Outside Baseball
I'm proud to announce my affiliation with a new baseball blog, Outside Baseball. We aim to give The Lord's Game the consideration and scrutiny it deserves, but so rarely recieves from the barking dogs of talk radio. I hope you will make it a regular destination.
Tragic Communication
Like many people, I went to sleep last night believing twelve of the thirteen West Virginia miners survived the mine explosion, only to learn this morning they had not. But as I watch network news correspondents asking mine officials what went wrong, I for one want to ask these news agencies the same thing.
It’s obvious there was a tragic miscommunication between rescue crews and the families of the miners. But what about the miscommunication between network news and millions of viewers?
Late last night, NBC (and I’m sure their peers as well) ran a ticker announcing that twelve of the miners were alive. Did that mean they were alive and out of the mine, or alive and still trapped? It was all a bit vague. So I swallowed my better judgment and flipped to CNN for details. Handsome Anderson Cooper stood right beside the mine, but he didn’t know anything else either. Of course, that didn’t stop these news whores from reporting obviously sketchy information as fact and bringing out their resident "experts" for even more speculation.
I shouldn’t be surprised. The transition from "get it right" to "get it first" has been in motion for years, but even at this low ebb of news reporting last night’s events seem pretty egregious.
It’s obvious there was a tragic miscommunication between rescue crews and the families of the miners. But what about the miscommunication between network news and millions of viewers?
Late last night, NBC (and I’m sure their peers as well) ran a ticker announcing that twelve of the miners were alive. Did that mean they were alive and out of the mine, or alive and still trapped? It was all a bit vague. So I swallowed my better judgment and flipped to CNN for details. Handsome Anderson Cooper stood right beside the mine, but he didn’t know anything else either. Of course, that didn’t stop these news whores from reporting obviously sketchy information as fact and bringing out their resident "experts" for even more speculation.
I shouldn’t be surprised. The transition from "get it right" to "get it first" has been in motion for years, but even at this low ebb of news reporting last night’s events seem pretty egregious.
The Writing Archive
Suck.com
From 2000 to 2001, I was a regular contributor to Suck, one of the first editorial content sites online, under the pseudonym Alice The Camel. My Contributor Page links to my full-length features. I also wrote a number of the brief Hit & Run pieces that ran during that time.
Ames Tribune
You can read any of my columns for the Ames Tribune here. I also wrote movie reviews, arts features and covered the education beat. Those articles are searchable through the Tribune Archive.
Los Angeles Times Community Editions
I covered the police beat in Burbank & Glendale. Those hard news stories have been moved around as the paper has rebranded its local coverage over the years, but can currently be found in this archive.
Iowa State Daily
My weekly column was syndicated by U-Wire. I also served as Arts & Entertainment Editor and covered a variety of beats. You can read any of it in the archive.
The Effenheimer
The online site I co-founded which aimed to be The Onion of college newspapers. Long since vanished from the interwebs, most pieces remain through the Web Archive. I also wrote a remembrance of our little baby and times past.
Other Freelance Pieces
They Love the 60's for Film Threat
Unfortunately, pieces for Feed Magazine, Television Week, MLB.com and others are no longer available online.
From 2000 to 2001, I was a regular contributor to Suck, one of the first editorial content sites online, under the pseudonym Alice The Camel. My Contributor Page links to my full-length features. I also wrote a number of the brief Hit & Run pieces that ran during that time.
Ames Tribune
You can read any of my columns for the Ames Tribune here. I also wrote movie reviews, arts features and covered the education beat. Those articles are searchable through the Tribune Archive.
Los Angeles Times Community Editions
I covered the police beat in Burbank & Glendale. Those hard news stories have been moved around as the paper has rebranded its local coverage over the years, but can currently be found in this archive.
Iowa State Daily
My weekly column was syndicated by U-Wire. I also served as Arts & Entertainment Editor and covered a variety of beats. You can read any of it in the archive.
The Effenheimer
The online site I co-founded which aimed to be The Onion of college newspapers. Long since vanished from the interwebs, most pieces remain through the Web Archive. I also wrote a remembrance of our little baby and times past.
Other Freelance Pieces
They Love the 60's for Film Threat
Unfortunately, pieces for Feed Magazine, Television Week, MLB.com and others are no longer available online.
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