Grumpy Editor

Pulpy ‘Gangster Squad’ provides fictional action in L.A.; gun control chatter skips illegal weapon use by bad guys

While Washington continues to focus on gun control this week, Gangster Squad, the Warner Bros. crime film over the weekend attracted flocks of (mostly young) moviegoers glued to their seats as the screen showed explosions, machine guns, smashed cars and general violence --- as a screenwriter viewed things in Los Angeles in the late 1940s, notes Grumpy Editor.

Despite the screen notice that the film was “inspired by a true story,” that’s not the way it was in the City of the Angels at that time.

The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce must be grumbling over the extraordinary amount of mayhem depicted in the story, fictionalized by Will Beal’s screenplay from the book by Paul Lieberman.

The cast includes Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone and Sean Penn in a script that focuses on six Los Angeles Police Department officers recruited to be as ruthless as mobster Mickey Cohen (played by Penn). 

A veteran newsman, who worked in the LAPD press room in City Hall, recalls no such continuous violent action at that time. 

Police reporters from the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Mirror, Herald-Express, Los Angeles Examiner and Los Angeles Daily News were busy feeding tips to city desks regarding traffic accidents, robberies, burglaries and such --- when they weren’t playing cards.  Certainly a machine gun-riddled LAPD patrol car and shootouts around the city, as seen in the film, would have made front pages. 

Those were the days when newspaper competition was keen, with up to six deadlines a day. 

Cohen, who mingled with Hollywood stars, died peacefully in his Los Angeles home on July 29, 1976. 

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Gun control reports continue with front page coverage this week boosted by Vice President Joe Biden’s recommendations to President Barack Obama tomorrow. 

Focus will be on background checks of gun buyers, restrictions on high-capacity clips and other measures. 

A popular phrase with news anchors last week on NBC, ABC and CBS television networks was “gun violence.” 

What none covered, however, was what to do about criminals possessing illegal weapons and not obeying laws. 

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        * 

In case you missed these… 

For dramatic effect?  CNN’s Wolf Blitzer broadcast an interview in segments last week with Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.  Blitzer asked questions in English.  Morsi sidestepped English, answering via a translator despite being a former student at the University of Southern California and later teaching, as an assistant professor, at Cal State Northridge from 1982 to 1985…Senate reporters coverup.  Few TV viewers or newspaper readers are aware that the U.S. Senate has been in a two-week recess, convening next Monday for inaugural ceremonies…Farewell to green?  The New York Times is closing its environmental desk. 

A missing element with coverage of the Journal News, Westchester, N.Y., that published an interactive map showing names and addresses of licensed pistol permit holders in its area: it’s one of 90 daily Gannett Co. newspapers…Time magazine goes to 48 issues this year, a reduction of three, as ad page count is off by almost 50 percent in five years…The Los Angeles Times, with another periodic piece to shake up readers, on Wednesday detailed a statewide California earthquake may be possible after all… Forbes magazine’s Jan. 21 issue runs an out-of-focus, blurry photo --- a trend with some publications these days --- that spans a full page and extends almost half way into an adjoining page to illustrate a “Bad Medicine” article dealing with patient satisfaction surveys…Fox News Channel for the 11^th consecutive year dominates cable news with the top 11 programs in total viewers, finds Nielsen Media Research.

Pulpy ‘Gangster Squad’ provides fictional action in L.A.; gun control chatter skips illegal weapon use by bad guys

While Washington continues to focus on gun control this week, Gangster Squad, the Warner Bros. crime film over the weekend attracted flocks of (mostly young) moviegoers glued to their seats as the screen showed explosions, machine guns, smashed cars and general violence --- as a screenwriter viewed things in Los Angeles in the late 1940s, notes Grumpy Editor.

Despite the screen notice that the film was “inspired by a true story,” that’s not the way it was in the City of the Angels at that time.

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce must be grumbling over the extraordinary amount of mayhem depicted in the story, fictionalized by Will Beal’s screenplay from the book by Paul Lieberman.

The cast includes Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone and Sean Penn in a script that focuses on six Los Angeles Police Department officers recruited to be as ruthless as mobster Mickey Cohen (played by Penn). 

