Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Navy spokesman, has written a letter to Herald Editor Anders Gyllenhaal accusing Rosenberg, pictured left, of hurling abusive and sexually charged comments. Gordon went so far as to tell the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz, "I've been abused worse than detainees have been abused."
In the letter to the newspaper, Gordon accused Rosenberg of boinking his interns and implying that he was gay while she reported on Guantanamo. He wrote that Rosenberg once asked him, "Have you ever had a red hot poker shoved up your ass?" and then saying he would like it. Oh, and she also called his fellow military officers and other reporters mean names.
My take: Could Gordon be any bigger a pansy? First he lets a woman pick on him, and then he complains about it to the world, pulling out the victim society's handbook. This is coming from a naval officer in wartime, mind you. It's embarrassing for the U.S. military. Sounds to me like Gordon has issues a lot deeper than the barbs of a salty reporter. And I hope the Herald, which hasn't responded yet, holds strong behind Rosenberg and gives Gordon the "thanks, but screw off" letter he so richly deserves.
-- The New-Press in Fort Myers, my old alma mater, has filed a criminal complaint against Deputy Lee County Attorney Andrea Fraser, accusing her of violating public records law. The newspaper wanted Fraser's notes, which she claimed not to have. But Fraser turned over those same notes in a lawsuit filed by (and here's your Fort Lauderdale connection) lawyer Bill Amlong.
Having had battles with many public officials who have egregiously broken the Sunshine Law, I've often had the urge to do the same thing, but it was just too much hassle. Bravo to the N-P for going through with it, and I hope the case sets some great precedents.
-- Tribune Co. Innovation Chief Lee Abrams began his latest think piece with a little homage to Walter Cronkite:
First, I know it was a vastly different era, but I hope our TV stations understand the "Cronkite factor". I think there are some timeless qualities that TV seems to have forgotten about in the quest to be biggest, first, most, cutest, biggest and best---complete with an arms race over "big voices", bombastic sound and frantic intensity, and an apparent "FCC Law" that defines the presentation of information on TV.
This from the guy who is all about gimmicks and seems to eschew real journalism. In the same piece, for instance, he gloats about WGN being the first to regularly run viral videos off the internet on air (which isn't even true; has he never watched Spike?). This from the guy who is behind the SouthFlorida.com morning show and recently wrote, in his usual profound fashion: "Pondering: Why do news anchors, mostly Female ones seem to dress as if they're 20 years older than they are??" That of course is code for "Give us some tits, anchor ladies." And if you've seen Kristin (and Amber, before she was mysteriously disappeared by the Tribune empire) on the WSFL show, you know they listened.
You can read the rest of Abrams' nonsense after the jump.
THINK PIECE: MORE ON THE NEW TRIBUNE CREATIVE CULTURE
First, I know it was a vastly different era, but I hope our TV stations understand the "Cronkite factor". I think there are some timeless qualities that TV seems to have forgotten about in the quest to be biggest, first, most, cutest, biggest and best---complete with an arms race over "big voices", bombastic sound and frantic intensity, and an apparent "FCC Law" that defines the presentation of information on TV.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/17/eveningnews/main5170556.shtml?tag=breakingnews
On creative, at most companies you need to "get special permission" to do something new, different and unusual
Here, you need get "special permission" to do anything traditional.
If WE don't do it....someone else will......WE are the ones that can liberate and CHANGE the future of media
A WONDERFUL VIDEO FROM THE BALTIMORE SUN --sent by Steve Sullivan:
Karl Ferron, an extremely talented photographer/videographer on The Sun staff had an idea last autumn to do a video commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar mission. He wrote to NASA and the JFK Library to acquire archive video and interspersed that with time-lapse video (8 months' worth) of the moon traveling across the Baltimore skyline. The result is an extraordinary convergence of history and art.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-moon-video0715,0,3690492.tivideo
Here is an OUTSTANDING piece on brands in 2009: http://www.sterlingbrands.com/strategy/thought.php?thought_id=43
WGN AMERICA--A FIRST!
