April 2007 Archives

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery:
"Paris Hilton's simple life might soon become slightly more simple if she becomes an inmate in one of the area's several "pay-to-stay" city jails.
On Thursday, the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office announced it had sufficient evidence that Hilton violated the terms of her DUI probation. Prosecutors want her to serve at least 90 days in jail. A hearing for Hilton is scheduled April 17.
Fortunately for Hilton, 26, several local cities offer jail accommodations that might be considered a cut above the standard accommodations available in the Los Angeles County women's lockup."

I'm starting to like plain spoken, and media savy, Bill Richardson because of quotes like these: "You guys have been considered … as ATM machines," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, one of the candidates, said Sunday. "Now you're important," and "Richardson, who was born in Pasadena, admitted his California roots are modest. His parents left the state three hours after his birth, he said. "Today, those roots are suddenly expanding," he said."
On the other hand, much like she did in New York (where I'm from), Hillary Clinton says she has a connections in the SGValley. "Clinton noted that her mother spent part of her childhood in the San Gabriel Valley." Foothill Cities would like to know where. So would I.

Steriods in Met's clubhouse?

I'm not really sure why this person canceled their subscription. And I'm even less sure why the person would take both the Daily Bulletin and SGVT, since, for the most part, we cover different areas. I do wonder where he thinks the news he reads online about both our areas comes from. Most of it certainly doesn't come from the LA Times. (via Foothill Cities)

A person who says he is Eric Stoltz, the actor, left a comment today. He says, " I spoke to share [sic] shortly after I heard of Rusty's death and we decided to make a donation for $100,000 to UCLA for more research for Craniodiaphyseal Dysplasia. I was saddened to hear of Rusty's death but knew of her lifestyle and was pleased she made it to the age of 70. She can now rest in peace with her two sons Rusty and Joshua.
RIP Rusty"
We'll try to see if it's true.

The background story is here.

Wikipedia's contributions during the day of the Virginia Tech shooting and days after apparently was a clearinghouse of information, according to the NYTimes: "The problem with Wikipedia is that it only works in practice. In theory, it can never work."

For a bit of levity, reader Paul remarks that "The more pressing concern of the day is a question you should be asking your readers: Do they prefer Phil Spector in his current blond bob or was his bushy brunette beehive hairstyle more becoming?" I think either way his best days are behind him.

For whatever reason journalism groups are jumping on the bandwagon of inhibiting speech or using doublespeak to fit their agendas. NAHJ calls for the use of "undocumented workers" instead of "illegal immigrants"; the NABJ calling for the firing of vile Don Imus; and now the NAAJ asking journalists to not identify the ethnicity of the Virginia Tech killer.
It's amazing that organizations that should be using everything, including the kitchen sink, to protect freedom of speech and to fight against censorship, either within or outside the newsroom, are so quick to do the exact opposite.
UPDATE: NAAJ responds to criticism.

It's what you are going to be hearing and reading for days after the horrific killings in Virginia.
The media is going to swamp you with talking heads analyzing Cho Seung-Hui's motives, past history and psychological makeup.
Since the man was a resident alien, you will hear about immigration. You will also hear how or what police should have or could have done differently on a campus some 2,600 acres. You'll also hear those who want to ban guns or increase gun ownership.
And in the end, all that noise will never answer the question of why a 23-year-old could have decided that murdering dozens was the right way to leave this world.

Rich McKee's latest. Montebello has made some curious choices lately, and we'll be watching closely as things develop.

My only comment on this is what Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said: "freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth."
UPDATE: ok maybe it won't be my only comment because here's an ominous quote that Rev. Al Sharpton reportedly said, "It is our feeling that this is only the beginning. This must be a walk that CBS now does. It must be a walk that others will do. Then we must have a broad discussion on what is permitted and what is not permitted."
- Once you decide that anyone can set a standard for allowed speech it's a slippery slope down to whatever you say that offends me can be squelched. And believe me, we're not that far off.
UPDATE II. Aram garners comments on the firing, and Michael Meyers says Let the Idiocy be Heard.

If you insist.

From the Gov.: "You know the kind of guilt I'm talking about: Smokestacks belching pollution and powering our Jacuzzis and our big-screen TVs and, in my case, powering my private airplanes. It's too bad for us that we can't live the lives of Buddhist monks in Tibet, but you know something, it doesn't happen."
Basically, his message is don't give up anything, just make it more efficient. How about give up the hummers and private airplanes? Wouldn't that be a whole lot easier and realistic?

A reader asks, "Have you ever thought about asking your readers what they want and what they don't want? Or do you just assume that you know what's best?"
It's a fair question. The answer is -- it depends.
There is a balancing act between giving readers what they want and want they need. An old editor of mine said that we need to give readers information that they don't have but need to know. We and other organizations do surveys of readers' interests, and hold reader workshops where local residents give their input. Sometimes, the information we get and put into effect angers other readers. A simpler, and informal, survey is done practically everyday. It's the phones calls we get. Trust me, we listen.

Business 2.0 bloggers are getting checks of serveral thousand dollars for hits on their blogs. The writers were paid $2.50 for every 1,000 page views their blogs received.
- I'm still not sure if this is the best model, but I guess that's why I'm not in the venture-capital world.

Apparently, the San Gabriel Valley Paranormal Researchers does still exist.
I got this note from Steve Gossett, the site's administrator
"Edward,
The forums are by invite only now, and yes it is because of SPAM. Its just way out of control. So until I decide on a new forum to use it is invite only. You can read that in the Announcements of the forum. We are still quite active but we do not publish a lot of our work due to privacy agreements. The information we do release is on a case-by-case basis, names changed, etc..."

Centinel takes umbrage.

Don't mess with people's comic strips. In the past few days, we dropped several comics, including Mark Trail. I'm still not sure why we dropped the comics but I'll find out. I first must say, I had nothing to do with this. I deal with the news, not the features and comics. Having said that, we have received dozens of angry callers, some of them quite eloquent. One elderly woman waxed poetically about how the joy of reading the comics was passed down by her grandfather. A family tradition, she said, that obviously the Tribune wants to end.