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29 June 2008
An Editorial LiveJournal from Mr. Gibbons!
Mr. Gibbons' diaries are SO elegant, witty, and insightful (especially true when compared to other Chron diaries)! We urge everyone to check out his ideal state.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ LiveJournal from Mr. Gibbons!"> 06/29/08 10:38 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
19 April 2005
Gibbons Editorial LiveJournal: Guns, guns, oh my!
Matt Bramanti takes Gibbons to task for some specific references in the Gibbons diary about his trip to the NRA gun show.
I have a more fundamental question -- why should newspaper readers care about James Howard Gibbons' trip through a gun show? And how self-important does the man have to be to think the editorial page of a major daily is the place for said ramblings (as opposed to a LiveJournal)?
We've taken to calling these insipid diversions "Editorial LiveJournals," a play on the Chron's own name for the columns and an allusion to the diary-like nature of the LiveJournal service. It's an ongoing source of amusement that the same person who lectured bloggers about editorial pages in an ideal state continues to grab space on his own editorial page for personal columns that are closer to LiveJournal entries than editorials in an ideal state.
Incidentally, recent Editorial LiveJournals have referred to Gibbons as the editor of the editorial page, with the previous "interim" tag removed. An email to the newspaper confirmed that Gibbons is now the editor of that page. So, it looks like we can expect even more Editorial LiveJournals -- unless Mr. Gibbons takes us up on this offer.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Gibbons Editorial LiveJournal: Guns, guns, oh my!"> 04/19/05 04:48 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (7)
18 September 2006
Editorial LiveJournal: Oriana Fallaci
James Howard Gibbons, editor of the Chronicle's opinion pages, today offers up another personal reflection that the newspaper calls an Editorial Journal (we prefer the term Editorial LiveJournal).
The title of this one is kind of fun:
So it is, Mr. Gibbons, so it is!
The Editorial LiveJournal reflects on the late Oriana Fallaci, for whom a young Mr. Gibbons worked when he was 18. Fallaci passed away last week.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ LiveJournal: Oriana Fallaci"> 09/18/06 11:36 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (4)
11 April 2005
James Howard Gibbons' editorial LiveJournal
We've gotten used to Lucas Wall using his transportation column for petulant outbursts when he is inconvenienced by the city's public transportation.
His LiveJournal-like "editorial journal" makes it clear that he's not happy that somehow, his license plates flagged him as someone with a phantom arrest warrant. It's Kafkaesque, he (almost) says!
While blogHOUSTON would certainly never wish misfortune upon anyone (as Ayn Rand might say, we believe in a beneficent universe), we can't help but be slightly amused when certain Chronicle journalists discover the problems that normal Houstonians run into every day. The difference, of course, is that most normal Houstonians don't get to use the city's only major daily to express their displeasure.
We're also amused that Mr. Gibbons is discovering the ineptitude that has resulted from six years of mismanagement by the mayoral candidate his editorial board endorsed repeatedly.
Perhaps the Editorial Idealist should (con)descend to the cave with the rest of us commoners more frequently. He might just discover that the city isn't exactly in an ideal state.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ James Howard Gibbons' editorial LiveJournal"> 04/11/05 10:29 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (5)
29 April 2006
Editorial LiveJournal: Mr. Gibbons goes to the theater!
It's been quite a while since a member of the Chronicle editorial board treated us to a diary of one of his/her grand adventures in the city of Houston in the form of an Editorial LiveJournal.
Bad things come to those who wait, however, as James Howard Gibbons has an account of his trip to the theater in today's Chronicle:
In this overstimulating age, I'm frequently tempted to say, "Oh, let someone else go out and get himself royally entertained." Fortunately, I resisted the temptation and went to see a production of Moličre's The Miser, which runs through Sunday at the Alley Theatre.This production of the 17th century French play, by Theatre de la Jeune Lune, adapts the script for today's audiences. But while the play now refers to Enron, the themes are dissimilar.
It seems kind of fitting that that Mr. Gibbons chose to write about an interpretive bastardization of Moličre on a bastardization of a major newspaper editorial page.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ LiveJournal: Mr. Gibbons goes to the theater!"> 04/29/06 07:46 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
18 January 2006
The return of the Editorial LiveJournal
It's been ages since a member of the Chronicle editorial board treated us to an Editorial LiveJournal.
