Grumpy Editor

Hefty speaking fees place spotlight on the Clintons

Although Hillary Clinton earlier this month revealed she and husband, former president Bill Clinton, left the White House “dead broke” in 2001, they have been making up for that with some hefty speaking fees, latest one raising eyebrows of University of Nevada, Las Vegas students when they learned of a $225,000 fee for an Oct. 13 fundraising speech slated by the former secretary of state in Sin City, notes Grumpy Editor.

What irked the complaining students is that prior to the UNLV event, the former first lady is not charging for a Sept. 4 keynote speech also in Las Vegas at the Clean Energy Summit, an annual conference sponsored by Senate majority leader Harry Reid, UNLV, MGM Resorts and the Center for American Progress. 

A letter, written on behalf of 23,000 undergraduate students at UNLV, addressed to the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation in New York, asked Mrs. Clinton to “charitably donate part or all of the $225,000 speaking fee she is reportedly making for this fundraising speech back to the UNLV Foundation as a whole.” 

The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Mrs. Clinton was paid $300,000 to speak on the University of California, Los Angeles campus three months ago.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post, in reviewing the Clintons’ federal financial disclosures, tallied Bill Clinton was paid $104.9 million for 542 speeches around the world between January 2001, when he left the White House, and January 2013, when Mrs. Clinton stepped down as secretary of state. 

The June 26 Post story also found most of Bill Clinton’s speaking income --- $56.3 million --- came from foreign speeches, many of them in China, Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom. 

 

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ABC 'PROMO' LEADS ON-THE-HOUR NEWS.  Despite explosive, breaking news developments in the U.S. and overseas, radio listeners heard top-of-the-hour ABC News Friday morning leading with a promo mentioning Barbara Walters on that evening’s “20-20” would be interviewing Peter Rodger, father of 22-year-old Elliot Rodger accused of killing six people and injuring 13 before taking his own life May 23 near the University of California, Santa Barbara.

 

“FORGOTTEN WAR’ AGAIN OVERLOOKED BY MEDIA.  With anniversary stories popular with editors, most news outlets forgot mention of the Korean War that started on June 26, 1950.  For the U.S., the 1950-1953 battle against North Korean and Chinese forces resulted in 36,940 military deaths, 103,000 wounded, 8,142 missing in action and 3,746 prisoners of war.

 

REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS BASEBALL, MOM AND APPLE PIE?  As soccer grabs more attention in the U.S., viewers to ESPN’s baseball games on Sunday nights averaged just below 1.9 million this year.  That’s 32 percent less than seven years ago.

 

HERE WE GO AGAIN.  Somehow forgetting the mounting problems with credit card (and other loan) payments six years ago that triggered prolonged financial turmoil, banks and other lenders were busy in the first quarter issuing credit cards to subprime borrowers, reported The Wall Street Journal via data from Equifax Inc.

 

As thousands of children plus teenagers and others --- mainly from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador --- continue to cross into the U.S. illegally from Mexico, adding to the 47,000 that made the trip in the past fiscal year, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) at a near-the-border press conference from the Rio Grande Valley on Saturday said:

"We are all Americans, north and south in this hemisphere." 

Trust in news coverage continues to sag, finds Gallup poll

One must ask what are journalism schools turning out these days as confidence in news via newspapers, television and Internet continues to head south, observes Grumpy Editor.

A Gallup poll of those saying they have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in news from the three major news media platforms shows:

■  Newspapers:  down to 22 percent in 2014 vs. a peak of 51 percent in 1979.

■  Television:  18 percent vs. 46 percent in 1993. 

■  Internet:  19 percent vs. 21 percent in 1999. 

“Americans hold all news media platforms in low confidence,” notes Gallup in releasing statistics from the poll conducted June 5 to 8.  “How these platforms can restore confidence with the American public is not clear, especially as editorial standards change and most outlets lack the broad reach once available to major newspapers and broadcasters.” 

Gallup also mentions, “The circulation of newspapers continues to shrink to the point that University of Southern California's Annenberg Center for the Digital Future estimates that most print newspapers will not exist in five years.”

See the full Gallup results here.

