Jill Abramson, left, a New York Times managing editor, during the announcement in 2011 that she will succeed Executive Editor Bill Keller, center, who became a full-time writer. Dean Baquet, right, became the managing editor for news. (Photo Credit: Fred R. Conrad/New York Times).
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I’ll admit when I first caught sight of the headline on Twitter Sunday evening, which read: ``Bill Keller, Former Editor of the Times…..’’, my heart skipped a few beats-I thought, just for a moment, another former editor and prized journalist bit the dust.
Thankfully, the news wasn’t nearly as gloomy. The screaming headline was just an announcement, a stunning one at that, reporting that the Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist was leaving the Times to become editor in chief of The Marshall Project, a nonprofit journalism start-up focused on the American criminal justice system.
Keller, 65, will remain at the Times through the end of next month.
In an article published on the Times’ website Sunday evening, http://is.gd/65p4p2 in expressing his reasons for leaving, Keller said, ``It’s a chance to build something from scratch, which I’ve never done before, and to use all the tools that digital technology offers journalists in terms of ways to investigate and to present on a subject that really matters personally.”
In addition to earning a Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for his ``resourceful and detailed coverage’’ of events in the U.S.S.R., as a Times’ correspondent in Moscow, Keller served a tour of duty as chief of The Times bureau in Johannesburg from April 1992 until May 1995, where he covered the end of white rule in South Africa and the election of Nelson Mandela's African National Congress as the governing party in 1994. Keller is the author of “The Tree Shaker: The Story of Nelson Mandela,” published in January, 2008, by Kingfisher.
Prior to being named managing editor in 1997, he served as foreign editor from June, 1995 through 1997; and for two years, beginning in mid-2001, contributed articles to the paper's Sunday magazine as a senior writer and also wrote a bi-weekly column that appeared on the op-ed page.
Keller first landed at the Times in 1984 and was assigned to its Washington bureau, where he covered labor, agriculture and military affairs.
The multifaceted journalist’s most profound impact on the Times clearly came when he was named executive editor on July 14, 2003 amid a tumultuous storm of embarrassing scandals which damaged the paper’s credibility and accuracy. Upon assuming the editorship, Keller said, ``This organization is a national treasure. I will do everything in my power to uphold its high standards, preserve its integrity and build on its achievements.’’
And that he did.
The California native introduced a public editor position in October, 2003 for the first time in paper’s history, with the independence to address readers' comments about The Times’ coverage without interference from the editorial division. Under his commanding leadership, The Times captured 18 Pulitzer Prizes, while he shepherded the paper through a difficult period of financial challenges, including expansion of the paper’s website as reader’s migration to the web picked up steam. Keller also introduced an editor’s forum in which a different editor would address readers concerns and questions about the Times’ coverage in a week long online Q & A forum.
Keller experienced a few bumps along the way during his distinguished reign as executive editor, the most biting criticism came when the Times learned, just prior to the 2004 election, that the U.S. government was secretly monitoring communications between Americans without a warrant, a surreptitious act in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), considered a felony. The Times was reportedly prodded by the George W. Bush administration to withhold reporting on it until December, 2005, more than a year after the U.S. presidential election.
Still, when Keller officially stepped down as executive editor in September, 2011 to return to writing as an op-ed columnist, Forbes Magazine hailed him as ``the man who rebuilt the confidence of The New York Times newsroom after the Jayson Blair scandal’’; sentiments echoed by Hendrik Hertzberg of the New Yorker, when he wrote of Keller’s legacy, ``the quality and quantity of Times journalism remain unsurpassed on Planet Earth.''
So while his new venture at the Marshall Project represents an ideal opportunity to focus on a raising public awareness of the state of the American criminal justice system (a sorely underreported topic), Keller’s departure has left a great many of his friends and colleagues stunned with their spirits downcast, even though wishing him nothing but the very best with the next chapter of his life.
What follows is a collection of reactions to the end of the Bill Keller era, at least at The New York Times.
He's also the best traveling companion a foreign correspondent can want. We've had days in Shanghai and Tokyo and Washington where Bill's dry humor, his refusal to take himself too seriously, and his sense of history made the travels more memorable than whatever story we were working on. He'll make this new venture a great success because everything he touches improves as soon as he puts his hands on it. I'll miss him at the Times.''
-David Sanger, New York Times National Correspondent.
• ``Brilliant job for Keller. Think Neil Barsky’s Marshall concept is inspired. Criminal justice reform is a really cutting edge issue now and recruiting Keller brings the launch immediate authority and heft.''
-Tina Brown, Co-Founder and former editor of The Daily Beast; currently President & CEO, Tina Brown Live Media Founder, Women in the World.
• ``Two reactions. As a Times person I'm truly sad. When someone like Bill leaves the paper we are diminished. As a friend of his, I'm thrilled. He will build something special on a big topic. And he will have much fun.''
-Dean Baquet, Managing Editor for news at The New York Times.
• ``Bet on Keller. He covered epochal shifts in South Africa and the Soviet Union, and he lived (and led) through one at the Times. The criminal justice system is on the cusp of such a moment. He's the right guy for the time and task.''
-Jim Dwyer, New York Times Columnist (``About New York'').
• ``The darkest period I witnessed at the Times was in the aftermath of the Jayson Blair scandal. Bill Keller inherited a newsroom that was reeling from management disarray, bitter morale and serious credibility issues. His calm, rational leadership proved essential to getting the Times through that time of crisis, when there was little room for error. Anyone who values the paper as a fundamental American institution owes him a debt of gratitude. ''
-Frank Rich, former New York Times op-ed columnist; currently Writer-at-Large for New York Magazine.
• ``Bill Keller is a towering figure in modern journalism and the template for the ideal editor, which is to say one with a deep reporting background, a prose style of exceptional grace, a wry sensibility, a mature temperament, moral courage, and a default mode of curiosity, skepticism and impartiality. He was once asked, in a casual conversation on an airplane, how long it takes to write a Times story. He had three answers: (1) very fast, if need be (2) thanks to a reporter's expertise developed over perhaps decades (3) informed by the culture and values of a newspaper that has existed since before the Civil War. His departure is a hard blow, but it is tempered by the point of what he said on the plane: he has shaped the place in ways that will linger for a long time. ''
-Adam Liptak, U.S. Supreme Court reporter for The New York Times.
• ``I'm not sure people appreciate what a brilliant job he did, stepping in as executive editor at a time when the newsroom was badly disrupted by the Jayson Blair episode and everything surrounding it. His intelligence and steady leadership restored stability and a sense of journalistic mission that was exactly what The Times needed in that moment.
I'm sure he would have been an excellent executive editor under any circumstances, but I'm not sure anyone else would have been better for that time.''
-Tom Jolly, Former New York Times' Sports Editor, currently, Associate Managing Editor at the Times.
• ``Great for Bill, great for the issue of justice, and pretty damn good news for those of us involved in figuring out new models for financing vital journalism.''
-Joe Sexton, former New York Times metro and sports editor, currently senior editor at ProPublica.
• ``Bill Keller excelled as a correspondent, editor and columnist, but many of us who have worked with him will remember him best for the decency and sure-handedness with which he steadied the ship as Executive Editor after the storm that battered us in 2003; and, beyond that, for the good stewardship that saw us through the worst of the economic crisis of recent years before he handed over in 2011 to Jill Abramson, his masthead partner through those torturous times. On a personal note, I'm indebted to Bill for the unfailing support he gave all of us who covered the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq in the years when he was at the helm in New York. Here's a fare-thee-well for your new venture, Bill.''
-John F. Burns, Chief Foreign Correspondent, The New York Times
• ``I get it, and I love the fact that he's still looking for new things to do. I'm just really sorry to see him go; I was a big fan of his column and I thought he did a terrific job as executive editor, steering the paper through some really tough times. He should be awfully proud of his tenure here.
I can't figure out what's more challenging: To be an ex-president or to be an ex-executive editor of the New York Times. It's like, what do you do next?''
-Adam Nagourney, L.A. Bureau Chief for The New York Times
• ``In addition to being a great journalist (as everyone knows), Bill was also a great boss and manager (which may be less well known). More than once I've heard Jill Abramson say Bill was the model in many ways for her own approach to leadership. One more thing: Bill is a first-rate critic and literary writer, and we were always delighted when he accepted Book Review assignments. (Pamela Paul, the current Book Review editor, will confirm this.) Of the several fine essays he wrote for us, I recommend in particular his meditation on the late Christopher Hitchens.''
-Sam Tanenhaus, writer-at-large for The New York Times.
• ``An awesome journalist and guy. They're lucky to have him. The spirit of adventure he shows here is just one more thing to admire about him.''
-Jonathan Landman, former New York Times culture editor; currently Bloomberg View editor-at-large.
• ``Bill Keller is one of the great print journalists of our time. His reporting from Moscow in particular set a standard that has rarely been equaled and never surpassed. So we'll miss him here at the Morning Miracle, but I look forward to watching him apply his talents to criminal justice issues.''
-Nicholas Kristof, New York Times columnist.
• ``I’m a big fan. I look forward to seeing what Bill can do with this new venture. He’s always been a great supporter of investigative reporting and I have no doubt that he will turn this new venture into something formidable. It reminds me of the tremendous good fortune ProPublica had in landing Paul Steiger as its founding editor.''
-Stephen Engelberg, former New York Times Investigative Chief, currently Editor in Chief of ProPublica.
