In Memorium: Helen Thomas

Renowned journalist Helen Thomas reads a copy of The New York Times in her front row seat in the White House Briefing Room on August 2, 2006 (photo courtesy of Brenden Smalowski/Getty Images)

Helen Amelia Thomas, a pioneering American journalist whose career spanned eight decades and marked the inclusion of women into one of the country's most elite all-male organizations, died on Saturday at the age of 92.  Hired in 1943 by United Press, she remained with that press outlet (which eventually became United Press International) and served in a variety of capacities for the next 57 years.  In 1961, she was named the UPI's White House correspondent--the first woman given such a  position--and stayed there as bureau manager until she resigned and moved to Hearst Newspapers in 2000 to write a national affairs opinion column.  It was in that position that her controversial personal opinions on Middle Eastern affairs were recorded and posted online which resulted in her abrupt resignation in 2010.  She moved on to a suburban Washington weekly seven months later and remained on their staff until her passing.  In addition to her milestone in the White House Briefing Room, Thomas was also the first woman officer of the National Press Club, first female president of the White House Correspondents Association and first woman member of the Gridiron Club, the oldest and one of the most prestigious journalistic organizations in the nation's capital. 

Second Season of "The Newsroom" Starts Tomorrow Night

One of the posts that I had sitting on the "back burner" was to be a critique of last year's premiere season of HBO's The Newsroom, a show that was supposed to give its viewers an inside glimpse into the personnel, logistics and purpose behind today's cable news programming.  Set at the fictional Atlantis Cable Network, we follow the lives of News Night's on- and off-air personnel in their complicated professional and personal lives.  I won't attempt to cover all of the season's highlights and plot lines but I'll let series creator Aaron Sorkin and others provide an overview.

I'm Certified!!!

Although it is not yet official (my grades for the recent public relations course I took have not been posted but I earned 97 out of a total of 100 available points), I have met the requirements of certification through the University of Massachusetts Amherst's journalism program and can cross it off of my "bucket list".  It's hard to believe that almost two years have transpired since I found their online offering and signed up for my first class back in the fall of 2011.  Looking back over that time, I've learned a lot about this profession and got a real taste of what its practitioners encounter on a daily basis.  In addition to the basics (overview/history and writing/reporting), I dabbled into today's online media trends and learned about the ethical constraints that must be adhered to in order to present an unbiased yet informative submission.  Once I see this most recent grade updated, I will contact the school to start the process of obtaining the actual certificate that will formally document my accomplishment.

While I have taken (and passed) their minimum requirements, I am planning on virtually attending more courses (if the VA is OK with that) to further expand my overall awareness and narrow my focus concerning a future career in journalism.  Next Monday, I am starting their abbreviated summer photojournalism course and I just saw that a class on opinion writing and columns is being offered in the fall.  I've become more comfortable with my camera over the months and I'm hoping to learn more about its capabilities over the next six weeks in order to improve my visual products.  If the truth be told, my "dream job" would be as a weekly/periodic columnist so I would enthusiastically welcome formal instruction and professional critiquing on my submissions in order to solidify my current writing skills.  Registration for that class doesn't open until July 17th so I'll have to set a personal reminder to do that as soon as possible.

Reflecting back on this accomplishment, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the instructors, fellow students, professional journalists and others that have inspired me and touched my life over the past 23 months.  Early on in my reporting class, I soon learned that restrained enthusiasm might get you to an event or a location; however, you also need to develop relationships and connections with others both inside and peripheral to the profession.  Such linkage facilitates access to the subjects and stories that need to be made available to a worldwide community of media consumers.  I could not have gotten into some of the places that I did last year without the benevolence of several people who took a chance on accrediting a college journalism student and blogger who wanted to cover presidential politics.  I hope that I can someday be in a position to repay that debt to another person in my same situation.

Back to School!

With apologies to Thorton Melon (Rodney Dangerfield) and Grand Lakes University--Home of the Hooters!

Yesterday was the official end of my "hiatus" from my online journalism classes with the start of UMass Amherst's 2013 summer semester.  It began on May 20th with the first of their two CPE sessions and I will be utilizing both of them to meet my class attendance requirements for their Certificate in Journalism (JOURNAL 392P, Writing for Public Relations, will run through the end of June and JOURNAL 333, Introduction to Digital Photojournalism, will carry me all the way through mid-August).  I opted for this "turbo" strategy because the classes are shorter (six weeks versus the 14 weeks during the traditional fall and spring semesters) and this compacted schedule will allow me to stretch out my Post-9/11 GI Bill educational benefits for future classes through this school or, perhaps,to pursue another certificate with another institution. 

