Grumpy Editor

Hacker? U.S. Defense Department seeks your talent

Grumpy Editor notes media, aiming for front page or TV top story play, usually jump with mention of hackers into major U.S. government operations and facilities. But when the Department of Defense announces it is inviting hackers to test the department’s cyber security under a pilot program launching next month, that news is tucked away on inside pages or given a one-liner in over-the-air coverage.

The Pentagon is home to much military brass along with the secretary of defense, deputy secretary of defense, under secretaries of defense, director of defense research and engineering, assistant secretaries of defense, general counsel, director of operational test and evaluation, assistants to the secretary of defense, director of administration and management, among others.

That lineup, along with top-secret Pentagon information, provides lip-smacking appeal to hackers, especially those in some foreign nations.

The unusual upcoming operation, called the “Hack the Pentagon” initiative, is the first cyber bug bounty program in the federal government.

Under the pilot program, the department will use commercial sector crowd sourcing to allow qualified participants to conduct vulnerability identification and analysis on the department’s public Web pages. 

Participants in the bug bounty will be required to register and submit to a background check prior to involvement with the program. 

“Once vetted, the hackers will participate in a controlled, limited duration program that will allow them to identify vulnerabilities on a predetermined department system,” explains the Defense Department. 

Participants in the competition could be eligible for monetary awards and other recognition, it adds.

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter says he is “confident this innovative initiative will strengthen our digital defenses and ultimately enhance our national security.”

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

While daily financial reports provide some glowing numbers, The Wall Street Journal on Friday points out “The U.S. economy experienced one of its worst productivity declines in more than two decades at the end of last year”…Lengthy trip to a baseball game. President Barack Obama will be in Havana March 22 for an exhibition baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national team. With that event, the White House promptly dispatches: “Americans and Cubans share a love of baseball, and this is yet another powerful reminder of the kinship between our peoples as well as the progress we can achieve when we leverage those natural ties”…Contrasting headlines from Reuters on Tuesday as the Dow industrials shot up 348.58 points --- “Wall Street’s Big Short: President Donald J. Trump” along with “Wall Street Chalks up Strongest Day in a Month”…As the audience at the 88^th Academy Awards broadcast on ABC roars with laughter in Hollywood, folks viewing the program at home yawned --- while others watch something else, resulting in the fewest Oscar TV viewers since 2008…Investor’s Business Daily, published five days a week since 1984, will become a weekly, focusing more online…TV loves Donald Trump. His dominance in the presidential race has brought in advertising dollars, putting smiles on TV executives faces. CBS chief Les Moonves, for example, quips the Trump phenomenon is “damn good for CBS.”

As baseball spring training moves along, fans are eager to learn what is happening with players, including newcomers to teams.

So what is the top story coming out of New York Yankees spring training workouts last week?  A “daring raccoon” that made its way to the top of protective netting behind home plate.

Yes, with film at 11.

 

 

 

U.S. jumps into action after North Korea threatens; First Lady again on Vogue cover; Vegas shooter remains in L.A.

War talk spurs U.S. to bolster defenses, but...

After more North Korea missile testing over the weekend, a Feb. 12 nuclear test plus mounting saber-rattling and elevated tensions spurred by its young leader Kim Jong Eun, the Pentagon decided to strengthen U.S. defenses against a possible attack by the communist country by adding missile systems to protect the West Coast and Alaska, notes Grumpy Editor.

North Korea a few days earlier surprised the U.N., South Korea and U.S. by declaring the armistice that suspended Korean War hostilities 60 years ago was now invalid.

At the same time, it tossed in bolder rhetoric by threatening a nuclear strike on Washington.

With Washington’s sudden growing concern on North Korea’s long-range missile advances, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday said the U.S. will deploy 14 more ground-based missile interceptors.

These will be added to the current 30 long-range missile interceptors already in place in Alaska and California.

While news that the U.S. was moving ahead on additional defense measures grabbed headlines, overlooked by most broadcast and print media:  the new interceptors won’t be in position until 2017.

For example, in missile defense story coverage, The Washington Post didn't mention 2017 until the 10th paragraph. On the other hand, The Wall Street Journal noted the year at the start of the second paragraph.

 

Meanwhile, focusing on the other side of the world and reflecting U.S. military and intelligence assessments, President Barack Obama said it would take Iran a year or more to produce a nuclear weapon.

Vogue cover again spotlights First Lady

Shortly after the election, buzz around New York and Washington was that First Lady Michelle Obama was behind a push to award top Obama campaign fundraiser and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour with a European ambassadorship, perhaps to Great Britain (Wintour was born in the U.K.) or France.

But the diplomatic post assignment idea faded.  

However, Vogue’s April issue features Michelle Obama on the cover, in a “cobalt blue dress, with the line:  How the First Lady and the President Are Inspiring America.

