Nope. Not even death.
If you’re a fan of CSI, or any other prime time show on CBS, you won’t have to worry about network news producers breaking in to do a special report if Terri Schiavo dies. They made it very clear that during prime time, they’ll do a crawl only. They want to avoid repeating this at all costs.
Either Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) is looking to hire Marcos Zuniga to blog about his next campaign or he really does believe that bloggers should be classified as journalists.
In a column published on CNet today, Rep. Conyers stated that bloggers have shown they warrant First Amendment protection. He lists the following reasons:
Then, the money shot:
Bloggers should be classified as journalists and given First Amendment protections based on the function they perform, not the form of their transmissions. Properly understood, the First Amendment applies to all those who report with journalistic integrity–offline or online.
OK, I’m gonna say it.
(Gulp)
(Ahem)
He’s right.
Yes, Democrat Representative John Conyers is right.
Not about First Amendment rights. Everyone is covered there – no matter who they are or what they say. I’m taking about bloggers being accepted as equals to those in the traditional media. Bloggers should be looked at no differently than those who report for the local hometown newspaper or the New York Times.
Did you catch the key phrase Conyers used?
“Journalistic Integrity”
In other words, responsibility. Bloggers have a responsibility, the same way a newspaper, radio, television, or magazine journalist has a responsibility. It’s simple really.
Citizen journalists must hold themselves to these standards. If we do not, we risk the legitimacy we seek. We will be refused the access we need. We will be a liability to the organizations, the groups, and the individuals we attempt to serve.
We will be “second class” citizen journalists.
Bravo Mr. Conyers. For today, I’m willing to believe that you mean what you say, and I’ll be expecting your help in the weeks and months to come as this important decision is considered by your colleagues in the FEC.
UPDATE (3/31/05): Conyers has his own blog.
From MSNBC – Howard Reig, the last staff announcer for NBC, retired today at the age of 84. Reig’s title is special. “Staff Announcer”. They came from radio and made the transition to television. In this new media age, they are a dying breed.
So few staff announcers remain on the rosters of the nation’s networks and broadcasting outlets that they constitute an endangered species. Staff announcers are increasingly being replaced by “daily hires” and freelancers who, in many cases, live hundreds of miles from they stations they identify or promote. They pre-record their announcements and ship them to the point of transmission by post, Federal Express, satellites or ISDN lines. Instantaneous audio synthesis of text files by means of hardware and software will mark the final stage of the staff announcer’s evolution.
The only “real” announcer left is Don Pardo. He’s still working, but at age 87, he’ll be the next to go.
A significant era is coming to an end. In another 5 years or so, the job of staff announcer will be only a memory.
(h/t OTB)
Cheat on your husband, get a divorce and net $40 million.
A judge has awarded the former wife of a multimillionaire businessman a divorce settlement worth more than $40 million, even though she admitted having affairs with both her rock-climbing guide and a man she met on a flight to China.
In addition to a $24 million payment, Susan Sosin will keep the couple’s $3.6 million Manhattan apartment, $2 million Utah ski house and $800,000 home in Wallkill, N.Y. But she has to vacate the couple’s two mansions in Connecticut and three desert properties in Arizona.
In the divorce granted Wednesday, she also gets to keep $6 million in her brokerage accounts, eight cars and $2.9 million in jewelry, including a ruby piece her husband had bought for her but hadn’t given to her prior to their divorce.
Richard Albrecht, attorney for Sosin’s husband, Howard Sosin, estimated the total value of the award at $43 million, or 27 percent of the estate. She wanted half, he said.
“My opinion is her conduct in this matter affected the award,” Albrecht said.
The life of the super rich. And I love that quote from the lawyer. You can almost hear the hint of disappointment in his voice. Excuse me Sir, SHE GOT $40 MILLION DOLLARS! And he’s bummed out. Hah.
I’m sure the appeal is forthcoming. I mean really, how can anyone live on a measly $40 million?
REDSTATE.ORG has it all. Should bloggers be worried?