We thought we'd had so much fun at their expense that perhaps they retired them.
Trying to pick a favorite song is a fool's errand.
As Matt Bramanti points out, Gibbons proves well suited to the task.
It's still not clear why this features-style writing appears on the editorial page of a major newspaper, especially given our generous offer to relocate such content.
BLOGVERSATION: Isolated Desolation.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ LiveJournal"> 01/18/06 11:55 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
23 May 2005
James Howard Gibbons: The tough, smart LiveJournalist!
Chronicle editorial page editor James Howard Gibbons has posted another Editorial LiveJournal entry on his editorial page today.
Sure, he can call it a Sounding Board article, but any column that uses "I" as much as Gibbons' does is an Editorial LiveJournal in our view.
Apparently, the Editorial LiveJournalist wants those silly readers who see the world in black and white and who criticized that offensive editorial on Florida's new child predator law to know that he really does know best. He served on a jury after all, and was TOUGH. Tough and smart, not unlike Jim Adler!
Matt Bramanti gives the Editorial LiveJournal a good Fisking over at Lone Star Times.
UPDATE (05-24-2005): I neglected Sedosi Alhambra's post on the tough, smart LiveJournalist (item #7).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ James Howard Gibbons: The tough, smart LiveJournalist!"> 05/23/05 11:25 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (4)
11 June 2005
Editorial LiveJournal: Mr. Gibbons rides his bike!
Chronicle editorial page editor and Platonic idealist James Howard Gibbons has another of his Editorial LiveJournals in today's newspaper.
Here's a sample:
The summer day had set in with its usual severity when I set out from home on my bicycle. After several blocks I dismounted and walked through the sculpture garden of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, then rode the remaining blocks to the Museum District light-rail station.I wheeled my bike onto the next train, and enjoyed air-conditioned comfort until we reached the northern end of the line. I got off at the University of Houston — Downtown, then rode through the loft district to the McKee Street Bridge.
At the bridge I took the new hike-and-bike trail along Buffalo Bayou to Jensen Drive, where Mayor Bill White and other dignitaries officially opened the path and joined bikers and hikers for the inaugural ride and stroll.
WHO CARES?!
And why would the opinion page editor of a quality newspaper subject poor readers to it? Especially after his friends at blogHOUSTON constructed a much more suitable home for such nonsense!
Sedosi Alhambra has more thoughts.
UPDATE (06-13-2005): As Matt Bramanti notes in the comments, Mr. Gibbons spelled the name of a major Houston street incorrectly (Shepard instead of Shepherd) in his Editorial LiveJournal. THAT would seem to be less than ideal!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ LiveJournal: Mr. Gibbons rides his bike!"> 06/11/05 09:45 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (5)
25 June 2006
Mr. Gibbons visits the sea, via Courbet and MFAH
The Editorial LiveJournal makes a return to the Chronicle editorial pages today.
We frequently refer to the Chronicle editorialists as the Editorial LiveJournalists. That's because opinion page editor James Howard Gibbons decided some time ago that his opinion pages occasionally need to run personal diaries instead of the usual staff editorials. And so we have been treated to stories of Gibbons riding his bike (no joke!) and another editorialist offering her leftovers to her neighbors (no kidding!). It's fare more appropriate to a LiveJournal than a serious newspaper. Hence the term, Editorial LiveJournalists.
Here is a snippet from today's Editorial (Live)Journal:
A civil rights lawyer in Austin wears what surely must be the world's most desirable wristwatch. Instead of numerals or marks indicating the hours, the watch's face bears the words, "It's time to go to the beach."
This is the season for that pleasure, but the frequent thunderstorms and heavy rains might deter some beachgoers. No matter. An exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston holds the remedy.Entitled Courbet and the Modern Landscape, the exhibit offers three rooms of paintings by Gustav Courbet, selected to show this master's role as a transitional figure from the idealized painting of the Salon and state patronage to realism and Impressionism. While most of Courbet's painting were completed in the studio, he made many drawings in the field so as to be able to paint things as they are and as he saw them.
Particularly sublime is the selection of Courbet's seascapes.
