About Editing and Writing

Apple Executive Leaves Company After Crude Joke

September 30, 2022

From a Wall Street Journal story by Joseph DeAvila and Tim Higgins headlined “Apple Executive Leaves Company After Crude Joke Made in Viral TikTok Video”:

A top Apple Inc. executive is leaving the company after he made a lewd joke on TikTok that went viral. Tony Blevins, Apple’s vice president of procurement, is departing the company.

Mr. Blevins appeared in a short video published by a TikTok and Instagram creator named Daniel Mac, where he asks people driving luxury cars what they do for a living. The Apple executive was parking his Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren when the video was shot.

Staff Cutbacks at Consumer Reports

September 30, 2022

From Consumer Reports CEO Marta Tellado:

As a mission-driven organization, we have a profound obligation to deliver trusted information, especially when it’s in short supply. And we must continue to hold big companies and powerful interests accountable in order to create a more fair and just marketplace. Our mission remains unchanged after over 85 years, and we must ensure we can deliver on it in a challenging external landscape.

On the Writings and Habits of Cormac McCarthy

September 30, 2022

From a New York Times story by Elizabeth A. Harris headlined “Early Cormac McCarthy Interviews Rediscovered”:

Cormac McCarthy doesn’t do interviews.

During his long career, McCarthy, 89, has sat for vanishingly few of them. In those conversations — including with The New York Times in 1992 and Oprah in 2007 — he often answered questions by telling stories about other people. Scholars of his work say he has long been resistant to publicly analyzing his writing process.

The Jazz Age Double Murder That Hooked America on True Crime Stories

September 30, 2022

From a Wall Street Journal review by Tom Nolan of the book by Joe Pompeo titled “Blood & Ink: The Scandalous Jazz Age Double Murder That Hooked America on True Crime”:

It was called “the great story of a generation.” In September 1922, the Rev. Edward Hall and his lover, Eleanor Mills, a member of his church’s choir, were found murdered near New Brunswick, N.J. Both were shot dead, their bodies laid out on a field beneath a crabapple tree. Eleanor’s throat was slashed, and her letters to the married cleric were scattered around their corpses.

Nobel Prize Season Arrives Amid War, Nuclear Fears, Hunger

September 30, 2022

From an AP story by Vanessa Gera headlined “Nobel Prize season arrives amid war, nuclear fears, hunger”:

This year’s Nobel Prize season approaches as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shattered decades of almost uninterrupted peace in Europe and raised the risks of a nuclear disaster.

The secretive Nobel committees never hint who will win the prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, economics or peace. It’s anyone’s guess who might win the awards being announced starting Monday.

Yet there’s no lack of urgent causes deserving the attention that comes with winning the world’s most prestigious prize: Wars in Ukraine and Ethiopia, disruptions to supplies of energy and food, rising inequality, the climate crisis, the ongoing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stories of Surviving Hurricane Ian

September 30, 2022

From a Washington Post story by Tim Craig headlined “Stories of surviving Ian: Narrow escapes, harrowing rescues, floodwater fish”:

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Kathy Sharp believed she would be safe at the Thunderbird Park, a mobile home community for retirees dotted with palm trees two miles from the Gulf of Mexico. For days, forecasters had indicated Hurricane Ian was heading toward Tampa.

But as the storm shifted and tore through Fort Myers, Sharp looked out a window and noticed pieces of her neighbor’s roof flying into the air. Not long after, her own home started to break apart, the fierce wind casting aluminum paneling into the swirl of airborne debris.

Being With Local Journalists Reporting on Hurricane Ian

September 30, 2022

From a story on poynter.org by Angela Fu headlined “On the ground with local journalists reporting on Hurricane Ian”:

As Hurricane Ian approached southwest Florida on Tuesday, officials began issuing evacuation orders.

Kate Cimini, a Florida investigative reporter for the USA Today Network, evacuated her home, but instead of clearing out of the hurricane’s path, she aimed for her colleague’s place in Naples.

“I volunteered to report,” Cimini said. “It’s my job, it’s what I like doing, it’s a good use of my time. And people want to know what’s going on.”

Escalation of Ukraine War Raises Risks to Russia’s Putin at Home and Abroad

September 30, 2022

From a Wall Street Journal story by Alan Cullison headlined “Escalation of Ukraine War Effort Raises Risks to Russia’s Putin at Home and Abroad”:

MOSCOW—Russia is planning triumphant ceremonies and public rallies as President Vladimir Putin prepares to formally annex a broad, additional swath of neighboring Ukraine in the coming days.

The celebrations are set to echo the pomp and circumstance that accompanied Russia’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula eight years ago, an event that Mr. Putin marked in the imperial grandeur of the Kremlin’s gilded St. George’s Hall.

Russia’s capture of Crimea was quick and nearly bloodless and vaulted Mr. Putin to new heights of popularity at home.

TV Reporters Standing in the Path of Hurricanes, Getting Blown Around, Becoming Famous

September 29, 2022

From a Washington Post story by Paul Farhi headlined “TV reporters standing in hurricanes: A national tradition”:

There was Jim Cantore, the Weather Channel’s intrepid storm reporter, very much in his element. Standing in the path of Hurricane Ian in Punta Gorda, Fla., on Wednesday, Cantore was getting lashed by rain and blown around by the wind when a flying tree branch kneecapped him in full view of his camera crew.

“You gonna be all right?” asked an unseen anchor as Cantore staggered to a street sign, holding on in the wind.

The Hidden Influence of the World’s Most Powerful Consulting Firm

September 29, 2022

From a New York Times review by Sheelah Kolhatkar of the book by Walt Bogdonich and Michael Forsythe titled “When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World’s Most Powerful Consulting Firm”:

About Editing and Writing

Apple Executive Leaves Company After Crude Joke

Staff Cutbacks at Consumer Reports

On the Writings and Habits of Cormac McCarthy

The Jazz Age Double Murder That Hooked America on True Crime Stories

Nobel Prize Season Arrives Amid War, Nuclear Fears, Hunger

Stories of Surviving Hurricane Ian

Being With Local Journalists Reporting on Hurricane Ian

Escalation of Ukraine War Raises Risks to Russia’s Putin at Home and Abroad

TV Reporters Standing in the Path of Hurricanes, Getting Blown Around, Becoming Famous

The Hidden Influence of the World’s Most Powerful Consulting Firm

About Editing

What Editors Should Look for in Writers

About Writing

Writing That Is of Marginal Interest