We were surprised to open up Monday’s Minneapolis Star-Tribune to see Jon Tevlin’s article on religion in the workplace. Surprised, because it was very similar to a feature story that was on the cover of the New York Times Magazine about a month ago. We’d noticed Russell Shorto’s feature, not only because it was a … Read more
We have very little patience for the ongoing conversation about blogs and whether anybody cares about them or not. Like most things, it makes very little sense to judge a whole medium or phenomenon generically. There are good blogs and there are bad blogs. (Helpful hint: paid professionals are paid professionals for a reason. They … Read more
In yesterday’s Sunday Times, Frank Rich makes a point we were trying to make ourselves a few weeks ago. In the aftermath of the election, USA Today had published a story that suggested Big, Bad, Liberal Media was scratching its collective head, wondering where it had gone so terribly wrong in understanding the country–and more … Read more
Yesterday at Slate, Jack Shafer claimed that “the best place to judge journalists is on the printed page.” That seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to say… if you’re judging them on their journalism. But that was not the point of his article—which purported to follow up on an “anonymous tip” regarding the speaking fees … Read more
We don’t normally pay that much attention to the local daily news. Not in a professional way—it’s too much work for too little reward, and we’re constantly annoyed at how the paper has become more about pictures and graphics than about actual news stories. But certain broad cultural trends had us interested in seeing the … Read more
In our ongoing coverage of Tom Wolfe’s new book, we mentioned yesterday that we enjoyed Jacob Weisberg’s review in last Sunday’s New York Times Book Review. What distinguishes good criticism from great criticism? We’re glad you asked. A couple of things, actually. First, we prefer critics to resist the urge to pronounce a simple verdict. … Read more
Jarrett Murphy, in the Village Voice today, complains that the media was quick to cover the infamous NBA brawl, and to put it into saturation rotation. He enumerates the coverage in newspapers and TV broadcasts, inferring that it was as salacious as it was unwarranted. (Not “hard news!” Not hard news! Foul! Is anyone listening?) … Read more
One of the things we miss most about TMFTML was his Monday-morning quarterbacking of the Sunday New York Times. (The critic became the critiqued, and that’s a helluva promotion! We like to believe we beat the Times to the punch bowl, though.) TMFTML somehow managed to scan and summarize the whole paper—usually in the yellow … Read more
We were chatting yesterday with an editor at the New Yorker, and the conversation turned on the role of design in modern magazines. The New Yorker, of course, is an old-fashioned magazine that has not changed in any major way for more than seventy-five years. To be sure, there were some dramatic touches added under … Read more
Last night, the wife noticed that WCAL has now changed hands, and is being operated by MPR. The wife is a contrarian in all things, and she said the new announcers sounded “robotic.” But the wife is, like us, a St. Olaf graduate. She is predisposed to resist change (like us), especially when it involves … Read more