ACTRESS'S 14-DAY PRISON TERM GETS WIDE COVERAGE

Is there super abundant coverage by news media with “Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman going off to a federal prison — for 14 days? asks Grumpy Editor.

From national publications to local dailies, Huffman’s prison stint gets wide coverage and multiple inches of print space.  Much airtime on radio and TV news, too.

 

Over the weekend, the New York Post gets excited in reporting a photo shows Huffman in a green jumpsuit with her hair bundled under a white baseball cap as she walks between buildings on the grounds of the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, Calif.

 

Huffman was involved in a college admissions scandal that ensnared many other wealthy folks.

 

Compare the extensive Huffman coverage with most murderers who get three or four inches of print paragraphs.

 

Associated Press even includes her federal prison number in the lead of a story on the day she reported for prison.

 

A federal judge sentenced Huffman to 14 days in prison, a $30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and a year’s probation after she pled guilty to fraud and conspiracy for paying an admissions consultant $15,000 to have a proctor correct her daughter’s SAT scores.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

DEMOCRATIC DEBATE AUDIENCE DIPS.   Last week's fourth face-off between presidential hopefuls attracts the smallest audience for the 2020 cycle to date. The debate averaged 8.34 million viewers, below CNN's last debate coverage on July 30-31 and the smallest audience of the four Democratic debates thus far.

 

NEW NAME APPEARS WITH IWO JIMA HISTORIC PHOTO.  The Marine Corps acknowledges that for 74 years it misidentified one of the six fighting men who appeared in the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal showing the U.S. flag being raised over Iwo Jima.  Three historians, using film footage from atop Mount Suribachi and photos taken by others on the scene concludes that Cpl. Harold “Pie” Keller — not Pfc. Rene Gagnon — was one of the flag-raisers.

 

CHINA'S AIRCRAFT CARRIER WORK PROGRESSES.  High-resolution satellite images show construction of China’s first full-size aircraft carrier is progressing steadily alongside expansive infrastructure work that analysts say suggests the ship will be the first of several large vessels produced at Jiangnan shipyard outside Shanghai.

 

BUSY U.S. HOUSE SUPPORTS HONG KONG.  U.S. House takes time to pass three bills --- approved on separate voice votes --- designed to show support for pro-democracy protestors in far-off Hong Kong. 

 

WILDFIRE INSURERS DROPPING COVERAGE.  In fire-prone California, many residents can't afford wildfire insurance.  As the risk of wildfires intensifies in the Golden State, insurers are dropping coverage for many homeowners.

L. A. TIMES EDITORIAL STAFFERS UNIONIZE.  After more than a year of negotiations, the Los Angeles Times reaches a tentative agreement with the union that represents the bulk of its non-management employees.  The agreement covers 475 reporters, copy editors, photographers and others.  A ratification vote is expected by month's end.

MARINE VETERAN WALKS AROUND LAKE MICHIGAN.  Travis Snyder, a Michigan Marine veteran, raises awareness for veteran suicides after the loss of one of his brothers. He completes walking more than 800 miles in 42 days around Lake Michigan.

 

CALIFORNIA CHURCH WILL SEAT 3,000.   St. Charles Borromeo Church, under construction in Visalia, Calif., will seat over 3,000 when it opens in spring 2021, making it the largest seating capacity Catholic parish church in the United States.