Miami Univ. classmate’s kicking ass and taking names
December 28, 2009
So Jon Gambrell, who graduated from Miami University’s journalism program in ’04 (I think), is now the AP Bureau Chief in Lagos, Nigeria. It turned out to be great timing for him, what with the Christmas underwear bomber departing from Lagos. I’ve been reading his updates on the Wii News Channel, of all places.
His Twitter feed is nothing short of amazing. Check it out.
And Jon, keep chasing the stories, but for God’s sake, be careful.
Good news for the Pulitzers
December 8, 2009
So Jim VandeHei, executive editor of Politoco, has been named to a term on the Pulitzer board, which is great news for the top prize in journalism.
There’s been some huffing and puffing about online journalism being included alongside traditional print organizations for the Pultizers, and rightly so. Bloggers who fancy themselves investigative reporters, lacking any editorial oversight or journalism training, certainly aren’t on par with the Boston Globe, which spent years and millions of dollars investigating the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. And blogs that merely aggregate real reporting and add a paragraph of commentary certainly aren’t on the same level—there’s no way I’d expect to be eligible for a Pulitzer for this post.
That said, Politico is a great step in the right direction. With papers closing their doors (or in precarious financial states) around the country—the shuttering of the print editions of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Rocky Mountain News come to mind—adding Politico to the Pulitzer board makes sense. It cranks out a daily print issue in D.C., but only while congress is in session. Its bread and butter is its amazing Web site and original reporting. After just a few years, it has the clout to pull in heavy-hitting politicians and, well, politicos as guest writers from all spectrums.
Now, if only we can get papers like the Boston Globe to see this business model makes sense, maybe it’ll stop bleeding $1 million a week.
How to Disappear Completely
December 1, 2009
It’s been ages since I’ve posted on here, and there really isn’t an excuse. This winter, I’ve been doing a bit of driving back and forth from Chicago to Ohio, once for Thanksgiving, and twice for my first season out trying my hand at deer hunting.
My mom will never understand this newfound fascination of mine, and my wife’s sick of hearing about it. But for me and thousands of other people, hunting isn’t about killing defenseless animals. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division pegs the whitetail population in the state at just over 650,000, far beyond the natural carrying capacity of the state’s ecosystems. Which explains why there were three huge whitetails in my mom’s suburban front yard last week.
I didn’t managed to harvest a deer my first year out—yet. But I’ve had an amazing time out at my friend’s 93-acre farm in Bellefountaine, Ohio. I’ve seen plenty of deer; after all, it’s a long-neglected apple orchard ringed by cornfields. And even though my first trip was cut short thanks to the flu, being outside and off Chicago’s pavement for a few days is indescribably refreshing.
It’s more than a few days of solitude and a chance for my mind to quiet down, though. It’s ethical. If I’m going to eat meat, I better be able to man up and harvest it myself. Besides, I’d rather have an animal on my plate that’s lived its entire life in the wild than one that spent its life on a factory farm. And it’s worth noting that no group—none—contributes more financially to conservation than hunters and fisherman (there’s an 11 percent federal excise tax on all firearms and ammunition that goes directly to the Department of the Interior). The press release that’s linked to above points out that deer season brings almost $900 million to Ohio’s economy. And I can get behind that, especially if I can clear the city air out of my lungs while I’m doing it.
Morning in the ground blind. Click to enlarge.
