Grumpy Editor

Recession brings hunger risk to youngest baby boomers

AARP Foundation finds tough times are affecting the youngest baby boomers --- 50 to 59 year olds --- resulting in 8.8 million in that bracket facing the risk of hunger, learns Grumpy Editor. 

In case highlights from the report, “Food Insecurity Among Older Adults,” do not make it to your local newspaper today: 

Research uncovers more than 9 percent of older Americans were at risk of hunger in 2009, a 79 percent increase since 2001. 

The research for AARP Foundation, an AARP affiliated charity, by James P. Ziliak of the University of Kentucky and Craig Gundersen of the University of Illinois, is the first of its kind to examine hunger risk among 50 to 59 year olds.

They point out that age group, too young for Social Security and too old to qualify for programs designed for families with children, can be hard hit in bad economic times.

"For the first time, we have a fuller picture of hunger risk among all Americans 50-plus,” relates Jo Ann Jenkins, AARP Foundation president. 

"The recession has taken an especially large toll on older people, particularly those in the middle class," she adds.

"Between 2007 and 2009, the most dramatic increase in food insecurity was among those with annual incomes more than twice the poverty line.”

 

Survey: 48% of adults tracked windy Irene 'very closely'

Everybody talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it. --- Mark Twain 

With a lot of talk about the weather over the past week, Rasmussen Reports finds almost half (48 percent) of adults surveyed followed news reports about Hurricane Irene very closely, notes Grumpy Editor. 

On the other hand, 18 percent said they were not following closely, if at all, media coverage of bad weather, adds Rasmussen, following a telephone survey of 1,000 adults conducted Aug. 26 and 27 as Hurricane Irene worked itself up the East Coast toward New York City. 

The Rasmussen survey also uncovered: 

Just over one fourth (28 percent) said the media give too much coverage to weather incidents such as Irene, while seven percent claimed there was not enough coverage. 

Women followed regular weather updates on Irene more closely than men. 

About one third (34 percent) of men felt there was too much coverage of threatening weather. 

Middle-aged adults were more critical of media coverage of weather than other age groups. 

Most Americans continued to head for television sets as the source of weather news, despite the variety of other sources now available.

 

As TV news eyes ratings, Hurricane Irene’s eye fizzles

In going with wall-to-wall coverage of Hurricane Irene over the weekend, television cable news channels --- encouraged by forecasts --- on Friday night initially figured a monster storm would raise havoc on the East Coast and their on-scene reporters would give an historic play by play, notes Grumpy Editor.  ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and CNN all had their top talent on camera during the weekend.

Wind-blown reporters standing (by tradition) in the rain, often with crashing surf as backdrops, did their jobs.  But fizzling Irene, downgraded to a tropical storm before reaching New York, let them down.

With no catastrophe to report, especially in the New York City area --- where authorities shut down airports and transit operations ahead of the storm --- the main focus became flooded streets, power outages and downed trees.

Disappointment in the tone of reporting came Sunday morning, as one network reporter tried to keep news directors’ spirits up (and viewers glued to TV sets) by cautioning, “There still is concern here.”

One TV meteorologist, mid-day Sunday, confessed Irene would be remembered “not as a wind storm, but as a flooding storm.”

An early indication of possible doom came five days earlier when an Associated Press story warned, “Forecasters say the hurricane could grow to a monstrous Category 4 storm with winds of more than 131 m.p.h. before it’s predicted to come ashore this weekend on the U.S. mainland.”

After Irene reached the eastern fringes of North Carolina, a parade of state and federal officials issued dire warnings and told residents to evacuate.  President Barack Obama made two appearances on national television.

“Breaking news” banners peppered TV screens.

Grumpy Editor noticed several TV appearances of Craig Fugate, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  That contrasted with virtually no media mention of FEMA earlier this year when extensive floods for days smacked the U.S. along the Mississippi River.

With Irene fading and sunshine appearing yesterday morning, a TV newsman went into detailed coverage of a Long Island hotel parking lot under 18 inches of water.

The headline on Howard Kurtz’s media blog for The Daily Beast yesterday summed up the meteorological event with:  A Hurricane of Hype.

Across the Atlantic in London, a Daily Telegraph headline over a comprehensive storm story read:  Perfect Storm of Hype:  Politicians, the media and the Hurricane Irene apocalypse that never was.

 

Typo creeps into Hilton Garden Inn ad in magazine

Sometimes gremlins --- typos in the trade --- creep into print ads, leaving advertising folks scratching their heads, as in the case of a two-page spread promoting Hilton Garden Inn that appears in the September issue of Fast Company magazine, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The word restaurant comes up tangled: restuarant. 

