Beating the Heat – and the Competition

The extensive coverage of this week’s heat wave reminds me of a time when I used a similar situation to my advantage as a reporter. My editors wanted me to get a quick comment for a story from the Governor (then Tom Kean) without any other reporters hearing the exchange.

Kean had a public appearance that day, and as was his style, he remained at the podium after the official part of the event was over to answer questions on a variety of topics from the State House press corp. Most of my colleagues were getting inserts for weather stories being compiled back in their home offices. The questions ranged from what the state was doing to how the Governor himself kept cool.

I waited patiently until all the weather questions were over and my fellow journalists were on their way back to their respective bureaus. Then I asked my question, got the quote we needed and relayed it back to our main office.

While the story was important at that time, I cannot today remember the topic, but I do recall the heat, so perhaps in the long run I really didn’t beat my competitors at all.

The Murdoch Scandal: Is There A Double Standard?

The job of a journalist is to report the news, but occasionally journalists become the news.

We saw this in New Jersey recently when the state’s decision to transfer operations of New Jersey Network to WNET became a major news story. In fact, over the past 10 to 15 years, the business side of the industry often has been in the news as cutbacks, layoffs and ownership consolidation changed the landscape of journalism in America. At other times, conflicts with authority have made for good copy, such as

Media Makes for Strange Bedfellows

There’s not a lot of agreement between Democrats and Republicans in Trenton, Washington or anyplace else these days, but thanks to the media, some political opponents have found common ground. Among those calling for a federal investigation into the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal are high profile lawmakers from both major political parties such as Democrat Barbara Boxer and Republican Peter King. It seems like Democrats don’t like Republicans; Republicans don’t like Dems, and neither party cares much for the media.

Privacy, Civility and an All-Star Decision

I don’t care that Derek Jeter decided not to take part in this year’s Major League Baseball All-Star game.

Sure, it would have been great to watch Jeter play in the midsummer classic a few days after he made baseball history by becoming the first New York Yankee to reach the 3,000-hit mark.

But if the veteran shortstop feels he needs a few days off (as he did), that’s his prerogative.

The real question here is