The Sad Bear

March 1, 2012

The Guardian Commercial

Thanks to a co-worker, I had the distinct pleasure of running into this video, which serves as an advertisement for The Guardian newspaper over in England. Enjoy.

Labels: interesting shit, newspapers

December 11, 2010

Tonight I listened to Eagles of Death Metal at work. We missed deadline by 45 minutes because a coach conveniently "forgot" to call in his score. "Forgot" despite the fact that he remembered our rival paper to the North, who we had to call to get the damn boxscore.

I edited 60 inches of obits and a 60 inch murder trial story and listened to J. Devil preach it and it made me wish I was back in college where I could be allowed to drink, blow things off and make poor decisions with relativity no consequences.

Then we went to the bar and had shots.

Yes, one of those nights.

Labels: college, Eagles of Death Metal, jobs, newspapers, nostalgia, real world

November 2, 2010

A word of caution

Here's the deal, you can only read this bitch once...after that, it will never be the same. So find a comfortable spot and dive into this masterful piece of work.

In fact, the best way to introduce this article is to quote directly from it:

"The fight for the dog is matched in intensity only by the fight for the money. The filings in this case have unveiled a scrumptious buffet of new information about Richard Scaife's riches -- where they've come from and where they've gone."

Enjoy.

On another note, I wrote to David Segal (who, after perusing his New York Times trove of stories, has become a byline I plan to follow) and received a pleasant e-mail in return less than an hour later.

A snippet: "Thanks for writing me. I must say I did enjoy that Scaife piece. Oh lawdy lawdy was it fun."

Labels: David Segal, interesting shit, New York Times, newspapers, Richard Scaife, Washington Post

April 18, 2010

NYT vs. WaPo vs. WSJ

Update 4/18/10
In the most rewarding Sunday reading of the year, the big three pleased in unique ways.

The Wall Street Journal felt more newsy than normal. They also delivered -- finally -- on their often over-touted Weekend Journal and Journal Report materials. Those sections always throw around big illustrations but rarely the depth I'd like. But the essay on states breaking into new states and their collection of analytical stories about the future of eco-minded development were superb and accessible.

One Journal fault: they again trotted out a rather pandering "quirky" feature in the lauded A1 Feature position. I'm piecing together evidence on the topic for a standalone post.

The Times did everything well, but delivered a somewhat less enticing A1 than usual. Notable exception being the Mexican drug war story. I can't get enough of the topic, but that said, this particular story felt richer than many. It had the statistics and hard news, but it also managed to stay relatively "local" in feel, thereby refraining from "over context" or adding too much unnecessary and obvious gravity to the situation.

Just a quick glance shows how they delivered good stories across the paper:

:: Ruth's field
:: Film violence
:: Modern love
:: Books essay
:: Public toilets

The Post, although a distant third place this week, nonetheless revealed a couple things I think it does really well (in addition to being excellent. Obviously). First, it put a "pure pleasure" read on A1. This story about the Skilcraft pen. And they delivered a politics story with great on-the-scene details and broader context in "Florida freefall." The Times has recently knocked home run political stories on Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel.

The Post probably suffered from batting last today.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Update 3/28/10
I've decided to introduce The Wall Street Journal into the game, in part because of a stellar weekend edition that grabbed me today. ~~I also wasn't able to pick up a Washington Post.~~ I read the Post a day later.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Thanks to the TNV circulation crew, we're now delivering the Washington Post alongside our MG papers. And thanks to the Garners, I'm receiving this year's Sunday editions of the New York Times!

So I'm reading a lot. ... The Atlantic and Columbia Journalism Review too ...

In thinking of what else to do with the gift of the Times, I think I'll be saving the best layouts and headlines and stories for future manipulation into handmade books. And having just read a cool CJR story about one woman's measurement of how much time she spends reading the Times, WaPo, and WSJ each day and an Atlantic story about why news stories are too long these days, I have one other ongoing blogging idea:

I'm going to pit the WaPo against the Times each Sunday. My inkling is that the Times will win easily, but today's WaPo delivered some extremely strong A1 stories that spurred me to give them the nod over the longer, but less exciting Times.

