Grumpy Editor

‘Chained CPI’ likely to see squeezed seniors grumbling; Associated Press bans use of 'illegal immigrant' term

“Chained CPI” likely will get little comment from most print and broadcast media on Wednesday when President Barack Obama’s budget plan is formally announced, yet, if initiated, the new formula for the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) will negatively affect millions of older Americans receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, notes Grumpy Editor.

The traditional consumer price index (CPI), long used in calculating the annual COLA, would be replaced by “chained CPI” that reduces yearly expected benefit increases. 

More than 60 million Americans receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments would be further squeezed while facing higher costs for utility, gasoline, food, health-medical and most other bills. 

Recipients growled when this year’s COLA rose a modest 1.7 percent --- about half of last year’s 3.6 percent. 

In switching to a lower “chained CPI,” the Obama administration's thinking is growth of entitlement programs would be slowed. 

It assumes when prices of various items rise, consumers switch to cheaper substitutes, thus lower price tags.

 

AP scratches 'illegal' from Stylebook  

The Associated Press now bans the term, “illegal immigrant.”  In its updated Stylebook, followed by most news gatherers, AP mentions “use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person; illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant.” 

So what is an acceptable variation? 

AP cites “living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission.”  Except in direct quotations, AP adds, “do not use the terms illegal alien, an illegal, illegals or undocumented.” 

News folks who consult dictionaries may become confused.  Among definitions for illegal in one dictionary:  “A person who has entered or attempted to enter a country illegally.” 

What’s Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano think about AP’s identification adjustment?  She tells reporters she didn’t “really get caught up in the vocabulary wars.”

 

In case you missed these… 

As North Korea trumpets its “can-happen-at-any-time” ballistic missile firing, the U.S. Defense Department says the U.S. will deploy a missile-defense system to Guam as a “precautionary move.”  But, in looking closely at the announcement, it will occur “in coming weeks”…Inflation:  The Chicago Tribune raises its single-copy newsstand price by 50 cents to $1.50.  The Sunday edition remains $1.99 a copy…Confusing to subscribers:  The Cleveland Plain Dealer says it will deliver newspapers only three times a week starting this summer, but will continue publishing daily…Red Lobster is dangling an opportunity for its shrimp-eating patrons to appear in TV commercials.  Today is the last day to “tell us about your Endless Shrimp ritual --- who it's with and why you look forward to it all year,” says the restaurant chain. All it takes is 50 to 250 words, a photo and video (two minutes maximum).  No mention of pay --- or endless shrimp on the house for those selected.

Quiet Fed pay raise; overused fiscal cliff; ‘new’ Tribune

Despite a heavy flow of news stories on fiscal crisis and spending cuts at year-end 2012, somehow overlooked by major media was President Barack Obama’s executive order granting federal workers a pay raise, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The Weekly Standard’s Daniel Halper got wind of it and covered the development on Dec. 28. 

That was on a Friday afternoon, a time when most key media are snoozing. 

The raise becomes effective March 27. 

As an example of the pay increase:  Vice President Joe Biden will make $231,000 a year, up from $225,521. 

See how other federal workers fare here:  

Halper points out that a senior Republican congressional aide who reviewed the executive order and consulted with the Congressional Budget Office says the pay raise for federal workers will cost $11 billion over 10 years.

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“Fiscal cliff” much overused by media in 2012 

Fiscal cliff, meanwhile, was one of the most overused phrases by print and broadcast media in 2012. 

Yet, the phrase is now new. 

Some writers credit Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke with the words when he warned the House Committee on Financial Services last Feb. 29 of the coming “fiscal cliff” that would take effect with upcoming spending cuts and tax increases. 

Annalyn Kurtz, a reporter at CNNMoney, finds the earliest reference to the term was in a 1957 New York Times article on home ownership. 

Kurtz also notes Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) used fiscal cliff in 2008 in describing Obama’s spending program while Reuters used the phrase in several articles two weeks prior to Bernanke uttering the words in February.

