Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Annoying


“If you can’t annoy somebody, there is little point in writing.”

—Kingsley Amis (1922-1995), author 








• Editorial Comment: Raison d’être.



PeezPIX 

Nice Sky Over Prisoner Rock







November’s SENIOR NEWS celebrates the book. 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

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Democracy in Danger


“We are writers, academics, and political activists who have long disagreed about many things. . . .”

“But right now we agree on a fundamental point: We need to join together to defend liberal democracy.

“Because liberal democracy itself is in serious danger. Liberal democracy depends on free and fair elections, respect for the rights of others, the rule of law, a commitment to truth and tolerance in our public discourse. All of these are now in serious danger.”

—Todd Gitlin, Jeffrey C. Issac, William Kristol and 42 others, “An Open Letter in Defense of Democracy,” The New Republic & The Bulwark, Oct. 27, 2021.


• Editorial Comment: You must hear what the people say.


PeezPIX 

Crab Season 2021












November’s SENIOR NEWS celebrates the book. 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

Monday, November 15, 2021

Straight Talk


“I ain’t no lady. I’m a newspaperwoman.”

—Hazel Brannon Smith (1914-1994), owner of four Mississippi weeklies and the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing (1964). 














• Editorial Comment: Whatever you say, ma’am.




PeezPIX 

Morning Light










November’s SENIOR NEWS celebrates the book. 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

Friday, November 12, 2021

Jazz


“There are some people that, if they don’t know, you can’t tell ’em.”

—Louis Armstrong (1901-1971), jazz musician and truthteller, ~1956.









• Editorial Comment: How about that embouchure?



PeezPIX 


Wildfire Season, Hwy. 299













November’s SENIOR NEWS celebrates the book. 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

Thursday, November 11, 2021

Veterans Day 2021


“Our men can’t make this change from normal civilians into warriors and remain the same people. Even if they were away from you this long under normal circumstances, the mere process of maturing would change them, and they would not come home just as you knew them. Add to that the abnormal world they have been plunged into, the new philosophies they have had to assume or perish inwardly, the horrors and delights and strange wonderful things they have experienced, and they are bound to be different people from those you sent away.”

—Ernie Pyle (1900-1945), WWII war correspondent, from “Here Is Your War: Story of G.I. Joe,” 1943. Image: Pyle and troops, Okinawa, 1945. U.S. Marine Corps.



• Editorial Comment: Thoughts and prayers.




PeezPIX 

Morning Light






November’s SENIOR NEWS celebrates the book. 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

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Unexpected Outcomes

 

“Nothing you write, if you hope to be good, will ever come out as you first hoped.”

—Lillian Hellman (1905-1984), playwright and author.







• Editorial Comment: Life is a surprise. If you're lucky.



PeezPIX 

Sea star






November’s SENIOR NEWS celebrates the book. 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

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Small-town Journalists


“[They] write stories about folks down the street or editorials about people at church. They see their sources in the grocery store. Their journalism always hits close to home — so close, in fact, there’s no place to hide.

“It sounds uncomfortable — and sometimes it is. But it’s also journalism where it really counts, one on one, neighbor to neighbor. Those who do it well take a lot of pride in their communities and in their newspapers. They recognize that a community newspaper says a lot about its town and the people who live there. Without it, without its voice, or if the paper is dull or timid, the town is a lesser place.”

—Al Clark, editor, The Daily Reflector, Greenville, NC, in “Community Journalism Might Be Perfect for You,” The Quill, March 2006. 



• Editorial Comment: Small town, big heart.



PeezPIX 

Winter Is Coming . . . Humboldt-style.












November’s SENIOR NEWS celebrates the book. 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