Pittsburgh Media Scoops and Gossip
Welcome, newsroom pros and moles. Here's the spot for all the latest dish and debate on what's happening in Pittsburgh media. This is a forum to talk about issues affecting the Pittsburgh media scene.
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ABOUT THE DOG: Since so many have asked, the photo is simply a dog delivering the paper. He has no connection to any past advertising campaigns for any newspaper. He's a nice dog.
- Sam, for God's sake, give it up already! -- Futility, 00:25:51 11/05/09 Thu [1]
Must be writing all those hospital press releases...
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1010788-151.stm
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- Sleight of Hand -- Kid Tribbie, 15:28:19 11/01/09 Sun [1]
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_650932.html
They have to buy other papers to pad their numbers, don't disclose how many they outright GIVE away, make a big to-do about one of the week's least-read days, Saturday.
The article declares,
"The Trib made inroads Saturday largely by pushing in where the P-G pulled out. In the last 12 months, the P-G stopped delivering in several outlying markets, which the Trib then captured, said Ralph Martin, chief executive of Trib Total Media, which publishes the Tribune-Review."
Okay, but why didn't you identify those "outlying markets" specifically, Ralph? You should be bragging about this in detail instead relying on your usual "Baghdad Bob" rhetoric.
Morton is right about one thing, though. If Scripps would have waited to tank the JOA with the PG, the PG would have been history and the Press, for many years the better of the two papers, would indeed own the market. No one ever accused the Scripps folks of great intellectual depth, though.
And hey, hey, Ralphy-boy! If things are so good in there why all the unpaid furloughs, buyouts and such?
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- One night only! Beltway Dave! In Person! -- M. Presario, 21:24:39 11/02/09 Mon [1]
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09306/1010073-192.stm
See your fearless editor in action! I can hardly wait! Not that he'll mention Pittsburgh or anything!
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- Query -- Ready to Launch, 09:00:15 10/30/09 Fri [1]
I am searching for a j-job in a set of cities that includes Pittsburgh, which does not seem too promising at the moment, and have found this board to be helpful in getting some inside info on the biz here. Does anyone know if other cities have similar boards? I searched voy and 'scoops and gossips' and 'media forums' and didn't come up with much.I guess that's why I'm a designer, not an investigative reporter.
This is a helpful site - if a bit wild and woolly!
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- Re: Query -- Middled Out, 06:05:10 10/31/09 Sat
- Re: Query -- Agree to disagree, 20:27:47 10/31/09 Sat
- Re: Query -- Supplemental, 02:25:21 11/01/09 Sun
- Re: Query -- Ready to Launch, 05:00:50 11/03/09 Tue
- Trib's Ralph Cappy story -- Here Come Da Judge, 04:20:59 11/02/09 Mon [1]
Was there a purpose to this story, other than to print rumors that Ralph Cappy had a mistress?
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_650931.html
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- Ron Cook, wordsmith -- Jock S., 14:32:10 10/30/09 Fri [1]
Got to love a well-crafted lead like this:
"It's easy to say Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson is a jerk, has been a jerk since he left Penn State and always will be a jerk. Who will argue with that?"
Graceful!
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- Where's Gene? -- Sports Reader, 00:29:33 10/30/09 Fri [1]
Has Gene Collier gone on part-time status? Seems like he's in the P-G more infrequently. With Smizik taking the buyout, there are days when the P-G has no sports column, or else has Ron Cook writing too often. Gene didn't do anything on last Sunday's Steeler game. He quit sports once before because he got fed up with the sameness of it. I wonder if he's having more of those thoughts.
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- Smaller Trib pages -- Tom (the original Tom), 11:19:31 10/27/09 Tue [1]
When did the Trib pages become noticeably smaller than the P P-G's?
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- Pittsburgh Tribune-Gazette -- Paper Boy, 12:26:10 10/28/09 Wed [1]
Or is it the Pittsburgh Post-Review? I get both papers delivered. They are now delivered by the same person. I got a phone call the other day. The Caller ID identified the caller as Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The caller wanted to know if my Tribune Review was being delivered OK. I said it was, asked why the ID said P P-G? She said she was in the P P-G building. I asked her if the papers were connected. She said only for circulation. How 'bout that!
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- Back-scratchin' RCP and Zito -- Paul Bunyan, 17:21:19 10/25/09 Sun [1]
Spy Magazine used to do a segment called "Log Rolling in our Time" that documented positive, gushy reviews or book jacket blurbs NYC authors wrote for each others' books.