And less sublime is the typo in the Editorial LiveJournal.
As Matt Bramanti asked in reference to an earlier Editorial LiveJournal, why do these diaries keep appearing on the editorial page of a major metropolitan newspaper?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Gibbons visits the sea, via Courbet and MFAH"> 06/25/06 11:57 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
27 October 2007
The return of the Editorial LiveJournal
It's been quite a while since James Howard Gibbons and crew posted a true Editorial LiveJournal, so today's is a treat! Here's an excerpt:
If the French believe that gilding is the lily's proper fate, so violated is nature becoming that it might require gilding in order to be aesthetically pleasing. An example Ohlin provided are the bronzed, artificial rocks of artist Vija Clemens.
It's really world class when the Chief Editorial LiveJournalist breaks out the flowery prose!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ LiveJournal"> 10/27/07 12:17 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
03 December 2006
While they're at it...
Chronicle reader representative James Campbell comments today on Chron editors who apparently decided to play marketers with the newspaper's front page:
The photo of model Alexandra Kelly that nearly covered Page One of last Sunday's early edition Chronicle was strikingly elegant and aptly symbolic of the story it announced about defying age.
The problem was, Kelly was nude, her privates covered only by the positioning of her arms and legs and an artistic back shadow. The stylishly tasteful photo was more befitting the cover of an upscale women's magazine than Page One of the Chronicle, some readers protested.
Eh, we think it's brilliant marketing actually.
When your content is of questionable value, go for more graphics!
In fact, we'd suggest replacing at least half of the content on the editorial page with "stylishly tasteful" skin shots. That should attract some readers. And it would be at least as interesting as James Howard Gibbons' personal diaries or Andrea Georgsson's leftover adventures!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/03/06 09:52 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (8)
27 July 2005
Painful
James Howard Gibbons had to be responsible for this:
But a virtual library, no matter how expertly perused, can't offer the serendipity so nourishing to creative thought. No matter where a scholar wanders on the Internet, she travels a linear path she has initiated with a predetermined key word or phrase.
Please.
Don't do that again.
Thanks.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/27/05 11:04 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
01 February 2006
Editorial LiveJournal: Mr. Gibbons and the car show!
The Houston Chronicle editorial page ventured into personal-diary territory again today, as opinion page editor James Howard Gibbons carried on about the Houston auto show and purchasing a car.
Here are some excerpts:
Every 12 years I buy another car, whether I need one or not. Last fall the time came due, and so I exchanged a 15-year-old Japanese sedan for a 3-year-old German one. I wish I had waited until I had attended the Houston Auto Show at Reliant Center. My choice might have been different.
Judging by the number of people climbing in and out of the pickup trucks and SUVs on display, Texans have not lost their love affair with vehicles able to hold more than one family or homestead. The latest models offer slightly better gas mileage than their predecessors, and if I belonged to a large tribe I might have bought one.[snip]
Half of my cars have been red convertibles, and there were several in the auto show that tempted me again, including the Mazda Miata and the new Pontiac Solstice.
[snip]
My wife has a hankering for a Toyota RAV4 small SUV. Unfortunately, the redesigned RAV4 is elongated and not as cute as the original — a lesson that some things are not easily improved.
General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner told the Chronicle's editorial board Friday that GM's most difficult task was fixing its product line.
[snip]
I have never owned an American car, and have not studied one closely since the birth of the Mustang, Camaro and GTO during the '60s.
Shouldn't these big boosters of light rail be using the public transportation? And shouldn't they be considering a vehicle other than an SUV, even if it is a small SUV?
But here's a better question -- is this really fodder for the editorial page of a serious newspaper?
No, it is not.
For those who are new to blogHOUSTON and wonder why we call the Chronicle editorial board the "Editorial LiveJournalists," it's because they continue to publish these personal diaries on the editorial page, when there is a much better forum for such diaries. It's really hard to take this editorial page seriously for that reason.
BLOGVERSATION: Isolated Desolation.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ LiveJournal: Mr. Gibbons and the car show!"> 02/01/06 06:35 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
03 October 2008
It's buyout time at the Chronicle!
A friend recently alerted us that buyouts were being finalized this week at the Chronicle
Apparently, today is the day for some of the announcements. We presume this blog post from Julie Mason is related (and the Chron's D.C. bureau just got a little more serious).
