This is why journalism experience matters

Journalism experience does matter and this story illustrates it very well. That said, any Journalism 101 student should know what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.

Another take on the story is here.

Off to the land of Tombstones and a Great Canyon

Not that I have been posting here all that much anyway, but Joan and I are leaving on our next great adventure today so most of the writing and blogging will occur on the Grandmas Recess blog.

Happy trails!

p.s. I finally got around to posting the story of our trip to California back in May on Grandma's Recess.

Spin worthy of a national politician

In announcing its "progress" toward the digital future, the Savannah Morning News buried the fact it is laying off more employees.

Photo chief resigns rather than layoff co-workers

Love a person with principles. Of course, it won't likely save any of his co-workers jobs, but at least he didn't have to do the dirty work.

Sad news, Tom Kowalski, longtime Detroit Lions beat reporter dies at 51

This should have been up on the blog yesterday, but I have been in the Internet darkness for 36 hours because of a "tower" problem. That fixed I need to mark the passing of a great sports writer and a good friend.

Tom Kowalski, who I first met in 1984 when I went to work for the Oakland Press died unexpectedly Monday. No word yet on what caused his death.

I haven't seen Tom much since I left the Flint Journal, but we always joked together when he worked at the Oakland Press and I would see him occassionally when he worked for Booth. While most affectionately called him "Killer" my pet name for his was "Homer," which was a joke about some of his coverage of the Lions.

Of course he was not a "Homer" but he knew I was kidding when I would call him on a positive column about the Lions.

Here's another nice tribute from the Free Press.

RIP, my friend.

Non Sequitur gets it

This Non Seequitur cartoon was just too good not to share.

Every so often someone just gets fed up enough to tell the truth about newspapers

Poynter has a good story about a managing editor who went public, quite undercover, to expose the new owners of his newspaper. Make sure, if you are interested in this topic, to read the links in the Poynter article to the actual essay in the newspaper.

As you can guess the managing editor did not last long at his job after this was published.

Is Patch on the verge of being sold?

This also from Poynter on the future of Patch and its economic impact on AOL.

Hyperlocal or hyperstupid

Poynter has looked at a hyper local experiment at one major newspaper.

Better late than never, charging for the news online

Looks like a decade after they should have started this, newspapers have decided the online content has value too.

Ten years too late, the tune is changing

Really, not going to "do more with less" anymore. Finally a dose of reality.

Pot, meet kettle

This one is pretty funny. The Huffy Post has indefinitely suspended a blogger for borrowing too much from a story. I thought the Huffy Post was all about "borrowing" the work of others - for free - as its business model.

AnnArbor.com puts the clamps on its columnists

The new breed of Booth/Advance editors can't stand controversy. They buckle under the pressure of "offended" readers. Now they have decided to formalize that "buckle."

There are days when I miss being a newspaper reporter/columnist. And then I read this stuff and I'm glad I'm out. For good.

Newsosaur: Print is still king, but the crown is slipping

This article is an look at the print versus digital debate and specifically why newspapers can't go digital, at least not now.

Happy Fourth of July

Marching this morning in the Fourth of July Parade with my American Legion Post. Guess I can mark the parade marching off my bucket list after 11 a.m.

Happy Fourth everyone! Be safe.

Can't wait to read this book

The NY Times reviews a book - "Deal from Hell" - that sounds like my kind of story.

"Branding" and why it sucks

This column is probably the best response to the ludicrous recent trends in journalism. Mr. Weingarten, who I have quoted here before, has it exactly right.

During my last few years at the Flint Journal there was a big push at the Journal emphasizing our "brand." Which was, I think, In Touch, Involved and some other "In" that I can't remember right now. We reporters used to joke - privately - that we should have "Incompetent, Inert and In Trouble." There were a few others, but you get the idea.

We were all told to embrace this new promotion. Well, we see how that all worked out. Don't forget that many of those who thought this was the solution to our problems are still around, or running AnnArbor.com.

Ah corporate America in the new Millenium. The bosses get bonuses for their failure

The Indy Star is the latest victim of backwards journalism thinking. The bosses who lay off the employees get bonuses and raises for their dirty deeds.

Not surprising, just business as unusual.

The story of the "Greatest Paper" and how it died - and squandered $150 million

Received a link via e-mail about the rise and fall of "The National" an experimental national sports newspaper that burst on the scene about two decades ago and then faded into oblivion about 18 months later.

It took with it a number of some of the best sports writers in the country. Except for the short opening, the story is told entirely through the voices of the people who experienced it. For the faint of language there is some infrequent use of obscenities in quotes. If you are offended by strong language, don't click on the link.

The unpardonable journalistic sin claims another writer

Paige Wiser a reviewer/columnist in Chicago has lost her gig over an ethical violation. The older I get the more I wish we could cut folks a little slack over a one-time issue.

Here's another link to information about the story.

Let's not forget that Mitch Albom, an award-winning columnist for the Detroit Free Press got a pass from doing pretty much the same thing when he wrote a column implying he was at an event when he was actually somewhere else.

Like Albom, I think Wiser may have deserved a reprimand, but a second chance.

Here's another link that mentions that she only agreed to cover the event after she got an agreement from her editor to take her children. It was one of her children getting sick that forced her to leave the concert early.