• ``The yardstick for determining greatness in journalism has always been, in my mind, "in whatever they wrote/edited/managed, did that person make the journalism better as a result?" During his distinguished journalism career, Bill Keller made it better. And he did it on his terms at the highest level--the New York Times. And had the integrity to match.''
-Neil Amdur, former New York Times sports reporter.
***
Bill Lucey
[email protected]
February 11, 2014
Have you ever wondered what the newspaper culture is like in Russia compared with western countries, such as in the U.S. and the U.K.?
With approximately 13,000 journalists approved with press credentials for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games beginning on Friday in Sochi, a city located on the shore of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Western Caucasus mountain region, the environment should be ripe for a blistering amount of newspapers, tabloids, and broadsheets being absorbed by tourists and local inhabitants at restaurants, cafes, and the lobby’s of plush hotel rooms.
But when discussing the newspaper culture in Russia, you need to keep two things in mind: The first is that the vast majority of Russians rely on state-controlled television rather than print newspapers for their information. The other is that we’re well into the 21st century and living in the age of the Internet, smartphones, and other mobile devices; so print news publications, much like the U.S. and U.K., are becoming less relevant.
If you were to pop your head into a café or bakery in any major city in Russia, you’ll likely find most customers not flipping through a newspaper, but more likely combing the Internet on their ipads , smartphones, or parked in front of an Internet bank.
According to the global market and research firm TNS; the number of Internet users in Russia has leaped to 70 million, representing 50 percent of the population. In April, 2012, Russia’s largest browser Yandex, moreover, reported 19 million visitors a day, more than the popular state-controlled Channel One with an audience of nearly 18 million.
This is not to suggest that Russia is without worthwhile print news publications.
William Pomeranz, Deputy Director of the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., tells me, ``at the very top, there are some very strong quality newspapers that have strong economics and foreign affairs sections and discuss Russian politics and foreign affairs without getting to close to specifically discussing [Russian president] Vladimir Putin. ‘’
And though many of these newspapers have limited circulation, Pomeranz admits, ``they allow the engaged middle class to follow these debates in an informed manner. The quality newspapers have a lot of good information.’’
The problem of plummeting circulation, prevalent with so many metro dailies in the United States, Pomeranz informs me, isn’t much different in Russia; only that it’s much worse in the Russian regions, where there is markedly less money to support newspapers.
And many newspapers, some might be surprised to learn; don’t shy away from some of the more contentious issues gripping the Russian Federation. When the feminist protest band, Pussy Riot, were locked up for staging a blasphemous performance in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior in February, 2012, a number of newspapers in Russia editorialized about the world wide outcry and were surprisingly highly critical of the jailing, not so much of the strong arm tactics of Putin specifically, but of the process and how the law was interpreted, according to Pomeranz.
By and large, however, despite freedom of expression and of the press guaranteed in the Russian constitution, at least on paper, in practice, accessing information, whether through the judiciary or other government institutions is a mighty tall order, if not impossible, for a great many journalists. Russia's powerful and corrupt court system, many argue, are used to silence those journalists bold enough to report widespread governmental abuses.
More troublingly, according to Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world, ``journalists in 2012 faced the threat of intimidation or physical attack when covering sensitive topics such as the situation in the restive North Caucasus, government corruption, organized crime, police torture, electoral violations, and opposition activities and protests.''
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), two journalists were killed in Russia in 2013, Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev, a deputy editor of the independent news outlet Novoye Delo who was gunned down outside his home; the other was Mikhail Beketov, former editor of the independent newspaper Khimkinskaya Pravda in the Moscow suburb of Khimki, who died in the hospital after a choking incident.
Buck Ryan, an associate professor of journalism at the University of Kentucky and director of the Citizen Kentucky Project of the Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, who in September 2013 spent 10 days in Moscow speaking with journalism faculty and students at Russia's premier journalism school at Lomonosov Moscow State University, says freedom of expression in Russia is a ``negotiated dance.’’
``I've done newspaper workshops on four continents’’, Ryan told me, `` but Russia was the only place where opening remarks were provided by the government official/news media handler for the district.’’
Despite the restrictive press freedom, Ryan emphasizes that the most open forms of expression in the country can be found online, most prominently through social media, either affiliated with the few independent newspapers or through the 42 million blogs, such as drugoi [photojournalistic online magazine]; or ibigdan [news aggregator].
Another way to better appreciate the dissemination of news in Russia is to understand that newspapers are not nearly as influential as The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal are in the United States. Rather, newspapers in Russia not only have much less circulation, but more importantly, they’re largely balkanized with different segments of the Russian population gravitating toward the publication consistent with their particular viewpoint. So, for example, Rossiskaya Gazeta, a Russian government daily newspaper of record, which publishes the official decrees, statements and documents of state bodies, is predominantly read by officials and bureaucrats and those wanting to understand the official viewpoint, while Kommersant a nationally distributed daily newspaper devoted to politics and business, is for the most part consumed by the business elite.
Greg Simons, a senior researcher at the Department of Eurasian Studies at Uppsala University and a lecturer at the Department of Communication Science at Turiba University in Riga, Latvia, remarked that newspapers in Russia, periodically, are bought by business elites for a variety of reasons: to gain political capital by promoting the owner’s interest, damaging the reputation of a chief rival, or other times merely to advance their own agenda through unabashed self-promotion. Such scenarios, Simon says, ``was especially obvious during the so-called Information wars of the mid-1990s when there was an all out and very bitter and open struggle between rival businessmen.’’ ``Hard news’’ Simons argues, ``is becoming more problematic to work in due to it becoming very politicized.’’
An additional reason for the sinking newspaper circulation in Russia, Simons stresses, has to do with disposable income. The price for many news publications have increased (they were subsidized during the Soviet regime); and with money being so scare-most Russians opt for the free medium in acquiring news, which is television, even though most viewers know they may not be getting the full story of a particular issue, since the Kremlin, beginning in the 2000’s, secured control over the most popular channels.
So as we inch closer to the official start of the Winter Games in Sochi; let's hope the biggest stories splashed across a good number newspapers around the world involves the herculean efforts of the athletes from 88 countries valiantly competing for medals; and not about the repressive climate for information gatherers and that full media freedom will be extended to the estimated 13,000 journalists with press credentials.
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
February 4, 2014
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Brief Historic Overview of Newspapers in Russia
• Vedomosti was the first printed newspaper in Russia, issued by the decree of Emperor Peter the Great on December 16, 1702.
• Russia's first privately daily newspaper was the Severnaya Pchela (Northern Bee) which started publishing daily in 1838, a publication chiefly charged with echoing the imperial prerogatives of Emperor Nicholas I.
• Nicholas I appointed a special committee to censor the press, forcing writers such as I.G. Golovin and Alexander Herzen to publish their journals and books in other major cities outside of Russia, such as Paris and London.
• In an effort to improve education and increase literacy, Russian Emperor Alexander II, beginning in 1855, encouraged the creation of privately owned newspapers through the relaxing of censorship restrictions, permitting street sales, and extending freedoms to commercial advertising.
• The first independent commercial newspaper was Golos (The Voice), a reformist daily founded by Andrei A. Kraevsky in Moscow in 1863.
• By 1870, there were 79 Russian-language newspapers in operation, nearly five times as many as a decade earlier.
• In 1881, Alexander II was assassinated by nihilists of "Will of the People" only to be succeeded by Alexander III, who enacted a series of anti-terrorism laws, restricting civil rights and freedom of the press.
• After the 1905 revolution, the press for a brief period, was freed from prepublication controls, resulting in increased newspaper circulation.
• Once Bolshevik publications such as Iskra and Pravda founded by V.I. Lenin in 1900 and 1910 respectively, increased their hostile attacks on the imperial regime, a fresh crackdown on independent newspapers ensued.
• When Lenin assumed power in 1917, he closed over 300 opposition papers and established a system of tight controls, including the banning of the conservative American press from Russia.
• During the Leninist period (1917-1925), an official newspaper for the Soviet state (Izvestia) was founded to go along with the Communist Party paper Pravda.
• A formal censorship office, referred to as Glavlit was established in 1922.
• A state information system run by the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) was created in 1925.
• 1990: 28th Party Congress; Supreme Soviet passes a law to lift censorship from the press.
• 2006: Two Russian newspapers closed after publishing the Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that ignited worldwide demonstrations with one of the editors being charged with inciting hatred.
• Most recent figures suggest that there are 8,978 newspapers in Russia, with a total annual circulation of 8.2 billion copies.
Source: ``A Historical Dictionary of Journalism’’ By Ross Eaman; ``The Media In Russia’’ By Arutunyan, Anna
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About Sochi
• Sochi is a southern Russian city located in the Krasnodar Region, stretching approximately 90 miles along the eastern coast of the Black Sea.
• Founded in 1837 as a military fortification.
• In 1898, the Special State Commission designated the region as an ideal setting for a health resort.
• In 1909, the first real estate complex, Caucasian Riviera, consisting of four hotels, a restaurant, a theatre, a hydropathic and an electric power station was introduced.
• Helped by generous state subsidies, the region experienced rapid growth beginning in the 1930's, transforming the city into a flourishing health-resort, receiving 4,000,000 tourists annually, including 200,000 from abroad.
• During World War II, given its large supply of hotels and sanatoria, one of the largest military hospitals was established in Sochi.
• In the early 1960's, the coastal strip encompassing several towns, some tens of villages, including the city of Sochi were incorporated into a new administrative unit-of Greater Sochi.
• Greater Sochi is some 93 miles long, making it the world's second-largest metropolis after Los Angeles.
