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Oct

6

Bloggers butting into federal shield law

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From CNET:

Some form of “reporter’s privilege,” either through laws or court decisions, already exists in 49 states and the District of Columbia. This bill would extend that protection to federal cases, shielding anyone engaged in the practice of “journalism”–with a number of exceptions, naturally–from being forced to give up confidential information or provide testimony.

The term “journalism” clearly would sweep up at least some bloggers because the bill defines it thusly: “the regular gathering, preparing, collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, or publishing of news or information that concerns local, national, or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the public.”

That broad definition still gives some politicians heartburn. At Thursday’s meeting, three members of the Senate committee–Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas)–said they worried about giving protection to bloggers who aren’t generally expected to adhere to the same code of conduct and ethics as professional journalists, according to a Senate aide familiar with the debate. But they didn’t propose any different language at the time, opting instead to work with the bill’s primary sponsors to craft tweaks before the bill hits the Senate floor.

Although it’s unclear how the final language will shake out, it could end up resembling the approach taken by a House of Representatives panel when it backed a similar bill in August. That bill’s authors said they planned to add a condition restricting the reporter’s privilege only to those who derive “financial gain or livelihood” from the practice of journalism. (Granted, it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to slap advertisements on blogs and qualify for the privilege, so some politicians weren’t impressed by that amendment.)

It’s still not clear whether the bills will become law, or how desirable enactment is.  From Wendy Hoke, on former special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s being against the federal shield:

He cites a number of impediments created by the bill, including the handcuffing of national security investigations, the delay (measured in years) of such investigations, but most important, he cites the perils of defining journalism. Ding! Ding! Ding! Will someone please wake up and drink of this brew! It would be swell if some of my fellow journalists would start singing this tune! At the very least, he says, the bill defines journalism so broadly that is also includes criminal organizations who disseminate information. So while it may unintentionally penalize those who function as legitimate independent journalists, it may also reward a slew of people on the other side of the law. The Washington Post editorial board calls this extension of coverage “far-fetched,” but seriously…do we really want to test that?

What should the solution look like?  I’m actually not sure myself.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:08 pm October 6th, 2007 in Media | Comments Off 

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Oct

6

Press release mystery solved

Filed Under Culture, Media | 4 Comments

- 30 -

 

How many times have you seen that at the end of a press release? And did you know what it meant? Maybe you didn’t care?  Why should you?

 

I’d often thought of asking Wendy Hoke what it meant, or emailing the folks who sent the pressers and asking them, what’s it mean?!?!  But I always figured it was one of those thing that would just make me look even more of a neophyte, no matter how much some people refuse to believe that that’s the case when I say it is.

 

Well, I’m no longer in the dark, thanks to the American Journalism Review:

So where did the term originate? Some say the mark began during a time when stories were submitted via telegraph, with “-30-” denoting “the end” in Morse code. Another theory suggests that the first telegraphed news story had 30 words. Others claim the “-30-” comes from a time when stories were written in longhand — X marked the end of a sentence, XX the end of a paragraph and XXX meant the end of a story. The Roman numerals XXX translate to 30.

But these are hardly the only explanations, theories and guesses for the rise of “-30-”. It is rumored that a letter to an East India company ended with “80,” a figure meaning “farewell” in Bengali. The symbol supposedly was misread, changed to 30 and took root. Some say the mark comes from the fact that press offices closed at 3 o’clock. And there’s the theory that 30 was the code for a telegraph operator who stayed at his post during a breaking news story until his death 30 hours later — versions of that story even include that the unfortunate operator hit two keys on his machine when he collapsed. Which ones? That’s right, 3 and 0.

Julie Williams, a professor of journalism and mass communication at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, says the guessing game over “-30-” has taken on a life of its own, in part because the ambiguity leaves it open to a wide array of interpretations. “Because it’s so obviously not intuitive, you can’t tell what it means,” she says. “I think people were anxious to come up with explanations for it.”

So what’s the answer?  Doesn’t seem to be one.

 

But essentially, the cook’s “86 it!” is basically the writer’s “- 30 -.”  (And here’s where “86″ comes from – learned it in my waitressing/hostessing days – my kids love the story about how I got 86′d from the job, cried and got the job back.)