It marks the second Vogue cover appearance for the First Lady.  She last appeared wearing a pink dress on the magazine’s March 2009 cover.

Wintour got a boost last week, though.

Condé Nast announced the Vogue editor in chief is taking on the newly-created additional position of artistic director of Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications.

 

Las Vegas Strip shooter remains in L.A.

Remember that widely-covered shooting spree on the Las Vegas Strip back on Feb. 21 that resulted in three people killed and five injured?

Through sharp police work, suspect Ammar Harris, 26, was nabbed in Los Angeles one week later.

Today, he's still there.

The delay, in part, was because the defense attorney (despite fingerprints and widely-circulated photos) requested an "iddentification hearing" calling on prosecutors to prove the person arrested in the case "is who they say it is." That Los Angeles Superior Court action occurred March 14.

But wait.

Judge Shelly Torrealba formally identified the Las Vegas Strip shooting suspect on March 14.

Did that move things along for Las Vegas authorities to take over?

Not yet.

Harris refused to waive extradition and his public defender asked authorities to produce a governor's warrant.

With that, the judge scheduled an April 12 hearing.

Stay tuned.

 

In case you missed these…

New Pope Francis didn’t waste any time meeting the press. On Saturday, at the media center flanking Rome’s St. Peter's Basilica at what some called “The Pope Francis Show,” he met and chatted with some of the 5,000 reporters from 81 countries --- then gave them a blessing… One America News Network, a 24-hour conservative-leaning cable news operation that partners San Diego's WealthTV with the Washington Times, is slated to start on July 1…Also with a July launch, Al Jazeera America, following its purchase of Current TV, reports more than 18,000 candidates applied for an initial 170 job openings…Britain’s Daily Mail presence is growing.  It’s online audience in the United States swells to become larger than in the United Kingdom…Moving right along:  U.S. intelligence officials warn of the rising threat of cyberattacks to national  and economic security.  It follows President Barack Obama’s concern in January’s State of the Union address, noting the “rapidly growing threat from cyberattacks"...Wrong site for an exciting typo.  An ad on copyediting.com Friday: "Want an Exiting Career?" headlined a pitch for training as a trucker...Sale of Maxim, a male-oriented magazine, is being explored by Alpha Media. 

Editors overlook event marking last U.S. bayonet battle

Overlooked by U.S. media was an anniversary ceremony at South Korea’s Osan Air Base last Thursday marking the U.S. Army’s last known bayonet charge, known as the Battle of Bayonet Hill on Feb. 7, 1951, during the “forgotten” Korean War --- which remains open ended, notes Grumpy Editor.

The battle --- involving the Army’s 27^th Infantry Regiment’s Easy Company --- pitted Americans against North Korean and communist Chinese soldiers.

Nine U.S. infantrymen died in capturing so-called Hill 180 while 47 enemy troops were left dead on the slope.

 

Revised Condé Nast contract irks writers

Freelance writers are grumbling over a revised Condé Nast master contract that includes a line declaring the publisher owns television and movie rights to all stories that appear in its magazines.

It could mean a financial loss into six figures for contributors.

Condé Nast’s two dozen titles include Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, GQ, Glamour, Self, Golf Digest and Brides. Advance Publications is Condé Nast’s parent.

No Saturday mail affects some publications 

The Postal Service’s planned termination of Saturday deliveries starting Aug. 3 will affect distribution of some publications.

The National Newspaper Association notes about 30 percent of its member papers rely on Saturday mail deliveries.

Time magazine subscribers receive the mailed weekly on Fridays or Saturdays.  Bloomberg Businessweek, which already is using alternate means to get its weekly issues to some subscribers, figures a quarter of its subscribers will see mail deliveries extended to Mondays.

The Postal Service figures ending Saturday deliveries would help save the agency about $2 billion a year.

 

In case you missed these…

The Weather Channel stirs up its own storm by labeling the weekend northeast blizzard Nemo.  Turning thumbs down on the name include the National Weather Service and independent meteorologists…Look for President Barack Obama in his State of the Union address tomorrow to work in the often mentioned-for-months line:  The economy is heading in the right direction…Not a good time for copy editors.  The sharp-eyed word/fact/grammar watchers are sacrificed more than any other newsroom personnel --- with a 50 percent reduction in the past five years…No major headlines, as a Navy budget is being considered in Washington, on how the Navy’s fleet is down to 287 ships, the smallest American armada since the early 1900s.  A 2010 independent panel called for a fleet of 346 ships…The Washington Post Co. signs an agreement to sell its Herald, in  Everett, Wash., daily it has owned since 1978.