John Wilburn, most recently the Chron's managing editor, takes over as Opinion Director. Steve Jetton takes over as Outlook editor. David Langworthy slides into an editorial writing position. Jim Newkirk takes over as reader rep (and will apparently retain his gigs as budget czar and high school liaison).
That's what we are hearing so far. If you have any other interesting Chron buyout tidbits, feel free to pass them along in the comments (or anonymously here if you prefer).
Here's hoping these moves improve what had become simply a dreadful editorial page -- one that recently confused the date of 9/11 and the name of the Harris County Sheriff (calling him Tommy Thompson, and refusing to correct the mistake). We can't say we'll miss the Editorial Journals of one James Howard Gibbons -- or his editorials in an erroneous state. But if he decides he misses the opinion game, we still have his diary space at the ready!
UPDATE: We hear that Rad Sallee has taken the buyout. Will METRO have a position for him?
UPDATE (10/09/08): Per Media Bistro, Mason didn't get the buyout and Bennett Roth of the D.C. bureau was also laid off.
UPDATE (10/12/08): Another source says Mason and Roth were offered the buyout. Maybe at some point the newspaper will issue a press release and clear it all up.
BLOGVERSATION: Lone Star Times (and here), Unca Darrell.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/03/08 06:27 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (2)
09 August 2006
Is Lee Brown running the Chronicle's remodeling project?
In this week's Houston Press, Rich Connelly notes that a big downtown booster isn't exactly leading by example:
Just off Market Square, near the center of the area that's supposed to be triggering a downtown revival, one property owner has persisted in keeping up ugly, sidewalk-blocking scaffolding and barriers.
The eyesores have been there for more than two years; the property owner, not satisfied with simply annoying downtown visitors, also at one point failed to pay thousands of dollars in permit fees -- more than a year's worth of payments to the city. When the city asked to see their plans to determine how long the unsightly project would continue, the property owner blew them off and didn't respond.Sounds like a story you'd read about in the Houston Chronicle, which has tirelessly pushed every scheme, no matter how harebrained, to rejuvenate downtown Houston and has been harsh on those deemed insufficiently civic-minded.
But maybe you won't read that story, because the property owner in question is the Houston Chronicle.
The Chron is replacing the exterior facade and modernizing its offices at 801 Texas, a spokeswoman says. The project should take another 14 months "once required permits are obtained," she says.
Wes Johnson, spokesman for the city's public works department, says the paper first asked permission for the "sidewalk covers" in 2004. "About a year later," he says, "we asked them if they were going to continue with this because their permit was running out -- they said, 'Yeah, we are; we'll get back to you' -- well, they didn't."
Maybe James Howard Gibbons could write an Editorial LiveJournal about it!
Of course, the Chronicle editorial page is about as timely as the Chronicle remodeling project, so it may not appear for a while.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/09/06 10:35 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
20 June 2005
Letters editor joins the Editorial LiveJournal act
We've commented previously (and too frequently) on the Editorial LiveJournal escapades of the Chronicle editorial board's resident Platonist, James Howard Gibbons.
Today, letters editor Judy Minshew gets in on the act with a rambling "Sounding Board" column that we prefer to characterize as an Editorial LiveJournal. Here's a sample of her diary-like post about her grandson, class structure in American life, college degrees, and a half dozen other things:
The last time I was in Fort Worth, I took Mike and some of his friends to a party at a home that was undoubtedly worth $3 million. In a posh, gated community, the house was not only huge but beautiful. After meeting the host parents and coordinating with them on what time I would return, I went out to dinner. Later, after taking the other boys home, I asked Mike if he knew what the family did for a living. He said the father "manages his 'investments.' "
I laughed out loud: No kidding! With a house that size, a pool as big as my back yard and a media room to rival Steven Spielberg's, I'm sure he stays quite busy managing his investments. If Mike thinks he can live that lifestyle, he's going to need several of those advanced degrees!
Of course I don't know what his future will be or if it will be necessary for him to get a degree to be successful — I know others who didn't and are. But with graduation so close, he's going to have to make the academic most of every minute between now and then.