Date	Winner	Reason	Picks
2/21	Times	n/a	n/a
2/28	WaPo	sharp A1	FBI and drones; Times ditch-senior-year story
3/7	Times	landslide	basketballs, Axelrod
3/14	Times	A1; lively	Frumin, drug killings, femivores; WaPo FOX
3/21	-draw-	WaPo's A1 vs. Times misc.	Panetta; Times Greenberg baseball story
3/28	WSJ	Strong WSJ A1	WSJ: Divided by kindness; Times was so-so
4/4	Times	honestly, the sports section	tit-for-tat coverage ... Chavez ... gangs
4/11	-draw-	Post & Times	Poles vs. 'Old Man Crew'
4/18	-draw-	Journal & Times	Hasids v. Hipsters, states, fleeing violence
4/25

Labels: Columbia Journalism Review, New York Times, newspapers, The Atlantic, Washington Post

February 16, 2010

Unterrified

We all have personal favorite newspaper names. The Canton Repository, the Plain Dealer, the Blade.

Now that I think about it, lots of the badass ones happen to be in Ohio.

No matter. Because I have in my hot little hands what happens to be hands-down the best newspaper name in the world. And it's right here in little old rural Mizzou-rah.

That's right. The Unterrified Democrat. Possibly the most badass newspaper name ever. Unterrified. Democratic. That's all you want.

The UTD (my new nickname) is a weekly out of Linn (pop. 1,432) that serves Osage County. If you'll remember, Osage County was one of the counties with a nice-looking historical society website.

Anyway, the name "Unterrified Democrat" isn't the only thing this newspaper has going for it. Notice:

It's something like two columns wider than my paper, and most normal papers. I didn't measure, so I don't know the exact specs. But I opened the sports pages just for another comparison:

Unfortunately, the UTD has no website. But a Google image search image search for "Unterrified Democrat" yields this photo, so I assume it gets around.

Labels: Daily Guide, Missouri, newspaper design, newspapers

February 14, 2010

Moments of clarity

One of Mr. Garner's favorite columnists is Ken Burger at the Charleston Post & Courier. Over the weekend he wrote about "ah-ha" moments when you realize that for many years you'd been thinking erroneously about something that is common knowledge to the rest of the world.

A friend of mine said he was in his 30s when it suddenly dawned on him, in a moment of clarity, that pickles and cucumbers were actually the same thing, only different.

These "aha" moments are usually kept secret. We all know that feeling when you realize that everybody else in the world knew something you didn't know. ...

Most recently, I came to understand that cup cakes were made from regular cake mix poured into little cups. I somehow assumed there was some kind of special cup cake mix.

Katie and I put together a list of our realizations:

:: That raisins are grapes (T)
:: It's "human being," not "human bean" (K)
:: Hybrid cars need not be plugged into an outlet (K)
:: Boil water first, then add pasta noodles (T)

I seem to remember college bringing out these sorts of realizations in great quantities. But I can't seem to remember them (except for some arguments about pronunciation ... "copulate," etc.). Maybe you guys can remember some -- share in the comments (and at Burger's blog).

Labels: Charleston, newspapers, nostalgia

January 30, 2010

A McGriddle, maybe

I periodically check in on journalist peers from past jobs and internships to see how they're doing. Some buy into a Little Caesar's franchise. Others become foreign service officers.

Others keep writing.

Slayings and suicide follow turbulent times, Chao Xiong, Star Tribune

Haugen was something of an enigma in Lewisville. Residents who can trace local family lineages back decades don't know where he came from, what he did for work or how he met Gronewold's stepdaughter Ashley Sullivan a tart-tongued cafe waitress and bartender who traded jabs with farmers and doted on her two sons.

Anarchy at the Mickey D's, Michael Miller, Toledo Free Press

According to the police report, Dushane pulled up to the McDonald’s at about 6:20 a.m. and ordered items including McNuggets. When she was told that the Main Street McDonald’s only served breakfast items after 2:30 a.m., Dushane had a number of options. One was to quickly peruse the breakfast menu to order something else, a McGriddle, maybe; another was to thank the voice coming out of the order box, drive home and return during McNugget hours.

