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category archive listing Category Archives: Media

My (slowly thawing) thoughts exactly

February 21, 2008 – 5:50 pm

The hectic nature of the last couple weeks combined with the frigid temperatures to turn my ambition to molasses. PP eliminated any doubt of that with a post last night that echoed exactly what I thought but was too lazy to research and write a post about. Simply summarized, it seems Argus Exec [...]

By Tim | Also posted in Blog/Internet | Comments (3)

2007 Oops Awards

December 12, 2007 – 6:51 pm

That’s my name for it but Regret The Error has announced its annual awards in media errors and corrections, which it calls Crunks 2007. The scope and variety of awards makes the entirety worth reading. Yet the following correction from The Sentinel-Review in Woodstock, Ontario, probably ranks as my favorite:
In an article in [...]

By Tim | Comments (0)

Sad news of an old friend

November 27, 2007 – 3:52 pm

It’s one of those things that leaves a horrible feeling in your gut. This afternoon, my RSS reader popped up a South Dakota media blog post that Ron Bender of Rapid City was killed Monday in a hit-and-run accident in Gaithersburg, Md.
Ron and his wife, Muriel Shepard, were at the Rapid City Journal when [...]

By Tim | Also posted in Personal/Family | Comments (0)

A new publication for my subscription list

November 27, 2007 – 7:50 am

Calling it a magazine is unfair because it is so much more than that. Early last week I saw an internet reference to a new publication called Lapham’s Quarterly . It was referred to as a history related journal and treated as if it might be good for insomnia.
Out of curiosity, though, I happened [...]

By Tim | Also posted in A Reading Life | Comments (0)

Socialists and liberals progressives, oh my

October 5, 2007 – 12:45 pm

For a guy who claimed Monday he was too busy to blog, Todd Epp had a couple excellent posts this week dealing with political labels.
One is a nice post on the Socialist Club at Roosevelt High School. I was thinking about doing something on it because my youngest daughter is a junior at [...]

By Tim | Also posted in Local matters | Comments (1)

Get over it

August 25, 2007 – 11:25 am

This was initially simply an item amidst some forthcoming marginalia but the more I read, the more exasperated and offended I became.
David Newquist expresses the reaction I had on picking up the paper this morning and then catching up the whining, dismay and concern in the SD blogosphere (where the number of posts indicates PP [...]

By Tim | Also posted in Politics | Comments (2)

Legal reflections on the Argus libel suit

August 17, 2007 – 7:48 am

The chance, however small, that our law firm might somehow become involved in the defamation lawsuit Dan Scott started this week against the Argus Leader and its editor, Randell Beck, demands circumspection. Thus, I won’t discuss or assess the merits of any allegations, the personalities or my personal views. Still, informed public discussion [...]

By Tim | Also posted in Law | Comments (5)

Split personality or difference of opinion?

August 15, 2007 – 12:20 pm

I was paging through the latest issue of the ABA Journal last night. As is my wont, I tend to at least scan the “Tech Audit” columns that appear in the back of the magazine. This time I did a bit of a double take.
After reading a piece by the regular columnist headlined [...]

By Tim | Comments (0)

Voices v. Vilhauer (or life in a Gannett newspaper town)

January 17, 2007 – 6:28 pm

Prudence would dictate staying out of this but it’s kind of like when the big kid is beating up the little kid. Even though you know you’ll probably get thrashed too, something compels you to open your mouth or intervene. Okay, so this is really blogger v. blogger but one is your typical [...]

By Tim | Also posted in Local matters | Comments (4)

And still no correction

January 7, 2007 – 11:12 am

Evidently I’m not alone in lambasting the Argus for something it printed on the front of its local “news” section more than a week ago. Former U.S. Sen. Jim Abourezk has an op-ed column today pointing out what he perceives as additional inaccuracies in the newspaper’s blog entry on why the Iraq War was [...]

By Tim | Comments (2)

Do its ethics rules apply to Argus blogs?

December 30, 2006 – 12:33 pm

As the Argus Leader seeks once again to get blogs off the ground, it faces a variety of problems. Sadly, one appears to be truth.
Material from the paper’s “Voices” blog not only shows up online, but excerpts from it are run on the front of the local “news” section. Of course, the Argus [...]

By Tim | Also posted in Politics | Comments (1)

Part of the reason we’re last?

December 6, 2005 – 12:19 pm

A headline on the last page in the local news section of the local daily this morning: “Iowa slips to 41st in teacher pay rank.” You had to go to the fifth paragraph to find out South Dakota ranked dead last. (On a somewhat positive note, the NEA report (PDF file) indicates South [...]

By Tim | Comments (1)

The Sioux Falls Evangelical-Leader?

September 1, 2005 – 8:48 am

I know it’s considered a “major music event” but todays’ edition of the local daily looks like it’s shilling for the LifeLight Festival this weekend.
The festival got a full two-page center spread in the first section of the paper, called a “guide” to the festival. They also got a two-page center spread in the ersatz [...]

By Tim | Comments (0)

Eye grabber

July 19, 2005 – 12:44 pm

Some headlines can’t help but draw your attention. Today’s case in point: When a Man Dies in a Sex Act with a Horse — What’s a Reporter to Do? (Via Blog of a Bookslut).
People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news.
A.J. Liebling

By Tim | Comments (0)

Plamegate and reporter’s privilege

July 9, 2005 – 11:47 am

I worked as a print journalist in one capacity or another for a decade. As such, I covered politics and “cops and courts” and was a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors. As a lawyer, I established the case law in my state that recognizes a qualified privilege protecting journalists from forced disclosure of confidential [...]

By Tim | Also posted in Law | Comments (0)