Grumpy Editor

JOURNALISTS STRUGGLE WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF VIRUS

Journalists around the world are struggling to cope with the psychological toll of reporting during the COVID-19 crisis, notes Grumpy Editor.

As reported by ijnet, the internnational journalists network, more than 80 percent of respondents note at least one negative psychological effect affecting them:  anxiety, burnout, difficulty sleeping and a sense of helplessness.

With the pandemic inflicting significant economic damage on newsrooms and shuttering of newspapers, three in four respondents say their first priority during the pandemic is survival of their publication, according to the report.

Underscoring the economic impact, almost four in five respondents with access to information about their newsroom's finances reported at least a 50 percent decline in revenue, it mentions, adding “to cope, outlets are cutting back on content, shrinking salaries and laying off employees.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

BIDEN SELECTS LONG-TIME ASSOCIATE FOR CHIEF OF STAFF.  President-elect Joe Biden selects Ron Klain as his White House chief of staff, highlighting their long history of working together on the economy and public health crises.  Klain was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and worked in the White House as chief of staff to Biden and Vice President Al Gore.

CORONAVIRUS SIDELINES SECRET AGENTS.  From recent travels, more than 130 Secret Service officers who help protect the White House and the president are ordered to isolate or quarantine because they tested positive for the coronvirus or had close contact with infected co-workers.

FOREIGNERS SCOOPING UP PROPERTY.  After Joe Biden won the election, there is a huge pent-up demand among wealthy foreigners to buy property in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other major cities.. 

WOMAN BREAKS SPORTS GLASS CEILING.  Kim Ng, 51, becomes general manager of the Miami Marlins baseball team, the first woman to hold that position in Major League Baseball.  Ng began her baseball career in 1990 as an intern with the Chicago White Sox. 

NEW LOGO FOR MUTUAL OF OMAHA.  Mutual of Omaha unveils a new corporate logo that replaces the Indian chief head symbol used for 70 years.  The new logo depicts an African lion.

NO INCREASE IN SUICIDES BY VETERANS.  Since the pandemic struck in March, there is no increase in suicides or suicide attempts among patients or visits to Department of Veterans Affairs emergency rooms related to suicide attempts, says the VA.   

SIDELINES QUIET AT 2020 MASTERS.  After a seven-month delay with the pandemic, action at the 2020 Masters at Augusta National is with no onlookers, no roars, no ropes, no grandstands. Some players miss the noise from the crowd, others enjoy the silence.

CORONAVIRUS HITS HALLOWEEN CANDY SALES --- AND HERSHEY

With Halloween a few days away, coronavirus is having an effect on candy maker Hershey, notes Grumpy Editor.

Normally, days leading to Halloween produce one tenth of Hershey’s $8 billion in annual sales.

 

But coronavirus this year is putting a damper on candy sales, smacking trick or treating activity.  Los Angeles health officials, for example, advise against trick or treating because of coronavirus  concerns. 

 

U.S. candy sales during last year’s Halloween season reached $4.6 billion, making it the biggest period for candy sales, notes the National Confectioners Association. 

 

Since the pandemic hit  in March, a Wall Street Journal story points out "Hershey’s sales have been tempered by social distancing restrictions that lead to fewer parties, vacations and shopping trips, especially to convenience stores where a lot of candy is purchased.”

 

Hershey says trick or treating normally makes up about half of its Halloween candy sales.

 

The National Confectioners Association sees two-thirds of Americans this year planning on trick-or-treating with appropriate safety measures.

 

 

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SANTA WON'T BE VISITING MACY'S.  Blaming coronavirus, Santa Claus won’t appear at Macy’s flagship in New York plus Chicago and San Francisco stores this year.  It interrupts a holiday tradition that debuted nearly 160 years ago.

TESLA ELIMINATES PR STAFF.  Tesla Motors, one of the nation’s largest companies, eliminates its media relations department.  It’s an unusual move and journalists will have a difficult time seeking the right Tesla person for answers to questions.

NORTH KOREA RATTLES AGAIN.  No matter who wins in the November election, the U.S. administration will face a growing nuclear threat from North Korea, which recently rolled out a huge new intercontinental ballistic missile that may be able to target the United States.  Observers figure the North’s next step will likely be to test-fire a long-range missile, but probably not until after the results are in from the Nov. 3 vote.

