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Paul Stevens <[email protected]> Thu, Aug 4, 2016 at 8:49 AMReplyTo: [email protected]: [email protected]
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Colleagues,
Good Thursday morning!
Connecting submissions are deep in the summer doldrums, so come on galsand guys, if you have been meaning to share a story or memory, now's the time. Atthe bottom of each issue is a listing of possibilities to contribute. One with currencyis the Summer Travel Series Kia Breaux's account of her trip to Cuba being thelatest. Another is books what's a book you'd recommend to colleagues for a greatsummer read?
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Remember the mantra to our members your state AP report is only as good as youmake it with your contributions? Same holds true with your Connecting newsletter.Enough said.
I have pledged to keep the Connecting newsletter free from politics, unless themedia enters in, figuring you can get your fill of the volatility of the presidential andother campaigns through other avenues.
But I thought we would all benefit from what friend and colleague Tricia English ofColumbus, Ohio, had to say when she eloquently expressed her thoughts in thewake of the feud between Donald Trump and the parents of fallen U.S. soldier, Capt.Humayun Khan, as they blasted Trump at last week's Democratic convention asunfit for the presidency. And she focuses on the role of the media in the feud and incampaign coverage as a whole.
Tricia comes to the topic from the perspective of the military widow of U.S. ArmyCaptain Shawn English, who was killed in action in 2006 when an EFP (explosivelyformed penetrator) detonated into his vehicle while he was on a mission in southernIraq. They were both 35 when he died and their sons Nathan, Noah and Austin were7, 5 and 3. She works as a licensed mental health therapist.
Here is what she had to share:
We need to demand a higher levelof journalistic integrity By TRICIA ENGLISH
I said I wasn't going to waste a moment on the current nonsense du jour. But as mysocial media feeds become filled with more and more of the "opinions" we are beingspoon fed by the media I just can't keep my mouth shut.
When exactly did we, as American's, becomeso credulous? So easily drawn in by thesewellorchestrated distractions meant to keepus from taking factual information andmaking up our own minds? When did we
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Tricia English and son Ausĕn, 12
Capt. Shawn English
start accepting OpEd's as facts? Or stoprequiring that our news be an avenue used todisseminate just the facts, allowing us tomake up our own minds?
This isn't about the despicable behavior byboth major political parties who have stoopedto a new low using dead military heroes astheir latest pawns. This is about theAmerican people's stupidity. Incredibleamounts of time are being wasted talking anddebating about a few Gold Star families.Families that have been used as pawns inthe latest episode of this Kardashianesqueshit show of a Presidential campaign. Andfrankly none of it matters.
News flash: They are both selfserving
politicians that have never lived a day in their lives as an average American citizen.Neither has sacrificed anything more than a perfect temperature latte for theirfamilies or this country. No recent actions or comments by either candidate has shedanything new about either one.
It has, however, distracted the American people from the real issues at hand. Oneither side of the political fence there are important events happening, and decisionsbeing made right now. Things that should be examined before you cast your ballot.Things that will impact this country and your community. Events happening outsideof our one, small piece of the Universe that matter. But we aren't seeing those onTwitter, Facebook or the evening news. Because we are no longer demanding thatlevel of journalistic integrity. We seem content with the spun snippets of rhetoric thatrequire no actual thinking.
Have we really become this ignorant? Or thisarrogant? This is both scary and very sad to me asan American, and as a human being.
I will say this, in reference to Gold Star families anda political platform. The irony is that those who takean oath to defend, and potentially sacrifice theirlives for this country, do not enjoy the samefreedoms as other American citizens. Thedeceased members of the families currently in thenews would have not been permitted to endorseeither candidate. Despite their lives beingdrastically effected by which candidate willultimately hold that office. They were not protectedby the 1st Amendment.
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As a widow of one of these heroes, I would never dishonor his life or his legacy byallowing either to be used in such an ignominious manner by any politician.Watching the lives of these now voiceless men being exploited, debated, andbecome tongue in cheek sound bites on social media is heartbreaking.
I think we are better than this.
