Newspaper readers, seeking latest information on the spreading coronavirus, especially in their area, are finding problems with coverage, notes Grumpy Editor.
Newspapers and other publications under pressure with dwindling advertising, are cutting staff, hours and pay. Some are dropping print editions or shutting down entirely.
Those that are still operating find “the coronavirus pandemic has been likened to a war,” says the Washington Post. "But journalists are largely absent from the harrowing, heartbreaking front line of this crisis: hospitals. In a disaster with an invisible enemy — no burning buildings or swamped towns to photograph — it is emergency rooms and intensive-care units where the day-to-day human toll of the deadly illness is most plainly visible.
"But a combination of health worries and privacy concerns has made it extremely difficult for the members of the media to go into these places and capture a vivid, firsthand portrait of this facet of the crisis.”
Researchers have long worried that the next recession — which economists say is already upon us — “could be an extinction-level event for newspapers,” says Penelope Abernathy, a University of North Carolina professor who studies the news industry.
In the past week, Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper chain, announced 15-day furloughs and pay cuts for many employees. Lee Enterprises, another major chain, announced salary cuts and furloughs. The Tampa Bay Times, cut five days of its print edition and announced furloughs for non-newsroom staffers.
IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…
And away we go.
DOG IN DRIVER'S SEAT. A Washington state motorist led police on a chase with speeds up to 100 m.p.h. and when stopped, the 51-year-old motorist claims he was teaching his dog how to drive. Cops found the canine in the driver’s seat. On a route from Marysville to Arlington, the car crashed into several cars.
CORONA BEER OUTPUT HALTED. Corona beer production is being temporarily suspended in Mexico because of the coronavirus pandemic. Grupo Modelo, the company that makes the beer, says it's halting production and marketing because the Mexican government has shuttered non-essential businesses.
DNC CONVENTION MOVES TO AUGUST. The coronavirus pandemic is pushing back the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee to the week of Aug. 17. It still is expected to run four days.
N.Y. GOV. CUOMO SAYS NO PRESIDENTIAL RUN. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, with an approval rating near 90 percent, during an interview with his brother, CNN’s Chris Cuomo, says he has no thoughts of running for president.
THEATER CHAIN SHUTTERS. AMC Entertainment Holdings closes more than 1,000 theaters around the world in response to the spread of the coronavirus.
One way to shake up print readers or TV listeners is to spotlight things that are bad for their health, finds Grumpy Editor.
During the past week it was tea and eggs.
The World Health Organization advises to wait for tea to cool a bit to decrease risk of getting cancer of the esophagus.
Researchers (maybe while drinking hot coffee or hot chocolate) suggest waiting for tea to cool, mentioning the danger zone comes when the beverage temperature passes the 140 degrees Fahrenheit mark.
Grumpy Editor asks: Why just tea? How about hot coffee? Or hot soup?
Meanwhile, eggs are getting fried again in another periodic warning. This time in a study published in JAMA, a medical journal.
It puts an omelette in peril.
Each large egg contains about 180 milligrams of cholesterol.
Those who dine on two eggs each morning are the most in danger, based on the study.
Thus, eating 300 milligrams of cholesterol (via about two egg yolks), according to the study, puts the eater at a 17 percent higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
WebMD reminds that the average egg contains 200 milligrams --- more cholesterol than in most fast-food double cheeseburgers.
Well, there go eggnogs in holiday festivities.
IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...
KEEP OPINIONS OUT OF NEWS STORIES.Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume says his former ABC News colleague Ted Koppel’s comments that the “establishment press” is out to get President Trump are true and that the blurring of lines separating commentary and coverage is a problem for outlets like the Washington Post and the New York Times. “We come out of the same tradition, which is neutrality in news coverage, opinion is reserved for columnists and editorial writers,” he emphasizes.
NORTH KOREA WITHDRAWS LIAISON STAFF. North Korea, under instructions from "higher-level authorities" withdraws its liaison staff for South Korea from an office in Kaesong, a North Korean border town.
