Grumpy Editor

NEW RULE BANS SITTING ON ROME'S FAMOUS SPANISH STEPS

 

Actors Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck on Rome's Spanish Steps

The classic 1953 movie, Roman Holiday, which shows stars Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck sitting on Rome’s famous Spanish Steps, would have brought fines to Paramount Pictures if shot today because of a new regulation, notes Grumpy Editor.

Rome now bans tourists from sitting on the Spanish Steps.  Violators can face a fine up to $280, and up to $450 if caught “making a mess” there. 

Police began patrolling the 136 steps last week and blowing whistles at anyone sitting, eating or drinking on them.

 

The new restriction is accompanied by other rules that prohibit jumping into fountains, rolling suitcases, walking around without a shirt on or engaging in "messy eating" at monuments.

The steps were built in the 18th century and underwent restoration three years ago.

In the movie, Peck portrays a reporter who meets Hepburn as a royal princess out to see Rome on her own.

 

Hepburn's performance won an Academy Award for best actress.  Screenplay and costume design also won Oscars.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

COWS STLL BLAMED.  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says agriculture, forestry and other land uses produce nearly half of the world's methane emissions, a greenhouse gas that also comes from cows. But many ranchers argue the cow-climate change connection is overblown. One study says going vegan for a year reduces the carbon footprint by half as much as avoiding a single flight to Europe. That footprint, according to the UN report, contributes to 44% of methane emissions that come from agriculture, forestry and human land use. 

WHAT?  SAY AGAIN.  Here is how a major company chief executive explains a drop in revenue:  “We continue to strive to optimize our business by leveraging our best assets for future growth while managing the segments of our business in secular decline by executing on cost efficiency programs and selective capital investment...we continue to be challenged by ongoing revenue declines, content cost escalations, higher labor costs, and other pressures across the business."

 

MERCURY LEVELS RISE IN FISH.  Mercury levels in popular fish, including tuna, salmon and swordfish, are rising, and climate change and overfishing may be to blame, a new study suggests.

 

SOME GEN Z FOLKS SNUB COLLEGE.  A study by TD Ameritrade finds about one in five Gen Z and young millennials say they may choose not to go to college. Others see a less conventional path through education as a good idea. Over 30% of Gen Z and 18% of young millennials mention they considered taking a gap year between high school and college.

 

ROBBERS GRAB GOLD COINS.  Two Mexico City robbers, in broad daylight, throw a mint's security guard to the ground, take his gun, then grab 1,567 gold coins worth an estimated $2.5 million from an open vault.

 

NATIONAL DOG DAY LOOMS.  Along with an upswing in adopting canines from local shelters, look for dogs to get special treatment --- ranging from new toys to spa treatments ---  on Aug. 26, National Dog Day.

 

BANK ROBBER IDENTIFIES SELF.  A Cleveland bank robber makes things easier for police.  His note demanding money is written on the back side of a document containing his name and address.

 

JAPAN PROMOTES FLYING CAR.  A flying car, from electronics maker NEC Corp., is tested in Japan and hovers steadily for about a minute about 10 feet off the ground.  The Japanese government is promoting flying cars, with the goal of having people zipping around in them by the 2030s.

 

HEADLINE OF THE WEEK.  Brazilian president suggests less pooping to help save environment

 

 

Some moviegoers not so gaga over La La Land musical

While the big excitement in Hollywood is the movie La La Land picking up 14 Oscar nominations, tying the record long held by Titanic and All About Eve, is it a musical to remember, asks Grumpy Editor.

Starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling --- chronicling the love story of an aspiring actress and a jazz musician --- the film was directed by Damien Chazelle who also wrote the script. The movie is described by Associate Press film writer Jake Coyle as “the candy-colored love letter to musicals.”

Or is it?

Emily Yahr, writing in the Washington Post last week, notes a backlash has begun against the praised musical as more reactions are aired.

Grumpy Editor maintains that with the usual memorable Hollywood song and dance musical, the moviegoer departs the theater humming the sound track score. With La La Land, however, there is no such remembrance.

Compare La La Land with some of yesteryear’s top musicals that featured songs that are still remembered today. Among them:

Singin’ in the Rain

The Wizard of Oz

Guys and Dolls

Meet Me in St. Louis

The Sound of Music

West Side Story

My Fair Lady

With nearly 6,000 people voting for the Oscars --- awarded since 1929 for excellence in films --- apparently many of them have not viewed or recalled past great musicals.

