Grumpy Editor

AP's BUZBEE BECOMES EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF THE WASHINGTON POST

Sally Buzbee, senior vice president and executive editor of The Associated Press, will become the new executive editor of The Washington Post, succeeding the recently retired Marty Baron, notes Grumpy Editor.

As AP’s top editor since 2017, her emphasis on live coverage of breaking news events in all formats, augmented by deep enterprise reporting, has helped yield top awards.

Along with Buzbee’s new post, Paul Farhi of  The Post notes women are now in charge at CBS News, ABC News, NPR, MSNBC, Reuters, Financial Times, Guardian and the Economist.

Selected after a wide search of potential candidates, Buzbee starts her new job on June 1. 

Meanwhile,  AP is searching for a new executive editor.

Fred Ryan, the Post’s publisher and chief executive, says “Sally Busbee has an exceptional record of achievement and a tremendous wealth of experience in leading a global news organization.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

ELLEN DeGENERES GRABS MAJOR SPACE.  Getting more print space than the president in the past week:  Ellen DeGeneres on departing her daytime talk show next year. The announcement even grabbed a chunk of space, with photo, in The Wall Street Journal.

SUPPORT DOG GOES ON THE RUN IN NEW YORK CITY.  Lucy, an emotional support dog that escapes a Manhattan home, is rescued after 10-hours on the run in New York City that takes her across busy streets and into the New York subway system where she is safely rescued before going into a tunnel.

NBC CANCELS GOLDEN GLOBES.  The Golden Globes awards show, with sagging ratings, is an endangered species as NBC cancels next year’s presentation.

BEAR CLIMBS UTILITY POLES.  Downtown Douglas, Arizona, sees a bear climb two utility poles.  The bear eventually descends and scampers off, sending about two dozen onlookers scattering. 

 

TEA DRINKERS GETTING UNEASY.  Tea-drinking British (and many in the U.S.) are getting uneasy over reports that climate change --- namely rising temperatures and erratic rainfall --- is hitting tea-growing countries.  For example:  Kenya, as the world's biggest exporter of black tea, is suffering more floods and droughts than ever before.

AUSTRALIAN DESTROYER DISLODGES WHALES.  Two dead endangered whales are dislodged from the hull of the Australian destroyer HMAS Sydney, after it docks at U.S. Naval Base San Diego.

FOX NEWS ADDS TWO COMMENTATORS.  Fox News Channel will debut weekend shows for commentator Dan Bongino on June 5 and former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy June 6.

 

CORONAVIRUS REQUIRES SEVERAL AP STYLEBOOK CHANGES DURING YEAR

 

Coronavirus has had an effect on the Associate Press stylebook, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

In the past year AP’s “coronavirus topical guide” has been updated several times, says Paula Froke, AP Stylebook editor.  The current version, published March 10, contains 74 entries, 43 of which are new to the stylebook.

 

The Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida, points out the guide "includes medical terms — hydroxychloroquine and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children — as well as phrases to describe the socially distant lifestyle many have adopted since the pandemic’s start. Pods, as in learning pods or social pods, get their own entry, and AP now recognizes that FaceTime, Skype and Zoom can be used as verbs.”

 

“The goal is to help writers and editors everywhere have a consistent approach to terminology —  consistent and accurate, above all, and clear so that in this often very quickly changing and big complicated news story, editors can have some guideposts for how to lay this out most clearly for the public to understand,” Froke adds.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

FIRST ORBITAL FLIGHT REMEMBERED TODAY.  Today marks the 40th anniversary of the first orbital flight --- space shuttle Columbia from Orlando, Florida. It revolutionized space exploration…with its accomplishments and tragedies.

 

POMPEO JOINS FOX NEWS AS CONTRIBUTOR.  Fox News hires former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a contributor.  A frequent guest on the network, Pompeo is familiar to the network's viewers.

