2011 August

Entries from August 31st, 2011

A Sin of Omission: Nuclear Power Plants Are Related to N.M.’s Atomic Story

August 31st, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

By Denise Tessier Earlier this summer, the Associated Press, of which the Albuquerque Journal is a member-subscriber, released a four–part series taking a highly critical look at the U.S. nuclear energy industry. Each of the stories AP released between June 20 and 24 was lengthy, and could have individually filled a Sunday Dimension section of [...]

Editors Still Matter: Remembering Dick Blood

August 27th, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

By Arthur Alpert My second reporting job was covering small towns for a suburban New York City daily. One evening, an editor called me to his perch and jabbed at holes in my story – one, two, maybe three, I don’t remember anymore. Of course, I was embarrassed; I’d failed to get some required facts. [...]

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Tags:Dick Blood·editors

The Abuquerque Journal is an odd newspaper

August 25th, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

By Arthur Alpert Politics aside, the Albuquerque Journal is an odd newspaper. • Headline, Sunday, August 21 (E5): “Mexico Seeing Less Visitors”. That would read, “Fewer Visitors”, in English. • Sentence fragment, Sports (D2), same day: “(Peyton) Manning attributed part of the problem with not being able to work out….” This horror is, to be [...]

Coming Clean on a Column Writer’s Connection

August 22nd, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

By Denise Tessier After criticizing the Albuquerque Journal for failing to point out column writers’ connections to the conservative Rio Grande Foundation, it’s only fair to follow up by noting the effort editorial page editors made to clarify one writer’s RGF connection on the Journal’s Op-Ed page today (Aug. 22). The writer, Elisabeth Keen, was [...]

‘Clinic for the Easily Offended’

August 20th, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

By Denise Tessier I doubt I’m the only one speculating that cartoonist Wiley Miller not only got wind of the Albuquerque Journal’s censorship of his Aug. 18 comic strip, but that it might have provided inspiration for the next day’s installment. Check out the Aug. 19 Non Sequitur (which the Journal did publish), which gives [...]

Messing With the Comics Isn’t Funny

August 18th, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

By Denise Tessier The “Non Sequitur” comic by Wiley Miller is missing from today’s Journal (Aug. 18). Instead, a blank box at the bottom of the column of comics on D5 contains this message: “Non Sequitur is unavailable today. The comic strip will return tomorrow.” The not-so-funny thing is, the comic is available in other [...]

A 'Man Bites Dog' Business Story

August 16th, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

By Denise Tessier In journalism school in the 1970s, we were taught that a man biting a dog trumps a dog biting a man in terms of news value. One might say the same about billionaire investor Warren Buffet saying the “mega-rich” should pay more in taxes. His opinion piece under the headline “Stop Coddling [...]

Another Bias Almost Slips by Us

August 15th, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

By Denise Tessier Once again, the Journal ran a Rio Grande Foundation guest column without identifying the writer as an adjunct fellow for the conservative group. This time, it’s a column on Medicare. Entitled “Feds Shouldn’t Make Health Care Choices,” the article was written by Dr. J. Deane Waldman, who is identified as “Author of [...]

Fairness dictates an update

August 12th, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

By Arthur Alpert Let’s see, it was last Saturday that the Albuquerque Journal managed to lose the single sentence in a lengthy Washington Post story that questioned the credibility of Standard & Poors, the rating agency. (see “Case of the Disappearing Sentence”) In my Tuesday post, I surmised that the omission was intentional, inspired by [...]

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Tags:S&P·Standard & Poors

The Debt Ceiling Fiasco

August 9th, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

By Denise Tessier Now that the “crisis” has passed, a few words on the debt ceiling debacle and how the media – including the Journal – covered it. I think it’s hard for journalists these days. Afraid of being attacked as too conservative or too liberal, of being pigeonholed or lumped in with the likes [...]