Category: Media
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WaPo Eats Crow, Students’ Journalism Award Stands
by James A. Bacon It is sweet indeed to read the latest Washington Post article about the Virginia Military Institute: after calling into question a top journalism award bestowed upon The Cadet independent student newspaper, media reporter Paul Farhi found himself gulping down a serious helping of crow in a follow-up story headlined, “VMI student…
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Occupational Hazard, 4 of 4
by Joe Fitzgerald Two recent signs of the deterioration of journalism. One is this comment from President Biden to a gaggle of reporters: I hear some of you guys saying is, ‘Why doesn’t Biden say what a good deal it is?’ Why would Biden say what a good deal it is before the vote? You…
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Occupational Hazard, 3 of 4
by Joe Fitzgerald In “A Pirate Looks at Forty” Jimmy Buffett describes the dilemma of one for whom the cannon doesn’t thunder: “My occupational hazard being my occupation’s just not around.” He could be describing journalists as well. Journalism and piracy aren’t the only occupations disappearing, of course. The Chronicle of Higher Education and other…
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Occupational Hazard, 2 of 4
by Joe Fitzgerald A perceptive friend recently spoke to me about press releases his outfit would send to the Daily News-Record back in the day. He said they always wound up in the paper with small inaccuracies, and his perception was that the releases were handed to the least experienced reporters to teach them how…
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Occupational Hazard, 1 of 4
by Joe Fitzgerald Harrisonburg police rescued a possible abduction victim one day last month after shooting the apparent perpetrator. A city press release said a domestic dispute on Old Furnace Road around 6:30 p.m. turned into an abduction. Police pursued the suspect’s vehicle to downtown, where they shot the suspect, who was apparently armed. The…
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Lee Enterprises and the Newspaper Business in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock Lee Enterprises, about whose frantic search for cash I wrote yesterday, owns a dozen newspapers in Virginia. For now. The Daily Progress – Charlottesville The Free Lance-Star – Fredericksburg Register & Bee/Go Dan River – Danville Bristol Herald Courier – Tricities – Bristol Martinsville Bulletin – Martinsville The News & Advance…
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Lee Enterprises Newspapers in Virginia Combine Huge Online Subscription Price Increases with Difficult Cancellations
by James C. Sherlock Lee Enterprises, in a bold move, has massively raised prices for online subscriptions to its Virginia newspapers, to some of which I subscribe. Lee’s “brands” here include: The Daily Progress – Charlottesville The Free Lance Star – Fredericksburg Danville Register Bee/Go Dan River – Danville Bristol Herald Courier – Tricities –…
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Post Attacks Homeschooling Because It Succeeds
by Derrick Max Over the last few years, homeschooling has grown in Virginia by almost 40 percent. In fact, homeschoolers in Virginia now account for almost 60,000 students — making homeschooling the fifth largest school district in the Commonwealth. Because homeschoolers are self-funded, this saves Virginia’s state and local governments almost $800 million per year.…
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Political Correctness More Important than Accuracy in News Reports of Slaying
by Kerry Dougherty Is it too much to ask the news media to put accuracy ahead of their political agendas? We asked this in March when activists were more obsessed with pronouns than the fact that the trans Nashville school shooter, who killed three little kids and three adults, was occasionally referred to as a…
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VMI’s DEI Chief Resigns — “Vitriolic” VMI Critics Implicated
by James A. Bacon Virginia Military Institute’s chief diversity officer, Jamica Love, has resigned nearly two years after taking on the job of implementing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at the military institute. While Superintendent Cedric T. Wins noted that Love served with distinction and professionalism, VMI gave no reason for her resignation. She has issued…
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The Sucking Sounds Gets Louder
by James A. Bacon Six Virginia newspapers owned by Lee Enterprises — the Bristol Herald Courier, the (Charlottesville) Daily Progress, the (Culpeper) Star-Exponent, the (Danville) Register & Bee, the Martinsville Bulletin, and the (Waynesboro) News Virginian — will begin publishing “expanded” print editions three days a week and deliver them by postal mail rather than…
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Is This Cartoon Racist?
by James A. Bacon Is the cartoon above, drawn by Virginia Military Institute alumnus Matt Daniel, racist? Former Governor L. Douglas Wilder thinks so. “It’s clearly racist,” he told Washington Post reporter Ian Shapira after Shapira showed it to him. Shapira evidently thinks so, too. “Some say” the depiction of Martin Brown, Virginia’s African-American director…
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As Newspapers Struggle, Local News is Harder to Find in Virginia
by Christopher Connell It is, unfortunately, old news. Virginia’s newspapers, the single biggest source of local news, face unprecedented challenges, with their readers, revenues, and staffs steadily dwindling. It’s a paradox because news writ large now seems to be available everywhere, all the time, on phones in our pockets and purses. People still hear about…
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No, Climate Change is Not Adding Home Runs
by Steve Haner Maybe if a claim is repeated more than once, it won’t sound so absurd? Perhaps that is why the Richmond Times-Dispatch felt it necessary to print two stories today about the recent ludicrous claim that “climate change” is making it easier to hit a home run. “Since 2010, more than 500 dingers…
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Too Much Sulfur Dioxide? Ah, Don’t Worry, It’s Just a Little Fine
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch has a story that illustrates the importance and need for vigorous local journalism, while also illustrating the limitations of local journalism due to the lack of seasoned reporters and editors. The story deals with the violation of environmental regulations by a chemical plant in Hopewell. The plant, a cornerstone…