Well, it seems the Burgh has its own variation: a tie between Trib ideologue Salena Zito and the Real Clear Politics website. Check it out:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_649592.html
And...
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/10/25/irate_and_independent_98867.html
Don't tell me the RCP people don't realize Zito's not just one more of Scaife's mindless rightie lackeys though she tries to cloak it in a cape of false objectivity.
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- Trib Total Mediocrity redefines "Skyrocket" -- Wernher Von Braun, 23:10:04 10/26/09 Mon [1]
The latest Trib-Kiddie shell game!
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_649964.html
All these stand-alone papers, called "editions" of the Trib, lumped together as the "Tribune-Review" to report "skyrocketing" circ gains? Who's kidding who? The Dickster has to buy other papers to increase his circ. He can't do it any other way, and he sits and says "look at ME! My numbers are GREAT!" Guess it helps him ignore the other numbers caused by his red ink for this laughable hobby of his.
At least the PG owned up to their decline--cutting costs by cutting distribution in far-away counties.
Note to Dick: Chess or stamp collecting are a lot less expensive.
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- Oops! -- E-6, 16:22:12 10/20/09 Tue [1]
Monday's P-G had nine items under Corrections. Is that a record?
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- Re: Oops! -- and poops, 20:48:23 10/20/09 Tue
- Re: Oops! -- Fairness Doctrine, 03:41:54 10/21/09 Wed
- Re: Oops! -- Playground Observer, 16:50:53 10/21/09 Wed
- Re: Oops! -- Ying, 21:04:06 10/21/09 Wed
- Re: Oops! -- Fairness Doctrine, 21:42:27 10/21/09 Wed
- Re: Oops! -- FedUp, 07:39:21 10/22/09 Thu
- Re: Oops! -- Fairness Doctrine, 14:47:13 10/22/09 Thu
- Re: Oops! -- Bully Varde, 04:46:30 10/23/09 Fri
- Re: Oops! -- Just the Facts, 12:56:09 10/24/09 Sat
- Worth discussing? -- JOlson, 09:51:02 10/27/09 Tue [1]
A new movie has come out taking a swipe at celebrity journalism, where fake news tips were phoned into newspapers by the makers of the movie to see whether they would be used without fact-checking: http://tinyurl.com/yjnpc5f
Any feedback?
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- Yo Yo Yo -- Da Man, 00:10:02 10/26/09 Mon [1]
Here is the lead on Tony Norman's latest column:
"Ralph Nader has been the victim of more playa' hatin' than just about any figure in contemporary American politics."
"playa' hatin'?" How about "animosity?" That's a nice, grown-up word. Why the selective use of Ebonics? And is 75-year-old, pasty white Ralph Nader a "playa'" by anyone's definition?
Is Mr. T trying to regain his street cred after many columns admitting that he's a comic book nerd and one that detailed how he drove across the state to catch a Leonard Cohen performance? Is this his way to tell the "brothas," hey, I'm one of you, complete with the ridiculous porkpie hat that I like to wear at public appearances?
Or is this just more evidence that Mr. T is a poseur?
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- Beltway Again--Keepin' It Local -- Readin' Writin' & 'Rithmetic, 23:15:15 10/24/09 Sat [1]
Another story Pittsburghers have yearned to read!
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09298/1007858-372.stm
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- Gourmet Magazine and the PG -- Etta Kett, 21:19:57 10/08/09 Thu [5]
Can someone at the PG please explain to me why the ceasing of publication of Gourmet Magazine rated a front page story, above the fold, no less.
Who other than Marylynn Uricchio's brother and a few bored housewives in Fox Chapel, Shadyside and Sewickley care. The first day story buried in the back was fine and was all that the story deserved.
Secondly, I would have thought thate the story would have been written by China Millman or one of the food writers, such as Gretchen McKay.
Any enlightment would be most welcome
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- Eat your heart out Trib Kiddies! -- Hot Rod, 16:11:01 09/22/09 Tue [14]
Prine doesn't have one! Neither do Zito or McNickle! Lord doesn't have one, nor does Moushey! O' Toole and Barnes got 'em, but nothing like this. And there's even a shot of the beloved Brown Box itself!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Roddy
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- Huh? -- SR Bevedere, 19:33:57 10/19/09 Mon [1]
Isn't this a conflict of interest?
http://2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com/2009/10/richard-mellon-scaife-sarah-scaife.html
I'm just asking.