Who are these folks? A Los Angeles Times survey finds Academy Awards voters are overwhelmingly white, mostly male with a majority over 60 years old.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

After a decade of getting to ask the first question at a White House press briefing, Associated Press has lost that role, at least in the first few days, as press secretary Sean Spicer has ignored the wire service to kick off the session…White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon called the media “the opposition party,” adding, “They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States,” and declaring the press should “keep its mouth shut and listen for a while”…NPR will avoid using the word "lie" to describe statements from President Trump and his staff, even when they contradict existing evidence, reports the Washington Examiner. "Our job as journalists is to report, to find facts, establish their authenticity and share them with everybody. And I think when you use words like 'lie,' it gets in the way of that,” explains NPR Senior Vice President for News Michael Oreskes.

Despite multi-storm-affected Los Angeles River’s wall to wall gushing water, growing as washes and creeks feed into it along a 51-mile path to where it empties (never to be seen again) in the Pacific Ocean at Long Beach, the Golden State refuses to say the drought is over. Perhaps some thought should be given to building additional reservoirs to capture the heavy runoffs, especially vital as the population and usage has built up over the years since the last reservoir was constructed…United Airlines cancels its subscriptions on a selection of newspapers offered to international passengers in first and business classes…Stars and Stripes notes the Army’s primary ground combat weapons such as tanks and cannons are old, growing outdated and, in some cases, being surpassed by those of foreign militaries, raising questions about their usefulness on future battlefields, according to a Congressional Research Service report…Boston-based General Electric signs a deal, said to be over $7 million a year, according to Advertising Age, with NBA's Boston Celtics to put the GE logo next season on the green-and-white jerseys of the basketball team. The Celtics also will use technology from GE's health, energy and data analytics businesses in daily operations.

 

Four-legged newspaper carrier.

In Boulder, Colo., Quincy, a golden retriever, finds bagged newspapers in front of homes on his street, picks them up and drops them at the doorstep of subscribers.

That’s something he has done for 11 years, reports the Daily Camera.

'The Interview’ controversy boosts Sony’s PR efforts

 

Champagne bottle corks must be popping today at Sony Pictures Entertainment’s publicity department after whopping print and broadcast coverage/mentions of its comedy film, “The Interview,” before and after it played to full houses at about 300 small independent theaters over the past few days while online video orders kept Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Sony busy, observes Grumpy Editor.

In addition, the film, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, saw thousands of illegal downloads.  The action followed a widely covered cyber attack, including mention by President Barack Obama at last week’s White House press conference, aimed at the Sony Corp. film unit. 

Not bad for a movie depicting events leading to the fictional assassination of North Korea leader Kim Jong-un that garnered a C rating from Washington Post reviewer Ann Hornaday. 

Hornaday’s review of The Interview took up half a newspaper page.

Beating that, with more than half-page of text and photos was The Wall Street Journal on Friday.  The story, written by three staffers, started on the Marketplace section’s opening page then jumped to an inside page.  The front page included a photo of Cinema Village, New York, which screened the film while the inside page art spotlighted actor Rogen greeting attendees at a Los Angeles screening. 

Variety reported more than 900,000 illegal downloads of The Interview in less than 24 hours. 

Editorial cartoonists also got into the act, focusing on the event.

 

FYI, IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE EDITORS MISSED THESE… 

Blue for blue PR.  JetBlue Airways provided free flights to New York for two police officers from each city along its routes for funerals of Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, New York City police officers killed in an ambush attack…Off track.  In Hawaii, White House reporters in President Barack Obama’s motorcade were sidelined for about 45 minutes when their press van’s wobbly tire nearly separated from the vehicle.  Vacationing Obama continued on, leaving the stranded journalists waiting for a replacement…The Los Angeles Times, in another shake-‘em-up lengthy feature aimed at already-shaky readers (from previous periodic earthquake stories) noted a major shaker could imperil Los Angeles’s water supply by destroying key sections of three major aqueducts, “cutting off the water supply for more than 22 million people in Southern California”…CNN’s Don Lemon made Columbia Journalism Review’s worst journalism of 2014 list.  He grabbed that negative honor in connection with missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 when he asked guests if the aircraft could have been swallowed by a black hole, among other fumbles…Last issue of the Long Beach Register, offspring of Freedom Communications’ Orange County Register, was published Sunday, 16 months after its debut to compete with the Long Beach Press-Telegram…The New York Times plans to open a 100-person office in London that will become the newspaper’s digital hub in Europe and international center.

 

Ad agencies and their clients don’t notice this?