Slain Playboy model, Francis X. Donnelly, The Detroit News

... friends also said the couple constantly fought, sometimes getting physical.
"It was oil and vinegar ... I don't know why they stayed together."

'Queen of Greektown' dies at 97, Doug Guthrie, The Detroit News

"She was just a lost soul out on the street. Sometimes she'd carry on and scream like hell, and I'd think it was because she'd gotten robbed again. But then, sometimes if you looked cross-eyed at her, she'd scream, too."

Detroit City Hall Insider, Joel Kurth, The Detroit News

Labels: Detroit News, friends, newspapers, Star Tribune, Toledo Free Press

November 13, 2009

Tag-teamin

Tony and Chase make a good tag team, but Nick and I just did the best-ever tag team job for two reporters/ music listeners who don't even live in the same state, much less work for the same newspaper.

A rundown: I see on Pitchfork this morning that King Khan is arrested. He was supposed to play in St. Louis yesterday, which is why I was interested. The news item gave this update:

The Kansas City Pitch reports that King Khan & BBQ Show's booking agent has confirmed that the band was indeed arrested in Hopkinsville, Kentucky yesterday.

Hopkinsville, you might recall, is where our very own Nick Tabor lives and works as the Kentucky New Era's cops reporter. I wasn't sure if he had known about it or seen jail bookings. I sent him the story, and it turns out he had not.

Within about two hours, he had the full version up online.

I'd like to say that's some pretty sweet team reporting, if I do say so myself. Even though I did absolutely nothing except read my normal Google Reader feed in the morning.

Labels: cops and courts beat, Kentucky, King Khan, newspapers, Pitchfork

October 8, 2009

Coffee News

"Everything in Coffee News® is fun and entertaining - no bad news here. It is a big breath of fresh air to millions of readers who are tired of hearing only bad news."

Couple the latest edition of Coffee News with a black angus sandwich at Quizno's and you'll have an idea of the recently discovered joy in my life. I used to think of Coffee News as akin to Frank Talk (Hillsdale County's local version, sort of). Now I'm enamored with the worthless information provided by Coffee News. It helps me harken back to junior year of high school, when I was features editor, compiling the Did You Know? facts. Sign me up for one of these.

Coffee News hubs map.

Labels: Coffee News, newspapers, weird

October 6, 2009

Maple Avenue

Within one month's time I managed to:

Drive from Phoenix to Louisville
Total my car
Push my bank account down to $0.24
Help brew beer
Start following a murder
Attend my first jury trial
Meet a cool bullmastiff

But now I'm pretty much completely settled into Waynesboro, Virginia life. It's weird. For the first time in four years I don't have a roommate, I'm making trips to the grocery store, thinking about cooking (in terms of whole meals), learning how to budget myself, etc.

When I crashed my car (and hurt my eye), it was on the day I'd left my house in Louisville to start my "new life" in Virginia ... my car was packed. Everything I owned was with me.

That being the case, I needed to find a new car that could transport me and everything I owned to Virginia. So I ended up getting a solid gold 1996 Volvo station wagon. I actually love it...and because it is so gold I named it "The Shoe" (though I rarely refer to it as such...naming a car is weird) because it looks very much akin to Usain Bolt's Olympic shoes.

The job: I am loving it so far...and I'm sure I'll post about it in the future, once I get internet at my apartment, etc.

Anyway, as the apartment goes, I made a video (poorly edited as I lost my video editor when I got a new computer...in fact, note my heavy, out-of-shape breathing in the video) of the apartment. I still need a sofa, etc...but other than that I'm pretty much set up.

Labels: beer, car, newspapers, Virginia

September 21, 2009

For Purdy

In honor of your first official day on America's Best News Tag Team*, I thought you'd appreciate it**:

*(Excuse the crappy Photoshop job, it's all I got in my repertoire.)