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- Re: Huh? -- Just answering, 15:01:32 10/20/09 Tue
- Re: Huh? -- Ex-Tribber, 22:16:42 10/20/09 Tue
- What Redesign on the Cheap Gets You -- Bleary Eyed, 04:40:06 10/17/09 Sat [1]
Trib redesign kept in-house, under wraps. Money blown on unreadable fonts. What are the chances pride will be swallowed and this will be corrected?
With all the talented out-of-work/low-on-work design professionals out there we got this??
Sigh.
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- It's Always Foggy on Martindale Street -- Sweet Dee, 21:21:14 10/15/09 Thu [1]
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/s_648191.html
It's no fault of Karlovits, the author. Too bad, though that the genius manning the Trib copy desk doesn't know PCNC stands for PITTSBURGH CABLE NEWS CHANNEL.
They may fix this soon, but should not have gone up this way.
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- Sadie Gurman -- Carl Prine, 08:05:29 09/26/09 Sat [18]
Sadie Gurman was detained by authorities last night while lawfully and professionally covering a story.
Because this board, unfortunately, is the only common forum for professional print journos in this town, I would like to use it as something of a platform:
I expect ALL the professional organizations in this town to do everything we can to find out why this outstanding reporter was detained. We should bring to account those who arrested her. And we should work within our own ranks to better report stories about dissent, legal or otherwise.
As professional reporters, we should never write tacit press releases for police, politicians or pundits. Perhaps after all the idiotic prattle in our papers and over the airwaves about PVC pipe, poop-tossing anarchists and whatever else never materialized -- despite the drum beat of anonymous sources suggesting otherwise -- we might make a collective, and long overdue, stand on the notion of truth.
Regardless of where we toil (the Trib or the City Paper or the PG), Sadie is one of our own. She deserved better.
On my part, I shall seek to convene an emergency meeting of Military Reporters & Editors, the group with a great deal of experience covering conflicts (including civil disturbances) so that we can draft a letter to authorities asking them to explain what happened.
And that's only the beginning.
I would hope that our local representatives in SPJ and other professional organizations would do the same.
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- Great Trib front -- Johnny on the spot, 20:04:02 08/17/09 Mon [24]
Kudos to the color techs, fantastic color on the Trib's front today!!! Trib's color has been steadily improving recently and today has been the best yet!
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- Perrotto fired by Ogden newspapers -- Abner, 16:51:01 10/09/09 Fri [14]
John Perrotto was fired by Ogden Newspapers after joining them in January. He was trying to cover the awful Pirates for the company that owns the team. It was doomed to failure from the start.
He took the job after 26 years at the Beaver County Times.
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- Star-Leger Buyout -- Hoho Kus, 06:51:41 10/13/09 Tue [1]
Star-Ledger buyout details below (from NYT). How are things going at the Trib and PG?
"In spite of talk of recovery elsewhere, the news at The Star Ledger sounds pretty grim and the region that Mr. Willse once called “a game preserve of corruption” will now have even less reporting to hold its officials accountable:
To: Full-Time Employees
From: George Arwady
Subject: VOLUNTARY BUYOUT OFFER
Consistent with my updates to you, the revenue situation at our newspaper has worsened this year, and we expect a further significant revenue decline next year.
We are working on the budget for 2010, and it is clear that we must reduce our staff significantly to offset the continuing steep decline in revenue. My best estimate is that the full-time workforce must be reduced by at least 50 people.
Accordingly, we are announcing another voluntary buyout offer. Full-time, non-represented employees can apply to receive 2 weeks’ pay for every year of completed service, capped at 26 weeks’ pay, along with medical coverage for the severance period. The newspaper reserves the right to reject applications based upon business needs.
We sincerely hope that we meet our staffing goals through this voluntary buyout offer. If we do not, we will need to resort to other ways of reducing our employee costs, which could include involuntary layoffs."
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- Is this why Sadie is such an "oustanding" reporter -- Questioner, 12:56:57 10/03/09 Sat [8]
Carl Prine made the ridiculous and baseless comment that Sadie Gurman is an "outstanding" reporter. He failed to provide any facts to back up his claim.
I will provide an example to show you why she is definitely not an outstanding reporter.