WGN AMERICA IS NOW THE FIRST STATION TO INTEGRATE VIRAL VIDEOS ON A REGULARLY SCHEDULED BASIS. CHANGING THEM DAILY AND RUNNING THEM A LOT SO WGN AMERICA IS KNOWN AS THE PLACE TO SEE THESE (INSTEAD OF YOUTUBE)! IT'LL BE A WGNA "TRADEMARK" AND HIGHLY SPONSORABLE! RE-CLAIMING VIDEO TURF. WGNA AFDI!
Lee
PS---I hope United isn't a sponsor
GO TO www.tvevolution.trb and check it out!
THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: It's been about a year since they re-invented themselves and they have stayed true to course. Things are turning around in their favor. It's difficult when you've been around for a long time, but things are slipping. You can "hope" everything will magically get better or you can do something about it--take a few punches but end up prevailing. Here's a note I sent to them after they forwarded me one of many recent positive letters:
Not only is this great, but it underscores the importance of BELIEF. Most papers, including some of our own, will try something noticeably new and different...then come the complaints...then the panic and reversion the the old way. You guys have been really smart about it and I have to believe that letters with this tone will increase and the gutsy moves you made will pay off.
I thought you would appreciate my recent experience with the Chicago Tribune.
I've lived in the Chicago area for over 30 years, and we've always subscribed to the Tribune.
About four years ago we reduced our subscription to three times/week and I stopped reading it, as I found less and less content of relevance. When the new version came out last fall I was optimistic, but very disappointed when I tried it - I found it disorganized and hard to follow.
But over the past few months I've become a steady reader again. I love the focus on investigative journalism, and I find the copy generally crisp and very readable. It comes across as a paper for adults who are busy but want in-depth information and analysis on issues that count.
The paper is now much better organized and I've gotten back into the habit of reading it in the morning at breakfast (the Wall Street Journal had been occupying that slice of my mind until recently). By the way, the new Triblocal (I live in Evanston) is embryonic but promising. I hope it gets the chance to develop.
Keep up the progress!
Regards,
Tom McAuliffe
TEENS & MEDIA: INTERESTING
You may have seen this report--creating quite a sensation...and interesting. Written by a Teenaged intern at Morgan Stalney. One take away is that teens desipse commercials--no shock there...but sometime WE make our own content (promos and other content we create) emulate ADS instead of looking to different ways of presenting messages. Worth a read
http://media.ft.com/cms/c3852b2e-6f9a-11de-bfc5-00144feabdc0.pdf
COLOSSAL FAILURES: An interesting video
http://fora.tv/2009/05/30/MythBuster_Adam_Savages_Colossal_Failures
TMZ: Junk Culture done well. Remember that "Intellectual Scale". Figuring out where you are or want to be and then delivering the goods. T
http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/cache/a10577.asp
THE LA TIMES MICHAEL JACKSON SPECIAL was spectacular. E-mail me if you would like to see a PDF
REDEYE ROCKS: From Brad Moore
Just got an update from our guy. 35,000 t-shirts have been sold. They expect to hit 75,000. We net ~$1 each. Good stuff.
...and it started with this:
FYI. Today's RedEye cover was picked by a national merchandising company (Classic Headlines). We signed an agreement that should net us at least $100k in royalties. And it will give us some great exposure nationally. Tran, congrats on a terrific cover. Brad
AN INTERESTING PIECE EDWARD MOCKUS SENT:
Lee,
Thought you might find this interesting >> http://www.baekdal.com/articles/management/market-of-information/
TV AND THE INTERNET FROM TIM DUKES:
Even though he's writing about TV exploiting the internet, the sites he gives as good examples are newspaper initiatives, including the CT. Another perspective that NP beat TV to the web and continues to out-achieve.
It should be noted that our WPMT/Harrisburg started www.PennMoms.com when their main female co-anchor was expecting and continue to pursue it.
WONDERFUL PHOTOGRAPHY SITE: www.stuckincustoms.com