99-CENT SHRIMP COCKTAIL REAPPEARS IN VEGAS.  Good news for shrimp cocktail lovers:  The 99-cent classic returns to Las Vegas with the opening this week of the Circa hotel-casino in the city’s downtown area. Keep in mind, the special is offered from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m.

STOLEN MING CHINESE VASE RECOVERED IN U.K.  British police recover a 15th century Ming Chinese vase valued at $3.3 million that was stolen in June, 2019 in Switzerland.  Police arrest two suspects and say the vase will be returned to Switzerland.

 

N.Y. DINERS SERVED EXPENSIVE WINE BY MISTAKE.  A young couple, dining in New York City, order an $18 bottle of wine at a popular restaurant but are served a $2,000 bottle meant for a table of businessmen, who didn’t even notice they ended up drinking the cheap stuff. Identical decanters are blamed.

 

WOMAN, 102, SKYDIVES.  A Maryland woman fulfills a longtime dream by skydiving for the first time at the age of 102. Vivian (Millie) Bailey, a World War II veteran, says President George H.W. Bush skydiving at 90 years old, provided the inspiration.  After the jump, Bailey calls it exhilarating.

 

SEWAGE PLANT NAMED AFTER COMEDIAN.  Quite an honor?  Comedian John Oliver cuts a ribbon in Danbury, Connecticut with the naming of a new sewage treatment plant in his honor.

CORONAVIRUS PUTS DAMPER ON HALLOWEEN EVENTS IN SOME CITIES, STATES

 

Some cities and states are discouraging Halloween activities this year due to the coronavirus and upscale Beverly Hills, Calif. is one of them, notes Grumpy Editor.

City officials opted to nix the Halloween tradition in the face of ongoing coronavirus concerns.

Thus, their decision prohibits house-to-house trick-or-treating  on the spooky night. 

 

Moreover, residents will be barred from giving out candy or other holiday treats outside of their immediate households.

Beverly Hills’ decision came the same day California health officials released new guidelines advising Californians to skip trick-or-treating for 2020, though they didn’t outright prohibit the tradition. 

Officials figure trick-or-treating doesn’t lend itself to social distancing and instead leads to numerous interactions between different households, possibly contributing to the spread of coronavirus.

California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly  explained, “We don’t want to turn certainly what is a celebration and a time of joy into something that is difficult or contentious, but we also recognize the need to provide a clear understanding of the risks and why we recommend strongly that we do Halloween differently than we have in the past.”

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Maki, the lemur, safely back at zoo

STOLEN LEMUR FOUND, RETURNS HOME.  A ring-tailed lemur named Maki, stolen from San Francisco’s zoo last week, is found a few days later near a church playground. The animal, in good health, is back at his home in the city’s zoo.  A lemur, native to the island of Madagascar, is small, with a pointed snout, large eyes and a long tail, living mainly in trees and active at night.

SERVICE WOMEN MONUMENT REOPENS.  Women in Military Service for America Memorial, at the gateway to Arlington National Cemetery, closed for about seven months during the coronavirus pandemic, reopened Saturday.  The bronze monument, titled The Pledge, depicts a service woman outfitted for combat, kneeling and staring face-to-face with a military working dog. The base of the monument mentions it honors “all women of the U.S. military, past, present and future.”

LATEST DAREDEVIL BUILDING CLIMBER.  A man who tried to scale the New York Times building made it five stories up before police officers brought him down.

2020 ON  TRACK TO BE EARTH'S HOTTEST.  NOAA researchers say there is a 64.7 percent, or nearly 2-to-1, chance that this year will end up as Earth's hottest year on record.

REPORTERS NIX TRAVELING WITH PRESIDENT.  The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post staffers, among others, are not traveling with the president out of concerns that Donald Trump and his aides are not following safety protocols to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

 

SAILORS’ BEARDS TO RETURN?  The Navy’s chief of naval operations indicates he’s open to rethinking the service’s mandatory clean shaven policy in relaxing grooming standards.

 

TOP DOG NAMES.  BarkBox rounded up the 100 most popular dog names of 2020 based on subscribers for Travel + Leisure. Top 10 names:

1. Bella
2. Luna
3. Charlie
4. Lucy
5. Cooper
6. Max
7. Bailey
8. Daisy
9. Sadie
10. Lola