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.

A/V: Romney Hosts Kettering Relief Rally

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney addresses supporters gathered for a "storm relief event" in Kettering, Ohio on Tuesday

KETTERING, OH -- In a move to dampen down politics in the immediate wake of Hurricane Sandy's historic damage to portions of the country's eastern seaboard, former Massachusetts governor and current Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney turned an originally scheduled political rally into a "storm relief event" in Ohio on Tuesday afternoon.  Kettering's Trent Arena hosted the gathering that was originally billed as a "victory rally" and was supposed to have Arizona senator John McCain and NASCAR racing legend Richard Petty in introductory speaking roles.  Randy Owen, country music performer and former lead singer of the group Alabama, performed several songs and provided personal testimony about disaster relief after tornadoes ripped deadly swaths through several Southern states back in April 2011.

MSNBC Gives Dayton No Respect

MSNBC host Chuck Todd hosted "The Daily Rundown" from Cincinnati on Thursday morning...and Dayton is nowhere to be seen behind him

I often wonder to myself (and now, thanks to this blog, publicly) if I take some things that I observe in my daily life a little too seriously for my own good.  I have a wide variety of roles that occupy the majority of my waking hours but I have been known to fixate on things that do not directly impact them from time to time.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you would have seen an item that I recently posted about how Dayton, Ohio was being incorrectly positioned on graphics displayed on the cable news channel MSNBC back in late September.  Since this is my main source for television news, I was forced to endure repeated airings of this error and, as the post documented, I 'tweeted' my dissatisfaction.  It finally took a venue change for the event they were using that graphic for (an appearance by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Dayton was being moved to the city's airport in nearby Vandalia and had become a joint appearance with his running mate, Wisconsin representative Paul Ryan).  At the end of that piece, I selflessly credited my actions in perhaps playing a minor role in that on-screen revision and I privately hoped that such a recurrence would not happen.  Almost a month to the day later, that hope was, regrettably, extinguished.

A/V: President Obama Flies in for Dayton Rally

President Obama greets well-wishers upon his arrival at Dayton International Airport on Tuesday afternoon

VANDALIA, OH -- Fresh off of his final debate performance against Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Monday night and a rally in Florida earlier that morning, President Barack Obama flew to Ohio on Tuesday afternoon for his 17th trip to "the Buckeye State" this year to hold a joint appearance with Vice President Joe Biden at Dayton's Triangle Park.  Air Force One arrived at Wright Brothers Aero, on the grounds of the city airport, at approximately 2:30PM where the president was transferred to a waiting motorcade for the 10-mile drive to the rally venue.  During that short stay at the airport, Obama met with a small private crowd of supporters and Secret Service family members who waited up to three hours for him to arrive.  Biden, who was already campaigning in the state, flew in on Air Force Two from an event in Toledo shortly after Obama departed and was separately shuttled to the park to introduce the president. 

BTS: Biden Fairborn Rally

I was getting into that event by any means available

Much like the character in the 5th century poem Psychomachia, patience is a virtue that triumphs over anger in the end.  If you read my last political event blog posting, you would know that there was a slight misunderstanding about my credentials at the Obama campaign kickoff rally in Columbus back in May.  In my 'BTS' about that event, I described how I did not get in as a credentialed journalist but attended anyway in the general seating area.  While I was not happy about how that day turned out, there was one 'silver lining' that made that trip worthwhile.  When discussing my press status with the staff, I was able to talk directly with a campaign media representative and we exchanged contact information.  She apologized for not letting me in for that event but said that I should keep in touch for future Ohio events.  That opportunity finally surfaced early last month just a few miles from my house.

A/V: Base Reclaims Road to Bolster Security Posture

Concrete barriers block off the former southbound lanes of Ohio State Route 444 that, until yesterday, ran between portions of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base's Area A

FAIRBORN, OH -- On Tuesday, workers began the task of permanently closing off  a 1.5 mile span of Ohio State Route 444, a major commuter artery for Fairborn, a city of over 32,000 residents east of Dayton situated in Greene County.  The decision to close the portion of this 8.4 mile thoroughfare that ran through the base was first announced in March 2010 in response to neighboring Wright-Patterson Air Force Base's need to meet Department of Defense installation anti-terrorism/force protection standards.  The now-shutdown stretch of this route, which sits on federal land originally leased to the state back in 1932 for the purpose of building the road, provided easy driving access to patrons of the base's Kittyhawk retail area as well as to the Wright-Patterson Medical Center.  This closure now consolidates all parts of the base's Area A into one contiguous region and users of those facilities will now have to use alternative routes within the military perimeter to get to their destinations.

