Grumpy Editor

June brings heavy travel schedule for Obama family

While President Obama and the first family’s western vacation trip over the weekend was heavily covered by print and broadcast reporters, U.S. media have been quiet on Michelle Obama’s overseas trip next week with daughters Malia and Sasha, and her mother, Marian Robinson, observed Grumpy Editor.

In marking the 100^th anniversary of the U.S. national park system, the Obamas spent the weekend at California’s Yosemite National Park where, in a speech against a mountain backdrop, the president pinned a heat wave on climate change.

It followed a Friday visit to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico.

In travel to the other direction, the First Lady and family companions head for Liberia, Morocco and Spain, June 27 to July 1 to promote her year-old global girls' education initiative.

The aircraft Mrs. Obama usually travels on costs $11,684 an hour to operate, and figuring about 25 hours on the upcoming trip, the bill should amount to just under $300,000 for flying, calculated the U.K.’s Daily Mail.

The London-based newspaper also pointed out the First Lady “racked up $424,142 on travel and expenses for the plane crew on her 2011 trip to Botswana and South Africa.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Washington thinking:  House Speaker Paul Ryan said he feels a responsibility not to lead "some chasm in the middle of our party" that would hurt GOP chances to win the White House...In the “huh?” department: NBC's "Late Night" host Seth Meyers announced the ban of Donald Trump after Trump revoked Washington Post press credentials over a headline he didn't like. Said Meyers: "As long as the Washington Post is banned from Donald Trump's campaign, Donald Trump will be banned from ever coming on this show."  Trump earlier called the Post "phony and dishonest' in its coverage of his reaction to the Orlando shooting...Think of Iowa and envision corn fields? The Hawkeye state now has 19 state-licensed casinos with the opening last week of Rhythm City Casino resort in Davenport. It attracted more than 1,000 invited guests, many dressed in tuxedos and sequined cocktail dresses…Dozens of protesters said “journalism matters” at a rally outside The Denver Post building on Friday to take a stand against job cuts at the newspaper…Another consumer credit warning shot? Synchrony Financial, largest issuer of retail-store credit cards, raised its outlook for credit losses over the next year. It triggered a selloff in shares of Synchrony and sector rivals Capital One, Discover Financial and Ally Financial…The Washington Post reported the parent company of news and gossip site Gawker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday and subsequently put itself on the market for a buyer…Tesla opened a 400-square-foot gallery in the men’s department at Nordstrom’s, at The Grove mall in Los Angeles. It spotlights the electric car maker’s Model X SUV…A report that Gannett Co. planned to add to its stable of New Jersey papers by snapping up The Record and some weekly papers, owned by the North Jersey Media Group, sent a jolt through the Record newsroom. 

American boardrooms remained more than 80 percent male last year.

That finding came from research by Catalyst, a nonprofit organization with a mission to accelerate progress for women through workplace inclusion.

Obama readies for 14th visit to ‘banned’ Las Vegas

 

President Barack Obama, now at Martha’s Vineyard for his 40^th vacation since taking office, on Aug. 24 will make his 14^th visit to Las Vegas during his presidency, a destination he twice knocked, resulting in scaring off tourist and convention activity, notes Grumpy Editor.

In his upcoming trip, he will be the keynote speaker at the National Clean Energy Summit --- and attend a fundraiser.

Obama’s poking at Sin City started in February, 2009 when he declared, “You can’t take a trip to Las Vegas or down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers dime.”  Soon after that statement, Wells Fargo Bank and Goldman Sachs, among others, shifted major meetings from Las Vegas to other cities.  Tourists also shunned the famous Las Vegas Strip. 

A year later, he warned, “You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.”  Las Vegas’ economy then soured, with thousands of casino workers losing jobs, placing the area’s unemployment among the highest in the nation, while the city soon rose to first place in U.S. home foreclosures --- which remain a major problem.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