GLOBAL GROWTH SLOWS, WORRYING INVESTORS. Investor anxiety about the global economy is blamed for sending the Dow down a steep 460 points to 25,502 on Friday.
L.A. TIMES TAKES TO TV.Los Angeles Times readers get an option for television news with “L.A. Times Today," produced by the Times for Charter Communications. The hour-long program airs Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m.
MOST FEEL PAYING TOO MUCH TAXES. A Rasmussen Reports survey finds 57 percent of Americans believe they are paying more than their fair share of taxes.
RATTLESNAKE STEALS TV SCENE. A TV reporter for NBC affiliate KMIR, Palm Springs, Calif., reports at an outdoors location while a scene-stealer ---a rattlesnake --- slithers behind her. Alerted, the reporter moved.
IS YOUR STATE HERE? WalletHub compares the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 24 key metrics. The results:
Extensive U.S. broadcast and print coverage focusing on embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who admitted smoking crack cocaine, public drinking and foul language, goes into the third week today, notes Grumpy Editor.
Media became excited when his rambling rage was captured in a video.
CNN and Fox News dropped everything earlier this month to cover “live” one of his press conferences from the Canadian city.
Yet, his woes started six months ago when a video caught him smoking crack.
Ford’s actions until this month were overlooked by U.S. media which suddenly went overboard detailing the escapades of a foreign country’s mayor like he was head of a major American city.
"In terms of America's coverage of Canada, (the) story has gotten more coverage than anything I think since the War of 1812," summed up Howard Kurtz, host of Media Buzz on Fox News yesterday.
As Wall Street Journal writer Ben Dummett pointed out Saturday, “The mayor of Toronto is in many ways a figurehead, with much less power than in comparable U.S. cities.”
Ford’s mayoral grip was clipped somewhat on Friday when Toronto’s City Council voted to strip some of his powers.
Despite the negative coverage and cries for him to resign, Ford, according to the Associated Press, said he intends to seek re-election next year.
In case you missed these…
PROBLEMS PERSIST WITH THE OBAMACARE WEBSITE. Opening page of HealthCare.gov shows the advisory: "The Health Insurance Marketplace online application isn't available from approximately 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. EST daily while we make improvements. Additional downtime may be possible as we work to make things better."
Not widely mentioned by media is that the price tag in developing the website cost more than $400 million. And costs in fixing it will add to that figure.
POLL: SOME VIEW PRESIDENT OBAMA AS CONSERVATIVE. Three percent of likely U.S. voters consider President Barack Obama conservative, is a finding from a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
The tally also notes 68 percent consider the president at least somewhat liberal, including 43 percent who believe he is very liberal, while 24 percent rate the president politically moderate.
Bloomberg Businessweek issue, now on newsstands, is the largest--- at 212 pages --- since 1999…CNN named Brian Stelter host of Sunday’s “Reliable Sources” and the cable network’s senior media correspondent. He was the New York Times media industry reporter...Griffin Communications, owned by David and Kirsten Griffin of Oklahoma City and John Griffin of Muskogee, citing “business is very good,” gave each employee of its media outlets$500. The privately-held media firm includes TV stations KWTV, Oklahoma City, and KOTV and KQCW, Tulsa…Forbes Media, which includes Forbes magazine and Web properties, is considering selling the operation.
Writer’s Digest is pitching a one-year subscription for “only” $11.96.
But wait.
Potential subscribers have to add $3 for shipping and handling.
So why not make the offer simply $14.96 without the fine print?
With steady declines in its newspaper circulation and
advertising revenues in recent years, the Washington
Post Co. is diversifying into an area far afield from the publishing
category --- home health-care and hospice services, notes Grumpy Editor.
The Post Co. agrees
to acquire a majority stake in Celtic Healthcare, Inc., founded in 1996, a relatively
small player in the health-care business.
Celtic operates in nine locations in Pennsylvania and
Maryland.