• Most of Sochi's territory consists of mountains and foothills of the Western Caucasus, covered with forests.
• Sochi is reportedly the warmest place in Russia. The climate is subtropical and the city records about 200 sunny days a year. Temperatures average 24 ˚ C (75 F) during the day in the summer and 5 ˚ C (41 F) in the winter. Tourists typically take to the sea for swimming from April until October with skiing taking place from October through May.
• Sochi has a population of more than 400,000, comprised of more than 90 nationalities, including Russian, Armenia, Ukrainian, Georgian, and Greek.
• Over two million tourists visit Sochi annually with its spa facilities numbering over 250.
***
Key Facts about the Winter Games
• 88 countries will participate in the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
• 98 sets of medals will be awarded in 7 Olympic sports.
• 6,000 Olympic athletes and team members are expected in Sochi for the Olympic Winter Games.
• An estimated 3 billion television viewers throughout the world will be watching the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.
• There will be 17 days of competition.
• Seats at the opening ceremony on February 7 are priced at between $793 and $1,838.
• About 213,000 visitors are expected to come to Sochi, which borders Russia's tumultuous North Caucasus republics. Two suicide bombings killed 34 people in Volgograd on December 29, 2013, roughly 434 miles north of Sochi.
• The North Caucasus, approximately 62 miles east of Sochi, is considered the most dangerous place in Russia, ranking it among the top five most dangerous places in the world involving terrorism.
• The Washington Post recently reported that from January to September of 2013, 375 people were killed and 343 wounded in the North Caucasus region, including 68 civilians, 100 police officers and 200 terrorists. Between October and December, three suicide bombers-trained in Dagestan (300 miles east of Sochi)-killed more than 40 people.
• President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly indicated security will be guaranteed in Sochi, with about 40,000 personnel firmly entrenched in the area.
• According to The Wall Street Journal, the price tag of holding the Olympics in Sochi has reached $50 billion, making it the most expensive Olympic Games in history, more than the approximately $40 billion spent by China on the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, by contrast, cost more than $7 billion.
Source: The Embassy of the Russian Federation http://is.gd/6sqjOs ; Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee Press Service http://is.gd/IN1R3K
Tiger skipper Jim Leyland expressing himself in 2011. Photo Credit: AP
****
The winds of change are blowing across the American landscape.
Never more so than with our national pastime.
Just last Thursday; all 30 teams approved expanded instant replay for the upcoming season at Major League Baseball’s quarterly owners meetings in Paradise Valley, Ariz.
Prior to this historic change, replays were limited to boundary calls involving home-runs, when the umpire-in-chief, at his sole discretion, would gather with his crew to review a questionable call.
With this new and approved replay system, 90 percent of calls are now subject to review, including ground-rule doubles, fan interference, boundary calls, bang-bang plays at first base, force plays, tag plays, fair-foul and trap plays in the outfield, hit by pitch, touching the base, passing runners and any dispute involving ball-strike counts, outs, score or substitutions.
Based roughly on the NFL model, each manager will have one challenge a game. If his challenge is upheld, he keeps the challenge; otherwise he’ll lose the option of challenging a call for the rest of the game, even if a clearly botched call occurs. A manager will never have more than two challenges per game.
Beginning in the 7th inning, the crew chief has the ability to initiate a review.
Unlike previous seasons when umpires would review disputed home run calls themselves, under the system recently approved, all reviews will be conducted at the Replay Command Center at MLBAM headquarters in New York.
Another significant change approved by the league that will unquestionably be a big hit with fans is the provision that allows stadiums to show replays, including controversial or disputed plays, on their in-park video boards.
Clearly, expanded replay was long overdue; its execution was just a matter of time. Umpires, after all, aren’t as ubiquitous as we would like them to be; they are, at times, out of position to make the correct call, at times their eyes play tricks on them, other times, they fall prey to human error and simply blow the call.
The only question is if expanded replays means fans can expect to stay in the yard for up to 4 ½ and 5 hours, especially during the early days of this new system, when managers will be experimenting with their new privileges, egged on in many cases by fans, who after seeing a replay that went against the home team splashed on the scoreboard, will undoubtedly voice their displeasure with an earsplitting chorus of boos.
And with replays being reviewed not by the umpires at the game, but from MLB headquarters in New York, you wonder if this is setting the stage for a painful, time-consuming process that will stretch the game to an uncomfortable length.
With this in mind, I put these very questions to a number of seasoned baseball beat writers and sports columnists in order to get their take on this momentous change with our national pastime.
Here, then, are some responses:
``My guess is that a very high percentage of challenges will be upheld. (You'd think 50-50 or 60-40, my guess 90-10. But just a guess.) So, there will be very few time-wasting (rejected) challenges. As a result, fans will probably accept the slight added time because, in most cases, there will be a change of a "bad call" into a correct call. Also, you'll save the "argument time." Nobody will argue. (Too bad.) A lost challenge may be considered a fairly major screw up. Ironically, it's possible baseball will be the only sport where one challenge (before the late innings) will be enough.
There's little/no chance that it adds a lot of time in my opinion. Unless it turns out that umps are awful and miss a ton of calls which really need to be challenge/changed. I doubt that's the case. But we'll see. I'm really looking forward to it. You can (in theory) always go back to the "old system." At worst, maybe some damage/delay. At best, and I think it's a possibility, baseball turns out to be the best-suited game to replay. What's fun is that it's easy to anticipate the impact but hard to actually know it.’’
-Thomas Boswell, sports columnist, The Washington Post.
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``I'm sure most people -- fans, writers, baseball people -- like the replay idea, but I say if pitchers, hitters and fielders can make mistakes, why not umpires? Players cost their teams far more games than umpires do. Everyone makes mistakes. If everyone were perfect, games would become boring.
The best thing to come out of this is eight more umpires get major league jobs and don't have to languish in the minors. It'll actually be more than eight because those eight will get in-season vacations just like the others.’’
-Murray Chass, former sportswriter for The New York Times; who continues to write on baseball at his personal website: http://www.murraychass.com . Mr. Chass recently devoted a column to the expanded replays in which he was decidedly critical of the new system. His column can be read at the following link: http://is.gd/GKWvfu
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``I think the expanded replay generally will work well, although I do expect some hiccups at the start. I do not think delays will be a major issue. Many games won’t have any reviewable calls, and I think only rarely will there be more than one in the same game-although the ones with multiple reviews invariably will be the most high-profile games.’’ Given that, I think it will add significantly to time in only a small amount of games. The way the rules have been explained, I can envision arguments over whether plays at second base should be reviewable because of drops, or not reviewable because of the `neighborhood play’ exclusion.’’
-Ron Blum, AP sportswriter.
***
``Concerns are significant and legitimate, and they go all the way to the top of baseball. The greatest concern from those at the league instituting replay wasn't the technology. It was the pace of game and what replay would do. Most of the time, I think, the home office is going to do a lot better than the on-field umpires would. And ultimately, if the technology is there to get the call right, it's incumbent on the league to do as much.
Hopefully, over the next few years, not only will the league streamline replay to make it as efficient as possible but enforce simple rules like staying in the batter's box that could knock time off the game. Will it be enough? Much of it depends on the effectiveness of MLB's system. I'm OK with it for now, but then I'm someone who can sit and watch a four-hour game without pause. The greatest litmus test will be the average fan, and once a reply takes too long or doesn't overturn a wrong call, the howls will come and the complaints will flow. Over time, as long as the league recognizes and acknowledges them, they will abate.''
-Jeff Passan, lead baseball columnist at Yahoo! Sports
***
``I agree it could extend the time of games.
Imagine a Red Sox-Yankee game which regularly drags on to 3 1/2 hours or more? Add several challenges and the required reviews and you'd have to take a nap to get through. Baseball already suffers from games that are too long for the modern society to cope with. We have become an ADD world, unfortunately. Add several replays a game and TV sets will be shut off across America.
Lastly, when did human error in a sporting event become actionable? The history of sport is filled with - and better for - the occasional human error. That should not only apply to the players. Umpires are proven right most of the time. Not all because they are not in fallible. Human error makes the whole exercise more, well, human!’’
-Ron Borges, sportswriter for The Boston Herald
****
``I cover the Yankees. Four-hour games were already a possibility every time I went to work. I'd rather see them get the plays right. If it takes a few minutes longer, so be it.’’
-Mark Feinsand, Yankees beat writer for the N.Y. Daily News
***
``Before the technologies in replays, particular digitally, were common, everyone was concerned about the length of games. Umps were encouraged to do all they could to speed up play. Length of games no longer became a topic of conversation. But now that mistakes are blown up on screens the size of moving vans, the mistakes are more obvious. That, apparently, has trumped everyone's list of grievances, including length of games. I could see this adding five to 10 minutes to games, but I don't think it will be a big problem. The important thing is to get it right, even if it takes a little longer.’’
-Kevin Sherrington, sports columnist, Dallas Morning News
****
``My first impulse is, too much too soon. But I think what would've been better would've been a limited intro so we could see for a full year just how much time we're talking about game to game, and how quickly disputes will be resolved.’’
-Mike Vaccaro, lead sports columnist for The New York Post
***
``There will be hiccups. But I talked with Tony La Russa about it, and he's confident that the delays will be minimal. They need to make sure on challenge plays that no argument allowed. ‘’
-Troy Renck, Colorado Rockies beat writer for The Denver Post
***
``I don't think the time of game issue is terribly significant. There really aren't that many plays in the average baseball game that will require review (probably an average of two or fewer) and the time taken to review them should be offset by the time not taken for the manage.''