Chances are, however, few readers will notice. 

A typographical error can stem from anything from fuzzy eyesight to resetting a line in the ad copy. 

The misspelled “Full-Service Restuarant & Bar” line in the ad appears in the “Key Amenities” portion, part of a new campaign termed “We Speak Success,” aimed at luring business travelers to more than 500 Hilton Garden Inn locations worldwide. 

The “We Speak Success” campaign is utilizing print placement in other publications such as the New York Times, Bloomberg Business Week, Men’s Journal, Shape, Budget Travel, More and USA Today. 

“Our new 2011 advertising campaign not only understands the language of a traveler, but shows we speak their language, an abbreviated language in today’s fast paced world,” relates Judy Christa-Cathey, vice president, global brand marketing, Hilton Garden Inn.  “Our goal is to connect with them so they understand who we are, what we stand for and the experience we can offer them as a traveler.” 

And it’s very likely that busy and hungry business travelers don’t care whether they eat in a restaurant or a restuarant.

 

Look for another ‘Big One’ quake story to appear soon

In the wake of three major earthquakes in the news since Monday night, don’t be surprised to soon see another in a series (with Associated Press the best candidate) pointing to an upcoming “Big One” in California, figures Grumpy Editor. 

Inspiration comes from a 5.3 magnitude earthquake that rattled the Colorado-New Mexico border Monday night, a 5.8 shaker than rumbled along the East Coast on Tuesday and a 6.9 temblor that hit northern Peru’s jungle region yesterday. 

Of the trio, the East Coast quake that sent people into the streets in Washington, D.C., and New York City, stirred up the most action, grabbing hefty national air time and newspaper space Tuesday, yesterday and into today. 

Periodically, AP reminds print and broadcast media --- so they can shake up readers/viewers --- that the “Big One” is coming. 

Grumpy Editor feels another reminder is in the works. 

One alarming example from a past AP story:  “California faces an almost certain risk of being rocked by a strong earthquake by 2037.” 

For that outlook, AP cited a seismic forecast by scientists that pointed to a magnitude 6.7 quake (equal to the 1994 Northridge jolt) or larger within 26 years. 

Another past AP “shake ‘em up” story stemmed from a hypothetical model, worked up by scientists, that indicated a mighty 7.8 magnitude earthquake would “see Los Angeles and its suburbs shake like a bowl of jelly” in less than two minutes and 50,000 people would be injured in Southern California. 

That would exceed the estimated 7.7 magnitude quake that rattled the lower section of the San Andreas Fault in Southern California 321 years ago and a 7.8 earth mover 154 years ago in Central California.

However, further earthquake coverage will take a back seat as strengthening Hurricane Irene moves up along the East Coast, affecting some of the same areas hit by Tuesday's shaker.

Weather and related developments such as power outages and flooding will be the focus of news coverage over the next few days and into the weekend.  

 

 

Coeur d’Alene top dog-friendly city, barks Dog Fancy

With front-page headlines today on Libya, East Coast earthquake and Hurricane Irene in the western Atlantic, some overworked (and short staffed) editors may have missed news from Dog Fancy magazine that the most dog-friendly city in the U.S. is Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, mentions Grumpy Editor. 

The revelation comes, appropriately, during “dog days,” defined as the hottest and most sultry summer days between early July and early September. 

In naming the winner of the 2011 DogTown USA competition, Ernie Stone, Dog Fancy editor, relates:  “What we discovered is that whether a dog likes a place to run and hike, loves to mingle downtown, or needs a new home, dogs and their owners have it made in Coeur d’Alene, a little slice of dog heaven.”

Coeur d’Alene, with a population of about 45,000, is 30 miles east of Spokane, Wash. 

Criteria used to select the winning city include an abundance of dog-friendly open spaces and dog parks, events celebrating dogs and their owners, ample veterinary care, abundant pet supply and other services, and municipal laws that support and protect all pets, cites the magazine. 

Four regional winners are: Northeast, Doylestown, Pa.; Southeast, Knoxville, Tenn.; Northwest, Bend, Ore., and Southwest, Santa Cruz, Calif. 

Full story on DogTown USA is in the October issue of Dog Fancy.

 

Historical marker goes up at ‘Deep Throat’ garage site

A newly-erected historical sign, outside a parking garage in Rosslyn, Va., cites its link to (ready for this?) where “Deep Throat” of Watergate investigation fame met with Bob Woodward, Washington Post writer, almost four decades ago, notes Grumpy Editor.

The marker, created by Virginia’s Arlington County, attempts to put the site on par with other historial spots around the U.S.

The concrete garage now likely will be promoted widely in efforts to gain more attention than, say, Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts where the Pilgrims landed in 1620.