**(Also gives us a new post after a cold spell. Happy now, Silliman?)

Labels: futureheads, jobs, life, newspapers, Virginia

July 21, 2009

Reoccurance

This seems to happen to me every summer. I start out with an idea to write a profile about somebody. I drag my feet, conduct too many interviews, and ultimately avoid writing the article. Then at the end of the summer, I sit down feeling re-committed to writing the piece.

Last year I ended up with one of my favorite articles I've written. This summer I'm hoping for another home-run.

I sat today down with several packed folders: court documents, interviews, newspaper articles, crime reports, etc. Now it's time to get to work and try my hand at this again.

Labels: newspapers, profiles, The Arizona Republic, writing

June 8, 2009

In Phoenix

I arrived in a 106-degree Phoenix, Ariz. Wednesday night. The trip west was long, but totally good. I left with the intention to run a series of updates on my blog with pictures and description of the trip. If you're interested in checking out those posts, see the following:

Photobucket Introduction
Visiting Jack (includes video footage of his beard)
Two-day stay in Amarillo
In Phoenix

One of my favorite pictures from the trip was of this one car at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo:

My apartment here is pretty nice. It's located 10 minutes away from the office and about the same distance away from a cool night-life part of the city. There are two pools and a newspaper stand about a minute's walk from my front door.

I'm already sun-burned.

Photobucket
When you enter the apartment you step directly into the living room.

My roommate, Jenna, and I have a decent-sized kitchen. I'm already making a lot of my own food out of a cookbook Tony recommended.

My bedroom resembles the average hotel room, minus the Gideon Bible in the drawer of the night-table. I like it though.

Photobucket
I have a huge desk, but a small number of posters on the wall. Within the next week or so I'll be adding a lot to the wall. I've started clipping out cool advertisements and art events from the paper and adding them to the wall. Sort of a visual calendar...I guess.

It's pretty tough to be bored in this city. Juggling club meets Wednesday. Swing club meets Thursday. Art walks and neat Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art events often occur on Fridays (plus a good nightlife scene about 10 minute south of me). And plenty of little hole-in-the-wall stuff to see in between.

The music here might be a little hit-or-miss. Besides the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the only groups coming through this city that I'm interested in seeing are The White Rabbits and The Bowerbirds. Later this month I'm driving a couple of hours to Tucson, Ariz. to see Sunset Rubdown with Mark Perkins. Tickets for that show rang in at a very affordable $8.

I'll be finished reading Kurt Vonnegut's Palm Sunday tomorrow, and plan to forge into the following works next:

Photobucket Vox by Nicholson Baker
Angels in America by Tony Kushner

Note: Sorry Silliman, I'll get around to 2666, but it looks a little too hefty for how hectic I think my summer reading will be. I'm going to get around to it sometime this year though.

I have human resources training tomorrow morning, but work officially starts for me Tuesday.

Labels: Arizona, Going West, newspapers, Phoenix, photography, reading

April 20, 2009

Public enemy No. 1

It's this guy:

Not only do I hate his jerk-off name and his jerk-off face, but I hate what he has to say about his job:

The new Washington Post reporter covering the Nationals baseball team would rather be writing about something else. Food, preferably.

“I don’t like sports—I am embarrassed that I cover them,” Chico Harlan says. “I can’t wait to stop. It is a means to an end and a paycheck.”

Seriously? I could name twenty people off the top of my head that would gladly do that job and love it. Except this guy, 26 (!!) years old, has it, and hates it, and bitches about it. In this economy. With the state of the newspaper industry as it is.

I would say more but I fear getting to profane on this mo'fo.

At least "State of Play" got me excited to work for a newspaper again, especially the ending credits montage of the paper in production. And nice cast: Jeff Daniels, Helen Mirren, Michael Buth (?!)...

Labels: film, jerks, journalism, newspapers

March 26, 2009

Goodtimes

We pulled off a decent spread on The Beat and The Bench. Couldn't use as many photos as I wanted...and somehow The Beat story's last column was a little higher than I thought...but it still looks alright.

Read the article.

It was all worth it for this quote:

They despised Mu Alpha.
"They sucked. I’m sure they still suck," said Frank. "They were really lame and extremely conservative. They were the kind of people who would be in Latin class and recite Latin with a British accent. They liked to take their shoes off. Just lame, offensively lame. I’m sure they still are."