We have nothing against Miss Minshew, aside from the fact that some of her decisions on the letters page are just baffling.
However, this writing really doesn't belong on the editorial page of a serious newspaper. There's a better place for such writing.
CALLIE MARKANTONIS ADDS: What the heck was that about? That's five minutes of my life I'll never get back.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ LiveJournal act"> 06/20/05 08:52 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
03 October 2006
Stinking up the editorial page
On his Chron.com blog, reader representative James T. Campbell recounts the serious discussions that have taken place down at 801 Texas Avenue relative to the newspaper's use of the term "fart" in a headline on the editorial pages.
The Chief Editorial LiveJournalist James Howard Gibbons was apparently away, which may have contributed to the breakdown. Veronica Bucio, who once embarrassed herself and the newspaper by calling the U.S. Attorney General a liar, seems to have made the call to go with the stinky term, although she seems also to have consulted Leftover Specialist Andrea Georgsson and David Langworthy.
The reader representative does not indicate whether he was consulted before the headline was chosen, although he does express displeasure with it. More importantly, Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen didn't like it.
That begs the question -- why didn't someone think to ask Cohen his opinion before the headline was chosen. He is the editor after all.
But the weather has been really nice. It's entirely possible he was out on the links, with cell phone turned off. That's one of the perks of being the top dog at a newspaper with a spot on the fifth row in the White House press briefing room, we suppose.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/03/06 10:40 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
31 July 2005
Shock: A Sunday editorial page mostly free of "olds"
After several weeks of stale Sunday editorial page content, James Howard Gibbons finally put together a Sunday page that is almost entirely fresh, and even contains a fair number of op-eds of local interest.
Apparently, Mr. Gibbons couldn't resist running one bit of "olds" by Jonathan Chait, for obvious reasons:
Earlier this month, when President Bush met with Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III to interview him for a potential Supreme Court nomination, the conversation turned to exercise. When asked by the president of the United States how often he exercised, Wilkinson impressively responded that he runs 3 1/2 miles a day. Bush urged him to adopt more cross-training. "He warned me of impending doom," Wilkinson told The New York Times.
Am I the only person who finds this disturbing?
The crew at Brothers Judd answered that question rather well with their headline way back on July 22, when Chait's op-ed appeared in the LA Times.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/31/05 09:18 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
26 April 2005
Increasingly personal journalism from the Chronicle?
The Chronicle's makeover seems not to have ended with the big layout changes that reduced the amount of actual information in the paper in favor of more text boxes and graphics.
We've been noticing that, more and more, serious journalism is being displaced by what we've deemed the LiveJournal approach -- all sorts of personal accounts taking up space where we'd prefer to see harder news.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/26/05 10:40 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
03 November 2006
France is the ideal state! (cont'd)
Yesterday, the humorless Chronicle Editorial LiveJournalists came to the rousing defense of ... France [insert your own joke here], whose honor they apparently feel was insulted by Rick Perry's "Mr. Way too liberal for Texas guy" spoof of Chris Bell:
It's Perry, though, whose ad wins the grand prix for foreigner-bashing. This week his campaign debuted the magisterial "Mr. Way Too Liberal for Texas Guy" ad. In it, an announcer derides Democratic contender Chris Bell for being too much ... like France. "And you voted to let the United Nations oversee elections in America because no one stands up for democracy like the French ... So wear your fancy beret with pride, Congressman Bell."
Poor, humorless James Howard Gibbons. I think he's still smarting from Matt Bramanti's assessment of the "ideal state."
I've written elsewhere that I think this ad of Perry's is one of the best I've seen/heard in a while. A few days ago, an AP story that ran in the Chronicle had this to say:
ANALYSIS: Perry hits a home run with this hilarious spoof on a jingle for light beer. It's bound to appeal to voters of all political stripes, especially young people familiar with Bud Light's "Real Men of Genius" ad campaign. After all, who likes paying taxes? Or berets? The ad is especially brilliant because it lets Perry attack Bell for the third time on air without coming across as a negative nag. Of all the mud Perry could have slung as failed presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry stumped for Bell in Austin on Friday, this was the perfect tone to take. Between the ad itself and the watercooler chatter sure to follow, Perry is bound to grab the attention, and possibly even support, of many people who hadn't given much thought to the governor's race.
