Journalism's "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad" Week

(NOTE: I was going to use this phrase for a post back in February when the Brian Williams career "inflation" imbroglio, Jon Stewart's retirement announcement and the deaths of CBS News reporter Bob Simon and New York Times' columnist David Carr all happened in a very short span; however, this past week's events have greatly outdone that earlier gloom and deserve the headline.)

Three separate (but unequally tragic) instances happened last week that created seismic-like waves in the journalism world

I call myself a "citizen journalist"--one who currently practices the tenets of this profession in a "when I can get to it", part-time role. I do not rely upon this activity to support myself financially and have been largely absent here over the past eight months. I also conduct it without having to put my personal freedoms, my reputation, or--as horribly depicted on live television--my life on the line. Unfortunately, all three of these examples were witnessed last week and I feel compelled to comment on all of them as a member of this extended "family".

Guest Papers: Vacation Edition (Part 4 and Final)

Here is the last grouping from my trip back to Ohio on Saturday, featuring papers from the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.  My only regret is that I could not find copies of The Onion or Politico in any vending machines around the District.  Represented are Washington, DC (The Washington Post, The Washington Times), McLean (USA Today), Frederick (The Frederick News-Post), Morgantown (The Dominion Post), Charleston (The Saturday Gazette-Mail), Washington (The Observer-Reporter), Pittsburgh (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Tribune-Review), Wheeling (The Intelligencer) and Columbus (The Columbus Dispatch).