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Future owner candidates eye Tribune Co. assets 

Now that Chicago-based Tribune Co. enters 2013 emerging from bankruptcy, talk centers on new owner candidates. 

Tribune Co. properties include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Baltimore Sun, Daily Press (Newport News, Va.), The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) plus 23 television stations. 

Coming out of bankruptcy, senior creditors Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo, Gordon & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. now control the Tribune Co.’s portfolio of publishing and broadcasting assets, which are expected to be sold. 

Among names mentioned as possible future owners: 

Aaron Kushner, owner of the Orange County Register.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. (for the Los Angeles Times).

Doug Manchester, San Diego real estate developer who bought the Union Tribune (now U-T San Diego) newspaper in 2011.

Austin Beutner, former venture capitalist and former deputy mayor of Los Angeles (for the Los Angeles Times).

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In case you missed these... 

Ten minutes into the 2013 Tournament of Roses parade yesterday, it was cutaway time in coverage for ABC and NBC networks which decided to air commercials just as the 100-plus-member precision-marching Marine Corps band passed the reviewing stand.  But the HGTV network, without commercial interruptions throughout, showed all…The Pasadena parade included the first Defense Department float.  It depicted the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. while an added attraction was an Air Force B2 bomber timed to fly over the reviewing stand at 1,000 feet as the Korean War float passed…The Food and Drug Administration moved toward approving genetically-modified salmon for human consumption…Chicago’s Sun-Times Media Group said it will consolidate its suburban newspaper chain…Most discussed story on news/talk radio in 2012 was the presidential election, topping chatter on the fiscal cliff, according to Talkers magazine…A dopey move by District of Columbia police was starting an investigation of David Gregory, Meet the Press host, after he held up to NBC cameras a high-capacity magazine during a gun control discussion.  Police said possession of a high-capacity magazine was not permissible.  One wonders if police would get as excited if a Washington Post photographer, for example, used a similar magazine to illustrate a story on guns.

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Note:  Going into 2013, Grumpy Editor with daily postings since September 2006, will now appear in expanded format weekly.

 

Drink up! Wine review mixes marinara sauce, tobacco

Those seeking to give wine as gifts during the holiday season often are influenced in their selections by comments on the subject from writers whose taste buds seem to be in a world of their own, judging from some of their descriptions of fermented grape juices that pass through their palates, finds Grumpy Editor. 

Most of the descriptions by wine writers sound like they should appear in recipes found in newspaper or magazine food sections.  Other reviews, with references to minerals, seem like they should get the attention of chemists. 

Note one writer’s portrayal of a merlot from the Tuscan Coast of northern Italy: 

“The wine seems a bit restrained at first, but then opens up with a barrage of crushed red cherries, black pepper, marinara sauce, loganberry juice, ripe elderberry fruit, spice box, chewing tobacco and rustic earth-driven minerals.” 

Black pepper teamed with marinara sauce, chewing tobacco and earth-driven minerals? 

That combination triggers thoughts of a quick visit to the emergency room. 

But there is more. 

“It is a nice mouthful of a wine on the palate with juicy black spicy fruit, peppercorns, tobacco, cherry juice, huckleberry sauce, ripe black plums, toast points and loads of chewy minerals.” 

Chewy minerals give visions of a fast trip to the dentist. 

A simple description of merlot can be summed up in one line: 

A fruitful red wine, blended with other grapes, for a flavor with hints of plums and cherries.

Harry Reid's 'cliff' remarks trigger drop in stock market

Business writers and editors now have to keep a close ear on what Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) says, after his downbeat "fiscal cliff" remarks near the close of the stock market yesterday were credited with sending it to the lows of the day, observes Grumpy Editor.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, after being in and out of positive territory, tumbled 89.24 points to 12878.13 at the close.

In connection with negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, Reid said, "They talked some happy talk about doing revenues, but we only have a couple weeks to get something done. So we have to get away from the happy talk and start talking about specific things.

"I'm extremely hopeful and I do not believe that the Republicans are going to allow us to go over the cliff," continued Reid, adding he hoped Republicans can agree to tax-rate increases and that Democrats were happy to deal with entitlements.