SNL: MSNBC Debate Fallout

This past weekend, Saturday Night Live caught my attention (in regards to this blog) with a scathing skit that portrayed several of the NBC's own news channel's on-air personalities in a prolonged  "funk" over President Barack Obama's lackluster performance during a debate with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney last Wednesday.  Here's the clip from the highly politicized show (courtesy of Hulu):

Guest Papers: At the Supermarket

Normally attracting only a cursory glance at the check-out counter, this newscaster-featuring edition of the National Examiner piqued my curiosity

 In the United States, there are over 36,000 supermarkets (defined as having $2+ million in annual sales) and many more other retail and convenience outlets that share one common trait:  newspaper racks.  They could be of a modern metal variety or crafted out of wood.  They might hold several editions from all around the local area or just display the town's daily or weekly offering for purchase.  They can be free standing all by themselves or integrated into the structure of the cash register and optical scanner at  the check-out counter.  However your favorite location is configured/stocked, I will openly predict that there is at least one (or perhaps both) of the papers I am featuring in this post available to you to thumb through--and perhaps even purchase.

You Take One Day Off...

The full-page Dayton Daily News ad that greeted me on Tuesday morning

If you are a frequent visitor to this blog, you already know that I have made it a point to exercise my reporting 'legs' over the past 10 months with coverage of national politicians visiting my local (as the crow flies) area.  I started last November with one of Herman Cain's last rallies before he suspended his campaign in the wake of a then-breaking sex scandal.  I followed that one up with Dayton- and Cincinnati-area events for former US House speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the run-up to Ohio's Republican primary, part of the 10-state "Super Tuesday" slate on March 6th.

Is Twitter Just a One-Way Street?

Twitter...'tweeting'...the 'Twitter-verse'...if you are currently involved in any kind of media-related activity, you cannot shun this micro-blogging phenomenon that has attracted over 500 million users and produces over 340 million updates daily.  Started in 2006, the allure of this service is in its brevity--all 'tweets' must be 140 characters or less.  While the user can attach photos or embed hyperlinks to provide some subject context, that self-imposed limit supposedly allows for more spontaneous submissions and simulates a public 'chat' among a group of individuals who 'follow' each other's postings.

I joined Twitter a little over a year ago and have 'tweeted' 149 150 times (my 150th 151st will be announcing this blog posting).  Along the way, I have acquired 24 'followers' whom I became acquainted with during my pursuit of my lifelong dream either directly, through others already subscribed to my feed, or complete strangers who were merely attracted by my content.  I follow 78 other 'Twitizens' who hail from the world of journalism, the media, my UMass classes, or were the subjects/settings for my published pieces.

I will honestly admit that I do not keep as current with this account as I do with my personal Facebook page but I do receive notifications when I get a new 'follower' or when I am mentioned in someone else's 'tweet'.  When such an email hits my in-box, I log in to check on that activity (and some very interesting people have tried to befriend me which resulted in 'spam' notifications to the service).  This is a rather mundane process for someone who only interacts with two dozen others on an irregular basis so I cannot imagine how someone with 10,000 times more 'followers' handles the deluge of daily comments, 'retweets', and direct messages that might be generated.  And this dilemma is what has me posting today.

A/V: Obama Energizes Supporters During SW Ohio Campaign Rally

President Barack Obama greets supports at the conclusion of the "Grassroots Event" held at Cincinnati's Eden Park on Monday afternoon.

CINCINNATI, OH -- President Barack Obama made his twelfth trip to Ohio on Monday with a "Grassroots Event" stop in Cincinnati early Monday afternoon in the city's Mount Adams neighborhood area.  Addressing a crowd of approximately 4,500 supporters at the Seasongood Pavilion in Eden Park, Obama stressed the stark differences between his campaign and that of his opponent, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, and the decision voters will have to make over the next 50 days concerning the direction the country takes for the next four years.  He told the gathering that "it's not just between two candidates or two political parties, but it is a choice between two fundamentally different visions on how we move forward as a country."

A/V: VP Stumps in Miami Valley for Obama Ticket

Vice President Joe Biden addresses the "Grassroots Event" held at Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio on Wednesday afternoon.

FAIRBORN, OH -- The Obama 2012 presidential campaign paid another visit to Ohio when Vice President Joe Biden addressed a "grassroots" gathering of several hundred enthusiastic supporters Wednesday afternoon at Wright State University, located just outside Dayton.  Air Force Two arrived at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base just after 12PM, and he was greeted by a military delegation headed by General Janet Wolfenbarger, the Air Force's first four-star general and commander of the Air Force Material Command.  The vice president's motorcade made the short trip to the campus and passed several demonstrators expressing their dissatisfaction with the Obama administration from a location just across the street from the venue.  Before coming into the main hall, Biden visited with folks who were in the event's overflow area to express his thanks for their turn-out for his appearance.

The Home Stretch

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and President Obama making their acceptance speeches at their respective nominating conventions

With the banging of a gavel at 11:18pm last Thursday night, the Democratic National Convention came to a close, ending their three-day gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina to nominate President Barack Obama to represent their party and seek a second term in the Oval Office.  Just one week before, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney received the Republican party's approval to stand for them at their weather-shortened event in Tampa, Florida.  Both men, along with their respective running mates, have begun a 60-day sprint in which they must entice more of their voters to show up at the polls than their opponents for the November 6 general election.  In addition to general campaigning, there will be three presidential debates as well as one for the two vice-presidential contenders to give any undecided people a few last opportunities to weigh their options.