Grumpy Editor

Translators needed for wine descriptions

While it's difficult for writers to come up with classy phrases to describe the parade of premium wines, some sentences are far out.  Grumpy Editor, who enjoys an occasional white zinfandel from California's Napa Valley, was impressed with wine expert Robert Parker's vivid description of Australia's Tait 2004 the Ball Buster Proprietary Red.

Parker gives that south Australian wine 93 points (or excellent), highest of the seven wines he reviews in the Oct. 2 issue of BusinessWeek.  He cites the wine's "bigness, boldness and a dramatic display of fruit and intensity," then adds:  "If you want something delicate, restrained and understated, steer clear of this locomotive that crashes over the palate with a flamboyant display of blackberry and cassis fruit, licorice, tar and spicy oak."

Wow!  Even without a full translation, we certainly need something like that to spice up backyard barbecue gatherings.

Quick research provides a clue as to the punch behind that wine (which is a lofty 15.6 percent alcohol).  The winemaker's name is Bruno.

As Dow nears record high, CNBC goes south

Quiz time:  As the Dow Jones industrials edged only 30 points away from its all-time peak yesterday, CNBC business news --- 20 minutes before the stock market's close --- went to (select one):

1 --- In-studio panel discussion on closing in on the industrials' record 11722.98 reached Jan. 14, 2000.

2 --- Commentary from a market analyst on setting a new high and what it would mean.

3 --- Breaking news, going "live" to Dallas to hear Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens deny that he attempted suicide, saying he became groggy after mixing painkillers with supplements.  Viewers also heard Kim Etheredge, his publicist, say "Terrell had a reaction" and she is the one who dialed 911.

If you selected No, 3, you've got it.

What the Dallas press conference had to do with the stock market and financial news was unanswered by the business news channel's anchor people.  But the market did back off a few points after the conclusion of the press conference which also was covered by other TV channels, including Fox News, CNN and Headline News.

AP spotlights gasoline price suspicions

Grabbing a chunk of space in today's newspapers is a lengthy AP story out of Washington linking President Bush to bringing down gasoline prices at the pump.  Writer Brad Foss zeroes in on quotes from a retired farmer in Lexington, Illinois:  "I think the big important reason is Republicans want to get elected.  They think getting the prices down is going to help get some more incumbents re-elected."

Deeper in the story Foss points to Gallup poll figures that show 53 percent of those surveyed did not believe in this conspiracy theory while 42 percent agreed with the manipulation angle.  Mention that U.S. gasoline inventories are up 6 percent from last year is made toward the end of the piece.  (An AP chart that accompanies Foss's story shows a similar steep drop in retail gasoline prices occurred last year at this time.)

USA Today, in a Sept. 22 editorial/opinion piece has it right, pointing out "neither the president of the United States nor the most pernicious schemes can affect prices nearly as much as global economic and geopolitical forces."  It goes on to say "lower gasoline prices help boost the economy, curb inflation and ease the burden on lower-income Americans."

Here's why business editors scratch their heads

Consumers, and Wall Street, are reading/hearing conflicting economic lines.  Behind yesterday's stock market rally (Dow industrials up 67.71 points) was word from the Federal Reserve's Dallas bank president that the U.S. economy remains strong, reports The Wall Street Journal on page 1 today.  On the other hand, four columns to the right on the same page, the lead story mentions "a growing sense that the economy is slowing."

So what happened in today's market action?  The Dow industrials closed at 11669.39, up 93.58 points, a six-year high and about 57 points from its all-time high set in January, 2000.  The upward movement was attributed to positive reports on consumer confidence and regional manufacturing.

Just last week, a manufacturing report from another Fed district, Philadelphia, showed slowing activities in mid-Atlantic states.  That sent the market south.  Stay tuned.

New York Times hires columnist to investigate --- scents

As newspapers coast-to-coast trim editorial staffs (some shuttering foreign bureaus and regional editions), the Grumpy Editor and other veteran news people are raising eyebrows over the New York Times adding a columnist to review and rate fragrances for its Style magazine.  Imagine, journalism moving along in the 21st century with a mighty New York daily investigating scents.

With the new specialty, one would expect the NYT would put a sharp-nosed female staffer, attuned to the perfume counter at Macy's, into that position.  However, it settled on Chandler Burr, 42, author of a 2003 book on perfume. The paper says it is "the first to cover the fragrance industry and perfume in the way it does movies, books and theater."

