Brian Lambert Dan Froomkin of the Washington Post made my “Best of” list for his superb blogging on press performance and accountability issues. (No doubt he has the clipping framed over his computer.) Here’s a piece up today on the Nieman web-site. Its basically a refresher course for tough-mindedness, something in short supply when a politician’s popularity … Read more
A few people have asked about ratings for Twin Cities radio’s morning drive shows, usually the biggest revenue producer of the day for most stations. Here they are, with exclamations of bewilderment at the bottom. Share of Twin Cities adults 25-54 listening from 6 am to 10 am, Oct-Dec. ’06. 1. KQRS-FM 19.1 2. KTIS-FM … Read more
When I’m in the market for Sunday morning Beltway bloviation, I generally prefer Stephanopoulos to Russert. A: I like ABC’s roundtable, especially when Fareed Zakaria and George Will lock up. B: Cokie Roberts perfectly personifies D.C. group-think. There is no better example of limp. Georgetown cocktail punditry this side of David Broder. And I like … Read more
I left Jim Walsh a message today, after learning that one of the first acts of new City Pages management was to can him and his column. I worked with Jim for a few years over at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and always liked the guy. I thought of him as one of those … Read more
Among those of us who experienced what might be called a “difficult” relationship with mainstream newspapering, one of the jokes about newspapers’ numbing institutional voice was that that voice must never, ever risk offending the kind of fine and decent ladies you find serving meatballs and lefse at a Lutheran church dinner. Such ladies were … Read more
When the tinny tinkle of “Joy to the World, the Lord is Come” begins playing on the cell phone, everyone in range in the Star Tribune newsroom knows who’s getting a call. It is Katherine Kersten, the paper’s unapologetically religious and fiercely conservative metro columnist. Since May 2005, the Star Tribune has been engaged in … Read more
As a relative newcomer to the Rake family, I was reassured and gratified by fresh research asserting that you, the average Rake reader, are not much of a couch potato. Or if you are, your eyeballs are fixed to a book or magazine rather than a TV screen. The numbers say twenty-six percent of you … Read more
“Truth be told, that’s one of the reasons I left. I couldn’t stand covering random assaults and vandalism, stories that had no impact on the average viewers. TV news does violence because it’s fast, easy, requires no frame of reference or special reporting skills.” – Heather McMichael, a former Kansas City Fox 4 Reporter….comments to … Read more
I’m a big fan of Robert Wright. His book, “Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny”, is one of the most sophisticated perspectives on human conflict — including radical religiosity — I’ve ever come across. His various web-sites are now consolidating, including bloggingheads.tv. There are entirely understandable reasons why commercial television stations, (hell, PUBLIC TV), haven’t … Read more
Even though the organizers of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland politely asked the likes of Sharon Stone and Angelina Jolie to stay home this year, the summit of big hitters is making news. This Reuters report on Bill Gates’ statement that the full marriage of television and internet is less than five years … Read more