Also check some of these out:

Photobucket

A nice way to look at front pages
Photobucket

TED: Getting energy from kites
Photobucket

Check out this documentary
Photobucket

Fresh Air: Mexican Media Baron and the Cartels
Photobucket

The newspaper response to Craigslist: fight back

Labels: design, newspaper design, newspapers, NPR, The Beat, This American Life

February 7, 2009

When worlds collide, part 2 (or, "Scooped by the Strib!")

Never mind the coincidence; the fact that Tony and I work at newspapers in towns with similar names and compete with newspapers with the same name. Oh, it's still there. Only this story just makes it a little freakier.

Listen: there's this wrestler, named Gordon Bierschenk. He graduated from Waynesville High School in 2003. In high school he was a mediocre wrestler at best but decided after graduation that he'd walk on at the University of Minnesota anyway, just for the hell of it.

So far, so good. He then went to Iraq after being a decent walk-on and came back with a new fire. Now he's the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week.

Now, here's the freaky part: I got scooped on his story. Not by the Springfield News-Leader, or the Pulaski County Daily. No. I got scooped by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Never in a million years did I expect that to happen.

Now, this would admittedly be a lot freakier if Tony was still interning there. But still...who'd've thunk it? I've got national competition (*snicker*).

And you can read my version of the story here (no e-link yet, but I just posted the pdf on my blog, that'll have to do for now). My version is a bit more in-depth, plus I was able to talk to his mom and high school coach. Mine comes out Saturday, and the Strib piece was on Wednesday...the bastard.

Labels: coincidence, Daily Guide, Missouri, ne, newspapers, Star Tribune, Wayne, work

January 8, 2009

Wayne vs. Wayne

The Center of the Venn (a diagram of similarities)

Before reading a word, please LISTEN.

What were the chances that two equally dapper and similarly attired Hillsdale freshman would meet through a common love of The Hives and four years later find themselves living in towns named after the same fiery Revolutionary War hero while competing against Gannett newspapers, also of the same name?

Suffice it to say, it happened. The details below will paint the picture, and clarify the Center of the Venn diagram too.

	WAYNESVILLE	WAYNESBORO
Rookie reporter	Jack	Tony
Population	3,507 (˜ 20,000 when grouped with St. Robert and Ft. Leonard Wood "metro" area)	21,454
Namesake	"Mad" Anthony Wayne	"Mad" Anthony Wayne
Competing newspaper	The News Leader, Springfield	The News Leader, Staunton
Historical fame	prostitution capitol	birthplace of spandex
Nearby nat'l landmarks	Mark Twain National Forest	Shenandoah National Park, Monticello
Downtown is:	classic in disrepair	classic with vacancies
City motto	Preserving the Past, Planning for the Future	Hospitality in the Valley
Incredible discovery	KDHX in St. Louis, best station ever. And WJR in Detroit comes in too.	lost-freight company
Area employers	Ft. Leonard Wood	~~Invista~~, Hershey, Little Debbie, Target
Nearby nature	the Ozarks	mountains, bears, contaminated fish
Historic Highway	Route 66	Blue Ridge Parkway
Cheesy attraction	Stubby Stonehenge (Rolla)	giant watering can (Staunton)
Prob. of getting lost on mountain highways	high	moderate
Weekend pastimes	High school sports	making local liquor store most lucrative in the state
Gang presence?	none...unless counting soldiers vs. strip club security personnel	Bloods, Crips, MS13, Burples, VA Stickups, etc.
Town reputation:	conservative; military	groan-inducing
Big news lately	Serviceman court martial	School murder plot; 41-year-old case closed
Recommend town for living?	no.	no.

More about the namesake: Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745–December 15, 1796) was a United States Army general and statesman. His military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him a promotion and the sobriquet of "Mad Anthony".

Labels: coincidence, Missouri, newspapers, Virginia, Wayne, work

December 23, 2008

The year 2008 in photographs

The Big Picture photo blog through the Boston Globe is awesome.