Go through this story and count the people who refused to talk to her and how many holes and unanswered questions there are. An "outstanding" reporter gets answers. She is average, at best. You will agree after reading this.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09276/1002739-455.stm
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- Rob and "Three Rivers" Where does it end? -- Bully Varde, 14:19:26 10/05/09 Mon [3]
Okay, so Friday, Rob offers up a dispassionate review of the Pittsburgh-based TV show "Three Rivers" expressing a view the show's no more than middling. It indicates the sort of healthy skepticism a good TV critic exercises.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09275/1002382-67.stm
That is his job and he gets a lot of slams here for seeming like a PR boy for over-covering Burgh based shows and saturataion stories on locals who now work in big-time TV. In the above case he did his job and for once did what he's supposed to do. No way that show could live up to its hype. Even if Rob-O is responsible for at least some of that hype himself.
Then comes Sunday. Again, the show is premiering and he obviously has to write a cover piece for the TV section about the local-hook TV show. But really, did it need THIS much space? Honest to God, he's written HOW many pieces in the previous months about "Three Rivers?" And damn, he sure likes going to La-La land even while the PG, like most other papers, makes belt-tightening and buyouts a way of life. Is Rob exempt from all this?
Now the Sunday lead story isn't quite as rah-rah as some of the crap he wrote earlier.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09277/1002402-67.stm
But if this wasn't a show fictionally based here, would we also get this bit of pointless overkill in the form of a cast line-up?
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09277/1002394-67.stm
Does anyone at the PG care enough to rein Owen in?
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- PG ethical doo-doo -- Scooper, 14:34:52 09/28/09 Mon [11]
Check out this story.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09271/1001276-325.stm
Then ask these questions.
Why does former staffer Bennett get a full byline when she took a buyout?
How come she was assigned to write a piece hyping an event she participates in? The lack of ethics are sickening.
Why is her lavish, self-congratulatory bio online? Are other ex-staff allowed to hype themselves that way? Why doesn't she just start her own website?
Pretty clear the PG features section is run by fools.
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- Sloppy, sloppy reporting... -- Might be nitpicking, but..., 07:12:17 09/29/09 Tue [3]
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09272/1001597-122.stm
Not one mention in there about the case that got this lawyer barred from practicing in PA for 2 years - a ban that was currently in effect.
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- PG getting money's worth with Musselman? -- Off Centre, 18:51:30 09/25/09 Fri [4]
So apparently the PG decided to move Ron Musselman to State College full time. They got him an apartment and everything.
From what I have seen, his coverage has not changed one bit. What gives?
This sure seems like a real waste of money. Anyone care to explain where this could be viewed as a good idea and also what exactly the guy is producing that he hasn't done in the past. If you say the PG Plus stuff, I'm not impressed, because it is like two one-minute videos a week where he holds a handicam up to a player and asks shallow questions.
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- FLASH! Beltway Dave mentions Pittsburgh!!! -- Five Bells, 15:44:19 09/27/09 Sun [3]
Look at it! He ACTUALLY MENTIONED PITTSBURGH in the first graf of his weekly column! Damn!
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09270/1000892-485.stm
And what an analogy! All the barriers, restrictions, etc. etc. made Downtown Pittsburgh "Brigadoon on the Monongahela."
What the hell?
The "Brigadoon" I remember from drama club was a mythical Scottish village that appeared once every 100 years, the result of some preacher praying the place never be changed by the outside world. So Beltway's equating apples and oranges. I don't remember there being scenes with concrete barriers, restrictions, limousines, barbed wire and extra cops in the village depicted in Alan Jay Lerner's original play.
Maybe Beltway can do a rewrite, to show it depicting Pittsburgh from his viewpoint. He can even write a part for himself as the town nebbish.
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- PG reporter arrested -- Sar Jint, 07:30:51 09/26/09 Sat [5]
Here's what happens when you have someone as naive and with as little street sense as Sadie German covering cops at the Post-Gazette.
She gets arrested in the G20 protests.
Good job Sadie, way to give the paper a black eye.
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- Kelly Frey baby -- Dispicable, 12:54:53 09/23/09 Wed [10]
Rob Owen again proves it is more about him than anything else, and this time he more than likely burned a bridge.
He also shows his lack of integrity, which is no surprise.
After hounding Kelly Frey and her people for a time about when exactly she was having her baby, they told him. But they said they clearly wanted NOTHING reported on the condition of the child.
What does Rob do? He posts a link on his blog to photos of the birth that are meant for a non-profit, not for him.
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- Holy mixed metaphors Batman! -- Alfred (dumbfounded), 10:57:13 09/23/09 Wed [2]
This from the always strident, maximally angry, but eternally confused Dan Simpson . . .