-Peter Schmuck, sports columnist and blogger for The Baltimore Sun
***
``I haven't studied the new rules to the point of making a full judgment. But I'm against challenges in any sport. Once you've run out of challenges (before the 7th inning, in MLB's case), you can't use the technology. And I fear the games will run long with managers deciding whether to challenge. Apparently, they or their coaches will be able to check replays before making that decision. I also think the umpiring review crew should be on-site, and that they should make all decisions on whether to watch replays.’’
-Bruce Jenkins, national sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle.
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-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
January 23, 2014
The New York Times, today, released their most viewed stories for 2013.
As might be expected, 3 of the Times’ top 10 stories dealt with the tragedy of the of the Boston Marathon bombing, while Angelina Jolie and Vladimir V. Putin drew international attention with their respective op-ed pieces.
Rounding out the most viewed stories on all platforms, was the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the 76-year-old Jesuit Archbishop of Buenos Aires as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church, who selected the name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi.
In addition to the most viewed stories over all platforms, The Times has released the most viewed stories on individual platforms, including NYTimes.com, multi-media & interactives, mobile devices, top videos, ipad, and iphone apps.
-Bill Lucey
The Year's Most Visited All Content - Multiplatform 2013
1.) HOW Y'ALL, YOUSE AND YOU GUYS TALK, by Josh Katz & Wilson Andrews (December 21).
What does the way you speak say about where you're from? Answer the questions to see your
personal dialect map. http://is.gd/NTNYyZ
2.) BLASTS AT BOSTON MARATHON KILL 3 AND INJURE 100, by John Eligon & Michael Cooper
(April 15). Two bombs exploded seconds apart near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on
Monday, creating a bloody, chaotic scene more than four hours into the race. http://is.gd/EZBaLk
3.) 2ND BOMBING SUSPECT CAUGHT AFTER FRENZIED HUNT PARALYZES BOSTON, by
Katharine Q. Seelye, William K. Rashbaum & Michael Cooper (April 19). The teenage suspect
in the Boston Marathon bombings, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, was taken into custody in
Watertown, Mass., after a search that left his brother dead and the Boston area virtually shut
down. http://is.gd/LmvMZP
4.) MY MEDICAL CHOICE, by Angelina Jolie (May 14). Opening a conversation on women’s
health. http://is.gd/W1HH3O
5.) A Plea for Caution From Russia: What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria
By VLADIMIR V. PUTIN http://is.gd/nDZv7k
6.) THE SCIENTIFIC 7-MINUTE WORKOUT, by Gretchen Reynolds (May 9). In 12 exercises
deploying only body weight, a chair and a wall, it fulfills the latest mandates for highintensity
effort, which essentially combines a long run and a visit to the weight room into
about seven minutes of steady discomfort — all of it based on science. http://is.gd/LueJra
7.) SITE OF THE EXPLOSIONS AT THE BOSTON MARATHON - MAP, by The New York Times
(April 15). Map showing the location of the bombings. http://is.gd/Vag8Ak
8.) INVISIBLE CHILD, by Andrea Elliott (December 9). There are more than 22,000 homeless children in
New York, the highest number since the Great Depression. This is one of their stories. http://is.gd/SKSsVz
9.) THE EXTRAORDINARY SCIENCE OF ADDICTIVE JUNK FOOD, by Michael Moss (February 20). Inside the
hyperengineered, savagely marketed, addiction-creating battle for American "stomach share". http://is.gd/eXlgRl
10.) CARDINALS PICK BERGOGLIO, WHO WILL BE POPE FRANCIS, by Rachel Donadio (March 13). The Roman Catholic Church's cardinals signaled that the faith's future lies in the Southern Hemisphere. http://is.gd/ksdN5T
****
Most Viewed Stories at NYTimes.com
1.) BLASTS AT BOSTON MARATHON KILL 3 AND INJURE 100, by John Eligon & Michael Cooper (April 15). Two bombs exploded seconds apart near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday, creating a
bloody, chaotic scene more than four hours into the race. http://is.gd/EZBaLk
2.) MY MEDICAL CHOICE, by Angelina Jolie (May 14). Opening a conversation on women’s health. http://is.gd/W1HH3O
3.) THE SCIENTIFIC 7-MINUTE WORKOUT, by Gretchen Reynolds (May 9). In 12 exercises deploying only body weight, a chair and a wall, it fulfills the latest mandates for high-intensity effort, which essentially combines a long run and a visit to the weight room into about seven minutes of steady discomfort — all of it based on science. http://is.gd/LueJra
4.) A PLEA FOR CAUTION FROM RUSSIA, by Vladimir V. Putin (September 11). It is dangerous for any country, including America, to see itself as exceptional, whatever motivation. http://is.gd/nDZv7k
5.) 2ND BOMBING SUSPECT CAUGHT AFTER FRENZIED HUNT PARALYZES BOSTON, by Katharine Q. Seelye, William K. Rashbaum & Michael Cooper (April 19). The teenage suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, was taken into custody in Watertown, Mass., after a search that left his brother dead and the Boston area virtually shut down. http://is.gd/LmvMZP
6.) INVISIBLE CHILD, by Andrea Elliott (December 9). There are more than 22,000 homeless children in New York, the highest number since the Great Depression. This is one of their stories. http://is.gd/SKSsVz
7.) CARDINALS PICK BERGOGLIO, WHO WILL BE POPE FRANCIS, by Rachel Donadio (March 13). The Roman Catholic Church's cardinals signaled that the faith's future lies in the Southern Hemisphere. http://is.gd/ksdN5T
8.) THE EXTRAORDINARY SCIENCE OF ADDICTIVE JUNK FOOD, by Michael Moss (February 20). Inside the hyperengineered, savagely marketed, addiction-creating battle for American "stomach share.'' http://is.gd/eXlgRl
9.) APRIL 19 UPDATES ON AFTERMATH OF BOSTON MARATHON EXPLOSIONS, by The New York Times (April 19). The Lede is following the aftermath of Monday’s deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon, which killed three and injured more than 170 on Monday. http://is.gd/geTmi0
10.) HERE IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CAST LINDSAY LOHAN IN YOUR MOVIE, by Stephen Rodrick
(January 10). Paul Schrader, Bret Easton Ellis, Lindsay Lohan and a porn star named James Deen try to make a movie for $250,000 that will save all of their careers. What could go wrong? http://is.gd/QmS737
***
Most Visited Multimedia and Interactives at NYTimes.com 2013
1.) HOW Y'ALL, YOUSE AND YOU GUYS TALK, by Josh Katz & Wilson Andrews (December 21). What does the way you speak say about where you're from? Answer the questions to see your personal dialect map. . http://is.gd/NTNYyZ
2.) SITE OF THE EXPLOSIONS AT THE BOSTON MARATHON - MAP, by The New York Times (April 15). Map showing the location of the bombings. http://is.gd/4zenAI
3.) THE 46 PLACES TO GO IN 2013, by The New York Times (January 11). See our list of destinations to visit, from No. 1 Rio to No. 46 Paris. http://is.gd/M62jb5
4.) 2013 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE, by The New York Times (November 28). The best present ideas, selected by New York Times experts, for the people in your life who love food, music, movies, games, home design, fashion, books, travel and New York City. http://is.gd/0aUckv
5.) LIVE DASHBOARD: THE BOSTON MANHUNT, by The New York Times (April 15). The Boston Manhunt. http://is.gd/bdNAYi
6.) LIVE ANALYSIS OF THE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON GAY MARRIAGE, by The New York Times (June 26). The Supreme Court issued a pair of rulings Wednesday expanding gay rights. The Times is providing analysis of the decisions, their implications and the reaction to them. http://is.gd/XLOYeW
7.) HOW 5 COUNTRIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST COULD BECOME 14, by Robin Wright (September 28). Slowly, the map of the Middle East could be redrawn. An analysis by Robin Wright. http://is.gd/HV8rNs
8.) ESSENTIAL THANKSGIVING, by Julia Moskin & Melissa Clark (November 12). Your guide to the year’s most important meal, with our best recipes, videos, techniques and tricks. http://is.gd/QDuRg2
9.) THE HUNT FOR THE BOSTON BOMBING SUSPECTS, by The New York Times (April 19). One suspect in the Boston bombings is dead and the second was taken into custody Friday night. http://is.gd/LLEmsi
10.) LIVE COVERAGE OF THE 2013 OSCARS, by The New York Times (February 24). Respond to David Carr and A.O. Scott on Twitter. We will feature selected tweets. Use #NYTOscars and watch for their responses on air. Tweet with #NYTOscars. http://is.gd/HGSUo1
***
NYT's Most Visited Videos for 2013
