A former colleague of mine, recently laid off but, thankfully, just now back in journalism … has what I consider to be a great idea for a murder-mystery novel. I’m going to put the idea up here so that if/when someone else does it, my colleague and I and everyone who has read this entry […]

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David Beckham is playing for AC Milan, in Italy, and playing well. Two goals in four matches, that is. Including a classic Becks-ian “how’d he do that?” score off a dead ball in his last match. And it now is clear Becks would like to go back to Europe — although he is under contract […]

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I may have written about this before. I don’t recall, and I’m not going to search my own site, because I feel like writing about it again. Or anew. Or with more emphasis. The latest round of print journalism layoffs prompted more thinking, and reminiscing, and I Came to A Conclusion that may not be […]

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I am in Hong Kong to edit stories. Correct errors, make sure “style” is being followed, write headlines and captions. Occasionally, I comb the wires for stories and do some layout — on those occasions when I have been scheduled to put out the sports pages. So, I didn’t come to write, and in Hong […]

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Guaranteed, this is not the first time someone has suggested that, if Karl Marx were alive today … he would be 190 years old, and doctors would be staring at him with mouths agape — like rubes at the carnival’s two-headed calf. As I was saying, if Karl Marx were alive today, he wouldn’t be […]

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Just heard this from the man himself. He was responding to my note wishing him good luck, because there were rumors around … But it was too late, he wrote back to me in a short note. Steve got a call last night from people in the L.A. Daily News office. He is out, and […]

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I’m not sure how many employees at what used to be the San Bernardino Sun-Ontario Bulletin-San Gabriel Valley Tribune were fired today, but it was more than one and … more than 10, even? A couple of things: 1. One of those fired was my friend and former colleague Doug Padilla. I can’t imagine Doug […]

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If I’m picking up on this correctly, from the other side of the ocean, 2008 can’t be over fast enough for a lot (most all?) of people. “People” meaning Americans. Or at least English-speakers. Like, everyone is all fixated on this “economy” thing … Letting it get them down. Hey, 2008 wasn’t that bad. Take […]

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Yes, things are ugly and getting uglier. Somebody (usually dozens or even hundreds of somebodies) is being laid off in print journalism every day. And with Tribune Co., which owns the Los Angeles Times, filing for bankruptcy on Monday, a batch of people I know who were hoping to have a cash bridge into some […]

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You know it’s a bad time to be in the print journalism industry … when at 10:45 p.m. EST you have to wait five minutes to get Poynter/Romenesko to load on the computer. And, more specific to the disaster of Tuesday and Wednesday … the Gannett blog  won’t load at all. I gave up on […]

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