FACT CHECK: It's hard to even think about whether the accusations are true when you're rolling on the floor laughing, but there are some question marks....
Unlike the Editorial LiveJournalists, the AP writer apparently did not see the need to go on to defend the French. She was probably laughing too hard. The Editorial LiveJournalists should try it sometime. It's therapeutic!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/03/06 10:36 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
25 April 2005
A public-service suggestion from the Houston-area coven
The blog has been a little quiet tonight, as Anne and I have been in a conclave with other members of the Houston-area coven.
We've been trying to come up with a solution to METRO's Park and Pillage problem.
Really.
No security presence in the lots, but a Task Force and Crime Stoppers!
We weren't satisfied with that. So we've conjured a few spells. We've looked into the crystal ball. We've even re-read Reagan's famous 1964 speech (being a "hard-right" coven and all).
And we think we've come up with a much better proposal.
Much like the volunteers of the Minuteman Project are guarding the border with Mexico because the government has abdicated its responsibility to do so, we propose that Houstonians form a voluntary security detail for the Park and Rides, since METRO has basically said you're on your own if you choose to use their lots. Just to give METRO grief and prompt James Howard Gibbons to write a new LiveJournal entry, we propose limiting the security detail to volunteers with concealed-carry permits.
Now, before anyone starts complaining that we're advocating vigilante justice -- that's not what we're advocating at all. We don't actually want anyone shot. We think a local Minuteman Project would simply provide a deterrent to thieves and vandals that METRO isn't providing at the moment. Or, the very thought of it will scare METRO into staffing the Park and Rides with security, like they should be doing already.
So that's the Houston-area coven's public-service suggestion for the evening.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/25/05 11:13 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
17 July 2005
Stale editorial page: An ongoing Chron series!
For the past couple of Sundays, we've pointed out that the Chronicle's opinion pages were a little stale, with all sorts of content previously published in major newspapers.
We were hoping James Howard Gibbons might take the hint and try to freshen up the pages a bit -- perhaps even bring in some fresh blood like Mark Steyn, whose columns do not appear in many American newspapers.
Instead, Gibbons seems to have entirely missed the point we were making. Today, plenty of stale content appears. And now, the authors' bylines contain short notes explaining in which major newspaper their columns first appeared!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/17/05 09:42 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
22 December 2006
Slampo rains on the Project Row Houses parade
Crazy bloggers.
Sometimes they just can't resist providing a little... what is that word?
Perspective. Yeah, that's it. But I've gotten a little ahead of myself.
Backtrack to December 17, when the New York Times ran a fawning feature on Houston's Project Row Houses.
Not to be outdone, the Editorial LiveJournalists swung into action for the Chronicle's December 20 edition:
The Third Ward, and the whole city, got an early Christmas gift this month when City Council approved a $975,000 grant to Project Row Houses. The "zero interest performance-based loan,"as it's called, allows founder Rick Lowe and his staff to add 16 low-income rental units to their nonprofit complex.
The project's swath of Holman Street "may be the most impressive and visionary public art project in the country," the New York Times declared on Sunday. But the project's import is hardly news to the 150 artists who have worked from its restored shotgun house/studios, or the 40 young mothers who have moved toward self-sufficiency in the project's affordable-housing units. It's also little surprise to the ever-rippling circles of Third Ward residents and other Houstonians who've been nourished by visits to the place.
While practically gushing over the "zero interest performance-based loan" (known to some as a giveaway -- and an interesting priority for Mayor White and his Council), the Editorial LiveJournalists neglected one very interesting bit of news that did not escape the notice of Houston's best blogger, Slampo:
And somehow, in its giddy celebration of Project Row Houses’ big score at City Hall, the Chronicle failed to note a somewhat discouraging word about the project that was buried back in the newspaper a month ago. That was the “news” that Project Row House’s longtime financial director, Lajuanda Malone, had pleaded guilty to felony theft of more than $200,000 from the nonprofit and was tagged, as the paper put it in an uncharacteristically raffish turn of phrase, with “10 years in the state penitentiary” (is there not more than one?).
That's surely interesting! And Slampo has more. More perspective, if you will. A needed perspective on this story that's curiously missing from any MSM outlet in town.