Score card for the summit
How to tell if Pittsburgh's visitors distinguish themselves
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
By Dan Simpson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh's preparations for the G-20 summit are pretty much done -- the turkey is in the oven, as it were -- and by tomorrow we will be in it up to our ears.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09266/1000135-374.stm#ixzz0RxAC3WRz
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- The Trib's G-20 Web presence -- Phyllis, 20:01:11 09/23/09 Wed [3]
Typically rinky-dink. Pathetic is an understatement. Guess they didn't have enough time to plan anything special.
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- PG 1, Trib Westmoreland, 0 -- Clark Barred, 13:29:27 09/09/09 Wed [4]
It's been previously stated as an opinion on this forum that Trib Westmoreland is so blatantly cozy with Seton Hill University in Greensburg they're almost part of the school's PR operation. More objective thinkers wonder if the paper would ever run anything less than gushy about the place.
Apparently not. Here's your proof. Props to Mary Thomas.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09252/996467-51.stm
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- BC Times -- Glorious Estefan, 06:48:12 09/23/09 Wed [2]
Is Bill Utterback no longer a sports writer at the BC Times? He's been missing from their high school coverage and his by-line is appearing in news stories.
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- Fluffy story on a failed business -- Bill, 12:04:06 09/16/09 Wed [10]
It has 58 complaints in its Better Business Bureau file, it is facing a series of lawsuits for non-payment of bills.
Yet this P-G story makes it seem like the business is just advancing to an exciting new frontier:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09257/997822-314.stm
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- Beltway' N Kid Robbie in the big time! -- Green Manalishi, 15:35:19 09/21/09 Mon [4]
I loved it!
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09263/999493-482.stm
Didn't this just bring a tear to your eye? You can imagine the Shribber, sitting there smug in the fact he's back in the town he never left mentally (DC), in the Oval Office, imagining himself a sort of Beantown Scotty Reston. Next to him, Kid Robbie (and his bowtie, which he'll probably have framed) sits, more than likely thinking "Yeah **** you, Trib! Same to you, Frank Craig! See where I am? Only wish I coulda brought Clementine and her treadmill with me!"
And the other kid, ex Boston Globe sports intern turned mediocre PG hard-newser Danny-Boy Malloy, sitting with his notepad, taking notes for a final story so plodding and dull, it's hard to figure how he ever got to the PG much less D.C.
But wait! Didn't the PG CLOSE their office there a few years ago to save money?
Yeah, you really showed 'em for G-20 week, PG! You are truly one of America's Great Dying Newspapers.
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- HANG IN THERE P P-G & TRIB !!!! -- Brother, can you spare a dime?, 06:37:11 09/21/09 Mon [5]
Barry's coming with bailout bucks!!!
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/59523-obama-open-to-newspaper-bailout-bill
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- Going, going, gonzo -- Not a big fan, 14:04:38 08/24/09 Mon [11]
Can anyone identify the value, news or otherwise, in the Trib Web video showing the Fanfare writer's visit to a morning radio show? They don't even bother trying to pretend that it's some kind of "behind the scenes" feature about the morning show. If anything, it seems like more of a feature about ... well, the Trib's Fanfare writer. And she doesn't exactly come off as the Gonzo journalist type -- although Hunter Thompson did have a fabulous sense of style!
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- Re: Going, going, gonzo -- Mr. Blackwell, 15:42:55 08/24/09 Mon
- Re: Going, going, gonzo -- Smevin Kith, 21:37:27 08/24/09 Mon
- Re: Going, going, gonzo -- Raoul Duke, 22:02:16 08/24/09 Mon
- Re: Going, going, gonzo -- Late Sleeper, 23:18:10 08/24/09 Mon
- PittGirl -- Who cares? -- Rowdy, 20:55:32 08/20/09 Thu [13]
Why is the identity of blogger PittGirl a story? I have a feeling this is something people in the business have followed, but it doesn't mean a thing to the general public.
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- Memo from Shrib City -- Green Manalishi, 00:39:55 08/27/09 Thu [10]
Hey, PG Partisans. If you're gonna diss the competition, get your facts straight. As you wrongly accuse the Trib of of ignoring Kennedy's death. Now they can be accused of a lot of things but in this case the finger-pointing is out of line.
What, then, of the Brown Box on the Boulevard?
Three city cops are shot down last spring, the accused shooter is a political extremist, and all this other stuff goes down in the Burgh this year. What spurs Beltway Dave, the "Dear Elitist" (the PG's "Dear Leader") to write a column on the fly is the death of the Senior U.S. Senator in his home state of Massachusetts.