 

In case you missed these…

 

SOUTH DAKOTA GOP CALLS FOR OBAMA IMPEACHMENT.  Most weekend editors overlooked the South Dakota Republican Party state convention Saturday calling for the impeachment of President Barack Obama in a resolution that said the president has "violated his oath of office in numerous ways,” specifically citing release of five Taliban combatants in a trade for captive U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl, Obama's statement that people could keep insurance companies and recent EPA regulations on power plants. 

 

PENTAGON PRESS CONFERENCE INFORMATION LAGS ON-AIR COVERAGE.  At a Pentagon press conference Tuesday following the apprehension of Ahmed Abu Khattala, the suspected leader of the 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, inquiring media pressed for details from Rear Adm. John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, including “where is the suspect being held” and  "where will he be tried."  Kirby, cautious and offering sketchy details, said Ahmed Abu Khattala was “in U.S. custody at a secure location.”  (CNN, Fox News and others had already reported that the suspect was being held and interrogated on a U.S. Navy ship.)  Kirby also said the suspect would be “brought back to the U.S. to stand trial.” (Word was already out to U.S. TV viewers pinpointing the trial location:  federal court in Washington D.C.) 

 

HARRY REID CONTINUES VERBAL SLAPS AT KOCH BROTHERS.  Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) continued blasting Charles and David Koch of Wichita, Kan.-based Koch Industries Inc., calling them “the cult of Koch” from the Senate floor on Thursday, and noting “it’s not right that we have two of the richest men in the world trying to buy America.”  Last month Reid said the executives of the second largest privately-held company in the U.S. are “one of the main causes of climate change.” 

 

FAST ACTION IN OAKLAND.  While Oakland Calif.’s KTVU reporter/anchor Heather Holmes was on air with a live television report on a daylight robbery of a woman, her purse was snatched from the station’s remote truck parked near Oakland police headquarters.  Within 20 minutes of the theft, Holmes’ bank card was used at a nearby gas station.

 

ANOTHER COMPUTER MAGAZINE FADES FROM PRINT.  Last print version of Computerworld is the issue dated today (June 23).  It continues with material on its website, launched in 1996.  The magazine started 47 years ago.

 

BAD TIMING ON PUSH FOR HIGHER FUEL TAXES.  Escaping most weekend editors’ attention:  Despite gasoline and diesel fuel costs reaching higher levels almost daily, Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) figured it’s time to seek a 12 cents a gallon hike in gasoline and diesel taxes over the next two years --- to pay for highway and transit programs.

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Confidence in TV news, newspapers continues to sink

Poll: Only 18% of Americans trust their TV News

Border agents 'babysit,' miss patroling Mexican boundary

U.S. Border Patrol agents changing diapers and heating baby formula are among the unusual situations being revealed (but not widely reported) with the mounting influx of thousands of “children” --- mainly from Central American countries --- illegally crossing into the U.S., observes Grumpy Editor.

Since last Monday’s report here on shelters being sought for "unaccompanied children” (the term coined by the Obama administration to describe the foreign minors who enter the U.S. illegally), some are in their teens, old enough to be in military service --- or older.

The Los Angeles Times reports “the Rio Grande Valley (in the southernmost tip of  Texas) has become ground zero for an unprecedented surge in families and unaccompanied children flooding across the Southwest border.”

The flow from Central America is arriving at a rate of more than 35,000 a month, adds the L.A. Times.

Others slipping into the country illegally are known Mexican gang members.

Meanwhile, many of the young people who cross the border into the U.S. have never seen a doctor before, reveals Gil Kerlikowske, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in a Washington Times report by Stephen Dinan.

The commissioner says Border Patrol agents are being asked to do things, such as diaper changing and warming up baby formula, which are far beyond their usual activities.

Shelters for the migrant minors are reaching capacity at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas; Fort Sill, Lawton, Okla., Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, and Naval Base Ventura County, Oxnard, Calif.

So another facility being eyed this week is a vacant Social Security building in Baltimore, far from the Texas border where the illegals enter the U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security calls the assistance being given as “humanitarian aid to immigrant children.”

But not widely trumpeted is that such aid is costing U.S. taxpayers $252 a day for each minor.

