Weekend Video Jam: Kind of Blue

Fifty years after it was recorded, “Kind of Blue” remains the biggest-selling jazz record of all time — we’re talkin’ ’bout vinyl here! — and the subject of endless fascination. This week NPR delved into the subject of the Miles Davis-led project, which featured solos from John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans, among others. [...]

Kvetch of the Week: Jumping the snark

Longtime film critic David Denby is torn between two journalistic worlds, as many of his (and my) generation of ink-stained wretches are, and probably will be, for the rest of their days. Yes, he mourns the loss of authority of the printed form, and yes, the Internet is fabulous. These are the pillar-to-post sentiments that [...]

Hopeful, but daunting prospects for the post-newspaper tribe

The American Journalism Review spoke with a number displaced journalists in a fascinating piece just published entitled “Is There Life After Newspapers?” and discovered that many of them are relatively pleased and fully engaged in new careers and lives. Even as they shake their heads at what’s happening to the newspaper industry they left behind. [...]

A ‘Plan B’ guide for journalists — before they need it

I heard this often, somewhat skeptically, before I left my job and have truly come to believe it since then. And now I’m hearing others who who have stepped out of the newsroom say the same thing. Not only is there a great “Life After Newspapers,” as the panel title expresses rather clearly, but the [...]

Weekend Video Jam: One Note Samba

One of the masters of Bossa Nova was Antonio Carlos Jobim, who popularized the Brazilian sound throughout the world with such classics as “The Girl from Ipanema,” “Corcovado” and “Desafinado.” Jobim, who would have turned 82 on Sunday (he died in 1994) also sealed his legend by appearing with some of the superstars of American [...]

Kvetch of the Week: A sportswriter does it best

As a member (honorary, now?) of the jocko-journo tribe, I can attest that my people have been terribly disappointing at kvetching since this modest blog launched its weekly honor for outstanding performance in said category. Then the kvetchiest sportswriter of them all launched a fulminating tirade against his former colleagues, and when that perfect storm [...]

The fortitude of a freelance journalist

For the last few months, as I’ve been casually picking up freelance assignments and enjoying the variety and renewed energy of it all, I’ve been oblivious to the cold reality that those far more immersed in this way of work have been facing. Until now. Someone I freelance for has lost a very nice gig [...]

Inauguration Day media choices abound online

Even if you’re suffering from pre-inauguration fatigue — do we really have to comprehend what kind of statement Michelle Obama’s dress might make? — big events are giving news organizations plenty of options to experiment with multimedia tools and other online-only presentations. Like the coverage of the marathon presidential campaign (which I summarized here), this [...]

Weekend video jam: Fine and mellow

Another dispiriting week in the media industries and bone-chilling temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere. I can’t think of a better way to deal with the blues than to warm to Billie Holiday’s star-studded rendition of a song she wrote. It’s a classic in its own right, airing in a 1957 special on CBS called “The [...]

Kvetch of the Week: Money for nothing, journalism for free

All it takes for the journosphere to swing into high bludgeon is for a newspaper crab to suggest that online readers of news sites should have to pay something — anything — to click. David Carr of the New York Times was this week’s very convenient whipping boy for advocating an iTunes-style system of payment [...]