The tax-rate dispute is the central obstacle to an agreement that would prevent the U.S. from plunging off the fiscal cliff, a convergence of an estimated $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts.

With key financial matters, media focus on comments by Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, at speeches and especially after Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings.

Bernanke's messages, after being digested, often send the stock market south.

But now, Reid will probably have more business writers at his press conferences.

Types of people who read 12 top U.S. newspapers

Television calls it an encore presentation.  Radio terms it the best of.  Print publications call it a reprint. For Grumpy Editor, however, the following --- in the wake of Election Day --- is a repeat that should bring smiles...except, perhaps, from editors.

From an obviously well-read person, who remains anonymous, Grumpy Editor received the following capsule characteristics of a dozen key American newspapers:

• The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
• The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.
• The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country --- and who are very good at crossword puzzles.
• USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand The New York Times.  They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.
• The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country, if they could find the time, and if they didn't have to leave Southern California to do it.
• The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a poor job of it.
• The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
• The New York Post is read by people who don't care who is running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated, and who like their news as pictures and/or cartoons.
• The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country --- but need the baseball scores.
• The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure if there is a country or that anyone is running it, but if so, they oppose all that they stand for.
• The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.
• The Seattle Times is read by people who have recently caught a fish and need something in which to wrap it.

TV, the morning after, lingers on superstorm Sandy

The morning after superstorm Sandy smacked the East Coast, especially the New York City-New Jersey area, brought Grumpy Editor some interesting observations. 

A sweep of the television dial Tuesday morning started at CNN which framed live coverage with lightning flashes in efforts to stir viewers --- even though no lightning was associated with the historic hurricane as it hit the East Coast. 

CNN also picked up live shots of a WABC, New York, TV reporter sloshing through water in a flooded Little Ferry, N.J. street.  The live action was simultaneously fed to HLN. 

With the New York Stock Exchange closed for the second day, CNBC market experts discussed how post-Sandy trading would affect business. 

The Weather Channel continued to track Sandy as it headed northwest, with 10 staffers at various sites set to give updates. 

NBC still had reporters standing in the brisk wind at Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan, with a backdrop of New York Harbor waves churning against a gray sky.

CBS also posted on-camera folks at Battery Park, a favorite location with TV coverage, and then replayed the previous day’s comments by President Barack Obama on how he is going to cut red tape for folks in the storm’s aftermath. 

ABC remained fascinated with the dangling crane atop a Manhattan building under construction and mentioned Sandy brought out the “biggest use of manpower since 9/11” to get things back on track. 

Fox News focused on overlooked Delaware with flooded streets at Rehoboth Beach as waves continued to splash against docked pleasure craft.

Meanwhile, an eyebrow-raising word was heard on CBS radio in the early morning when on-the-hour news led off with the “typhoon” hitting the northeast. 

Typhoon is the term used in the western Pacific area, including China and Japan, along with India, for what is called a hurricane in the U.S.

Uttering ‘ObamaCare’ frowned on at Dems’ convention

One word you won’t hear at the 2012 Democratic National Convention --- at least from the stage --- in Charlotte, N.C. is ObamaCare, predicts Grumpy Editor. 

It’s a no-no, taboo, prohibited, forbidden, banned by Democrats. 

Associated Press joins in by scratching that word from its writers’ copy. 

As AP points out in its recently-released U.S. Elections Style Guide for journalists: 

ObamaCare is frowned on because it is the “informal term for the Affordable Care Act...often used by Republicans, so avoid it unless quoting someone.”  

But among the thousands of broadcast/print media in attendance, ObamaCare still is likely to creep into conversations, interviews and texts. 

And if one Googles ObamaCare, it produces a whopping 26,700,000 results.

Burma or Myanmar? Media still split on identification

Is it Burma or Myanmar? 

Media confusion continued this week in identifying the often-in-the-news southeast Asia nation, this time in connection with its government ending direct media censorship, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Labeling it as Myanmar were the Wall Street Journal and Fox News, among others. 