 

In case you missed these…

FORGET IRAQ, LOOK AT GLOBAL WARMING.  With militants advancing on Baghdad, President Barack Obama --- far from the White House --- reminds University of California, Irvine, graduates Saturday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim about global warming.  Obama warns that rising temperatures and sea levels plus intensifying storms define “one of the most significant long-term challenges that our country and planet face.”  Then he was off to play golf Saturday and yesterday in Rancho Mirage, near Palm Springs, under warm, clear skies. Although back in Washington today, the president tomorrow heads for New York City and two fundraisers.

 

WEATHER PERSONNEL BLASTED IN NORTH KOREA.  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un isn’t concerned about global warming but in touring meteorological centers around the Communist country he voices extreme displeasure to personnel about “too many incorrect” weather forecasts.  He is irked about the weather as it relates to potential impact on the economy, and, in part, blames outdated equipment contributing to faulty forecasts.

 

TRUE BREAKING NEWS ON CNN.  A car smashed through a lobby at CNN Center, the news network’s headquarters in Atlanta.  The vehicle came to rest in the middle of the lobby around 4 a.m. on Friday.  The driver was taken into custody.  On the bright side, CNN beat other news outlets in reporting the incident.

 

MSNBC RANKS LOWEST IN TRUST FOR TV NEWS.  A poll conducted by the Brookings and Public Religion Research Institute finds just 5 percent of respondents say cable network MSNBC is the “most trusted” for television news.  Fox News Channel, at the other end, grabs 25 percent of those surveyed.

 

BAD DAY FOR NEWSPAPER EDITORS IN LOUISVILLE.  Kentucky’s Courier-Journal in one swoop last week eliminates seven editor positions, calling the action “a realignment of newsroom resources.”  Among those laid off:  Jean Porter, managing editor, and Mike Trautmann, metro editor.

 

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN MAKES FORBES LIST.   Forbes magazine in its annual world’s 100 most powerful women tally of “extraordinary icons, game changers and ceiling crashers who are asserting themselves on the world stage” places the Fox News Channel’s anchor at the 100^th spot.  No. 1 is German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Most media mum as young illegals flock into U.S

Overlooked among current major stories:  mounting problems being caused by thousands of children from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico illegally crossing --- without parents --- the border from Mexico, finds Grumpy Editor.

Administration officials say 47,000 have entered the U.S. in the past eight months.  Many of the unaccompanied minors are teenagers.  Most cross the border into Texas.

Among missing elements in most news reports:

■  The growing influx of young illegal border crossers is expected to swell to about 130,000 in the coming year.

■  Shelters for the migrant youngsters are filling rapidly.  The minors are being sent to key facilities in San Antonio, Texas; Fort Sill, Okla. and, as the influx mounts, recently-added Naval Base Ventura County in Oxnard, Calif.

■ Many are being dumped in Arizona, angering Gov. Jan Brewer who a week ago dispatched a letter (unanswered through Friday) to President Barack Obama demanding that dropping off the children at Phoenix bus stations stop immediately. She calls the program dangerous and unconscionable and demanded to know why state authorities weren't consulted or advised.

■ Highly upset Gov. Brewer adds, “I reiterate my call on President Obama to secure our southern border and terminate this operation immediately."

■  Daily cost to U.S. taxpayers in maintaining each illegal minor: $252.

■  President Barack Obama terms the growing numbers of unaccompanied children migrating to the U.S. as an "urgent humanitarian situation.”

■  Main government agencies entering the situation are Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the latter usually involved when hurricanes, tornadoes and other disasters hit the U.S., as the unauthorized arrivals require housing, food, medical and mental health services.

■  Via London, BBC reports the White House asks Congress for $1.4 billion to cope with the growing number of young illegals.

 

In case you missed these…

ANOTHER JUMP FOR WORLD WAR II PARACHUTIST.  As part of D-Day’s 70^th anniversary activities, Jim (Pee Wee) Martin, 93, who 70 years ago with the 101^st Airborne Division parachuted over Utah Beach in Normandy, did it again last Thursday in the same sector.  Martin, from near Dayton, Ohio, says his latest jump was “wonderful, absolutely wonderful” but was easier than his 1944 jump “because there wasn’t anybody shooting at me today.”