It's good that sometimes lowly bloggers can supply some of that, even if they don't reside in the ideal state of one James Howard Gibbons.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/22/06 10:49 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (4)
21 May 2005
The Casey LiveJournal Monologues, blogged
Some time ago, we noted that Chronicle columnist Rick Casey would be speaking to the Harris County Democratic Party.
Certainly, journalists are welcome to speak to groups -- even political groups -- to promote their news organization and their work, whether it's Rick Casey speaking to Democrats or Dan Feldstein speaking to conservative-activist talk-radio listeners (an appearance scheduled and then canceled).
However, it's extremely useful to news consumers to know what those journalists actually say when out and about. Thus, the Houston Democrats blog has performed a fine service to news consumers and media watchers alike in Houston by recounting Casey's remarks. Here's a sample:
Rick says there is a new nationl religion: God wants you to be rich. If you are not rich, you are not with God. Basically, the right wing would like to do away with CHIP, Medicaid, and the school fund. Instead religion says we should worship markets.Markets aren't all bad, but Rick cautioned that we should consider how to make markets do what they do well and to tame them so they do. The rich say we do not have to do anything to manage markets. The poor just have to get with God, and that will solve their problems. Rick noted that at one time it was the blacks who were not believed to be with God, now it's the poor.
Essentially, the right wing has stollen the identity of Chritianity and turned it against the "non-believers." Rick asked how is it that God wants us to have a 3-5% revenue cap?
It's certainly provocative and informative reading.
Casey's columns regularly lean to the left, and we have pointed out occasions when he seems willing to flesh out details on issues that are of interest to the editorial board. The fact that he is a columnist on the news pages, but regularly offers editorial opinion in his column, seems not to be a concern to anyone at the Chronicle, although it's not clear to me why his column doesn't run on the editorial page where it belongs.
Of course, if he were moved there, the lack of balance on the editorial page would be even more striking (Cragg Hines, Clay Robison, and Casey as the staff writers on the Left, not to mention James Howard Gibbons, Andrea Georgsson, and Mr. Kathryn Kase representing liberal pet causes in unsigned editorials -- with no identifiable local conservatives writing regularly), and the laughable claim that the editorial position is "not liberal or conservative" would be that much harder to take seriously. One does feel sorry for actual reporters who have to share the news pages with Casey, though.
RELATED: My double-top-secret agenda (Rob Booth, Lone Star Times), Pay no attention to that columnist behind the veil (Sedosi Alhambra, Isolated Desolation).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ LiveJournal Monologues, blogged"> 05/21/05 10:33 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (1)
18 January 2006
Flawed Chron/Murray/Stein survey continues to draw attention (updated)
David Benzion posts that Dr. David Hill of Hill Research Consultants was interviewed yesterday by Fox News (national) about the flaws in that poll on Tom DeLay that the Chronicle rushed to the field following a spate of bad press for DeLay.
Benzion shares some of the points made by Dr. Hill in his blog post, and suggests that the interview may get some play on Special Report with Brit Hume today. Hill is a nationally respected pollster from The Woodlands.
Hill's critique comes after Chris Wilson of Wilson Research Strategies criticized elements of the survey and the Chronicle's characterization of the results on Edd Hendee's morning program on KSEV-700 yesterday.
As Chris Elam notes, some of the most useful, detailed criticism in print so far has come from Evan at DeLay vs World (with some further discussion here). Unfortunately, that's off the radar of some bigshot national bloggers. That's okay. We're more than happy to help with your hyperlocal blogging needs.
UPDATE: Benzion posts a sneering response by the Chronicle's main Editorial LiveJournalist, James Howard Gibbons, to a Jack Rains email to the Chronicle editorial page. As we've seen lately, emotions seem to be getting the best of some editors at the Chronicle lately.
UPDATE 2: Dr. Hill was not on the Brit Hume show. I don't know what happened.
Evan at DeLay vs World posts more thoughts on the flaws in the Chron/Murray/Stein survey. And make no mistake -- the combination of the poll's methodology and the subsequent interpretation is deeply flawed.
