Journalists

In a recent commentary, former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. exhorted Republican candidates not to whine about the allegedly liberal media ("How Republicans win in 2016," Nov. 25). Of course, a few lines earlier, Mr. Ehrlich whined about just that, saying: "Remember that the major media are not exactly even-handed when it comes to candidate foibles. Nine out of 10 journalists vote Democratic. Most possess a left-leaning agenda. " Yet with the possible exception of The New York Times, the major media outlets in this country are owned by large, multinational corporations, most of whose top executives subscribe to a political outlook similar to Mr. Ehrlich's.

After 14 hours of watching Sandy storm coverage, I am convinced that no one deserves more praise than the reporters and camerapersons on the ground in places like Ocean City. I know in these snarky, all-you-need-is-irony, postmodern times, lots of folks, including some journalists who should know better, like to make fun of TV reporters standing in high winds and driving rain or snow to report on a storm. I could not disagree more. The image of a correspondent being pounded by the elements is as crystal-clear an objective correlative for the core role of journalism as I can imagine.

"Monday Night Football" will open its 43rd season at M&T Bank Stadium with several new wrinkles. There will be a two-man instead of three-man booth with Mike Tirico doing play-by-play and Jon Gruden on analysis. One of the biggest changes will be on the sidelines where Lisa Salters will debut as the new sideline reporter for the storied franchise. Salters, a Penn State graduate, talked about her new job, her goals in that role, her hard-news values and the way she was socialized to journalism at Baltimore's WBAL-TV and ABC News in the Peter Jennings era. Q. Sideline reporter for Monday Night Football is one of the highest visibility jobs in the business.

I am sure Fox News will take some flak for naming the Navy SEAL who wrote about the killing of Osama bin Laden under a pseudonym. It's already getting pretty heavy on Twitter following a tweet from Richard Engel, NBC's foreign correspondent, saying: "Al qaeda supporters in chat rooms call for death of Navy SEAL author. " But there is no legitimate journalistic controversy here -- at least, insofar as it involves Fox revealing that the former Navy SEAL who wrote the book "No Easy Day" under the pseudonym Mark Owen is 36-year-old Matt Bissonnette.

Former vice president Al Gore will anchor convention coverage on his Current TV channel, it was announced Wednesday. This is what happens if you own the candy store, I guess. But when was the last time a former Nobel Prize winner sat in the anchor chair at a convention? Gore's presence just made me add Current to the list of channels I will be watching and reviewing. I can hardly wait for the tweets from deposed Current anchor Keith Olbermann. I hope he won't be silenced by pending lawsuits.

You may imagine that journalists, because they make their bread by wielding language, would (a) know something about grammar and usage and (b) write about grammar and usage intelligently. If so, you have a vivid imagination. I put it to you (prosecutorial mode today) that a recent article in The Wall Street Journal on grammar in the workplace is a farrago of shibboleths and cultural prejudices. Even if you accept a broader definition of grammar that includes spelling, punctuation, and style conventions, the article is useless.

In 2005, when their city drowned, the staff of the New Orleans Times-Picayune stayed in it longer than common sense and simple prudence would dictate. People who had lost homes, loved ones, and their city itself concentrated on gathering the news and putting it out. They finally left huddled in newspaper delivery trucks, water up to the headlights, decamping to Baton Rouge, 75 miles away, where they went right back to reporting the news. Last month, that paper announced it was cutting staff and suspending daily publication, moving to a three-days-a-week schedule.

During the entire duration of my odd email exchange with "PASSIONGAMER4CHANGE," I was never completely sure whom I was talking to. If 60 percent of statistics are made up, then 40 percent of all Twitter accounts are owned by someone who is not who they portray themselves as. "PASSIONGAMER4CHANGE" is a character (probably), who masterfully satirizes what's going on in the video games world by portraying a disillusioned fanboy through Twitter (@RPGsbebroke) and Tumblr (rpgsbebroke.tumblr.com)

"As the viral-video-watching world knows by now, Kathie Lee Gifford's Wednesday 'Today' interview with Martin Short went horribly, awkwardly awry when she asked Short about his relationship with his wife, Nancy, whom Gifford didn't know had died in 2010. "          This is why journalists would be well advised just to stick to who  in all cases. 

Dudley Clendinen relished nothing more than telling a great story — even the story of his impending death. A journalist and author who wrote for The New York Times and had once served as an editor for The Baltimore Sun, Mr. Clendinen died Wednesday at Baltimore's Joseph Richey House hospice of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He was 67. He chronicled his 18-month struggle with the condition commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease on Baltimore public radio station WYPR in a series titled "Living with Lou: Dudley Clendinen on a Good, Short Life.