Thursday, December 24, 2015

NYC Journalism Lost






Ben Bradlee RIP: A Newspaper Hero Who Took Down Nixon 
A Lost Art of Journalism: Chasing A Story Until You Find the Truth 
Dig Dig Dig You Don't Have the Story Yet
Ben Bradlee, legendary Washington Post editor, dies at 93(Wash Post) Benjamin C. Bradlee, who presided over The Washington Post newsroom for 26 years and guided The Post’s transformation into one of the world’s leading newspapers, died Oct. 21 at his home in Washington of natural causes. He was 93. The most compelling story of Bradlee’s tenure, almost certainly the one of greatest consequence, was Watergate, a political scandal touched off by The Post’s reporting that ended in the only resignation of a president in U.S. history.* Journalists remember Ben Bradlee "He forever altered our business."  Ben Bradlee, Editor Who Directed Watergate Coverage, Dies at93 (NYT) * @tombrokaw in @politico on Ben Bradlee: “In the new forms ofjournalism we’ll not likely see his kind again." The Media Equation: Ben Bradlee’s Charmed, Charming Life (NYT) * --JILL ABRAMSON, on TIME.com: “It was his great strength of character and gutsiness under fire that made him indestructible. David Halberstam, writing about Ben two years before the Cooke affair, understood this about Bradlee. In his great book, The Powers That Be, Halberstam wrote, “his own personal self-image, developed long before he went to the Post, simply did not permit him to show fear.” … Ben had total joie de journalism. It oozed from every pore. No one had more fun chasing a big story and no editor made the chase more fun. He wrote his first newspaper story at age 15 as a copy boy for the Beverly Evening Times in Massachusetts.* How Ben Bradlee dealt with PR folks We should do this more often.Ben Bradlee to a p.r. flack: "...[W]e trust our editor's news judgment and [...] we distrust yours." #GoldenEra * Lessons of Watergate: Bob Woodward and Ben Bradlee on thepressures of investigative reporting Postscript: Benjamin C. Bradlee (1921-2014)(New Yorker)




Village Voice Sold to Investor Who Vows to Invest in Paper
Village Voice is sold to Peter Barbey, the owner of a Pennsylvania newspaper.(NYT) The Village Voice, the storied alternative weekly newspaper that helped usher in a new era of journalism after its creation 60 years ago, but that has been struggling to find its way in an era of declining circulations and ad revenues, was sold on Monday to a scion of one of America’s wealthiest families with a long history in newspaper publishing. Peter D. Barbey, through his investment company Black Walnut Holdings L.L.C., bought the paper from Voice Media Group, which owns a string of weeklies around the country. The paper, he said, was once an essential “voice of the arts and cultural community in New York.” While he will not take over full control of the paper until February, Mr. Barbey said he would focus first on bolstering its arts coverage — mainly by attracting top writers. "I am flat-out serious about getting The Voice to be a major Manhattan publication,” he said.* Meet Peter Barbey, the latest owner to take on the @villagevoice: (PoliticoNY)* The Village Voice, the storied alternative weekly newspaper that helped usher in a new era of journalism after its creation 60 years ago, but that has been struggling to find its way in an era of declining circulations and ad revenues, was sold to a scion of one of America’s wealthiest families with a long history in newspaper publishing.
Journalism Disconnect
NY Times Failed Kingdom 





U.S. Attorney Thinks NY Journalist Have Failed to Stop Corrupion









Press Will Continue to Ignoring Bharara Pleas to Investigate Corruption as Judge Silences Prosecutor 

Bharara to Journalist Investigate Stop Copying My Press Releases do Investigative Reporting

One Year Ago in True News

Preet challenges journos to do investigative reporting (CrainsNY) "Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," Bharara said. "Groundbreaking corruption coverage is not just good copy, it's a path to good government." Bharara. The press has a role to play. "Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," he said



Look What the Media Controlled by Old Guard Lobbyists Have Done to NY
U.S. Attorney Over A Year Ago Beg the Press to Help Him Clean Up NY . . . They Turn Their Back to Him, Even Attack Him, Now He is Doing It Himself







One Year Ago   Preet challenges journos to do investigative reporting (CrainsNY) "Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," Bharara said. "Groundbreaking corruption coverage is not just good copy, it's a path to good government." Bharara. The press has a role to play. "Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," he said 

His crusade to “clean up government” is particularly essential because Albany has so much power over local municipalities, including New York City, he contended. With less federal help than there used to be, a more honest, efficient and incorruptible state government is needed more than ever, Mr. Bharara said. “What happens in Albany is important, what transpires there is important. Even state legislators, believe it or not, are important,” he said to some laughter. “We need a state government that is willing to and capable of tackling the pressing public policy challenges of our time.” Mr. Bharara was not shy about touting the political scalps he’s racked up. Using the example of his office winning a corruption conviction of former Bronx Assemblyman Eric Stevenson, Mr. Bharara said he began to question just how much legislation had been for sale in Albany. “How many past bills were born of bribery?” he asked. * U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara says his corruption investigations will help to improve a “broken down” political system. * Preet Bharara branches out (Capital)* Preet Bharara’s speech fuels speculation of a run for office (NYP) * Bharara Says Corruption Probes Are Not Done; Cuomo Says Lifein State Capitol More Complicated(NY1)
Daily News Crap





Great Essay By Bill Maher Has Journalism Has Become A Race to the Bottom  
Maher: The Real Brian Williams Problem Is That ‘NBCNightly NewsSucks’ Bill Maher doesn’t really care that much aboutBrian Williams‘ series of misstatements. No, the real reason Williams should “go away,” according to Maher, is that “NBC Nightly News sucks.” (But to be fair, he also thinks CBS Evening News and ABC World News Tonight suck too.) See, what “destroyed” Brian Williams’ credibility in Maher’s eyes was “ten years of wasting precious news time with bullshit stories.” It really bothers him that national nightly newscasts shirk their “sacred responsibility” to report the news in favor of viral YouTube videos, cutesy human interest stories, and lots and lots of weather coverage. He called it “journalistic malpractice” for Williams to spend so little time reporting on climate change and instead covering east coast blizzards “like white Godzilla is on the way.”