Here and There

Again: BIG distinction here between “newspapers” and “news organizations.” But, as usual, The Daily Show nails it:

I’ve been following Jonathan Turley for a few years now, since I first saw Turley and Bruce Fein appear before Congress to discuss surveillance. He impressed me with his intelligence and articulation, in addition to coming down on the right side of things.

Just now, I saw him on Rachel Maddow, and it struck me for the first time what a great pick Turley would be for the Supreme Court.

Agree? Don’t agree? Am I totally full of it? Let me know!

PS I’m a straight guy with a crush on a lesbian. Maddow just announced that infrastructure is one of her favorite subjects. I know it would never work out, but not because of the obvious reasons — Maddow also declared her love for PBS supreme douche David Brancaccio. And now, she made the pirate “arrrrhhh” sound. Boo, Rachel!

I realize this isn’t really the kind of blog that posts or could get away with posting open threads. I have the readership (there they are, in the stats I check out on a daily basis), but not the commenting readership.

And that’s not to berate you, I assure you. I realize the shortcoming is mostly of my own doing. I’m not provocative enough, or do not write at length enough about provocative topics, to warrant long comment threads.

But here’s one for you: Can anyone out there suggest a viable track for professional journalism to take?

Now that we’re witnessing the collapse of newspaper journalism as we know it, is the business model built upon ad revenue even workable anymore?

Discuss please.

She’s really getting on my nerves. It’s style and substance. Today, it was “calling out” Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell for saying Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano has “no life” and is therefore “perfect for the job.” So? It’s kind of true. Napolitano is single. She’s not saddle-strapped with a family. She’ll never have to leave the post to say, “I’m going to spend more time with my family.”

Brown’s tone, her cadence, her delivery, frankly, sucks. It’s so boilerplate and broadcasting school, it sounds (and tastes) like shit. But, this is CNN.

I’m really starting to get sick and tired of cable news. And I only signed up for service a week before the election.

Thank you, greedy blood-sucking assholes. Your brilliant scheme has sunk this ship.

Layoffs at wired.com today. I wasn’t spared.

How we went from a housing boom to this astounds me and makes my blood boil, frankly.

The same amazing photographer that brought us this incredible slideshow chronicling Obama’s 21-month run for president brings us photos from the buses and trains, the podiums where Barack Obama has appeared, from his point of view.

Get this woman a Pulitzer, please.

For the record, Time has a really moving set of photos of McCain, too.

Um … slap?

Callie Shell is one hell of a photog.

Thx: Kottke

Against a reporter, no less. This is scary shit, people.

I don’t hold the campaign responsible, per se. I do think they could be doing a lot more to quell this Neanderthal behavior. But, like the guy points out, they’ve never asked people to go beat reporters (or anyone else) up. Charged rhetoric, for sure. But no calls for violence, explicit or implicit.

Sullivan links to his Atlantic colleague, Barbara Wallraff, on the subject of generic pronouns. She gets it right/agrees with me. Heh.

Well, half of it anyway.

Some cryptic goings on at one of my favorite sites, The Daily Dish.

First, a Monday with one, View From Your Window post. Then, a message from Andrew Sullivan today:

Thank you for your many emails of concern. For the record, I’m absolutely fine, nothing has changed with this blog, no one is pressuring me to write or not write anything, and I spent part of the day yesterday with my husband soaking up the last moments of summer together.

Then … this, in German, translated loosely as “About which one cannot speak, over it one must be silent.”

So, srsly, Andrew, what gives? Are you getting pushback for questioning Sarah Palin? Joe Biden’s medical records? What?

Racist, maybe. Insensitive, perhaps. Ignorant, definitely. His name is Kim, not Il:

The media immunity, that is.

TPM’s Greg Sargent has a round up of the ballistic missiles thrown at Obama by the McCain campaign, and the media’s reluctance to call him on it.

I know I’m not breaking any intellectual ground here, but it did just occur to me what the big deal is, or at least stems from: It’s really the first choice they make after having been de facto anointed their party’s candidate.

In that sense, I feel absolved of the guilt of having horse-raced this whole thing.

And I hate to lock onto a figure so presumptuously, but if it’s truly down to Biden, Bayh, and Kaine, let’s get the show on the road.

Okay, wait, as someone who’s worked in news the last few years, announcing on a Tuesday is a pretty dismal idea. Never mind.

Go back to living your life now, please.