Democratic Operatives Are Behind a Network of Slanted Local Media Outlets

October 7, 2022

From a story on axios.com by Lachlan Markay and Thomas Wheatley headlined “Democrats’ swing-state local news ploy”:

Writers for a D.C.-based media operation run by prominent Democratic operatives are behind a sprawling network of ostensible local media outlets churning out Democrat-aligned news content in midterm battleground states, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Behind the patina of independent local news, these sites are pumping out content designed to put a sheen of original reporting on partisan messaging.

  • It’s an increasingly common tactic among political outfits looking to give their team a steady stream of positive content they can then use to boost their own electoral communications.
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How a Las Vegas Newsroom Set Out to Solve a Colleague’s Killing

October 6, 2022

From a Washington Post story by Sarah Ellison headlined “How a Las Vegas newsroom set out to solve a colleague’s killing”:

It was after midnight when Las Vegas Review-Journal executive editor Glenn Cook hit send on a short email to the staff.

“I’m beyond devastated to be sending you this message,” he wrote. Veteran investigative reporter Jeff German had been found dead outside his home hours earlier, on the morning of Sept. 3, Cook told his employees, adding: “It appears he was stabbed to death.”

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Meredith Tax: Feminist Author, Historian, and Activist

October 6, 2022

From a New York Times obit by Penelope Green headlined “Meredith Tax, Feminist Author, Historian, and Activist, Dies at 80”:

Meredith Tax, a second-wave feminist and author whose scholarship on labor movements informed her own class-conscious activism, died in Teaneck, N.J.

Ms. Tax was in London studying English literature on a fellowship when the Vietnam War escalated, and she and her roommate, Ann Barr Snitow, who would go on to help found the organization New York Radical Feminists, threw themselves into the antiwar movement.

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Ignoramuses Are Gaining Ground, Andy Borowitz Warns

October 6, 2022

From a New York Times Inside the Best-Seller List column by Elisabeth Egan headlined “Ignoramuses Are Gaining Ground, Andy Borowitz Warns”:

Andy Borowitz is known for his sense of humor, which provides both the canvas and the frame for his eighth book, “Profiles in Ignorance,” a wittily alarming polemic that tracks the evolution of American politics from grounds for gravitas to festival of idiocy. “Over the past 50 years, what some of our most prominent politicians didn’t know could fill a book,” writes the veteran New Yorker contributor and creator of the touring comedy show “Make America Not Embarrassing Again.”

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How the War in Ukraine Has Remade Europe

October 6, 2022

From a Washington Post column by David Ignatius headlined “How the war in Ukraine has remade Europe”:

WARSAW — For Europe, Ukraine is the good war — a moment when brave Ukrainian patriots have partially rolled back a brutal Russian invasion and, in the process, reignited belief in the values of democracy and common defense.

As Ukrainian troops surged forward on the ground this week, European leaders who gathered at a conference here were heady with what many described as an impending Ukrainian triumph over Russian President Vladimir Putin and the lawless, autocratic system he represents.

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Lessons in Writing and Life from E.L. Doctorow

October 6, 2022

From a story on lithub.com by Alison Fairbrother headlined “Lessons in Writing and Life from My Grandfather, E.L. Doctorow”:

The first time an award-winning novelist gave me feedback on my writing, I was seven. I’d written a short story about a flying pony named Gold Dust, who was stolen from his pasture and locked in a trailer where even his wings couldn’t save him. It was up to a young girl named Alison to find him and set him free.

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Annie Ernaux Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

October 6, 2022

From a story on cnn.com by Rob Picheta headlined “Annie Ernaux wins Nobel Prize in literature for her uncompromising work on family, class, and gender”:

French author Annie Ernaux has won the Nobel Prize in literature, organizers announced in Stockholm on Thursday.

Ernaux, 82, has written a number of celebrated novels, many of which are autobiographical. Her first book, “Les armoires vides,” was published in French in 1974, and in English as “Cleaned Out” in 1990. Her fourth work, “La place” (1983) or “A Man’s Place” (1992), elevated her to prominence.

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Michael Dobbs: I’ve Studied 13 Days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. This Is What I See When I Look at Putin.

October 6, 2022

From a New York Times guest essay by Michael Dobbs headlined “I’ve Studied 13 Days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. This Is What I See When I Look at Putin.”:

Two nuclear-armed states on a collision course with no obvious exit ramp. An erratic Russian leader using apocalyptic language — “if you want us to all meet in hell, it’s up to you.” Showdowns at the United Nations, with each side accusing the other of essentially gambling with Armageddon.

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Al Primo: Behind-the-Scenes Force in TV Broadcasting Who Revolutionized Local News Shows

October 5, 2022

From a Washington Post obit by Emily Langer headlined “Al Primo, creator of ‘eyewitness’ local news, dies at 87”:

Al Primo, a behind-the-scenes force in television broadcasting who revolutionized local news in the 1960s and early 1970s, replacing the single stentorian anchorman with a band of roving “eyewitness” reporters and a winsome cast of on-set personalities to create a format still familiar to TV viewers today, died at his home in Old Greenwich, Conn.

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Law School Sends Out Wrong Admissions Emails

October 5, 2022

From an AP story headlined “Law school sends out erroneous admissions emails”:

A Massachusetts law school says it’s guilty of accidentally sending acceptance emails to thousands of former and current applicants.

The Northeastern University School of Law blamed a “technical error” for the glitch, saying the erroneous emails went to more than 200 people who applied for admission starting next fall, as well as to nearly 4,000 former applicants, some of whom are already enrolled.

“The School of Law quickly sent a clarifying email explaining the error. Individual outreach is also taking place to applicants with concerns,” the Boston school said.

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