Major trend with TV commercials is to use tiny, hard-to-read type, usually white against a bright yellow or orange background.  Among those making viewers squint or reach for their glasses (or binoculars):  ExxonMobil Corp. and Liberty Mutual Insurance.

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Pulpy ‘Gangster Squad’ provides fictional action in L.A.; gun control chatter skips illegal weapon use by bad guys

While Washington continues to focus on gun control this week, Gangster Squad, the Warner Bros. crime film over the weekend attracted flocks of (mostly young) moviegoers glued to their seats as the screen showed explosions, machine guns, smashed cars and general violence --- as a screenwriter viewed things in Los Angeles in the late 1940s, notes Grumpy Editor.

Despite the screen notice that the film was “inspired by a true story,” that’s not the way it was in the City of the Angels at that time.

The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce must be grumbling over the extraordinary amount of mayhem depicted in the story, fictionalized by Will Beal’s screenplay from the book by Paul Lieberman.

The cast includes Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone and Sean Penn in a script that focuses on six Los Angeles Police Department officers recruited to be as ruthless as mobster Mickey Cohen (played by Penn). 

A veteran newsman, who worked in the LAPD press room in City Hall, recalls no such continuous violent action at that time. 

Police reporters from the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Mirror, Herald-Express, Los Angeles Examiner and Los Angeles Daily News were busy feeding tips to city desks regarding traffic accidents, robberies, burglaries and such --- when they weren’t playing cards.  Certainly a machine gun-riddled LAPD patrol car and shootouts around the city, as seen in the film, would have made front pages. 

Those were the days when newspaper competition was keen, with up to six deadlines a day. 

Cohen, who mingled with Hollywood stars, died peacefully in his Los Angeles home on July 29, 1976. 

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        * 

Gun control reports continue with front page coverage this week boosted by Vice President Joe Biden’s recommendations to President Barack Obama tomorrow. 

Focus will be on background checks of gun buyers, restrictions on high-capacity clips and other measures. 

A popular phrase with news anchors last week on NBC, ABC and CBS television networks was “gun violence.” 

What none covered, however, was what to do about criminals possessing illegal weapons and not obeying laws. 

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        * 

In case you missed these… 

For dramatic effect?  CNN’s Wolf Blitzer broadcast an interview in segments last week with Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.  Blitzer asked questions in English.  Morsi sidestepped English, answering via a translator despite being a former student at the University of Southern California and later teaching, as an assistant professor, at Cal State Northridge from 1982 to 1985…Senate reporters coverup.  Few TV viewers or newspaper readers are aware that the U.S. Senate has been in a two-week recess, convening next Monday for inaugural ceremonies…Farewell to green?  The New York Times is closing its environmental desk. 

A missing element with coverage of the Journal News, Westchester, N.Y., that published an interactive map showing names and addresses of licensed pistol permit holders in its area: it’s one of 90 daily Gannett Co. newspapers…Time magazine goes to 48 issues this year, a reduction of three, as ad page count is off by almost 50 percent in five years…The Los Angeles Times, with another periodic piece to shake up readers, on Wednesday detailed a statewide California earthquake may be possible after all… Forbes magazine’s Jan. 21 issue runs an out-of-focus, blurry photo --- a trend with some publications these days --- that spans a full page and extends almost half way into an adjoining page to illustrate a “Bad Medicine” article dealing with patient satisfaction surveys…Fox News Channel for the 11^th consecutive year dominates cable news with the top 11 programs in total viewers, finds Nielsen Media Research.

Pulpy ‘Gangster Squad’ provides fictional action in L.A.; gun control chatter skips illegal weapon use by bad guys

While Washington continues to focus on gun control this week, Gangster Squad, the Warner Bros. crime film over the weekend attracted flocks of (mostly young) moviegoers glued to their seats as the screen showed explosions, machine guns, smashed cars and general violence --- as a screenwriter viewed things in Los Angeles in the late 1940s, notes Grumpy Editor.

Despite the screen notice that the film was “inspired by a true story,” that’s not the way it was in the City of the Angels at that time.

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce must be grumbling over the extraordinary amount of mayhem depicted in the story, fictionalized by Will Beal’s screenplay from the book by Paul Lieberman.

The cast includes Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone and Sean Penn in a script that focuses on six Los Angeles Police Department officers recruited to be as ruthless as mobster Mickey Cohen (played by Penn). 

A veteran newsman, who worked in the LAPD press room in City Hall, recalls no such continuous violent action at that time. 