(Tricia is a member of the Folds of Honor Speaker's Bureau, and she is featured inthis video on its web site https://vimeo.com/170693085 The letter she reads in thevimeo was actually a paper written by her oldest son, Nathan, for his freshmanEnglish class a few years ago. Of it, she shared with Connecting: "Our journey has not been easy, nor has it beenpretty all the time. I know I have made many mistakes, and I have relied heavily onGrace many days. So for my boys to say things to shift the focus of the piece in thisdirection...I just can't find the right adjective to describe that feeling. If they see meas one tenth of how they described, ten percent of the time, I will feel successful asa mom.")
Connecting mailbox
Mel Opotowsky a champion of FirstAmendment rights
Linda Deutsch (Email) I am so delighted to see that Mel Opotowsky has joinedthe ranks of our "Connecting" subscribers and proud that I referred him. But hisprofile in Wednesday's issue is a masterpiece of understatement. I assume he wroteit with his usual humility. Mel is one of journalism's true First Amendment heroes. Asthe editor of the Riverside PressEnterprise in the 1980s he spearheaded two majorcourt access challenges which became U.S. Supreme Court precedents that arenow bulwarks of press freedom across the U.S. justice system.
The cases, if you want to read them, are Riverside Press Enterprise v. SuperiorCourt of California which in 1984 held that jury selection, known as voir dire, mustbe open to the public and Riverside Press Enterprise v. Superior Court of California(2) which in 1986 held that the public right of access to criminal proceedings extendsto preliminary hearings.
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Mel was the moving force in both cases, convincing his publisher to hire lawyers andtake on very expensive and prolonged legal challenges which were not seen asslam dunk winners at the time. Ultimately, they changed the life of every reportercovering the courts. I know because I benefitted from both decisions. I had beenlocked out of preliminary hearings and jury selection in high profile cases beforethese decisions became the law of the land. Lawyers still fight to keep courts closedon occasion, but these two decisions remain the best ammunition for reportersseeking access. I have cited them to judges who agreed to read the cases and thenopened the doors to their courtrooms.
I guess Mel could have rested on his laurels after that achievement, but he went onto found the California First Amendment Coalition (CFAC) and I joined him as afounding board member. Those who fight for First Amendment rights should look toMel's example. Just because a battle is tough doesn't mean it can't be won.
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On the AP alltime Top 100 college football poll John Willis (Email) was born in Columbus on Nov. 23, 1946. That team from upnorth played in Ohio Stadium that day, as my mother is reported to have finishedhard labor that lasted nearly 36 hours. I was born and my Buckeyes got their clockscleaned, 586. Many years later I attended Ohio State during the Woody Hayes eraand later got to interview him as the AP correspondent in Spokane. The release of The AP's all time top 100 makes this a great day to be a Buckeye. Then again, every day is a great day to be a Buckeye! Cheers and Go Bucks. AND Bill Kaczor (Email) There's one conspicuous outlier among AP's Top 10 alltimecollege football programs: Florida State at No. 9, one step ahead of archrivalFlorida. FSU was a women's college when AP began its polls in 1938 and did notfield its first football team until nine years later, many decades after the other top 10schools. The Seminoles did not make their first poll appearance until 1964. Yet theyclosed that 26year gap in a hurry after Bobby Bowden arrived in 1976. One of the highlights of my career was covering FSU football starting in 1980, justas the Seminoles began emerging as a national power, and then assisting BrentKallestad when he arrived as Tallahassee correspondent in the mid80s.
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The most memorable aspect was Bowden himself. Besides building the programfrom literally nothing (FSU was 110 and 38 in the two years before Bowdenarrived), he was a sportswriter's dream, always quotable and eventempered, win orlose. The only exception I'd experienced was when I asked him whether the arrestsof some players in a retail theft scheme a few months earlier would have any lastingimpact during an interview advancing the 1981 season. Chomping on the cigar thathe chewed but never lit, Bowden threatened to end the interview. I told him if hedidn't want to answer that was fine, but I had to ask. From then on it was back to hisusual good old, charming, dadgum quotable self. Jimbo Fisher is on track to reach similar heights with FSU's football program, buthe'll never be the media darling that Bowden had been. 0
An assist from an AP reporter who was there
When Missouri congressman Jerry Litton died in a plane crash on the night he wonthe Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in 1976, Bob Macy was a newsman in theKansas City AP bureau and covered the crash and the funeral of the Litton family.