1.) SYRIAN REBELS EXECUTE 7 SOLDIERS (September 5). Graphic video footage of Syrian rebels shooting and burying government soldiers. http://is.gd/P6HlyA
2.) SCALDED BY COFFEE, THEN NEWS MEDIA, by Retro Report (October 21). In 1992, Stella Liebeck spilled scalding McDonald’s coffee in her lap and later sued the company, attracting a flood of negative attention. It turns out there was more to the story. http://is.gd/amW0sr
3.) FINDING THE VISIBLE IN THE INVISIBLE, by Erik Olsen (February 27). A team of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a computer program that reveals colors and motions in video that are otherwise invisible to the naked eye. http://is.gd/HtRQGn
4.) 35 AND SINGLE, by Paula Schargorodsky (December 9). An Argentine woman shares her intimate search for love and answers: must she settle down or remain a free spirit in order to be happy?http://is.gd/0YdPY9
5.) WITNESSES TO CHAOS AT BOSTON MARATHON, by Brent McDonald & Channon Hodge (April 15). A runner and bystanders near the explosions at the Boston Marathon describe the blasts and the chaotic scene. http://is.gd/whQFt1
6.) THE UMBRELLA MAN, by Errol Morris (November 21). On the 48th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Errol Morris explores the story behind the one man seen standing under an open black umbrella at the site. http://is.gd/3nroIb
7.) VENEZUELA'S INFLATED VISION OF BEAUTY, by Jimmy Chalk (November 6). In Venezuela, women are confronted with a culture of increasingly enhanced physiques fueled by beauty pageants and plastic surgery. http://is.gd/JPmaiV
8.) THE CORVETTE XP-819, by Stuart Schwartzapfel (January 11). The XP-819 is a one-of-a-kind Corvette developed as a research vehicle by General Motors in the 1960s. The car is now being brought back to life at a restoration shop on Long Island. http://is.gd/H8Nx6i
9.) FIRE IN THE RUSSIAN SKY, by Mac William Bishop, Ben Werschkulm Lisa Desai & Rafael Rosado (February 15). The Times’s Ellen Barry and Richard P. Binzel, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, discuss the explosive event over western Siberia on Friday. http://is.gd/ycbDiO
10.) HOW ABOUT A LITTLE LUXURY?, by Lawrence Ulrich, Emily Hagar, Axel Gerdau (March 22). Luxury vehicles have long pushed the limits of size, but automakers are now whipping up fancy bite-size models, confident that Americans are seeing the upside of small, yet artful, portions. http://is.gd/jKQGVb
***
Most Viewed Stories on M.NYTIMES.COM
1.) BLASTS AT BOSTON MARATHON KILL 3 AND INJURE 100, by John Eligon & Michael Cooper (April 15). Two bombs exploded seconds apart near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday, creating a bloody, chaotic scene more than four hours into the race. http://is.gd/EZBaLk
2.) A PLEA FOR CAUTION FROM RUSSIA, by Vladimir V. Putin (September 11). It is dangerous for any country, including America, to see itself as exceptional, whatever its motivation. http://is.gd/nDZv7k
3.) THE SCIENTIFIC 7-MINUTE WORKOUT, by Gretchen Reynolds (May 9). In 12 exercises deploying only body weight, a chair and a wall, it fulfills the latest mandates for high-intensity effort, which essentially combines a long run and a visit to the weight room into about seven minutes of steady discomfort — all of it based on science. http://is.gd/LueJra
4.) UNDER SEATTLE, A BIG OBJECT BLOCKS BERTHA. WHAT IS IT?, by Kirk Johnson (December 19). Something unknown, engineers say, has blocked the progress of the biggest-diameter tunnel-boring machine in use on the planet. http://is.gd/pxZcbL
5.) CHRIS KYLE, AUTHOR OF 'AMERICAN SNIPER' REPORTED KILLED IN TEXAS, by Manny Fernandez & Michael Schwirtz (February 3). Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL, had taken a troubled fellow veteran to a gun range for a kind of therapy session, but the police said the man turned his gun on Mr. Kyle. http://is.gd/9KbZg7
6.) VAST OKLAHOMA TORNADO KILLS DOZENS, by Nick Oxford & Michael Schwirtz (May 20). Homes were flattened, cars flung through the air and at least two schools packed with children destroyed, sending rescuers to dig out those buried in rubble. http://is.gd/qmMVoa
7.) IN GRISLY IMAGE, A FATHER SEES HIS SON, by Tim Rohan (April 16). The family of Jeff Bauman, who lost his legs in the bombings, learned of his fate from an image of the bloodied young man being tended to by a man in a cowboy hat. http://is.gd/vLSFZj
8.) THE EXTRAORDINARY SCIENCE OF ADDICTIVE JUNK FOOD, by Michael Moss (February 20). Inside the hyperengineered, savagely marketed, addiction-creating battle for American “stomach share.” http://is.gd/eXlgRl
9.) BAFFLING 400,000-YEAR-OLD CLUE TO HUMAN ORIGINS, by Carl Zimmer (December 4). DNA from a fossil in Spain most closely matches another extinct human lineage, Denisovans, whose remains have been found thousands of miles away in Siberia. http://is.gd/oDAr6l
10.) THE HOLOCAUST JUST GOT MORE SHOCKING, by Eric Lichtblau (March 1). The Germans had vastly more work camps and ghettos than anyone knew. http://is.gd/ALbp8o
**
Most Viewed Stories on an iPhone App
1.) 2ND BOMBING SUSPECT CAUGHT AFTER FRENZIED HUNT PARALYZES BOSTON, by Katharine Q. Seelye, William K. Rashbaum and Michael Cooper (April 19). The teenage suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, was taken into custody in Watertown, Mass., after a search that left his brother dead and the Boston area virtually shut down. http://is.gd/LmvMZP
2.) BLASTS AT BOSTON MARATHON KILL 3 AND INJURE 100, by John Eligon & Michael Cooper (April 15). Two bombs exploded seconds apart near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday, creating a bloody, chaotic scene more than four hours into the race. http://is.gd/EZBaLk
3.) BOMBING INQUIRY TURNS TO MOTIVE AND RUSSIAN TRIP, by Eric Schmitt, Michael S. Schmidt & Ellen Barry (April 20). With one suspect dead and the other lying wounded in a hospital, the investigation into the Boston bombings turned to the men’s motives, and to a trip one of them took to Chechnya and Dagestan. http://is.gd/pln7Bs
4.) REPUBLICANS BACK DOWN, ENDING CRISIS OVER SHUTDOWN AND DEBT LIMIT, by Johnathan Weisman & Ashley Parker (October 16). President Obama swiftly signed a bill funding the government through Jan. 15 and raising the debt limit through Feb. 7. after Senate talks produced a deal amounting to a near total defeat for conservatives. http://is.gd/nVsZim
5.) SUSPICIONS IN BOSTON ATTACK TURN TO MAN SEEN IN VIDEOS, by Katharine Q. Seelye, Scott Shane & Michael S. Schmidt (April 17). In the first major break in the hunt for the Boston Marathon bomber, F.B.I. personnel found security video showing a man they believe may have played a role in planting explosives. http://is.gd/M2a1lr
6.) GOVERNMENT SHUTS DOWN IN BUDGET IMPASSE, by Jonathan Weisman & Jeremy W. Peters (September 30). The federal government will shut down for the first time in nearly two decades after last-minute moves in both chambers of Congress failed to break a bitter budget standoff over the president’s health care law. http://is.gd/BeNTHX
7.) 2 DIE AND MANY ARE HURT AS PLANE CRASHES IN SAN FRANCISCO, by Norimitsu Onishi & Ravi Somaiya (July 6). An Asiana jetliner from South Korea crashed and caught fire, killing two people and injuring more than 180 others. http://is.gd/AgTHNN
8.) DIVIDED HOUSE PASSES TAX DEAL IN END TO LATEST FISCAL STANDOFF, by Jennifer Steinhauser (January 1). Ending a climactic showdown in the final hours of the 112th Congress, the House sent to President Obama legislation to avert big income tax increases on most Americans. http://is.gd/5knyAL
9.) TERROR ON JET: SEEING WATER, NOT RUNWAY, by Norimitsu Onishi, Christopher Drew, Matthew L. Wald & Sarah Maslin Nir (July 7). The pilot at the controls on Asiana Flight 214 was said to have had only 43 hours of experience flying a Boeing 777, and an airline spokeswoman said that it was his first time piloting a 777 into San Francisco. http://is.gd/Zn1OVO
10.) SENATORS RESTART TALKS AS DEFAULT LOOMS, by Jonathan Weisman (October 15). After the House postponed any action, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, and Senator Mitch McConnell said that they had resumed talks on a deal to reopen the government and raise the debt limit. http://is.gd/M7g4bz
***
Most Viewed NYT's Stories on an iPad App for 2013
1.) THE 46 PLACES TO GO IN 2013, by The New York Times (January 11). See our list of destinations to visit, from No. 1 Rio to No. 46 Paris. http://is.gd/pXzFxI
2.) REPUBLICANS BACK DOWN, ENDING CRISIS OVER SHUTDOWN AND DEBT LIMIT, by Johnathan Weisman & Ashley Parker (October 16). President Obama swiftly signed a bill funding the government through Jan. 15 and raising the debt limit through Feb. 7. after Senate talks produced a deal amounting to a near total defeat for conservatives. http://is.gd/75zCYp
3.) 2ND BOMBING SUSPECT CAUGHT AFTER FRENZIED HUNT PARALYZES BOSTON, by Katharine Q.