Labels: newspapers, online news, photography

October 7, 2008

No more fireflies?

I didn't see a single firefly this year. Have they gone the way of the bees?

Fall break starts tomorrow, I was just given a huge bag of puppy chow, internship applications and job queries are scheduled for the rest of the week, and I get a one week vacation from The Collegian.

And just because the rest of this is going to be a bit of a link dumping-ground post, here is a passage from The Wanderer that Erin Tabor and I translated from Old English. We used Wiktionary a lot during the translation process:

Forþon wat se þe sceal his winedryhtnes
leofes larcwidum longe forþolian,
ðonne sorg ond slæp somod ætgædre
40
earmne anhogan oft gebindað.
þinceð him on mode þæt he his mondryhten
clyppe ond cysse, ond on cneo lecge
honda ond heafod, swa he hwilum ær
in geardagum giefstolas breac.
45
ðonne onwæcneð eft wineleas guma,
gesihð him biforan fealwe wegas,
baþian brimfuglas, brædan feþra,
hreosan hrim ond snaw, hagle gemenged.
þonne beoð þy hefigran heortan benne,
50
sare æfter swæsne. Sorg bið geniwad,
þonne maga gemynd mod geondhweorfeð;
greteð gliwstafum, georne geondsceawað
secga geseldan. Swimmað eft on weg!

"I assure thee that without the valued teaching of his lord and friend he therefore endured grief and sleepiness for a long time.
In miserable anxiety his heart often experienced dreams of his former home where, at times, he cherished and kissed his liege-lord while kneeling at his throne.
Thereafter, he awoke, again a friendless man, seeing in his dark path a snowstorm mixed with hail and a seabird rising and stretching its wet wings to attack. Therefore, the wounds and oppression renewed him.
Painfully, after his pleasure, his sorrow became renewed. The man's thoughts passed through his mind and he earnestly greeted his lord thoroughly and swiftly swam again toward his journey."

--

Newspapers are on the move.

+ The Wall Street Journal's face shows it.
+ The Chicago Tribune and The Tampa Tribune and The Boston Herald chose stacked flags in their redesigns.
+ The Hartford Courant looks new and neat.
+ Charticles are on the rise. But do they threaten narrative journalism?

+ Play some Sarah Palin Bingo.
+ Check out Kuler.
+ Jay Walker's library.
+ "Trumpet Trumpet Toot II".

Labels: American Journalism Review, Anglo-Saxon, music, newspaper design, newspapers, politics

July 2, 2008

Charles Apple makes a move

So for anyone who's been there to see me swoon over the design in The Virginian-Pilot, you'll recognize the name. Charles Apple, who has been with the Pilot's design team for many years now, has decided to change direction.

"My last day at work at the Pilot will be Friday, July 11. I’ll begin work in Charlotte on July 15. Sharon will pack up the cats, the dog, the guinea pigs, the turtles and other household vermin and follow as soon as she sells our condo in Virginia Beach."

In the past year he's actually mentioned me, Tony, or The Collegian in one capacity or another on several occasions.

+ He commented on The Collegian's Web site redesign.
+ He mentioned both Tony and myself in his 2008 summer intern listing.
+ And he highlighted some of the work I helped with at the Toledo Free Press last summer.

Anyway, he's decided to begin working for an online, sports 'newspaper.' Which actually looks pretty interesting in its design. Sporting News Today offers readers a PDF for every edition that's released. But, different from other online media resources, its presentation looks similar to the printed page of a 'normal' newspaper.

"Sporting News Today an exciting new idea and I’m just tickled to be a part of it. And honored. I’ve been a fan of The Sporting News ever since I was introduced to it by my best pal in high school, Bailey Harris. Bailey’s now a big-time high school basketball coach in Lexington, S.C. I can’t wait to tell him I’m working for TSN. He’ll freak.

The New York Times did a big piece on the renaissance at The Sporting News a couple of weeks ago, focusing on this new venture."

You can check out that NYT's piece here.

Labels: Charles Apple, design, Hillsdale College, newspaper design, newspapers, online news, sports, The Collegian, The Virginian-Pilot