So when Ken Newton of the St. Joseph NewsPress wrote a story for last Sundayon the 40year anniversary of the crash, Connecting put him in touch with Macy,who is retired and lives in Las Vegas, and Macy's memories contributed nicelyto Newton's story.
In the story, Macy said that over the course of a 30year career with the AssociatedPress, he produced about 11,000 bylined stories, and of the Litton death andfuneral, "It was one of the hardest stories I've ever done."
Welcome to Connecting
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Bill Foley william[email protected]
and a day late...
Jim Hood [email protected]
Ben Curtis [email protected]
Stories of interest How One Journalist Uses Social Media to Get Inside theMinds of ISIS (Wired)
RUKMINI CALLIMACHI IS arguably the best reporter on the most impor tantbeat in the world. As a New York Times correspondent covering terrorism, her workexplores not just what jihadists do but how they do it. You've read her stories onISIS's use of birth control to maintain its supply of sex slaves, or the Kouachibrothers' path to the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, or the nature of lonewolfattacks like the recent mass shooting in Orlando. Her byline often appears on thefront page of the paper; at just 43, she's received three Pulitzer Prize nominations.Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Callimachi, though, is how she gets herinsights into the world's most hostile and secretive organizations. Sure, she spendsmonths every year out of the country reporting, but increasingly her work requiresjust as much time staring at her phone and computer screen. Social media enablesCallimachi to access what she calls the "inner world of jihadists"; she lurks in
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Telegram chat rooms, navigates an endless flood oftips on Twitter, and carefully tracks sources andsubjects all over the Internet. Her cell phone batterydies up to four times a day. The truth, she has found, isas much online as it is on the ground.
Click here to read more. Shared by Susana Hayward.
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The Wall Street Journal now allowsmost vulgarities if they're in a quote
Definition of obscenity Standards evolve, including The Wall Street Journal's treatment of bad words. Asyou might have noticed, we now allow the printing of most vulgarities if they are indirect quotations and our news judgment is that the quotation is important to includebecause it gives insight into how the person communicates, his or her depth offeeling on a subject, or character. Thus, an executive referring to a "shit storm" or apolitician (guess who) vowing to "bomb the shit" out of Islamic State's oil operations. Click here to read more.
Today in History August 4, 2016
By The Associated Press
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Today is Thursday, Aug. 4, the 217th day of 2016. There are 149 days le in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Aug. 4, 1991, the Greek luxury liner Oceanos sank in heavy seas off South Africa'ssoutheast coast; the 402 passengers and 179 crew members all survived, largely throughthe efforts of ship's entertainers who oversaw rescue operaĕons. (Capt. Yiannis Avranas andother officers faced criĕcism for leaving the ship while some passengers were sĕll onboard.)
On this date:
In 1735, a jury found John Peter Zenger of the New York Weekly Journal not guilty ofcommiħng sediĕous libel against the colonial governor of New York, William Cosby.
In 1790, the U.S. Coast Guard had its beginnings as President George Washington signed ameasure authorizing a group of revenue cuĥers to enforce tariff and trade laws and preventsmuggling.
In 1830, plans for the city of Chicago were laid out.
In 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were axed to death in their home in Fall River,Massachuseĥs. Lizzie Borden, Andrew's daughter from a previous marriage, was accused ofthe killings, but acquiĥed at trial.
In 1914, Britain declared war on Germany for invading Belgium; the United Statesproclaimed its neutrality in the mushrooming world conflict.
In 1936, Jesse Owens of the U.S. won the second of his four gold medals at the BerlinOlympics as he prevailed in the long jump over German Luz Long, who was the first to
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congratulate him.
In 1944, 15‐year‐old diarist Anne Frank was arrested with her sister, parents and four othersby the Gestapo aer hiding for two years inside a building in Amsterdam. (Anne and hersister, Margot, died at the Bergen‐Belsen concentraĕon camp.)