With the move, the Post Co. adds to its non-publishing
operations that include Kaplan education services, Phoenix-based Cable ONE, and
television stations in Detroit, San Antonio, Houston, Miami, Orlando and
Jacksonville.
The company also is “investing in a number of digital initiatives that
are evolving our ability to better serve advertisers and reach consumers."
These
include Trove, a personalized news aggregation service, and SocialCode, a
full-service Facebook advertising agency.
The
$6,400 myth: President Barack Obama voices it at every campaign stop, AARP
works it into TV commercials aimed at seniors, Health and Human Services
Secretary Kathleen Sibelius echoes it Tuesday at the Democratic National
Convention and what’s worse, media --- with fact-checkers looking the other way
--- continue to print/air that figure, notes Grumpy Editor.
As Sibelius tells cheering crowds at the DNC in Charlotte, “Instead of the Medicare guarantee,
Republicans would give seniors a voucher that limits what is covered, costing
seniors as much as $6,400 more a year.”
The misleading reference is to the
Republican presidential ticket’s Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan health care reform plan
that Democrats say will “end Medicare as we know it.”
As The Wall Street Journal
explains it: “The claim is based
on a now out-of-date Congressional Budget Office estimate of the gap between
the cost of health care a decade from now, in 2022, and the size of the House
budget’s premium-support subsidy for a typical 65-year-old in 2022.”
In other words, the WSJ adds, “the
$6,400 has no relevance for any senior today. None.”
Vouchers are not included in the
Romney-Ryan plan.
Yet, media, trumpeting increased fact-checking
as Election Day nears, continue to run with claims of $6,400 in annual higher
health costs and vouchers with coverage limits.
Newspaper copy editors plus others such as talk show hosts, bloggers and authors --- or anyone sitting for more than three hours a day --- are among those likely to see life expectancy trimmed by two years, notes Grumpy Editor.
That’s the latest finding based on large-scale studies that followed about 167,000 people in several countries.
“Sedentary behavior is something we need to take note of beyond telling people to get 30 minutes of activity a day,” said Dr. Peter Katzmarzyk of Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center and lead researcher for the study released this week.
Sedentary behavior is “in the same ballpark as smoking and obesity,” said Katzmarzyk.
He pointed out standing shouldn’t be an alternative to exercising, but an alternative to sitting.
“Several studies show that when you’re sitting, your leg muscles are completely inactive,” he added. “This is when you run into trouble managing blood glucose.”
Longevity looks especially bad for sitters who, based on earlier studies, also smoke, eat the wrong food, put on weight and drink too much.
That describes many media folks that Grumpy Editor has known over the years.
Will New York media ask mayor Michael Bloomberg --- who frowns on sugary sodas larger than 16 ounces served in restaurants, theaters, delis and vending carts --- what he thinks of today’s Burger King unveiling of a 510-calorie bacon sundae, wonders Grumpy Editor.
The dessert is composed of vanilla soft serve with a mix of fudge, caramel, bacon crumbles, topped with a vertical slice of bacon.
Along with its high calorie count, the dessert also contains 18 grams of fat and 61 grams of (attention: Mayor Bloomberg) sugar.
Burger King today also is debuting several pork, beef and chicken sandwiches.
Meanwhile, investors who remember Burger King on the New York Stock Exchange until it was taken private in October, 2010 by global investment firm 3G Capital, with offices in New York City and Rio de Janeiro, will have an opportunity again to buy into the world’s second largest hamburger chain later this month.
That’s when 3G Capital expects to take Burger King public on the NYSE --- where traders, in celebrating the event, might be downing bacon sundaes against the mayor’s wishes.
Grumpy Editor today lists 15 U.S. cities that are the most bedbug infested because newspapers in the affected communities most likely tossed the story because editors aren’t “buggy” about running negative tallies involving their marketing areas.
The annual compilation by Terminix, the pest control company that deals with the tiny, crawly critters, puts Philadelphia at the top of the list.
Philly takes the title held for two years by New York City, which slips to third place.
