I Stand Corrected

It's always embarrassing to run a correction. You spend all day researching and writing a story - drained, tired and irritable by the night - only to have a few readers call in the next morning to say you weren't diligent enough in your work.

That sets off the cycle. The Web site will probably be updated to mention the mistake, and for at least 24 hours until the next issue comes out, your mistake sits seemingly highlighted on thousands of copies while you wish you could have it back.

In baseball, pitchers say they often know they threw the wrong pitch that screwed everything up. The responsibility's on you, and it's a matter of having that short memory - to move on when everyone else does.

Maybe a name is misspelled (which is pretty much inexcusable) or a fact incorrectly attributed. Every once in a while some huge error happens, and the only thing we can do is apologize, plead human error and go to work the next day.

I always read the corrections sections in papers, but rarely hold the mistake against the reporter. We've all been there, and that day after really is the worst. That punishment is enough. Nothing else can be done.

Sometimes though, a correction is so epic that it's circulated around the Internet and used as an example for how out of touch the whole industry is. Those mistakes are funny and spread quickly. When that occurs, you can only laugh it off and enjoy the infamy.

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Those corrections of classic rap songs will kill you every time.

Sign o' The Times

There's a reason the New York Times faces such a huge amount of scrutiny for a daily newspaper - the paper's really good.

That's obvious, yes, but I think we forget it sometimes. It's assumed the stories come easier, because who wouldn't want to talk to the New York Times? Even if the reporter calls with a story where your caught dead to rights, you're much better off playing ball and trying to get in your side of the story. That is some very impressive clout.

I bring all this up to highlight today's front page story on how President Obama decided on the latest Afghan surge. It's one of the best things I've read in months. With many deep-background quotes, Peter Baker tells a very intimate story of the meetings with Obama's closet advisers.

The best part was this leaked quote:

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"'What I’m not going to tolerate is you talking to the press outside of this room,' (Obama) scolded his advisers. 'It’s a disservice to the process, to the country and to the men and women of the military.'”

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The access they have in the White House is stunning, especially considering Obama's predecessor. President Bush once infamously called Times reporter Adam Clymer a "major league asshole" while on the campaign trail in 2000 and ripped the paper during his entire administration. Rahm Emanuel supposedly calls up Times reporters just to shoot off about whatever crazy thing is bugging him that day.

Here's hoping that kind of access is kept through, you know, good journalism, and not holding great stories that would be detrimental to the White House. Because if another paper picks it up and the Times' critics (your Hannitys and Becks) have more ammunition to accuse the paper of censoring the truth, everyone would suffer.

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Enjoy.

Buenas Tardes Amigo

Many give Bill O'Reilly credit for popularizing the idea of a prime-time cable news host who forces his opinions on everyone else, and rightfully so. That forcefulness of opinions, whether right or wrong, has been intimidated several times over with little success. I feel Lou Dobbs got lost in that middle ground - where he's hated by blogs for all the dumb things he says but does not draw the ratings. And now, he's officially leaving CNN.

Before Glenn Beck perfected it, Lou Dobbs promoted his show by linking everything to a rather disgusting hatred for immigrants. Basically blaming them for everything. His brand of forcefulness was nothing like the compelling variety O'Reilly had or the train wreck of Beck. It was just awful.

I think CNN deserves some credit here. While MSNBC and Fox News push for ratings by blatantly aligning with the left and right, respectively, CNN does its best to shoot straight for the center. Or whatever Rick Sanchez is. The channel is at least making an effort to keep journalistic integrity. Even the analysis shows like Anderson Cooper 360 and The Situation Room are almost too fair for their own good.

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Some things are inevitable, I guess.

Ill Communication

Remember when Obama could control the media with brilliant speeches and eloquently put his message on point to the American people without getting caught up in ridiculous pettiness like being a socialist? I guess that honeymoon's over.

Although, counter-point: death panels.

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Really strong points from the Harvard Crimson on Obama's stalling at getting the message out on health care reform

Shine on you Crazy Diamond

During last year's election cycle, MSNBC struck television gold with the pairing of Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews. Not separately, mind you, as the unchecked egos of each on their own shows generally stalled things to a halt and made both Hardball and Countdown unwatchable a lot of the time.

But when sitting on the same set, there was definite tension between the uber-serious Olbermann and, well, let's say lunatic Matthews. The show never gave much political insight, the whole thing was a game where both men knew their roles. But it was entertaining, and despite the tense lead up to the election, that quality was in short supply.

That magic combination of pure mania and delusion isn't hit often, cable news really is that boring, but I think that's now changed with Fox News' Glenn Beck.

His craziness is well documented, and I'm sure he's proud of it in a martyrdom sense. I remember watching his show on CNN Headline News a few years back and thinking, not unlike all the other shows on that channel, that it was kinda dumb. In about a year, Beck has completely tapped into the conservative outrage as seen in the health care debate and everything Obama does.

I happened to be watching last night (clip below) and caught one of the craziest things I've ever seen. There are many shots between Fox/MSNBC during the commentary shows on both channels, which makes sense, being competitors, but this is ridiculous.

To think, fake populist rage is the reason we aren't getting a public option on the health care bill. It's a real disappointment, to be honest.

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These are some of the biggest leaps I've ever seen.

Way down in the hole

I managed to finally sit down and watch all of The Wire this summer - I've seen a few episodes before, but nothing made any sense out of order - and enjoyed that it devoted a full season to the plight of newspapers, specifically the Baltimore Sun.

