Monthly Archives: November 2017

How MSNBC/NBC is Covering the Matt Lauer Abuse/Firing Story

Yesterday, I posted an inventory of about 15 major journalism and media figures who have been accused of sexual harassment or abuse over the last year or two.  I’ve spoken with a number of people about this list, and where … Continue reading

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A Brief History of Accusations (and Consequences) of Sexual Misconduct by Media Figures

A brief history of recent accusations and consequences of sexual misconduct by media figures: News Item 1‘Today’ show host Matt Lauer fired after claims of ‘inappropriate sexual behavior’ – WaPo https://t.co/luFyYbCezZ — RalphIsNow@rhanson40@threads.net (@ralphehanson) November 29, 2017 Consequences to Date: … Continue reading

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The Bridges of Buffalo County

Earlier today, thanks to a post on an ADVRIDER discussion board (for people who go on motorcycle adventures…), I discovered the website Bridgehunter.com.  Bridge Hunter is a database of historic and notable bridges around the United States and is a great … Continue reading

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Annie Proulx in praise of the happy ending

Annie Proulx just won the National Book Award Medal for Distinguished Contribution, and she gave a wonderful acceptance speech in praise of the happy ending.  Here are some highlights, but you can read the whole thing over at Vulture: “Although … Continue reading

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XKCD answers the question “What will new technology do to us?”

When you have questions about what will technology do to us, the first place to look at is the web comic XKCD: Remember: New technology is always scary!

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24-hour Video Game Streaming Fund Raiser

My friend and occasional guest blogger Aaron Blackman is doing a 24-hour live streaming video game fund raiser for Omaha Children’s Hospital. He writes: My wonderful wife Michelle had surgery on her heart when she was 3 years old. She … Continue reading

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Why you need to pay attention to what you write (It can be spelled right and still be wrong)

Over the last few weeks there have been several spectacular copyediting errors in newspapers around the country that probably passed right through a spelling/grammar check but still managed to totally humiliate the publication and the staff members responsible. For example: … Continue reading

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In the Battle of Disney vs. The Press, The Press Won

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, Disney recently entered into an ill-advised battle with the Los Angeles Times because the media conglomerate didn’t like how the newspaper was covering the company’s business relationships with the city of Anaheim. Disney (aka … Continue reading

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Questions Worth Asking (Maybe) – All-Disney Edition

How many African-American writers does Hulu have working on their series? Zero, none, zip, nada. (And just 4.8 percent of all TV writers are black.) Behind-the-camera diversity can be as important as in-front-of-the-camera. (Disney is one of the major owners … Continue reading

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