AP haz it. Not. Tam linked to this story; I was struck by the accompanying illustration. What's it supposed to show, the breeding-grounds of feds?Item: For the record, Census workers are just workin' stiffs. They might be annoying but (for those unclear on the concept) it's wrong to initiate force against them. They are not the problem and the ones who are, you can still vote out. (Reporter goes on to smear everyone who was ever critical of FedGov...everyone on the Right, that is; and this for what may yet turn out to be a suicide. "Paranoia runs deep," as the singer sang). But moving on:
Item: Graphics used to illustrate a news story are supposed to be about the story, not where you filed it from. Again: not where you filed it from. Kthxbye.
...Y'know, wire services used to be just about it. Snappy writing, timely stories, middlin' careful with facks.... Okay, occasionally the printer (or the d000d wot teletyped it in) would miss a shift back to LTRS from FIGS and you'd be cold-readin' three paragraphs of printer's pi but still, they were an institution. Nowadaze, um. There's not real sugar in the Real Thing, either; maybe that's where it all went wrong.
For your last paragraph I dunno whether to simply applaud or nominate you for a Pulitzer or propose marraige.
ReplyDeleteA corps of us who slaved for her back when still actively mourn the loss of a monumental +news+ operation.
The map fubar may illustrate why computers should be banned in news room. The AP computer may have simply recognized the dateline and plugged the Washington area map into the feed. Wouldn't have happened in the days when we pounded out news on loose-jointed Remingtons and yelled "copy" a lot.
"Item: For the record, Census workers are just workin' stiffs."
ReplyDeleteThat's what the guys in the SS said back in 1945 too. It didn't fly then. It won't fly now.
Jim: I blush. 'Strewth, though, and it's a pity. I don't know which is the most sad, AP's mumbling decline or the way UPI got turned into Rev. Moon's zombie.
ReplyDeleteGeorge, George...if kindness to the low-level functionary.gov doesn't work for you, how about, "The eagle does not hunt the fly." There is still a very big gap between the U.S. Census and the lads in silver-trimmed black with poison warnings on their caps (talk about truth in labelling!).
For a good example of what the eagle does productively hunt, have yourself a look at the recent video takedown of Acorn, accomplished by amateurs for pocket change. And with nary a death, too.
Call me old-fashioned but I still believe good guys don't fire the first shot. --Especially when a little sunlight can do the job bigger and better.
The sun's UV rays kills bacteria and viruses in the water.
ReplyDeleteupdate on the story.
ReplyDeletehttp://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/
uncategorized/suicide-not-ruled-
out-for-dead-census-worker-he-was-
in-contact-with-the-ground/