Seelye, William K. Rashbaum and Michael Cooper (April 19). The teenage suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, was taken into custody in Watertown, Mass., after a search that left his brother dead and the Boston area virtually shut down. http://is.gd/LmvMZP
4.) THE FINAL INSULT IN THE BUSH-CHENEY MARRIAGE, by Peter Baker (October 10). How Dick Cheney finally lost the president. http://is.gd/Sm4LC2
5.) BOMBING INQUIRY TURNS TO MOTIVE AND RUSSIAN TRIP, by Eric Schmitt, Michael S. Schmidt & Ellen Barry (April 20). With one suspect dead and the other lying wounded in a hospital, the investigation into the Boston bombings turned to the men’s motives, and to a trip one of them took to Chechnya and Dagestan. http://is.gd/pln7Bs
6.) SENATORS RESTART TALKS AS DEFAULT LOOMS, by Jonathan Weisman (October 15). After the House postponed any action, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, and Senator Mitch McConnell said that they had resumed talks on a deal to reopen the government and raise the debt limit. http://is.gd/VtaJnW
7.) BLASTS AT BOSTON MARATHON KILL 3 AND INJURE 100, by John Eligon & Michael Cooper (April 15). Two bombs exploded seconds apart near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday, creating a bloody, chaotic scene more than four hours into the race. http://is.gd/EZBaLk
8.) TERROR ON JET: SEEING WATER, NOT RUNWAY, by Norimitsu Onishi, Christopher Drew, Matthew L. Wald & Sarah Maslin Nir (July 7). The pilot at the controls on Asiana Flight 214 was said to have had only 43 hours of experience flying a Boeing 777, and an airline spokeswoman said that it was his first time piloting a 777 into San Francisco. http://is.gd/B1zZCc
9.) 100 NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2013, by The New York Times (November 27). The year’s notable fiction, poetry and nonfiction, selected by the editors of The New York Times Book Review. http://is.gd/0waXKP
10.) U.S. SHUTDOWN NEARS AS HOUSE WOTES TO DELAY HEALTH LAW, by Jonathan Weisman & Jeremy W. Peters (September 28). The federal government on Sunday barreled toward its first shutdown in 17 years as House Republicans voted to link further funding to a one-year delay of President Obama’s health care law. http://is.gd/kliUP4
Source: New York Times' Web Analytics Group.
Woody Hayes. Photo Credit: ART RODGERS / LOS ANGELES TIMES
Times photographer Art Rogers shows Pasadena police officer Jay D’Angelo how he was holding his camera when shoved by Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes before Rose Bowl football game. Rogers filed a complaint with the Pasadena Police Dept. (Credit: Steve Fontanini/Los Angeles Times).
****
They say the camera never blinks.
Well, it might have flinched, just a bit on January 1, 1973 during the Rose Bowl, when Ohio State Buckeyes celebrated coach Woody Hayes preparing for battle against USC, shoved L.A. Times photographer Art Rogers’ camera into his face. It was reportedly no minor shove, since Rogers required medical treatment.
According to Rogers, he was one of a half dozen persons photographing the coach huddling with his team during warmup drills, just minutes before the start of the game. As the huddle broke, Rogers positioned himself low, using a long lens before Hayes charged out and jammed the camera into his forehead.
“That ought to take care of you, you son of a bitch,” Hayes growled.
Hayes told an AP reporter: ``This photographer kept pushing in and trying to get a picture of me at close range…I turned my back on him and he went around on the other side and stuck the camera in my face again.
“This time I pushed the camera away and made some remark, but I did not hit him. I just made a shoving motion to get the camera out of my face.”
During a post-game interview, when asked to give his version of events, Hayes exploded into a tirade: “Oh, for Jesus Christ’s sake, forget it,” he snapped and threw the microphone he was holding onto the floor. “That’s the end of this interview. Those are really big stories.” Before storming past reporters, the OSU coach, howled: “He (Rogers) wasn’t hurt.”
A misdemeanor battery charge filed against Hayes with the Pasadena Police Department was subsequently dropped by Rogers because he reportedly “had received an ‘appropriate communication’ from Hayes.”
The L.A. Times provides a detailed report of the whole twisted affair of ``Shovegate’’ in their photography blog, Framework. http://is.gd/vVD08W
But the biggest blow suffered during the day, as it turned out, wasn’t the L.A. Times photographer, but the Ohio State Buckeyes who were trounced by the Trojans, especially by USC running back Sam "Bam" Cunningham (who scored four touchdowns), 42-17 in Pasadena.
Bill Lucey
[email protected]
January 1, 2014
Photo Credit: Associated Press
***
Hard to believe another year has almost flown by.
So as the curtain is about to come crashing down on 2013, I checked in with some news organizations to find out which story drew the most web traffic.
It was, after all, a shocking year: with two bombs exploding at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, which killed three and injured 264 others; disquieting revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been conducting a mass surveillance program; and stunning news that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope, becoming the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere. He took the name Francis, becoming the 266th pope and the 265th successor to St. Peter.
What was most surprising from this survey, at least to me, are the formats of content that is most appealing to readers of online news sites. As will become abundantly clear from the list below, photo galleries and innovative visual presentations seems to be the flavor of the day.
Chris Quinn, Vice President of Content for the Northeast Ohio Media Group, the company that leads the digitally focused news operation at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, informs me that ``when we set out in August to transition more fully into the digital universe, one of our key goals was to make better use of digital tools.'' ``The top 5 pieces in traffic'' Quinn said, `` so far this year demonstrate that this community very much wants to experience stories in multiple formats.'' The top two items that drove the most traffic at the Plain Dealer's site (Cleveland.com) were photo galleries.
Similarly, Nancy Sullivan, Vice President of Communications at the Los Angeles Times, said 43% of their web traffic on Oscar night (the story of the year that drew the most web traffic) came from mobile devices; while 54% of traffic on Oscar Sunday was driven by photo galleries, such as their dazzling Red Carpet Arrivals gallery.
What follows, then, are the top stories of 2013 (based on page views or most web traffic) that was provided to me by different news organizations and popular online sites.
Top Stories of 2013
• The Guardian: The identity of an American computer specialist, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee, and former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, who leaked up to 200,000 classified documents to the press, primarily involving a mass NSA surveillance program, is revealed for the first time by The Guardian. Edward Snowden told the British national daily newspaper in a taped interview posted on its website: ``I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things.''
The Guardian EXCLUSIVE has generated nearly 3.6 million page views since June.
• Bloomberg News: Their EXCLUSIVE ``Boston Bomb Victim in Photo Helped Identify Suspects’’ generated the most page views of the year at Bloomberg.com. The story reports Jeff Bauman’s face-to-face confrontation with one of the Boston Marathon bombers may have turned up key clues in the FBI's manhunt of the perpetrators.
• The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio reported on one of the most sensational criminal cases in U.S. history, when it was learned in May that three local women: Amanda Berry, Georgina ``Gina'' DeJesus, and Michelle Knight were rescued in a house they were held captive in by Ariel Castro since their disappearance between 2002 and 2004. Castro was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole, but was later found dead in his jail cell (from an apparent suicide), on September 3rd of this year. The events that transpired on Seymour Avenue was captured in a Plain Dealer Photo Gallery, which generated 1.5 million page views, the most popular item at Cleveland.com for 2013.
The second most popular item on its website was another photo gallery, and another remarkable story drawing worldwide attention, surrounding Scott Nagy, a terminal cancer patient who with the help of the University Hospital medical staff (on October 12th) was able to give his daughter away on her wedding day, while lying on a hospital gurney and using a respirator. Nagy died two weeks later.
The third most popular story was The Plain Dealer’s page one splash that Berry, DeJesus, and Knight were found alive , while the 4th most popular was an audio of the 9-1-1 call by Amanda Berry.
• CNN's Photo Gallery: ``People We Lost in 2013'' generated 90 million page views, according to a company spokesperson.
• The most popular story on The Wall Street Journal's website for 2013 dealt with a group of men in their 40's, despite having moved on—to college, careers, families and new cities, have been playing ``tag'' , the playground game for 23 years.
• At Time Magazine's website, the most popular item of the year was a creative interactive article, which invited readers to take a test in order to discover which of the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia best suits their personality trait. Did you know, for example, that West Virginia is the most neurotic state, Utah is the most agreeable and inhabitants of Wisconsin are the country's most extroverted?
• The most popular story at ESPN.com in 2013 was Wright Thompson’s ``Outside the Lines’’-branded story “Michael Jordan Has Not Left The Building” with 2.6 million page views.
• The two top stories of 2013 at FoxNews.com dealt with the Boston Marathon Bombing. Their 3rd and 4th most popular items for the year were captured in photo galleries: the first about a fertilizer plant explosion in the town of West, Texas, which killed up to 15, injuring more than 160 ; and another about a 10-ton meteor that streaked at supersonic speed over Russia's Ural Mountains, setting off blasts that injured nearly 1,100 people.
• The top story at New York Magazine's website for 2013 was an article written by Joe Jonas, the American pop singer, musician, actor, and dancer, reflecting about his life as a Jonas Brother.
The 2nd most popular article was an amusing feature by Maureen O’Connor, chronicling how thanks to social media, ex-boyfriends are harder than ever to avoid. And the 3rd most popular story at NYMag.com was Joe Hagan's feature on Matt Lauer and the dysfunctional family atmosphere at NBC’s Today Show.
• The Miami Herald: The most viewed story at MiamiHerald.com dealt with members of the Miami Gardens police who were caught on camera arresting the same suspects over and over again, at times arresting them for trespassing even though they have permission to be on the premises; officers conducting searches of places of business without proper search warrants; using excessive force on subjects who are not resisting arrest; and other cases of filing inaccurate police reports in connection with the arrests.
• The Los Angeles Times: LATimes.com's digital strategy for its Oscars coverage (February 24th) , which focused on a real second-screen experience, including on-location blogging, tweeting, live video broadcasts from the newsroom during the ceremony’s commercial breaks, social media-based balloting, photography, and other in-depth reporting, resulted in a two-day (Sun & Mon) overall traffic numbers of 34.6 million page views, eclipsing last year's 2-day Oscar record of 21.4 million.