 

FOR SALE SIGN ON LOUISVILLE NEWSPAPER BUILDING.  Nearly 75 years after it was built, The Courier Journal building in Louisville, Kentucky, is up for sale.  The building has been largely devoid of Courier Journal staff the past year, with the COVID-19 pandemic necessitating a work-from-home schedule. 

 

JILL BIDEN SAYS HONOR MILITARY FAMILIES.  First Lady Jill Biden revives a decades-old initiative challenging Americans to do things  — from mowing lawns to dropping off meals for families with loved ones in the armed forces.

 

TIGER WOODS CRASH INFO DRIBBLES OUT.  Tiger Woods auto crash on Feb. 23 continues to make headlines with new revelations.  During the week a story reveals authorities say he was driving more than 80 m.p.h.

 

FUN IN TH SUN.  About two dozen monkeys break out of a zoo in Loeffingen, Germany, near the Swiss border before being recaptured.

 

MAN STEALS VAN GOGH PAINTING.  Dutch police arrest a 58-year-old man suspected of stealing an 1884 painting by Vincent van Gogh last year.

 

U.S. POPULATION GROWTH SLOWS.  America's population grew only 0.48 percent in 2019, an amount unseen since the end of World War I in 1918.  Key elements in the population slowdown include fewer births, fewer immigrants and the overall graying of Americans. The birth rate and immigration have historically driven the nation's changing population dynamics.

 MILITARY MEETING DEMANDS REDUCED.  The Government Accountability Office finds the U.S. military's ability to meet demands has largely degraded over the past two decades, pointing out domain readiness did not meet readiness recovery goals identified by the military services."

Pence angry over AP publishing wife’s email address

Imagine what would happen if Associated Press or other news outlet published the private email address of a Washington figure during the previous administration, wonders Grumpy Editor.

Well, that’s what AP did in the new administration with vice president Mike Pence’s wife, Karen.

What’s more, despite a request to take down the story with the private email address, the news service refused to follow through.

On Saturday Pence tweeted, “When we requested they take it down, they refused. The AP owes my wife an apology.” With that he sent a copy of a letter to AP’s top executive from Mark Paoletta, counsel to the vice president.

In the letter Paoletta said Mrs. Pence was subjected to "vitriolic and malicious emails and raised serious security concerns."

He added, "There was absolutely no reason to publish this private email address, and you should be ashamed of your reprehensible conduct.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Washington nonsense: While stirred up over Jeff Sessions as a Republican senator talking to the Russian ambassador two times last year, journalists are not too excited over trigger-happy North Korea firing four more missiles, with three landing in the ocean near Japan --- and the communist nation's ultimate goal of missiles reaching the West Coast of the U.S…The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences said the two PwC accountants behind the mix-up that saw La La Land incorrectly named best picture will not work the Oscars ceremony again. The Academy hasn’t determined if it would continue its relationship with PwC, which has tabulated the awards candidates for 83 years…Stars and Stripes reported maintenance needs limit the availability of the B-1 bomber fleet, adding the aircraft requires about 150 hours of maintenance after each flight. The Air Force's four-engine supersonic variable sweep wing four-engine supersonic aircraft made its first flight way back on Dec. 23, 1974...The Hollywood Reporter reported singer-actor Barbra Streisand claims President Donald Trump is making her gain weight. News involving the president affects her morning routine, she said, pointing out via a tweet that "I start the day with liquids, but after the morning news, I eat pancakes smothered in maple syrup”…Fox News host Sean Hannity said it is only a matter of time until Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) crosses the aisle and joins the Democrats…Home resales hit a 10-year high in January as buyers shrugged off higher prices and mortgage rates, signaling rising confidence in the economy, reported Reuters…Paul Kangas, co-anchor of PBS’s popular “Nightly Business Report” from 1979 to 2009, died last Tuesday at the age of 79.

 

Want to cover breaking TV news in New York?

WABC-TV reporter CeFaan Kim, wrapping up a live report Friday in New York City’s Lower East Side, ended up fighting off an assailant in a hockey mask in a bizarre clash caught on camera.

He's okay.  The assailant got away.