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:55 pm October 6th, 2007 in Culture, Media | 4 Comments 

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Oct

6

Polensek nemesis pleads guilty

Filed Under Cleveland+, Culture, Government, Ohio, Politics | 6 Comments

During this summer, Cleveland City Councilman Mike Polensek (Ward 11) instigated a worldwide dialogue with one snailmailed letter. The object of his lack of affection was 18 year old Arsenio Winston and Winston’s predilection for getting into criminal trouble.

Debate swirled around a variety of issues: did or didn’t the letter show leadership, did or didn’t the letter further the kind of image Polensek’s neighborhood wants, is or isn’t Polensek interested in higher political office?

But for some of us, perhaps the most intriguing question has been: is Polensek right or not?

Here is Polensek’s prediction, as stated in the letter, as to the course Winston’s life would take:

There are only two places you will end up at the rate you are going – that is, prison or the nearest funeral home….Your fate is totally in your own hands; which, is a scary thought.

Evidence in support of at least one of the two Polensek-pronounced directions came this week. From the Plain Dealer:

Arsenio Winston, 18, who was sent a harshly-worded letter by Cleveland City Councilman Mike Polensek, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of drug trafficking.

Winston faces up to two years in prison when Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Peter Corrigan sentences him Oct. 29, according to Ryan Miday, spokesman for Prosecutor Bill Mason.

That’s just over three weeks from now. What sentence do you think Corrigan should give Winston?

According to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas docket, the offenses to which he’s pled are felony drug trafficking offenses. Felony sentences in the Ohio Revised Code are here and here.

Hattip to Working with Words.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:28 pm October 6th, 2007 in Cleveland+, Culture, Government, Ohio, Politics | 6 Comments 

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Oct

6

First-hand Burma updates

Filed Under Blogging, Foreign Affairs | 1 Comment

Jeff Hess of Have Coffee Will Write is doing a great job covering Burma – what we can cover, as you might say.

He posted this first-hand account today.

Thanks, Jeff.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:44 am October 6th, 2007 in Blogging, Foreign Affairs | 1 Comment 

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Oct

6

Ohio Solar Tour, 10/6 and 10/7

Filed Under Announcements, Environment, Ohio | Comments Off

From realneo.org:

What it is:

Over 100 renewable energy systems and energy efficient buildings will be shown on 30 guided public tours and open house sites in every corner of the state. The annual Ohio Solar Tour, organized by clean energy advocate, Green Energy Ohio, features tours to homes, businesses, schools, parks and other public sites utilizing the newest and best-example solar electric, solar thermal, wind turbine, green design and energy-saving technologies.

Find out how your neighbors are trimming their energy bills, increasing their energy independence and taking steps to address climate change by taking the Ohio Solar Tour. Learn about energy efficiency, speak with homeowners and experts and find out how solar technology works, what it costs and why it makes sense.

About The Tours

The tours are free and open to the public. Some tours feature complimentary shuttle transportation and lunch. An RSVP is required for some tours. Download the regional guidebooks for more information.

How do take the tour:

Go to the Green Energy Ohio website and download the free Regional Solar Tour Guidebooks at www.GreenEnergyOhio.org. The guidebooks contain all the information necessary to take the tours including site information, photos, directions and more.
Green Energy Ohio is coordinating this annual event in cooperation with The American Solar Energy Society’s National Solar Tour, in what has become the largest demonstration of installed renewable energy technologies and energy efficient building practices in the United States . Statewide sponsors include the Ohio Department of Development’s Office of Energy Efficiency, The Cleveland Foundation, Duke Energy and The Gund Foundation.
Kellie Fiorello
Program Manager
Green Energy Ohio
(614) 985-6131
(866) GREEN-OH toll-free
Kellie@GreenEnergyOhio.org

Also, you can download a free guidebook for the tour from here. I bet it’s cool to look at even if you don’t go on the tour. I haven’t looked yet so I’m not sure, but is this really throughout the state, or can you just go in NEO?