Burr will utilize a four-star rating system for each perfume.  In addition, no doubt, to sniffing out some exclusives, he'll grant four stars for an extraordinary scent, no stars for a poor perfume.  He also will review other scents such as perfumed candles.  Announcement of the new position got world-wide play.  That includes the Web site of Beijing-based China Daily where the perfume critic news spanned nine paragraphs.

Will the NYT next go for a wallpaper reviewer?

Sen. Reid ranks tops with news release clutter; Nicky Hilton's new hair hue 'news' overflows

Most editors frown on receiving a whopping average 70 news releases a month from a major corporation.  Yet, political editors are getting that number --- from just one U.S. senator, Democrat Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.  No wonder their editorial desks collect growing mounds of clutter.

Words from Sen. Reid even flow on Sunday.  Yesterday (Sept. 24) saw distribution of his nine-paragraph statement "on press reports that the National Intelligence Estimate, the most authoritative summary of the opinion of America's intelligence community, has concluded that the war in Iraq has made the threat of terrorism worse."

The senator's staffers hold the distinction of cranking out 488 news releases in the first seven months this year.  That makes Sen. Reid's office No. 1 in the Senate in pitching words to media.  This is in addition to his frequent press conferences and print/broadcast interviews. The non-stop production comes from nine busy communications specialists.  That's a higher number than in many major New York Stock Exchange-listed companies' PR departments.  In the same seven months, the overall Senate produced a lofty 13,069 news releases or an average of 131 per senator.

Relief is in sight.  The Senate adjourns in a few days.

Meanwhile, it took 2.5 megabytes in an e-mail news release package to announce that, in keeping with the fall season, Nicky Hilton's hair has changed to brown from blonde or, as the message from her "celebrity colorist" describes it, "chocolate brown hair with rich golden undertones."

To illustrate what brown looks like, a photo shows Paris's sister modeling her new hue at a Las Vegas club.

Holy (gulp)! Five cents more for Starbucks coffee

Where else does a five-cent rise in a product get so much coverage?  You can't escape the big news today on TV, radio and print (some of the latter will be under big headlines in tomorrow's newspapers) that Starbucks plans to raise prices of its lattes, cappuccinos, drip coffee and other drinks by a nickel starting Oct. 3 at its 5,500 company-operated stores in the U.S.

All this earthshaking reporting while prices of many other consumer products, from paper clips upward, have jumped in recent weeks without even making agate type in newspaper business sections.

Starbucks coffee-gulping news gatherers, some with tighter wallets, obviously are shook up by the "steep" 1.9 percent increase in java and seek to convey that to their audiences.  Then again, perhaps Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. has a nifty PR department.

Broadcast news leaves listeners wondering about 'where'

With broadcast outlets delighted to air anything that involves flames, some get into the lazy habit of not pinpointing exactly where the action is.  Such information would be helpful to concerned residents of an affected area who might be on the road.

Reporting "wildfires charring Southern California" doesn't say much.  Too broad.  But, as an example, that's what was heard this morning on CNN radio news.  Only clue to a location was mention that Santa Ana winds are expected to pick up "across Los Angeles and Ventura Counties."

Actually, one blaze is near Lake Arrowhead in San Bernardino County, another is near La Canada-Flintridge in Los Angeles County and the third is near Fillmore in Ventura County.  Distance between the Fillmore and Lake Arrowhead areas is about 100 miles.  Mentioning these far-apart communities takes about six seconds of air time and completes the news item.  It's the "where" of the five Ws taught in journalism school.

AP gets the bird for an 'exclusive' from Brazil

Despite an over-abundance of news developments this week, AP went south of the border --- way south (far below the equator, in fact) --- for a five-paragraph story on two hawks that have been bombarding residents of the upscale (AP's words) Ipanema Beach section of Rio de Janeiro over the past year.

What's even more puzzling is that some newspapers ran with the piece.  One daily displayed it as one of the two stories at the top of much-viewed page 3 of the main news section.  That same publication, incidentally, recently dropped its daily stock market and mutual funds tables to conserve highly-prized editorial space --- probably to run more exclusives on bird bites man.

WSJ triggers "tame" (see earlier post) even before Fed decision

In reporting today's stock market action, The Wall Street Journal online (just 33 minutes after the Grumpy Editor's tame prediction, below) injected that favorite word with..."data showing inflation remains relatively tame ahead of a Fed decision on interest rates tomorrow."