Police reporters from the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Mirror, Herald-Express, Los Angeles Examiner and Los Angeles Daily News were busy feeding tips to city desks regarding traffic accidents, robberies, burglaries and such --- when they weren’t playing cards.

Certainly a machine gun-riddled LAPD patrol car and shootouts around the city, as seen in the film, would have made front pages. 

Those were the days when newspaper competition was keen, with up to six deadlines a day. 

Cohen, who mingled with Hollywood stars, died peacefully in his Los Angeles home on July 29, 1976. 

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        * 

Gun control reports continue with front page coverage this week boosted by Vice President Joe Biden’s recommendations to President Barack Obama tomorrow. 

Focus will be on background checks of gun buyers, restrictions on high-capacity clips and other measures. 

A popular phrase with news anchors last week on NBC, ABC and CBS television networks was “gun violence.” 

What none covered, however, was what to do about criminals possessing illegal weapons and not obeying laws. 

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        * 

In case you missed these… 

For dramatic effect?  CNN’s Wolf Blitzer broadcast an interview in segments last week with Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.  Blitzer asked questions in English.  Morsi sidestepped English, answering via a translator despite being a former student at the University of Southern California and later teaching, as an assistant professor, at Cal State Northridge from 1982 to 1985…Senate reporters coverup.  Few TV viewers or newspaper readers are aware that the U.S. Senate has been in a two-week recess, convening next Monday for inaugural ceremonies…Farewell to green?  The New York Times is closing its environmental desk. 

A missing element with coverage of the Journal News, Westchester, N.Y., that published an interactive map showing names and addresses of licensed pistol permit holders in its area: it’s one of 90 daily Gannett Co. newspapers…Time magazine goes to 48 issues this year, a reduction of three, as ad page count is off by almost 50 percent in five years…The Los Angeles Times, with another periodic piece to shake up readers, on Wednesday detailed a statewide California earthquake may be possible after all… Forbes magazine’s Jan. 21 issue runs an out-of-focus, blurry hospital photo --- a trend with some publications these days --- that spans a full page and extends almost half way into an adjoining page to illustrate a “Bad Medicine” article dealing with patient satisfaction surveys…Fox News Channel for the 11^th consecutive year dominates cable news with the top 11 programs in total viewers, finds Nielsen Media Research.

Gina Lollobrigida still grabs space...in Wall Street Journal

Actress Gina Lollobrigida probably was the most surprised person in Italy yesterday when The Wall Street Journal selected a vintage Associated Press shot of her reading Variety to illustrate a story on the sale of the Hollywood trade paper, observes Grumpy Editor. 

The two-column photo of Lollobrigida, now 85, was snapped 42 years ago. 

So some editor, going through the art files, remains impressed by the Italian actress who was labeled “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World” after the sex symbol appeared in a U.S. movie with that title in 1955. 

Penske Media Corp. finalized a deal with Reed Business Information, part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, to acquire 107-year-old Variety, a daily must-read for people in the entertainment business, for about $25 million.  The deal also includes weekly Variety. 

PMC, founded in 2004, is a key player in digital entertainment media. 

It owns Deadline.com, TVLine.com, HollywoodLife.com and Movieline.com. 

“We plan to rapidly build upon Variety’s foundation while extending this invaluable brand’s presence across the Web, broadcast, mobile and international markets," says PMC chief executive Jay Penske.

Media focus on fluttering bills from bank robbers’ SUV

In connection with the typical headline --- Bank robbers toss cash during chase through L.A. --- excited print and broadcast media yesterday had it, well, half right, finds Grumpy Editor.

First, the chase started after three armed men held up a Bank of America branch in Santa Clarita, in what is called Canyon Country at the far north end of Los Angeles County.

That was 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles, a distance on par with Norwalk, Conn. to New York City.

The chase, with sheriff’s cars in pursuit, winded through Sylmar, San Gabriel Valley, Pasadena and then onward to Los Angeles city streets.

With a police helicopter (along with TV news choppers) overhead and deputy vehicles pursuing on ground, two men fled on foot from the getaway SUV in Sylmar.

One was captured, the other remained at large.

(Media neglected to ask how one suspect managed to escape from a flock of air and ground-pursuing officers.)

In central Los Angeles, perhaps inspired by an old movie, money was tossed from the getaway vehicle.

That didn’t slow pursuing sheriff’s deputies.

However, inspired by live TV coverage, people along the route in Los Angeles sprang into action to collect fluttering bills from streets.

The getaway vehicle finally came to a halt after a 90-minute chase.  Police removed two suspects at gunpoint in south Los Angeles.

Police asked people to turn in the "hot" roadside money.