Grumpy Editor envisions journalism students bussed in to see the concrete structure where Washington Post history was made.

The wordy marker, installed Friday outside the garage, reads:

_________________________________________________

WATERGATE INVESTIGATION

Mark Felt, second in command at the FBI, met Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward here in this parking garage to discuss the Watergate scandal. Felt provided Woodward information that exposed the Nixon administration's obstruction of the FBI's Watergate investigation. He chose the garage as an anonymous secure location. They met at this garage six times between October 1972 and November 1973. The Watergate scandal resulted in President Nixon's resignation in 1974. Woodward's managing editor, Howard Simons, gave Felt the code name "Deep Throat." Woodward's promise not to reveal his source was kept until Felt announced his role as Deep Throat in 2005.

_________________________________________________

Now, compare that to the less wordy marker at the Plymouth Rock site in Plymouth, Mass., that commemorates where the 102 Pilgrims from England landed in 1620 after crossing the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower sailing vessel.

That event’s historical marker simply reads:

________________________________________________

 PLYMOUTH ROCK

 

LANDING PLACE OF THE

PILGRIMS

1620

________________________________________________________________________________ 

Chances are that few journalism students now will make it to Plymouth. 

 

MLB throws curve, nixes Navy SEALs tribute by Nationals

With half of the 30 major league baseball teams hit by lower attendance this year compared with last year, promotions and other inducements are ways to lure more fans into ball parks, cites Grumpy Editor. 

Even the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers are seeing a sagging number of fans in the stands. 

So when the National League’s Washington Nationals --- one of 15 major league teams socked with more empty seats this season --- decided to honor the Navy SEALs who died Aug. 6 in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan by wearing special tribute caps during an Aug. 16 game against the Cincinnati Reds, Major League Baseball nixed the patriotic idea. 

That’s poor public relations and a missed opportunity to put baseball in a favorable light --- at a major league ball park in the nation’s capital.

As the FoxNews.com site reported it:  “We reserve hats for national tributes, where every club is wearing them on the same day," league spokesman Pat Courtney told the Washington Post.  “But we’re happy to work with clubs on alternatives.” 

During batting practice, however, the team was allowed to wear the caps adorned with NAVY SEAL on the left side of the brim. 

Major league baseball --- competing for attention on sports pages with football, basketball and soccer --- should pull out all stops in focusing attention on the long-time national pastime, ranking at the top of the Americana list with Mom and apple pie. 

Wearing special tribute caps is a small, yet thoughtful, way to honor the deceased Navy SEALs, among the more than 6,000 U.S. troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Consumer price index makes surprise jump in July

While heavy financial coverage in today’s newspapers focused on the battering the stock market took Thursday, with the Dow industrials down 419.63 points to 10,990.58, taking a back seat (or buried) was news that the cost of living made a surprise jump in July --- the most in four months, observes Grumpy Editor. 

Key media, echoing Washington, have labeled inflation “tame” in recent months. 

Consumer prices last month rose 0.5 percent, led by higher food and energy costs, reported the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

It came in more than twice the rate that some economists expected and markedly higher than June’s 0.2 percent decline. 

Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.6 percent before seasonal adjustment. 

The core inflation rate, excluding food and energy prices, was up 0.2 percent in July after two straight months of 0.3 percent increases.

On Wednesday, the Labor Department announced the producer price index (PPI), which measures price changes in goods before they reach consumers, rose 0.4 percent in July, the biggest increase since January.

For those following the consumer price index (CPI), the tally for August is slated to be released on Sept.15 at 8:30 a.m., EDT. 

 

$1.1 million Canadian-made Obama bus draws attention

After three days on the road, it’s back to the bus barn today for the $1.1 million, huge 10-wheel black monster that transported President Barack Obama on a tour of the upper Midwest in which the president highlighted jobs, but did not mention the VIP H3-45 (the model that transported him and staff) was made in Canada, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The mammoth vehicle this week grabbed attention and brought comments from waving kids along the route to jobs-and-cost-conscious radio talk show hosts. 

The luxury bus was custom built in Quebec by Prevost, a leading manufacturer of premium touring coaches and bus shells for high-end motor homes and specialty conversions since 1924. 

Major rock bands and singers have been among Prevost’s prime customers. 

The Secret Service also ordered another similar $1.1 million bus. 

The president's vehicle had state-of-the art security features ranging from armored doors to impenetrable windows, enhanced communications, large flat-screen television sets, a living room-like area and a police cruiser look with flashing blue and red lights. 

Although a bathroom was on board, there was no sleeping section.

Special interior upgrades were installed by Hemphill Brothers Coach Co., Nashville, Tenn.