Grumpy Editor

Here’s why PR folks don’t return some phone calls

In the why-corporate-PR-folks-don’t-return-some-phone-calls-to-reporters department:  Grumpy Editor noted that comment was sought from Mars Inc. by a national newspaper staffer because a suspect was nabbed trying to smuggle methamphetamine “disguised as Snickers bars.” 

McLean, Va.-based Mars, with annual net sales of more than $30 billion and producer of the candy, had nothing to do with the case. 

Yet, some quotes were sought from the company with 70,000 worldwide employees and six business segments including chocolate, pet care and Wrigley. 

A Los Angeles International Airport inspection of a “sealed cardboard box with a design printed on the outside suggesting that it contained Snickers candy bars” turned up several pounds of meth disguised as a tasty confection. 

Officials noted 45 individually-wrapped “candy bars” in luggage contained a white substance. 

A 34-year-old was taken into custody as he prepared to board a Tokyo-bound aircraft. 

The writer worked in the line:  “A spokesman for Mars Inc., the maker of Snickers, couldn’t be reached for comment.” 

Maybe the luggage maker should have been contacted.

 

ABC’s Ross wrongly links shooting suspect to Tea Party

Media folks over the weekend were still buzzing over the major faux pas of ABC News’ veteran investigative reporter Brian Ross who, in haste on television Friday, wrongly indicated the Aurora, Colo., theater shooter may have had connections to the Tea Party, notes Grumpy Editor. 

In a Good Morning America segment with co-host George Stephanopoulos, Ross offered the Tea Party connection after noting a 52-year-old Jim Holmes on a Colorado Tea Party Web site. 

“Now we don’t know if this is the same Jim Holmes, but it’s Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colo.,” cited Ross. 

Stephanopoulos ended the segment with, “Okay, we’ll keep looking at that, Brian Ross.  Thanks very much.” 

But James E. Holmes, the shooting suspect who makes his first court appearance today, turned out to be 24 and not a Tea Party member. 

(Grumpy Editor emphasizes taking a few extra minutes on the Web to run down names in the community would have turned up the correct Holmes, with the younger age, on Paris Street, complete with apartment number, in Aurora.)  

A statement from the Colorado Tea Party Patriots said attempts “to characterize the shooter as a Tea Party member without having made any effort to contact our organization are shameless and reprehensible.” 

ABC News later said an earlier “broadcast report suggested that a Jim Holmes of a Colorado Tea Party organization might be the suspect, but that report was incorrect.  ABC News and Brian Ross apologize for the mistake and for disseminating that information before it was properly vetted."

 

U.S. pays $50,000 each for Afghans killed March 11

Many newspapers yesterday reported the U.S. promptly paid $50,000 in compensation to relatives for each of 17 Afghans killed two weeks earlier in a shooting rampage said to be carried out by an American soldier, observes Grumpy Editor. 

The unusually large payout may have buzzed over the heads of most editors, accustomed to U.S. life insurance policies. 

But in Afghanistan that amount turned out to be a whopping number.

Average annual income there is equal to about $425. 

That means each $50,000 payment corresponds to 118 years worth of average annual income in Afghanistan, based on current figures. 

The Wall Street Journal reported one farmer lost 11 family members in the shootings. 

“Such payments are customary in Afghan culture when a wrong like this is done," The Journal quoted a U.S. official. 

The U.S. also paid $11,000 for every injured villager in the March 11 incident. 

Also paying family members was the Afghan government.  But the amount was much smaller: $2,000 for each person killed and $1,000 for each injured. 

An Associated Press story on the compensation mentioned, “The families were told the money came from President Barack Obama.”

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Money woes put U.S. military families in bind 

Meanwhile, on the same day the unusually high Afghan payouts were reported, an Associated Press story told how money woes have been hitting U.S. military members and families. 

It pointed out financial struggles stemmed from multiple deployments, frequent relocations, mounting credit card debt, strain in paying bills and difficulty spouses have in getting and keeping jobs. 