A veteran newsman, who worked in the LAPD press room in City Hall, recalls no such continuous violent action at that time. 

Police reporters from the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Mirror, Herald-Express, Los Angeles Examiner and Los Angeles Daily News were busy feeding tips to city desks regarding traffic accidents, robberies, burglaries and such --- when they weren’t playing cards.

Certainly a machine gun-riddled LAPD patrol car and shootouts around the city, as seen in the film, would have made front pages. 

Those were the days when newspaper competition was keen, with up to six deadlines a day. 

Cohen, who mingled with Hollywood stars, died peacefully in his Los Angeles home on July 29, 1976. 

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        * 

Gun control reports continue with front page coverage this week boosted by Vice President Joe Biden’s recommendations to President Barack Obama tomorrow. 

Focus will be on background checks of gun buyers, restrictions on high-capacity clips and other measures. 

A popular phrase with news anchors last week on NBC, ABC and CBS television networks was “gun violence.” 

What none covered, however, was what to do about criminals possessing illegal weapons and not obeying laws. 

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        * 

In case you missed these… 

For dramatic effect?  CNN’s Wolf Blitzer broadcast an interview in segments last week with Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.  Blitzer asked questions in English.  Morsi sidestepped English, answering via a translator despite being a former student at the University of Southern California and later teaching, as an assistant professor, at Cal State Northridge from 1982 to 1985…Senate reporters coverup.  Few TV viewers or newspaper readers are aware that the U.S. Senate has been in a two-week recess, convening next Monday for inaugural ceremonies…Farewell to green?  The New York Times is closing its environmental desk. 

A missing element with coverage of the Journal News, Westchester, N.Y., that published an interactive map showing names and addresses of licensed pistol permit holders in its area: it’s one of 90 daily Gannett Co. newspapers…Time magazine goes to 48 issues this year, a reduction of three, as ad page count is off by almost 50 percent in five years…The Los Angeles Times, with another periodic piece to shake up readers, on Wednesday detailed a statewide California earthquake may be possible after all… Forbes magazine’s Jan. 21 issue runs an out-of-focus, blurry hospital photo --- a trend with some publications these days --- that spans a full page and extends almost half way into an adjoining page to illustrate a “Bad Medicine” article dealing with patient satisfaction surveys…Fox News Channel for the 11^th consecutive year dominates cable news with the top 11 programs in total viewers, finds Nielsen Media Research.

Despite terrorist threat, U.S. aims $450 million to Egypt

Despite two allied, yet contrasting developments on Egypt, most U.S. media did not combine them to indicate how Washington acts these days during a period of  tense relations, observes Grumpy Editor. 

However, editors at The Times of Israel did. 

They merged a terrorist threat warning from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo with Washington’s plans of sending almost a half billion dollars in U.S. aid to Egypt. 

The Times of Israel story Friday noted the U.S. Embassy in Cairo urged U.S. citizens to “exercise vigilance, taking necessary precautions to maintain their personal security” and “Americans in Egypt were also advised to maintain valid travel documents and to regularly monitor the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs website, which lists updated travel warnings and alerts.”

The Times of Israel worked in Rep. Kay Granger (R., Texas), “chairwoman of the House of Representatives committee that oversees foreign aid said she would block $450 million in U.S. assistance to Egypt in light of tense relations between the two countries.”

Rep. Granger, it added, said, “This proposal comes to Congress at a point when the U.S.-Egypt relationship has never been under more scrutiny, and rightly so.  I am not convinced of the urgent need for this assistance and I cannot support it at this time…I have placed a hold on these funds.”

The Times of Israel is a Jerusalem-based news Website founded eight months ago to document developments in Israel, the Middle East and around the Jewish world.

11 days after deadly Libya attack: terrorists did it

Grumpy Editor’s pick as quote of the month --- 11 days after a military-style deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admitted:

“What happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack.”

She added, “And we will not rest until we have tracked down and brought to justice the terrorists who murdered four Americans.” 

For more than a week, U.S. officials thought --- and widely proclaimed --- the attack was a protest stemming from a little-seen anti-Islam Internet video. 