And the Chronicle reader representative completely ignores legitimate criticism of the survey that has been raised by two pollsters who actually make a living at doing political polling (instead of doing it as a hobby while teaching), as well as several blogs. Instead, the Chronicle reader representative posts DeLay campaign emails as indicative of the criticism of the flawed Chronicle/Murray/Stein survey, and posts a "rebuttal" from a Chronicle political editor that isn't a rebuttal at all (and actually makes the Chronicle look more clueless). That's deceptive.
Murray and Stein need either to admit their survey is flawed, or answer their critics. We're not their undergraduates. They can't just tell us to go away because they are (self-)important people with tenure. Both the Chronicle and these academics owe the critics of this flawed survey an explanation of why they think the critics are wrong, or an admission that the critics have a point.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/18/06 01:50 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (5)
09 July 2005
A Fleck Editorial LiveJournal: Into the sea (or toilet?)
Tim Fleck joins James Howard Gibbons, Andrea Georgsson, and Judy Minshew as official Chronicle LiveJournalists today!
In his usual style of drive-by-attack journalism, Fleck uses an editorial board meeting with HISD Superintendent Abe Saavedra to dredge up old gripes about HISD:
During a discussion last week with the Chronicle editorial board, Houston Independent School District Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra disclosed that in a continuing effort to trim unnecessary expenditures, the district had eliminated funding for its Model-Netics management training program.
Created by former American General CEO Harold Hook, Model-Netics and its esoteric bag of symbols and catch phrases arrived on the HISD scene in 1997.
Huh?
This is 2005. We would urge Fleck to move past the 1990s and his "glory" days of muckraking at the Houston Press, and focus on writing quality editorials (not Editorial LiveJournals) for a newspaper that likes to think of itself as a major metropolitan daily.
Furthermore, we would AGAIN urge the Chronicle to get with partner KHOU-11 and start recording and posting these secretive editorial board meetings.
News consumers ought to know about HISD's budget and other topics of the conversation with Saavedra that the Chronicle editorial board chose not to share with its readers. Instead, we get a rehash of the 1990s in Tim Fleck's first Editorial LiveJournal.
UPDATE: After further consideration, we wonder why Fleck declined to tell ALL of the story from his old Houston Press "glory" days. Saavedra has no real ties to the model-netics program that Fleck criticizes. But former Brown Administration official and admitted crook Oliver Spellman thought it was great:
Parks Director Oliver Spellman lauds Haines for providing a choice of programs. After working in Cleveland and New York, he credits Houston as one of the more progressive governmental entities when it comes to management training. "I'm loving it. I think this is great," says Spellman, a graduate of Model-Netics training. He says he'll have staff managers trained in several alternative programs and then decide which is most worthwhile. That seems contradictory to the stated Model-Netics goal, which is to have everybody using the same management terms.
Apparently, Fleck's employment with the Chronicle has already neutered him to the extent that he no longer may criticize former Brown Administration officials, even admitted crooks. Why bother, when HISD can be punished for 1990s sins?
The Chronicle opinion pages really should be better than this.
ANNE LINEHAN ADDS: The Chronicle editorial board had a meeting with Dr. Saavedra, and we are regaled with...a 1997 management program?
Dr. Saavedra has been swimming upstream trying to improve HISD with fewer resources. His budget, which just passed almost overwhelmingly, is innovative and far-thinking; he has allocated money so that all of the district's eligible pre-K kids can attend pre-K programs -- no more waiting lists; all teachers will be getting a pay raise (where's Gayle Fallon?); poor students in more-affluent schools will now get the resources and support they need (relates to Title I); and Dr. Saavedra is doing all of this with less money.
All we hear out of the Chronicle is how terrible HISD is, and last week Rick Casey began a column by saying Texas schools stink. Well, for crying out loud, the Chronicle has a superintendent in its own backyard who is doing amazing things, and the Chronicle continues to rip him and the district to shreds! Why does he even bother with that paper?
If Dr. Saavedra ends up in the running for National Superintendent of the Year (or wins!), the Chronicle will look terribly foolish, and deservedly so.
Oh to have this ever-critical eye turned on some local sacred cows, like METRO, the Sports Authority, MayorWhiteChiefHurtt, the Hilton Americas/GRB Convention Center, etc.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ LiveJournal: Into the sea (or toilet?)"> 07/09/05 11:00 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
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