BTS: Obama's Stretch Run in Ohio (Part 1 of 2)

[NOTE: this is the first of a two-part installment of my "behind the scenes" observations related to the 2012 presidential campaign.  With the nearly 6-month delay between the events and this posting, I might overlook some of the trivial things I endured but I wanted to finally jot down the main items as well as my reflections on the entire reporting experience.] 

Seasongood Pavillion in Cincinnati's Eden Park being prepared the evening before President Obama's "grassroots event" last September

If you go back to my last "BTS" feature (related to my coverage of Vice President Joe Biden's September 12th "grassroots rally" at Wright State University), you would see that I (finally!) established contact with the Obama campaign's press office and was issued official press credentials to cover that rally as a full-fledged member of the media.  Since they had me on their email notification roster, I was receiving several updates per day on the current, recently completed, and upcoming events scheduled for the president and his running mate.  With Ohio as the biggest "swing state" prize in the November general election, it was only a matter of time before Obama would make his own appearance in the local area, and I received the following advisory just a few short days later:

SPJ Region 4 Spring Conference -- Dayton, Ohio

As the days of my self-imposed "hiatus" from online courses come to a close, I had been searching for an event that might "jump-start" the passion I had when I took up this initiative just 18 months ago.  Being a member of good standing in the Society of Professional Journalists (in a student capacity), I was already receiving email notifications about their annual Excellence in Journalism conference scheduled for late August in Anaheim, California.  Given several months notice, I would be able to set aside the shekels required to get me there plus a few days for sightseeing in the greater Los Angeles area to boot.  I was all ready to make the arrangements when I received another mailing in late March about an SPJ event that was happening practically in my backyard.

My (Kinda Sorta) National Television Debut

[NOTE: with the nice weekend weather in these parts, I was originally going to take a trip down to the University of Cincinnati campus to report on an evolving controversy with potential national implications involving the open display of female genitalia and First Amendment protections.  Instead, I opted to write about an issue that strikes closer to home--at least for me.]

The Daily Rundown's host Chuck Todd giving his First Read on a very busy Wednesday morning...perhaps it was a little too busy for the MSNBC graphics department

While my blogging has been few and far between during these first few months of 2013, I am still keeping up with what is going on in the world around me (my last post is proof of that continuing awareness) and in domestic political circles, too.  One of my "can't miss" television programs about politics, The Daily Rundown, airs every weekday morning on the MSNBC cable news channel.  If you look through my postings over the past 15 months, I have blogged about it here several times already to offer my congratulations (and criticisms) when warranted.  Unfortunately, this entry falls under the latter category.

What a "Chock Full O'News" Week!

[NOTE: my bout of "procrastinitus" continues but I could not allow the events of the past seven days go by without commenting.  BTW, this is my 100th published post--a milestone that I should have attained much sooner.]

Consumers of news, like me, understand that there are periods of "feast and famine" concerning the pace of national and international events.  The week of February 11-18, 2013 might go down as one of the busiest of the year and no portion of the information spectrum was neglected (which was very appreciated by the cable news and newspaper outlets).  Here's a breakdown of what transpired last week.

Et Tu, Gray Lady?

This weekly section marked a small, but noticeable, change for The New York Times print edition last week

If you have read any of my other posts on this blog, you might be aware that I am someone who is not a fan of change for change sake, especially when it comes to printed newspapers.  Last spring, I called out my local paper, The Dayton Daily News, for making cosmetic changes to their publication that, in my opinion, were unwarranted and simply a ploy to placate their readership's current whims.  In a follow-up piece, I expressed my displeasure with the folks at The New York Times Magazine for toying around with different fonts for its masthead in, what I hoped would be, a one-time experiment.  I haven't seen any subsequent violations of that "sacrosanct" journalism symbol since, but you can imagine my surprise when I took yesterday's copy of The New York Times out of its protective plastic sleeve and saw the wholesale changes they made to the entire paper (minus the news section, the magazine and the Book Review).

Journalism Intruded Upon My 'Hiatus'

Three Oscar-contending films...and all feature some elements of our past and present press in their presentations

From around Thanksgiving to the start of the new year, I was in a 'hiatus' status that was based on a variety of reasons both within--and outside--of my direct control.  While I ignored my responsibility to this site during that period, I did do other things that, unexpectedly, kept the topic of journalism in my conscience thoughts.  Some of those activities included taking in a few movies that are believed to be high on the lists for Oscar consideration later next month.  I picked them because of that "buzz" as well as the subject material and/or theme of the film but all three did resonate with me due to my current studies and other personal connections. [SPOILER ALERT: while these are not meant to be full-fledged movie reviews, I will be discussing elements that may ruin the experience for you if you have not seen them yet so please be aware.]

Unspeakable Horror (and Sloppy News Mistakes)

[NOTE: although I began this posting in the week after the shooting, it has taken me a while to compose due to a variety of reasons, which include the year-end holiday season and finding out that I have a personal connection with this horrific tragedy.  You will see a 'break' below between my first attempt and the concluding information.]

