Category Archives: Journalism

MONEYBALL AND STORYTELLING.

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Philip

MONEYBALL AND STORYTELLING. I have posted several times on MONEYBALL, the book by Michael Lewis. The movie of MONEYBALL has now opened to generally favorable reviews. The reviewers who seem to be the harshest critics are sportswriters, who point out … Continue reading →

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“EYEBALL TO EYEBALL”.

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Philip

“EYEBALL TO EYEBALL”. Kids, Sandy Levinson’s phrase in his post that “it was ultimately Nikita Khrushchev… who ‘blinked’…” refers to a phrase that was characteristic of the reporting on the Crisis. This BBC article by Michael Dobbs in 2008 says: … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, History, Journalism, Politics | 1 Comment

WOULD YOU REVEAL A CRIMINAL’S PAST?

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Philip

WOULD YOU REVEAL A CRIMINAL’S PAST? Years ago, Mary Jane and I had dinner with a husband wife who were both journalists. They told us how they had been working in a city in the middle of the country when … Continue reading →

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JOURNALISTS WHO DON’T INVESTIGATE.

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Philip

JOURNALISTS WHO DON’T INVESTIGATE. One of the things I grump about, but don’t post on, is the newspaper article that is transparently a press release; I can visualize the journalist changing the heading on the press release to include his … Continue reading →

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LOGICAL PUNCTUATION AND CORRECT AMERICAN PUNCTUATION.

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Philip

LOGICAL PUNCTUATION AND CORRECT AMERICAN PUNCTUATION. In this article in Slate, Ben Yagoda points out the difference between the American style of placing periods and commas inside punctuation marks and the British style of placing them outside. The British style … Continue reading →

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USING PROBABILITIES IN INTELLIGENCE—FINDING BIN LADEN.

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Philip

USING PROBABILITIES IN INTELLIGENCE—FINDING BIN LADEN. I posted here three years ago arguing for using probabilities more in evaluating foreign intelligence decisions. This article by Bob Woodward about the process which led to the decision to raid the compound which … Continue reading →

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DEBATING THE SIZE OF THE STIMULUS PROGRAM TWO YEARS LATER.

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Philip

DEBATING THE SIZE OF THE STIMULUS PROGRAM TWO YEARS LATER. I’d like to make two points about today’s other post. First, there are Republican economists who use Keynesian analysis. Professor Cogan served in the Reagan administration and Professor Taylor served … Continue reading →

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KIDS, DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME.

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Philip

KIDS, DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME. I have posted several times about the National Football League’s efforts to cut down on helmet-to-helmet hits. This New York Times article gives an idea of why the NFL seems to be changing its … Continue reading →

Posted in Football, Journalism, Sports | Leave a comment

TOO MUCH OSCAR WILDE?

Posted on December 26, 2010 by Philip

TOO MUCH OSCAR WILDE? I have long believed that the New York Times, which has extraordinary power over New York theater, does not like revivals of classic plays. An essay (December 22) by Jason Zinoman provides some evidence. It asked: … Continue reading →

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GROWING UP WITH THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.

Posted on December 19, 2010 by Philip

GROWING UP WITH THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed itself “The World’s Greatest Newspaper (WGN gets its call letters from this slogan).This review of a biography of McCormick says that: “The Tribune’s most notorious journalistic gaffe — the ‘Dewey … Continue reading →

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