’s job considered sexy outside our profession? Now the single male journalists I know are armed with yet another pick-up line for the ladies. Sure, we got Clark Kent/Superman connection and The Daily Show sometimes makes journalism seem attractive. But come on.
It’s another way to fuel their hormones. Back in my college newspaper days, there were probably more random hook-ups that I won’t mention here.
Then again, I could just be jealous. Editors didn’t even crack the top 10.
permalink | Comment | media | 04/06/2005
Gonzo
I tend to do my best writing while watching “The Price is Right.” Seeing the stupid contestants trying to guess what to bid on a showcase or spin the big wheel is always entertaining. But that’s not the focus of my entry.
Yesterday, the pioneer of gonzo journalism shot himself. I loved his column on Page 2. The one I remember the most would be the one about the 2002 NCAA basketball tournament on how bad Wake Forest did, losing in the second round and how he would send plagues of bugs to Winston-Salem to get us back in shape. Let’s hope that somebody gets “The Rum Diaries” made into a movie soon. I love “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and would love to see Hunter’s life on film again.
permalink | Comment | media | 02/21/2005
Deadlines, deadlines
Happy New Year!
My life has been in numbers this week. I have had to deal with a media contest for the past month and preparation for my solo show next month. The contest part is almost over for now, but I will hear about the results in February, around the same time as my show. If I seem too distant or stressed out, you know why. I’m also working days this week, so I have less time at home. I’ll update the site in more detail this weekend, including a January archive and an update to the search engine.
permalink | Comment | media | 01/05/2005
Everybody's doing it
On a daily basis, I fall into a daily routine (no, I’m not talking about the gossip sites again.) I tour the same blog of friends and those whose sites I admire. Right now, I’m following The Editor’s Log at the News and Record of Greensboro, N.C. The editor John Robinson has great content on the progress of journalism with blogs taking politics and our need for instant information by storm. He also reflects on the importance of diversity in the newsroom, whether it be race, gender or political party. There’s more of a need for that kind of journalism, the kind that reaches all corners of the localities, cyberspace and all.
permalink | Comment | media | 12/06/2004
Ruff, ruff
Daily morning Internet routine:—Check the Los Angeles Times for Lakers coverage.—Check the Internet Movie Database for movie gossip.—Check the New York Daily News for New York celebrity gossip.—Check the New York Post for more New York celebrity gossip.—Check E! Online / People for Hollywood gossip.—Check Style for fashion gossip.
I am such a gossip hound.