The assault resulted in the murders of Ambassador Chris Stevens, diplomat Sean Smith, and ex-Navy SEALS Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods who were in Benghazi as part of a security contractor force.

London paper: U.S. warned 3 days prior to Libya attack

Shoving aside new information on the Libya deadly riots, media --- TV and especially MSNBC --- dwelled on a four-month old “hidden video” suddenly surfacing yesterday showing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney with off-the-cuff remarks on President Barack Obama’s base, notes Grumpy Editor.

That overshadowed the new revelation, via London’s The Independent, that Libyan security officials warned U.S. diplomats three days before the Sept. 11 murders of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three members of his team in a Benghazi attack. 

Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., with appearances on four Sunday talk shows and beyond, has maintained the deaths of U.S. personnel were triggered by a 12-minute anti-Islam video rather than pre-planned. 

(No one questioned her on how most of the thousands of protesters, living way below the poverty line, could afford access to the Internet and computers to view the video.)  

The Independent pointed out the advance warning came as Libya’s interim president, Mohammed el-Megarif, said his government had information that the attack on the U.S. consulate was “planned by an Islamist group with links to al-Qa'ida and with foreigners taking part.”

Furthermore, the London daily reported diplomatic sources said threat of an attack against U.S. interests in the region was known to the Obama administration 48 hours before it took place. 

The alert, it added, was issued by the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, but not made public. 

In contrast, The Independent also reported a State Department spokesman maintained, "We are not aware of any actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent."

Feels like some writers work out of White House PR office

Today’s quiz:  Guess the source of these in-print statements, focusing on GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, asks Grumpy Editor. 

“Republicans are fretting over the state of their nominee's campaign.” 

“A new flurry of polls (show Romney) behind.” 

(Romney is) “untested on the international stage and with limited foreign policy experience.” 

With unrest in Egypt and Libya (anti-American violence swelled to two dozen countries since Friday), "Romney accused Obama of apologizing for America, his first statement mischaracterizing events in Cairo before all the facts were known…” 

“Romney's foreign policy bobble was the latest in a series of recent missteps.” 

“Republicans have expressed worry that Romney may be starting to let the campaign get away from him. Others are pushing him to explain more clearly what he would do as president.” 

“Observers have noticed a change in the candidate who struggles to connect with his audiences and is tagged by critics as less than charismatic and even out of touch.” 

Answer:  Associated Press. 

Four AP writers were behind the lengthy story that ran in some newspapers over the weekend.   Sharing bylines were Steve Peoples, who covers national politics, and Thomas Beaumont, political writer.  Contributing to the piece were Beth Fouhy, White House correspondent, and Ben Feller, presidential campaign reporter. 

After reading the story, that ran two-and-a- half single-spaced pages when printed out, Grumpy Editor wondered if the material was produced in the White House communications office. 

Veteran journalists, at least those from the “old school,” were taught to leave the editorializing for the editorial page, use attribution from real, named sources rather than tossing in words such as “observers” and “others,” and not to let bias slip into the copy.

(Do naughty things like that and a growling editor would promptly transfer an offending reporter to the overnight police beat.)

Meanwhile, with recent events putting a strong spotlight on U.S. foreign policy, Amy Holmes, a news anchor on Glenn Beck's GBTV, on CNN's Reliable Sources yesterday, said media should:

"Go to the sources...find out what is going on in the Middle East.  Americans are tuned in and reading newspapers. What is happening over there?  What happened to our State Department?  Where were our ambassadors?  Did we have advance warning?   

"Who, what, where, when and how in the Middle East --- instead of Mitt Romney."

 

 

17 percent of Americans skip what’s happening in world

In news about news --- and newspapers --- Grumpy Editor is almost wordless in learning 17 percent of Americans get no news every day, up from 3 percent in 1998.

That finding comes from Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, a non-profit, non–partisan "fact tank."

Based on a 2010 tally, Rainie also uncovers only 17 percent of Americans read a newspaper daily.

But it gets worse --- 31 percent of the 18 to 24-year-old group gets no news on an average day.  That’s up from 25 percent in 1998.