LAPD spokesman Sgt. Rudy Lopez, according to a Los Angeles Times report, said there was plenty of video footage of the chase that will help authorities to identify those people who grabbed the tossed money.

"If they're identified,” he warned, “they will be prosecuted for receiving stolen property," adding that conviction on such a charge, a felony, is punishable by more than a year in prison.

Now, “raining bills” and the aftereffects would be a solid basis for another movie.

Burma or Myanmar? Media still split on identification

Is it Burma or Myanmar? 

Media confusion continued this week in identifying the often-in-the-news southeast Asia nation, this time in connection with its government ending direct media censorship, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Labeling it as Myanmar were the Wall Street Journal and Fox News, among others. 

Going with Burma included the Washington Post and Associated Press. 

AP seems as confused in identifying the country as some other news outlets. 

That’s because AP adopted Myanmar into its 2006 Stylebook after weighing such factors as widespread international use and its recognition by the United Nations. 

The New York Times began referring to Myanmar in 1989, the year the country’s name officially was changed. 

Some media solve the country’s identification in news stories with phrases “Burma, also known as Myanmar” or “Myanmar, also known as Burma.” 

The country was a province of British India from 1886 to 1937, then a separate crown colony from 1937 to 1948.  After a military coup, the ruling regime renamed the country Myanmar in 1989.  Opposition groups in the country continued to refer to Burma.

U.S. old timers, war veterans and historians remember the China-Burma-India theater of operations during World War II.  The famous Burma Road was constructed to supply Chinese forces in the fight against Japan during World War II. 

The periodically-seen (on TV) 1945 movie, “Objective, Burma!” starring Errol Flynn, was a highly rated WWII thriller depicting a company of U.S. paratroopers assigned to wipe out an enemy post.

That film wouldn’t sound right as “Objective, Myanmar!”

Editors spotlight Disney CEO Iger’s departure --- in 2016

It was interesting to note Friday’s heavy press play that emphasized Robert Iger will step down as chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Co. --- even though the event doesn’t happen until four years from now, observes Grumpy Editor. 

That action in The Wall Street Journal, for example, took up almost half a page under the headline, “Disney’s Iger Plans Exit.” 

Actually, the first paragraph of the Oct. 6 news release from the Burbank-based media conglomerate --- that includes ABC, ESPN and amusement parks in its family --- read, “The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) Board of Directors announced today it has agreed to extend Robert A. Iger's contract through June 2016 as part of the company's ongoing succession planning.” 

The Los Angeles Times version was more in line as to the development with the headline, “Disney CEO Bob Iger signs new five-year contract.” 

Under the agreement, effective 10 days ago, Iger will assume the role of chairman in addition to chief executive officer following Chairman John E. Pepper's retirement at Disney's annual shareholder meeting next March. Until then, Iger will remain president and chief executive officer.

Iger will hold the positions of chairman and chief executive officer through March 31, 2015, at which time a new chief executive will be named.

Then Iger will continue as executive chairman until June, 2016, when he is expected to retire from the company at age 65. 

The use of terms such as “will step down” and “exit” connote a right-away happening --- misleading to some readers and investors. 

Nevertheless, some editors got excited and gave it much print space.

Anti-smoke item pitch follows smoky ‘Rango’ ABC report

A top-of-the-hour ABC News radio report that much smoking, frowned on for young children, appears in Rango --- a PG-rated animated feature film that topped the weekend box office with $38.1 million gross --- was immediately followed yesterday morning by a commercial for an anti-smoking product, notes Grumpy Editor.

Coincidence?

Only ABC's ad sales and newsroom know for sure.

Meanwhile, the smoke hasn’t settled in comments from the anti-smoking folks.

Rango, a chameleon, is the star surrounded by multiple characters that puff away on cigars and cigarettes in the Paramount movie aimed at young audiences.

Anti-smoking advocates fear children and youth will be inspired to start the habit after viewing the smoky animated footage.

One anti-smoking supporter claims the frequency of smoking in the film is on par with Cruella’s puffing --- via a long cigarette holder --- in a vintage animated film, Disney’s 101 Dalmatians.

Rango, star of the latest hit, captures attention by swallowing a cigar and breathing fire in a villain’s face.

"While the incidence of smoking in the movies has declined in recent years, the presence of smoking in a youth-oriented cartoon like Rango underscores the need for Hollywood to take stronger, mandatory action to protect our children,” declares Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

“It's time for the Motion Picture Association of America to require an R-rating for movies that depict smoking," he adds.