SR.com Blogs | News Diary

How did China end up on the front page today?

Last week, it was a disaster in Myanmar. This week, it�s China�s turn. ( Full post )

More whacky headlines

It�s time once again for some funny or awkward headlines from America�s newspapers, courtesy of the May/June issue of Columbia Journalism Review: ( Full post )

Does Myanmar belong on the front page?

The cyclone responsible for more than 22,000 in Myanmar is front-page news today in a wide range of U.S. newspapers. ( Full post )

Profanity: 21 times is not gratuitous?

Award-winning author Buzz Bissinger, whose work includes the book Friday Night Lights, made quite a spectacle of himself last week on Bob Costas�show on HBO. ( Full post )

It really is the economy, stupid

Despite what the presidential candidates might think, the economy is the most important story in America today � not the never-ending campaign. ( Full post )

Please sir, may I buy some pot?

I took a day off on Tuesday to take a relative on a scenic drive to Nelson, British Columbia. We were both first-time visitors. ( Full post )

A story of recovery prompts bitterness

Human nature and reader reaction, which are often quite comparable, are in plain view for us today. ( Full post )

Should local media collaborate more often?

We are about to draw a close to our month-long Our Kids, Our Business project. It�s our second year of focus on children, their needs and our community�s efforts to provide them the protection and encouragement they deserve. ( Full post )

What do young journalists need to know?

In an interview with Michael Parks, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and outgoing director of the journalism school at the University of Southern California, writer Norman Corwin asked Parks what he would recommend to his successor. ( Full post )

What would Edward R. Murrow say about your tie?

Permit me a small rant today. Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer are both good journalists with proven track records. But this exchange on Wednesday's CBS Evening News was just silly: ( Full post )

What's the real purpose of journalism?

Many journalists can recall a trick question from a professor teaching the first day of class for beginning journalists: ( Full post )

Those wild parties on Wall Street

�Covering Wall Street is like covering a wild party,� says Charles Gasparino, the on-air editor of CNBC and a veteran business journalist. ( Full post )

( Full post )

Newspapers are hot sellers in Kansas

Winning sports teams help sell newspapers. I�ve not revealing any industry secrets with that pronouncement. The evidence is plentiful. Just ask any body working in a circulation department at your local newspaper. ( Full post )

The NY Times visits the Schrock-Helm case

The Sunday edition of the New York Times contained a lengthy story and photos about the death of the five Schrock children and the ensuing trial of Clifford Helm. ( Full post )

Vernon Jordan and MLK -- comparable trauma

Paul Turner�s excellent piece today on the assassination of Martin Luther King and its impact on Memphis prompted me to relive an unfortunate and similar experience. ( Full post )

Sage advice: Lure new readers with innovation

This is real inside baseball, but a colleague recently shared an excerpt from an old textbook on magazine and newspaper design: ( Full post )

Deception and sloppiness plague newspapers

As if the struggling newspaper industry doesn�t have enough problems, three recent instances at the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and St. Louis Post-Dispatch compound the sense of despair and frustration. ( Full post )

A welcome sign of openness from Spokane police

The killing of Spokane resident Dan Wortham on Friday was another stark reminder of the violent world we live in. The Spokane Police Department�s openness in the case is also a reminder of how well the public is served when authorities are forthcoming with details. ( Full post )

Would you show a dead body on the front page?

As part of its coverage of the five-year anniversary of the war in Iraq, The New York Times� front page on Wednesday features a prominent photo of an Iraqi killed in a fight with Marines. I doubt the Times would have used a photo showing the body of a dead Marine. ( Full post )