Going with Burma included the Washington Post and Associated Press. 

AP seems as confused in identifying the country as some other news outlets. 

That’s because AP adopted Myanmar into its 2006 Stylebook after weighing such factors as widespread international use and its recognition by the United Nations. 

The New York Times began referring to Myanmar in 1989, the year the country’s name officially was changed. 

Some media solve the country’s identification in news stories with phrases “Burma, also known as Myanmar” or “Myanmar, also known as Burma.” 

The country was a province of British India from 1886 to 1937, then a separate crown colony from 1937 to 1948.  After a military coup, the ruling regime renamed the country Myanmar in 1989.  Opposition groups in the country continued to refer to Burma.

U.S. old timers, war veterans and historians remember the China-Burma-India theater of operations during World War II.  The famous Burma Road was constructed to supply Chinese forces in the fight against Japan during World War II. 

The periodically-seen (on TV) 1945 movie, “Objective, Burma!” starring Errol Flynn, was a highly rated WWII thriller depicting a company of U.S. paratroopers assigned to wipe out an enemy post.

That film wouldn’t sound right as “Objective, Myanmar!”

AP style prefers tea party usage rather than Tea Party

A no-no on the latest Associated Press list of proper political terms, phrases and definitions designed for journalists is not to use Tea Party but to lowercase it to tea party in referring to “the populist movement,” yet it’s okay to capitalize Tea Party Express because it is a formally-named group, observes Grumpy Editor. 

The U.S. Elections Style Guide, compiled by AP, is geared to assist in coverage of the 2012 national elections. 

It spotlights correct terminology while mentioning some clichés to avoid. 

Use of Obamacare, for example, is frowned on.  AP points out Obamacare is the “informal term for the Affordable Care Act...often used by Republicans, so avoid it unless quoting someone.” 

First lady, AP explains, is not an official title, so it should be spelled lowercase, unless starting a sentence. 

Among other AP guidance: 

Election Day is capitalized, while election night goes lowercase.  

Political affiliation, indicating the party of a candidate or an officeholder, “is essential in any election or issue story.” 

Don’t describe a political race as close “unless polls show it is and you reference polls.”

And no need to be cute with the phrase “pressing the flesh.” 

AP says “shaking hands is preferred.” 

 

See more here.

 

 

 

Record-setting July temperature gets varied treatments

Whew!  Sure, it was hot in July as new U.S. records were set in some of the lower 48 states, but some newspapers --- via their reporters’ writings --- made it appear as a major sizzling advance, finds Grumpy Editor. 

Reports on hot July appeared every day so far this month. 

The Wall Street Journal yesterday, for example, placed a two-column reference to an inside story near the top of the front page.  It teased:  “July was the hottest month on record in the contiguous U.S., blazing past 1936…” 

Average temperature for the lower 48 reached 77.6 degrees in July, edging the previous record of 77.4 degrees set in July 1936, at the height of the Dust Bowl, based on figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

That’s a tiny increase of 0.2 tenths of a degree. 

The Washington Post, among some other publications, however, reported Wednesday that the new record was 0.2 degrees (note the s) hotter than the previous record set in July, 1936. 

Copy editors missed the s.  By noting temperature that way, rather than 0.2 tenths of a degree, the Post made it appear 10 times hotter for July, 2012, compared with 76 years ago. 

Weather writers often do this with rainfall, too, citing a storm brought 0.24 inches of rain rather than 0.24 of an inch. 

Some reporters worked in July temperatures “reached triple digits” in Arizona and Nevada.

Well, that’s normal.  No sea breezes in that region.

For those who stress global warming, the July average temperature in the lower 48 also reached 77 degrees in 1902 when Theodore Roosevelt was president, long before industrialization of America and decades before “greenhouse gases” entered weather discussions. 

Strangely, the Weather Channel’s Website did not mention the degrees in a “hottest month on record” report comparing July, 2012 with July, 1936.  However, it liked the line, “July, 2012 was the hottest of more than 1,400 months that we've gone through since 1895.” 

Pass the lemonade.