The 30 to 34-year-old bracket doesn‘t fare too well, either, with 22 percent getting no news daily, compared with 15 percent 12 years prior.

Seniors rank worse with 11 percent getting no news, vs. 6 percent in 1998.

Topping the news source list?  Local TV news --- despite the fact that many TV newsrooms simply rewrite material from morning newspapers.

Meanwhile, for those who do read, Americans still choose print newspapers rather than online versions, finds Rasmussen Reports.

In a national telephone survey, Rasmussen tallies 66 percent of adults say they prefer reading hard-copy newspapers while 28 percent like reading their preferred newspapers’ online material.

 

Editors miss First Lady in Vegas; $100 million to Tunisia

Two interesting stories --- especially to taxpayers finishing up income tax returns and wondering how their money will be spent --- somehow escaped most print and broadcast editors’ attention late last week:  First Lady Michelle Obama, with her two daughters, visited Las Vegas one week after President Barack Obama made it to Sin City, and the United States plans to give $100 million in cash to Tunisia, observes Grumpy Editor. 

Mrs. Obama’s trip, not announced to media, came to light following a Las Vegas reporter’s query on a special closure at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport. 

Her Wednesday-Thursday visit with daughters Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10, was noteworthy because the president shot arrows at Las Vegas twice in recent years, scaring off tourist and convention activity.  

In February, 2009, aiming at business gatherings, he declared:  “You can’t take a trip to Las Vegas or down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers dime.” 

Then a year later, he warned:  “You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.” 

A sour economy followed, resulting in thousands of casino workers’ jobs lost plus Las Vegas rising to first place in the U.S. with home foreclosures. 

Last year’s  unemployment in Las Vegas, at 13.3 percent, was among the highest in the nation. 

Meanwhile, most editors also missed Thursday’s announcement from the Obama administration that $100 million, subject to congressional approval, will go to Tunisia for short-term fiscal relief --- to help improve its economy. 

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the funds would allow Tunisia to “use this money for its priority programs, accelerating economic growth and job creation.” 

In addition, the U.S. is negotiating a separate package that would offer loan guarantees to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for Tunisia.

 

Latest U.S.-North Korea talks provide little action

As expected in a Feb. 22 posting here, there wasn’t much action coming out of the latest U.S. talks with North Korea focusing on nuclear disarmament, observes Grumpy Editor.

The two-day U.S.-North Korea session late last week in Beijing was the latest in a series of efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions.

Six nation talks involving South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the U.S. have been going on and off for more than nine years.

The Voice of America Web site on Friday did its best to herald the outcome of the Beijing meetings.

While VOA’s positive headline read, “US, North Korea Hold ‘Substantive’ Talks in Beijing,” the story’s lead got down to earth with:

“The United States and North Korea ended two days of talks in Beijing Friday with no breakthrough on Pyongyang's controversial nuclear program.”

It added, “But U.S. negotiator Glyn Davies says the talks were none-the-less ‘serious and substantive.’”

That contrasted with The Wall Street Journal’s Saturday headline, “Little Action in U.S., North Korea Talks.”

The latest session ended without mention of providing food aid, as supplied in the past, to the Communist nation.

The Beijing gathering also was a barometer to see if new leader Kim Jong-Eun was more open to diplomacy, following the December death of his father, Kim Jong-il. 

 

Nov. 15 GOP debate puts Romney, Cain in spotlight

Ready for another round?  With quotes from verbal exchanges at this week’s Republican presidential candidates’ debate in Las Vegas still bouncing around in broadcast and print media, another “boxing match” is slated for Nov. 15 on CNN, discovers Grumpy Editor. 

CNN, in partnership with The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute, will telecast the debate from Washington, D.C.  Airtime is 8 p.m. ET. 

The focus will be on two areas mostly overlooked in prior sessions: national security and foreign policy. 

It will mark the 11^th national debate in six months. 

“We hope this debate will illuminate the candidates’ positions on national security and foreign policy at a critical time for America and the world,” mentions Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute. 

Already some media are gearing up for what they envision as hearty exchanges between front runners former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former corporate executive Herman Cain.