As Leon Panetta tours Chinese sub, reporters see suds

Grumpy Editor notes some reporters were drinking on the job while covering Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in China and it was okay with the Pentagon chief, Chinese military and especially with the brewery --- that got a PR boost. 

Panetta toured two Chinese war vessels yesterday at the Qingdao naval base. 

But the media accompanying the defense secretary were not allowed to follow Panetta on board. 

Instead, and to curb grumbling, the Chinese sent reporters to the nearby Tsingtao Brewery for a tour and a sampling of the output. 

Some found the brewery more fascinating than following Panetta who was checking out the two-year-old Chinese frigate Yantai, 405 feet long and manned by 175 sailors, and the 228-foot-long, 10-year-old “Great Wall 197” submarine, a conventional-powered vessel, with a crew of 55. 

With the brewery tour, reporters learned that the Tsingtao Brewery was founded in 1903 by German settlers and the brand, the top beer in China, debuted in the U.S. in 1972, soon becoming a top seller in the states.

There was no word if the brewery-touring reporters made it back to the naval base on time on a tight schedule that lists New Zealand as the next stop for Panetta.

London paper: U.S. warned 3 days prior to Libya attack

Shoving aside new information on the Libya deadly riots, media --- TV and especially MSNBC --- dwelled on a four-month old “hidden video” suddenly surfacing yesterday showing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney with off-the-cuff remarks on President Barack Obama’s base, notes Grumpy Editor.

That overshadowed the new revelation, via London’s The Independent, that Libyan security officials warned U.S. diplomats three days before the Sept. 11 murders of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three members of his team in a Benghazi attack. 

Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., with appearances on four Sunday talk shows and beyond, has maintained the deaths of U.S. personnel were triggered by a 12-minute anti-Islam video rather than pre-planned. 

(No one questioned her on how most of the thousands of protesters, living way below the poverty line, could afford access to the Internet and computers to view the video.)  

The Independent pointed out the advance warning came as Libya’s interim president, Mohammed el-Megarif, said his government had information that the attack on the U.S. consulate was “planned by an Islamist group with links to al-Qa'ida and with foreigners taking part.”

Furthermore, the London daily reported diplomatic sources said threat of an attack against U.S. interests in the region was known to the Obama administration 48 hours before it took place. 

The alert, it added, was issued by the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, but not made public. 

In contrast, The Independent also reported a State Department spokesman maintained, "We are not aware of any actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent."

Feels like some writers work out of White House PR office

Today’s quiz:  Guess the source of these in-print statements, focusing on GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, asks Grumpy Editor. 

“Republicans are fretting over the state of their nominee's campaign.” 

“A new flurry of polls (show Romney) behind.” 

(Romney is) “untested on the international stage and with limited foreign policy experience.” 

With unrest in Egypt and Libya (anti-American violence swelled to two dozen countries since Friday), "Romney accused Obama of apologizing for America, his first statement mischaracterizing events in Cairo before all the facts were known…” 

“Romney's foreign policy bobble was the latest in a series of recent missteps.” 

“Republicans have expressed worry that Romney may be starting to let the campaign get away from him. Others are pushing him to explain more clearly what he would do as president.” 

“Observers have noticed a change in the candidate who struggles to connect with his audiences and is tagged by critics as less than charismatic and even out of touch.” 

Answer:  Associated Press. 

Four AP writers were behind the lengthy story that ran in some newspapers over the weekend.   Sharing bylines were Steve Peoples, who covers national politics, and Thomas Beaumont, political writer.  Contributing to the piece were Beth Fouhy, White House correspondent, and Ben Feller, presidential campaign reporter. 

After reading the story, that ran two-and-a- half single-spaced pages when printed out, Grumpy Editor wondered if the material was produced in the White House communications office. 

Veteran journalists, at least those from the “old school,” were taught to leave the editorializing for the editorial page, use attribution from real, named sources rather than tossing in words such as “observers” and “others,” and not to let bias slip into the copy.

(Do naughty things like that and a growling editor would promptly transfer an offending reporter to the overnight police beat.)

Meanwhile, with recent events putting a strong spotlight on U.S. foreign policy, Amy Holmes, a news anchor on Glenn Beck's GBTV, on CNN's Reliable Sources yesterday, said media should:

"Go to the sources...find out what is going on in the Middle East.  Americans are tuned in and reading newspapers. What is happening over there?  What happened to our State Department?  Where were our ambassadors?  Did we have advance warning?   

"Who, what, where, when and how in the Middle East --- instead of Mitt Romney."

 

 

U.S. buys Russian helicopters for Afghanistan’s air force

Despite cries for more U.S. jobs, one of the strangest deals has American taxpayers footing the bill for almost two dozen Russian-built helicopters for use by the Afghanistan air force, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Other than Bloomberg News three months ago and this week’s issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, little has been reported by U.S. media about the unusual transaction.