In 1964, the bodies of missing civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodmanand James Chaney were found buried in an earthen dam in Mississippi.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed a measure establishing the Department of Energy.
In 1987, the Federal Communicaĕons Commission voted to abolish the Fairness Doctrine,which required radio and television staĕons to present balanced coverage of controversialissues.
In 1996, on the final day of the Atlanta Olympics, Josiah Thugwane became the first blackSouth African to win a gold medal as he finished first in the marathon.
In 2001, thousands of admirers turned out in London for what would prove to be the lastbirthday celebraĕon for Britain's Queen Mother Elizabeth, who was 101. (The QueenMother died in March 2002.)
Ten years ago: Israeli warplanes destroyed four key bridges on Lebanon's last untouchedhighway, severing the country's final major connecĕon to Syria. Authoriĕes in Phoenixannounced the arrests of two suspects in a string of apparently random late‐night killingsthat had terrorized residents for months. (Dale Hausner received six death sentences aerhe was convicted of killing six people and aĥacking 19 others; he commiĥed suicide inprison in June 2013. Samuel Dieteman, who had tesĕfied against Hausner, was sentenced tolife in prison.)
Five years ago: A Texas jury convicted polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs of child sexualassault in a case stemming from two young followers he'd taken as brides in what his churchcalled "spiritual marriages." (Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison.)
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One year ago: President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahumade dueling appeals to the American Jewish community as they sought to rally support fortheir opposing posiĕons on the Iranian nuclear deal; Netanyahu made his case against theagreement in a live webcast with more than 10,000 parĕcipants, according to the U.S.Jewish groups that organized the event, while Obama held a private meeĕng at the WhiteHouse with Jewish leaders.
Today's Birthdays: Actress‐singer Tina Cole is 73. Actor‐comedian Richard Belzer is 72.Football Hall‐of‐Famer John Riggins is 67. Former Aĥorney General Alberto Gonzales is 61.Actor‐screenwriter Billy Bob Thornton is 61. Actress Kym Karath (Film: "The Sound ofMusic") is 58. Hall of Fame track star Mary Decker Slaney is 58. Actress Lauren Tom is 57.President Barack Obama is 55. Producer Michael Gelman (TV: "Live with Kelly") is 55.Reĕred MLB All‐Star pitcher Roger Clemens is 54. Actress Crystal Chappell is 51. AuthorDennis Lehane is 51. Rock musician Rob Cieka (Boo Radleys) is 48. Actor Daniel Dae Kim is48. Actor Michael DeLuise is 47. Race car driver Jeff Gordon is 45. Rapper‐actress Yo‐Yo is45. Country singer Jon Nicholson is 43. Rhythm‐and‐blues singer‐actor Marques (MAR'‐kus)Houston is 35. Actress Meghan Markle is 35. Actress Greta Gerwig is 33. Country singerCrystal Bowersox (TV: "American Idol") is 31. Rock singer Tom Parker (The Wanted) is 28.Actors Cole and Dylan Sprouse are 24. Singer Jessica Sanchez (TV: "American Idol") is 21.
Thought for Today: "The beginning is the most important part of the work." ‐ Plato,Classical Greek philosopher.
Got a story to share?
Got a story to share? A favorite memory of your APdays? Don't keep them to yourself. Share with yourcolleagues by sending to Ye Olde Connecĕng Editor.And don't forget to include photos!
Here are some suggestions: Spousal support How your spouse helpedin supporting your work during your AP career.
My most unusual story tell us about an unusual, off the wall story that youcovered.
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"A silly mistake that you make" a chance to 'fess up with a memorable mistakein your journalistic career.
Multigenerational AP families profiles of families whose service spanned two ormore generations.
Volunteering benefit your colleagues by sharing volunteer stories with ideas onsuch work they can do themselves.
First job How did you get your first job in journalism?
Connecting "selfies" a word and photo selfprofile of you and your career, andwhat you are doing today. Both for new members and those who have been with usa while.
Life after AP for those of you who have moved on to another job or profession.
Most unusual place a story assignment took you.
Paul StevensEditor, Connecĕng newsleĥ[email protected]
Connecting newsletter, 14719 W 79th Ter, Lenexa, KS 66215
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