• Dallas Morning News: The most popular item at DallasNews.com was a profile on retiring school teacher, Dale Irby, from Titche Elementary in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas, who wore the same 1970s-era polyester shirt and coffee-colored sweater for the school picture for the last 40 years. The article is accompanied with a photo gallery of Irby, showing that while his face might have changed over the last four decades, his attire for the school picture remained the same.
• New York Daily News: The most viewed story at NYDailyNews.com was the uproar that erupted over the death of Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson's two-year old son after he had been beaten two days earlier, allegedly by his mother's boyfriend.
The second most viewed story at the Daily News’ website was Jets' coach Rex Ryan being spotted sun bathing, while sporting a tattoo that resembled his wife wearing Mark Sanchez’s no. 6 green jersey.
• Newsday: The top local story at Newsday.com came back in September when a vendor, Sang Ho Kim, 63, opened fire, killing one man and critically wounding another at an East Garden City company, terrorizing a busy shopping and business district as police hunted into the night for the killer.
• ProPublica, the independent non-profit investigative newsroom that produces journalism in the public interest, said its most viewed story of the year dealt with a feature about two ``cradle Democrats’’ and passionate supporters of President Obama who had their health insurance cancelled because it did not meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.
Their second most view story concerned an alarming investigation, which reported that more than 1,500 Americans died after accidentally taking too much of a drug renowned for its safety: acetaminophen, one of the nation’s most popular pain relievers.
• FBI.Gov: The FBI's top story of the year was the item that offered a $5 million reward to anyone who can help them locate 13 items stolen from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, including rare paintings by Rembrandt, Degas, and Vermeer. The items were originally stolen on March 18, 1990, representing the largest property crime in U.S. history.
• Cook Political Report: The astute Amy Walter, National Editor of The Cook Political Report, wondered back in April, if the Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare, when open enrollment begins in October, will shift the simmering debate from immigration and gun reform to the perils of President Obama’s signature legislation as Americans begin to see their premiums rise. The potential ``sleeper issue of 2014'' was the most viewed column of the year at Cookpolitical.com.
• At The Smoking Gun, the most viewed story of the year concerned a hacker, using the online alias "Guccifer" breaking into the Bush family e-mail accounts, swiping private correspondence and personal photos, including sensitive emails about George H.W. Bush’s recent hospitalization.
• Weather Channel: At Weather.com, the most viewed article of the year was a fascinating presentation of rare photos of different styles of bathing suits at the beaches, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, well before the introduction of the bikini in 1946.
***
Internet Searches:
• Google: Top 100 Searches of 2013: http://is.gd/y61fHY
• Yahoo: 2013 Year in Review-The top-searched news stories of 2013: Trials, bombings, Obamacare. http://is.gd/XQ8HJk
• Bing: Top Searches in 2013: http://is.gd/Bg63Qa
***
Social Media
• Top Trends of 2013 on Facebook: http://is.gd/Y6LMuZ
• 2013 on Twitter: http://is.gd/B2iUp0
• Top 10 YouTube Videos of 2013: http://is.gd/X54uqj
• Best of 2013 Flickr Photos : http://is.gd/d9NpHm
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
December 16, 2013
Where would we be without rules?
There are rules of grammar, essential rules of etiquette, rules governing mandatory health insurance, after the housing collapse-there are now new rules of real estate; Baseball, our National Pastime, will likely approve new rules for the 2014 season; even our favorite social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter have their own set of rules.
So if you are one of those individuals who live by the rules and die by the rules-you’ll probably want to dip into Paul Dickson’s new book: ``The Official Rules: 5,427 Laws, Principles, and Axioms to Help You Cope with Crisis, Deadlines, Bad Luck, Rude Behavior, Red Tape, and Attacks by Inanimate Objects.’’
Beginning in 1976, for reasons known only to himself, Mr. Dickson inserted dividers into a shoebox and started gathering rules that govern our twisted universe, from the ridiculous to the sublime on small sheets of paper. This new enterprise of collecting rules on everything and anything imaginable under the sun was given the flamboyant title: ``The Murphy Center for the Codification of Human and Organizational Law,’’a spin-off, of course, on Murphy’s Law (``Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong" ). Dickson took the liberty of appointing himself its first director; and beginning in 1989, he was promoted to ``Director for Life.’’
Over the decades, this Yonkers, New York native began collecting contributions from journalists, self-proclaimed prophets and philosophers, along with everyday observers of life’s little foibles from sea to shining sea. Of particular help to him have been writer Fred Dryer, Wall Street Journal columnist, Alan Otten, Jack Womeldorf of the Library of Congress; Robert Specht of the RAND Corp; the John Erhman file at Stanford University, and the University of Arizona Computing Center.
Armed with two dozen shoeboxes and two file drawers, in 1978, the Center published its first book: ``The Official Rules’’ alphabetically arranged with special sections. The book took off like a Boeing jumbo jet.
Within just a few months of its release, thousands of letters from readers, listing their personal maxims, rules, principles etc., numbering about 5,000, came pouring in. With so much new material, Dickson turned out a number of magazine articles, including 10 for the Washingtonian magazine between 1978 and 1996. And in 1989, another edition hit the bookstores: ``The New Official Rules.’’
At the dawn of the 21st century, the responses Dickson was receiving continued to be overwhelming, especially in the computer age-when swarms of letters turned into a mountain of emails.
So as we cope with the many trials and tribulations of a new millineuium with its fresh set of challenges and new obstacles and with an eye toward reminding ourselves, now and again, that not everyone’s perfect (even Betty Crocker burned a few cakes) , Dickson has published yet another updated edition of ``The Official Rules.’’
Paul Dickson should be no stranger to readers, especially if you’re a baseball fan. ``The Dickson Baseball Dictionary,’’ which has been published in three editions (1989, 1999, 2009) was described by the Wall Street Journal in 2010 as one of the six best baseball books ever published. In addition to publishing scores of books on baseball and 20th century history, Dickson has authored more than 45 nonfiction books, including: `` Drunk: The Definitive Drinker's Dictionary'', ``Journalese: A Dictionary for Deciphering the News'', ``Slang: A Topical Dictionary of Americanisms’ ‘and ``Toasts: Over 1,500 of the Best Toasts, Sentiments, Blessings, and Graces.''
In 2012 Dickson was awarded the Henry Chadwick Award from the Society for Baseball Research (SABR) for his lifetime achievements as a baseball researcher and scholar; and in 2011, he was the recipient of the Tony Salin Award from the Baseball Reliquary for his contributions to the preservation of the history of the game.
A founding member and former president of Washington Independent Writers and a member of the National Press Club, Dickson lives in Garrett Park, Maryland with his wife Nancy who works as his first line editor, and financial manager.
So to give you a sense of some of the many gems tucked between the covers of Dickson’s ``Official Rules’’, I listed some which caught my eye:
-Historian Henry Adams.
-John C. Armor, Baltimore, Maryland.
–Yogi Berra.
-Long established motto of Chicago’s City News Bureau, organized a century ago by several newspaper publishers and closed in 2005. It was known for its demanding training of young reporters, including Mike Royko and Seymour Hersh.
-Charlie Cook, Editor and Publisher of the ``Cook Political Report.’’
-Quentin Crisp: from Richard Isaac, M.D., Toronto, Canada.
-Charles Dickens
-Senator Everett Dirksen, U.S. Senator from Illinois.
- (Heard by Tom Gill).
-(From the Sally Forth comic strip of January 9, 1993).
-Dr. Thomas Jones, president of the University of South Carolina.
-President Harry S. Truman
-Samuel Clemens quoted in Richard Lederer’s column, Concord Monitor, November 18, 1985.
*Bonus Round
Bill Lucey's Proverbial Bill of Rights: 1.) ``'Tis impossible to be sure of any thing, but Death, Taxes, and a new Reality Show.'' 2.) ``He who hesitates is last.'' 3.) ``A journey of a thousand miles begins at Terminal 1, Boarding Area B, Gate 20 of United Airlines.'' 4.) ``A fool and his money are soon partying to the wee hours of the morning.'' 5.) ``If at first you don’t succeed-pack up your tent and quit.’’ 6.) ``No news is either good news or a sure sign your local newspaper just folded.’’
-Bill Lucey
December 8, 2013
``Power is where power goes.’’
Prescient words spoken by Lyndon Johnson from L.A.’s Biltmore Hotel in 1960, when he first learned Jack Kennedy was considering him as his running mate.
Some within LBJ’s inner-circle feared if he hitched his wagon to the Camelot candidate and they captured the White House-Johnson would be stripped of the power he had grown so accustomed to in the Senate and left with little influence in shaping public policy.
``Power is, where power goes’’ LBJ told Sam Rayburn, the gruff and abrasive fellow Texan, on the other end of the phone, who was urging his protégé not to, under any circumstances, accept a VP spot if it was offered, like the Speaker of the House feared.
What really transpired between Bobby Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson at the Democratic Convention in 1960 at the Biltmore Hotel, when John Kennedy’s younger brother and campaign manager made three trips (at least three trips) up and down the back stairs between Room 9333(Kennedy’s suite, on the 9th floor) and Room 7333 (Johnson’s suite, on the 7th floor) probably will never be fully known.