Maybe the whole theme of the Sun's fall was a bit dramatic, but it was a strong season. Truthfully, I kind of doubt journalists are that interesting, but it was good TV. One episode even included a quote that I'm sure rings true across the country.

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"You know what a healthy newsroom is? It's a magical place where people argue about everything all the time!"
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Exactly. I know for a fact that whenever I'm no longer employed in this industry I'll miss that part the most.

There was also, however, this quote in the final episode.

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"As I look back over a misspent life, I find myself more and more convinced that I had more fun doing news reporting than in any other enterprise. It is really the life of kings."
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It's a nice thought when the job weighs a bit too heavy, and I like to think there's still a bit of truth to it. Although the man who said it, H. L. Mencken, died in 1956, at a time when they probably were kings. What happened?

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Can't deny it had a perfect first scene and intro music.

Perry Farrell

Whenever I tell someone I'm a journalism major, I'm often reminded that there is still some time left to change my major. It's pretty discouraging, but I like to think my degree isn't the most useless of diplomas from a four-year school. That is a daily struggle with art history majors.

But the constant message in journalism is that of multimedia. Journalists are supposed to be proficient at getting a story online well before final deadline for print, and supplement it with video of the scene, audio of a few interviews and a less-than-objective blog update detailing what the event was really like. Balance that with another similar story due that day and an investigative piece that demands attention and nothing gets done well.

It'd be nice if we could all take a breath. Average journalism isn't hard to do, it's probably why the pay is so low, but the good stuff takes time. When newspapers post clunky videos from a shaky handheld camera over a bad connection of what happened that day, is it really worth it to the reader? A few hundred more page views is always nice to tout, but that's time the reporter could spend probing further. I'd imagine most readers still get their news while at work, a time when it isn't really practical to turn on the speakers and watch a video of local news.

I'm far from against new media, my personal goal has always been to work internships in different mediums to find some sort of well-rounded view of journalism, but this shift away from telling the most detailed and interesting story we can is depressing. If it brings in more advertising, I say kudos for finding an outlet. Overall though, it just seems counter-productive to what we're trying to do.

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I was pretty stumped on what to link to this time, so here, enjoy this classic again.

Random Rules

Consider this a disclaimer, because it only seems fair to be upfront. I've criticized the Athens Messenger ('Mess) and Athens News (A-News) from time to time, and it's no secret our paper messes up too, but there won't be any snide remarks about The Post on these pages.

As per Post policy, I can't critique the paper. That distinction/responsibility is solely given to Ashley Lutz, our editor in chief. It's a rule that I'm okay with, as the ability to comment on a daily paper with more than 100 employees shouldn't be granted to everyone. If the rules say only the editor can do so, that makes sense to me.

So perhaps unfairly to them, Athens media criticism will be directed mainly toward the Mess and A-News. Then again, A-News editor Terry Smith is a fan of the Silver Jews and Pavement. Your move, 'Mess.

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I don't think this Web site is a high priority

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

For the stats junkies out there, here are a few more numbers about how brutal times are for j-school graduates.

Not much commentary necessary here. Just barely a majority of graduates are finding jobs in print after spending thousands of dollars on a degree, and few actually enjoy where they end up. It's almost enough to make a kid look back longingly at going for a real degree and meet this journalism thing down the road. Almost.

Thank God there are options other than law school. It's just a shame those options are getting more competitive, if they soon exist at all.

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Class of 2008 suffers

Handshake Drugs

One of the things about working for a small town newspaper is that you have to be versatile. There are few defined beats, often general things that a reporter covers quite a bit. This includes editors contributing content, often in the form of columns.

That's what Athens News Editor Terry Smith (full disclosure: my former news writing teacher and a man with great taste in music) does every week in his newspaper. Normally these op/ed pieces are on basic topics, one running topic is his neighbor's bothersome "devil cat" by the name of Diego. True story: That cat once wrote a letter to the A-News calling Smith out.

But for the first time since he heavily criticized Athens Police Chief Richard Mayer for not providing enough details on the death of two students at a nearby apartment complex (it turned out to be overdose), Smith surprised me with his assertiveness of an important local topic.

Long story short, an Ohio University student took illegal mushrooms and fatally jumped off of a balcony a few months back. Recently, the county prosecutor, a man who is essentially a rock star going after drugs in a very rural and addicted county, charged that student's dealer with involuntary manslaughter. Obviously, that's a pretty controversial and bold move done by someone who likes grandstanding a bit and I believe is genuinely sick of all the drugs in his county.

Smith clearly disagreed with that move, and wrote an extensive column claiming the manslaughter charge was too much. But it raises a big question, should the person who decides the direction of a region's major newspaper weigh in on a very controversial local topic?

In this specific case, I don't think it was the right thing to do. That paper, as well as ours, writes a lot of stories on the prosecutor's office. The most obvious factor is that, much as it pains me to acknowledge, source relations are so hugely important. When Smith writes that "(County Prosecutor C. David) Warren appears intent on destroying a second young life," I don't understand the purpose of weighing in so strongly on such a gray area. If the goal is to right a wrong in Smith's eyes, that's quite noble, but I don't think this topic is nearly cut and dry enough to do so.

It's also important the person who edits the stories and ultimately lays out the newspaper stays objective publicly. Smith claiming that one of the most powerful men in the county has gone too far while his newspaper covers this very newsworthy event is far from staying objective. Keeping that distance from the top is what gives a newspaper credibility, and without that, it's got nothing.

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Terry Smith weighs in on the indictment