By Jennifer J. Foster
Shutting down for a couple of days ... see you here Sunday night, when I’ll have an update for you about our aspiring film star, Skylar Stone.
By Jennifer J. Foster
From the journalism journal:
The film “Broadcast News” gave Mark Potts a novel idea for saving newspaper jobs and newspaper people:
If that network executive didn’t have the (guts) to suggest that a bulging salary be cut to save some jobs, maybe somebody in newspaper board rooms should step up. Because as layoffs and cutbacks continue to course through newsrooms, in no small part because of longstanding and chronic management incompetence, newspaper company CEOs still are taking home the big bucks, and even getting nice raises in their base pay.
Most newspaper CEO compensation packages still add up to millions of dollars per year, in fact, with an average among the 13 public-company newspaper CEOs of just under $6 million a year in 2007, according to corporate proxy filings with the SEC. A little belt-tightening among the fat cats might help to save some jobs–and that’s no joke …
Given the industry’s problems, it’s a little hard to see why more newspaper CEOs aren’t stepping forward to take a little less swag in exchange for keeping more of their valuable human assets on the payroll. Just imagine the goodwill, good morale and good press that would be generated if some newspaper CEO said, “You know what? If it means saving the statehouse bureau, the copy desk and our features section–and making some smart investments in the Web site–I’m going to take a couple million less next year.
Any takers, corporate newspaper management guys and gals?
Also, Tampa Tribune intern Jessica DaSilva has been getting lots of feedback on her blog, where she gives us this first-person window into the moments when editor-in-chief Janet Coats gathered the newsroom together and announced more layoffs and the Trib’s new business model.
(Full disclosure alert: The Tribune is owned by Media General, which also owns the Opelika-Auburn News, WRBL and this site.)
DaSilva’s account is a riveting, no-nonsense, no-frills look at what happened, the staff’s reaction to it, Cook’s defense of it and the aftermath.
I don’t agree with all that’s said here. But I agree that the industry is worth fighting for. The question is, do you fight a battle you can win? Or do you fight a battle you know you’ll lose?
By Jennifer J. Foster
Read this great column from John Kass of the Chicago Tribune. His readers react to his piece earlier this week about Jesse Jackson’s comments about what he’d like to do to Barack Obama.
Limerick lovers, especially, will especially appreciate Kass’s work today.
By Jennifer J. Foster
Barack Obama in NASCAR? SI.com says it may happen:
SI.com has learned that for the first time in history, a major presidential candidate may sponsor a race car in NASCAR’s premier series. According to sources, Barack Obama’s campaign is in talks to become the primary sponsor of BAM Racing’s No. 49 Sprint Cup car for the Pocono race on August 3. Details of the agreement are expected to be worked out over the coming days.
A BAM spokesperson has revealed the team will hold a press conference July 23 in Miami to reveal the partnership, currently a proposed one-race deal with an option to continue. Obama will be at the briefing, which will be tied to the “Get Out The Vote” campaign message he spread throughout the 2008 primary season.
Racing sources claim one of the options being considered would allow individual campaign donors to get their name on the race car for as little as $100. Obama will also be present for a second private fundraiser on July 30 in Miami, in which team owners Beth Ann and Tony Morgenthau—staunch Republicans—will give the Democrat an opportunity to spread his message of change. Randy Moss and Fergie are among the celebrities confirmed to be a part of that fundraiser in support of the candidate and his venture into NASCAR.
Well, that’s one way to woo working-class white guys!
(Thanks to my brother-in-law, Rob, for the tip!)
By Jennifer J. Foster
Today I bring you the first installment of what (I’m afraid) will become a regular series: Candidates for ejection from the gene pool. We’ll be back after a message from our sponsor.
(Commercial break)
This feature is brought to you by Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, which holds that through natural selection, the inferior members of a species gradually die out and leave only the superior members of the species to reproduce. Natural selection: Building a better world for you—through attrition.
(End of commercial break)
We’re back. Our initial nominee is Skylar Stone, your run-of-the-mill moron with a California driver’s license (we’re sure of the California part; we’re taking a leap of faith on the driver’s license part).
Well, Skylar decided that he would protest California’s new law banning the use of handheld cell phones while driving by getting a Bluetooth device, getting in his car and proceeding to do all manner of other things—take notes, eat, shave, type on his laptop, clean his windows, do something strange with a drill—WHILE DRIVING WITH HIS KNEES.
Watch the video, which isn’t going to win any documentary awards, here.
Yes, I know he was trying to be funny. And I’m sure he’ll find my analysis of his comedy just as hilarious as I found his video!
Skylar’s point is a valid one: California lawmakers banned the handheld use of cell phones, but they didn’t specifically ban all these other things he did.
But the nature of his stunt – which clearly shows him running a stop sign, blowing through a red light, running over a curb and cutting off another driver (although she was complicit in the “presentation”) – overshadows his point, whatever it may be.
It is one thing to risk your own life for the sake of argument; however ill-advised, it’s your life, so it’s your decision. But there’s another word for what your protest becomes when your actions endanger others: Illegal.
It’s anyone’s guess how many other drivers, parked cars and pedestrians our friend Skylar here passed during his stupid stunt, even though Skylar says he and his pals stayed in his neighborhood and tried to make sure no one was around (safety first, you know).
Skylar says legislators erred by focusing solely on cell phones to the exclusion of all the other things he did.
But as it turns out, a lawyer he is not.
According to Section 23103 of California’s vehicle code:
(a) A person who drives a vehicle upon a highway in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving.
“Willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property?”
Hey, hey, hey … that sounds like our guy Skylar!
Yes, I’m quite sure that brushing one’s teeth and SHARPENING A KNIFE (2:26) while driving meet that definition.
And this nice lawyer fellow, FORMER ORANGE COUNTY DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY MR. EDWARD WELBOURN, helpfully interjects: “‘Highway’ doesn’t mean just the freeways. It includes any public streets.“
In other words, whether in the neighborhood or careening (or crawling) down the 405, the statute still applies to our buddy Skylar.
So, what do we have for our winner, Johnny?
That would be five to 90 days in the luxurious accommodations of one of California’s fine county correctional facilities, a fine of $145 to $1,000 – or both, according to subsection (c)!
But that’s not all! FORMER ORANGE COUNTY DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY MR. EDWARD WELBOURN adds:
Keep in mind that a conviction for reckless driving will affect your driving records because it adds two points to your driving record.
If there’s any justice in the world, Skylar will spend a few days sulking in, and protesting the cell phone ban from, a stuffy slammer somewhere in the Golden State.
After all, the DA has everything he needs to score a conviction, and that brings us to Skylar’s final accomplishment that earned him this nomination: He had a friend videotape for posterity (and their independent film company! SHAMELESS PLUG!) all the illegal things he was doing behind the wheel!
So, I have just one thing to say to him:
YOU!! Skylar Stone!
Out of the gene pool!!
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