Ranking second this year is Cincinnati.
Here’s how the rest of the major cities stack up, based on data from 300 Terminix branches.
4 --- Chicago
5 --- Detroit
6 --- Washington, D.C.
7 --- Columbus, Ohio
8 --- San Francisco
9 --- Denver
10 -- New Haven
11 -- Dallas
12 -- Houston
13 -- Indianapolis
14 -- Miami
15 -- Cleveland
Terminix, a division of ServiceMaster Co., says the 2012 rankings prove bedbugs continue to be a problem across the country, with New Haven, Houston, Indianapolis, Miami and Cleveland joining the top 15 this year.
The pest control firm points out Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Columbus, San Francisco and Dallas are seeing growing bedbug populations this year, while noting three major cities in Ohio are on the list.
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed ban on large-size sodas gave newspaper editorial cartoonists and talk show hosts a field day on Friday and over the weekend, observes Grumpy Editor.
Bloomberg’s idea ran into a hornets nest.
Look for it to get another round of heavy print/broadcast coverage when his proposal is introduced at a June 12 New York City Board of Health meeting.
Apparently the mayor --- an independent for five years, after switching from Republican for six years after being a Democrat --- feels Gotham has no problems with crime, potholes, traffic, Wall Street or New Yorkers departing the tax-heavy area.
So citing the measure as a health issue, Bloomberg is turning his focus to curbing large containers of bubbly beverages like Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, Canada Dry and Mountain Dew.
His “Big Gulp” proposal bans sugary sodas larger than 16 ounces in most restaurants, theaters, delis and vending carts. It could take effect as early as March.
But milk shakes are okay with Bloomberg.
Editorial cartoonists, seeing it as something fresh to tackle, immediately jumped on the mayor.
Among the first editorial cartoonists to spotlight the Big Gulp situation: Jimmy Margulies who draws for the Record in Hackensack, N.J.
His syndicated cartoon shows a King Kong-like character atop a skyscraper much like the Empire State building.
The giant ape is holding a super-size beverage container with a long straw as a fleet of aircraft approach. From one plane is the message, “You can stay. It’s the soda we’re after…”
With broadcast media, Sean Hannity, for example, on his Friday night program on Fox News channel sipped from and waved his large beverage container at TV cameras while discussing events of the day.
Chatter on Bloomberg’s soda ban spilled over to Sunday talk shows.
Meanwhile, Coca-Cola smacked the mayor’s proposal in a statement, “New Yorkers expect and deserve better than this.”
While the U.S. government over the years has run TV/radio public service announcements (PSAs) --- at no cost to taxpayers --- to inform or educate the public about an issue, now, in promoting ObamaCare, the public relations price tag to taxpayers will be $20 million, notes Grumpy Editor.
Surprisingly, few newspapers this week mentioned the costly promotion.
The Health and Human Services Department handed the task to global public relations firm Porter Novelli.
Based in New York, the PR agency, part of the Omnicom Group international marketing communications firm, maintains 90 offices (13 in the U.S.) in 60 countries.
What’s interesting about the assignment is that Porter Novelli co-founder (in 1972 with Jack Porter) is William Novelli, who retired in April, 2009 after eight years as AARP chief executive officer.
His departure came at a time when AARP, representing 40 million people 50 and older, was running into unexpected PR problems with some members stemming from its stance backing what was to be labeled ObamaCare.
“Health care reform is AARP’s top priority,” declared incoming AARP CEO A. Barry Rand in the July, 2009, AARP Bulletin. “We simply can’t fix the economy without restructuring the delivery of health care, expanding access and cutting costs."
The lucrative ObamaCare account was being kept secret on the Porter Novelli website. As of yesterday, no mention was made.
However, the opening page noted in bold letters that Porter Novelli is “Named Top PR Agency in Spain.”
The site described what Porter Novelli is all about:
“Combining the power of immersion with the rigor of data, we create a deeper human insight that transforms the opinions, beliefs and behaviors of those who matter most to our clients.”