The front page of the December 15th edition of the New York Daily News says it all (graphic courtesy of the Newseum)

This past weekend was supposed to be when I would "regroup" and start up my postings here but that all changed with the news last Friday of a school shooting in Connecticut.  Although Americans have grown used to hearing such information with growing frequency in recent years, this one was different due to the setting and the method in which the gunman committed his heinous deed.  When Adam Lanza put a semi-automatic pistol to his own head and pulled the trigger as first responders arrived on the scene, he had already taken the lives of 27 other people (his mother back at their shared residence and 26 at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School).  Of the school fatalities, 20 were first grade students between the ages of 6 and 7 and all of them were shot multiple times with a semi-automatic assault rifle (one child, Noah Posner, was struck 11 times).  The other six were all women who worked at the school, to include the principal, the school psychiatrist, and four teachers and aides in the targeted classrooms.

An Unfortunate Pattern Returns

If one is gifted with the sense of deep introspection (although some might classify it as a neurosis), you sometimes get to be our own worst critic and I am taking this opportunity to introduce mine.  Due to a "perfect storm" of issues (a change in my work schedule and prolonged proposal writing at the office, the end of my current school term, and a lingering bout of some hearty strain of seasonal "crud" my body just cannot seem to shake), I have not been posting here with the frequency that I hoped I would be this far along into my journalism "journey".  I had a similar bout of this around the same time last year although that was mostly attributed to a death in the family and a sudden out-of-town trip for the funeral.  Since my job requires my primary focus (and energy), schoolwork and blogging have suffered for the duration.  I am supposed to go back to my normal schedule next week and should be able to reestablish my writing routine at that time (the semester ended on the 7th but I have until the 17th to turn in our last online assignment).

SNL: The Situation Room--David Petraeus

Wolf Blizter (Jason Sudeikis) attempts to provide his viewers with the most complete coverage of the unfolding Petraeus scandal

As I have done here on several other occasions, I like to share Saturday Night Live's takes on journalism, specifically the cable news channels.  This past weekend, they highlighted the Cable News Network-- and its venerable news anchor Wolf Blitzer--about their coverage of the current scandal surrounding former CIA director David Petraeus and his biographer, Paula Broadwell.  One of the more interesting side stories to emerge has been the activities of a 37-year old Tampa socialite Jill Kelley, who initially tipped off the FBI about harassing emails from an anonymous woman (later determined to be Broadwell) and that investigation turned up evidence of an affair between the writer and her subject.

Here was SNL's take on how CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer might try to unearth additional information about Kelley:

A "Quintuple Threat" Journalist

[NOTE: for a change of pace from politics, I am posting an article I wrote about a local reporter for my Newswriting and Reporting class this past spring.  I recently met her again at the Romney event in Kettering in late October and asked if I could share it with the world--she graciously agreed.  Please bear in mind that it was written over six months ago and some items may not reflect their current statuses.]


A “Quintuple Threat” Journalist

May 1, 2012

Amelia Robinson—reporter, columnist, online aggregator, mentor and union official

One of the first indicators about how deeply involved a journalist is within their local community is the level of difficulty trying to arrange an interview with them.  Such was the case when I initially contacted Amelia Robinson, beat reporter and weekly columnist for The Dayton Daily News.  The ‘30-something’ graduate of Ohio University’s prestigious E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and 12-year employee of  Ohio’s fifth most-read newspaper took nearly two full days to respond to my initial request and several more to coordinate a face-to-face early morning meeting at a downtown coffee shop last Friday.  Our 45-minute session addressed her activities, her unique personality, and her professional and personal goals that helped explain her delay.

BTS: Romney Relief Rally

[NOTE: I usually do these features in sequential order based on the events I cover; however, since this one has attracted so much attention in the press, I decided to put it ahead of the two Obama-related events I attended in late September and just over a week ago.]

The original Dayton Daily News ad for the Romney "victory rally" (that eventually turned into a "storm relief event")

If you are a regular visitor here, you would know that I have been focusing my live reporting almost exclusively on political events.  Since there were no Democratic primaries in Ohio this year, I visited several Republican campaign rallies leading up to the state's primary on "Super Tuesday" back in March (I was able to attend events for three of the four serious contenders, with Ron Paul being the only exception, as well as seeing Herman Cain right before he suspended his campaign in early December).  Once President Obama started his own reelection drive back in May, I covered two of his Ohio rallies as well as one by Vice President Biden right down the road from me at Wright State University.  I took a pass at the joint Romney/Ryan event out at the Dayton International Airport (the same location I went to when Air Force One brought the president to the area last week) and, as I wrote earlier, I regretted that decision.  When I saw the ad for a "victory rally" in neighboring Kettering earlier this week, I was not going to let another opportunity slip away again.