Archives from 2015

Liberal commentators in diverse news media with whom I generally agree tend to suffer SSDD (Same Stuff, Different Day).Conservatives, however, are endlessly creative when it comes to their abilities to stoke anger and fear.

Tags: Opinion, The New York Times, NPR, Media, Donald Trump

I was The Cincinnati Enquirer’s new federal beat reporter and the late federal judge Carl Rubin asked what I knew about courts.“The only ones I’ve covered were Native Courts in Northern Rhodesia, but they’re just like the ones here: white j

Tags: Opinion, NPR, The Cincinnati Enquirer, San Bernardino

No one in a newsroom is a stranger to the hierarchy of suffering. If arguments around the news desk aren’t enough to drive home that reality, our readers, viewers or listeners do.

Tags: Opinion

The election’s done, but I’m still puzzling over the Enquirer endorsement of the parks levy. From what the two endorsement editorials said about the park board, its president Otto Budig and Mayor John Cranley, I expected Enquirer opposition

Tags: Opinion, John Cranley, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Otto Budig, Issue 22, Parks Board

With good reason, the embarrassed FBI concedes that London’s daily Guardian does a better job of tracking killings by police in America. The latest examples are stunning.

Tags: Opinion, The Guardian, Stephen Fischer, Connie St Louis, Tim Hunt

A common lapse involves “blackbird journalism.” It takes its name from birds sitting on a utility wire. When one flies off, the rest usually follow.

Tags: Opinion, Blackbird Journalism, Copycat Crimes, Mother Jones Magazine, Columbine

Repeat after me: Wall Street saved Main Street. Wall Street saved Main Street. That’s the mantra of the mainstream press and Wise White Men whom they always quote when events turn sour.

Tags: Opinion, The Washington Post, Pope Francis, Kim Davis, The Guardian, The Counted

Some serious journalists are counting people shot and killed by police and police who are murdered by people they are sworn to protect and serve.

Tags: Opinion, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Police Violence

Disturbingly incomplete reporting afflicts the drama of county clerk Kim Davis in Rowan County, Kentucky.

Tags: Opinion

News media does its job when readers and listeners know “so what” as well as “what.”

Tags: Opinion, Bernie Sanders, Socialism, Aylan Kurdi, Visa Pour l'Image

The Donald is the perfect antidote to perennial August news doldrums.

Tags: Opinion, GOP, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Donald Trump, Mike Duffy

Recent news stories remind me of places I’ve worked as a photojournalist, reporter or editor… and how they exploded when I wasn’t there.

Tags: Opinion

The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart understands his audience.

Tags: Opinion, Jon Stewart, Emanuel AME Church, Gov. Bobby Jindal

If overwhelming talentand performance aren’t enough to outsell “slender, blonde,” that’s the story isand the Times missed it.

Tags: Opinion, media, New York Times, On Second Thought, Enquirer

Obviously, the editor who wrote the headline on Wednesday’s Food cover page for the Enquirer didn’t read Polly Campbell’s story about the Woman’s City Club.

Tags: Opinion, CNN, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Huffington Post, Laura Bassett, Yulia Marushevska, Donald Trump

Listening to Morning Edition onWVXU, I was struck by a black Baptist pastor’s word choice when asked about theSupreme Court 5-4 ruling on same-sex marriage. He helped crystalize somethingthat has been bothering me about the whole debate: “Holy mat

Tags: Opinion

Journalists live on a slippery slope when it come to ethics.

Tags: Opinion

It can’t be ignorance; I introduced an Enquirer reporter to the recently reopened Clifton Natural Foods on Ludlow months ago and told him how it was a return to almost the same spot after decades in Clifton Heights exile. But according to a co-own

Tags: Opinion, John Cranley, Clifton Natural Foods, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Disney World, Ahmen Khawaja

It’s no surprise when reporters are surprised by a major breaking story on their beats.

Tags: Opinion

Bias — choosing sidesin how something is reported — can be overt or subtle. More often, theappearance of bias is the issue. To most people, it’s a distinction without adifference.

Tags: Opinion