“The stress factors with the families is just unbelievable,” AP quoted Roger J. Mealey, a Vietnam veteran who runs a website to aid struggling military families.

 

Obama calls it ‘Burma’; Natalie Wood case resurfaces

News reports on President Barack Obama identifying Myanmar as Burma (its former name) while the resurfacing case (again) of actress Natalie Wood, who died in a boating mishap 30 years ago, failed to raise eyebrows of some national and local editors, notes Grumpy Editor. 

When the president, visiting Indonesia last week, mentioned sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Myanmar next month, he referred to the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia as Burma. 

The official name change to Myanmar was made 22 years ago.

The Washington Post also had a problem with the country’s name.  A headline had “Secretary of State Clinton to visit Burma next month,” based on the text which had Burma in the lead.  But into the story was the phrase, “Burma, also known as Myanmar.” 

Associated Press also was on the fence with the country’s name in a Nov. 18 story noting, “Myanmar, also known as Burma.” 

Only Agence France-Presse pointed out Obama said Burma, “using the country’s former name.” 

Meanwhile, mention of “new information” in the death of actress Natalie Wood on Nov. 29, 1981 brought out more than 50 news people at a Los Angeles County sheriff’s news conference Friday morning. 

The actress drowned after falling from the yacht Splendour (spelled Splendor by AP), owned by Wood and husband actor Robert Wagner, that was anchored in Avalon Bay, off Santa Catalina Island. 

The L.A. detectives unconsciously were acting as advance PR folks in refocusing media interest on the case.  An NBC morning show later recycled the 1981 events and similar material followed in a segment on “48 Hours Mystery” Saturday next night on CBS.  Cable news channels also were heavy on the cold case. 

The resurfacing stemmed from material from Vanity Fair magazine and new comments by Dennis Davern, the yacht’s hired hand, referred to as the “ship’s captain” by one writer and a “sea captain” by another --- both writers, obviously unable to distinguish a 60-foot yacht from the Titanic. 

The fourth person aboard the yacht was actor Christopher Walken. 

Only fresh element observed by Grumpy Editor came from a TV interview of a woman (who said she was never interviewed by detectives), who related she was on a nearby boat and heard cries for help coming from the anchored Splendour area where Wood fell into the water. 

She said she tried to radio the Avalon Harbor Patrol in the early morning hours, but no one answered.

Media missed that angle.

 

Violent crime figures focus on reported incidents in 2010

Violent crime rates dropping for the fourth straight year received heavy broadcast/print coverage yesterday --- with apparently few editors or writers raising eyebrows, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Key word in the information from the FBI is reported as with crimes reported to authorities.  Many victims, for various reasons, fail to file crime reports.

Estimated also appears in released material. 

Nationwide, an estimated 1.2 million violent crimes and an estimated nine million property crimes occurred in 2010, reports Associated Press. 

The decline, say criminologists, is attributed to an aging population, better policing and continued high rates of imprisonment for criminals, adds AP. 

This runs counter to other news stories that cross editors desks during the year that point to jobless younger people in troubled economic times turning to crimes, slimmer budgets with freezes or cuts to police departments, and closing of prisons along with early release of inmates in efforts to reduce costs in a down economy. 

Robust gang activity is keeping many police departments busy and away from other investigations. 

Most television stations’ news programs often air shooting stories first.  “If it bleeds, it leads,” is the cry of TV news editors. 

Thus, it’s difficult for many Americans to agree with headlines such as:  “Crime rates continue decline in U.S. despite high unemployment.” 

Meanwhile, not mentioned in the latest crime tally stories are lesser offenses --- from identify theft to imposter scams --- directed at consumers. 

The Federal Trade Commission places identity theft at the top of the list of consumer complaints, accounting for 250,854 out of 1,339,265 complaints filed last year.  Never-ending various scams not only are multiplying, but are being aimed at seasoned investors, too. 

Many of these also go unreported to authorities.