If anyone goes, I hope you’ll blog about it.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:40 am October 6th, 2007 in Announcements, Environment, Ohio | Comments Off 

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Oct

6

GE shutters plants in Ohio, imagine if we required divestment

Filed Under Foreign Affairs, OH17, Ohio, Politics, Statehouse | Comments Off

This is how much GE is doing for Ohio, without forcing the state’s pension plans to divest from the company because of its work with Iran:

On Thursday, General Electric, citing the fact that sales of incandescent bulbs are declining by about 10 percent a year, announced that it was closing seven lighting manufacturing facilities in North and South America.

Six of those plants are in Ohio. The vast majority of the compact fluorescent light bulbs that are replacing incandescents are manufactured in China. A union-led campaign launched in March argues that GE should invest in new lighting technologies in the United States, but GE claims that to manufacture CFLs in the U.S. would require adding 50 cents to the price of each bulb.

Can you imagine how much better Ohio would be doing if the Ohio legislature passed State Rep. Josh Mandel and Shannon Jones’ HB 151?

How that bill jives with his campaign intimations has always bothered me:

Republicans’ and Democrats’ working together across the aisle is essential to getting things done, says Mandel, a member of Congregation Bethaynu. Social issues like gay marriage, abortion, and posting the Ten Commandments in public places, which have been important concerns in the Republican-dominated legislature, won’t be his priority.

 
 

“Politicians in Columbus are not focused on the right issues,” says Mandel. “I’m a strong believer in the separation of church and state. But the first and foremost issue is reversing the exodus of jobs and people from Cleveland and Ohio.”

Of course, he’s not a politician in Columbus right now. He is a Marine in Iraq or somewhere thereabouts (by now I assume). Or, he’s both. Or something.

Gee, all these assertions must mean that Jill believes in profits over pressure on foreign policy hot points.

Oh gee – no, they don’t. They mean that Jill believes that elected officials should remember what their jobs are and who elected them and engage in work consistent with both. Leveling sanctions against multinational corporations that address geopolitical issues is for our federal government and international agencies to pursue, not state legislators.

Sanctions are an important moral statement – no question. But balancing the making of such a statement into a legal requirement on a state’s pension plans only, versus the less than desirable economic impact on Ohio of making that statement, when we don’t have to and there does not appear to be any benefit for Ohioans whatsoever – except for some ephemeral sense of moral superiority that, in day to day life, will not matter to the Iranians or the Sudanese but only the souls of the legislators pushing the effort – is a waste of Ohioan’s time.

Hattip Ed Morrison at Brewed Fresh Daily.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:28 am October 6th, 2007 in Foreign Affairs, OH17, Ohio, Politics, Statehouse | Comments Off 

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Oct

6

Global warming alters major league baseball outcome

Filed Under Cleveland+, Environment, Ohio, Sports | 4 Comments

Yesterday morning, as my daughter headed out to her school bus, anticipating another October day of 80 degree weather, in NE Ohio, she said to me, “Mom, do you think this has to do with global warming?”

I turned her around by her backpack straps, kissed the top of her lice-free locks and wished her a good day. Ironically, early yesterday morning, my middle school son had asked me the same thing.

I told him that we’d have to look at some information before we could draw a conclusion but I agreed, it wasn’t how October usually plays out.

The Cleveland Indians winning the second in the best of seven series against the New York Yankees at Soon to be Renamed Home Baseball Field also isn’t how it usually plays out. But I’ll take it, and a lot better than the Yankees took another sign of unusual times: swarms of bugs.

From the Associated Press:

Umpire crew chief Bruce Froemming said he never considered stopping the game, which will surely go down as one of the strangest in postseason history.

“It was just a little irritation,” he said. “We’ve had bugs before. I’ve seen bugs and mosquitoes since I started umpiring. It might not be a perfect scenario. Within about 45 minutes, basically they were gone.

“There was just about a 10-minute period where everybody was lathering up,” he said.

Well, depending on how much history there is in the future, this game may be only the beginning of a new era.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:50 am October 6th, 2007 in Cleveland+, Environment, Ohio, Sports | 4 Comments 

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