Newspaper editorial page writers should get somewhat excited over this, especially during the summer doldrums.  

Bloomberg Businessweek writers Danielle Ivory and Kathleen Miller point out, “Since May 2011, the Pentagon has paid Rosoboronexport $411 million for 21 Mi-17 helicopters.” 

Rosoboronexport is the state-run arms trader that Congress says is arming Syria. 

Kazan Helicopter manufactures the medium twin-turbine transport at two Russian plants. 

The Bloomberg Businessweek writers also reveal the “Pentagon didn’t solicit bids from any other company for the helicopters.” They add that Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) --- leading 17 U.S. senators seeking to cancel the deal --- says the no-bid order “seems just plain stupid.” 

Back on May 8, Bloomberg News writers Tony Capaccio and David Lerman reported, "The Pentagon says it’s in a bind, with nowhere to turn for helicopters needed by Afghanistan’s air force except Russia."

The Mi-17 choppers, they added, "include full Western avionics, navigation, communications and situation-awareness capability.” 

Cost of the 21 helicopters three months ago was pegged at $375 million.  That’s $36 million below the price tag noted this month. 

What’s noteworthy about this close to half a billion dollar Pentagon-spurred deal that benefits Russia is that talk in Washington includes deep cuts in the defense budget --- for the U.S.

 

Stars and Stripes move from Washington raises questions

Military budget cuts have now spread to Stars and Stripes, the 150-year-old U.S. military newspaper that is slated to be kicked out of Washington, D.C. headquarters, finds Grumpy Editor. 

Distributed worldwide, the newspaper started by 10 Union soldiers during the Civil War, has been ordered to move 30 miles from D.C. to the Fort Meade military base.

The cost-cutting effort was directed by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta who figures the move, affecting 80 newsroom and business staffers, will save $1 million a year in rent by leaving the National Press Building.

Moving operations to an Army base, staffers feel the location will cause loss of journalistic independence.

The distance from Maryland also will make it a bit difficult to cover Capitol Hill.

Over many years, the daily newspaper, now with an estimated 350,000 readers, has angered Pentagon and military leadership by printing beefs from military personnel. 

Douglas B. Wilson, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, said the decision to relocate the newspaper to Fort Meade “is not a matter of reducing independence for Stars and Stripes. It is a matter of reducing rent costs to the taxpayer.” 

But raising his eyebrows, Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote to Panetta.  He said questions of editorial independence for Stars and Stripes were “well-placed, and should lead to a review of possible alternatives to this decision.” 

Levin asked, “If this move is based on cost savings, were other alternatives considered, including other government spaces and other leased locations? 

“If Stars and Stripes is moved to Fort Meade, what will the department do to ensure that the actual and perceived independence of the important service provided by Stars and Stripes is preserved?”

 

Republican candidates’ 2 TV debates miss opportunities

Television viewers saw a total of three and a half hours of Republican candidates’ debates from New Hampshire over the weekend and only once was there a mention of rogue North Korea --- with zero discussion of the Communist nation pushing ahead with a nuclear weapons program under a new leader --- and no talk about global warming (rebranded climate change), the illegal immigrants situation in the U.S. and China’s military buildup while the U.S. chops its defense budget, observes Grumpy Editor. 

But everyone --- questioners and other candidates --- targeted Mitt Romney. 

An inordinate portion of Saturday night’s two-hour debate on ABC was consumed with commentator George Stephanopoulos asking Romney, “Do you believe states have the right to ban contraception, or is that trumped by a constitutional right to privacy?” 

That discussion spread to other candidates. 

Ten hours later, NBC expanded its normal one hour “Meet the Press” to 90 minutes to bounce questions off the same six GOP candidates.  David Gregory helmed that debate --- seen “live” in the east but on tape in the West. 

A tape delay for the West also came with the Dec. 10 debate on ABC. 

The problem with delayed viewing in the West is that alert debate followers already have heard sound bites on radio and TV news before viewing the replay.  In addition, Web sites already had covered details and sparring among quizzers and candidates. 

Fifteen minutes before the end of yesterday’s NBC debate, a quickie mention was made about North Korea --- but no questions or discussion followed. 

One plus for the NBC taped-for-the-West version vs. ABC’s delayed release on Dec. 10:  Unlike ABC’s misleading white-on-red LIVE “bug” above its logo in the bottom corner of the screen, NBC did not have that.

 

Memorial Day remembers fallen American troops

Today’s observance means more than backyard barbecues and store sales, reminds Grumpy Editor who is taking the day off.

Originally called Decoration Day, many people observe Memorial Day by visiting memorials and especially Veterans Administration national cemeteries where commemorative events honor American men and women who died in service during wartime periods.