This kind of BS explains why the PG has no future, at least under this pathetic, snobbish excuse for an Executive Editor. Frank Craig may be lowbrow, but up where Beltway resides, the air gets thin, and even thinner when your nose is as far up in the air as his is.
All the while Allan and John Robbie say "Look who WE hired! Look who WE hired!" Honestly, the Blocksey Twins are gloating any cred they ever had out of existence.
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- New low for PG A&E -- Flatt, 07:21:17 08/29/09 Sat [15]
I understand how tough of a time it is for newspapers, but this review of the Rascall Flatts concert is an embarrassment for the Post-Gazette's A&E page.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09241/994182-388.stm?cmpid=newspanel0
I am not exaggerating or attempting to be funny when I say this reads like a high school paper reviewed the concert. The writing is cliche-ridden and downright awful.
I understand it is a stringer, but isn't there someone Sharon Eberson can send out there who could do a better job?
Why can't Mervis go?
Is there not a spare clerk (Collucci) around to ship out to Burgettstown?
How about just stepping up and telling and intern or associate they are going?
Is John Hayes too busy in his new job doing absolutely nothing that he can't review a concert here and there?
Are there so many classical music events in town that Druckenbrod is stretched too damn thin?
I don't know what the answer is, Sharon Eberson, but hiring freelancers like this sure ain't it.
Try harder.
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- Health insurance detail in PG Kelly Frey article -- Mr. Burns, 06:58:56 08/26/09 Wed [12]
The bad news reported today about Frey's pregnancy at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09238/993178-114.stm is heartbreaking enough that I'd hope even anonymous posters exercise a little decorum, but I'm curious if anyone else paused when they got to this paragraph:
"Initially, they had decided to terminate the pregnancy, but when Jason, a major in the Air National Guard, was called by their insurer, telling them the military doesn't cover abortions unless the health of the mother is at risk, they saw it as a sign to see the pregnancy through."
Sure, I know a bunch of reporters/editors who are on their spouse's health plan, but I expected TV to offer a decent package. Was I stupid to assume that a morning anchor in the nation's 23rd largest TV market (not big time, but certainly not small potatoes) would be offered a better insurance plan than that available to the military?
I've never dealt with military nor TV news benefits personally or in any of my assignments. Can anyone offer some insight?
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- Happy Valley -- PaJoe, 12:20:27 09/04/09 Fri [5]
Ron Musselman says he moved to State College. Is that a full-time job? What about the other nine months a year?
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- Trib Puffs Arnie on his 80th -- Hole N. One, 02:01:19 09/06/09 Sun [5]
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_641834.html
Yes, Arnie Palmer's 80th Birthday deserves coverage. Yes, the guy's bonafides are worth noting and he's a Western Pennsylvania icon.
But this piece is so treacly readers would do well to grab some insulin before they read it. And check out these cliches!
"He is a renaissance man: philanthropist, pilot, goodwill ambassador, golf course designer and author.
Most of all, he's still Arnold Palmer."
And this state-the-obvious gem:
"Yet, the fact remains he is a golfing legend. He arguably became the most popular of his era's Big Three - Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player."
No question he deserved a profile, competently done, not Paulk's rambling, oppressively lengthy valentine which says more about his own horrid writing skills, if you can call them that. Of course if he were any good, would he be at the Trib to begin with?
And I wonder if Palmer were a lifelong Democrat and not a diehard Republican, if he'd have gotten such a blowout fawn-fest in Scaife's Playstation. I rather doubt it.
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- Dick Scaife byline in Sunday's Trib -- Pickle King, 22:46:01 09/07/09 Mon [3]
No comments on Dick Scaife's bylined piece in Sunday's Trib? He wound up rethinking his 1998 support for John McCain based on positive things McCain said about Ted Kennedy.
Nice that he did it himself instead of pulling the puppet strings and having Colin do it.
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- Gee, thanks Beltway! I never knew that! -- PG Plus/Minus, 04:32:18 09/01/09 Tue [20]
Wow, World War II still affects the state of the world.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09244/994510-372.stm
Who'da thunk it? But it must be, because the Shrib says so. Thank you, O hallowed New England Oracle, for honoring us with another nugget of Bay State wisdom. And did you know the G-20 comes to town later this month? That's G-20, not B-1 or F-15!
Seriously, if the PG wants a Pay Section, put Shrib behind a Pay Wall and then pay READERS to read his drivel!
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