The New York Times today posted a very interesting and very alarming long-form piece on the practice of selling social media accounts. The story suggests that 15 percent of Twitter accounts are actually “bots” — bogus accounts created to help ethically challenged entrepreneurs amass enormous lists of account holders which they can sell on to […]
Entries Tagged as 'Journalism'
Real Me, Anyway, Has Quit Twitter
January 27th, 2018 · No Comments · Abu Dhabi, Journalism
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Botox Cheating in Camel Beauty Contests?
January 23rd, 2018 · No Comments · Abu Dhabi, Journalism, The National, UAE
So says the camel expert at The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi, where we worked and lived for more than six years. Anna Zacharias, a journalist from Canada who has made the Arabian Peninsula her home, has her ear to the ground concerning the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, near Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. […]
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‘Kiddie Reporter’ May Find a Career
December 5th, 2017 · 1 Comment · Journalism, Newspapers, Sports Journalism, Tennis, UAE
In conversations with journalists, over the years, I have found a common denominator: A significant percentage of them were thinking about journalism — and even practicing it — at a young age. This comes to mind after seeing a call from officials of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, later this month in Abu Dhabi, for […]
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Newspaper Wrinklers and Crumplers
November 21st, 2017 · No Comments · Journalism, Newspapers
Pretty much everyone who has worked in print journalism nurses a grudge toward people who crumple a newspaper while paging through it. Today’s paper, especially.
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Today’s List: Tips for Post-Game Questions
November 17th, 2017 · No Comments · Journalism, Lists, Sports Journalism
This is an important journalism skill outsiders rarely think about. Posing post-game questions. This is not the same as asking a question in an interview situation. At best, a one-on-one with flexible time limits. More likely something in a controlled environment, like a press conference. Asking post-game questions in a clubhouse littered with laundry and […]
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The Baseball Encyclopedia as Doorstop
November 9th, 2017 · No Comments · Baseball, Journalism, Newspapers, Sports Journalism
The wind blows sometimes, here in the south of France. In the summer, that can pose problems with slamming doors, because we like to keep the windows open throughout the season, when it can be a bit warm. And gusty. Thus, we prop open the doors with compact and heavy things lying about. An […]
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Podcasts: Not Getting Them
November 6th, 2017 · No Comments · Journalism, Sports Journalism
“Not getting” as in “not partaking” but also as in “failing to understand” what podcasts really do for news organizations. Podcasts, you may have noticed, are a hot thing. Seems like just about everyone has one now, which could be an example of “other sites are doing it; we better, too”. The herd mentality being […]
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Nine Letters: Shrunken Newspaper Feature
October 14th, 2017 · 1 Comment · Journalism
A relative brought us a copy of the New York Times. Like every other U.S. newspaper, The Gray Lady ain’t what she used to be. A downsized format, far fewer pages … well, you know the drill. But some of the basics are still there. A stripped down news and commentary package. A weather map. […]
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Trump, Kim, ‘Dotard’ — and JRR Tolkien
September 22nd, 2017 · 1 Comment · Books, Journalism
The exchange of insults between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un heated up this week, with the Korean dictator/president for life puzzling many in America by threatening: “I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire.” I don’t know how Kim’s insults are translated into English, whether it is a bot or […]
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The Final Day at a Newsroom I Knew
June 30th, 2017 · No Comments · Journalism, The National
Of all the melancholy aspects of newspapers shrinking, or failing, or shutting down, it is the abandonment of a newsroom that makes me most wistful. Today is the final day in the original home of The National, the first English-language newspaper in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. We spent six years there […]
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