Category Archives: Journalism

Journalism

LAT: Cronkite dead at 92 in 2030

It’s been a big breaking news day here — brush fires, exploding buses, now Cronkite died. What a crazy day and its not even half over for me. I know we were scrambling to get all this news on our site, especially as we impatiently waited for network to hurry up and OK the news for the local sites. So I can imagine that the LAT web staff was similarly crazed, seeing as how they left October 20, 2030 on their obit. Which I’m sure was prepared much more recently in the past. To their credit, I think the date only stayed up for about five minutes. Click to view it bigger.

Michael Jackson front pages

So, yesterday was a crazy day. I nearly even called in sick, thanks to some major cramps, but thank God I didn’t. Michael Jackson died, and even though I’m not the type to idolize famous people (I still can’t think of what my favorite Michael Jackson song is), when I realized how much his death affected so many people, I made my night that much harder by suggesting we host a live chat during our 8-11 p.m. coverage on KCAL 9. (It’s not hard, but moderating chat rooms and watching out for the yahoos can be annoying.)

But even though newspapers may be a relic in the future, you know everyone is going for their front page to see how their pop icon was treated. Trinity’s page from last night kind of inspired this post, but I also wanted to give some props to our SoCal newspapers.

The LAT, Daily News and Daily Breeze all selected performance photos of MJ, with the Daily news including a photo of young Mike on the bottom. Farrah Fawcett also has a prominent place on each page.

Continue reading →

L.A.-area vigil for detained journalists

Laura Ling and Euna Lee will be tried Thursday in North Korea on charges of hostile acts and illegally entering the country. The two American reporters for Current TV have been detained since March 17 and if convicted, face up to five years detention and hard labor.

Both women are married, and Lee has a 4-year-old daughter.

I think we all have high hopes for these two women reporters, especially since Roxana Saberi was freed and her sentence suspended. But with the rumblings from North Korea lately, I think it will take a lot of prayer to get them out without risking a full-scale war with this still-Communist nation.

There will be a vigil in Santa Monica Wednesday night for Ling and Lee, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Wokcano, 1413 5th Street, near the Third Street Promenade. It’ll be one of many across the country. I won’t be able to be there because I work that night, but would be much obliged if anyone else is there and would be willing to share pictures with AAJA-LA.

Roxana Saberi goes free

Freelance journalist Roxana Saberi was freed by Iran today. Her sentence was suspended, but the espionage charges still stand. She cannot work in Iran for the next five years, but can leave the country.

Ms. Saberi’s arrest had become a thorny issue between U.S. and Iran. The two nations have no diplomatic ties, but have engaged in talks to improve relations and have held high-level meetings on Afghanistan. According to Mr. Khorramshahi, the judges explicitly stated in their verdict that Ms. Saberi could be released because “there was no animosity between Iran and the United States.”

Asian women journalists, beware

Is there really so many Asian American women as journalists that three of them are being held in hostile countries for espionage? It is disturbing to me that three women of Asian descent — including Roxana Saberi, who is half Japanese and half Iranian — are being held in hostile countries on trumped up charges. Is Hillary Clinton the only U.S. official who will speak up for them?

The three of them have been on my heart lately. I can’t imagine the fear they are feeling, the worry their families are experiencing. I can only imagine the admonishment their moms will give them when, God willing, they return, especially since I’m sure all three of them were urged to go into safer professions like medicine, law or some sort of computer or engineering work instead.