A major story --- involving cocaine and an unusual seagoing vessel --- received limited print coverage late last week:  The U.S. Coast Guard in the eastern Pacific seized a 40-foot semi-submersible vessel carrying more than 16,000 pounds of cocaine worth $181 million after the craft was spotted by a U.S. Navy patrol aircraft.   Four smugglers were arrested and the vessel, which took on water, sank…On the other hand, some newspaper editors were excited (devoting almost a half page, in some cases) over a Reuters story on identification of the remains of two Japanese hikers who disappeared on the Matterhorn mountain in the Swiss Alps during a snowstorm --- 45 years ago…How’d she get in?  Following Thursday night’s GOP presidential debate in Cleveland on Fox News, a surprise guest on the scene for The Kelly File, hosted by Megyn Kelly --- one of the three Fox News quizzers at the debate --- was Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democratic National Committee chairwoman and representative from Florida's 23rd congressional district.  Kelly sought Schultz’s opinion of the debate.  Want to guess what Schultz had to say about the GOP session?…On-the-hour radio news on Friday proclaimed “rosy” job growth, citing nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 215,000 last month, but failed to mention 93.8 million Americans were not in the labor force.  Along with that, some economists said such job growth should further bolster the Federal Reserve's confidence in the economy, leading to a possible interest rate increase next month...Most editors missed a short Associated Press story on where Washington sends taxpayers' money:  NASA will have to pay $490 million to send U.S. astronauts on Russian rockets to the International Space Station through 2017…Where some jobs are:  A councilman in Huntington Park, near Los Angeles, said he planned to appoint two illegal immigrants to city commissions…A heart-warming story missed by many, mostly print, editors: A service dog in Philadelphia saved her blind owner’s life by alerting authorities to a house fire.  When the dog’s owner shouted “danger,” it was the code word for action.  So the golden Labrador dialed 911 on a specialized phone. Firefighters responded and controlled the blaze.  The dog also was a hero last year when she dialed 911 after her owner fell at home and lost consciousness…Publicly-traded U.S. companies now will be required to disclose to investors how much CEOs earn compared to average workers at their firms, said the Securities and Exchange Commission…More white vs. black news:  A study by University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism found 73 percent of characters in top-100 grossing movies of 2014 were white.

 

Aiming to be a newsmaker:

KMOV-TV, St. Louis, reporter/anchor Robin Smith, retired after 40 years in broadcasting, and plans to run for Missouri secretary of state in 2016.

Obama cites climate change as biggest threat facing U.S.

 

Forget Islamist extremism, nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran, and U.S. challenges needing prompt attention such as swelling national debt, growing federal welfare programs, reversing scaled-down U.S. military forces along with efforts to boost the American economy and jobs…the biggest threat facing the U.S. is --- climate change, according to President Barack Obama, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The president continued to beat drums for climate change (formerly global warming), which many top media continue to report without raising eyebrows. 

"No challenge, no challenge, poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change," the president declared in his State of the Union Address to Congress. 

This contrasted with top priorities cited by Americans that appeared in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, prior to the president’s address that evening. 

A WSJ/NBC News poll put creating jobs at the top of the list, followed by defeating/dismantling Islamic State, reducing the federal deficit, securing the border with Mexico, and addressing Iran’s nuclear program, among others.  Climate change/global warming doesn’t appear on the list. 

Obama delivered a similar message four months earlier at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York City:  “For all the immediate challenges that we gather to address this week --- terrorism, instability, inequality, disease --- there’s one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other, and that is the urgent and growing threat of a changing climate.” 

In last week’s address, he pointed out that “if we do not act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger around the globe."

Meanwhile, continuing in the “climate change” category, a Washington Post story last week went into detail on “an Arctic ice cap appears to be sliding into the sea.”

(Keep in mind that for years, going back to black-and-white newsreel days, there were periodic attention getters that showed glaciers sliding, with great splashes, into the sea.)

The Post story mentioned ice is disappearing in Austfonna, north of the Arctic Circle in Norway territory, which is the longest glacier front in the Northern Hemisphere. Since 2012, the story pointed out, the ice cap covering an island has fallen by 160 feet, based on satellite (not human) measurements.

The material said rapid melting of glaciers and ice sheets “could swamp coastal cities around the world.”

But a line at the end of the feature cautioned:  “Still, researchers can’t definitively say the shrinking of the Austfonna ice cap is due to global warming.”

 

FYI, IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE EDITORS MISSED THESE… 

