Tag: Journalism
NYT Freelancer Gets the Axe
by Eva Holland | 10.27.09 | 10:17 AM ET
Last week’s “swag orgy” controversy has ground to a conclusion: Freelancer Mike Albo has had his shopping column cut by the New York Times after violating the paper’s ethics agreement. Weirdly, Gawker—the blog that helped force the Times’ hand—now apparently thinks the firing is too harsh.
I’ll give Mike Albo the last word once again. He told New York Magazine: “I look forward to trying on cashmere sweaters I can’t afford for other publications.”
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Yahoo! BuzzEndless Travel Writing Ethics Debate Gets Gawkerized*
by Eva Holland | 10.22.09 | 12:12 PM ET
And here I thought only our little corner of the writing community cared about the ongoing press trip debate. Apparently not. Yesterday, Daily Finance outed New York Times contributor Mike Albo as a taker of press trips, describing Albo’s recent Jamaica junket as a “swag orgy.” Now Gawker’s gotten involved, too, pointing out to the Times’ higher-ups that one of their freelancers was in violation of their no-freebies policy. The Times has acknowledged that the paper has “concerns” about the trip.
As for Mike Albo? Here’s his latest tweet: “do you ever feel like you are a guppy who is being eaten by his mother?”
*Update 12:59 p.m. ET: We’re debating the issue on Twitter at #twethics.
Paranoid and Isolated in North Korea
by Eva Holland | 10.15.09 | 9:47 AM ET
Photojournalist Sean Gallagher looks back at a trip he and writer Mark MacKinnon took to North Korea, both posing as regular tourists. The details in the post—quizzes about science and history from government minders, fears about bugged hotel rooms—are fascinating, and the post ends on a thoughtful note:
As much as I would have liked to, getting close to the everyday person proved to be almost impossible. Hence, my photographs from this journey have a sense of isolation about them. It is an isolation probably born from my own feelings while being there. People are dwarfed against the mighty, imposing communist-era architecture, small and insignificant against the overbearing size of the buildings.
For me, my images from this trip have raised more questions than answers.
(Via @markmackinnon)
The Economist: Americanisms to Avoid
by Eva Holland | 10.12.09 | 4:29 PM ET
Here’s an entertaining tidbit from The Economist’s style guide, advising writers for the venerable British weekly on a few American-style variations of the English language that are best left unused. A sample:
Make a deep study or even a study in depth, but not an in-depth study. On-site inspections are allowed, but not in-flight entertainment. Throw stones, not rocks, unless they are of slate, which can also mean abuse (as a verb) but does not, in Britain, mean predict, schedule or nominate. Regular is not a synonym for ordinary or normal: Mussolini brought in the regular train, All-Bran the regular man; it is quite normal to be without either. Hikes are walks, not increases. Vegetables, not teenagers, should be fresh. Only the speechless are dumb, the well-dressed smart and the insane mad. Scenarios are best kept for the theatre, postures for the gym, parameters for the parabola.
And some people think there are no cultural differences to speak of between Americans and their trans-Atlantic neighbors—or should I say neighbours? (Via Gadling)
Oyster Hotel Reviews: Going Undercover?
by Eva Holland | 10.07.09 | 11:01 AM ET
The Star-Ledger has an interesting profile of Oyster Hotel Reviews, a newcomer on the online travel scene. The story emphasizes the site’s efforts to hire writers with investigative reporting experience for their undercover reviews, and while some of the cloak-and-dagger language seems a tad over the top, it still adds up to an intriguing point: Oyster is abandoning the trend of user-generated reviews in favor of hiring trained professionals, and aiming to rise to the top of the hotel-review heap by doing so. Maybe guidebook writing isn’t a doomed profession after all?
Dan Baum on Journalism and the Expat Life
by Eva Holland | 09.14.09 | 4:57 PM ET
In a recent series of tweets, the veteran reporter looked back on how he launched his career—by setting up as an independent foreign correspondent in Zimbabwe—and encourages young writers to follow suit. The tweets are collected on his website. Here’s a sample:
I still think going abroad—particularly to a place others avoid—is a way to make a name.
It’s a way to distinguish oneself from the mass of people who want to be writers.
It’s a way to call attention to oneself—by having something others don’t.
And it’s a way to do what we all got into this business for in the first place.
That is, to shine light into places the public needs to know about, but might otherwise miss.
(Thanks for the tip, Rob Verger)
Afghanistan: ‘It’s Always the Fixer Who Dies’
by Eva Holland | 09.14.09 | 9:47 AM ET
George Packer responds to last week’s rescue effort, which freed kidnapped New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell but left his Afghan fixer, Sultan Munadi, dead: “Somehow, it’s always the fixer who dies. Of course, this is a false statement of fact on its face—at the very least, an exaggeration. But it feels emotionally true.” It’s worth reading in full.
Gay Talese Takes the Circle Line
by Michael Yessis | 07.06.09 | 9:57 AM ET
The New Journalism pioneer overcame his aversion to water—“In some 50 years as a writer, I do not recall ever proposing a story that would likely lead to getting my feet wet,” he writes—and joined the tourists for a circumnavigation of Manhattan on the Circle Line.
Talese is still on his game. It’s a terrific story, with a terrific audio slideshow.
Interview With James Wallace: Reflections From an Aerospace Reporter
by Rob Verger | 04.03.09 | 9:26 AM ET
Photo courtesy of James Wallace. Award-winning reporter James Wallace covered aerospace for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for more than 12 years. He worked for a total of 27 years at the paper, which recently stopped printing and transitioned to an online-only version with a comparatively tiny reporting staff. When that happened, Wallace’s job disappeared.
Wallace, who wrote a goodbye blog entry, is the author of two books, “Hard Drive” and “Overdrive,” both about Microsoft.
I caught up with him over the phone to hear about his years on the aviation beat.
World Hum: You covered aerospace for 12 years. How have you seen commercial air travel change during that time?
Mourning in Vegas
by Kevin Capp | 12.18.08 | 10:06 AM ET
Surrounded by the decadence of yet another nightclub opening, Kevin Capp must come to terms with the death of his grandfather
Ezra Pound, Foreign Correspondent
by Eva Holland | 06.16.08 | 10:21 AM ET
In the latest issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review, Jon Schneider writes about Ezra Pound’s unlikely (and brief) stint as a European correspondent for the Richmond News Leader, during his final years in Italy. Included with the essay are scanned images of Pound’s “feisty, allusive” submissions to the paper—all but one of which were deemed unpublishable by the editor.
Dan Bilefsky: Telling Counterintuitive Stories From the Edge of Europe
by Joanna Kakissis | 02.21.08 | 12:05 PM ET
The International Herald Tribune's Central and Eastern Europe correspondent has developed a reputation as one of journalism's finest voices. Joanna Kakissis asks him about "Balkan idols" and unlocking cultures.
Will Self: On ‘Psychogeography’ and the Places That Choose You
by Frank Bures | 12.17.07 | 4:41 PM ET
Photo by Michael Wildsmith. The novelist and journalist talks to Frank Bures about his new book, long-distance walking and our search for the places that embrace us
Catherine Watson: “Roads Less Traveled”
by Michael Yessis | 12.15.05 | 10:17 PM ET
Photo of Catherine Watson courtesy of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Michael Yessis talks with the pioneering editor and writer about serendipity, travel as education and why travelers should talk to everyone they can, especially the quiet people
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