 

CRIME COVERAGE INSPIRES COPYCATS.  In the aftermath of the Santa Barbara, Calif., shooting of college students last month, a Rasmussen Reports survey finds 44 percent of Americans tend to believe media pay too much attention to mass murders with the coverage prompting others to commit violent crimes.  One in three say media coverage is about right while 13 percent say media do not cover such events enough.

 

BBC PLANS STAFF REDUCTIONS.  British Broadcasting Corp. plans to cut about 500 news division jobs.  Another 75 to 85 positions are slated to be sliced at BBC’s United Kingdom radio operation.

 

SAN QUENTIN NEWSPAPER GETS MORE COVERAGE.  Three months after the Los Angeles Times ran an illustrated feature on San Quentin News, the monthly newspaper produced by inmates at the California prison got another boost via an illustrated New York Times feature.  Founded in 1940, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief is serving 65 years to life for crimes including burglary, robbery and skipping bail to flee to Mexico.

 

SOMETHING AMERICAN TELEVISION MISSED IN FRANCE.  During solemn ceremonies in Normandy marking the 70^th anniversary of D-Day, an alert photographer caught President Barack Obama busy chewing gum.  View the baseball-dugout-style action here.

 

Obama to West Point grads: Prep for global warming fight

In leading up to today’s unveiling of President Barack Obama’s signature climate change regulation that limits carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants, the commander-in-chief (pushing aside mentions of military buildups and aggressive actions by North Korea and China, among others) on Wednesday told the West Point graduating class they will be forced to respond to the effects of --- global warming, notes Grumpy Editor.

Along with foreign policy remarks to the more than 1,000 graduating cadets, the president called for energizing the global effort to combat climate change which he termed “a creeping national security crisis that will help shape your time in uniform, as we are called on to respond to refugee flows and natural disasters and conflicts over water and food, which is why next year I intend to make sure America is out front in putting together a global framework to preserve our planet.”

Obama, two days later at another event, warned storms like 2012’s Hurricane Sandy will become more frequent as climate change intensifies and urged the public to prepare now for this year's hurricane season.

The president said changes in climate mean that storms “could end up being more common and more devastating…and that’s why we’re also going to be doing more to deal with the dangers of carbon pollution that help to cause this climate change and global warming.”

Meanwhile, after one of the quietest hurricane seasons in decades last year, forecasters with The Weather Channel predict a below-average 2014 Atlantic hurricane season that runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

 

In case you missed these…

WORLD WAR II BIRD SET TO FLY AT NORMANDY.  Participating in next Sunday’s 70^th anniversary marking World War II’s D-Day landing will be a vintage C-47 twin-engine aircraft that dropped Allied paratroops behind enemy lines before dawn on June 6, 1944.  Known as Whiskey 7, assigned to the 37th Troop Carrier Squadron, the aircraft recently flew 3,600-miles crossing the Atlantic.  It marked its longest journey since shortly after World War II.

 

NEXT QUESTION, PLEASE.  During a lengthy interview of former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden in an hour NBC program, Nightly News anchor Brian Williams asked: "Did you vote for President Obama?" Snowden refused to answer.

 

WASHINGTON REMAINS SILENT ON JAILED AMERICANS.  A U.S. Marine marking his 63^rd day in a Mexican prison (covered here May 26) after making a wrong turn on a road near Tijuana isn’t the only case of recent below-border jailings.  USA Today on Saturday revealed six Americans, crewmembers from a U.S. ship, since early May have been in a Honduras prison charged with attempting to smuggle five weapons into the country. Robert Mayne, the ship’s captain who is among those in jail, said the weapons on the ship were registered in the U.S. and he notified Honduran maritime authorities about them a month before arrival in Honduran waters.  (It is common for vessels sailing in international waters to possess weapons to protect against piracy.)

NOW ABOUT CARNEY’S REPLACEMENT.  With Jay Carney leaving his White House press secretary post, background of his replacement, Josh Earnest, doesn’t match that of Carney, former Washington bureau chief for Time magazine with 21 years in print journalism.  Earnest, with a political science degree, went from college directly into work for politicians.

 

ALMOST 3 MONTHS OF MISSING AIRCRAFT COVERAGE. CNN on Saturday continued its almost non-stop coverage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that disappeared from radar on March 8.  A live discussion around a table focused on “pings were not from Flight 370.”