Tucker Carlson's mission

“When Donald Trump was in office, he posed the most dangerous threat to American democracy. With the former president now golfing fulltime, the most dangerous threat may well emanate from the Fox ‘News’ Channel — and specifically from its top-rated host, Tucker Carlson. He seems to be on a mission to make America's worst problems even worse.”

—Max Boot, columnist, “Opinion: In office, Trump was the greatest threat to U.S. democracy. Now it may be Tucker Carlson,” The Washington Post, Feb. 12, 2021. 

• Editorial Comment: Could Tucker take up golf? I’d chip in for his green fees.

• Related: “You Literally Can't Believe the Facts Tucker Carlson Tells You. So Say Fox's Lawyers,” NPR

PeezPIX 

Appletime

 

 

 

 

The October issue of SENIOR NEWS is scary good. Online here.

 

FREE! TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM This free “service” is sent to rafts of subscribers worldwide more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: Don’t shoot the messenger. I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em.)

 

“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.”—Tom Stoppard

 

 

_____________
Edward C. Pease, Ph.D.
Professor & Department Head Emeritus
Department of Journalism & Communication
Utah State University
Today's WORD on Journalism

Clumsy Notes

“I would say that music is the easiest means in which to express, since it came first in man’s experience and history. But since words are my talent, I must try to express clumsily in words what the pure music would have done better.”

—William Faulkner (1897-1962), Nobel Prize-winning American author, “William Faulkner: The Art of Fiction No. 12,” The Paris Review, 1956.   

• Editorial Comment: Nonsense. Faulkner's words make others' sound like kazoo.

PeezPIX 

30 Years Ago Today: Cooper+Pease = Coopeasians

 

 

 

 

The October issue of SENIOR NEWS is scary good. Online here.

 

FREE! TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM This free “service” is sent to rafts of subscribers worldwide more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: Don’t shoot the messenger. I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em.)

 

“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.”—Tom Stoppard

 

 

_____________
Edward C. Pease, Ph.D.
Professor & Department Head Emeritus
Department of Journalism & Communication
Utah State University
Today's WORD on Journalism

Journalists As Peacemakers

“Seeking to bolster press freedoms as journalists find themselves under increasing pressure from authoritarian governments and other hostile forces, the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday awarded the Peace Prize to two journalists thousands of miles apart for their tireless efforts to hold the powerful to account.

“The journalists, Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitri A. Muratov of Russia, were recognized for ‘their courageous fight for freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.’

“‘They are representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions,’ the committee said.”

—“Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to 2 Journalists, Highlighting Fight for Press Freedom,” The New York Times, Oct. 8, 2021. 

• Editorial Comment: “Other hostile forces” is right.

PeezPIX 

We have been blessed in recent weeks by an infestation of large gaggles of brown pelicans along our coast. Prehistoric!

 

 

 

 

The October issue of SENIOR NEWS is scary good. Online here.

 

FREE! TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM This free “service” is sent to rafts of subscribers worldwide more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: Don’t shoot the messenger. I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em.)

 

“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.”—Tom Stoppard

 

 

_____________
Edward C. Pease, Ph.D.
Professor & Department Head Emeritus
Department of Journalism & Communication
Utah State University
Today's WORD on Journalism

And a Nice Scone

“I fear the disappearance of journalists and the demise of journalism, and dread the day there are no more newspapers to read with morning coffee.”

—Joanne Fornes, newspaper reader, Senior News, October 2021. Image: Lloyd DeGrane.

• Editorial Comment: Ah, the smell of newsprint in the morning! (Take that, Hussman . . . see yesterday's WORD.)

PeezPIX 

Godbeams

 

 

 

 

The October issue of SENIOR NEWS is scary good. Online here.

 

FREE! TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM This free “service” is sent to rafts of subscribers worldwide more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: Don’t shoot the messenger. I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em.)

 

“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.”—Tom Stoppard

 

 

_____________
Edward C. Pease, Ph.D.
Professor & Department Head Emeritus
Department of Journalism & Communication
Utah State University
Today's WORD on Journalism

No Regrets?

“Very rarely do we ever hear from somebody saying, ‘Oh, I wish I had that print edition back.’”

—Walter Hussman, publisher, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which converted to digital (Sunday-only paper) in 2018, Mark Jacob, “Is 27/7 Digital and Sunday-only Paper the Future for Local News?” Local News Initiative, Northwestern University, Sept. 20, 2021. (Thanks to alert WORDster Mark Larson) 

 

• Editorial Comment: Horse hockey. Who is Hussman talking to?

PeezPIX 

Full Moon

 

 

 

 

 

The October issue of SENIOR NEWS is scary good. Online here.

 

FREE! TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM This free “service” is sent to rafts of subscribers worldwide more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: Don’t shoot the messenger. I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em.)

 

“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.”—Tom Stoppard

 

 

_____________
Edward C. Pease, Ph.D.
Professor & Department Head Emeritus
Department of Journalism & Communication
Utah State University
Today's WORD on Journalism

Losing Trust

“We’re sorry to have to tell you this, but the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process, where the public and members of the press can request information from their government and get a meaningful response, is as dead under the Biden administration as it was under the Trump, Obama and George W. Bush administrations. 

“In no small part, this is why the United States of America, which regularly lectures other countries on what it means to be a democracy, has lost the trust of the American people.”

—Pam & Russ Martens, reporters, “The Justice Department Has 58 Documents About Its New Criminal Chief That It Doesn't Want the Public to See,” Wall Street on Parade, Oct. 1, 2021. (Thanks to alert WORDster Tony Seton)

• Editorial Comment: What *does* it mean to be a democracy these days?

• Apologies: My laptop completely crapped out; hence no WORD on Tuesday and a bit ragged today. It’s been a scramble. Thanks for asking. 

PeezPIX 

Sky's the Limit

 

 

 

 

 

The October issue of SENIOR NEWS is scary good. Online here.

 

FREE! TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM This free “service” is sent to rafts of subscribers worldwide more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: Don’t shoot the messenger. I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em.)

 

“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.”—Tom Stoppard

 

 

_____________
Edward C. Pease, Ph.D.
Professor & Department Head Emeritus
Department of Journalism & Communication
Utah State University
Today's WORD on Journalism