The Santa Barbara News-Press continues to use “illegals” when describing people living illegally in the United States, prompting protests and counter-protests in the community.  Explains the daily:  “It has been the practice for nearly 10 years at the Santa Barbara News-Press to describe people living in this country illegally as 'illegals' regardless of their country of origin. This practice is under fire by some immigration groups who believe that this term is demeaning and does not accurately reflect the status of ‘undocumented immigrants,’ one of several terms other media use to describe people in the United States illegally --- it is an appropriate term in describing someone as ‘illegal’ if they are in this country illegally"…Stars and Stripes reports the much acclaimed film, American Sniper, is “also a big hit at Army and Air Force Exchange Service theaters, with the average attendance for the Iraq war film almost three times higher than attendance for other films being shown”…Carson (Calif.) city council members are grumpy over coverage the Daily Breeze in Torrance is giving their city.  So they are mulling whether Carson, 12 miles south of downtown Los Angeles and four miles east of Torrance, should cancel subscriptions to the Breeze --- along with urging residents and businesses to boycott the newspaper --- claiming it published several “accounts of homicides, other crimes and negative stories” that were reported as “misleadingly located near Carson.”  The Breeze’s executive editor explained his newspaper “has consistently referred to the unnamed unincorporated area of Los Angeles County near Carson as just that”…After five years without one, J.C. Penney Co. is bringing back its catalog with a 120-page version to select customers in March…In a $300 million deal, up from $275 million for TV rights, CBS Corp. and the National Football League  renew their partnership for another season…Speaking of football, a 30-seconds TV spot on NBC’s Super Bowl coverage next Sunday costs about $4.5 million…U.K.-based The Economist names Zanny Minton Beddoes as its first female editor…Blaming “economic circumstances,” Sports Illustrated lays off all six staff photographers.  However, they will be allowed to freelance for SI, a weekly magazine owned by Time Inc. which was spun off from Time Warner Inc. last year.

Giving a Crookston (Minn.) High School senior a taste of a newsroom:

The Crookston Daily Times will see Allison Reinhart as a writer-photographer during the spring semester.  A position on the staff is part of an independent study curriculum in which she will earn academic credit while spending two hours in the newsroom each morning.  She will be attending the University of North Dakota in the fall.

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Obama –-- plus Hillary –-- visits arouse Martha’s Vineyard

President Barack Obama, three days into an eyebrow-raising summer vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, already is gearing up for another fundraiser, this one tonight on the island, an affluent summer colony off Cape Cod, notes Grumpy Editor.

With the president in a rented three-story, seven bedroom, 8,100-square-foot home on the island over the next two weeks are wife Michelle, daughter Malia and dogs Bo and Sunny.  The vacation comes at a time of mounting crisis in Iraq with U.S. air strikes on terrorists, Hamas threatening major escalation in rocket strikes on Israel and widening problems stemming from illegals crossing the southern border. 

Added to all this, a secondary political attraction arrives Wednesday when former First Lady Hillary Clinton is scheduled to arrive on the island for a book-signing event. 

Meanwhile, some Martha’s Vineyard merchants --- such as ice cream shops and restaurants --- are excited, feeling that the president’s presence on the island will boost business in a season that has been slow. 

They overlook grumbling from others stemming from heightened security activity in the air and on the ground plus road delays and slow traffic as presidential motorcades make their way around the island to a golf course, a restaurant or to other locations such as in the past --- bicycle rides. 

Among major growlers:  private fliers. 

With the president on the island, the Federal Aviation Administration has instituted a 30-nautical mile perimeter temporary flight restriction for Martha’s Vineyard that runs through 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 25, reveals Sara Brown, Vineyard Gazette reporter. 

Obama was off to a golf course within 30 minutes of arrival on Saturday.

 

DID YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISS THESE?

Declaring corporate America has done well under his economic policies, President Barack Obama tells London-based Economist magazine that chief executive officers should stop complaining about regulations and show greater social responsibility…An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds six in 10 Americans are dissatisfied with the state of the U.S. economy, more than 70 percent believe the country is headed in the wrong direction and nearly 80 percent are down on the country’s political system…Okay, so it's "torture" for the bad guys:  In changing editorial word usage, The New York Times no longer will describe interrogation methods on terror suspects as “harsh or brutal” and now will term the procedures “torture”…A University of Southern California study finds Hollywood movies are under-representing non-white ethnic groups in the U.S., with Hispanic actors cast in five percent of speaking parts in last year’s 100 top grossing films despite making up more than 16 percent of the population; black actors appeared in 14 percent of roles while 17 percent of movies had no black speaking parts…Unsettling news for J-students:  In another study, the University of Georgia Grady College finds 2013 consumer magazine starting salaries of graduates with bachelor degrees in journalism sank $5,000 a year lower than the prior year…Not much mention in print or broadcast outlets that USASpending.gov, which tracks government spending, can’t locate at least $619 billion from 302 federal programs…More military trimming: Because of “financial restraints,” the U.S. Air Force’s 65^th Aggressor Squadron, based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, will be deactivated on Sept. 26…Hollis R. Towns, executive editor/vice president news at New Jersey’s Asbury Park Press, informs readers the newspaper is “hiring more reporters to help cover the community better” and “establish better relationships with you” while “putting more resources into digital”…Los Angeles radio station KFWB next month switches from its long-time news/talk format to all sports chatter.

 

In discussing the thousands of young illegals showing up at the southern border, Vice President Joe Biden declares:  "These are not somebody else's kids. These are our kids."