A number of convincing scenarios presented by Caro based on accounts of people who were there at the time, however, suggest RFK, who despised LBJ, (dating back to the first time their eyes locked like two wild animals in the Senate cafeteria in 1953), desperately tried to get Johnson to withdraw from the ticket even after John Kennedy personally offered it to him and convinced the Senate leader he wanted and needed him as his running mate. At one point, Bobby Kennedy, in a frantic state with his light brown hair ruffled as it drooped down over his forehead in yet another attempt to get Johnson to withdraw, went eyeball-to-eyeball with the steely-eyed Sam Rayburn. ``Are you authorized to speak for Jack Kennedy’’? Bobby, clearly caught off guard, grudgingly said, ``no.’’ ``Then come back when you are!’’ Rayburn growled.
The explosive Biltmore Hotel clash was a case study in the stark contrast between Jack and Bobby Kennedy. Bobby, at least in 1960, was rough around the edges, governed largely by his intense passions and his volcanic grudges. Jack, on the other hand, was more cerebral and refined with an amazing ability to put animosity aside when it came to getting what he wanted. What he wanted was the White House and he knew he absolutely had to have Texas and by extension LBJ to win the White House. JFK’s instincts, again, were right on the money; JFK/LBJ took Texas and probably wouldn’t have won the election without the Lone Star State. As Caro points out, in 1956, Eisenhower had taken 5 of the 11 confederate states in 1956, one of those was Texas.
This sets the stage for high drama and a mighty compelling narrative of Robert Caro’s brilliant fourth volume on LBJ: ``Passage of Power.’’ The years covered in this volume covers 1958 through 1964 or the 47 days after President Kennedy’s assassination.
A fifth and final volume is in the works and will cover LBJ’s landside victory over Barry Goldwater, the unveiling of his ``Great Society’’ programs, and the catastrophic Vietnam years, culminating in losing the confidence of the American people and his stunning decision not to seek a second term.
Interestingly, when Caro, a former Newsday investigative reporter, began researching ``Passage of Power’’ 10 years ago, he thought this would be his final volume. It gradually became apparent that the Kennedy assassination and the first seven weeks of Johnson’s presidency needed more attention, much more attention, than the Pulitzer-Prize winning historian had anticipated.
I’m embarrassed to admit I just got around to Caro’s monumental work-even though it was released well over a year ago. If there are any keen observers of the U.S. presidency, especially involving the administrations of JFK and LBJ, who haven’t yet dipped into ``Passage of Power’’, I would recommend you push it to the very top of your Christmas list. It might very well be one of the best presents you’ve given yourself in quite some time.
Unlike others who have written about U.S. presidents, Caro had little interest in writing a biography of Lyndon Johnson, the man and what makes him tick. Caro has devoted 35 years of his life researching LBJ, dating back to 1977.
Rather, he was more interested in writing about political power; specifically an examination of political power in a time of crisis. Long after many of us are dead and buried, there will be scores of college students, some future politicians, journalists, and historians, assigned to read Caro’s brilliant series and come away with a sharper understanding of how power truly worked in the nation’s capital in the 20th century.
Given this country’s strong sense of Manifest Destiny and living the American Dream, it’s truly a compelling narrative when you take a closer look at the circumstances under which LBJ suddenly (and tragically) propelled to power on a warm, sunny Dallas day without a cloud in the sky before the 35th president was fatally struck down by three bullets on November 22, 1963.
Lyndon Johnson, as Caro so dramatically describes, was a tragic figure really, who always lived in fear of failure and being humiliated, much like his father, who went bankrupt, losing their Texas ranch and sending his family to the depths of despair and poverty with Lyndon and his brother and younger sister forced to wear patches, mere rags substituting for clothing. As Senate Majority Leader for six years, LBJ was arguably the second most powerful man in the country, second only to Dwight Eisenhower. A piece of legislation didn’t make it to the floor until Johnson said it would make it to the floor; and when he wanted a bill passed, something he felt strongly about, the bill usually passed as he whipped everyone into line like a herd of cattle on his Texas ranch.
Now a member of the Kennedy Administration and despite being promised a prominent role, Johnson soon realized just how powerless he had become. For three years, JFK rarely shared sensitive overseas cables with him, he needed permission (usually from Bobby Kennedy) for travel trips, speeches, and the most mundane and trivial tasks. At times, he wasn’t invited to White House parties, other times when he vented his complaint to Kennedy in a White House memo about his lack of responsibility, the president simply ignored it. And around the White House within JFK’s Ivy League inner-circle, Johnson was snickered at and made fun of. He was referred to as ``Rufus Cornpone’’ and when with Lady Bird Johnson, ``Uncle Cornpone and his little pork chop.’’ Face to face, he was rarely spoken to as Mr. Vice President, simply Lyndon. Despite the humiliation, Caro points out, there was a reason Johnson was kept on such a short leash. President Kennedy once confessed to a White House aide that LBJ’s hawkishness, which was in full bloom during the Cuban Missile Crisis meetings, scared the living daylights out of him.
For three long years, LBJ was largely put out to pasture as a VP. He looked gaunt, haggard, his eyes sunken, as if his best days were behind him. And it only got worse. As November, 1963 approached, there was a buzz filling the air that Kennedy wanted to drop LBJ from the 1964 ticket. The thinking was the vice president had become so marginalized, and his Texas star had dropped so precipitously that he was doing Kennedy little good. Besides, the Kennedy team had practically written off the South (as southern Democrats had grown more militant over civil rights) and were setting their sights westward, and thought about tapping Pat Brown, governor of California. Even if Texas was still in play, the consensus was John Connally, a wildly popular Texas governor, would be a better fit than LBJ.
So this was the backdrop, leading up to that star-crossed Dallas trip in November. Johnson, all too aware of the ``Dump LBJ’’ mantra, certainly must have felt the walls caving in around him as he stepped foot on Texas soil. No longer leader of the Senate, a weak link in the Kennedy administration; just weeks from fading into the sunset, out of sight and out of mind; before three loud bangs in rapid succession were heard in Dealey Plaza, the historic West end district of downtown Dallas, catapulted him in a blink of an eye to the most powerful political office in the world.
Caro is at his masterful best describing the transfer of power in perhaps the four most memorable days in U.S. history, from the time of Kennedy being pronounced dead up through the funeral-a full military procession, including the Marine Band as the slow moving cortege reached the front of the White House.
It’s fascinating to learn the immediate makeover of Lyndon Johnson. From the moment he left Parkland Hospital on his way to being sworn in on Air Force One as the 36th president of the United States-his posture had completely been transformed: no longer with the haggard look, his posture was more erect, the swaying in his gait suspended; he now walked in a slower more measured step.
As tragic as November 22nd, 1963 was, LBJ knew exactly what was expected of him and what to do the moment he learned the president was dead.
The eyes of the world were on him, especially from the Soviet Union; they wanted to know if there would be a smooth transfer of power and a sense of continuity.
For 47 days after Kennedy’s assassination, LBJ made sure continuity and stability were the order of the day. His tyrannical outbursts, verbal badgering of staffers, humiliating subordinates, would come later in his presidency. For these crucial seven weeks, LBJ assured the American people, the JFK dream would endure and he was merely carrying the torch. ``Let us carry forward the plans and programs of John Fitzgerald Kennedy—not because of our sorrow or sympathy, but because they are right’’ Johnson intoned during a thunderous State of the Union Speech on January 8, 1964. ``In his memory today’’, Johnson went on to say, ``I especially ask all members of my own political faith, in this election year, to put your country ahead of your party, and to always debate principles; never debate personalities.’’
To put their country above personality was essentially the same line LBJ with his folksy southern charm used to Kennedy’s inner-circle in order to make sure the Dean Rusk’s, the Ted Sorenson's, the Robert McNamara's, the Pierre Salinger's, even making sure Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Kennedy’s ``court historian'' didn’t abruptly submit their resignations so that ``continuity and stability’’ would be sustained.
Keeping the Kennedy staff together while working around the clock in back deals and wheeling and dealing with southern Senate Democrats to get Kennedy’s tax cut bill passed; and another key piece of civil rights legislation passed, set the table for LBJ’s landside victory.
LBJ was back in the saddle again; he was now setting the agenda, twisting and pulling Congressional members toward quick passage of his domestic agenda, particularly his ``War on Poverty’’, enunciated in his powerful State of the Union address.
When Johnson accepted Jack Kennedy’s offer to be his vice president at the Biltmore Hotel, many thought it was intended to dethrone the powerful Texan of his Senate Majority seat, where he otherwise would have been a major roadblock to many of Kennedy’s programs; and to keep him on a short leash as vice president, far away from the sinews of power.
At the time, John Kennedy, or the world for that matter, surely weren’t aware of an LBJ truism: ``Power is where power goes.’’
-Bill Lucey
December 4, 2013
The Christmas season, so we are told, officially begins on Black Friday (now it seems Dark Thursday or Thanksgiving), the day ones inner savage is unleashed as herds of shoppers take to the stores like Bluto (depicted by John Belushi in the motion picture ``Animal House’’) takes to a college dining hall to howl ``Food Fight!’’
After viewing YouTube videos over the weekend of shoppers involved in scrapes with the law either through shootings, stabbings, fist fights, and other acts of gang warfare for something as trivial as a flat screen TV-I couldn’t help but think we might be missing the point of this festive holiday season-a time when we should be exhibiting signs of peace on earth and good will toward others.
Consequently, I thought I would highlight the origins of some Christmas traditions we used to treasure before Black Friday came rumbling into to town.
Here are some of my favorites:
-Bill Lucey
December 1, 2013
