WITH THE five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina drawing near, the U.S. media is busy pumping out special reports and retrospectives on the day disaster struck the Gulf Coast. Most of this reporting is naturally focusing on Katrina’s aftermath and the botched response that continues to impact the area; notably the work done by CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who’s returned to [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Around the World'
Getting over Katrina
August 26th, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, God Bless America, Media Matters
Tags:African Americans·America·Anderson Cooper·CNN·equality·floods·government·Gulf Coast·Hurricane Katrina·media·natural disasters·New Orleans·Pakistan
Wyclef: Not presidential material
August 23rd, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Celebrity Scandal, Currently, Media Matters, Pop Culture
WHAT WAS Wyclef thinking? Hatian-American hip-hop star Wyclef Jean made a huge media splash earlier this month when he announced on Larry King Live that he was running for president of his native land, effectively positioning himself as the saviour of that earthquake-ravaged country. Only one teeny tiny problem: Clef doesn’t meet the requirements for those seeking to become president; [...]
Warning: Journalism being attempted here
August 16th, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, Media Matters, Oh Canada
SELF-PROCLAIMED “geek comedian” Tom Scott has a funny-cause-it’s-true bit on his blog that really sticks it to crappy newspapers: Journalism Warning Labels. “It seems a bit strange to me that the media carefully warn about and label any content that involves sex, violence or strong language — but there’s no similar labeling system for, say, [...]
Tags:bad journalism·geek comedy·journalism·Journalism Warning Labels·media·PR·public relations·Tom Scott
Making the most of a meltdown
August 12th, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, God Bless America, Media Matters, Pop Culture, Weird and wacky
IT WAS EASY to predict that the Steven Slater story would quickly turn into a media circus. After all, America was in desperate need of a fresh hero / villain to obsess over, and, eventually, give a reality show to. UPDATE: Steven Slater offered reality show There’s really nothing left to say about the whole Slater and the slide incident, so [...]
Tags:air safety·air travel·flight attendant·JetBlue·meltdown·NextMedia Animation·Steven Slater
Facing reality
August 8th, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, Media Matters
THE COVER of the Aug. 9 issue of Time has generated a fair bit of controversy among those on both sides of the debate over the war in Afghanistan. The magazine’s front features a disturbing image of an 18-year-old Afghan woman who had her nose and ears cut off as punishment for fleeing an arranged [...]
Tags:Afghanistan war·mutilation·New York Times·Richard Stengel·Taliban·Time magazine·violence
The biggest buzz of all
July 25th, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, Media Matters, Pop Culture, Weird and wacky
YOU’VE GOT to hand it to BrewDog – they sure know how to create a big buzz. The Scottish brewery made headlines this week for producing a 55%-alcohol beer, ominously named the End of History. “This blond Belgian ale is infused with nettles from the Scottish Highlands and fresh juniper berries,” the proprietors say on [...]
Tags:alcohol·beer·BrewDog·brewing·End of History·Sink the Bismarck!·Tactical Nuclear Penguin·taxidermy
Keeping Apple honest
July 21st, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, Media Matters, Pop Culture
NEW YORK TIMES media columnist David Carr had an interesting piece in last Sunday’s paper looking at the role Consumer Reports played in the iPhone4-reception debacle. The magazine said it can’t recommend the phone because of issues with the antenna, which wraps around the outside of the device. If the phone is held a certain way, dropped [...]
Tags:apple·Canada·Consumer Reports·David Carr·Gizmodo·iPhone4·New York Times·Steve Jobs·wireless
Goosegate
July 17th, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, Oh Canada, Unusual Punishments, Weird and wacky
CANADA GEESE are a complete and utter nuisance. They happen to bear this country’s name, and, as such, have come to be seen as a national symbol of sorts, along with Mounties, beavers and maple syrup. But our default national bird can also be quite a pain, particularly beyond our borders. Recall Canada geese were [...]
Tags:America·animal cruelty·animal culling·Bald Eagle·Brooklyn·Canada goose·Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger·freedom·New Jersey·U.S.A.·United States·US Airways Flight 1549
Bull-baiting boneheads
July 13th, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, Pop Culture, Sporting Life, Weird and wacky
THREE BONEHEADS ended up injured yesterday during the running of the bulls at the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona, Spain. If you’ve never heard of it – and haven’t read Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises – the bull run is a super popular annual event that essentially involves a bunch of idiots hustling down narrow cobbled-stone streets [...]
Tags:animal cruelty·Darwin·Ernest Hemmingway·Pamplona·running of the bulls·Spain·The Sun Also Rises
Coney Island chaos
July 5th, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, Pop Culture, Sporting Life, Weird and wacky
APPARENTLY THINGS got a wee bit crazy yesterday at the annual Nathan’s International July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island. So-called competitive eater Joey “Jaws” Chestnut won the championship after stuffing 54 hotdogs and buns down his throat in 10 minutes. Alas, the San Jose man fell short of his goal to eat 70 dogs [...]
Tags:competitive eating·Coney Island·Joey “Jaws” Chestnut·Major League Eating·Nathan's International July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest·Takeru Kobayashi
Good for Ghana
June 30th, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, Pop Culture, Sporting Life
CAN’T SAY I know all that much about football/soccer. Like most, though, I’ve been taking in the World Cup action whenever I can. In a multicultural city such as Toronto, you simply can’t avoid the hoopla, and it’s been fun to watch the various ethnic communities around town reacting as their teams win or lose. (That said, I won’t [...]
Tags:Africa·Black Stars·Brazil·Cameroon·Daily Telegraph·FIFA·football·Germany·Ghana·Korea·Senegal·soccer·South Africa·Spain·Toronto·Uruguay·World Cup
Wimble-dumb
June 26th, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, Pop Culture, Sporting Life
WIMBLEDON IS BIG on traditions. But this week’s marathon match has me thinking it’s time for some changes. Most tennis fans loved the 11-hour, three-day epic between John Isner and Thiemo de Bakker. It was decided 70-68 in the fifth set – the longest match in professional tennis history. I don’t really get it. Maybe it’s because [...]
Tags:All England Club·England·John Isner·tennis·Thiemo de Bakker·tradition·Wimbledon
Jobs: ‘I don’t want to see us descend into a nation of bloggers’
June 14th, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, Media Matters, Pop Culture
EARLIER THIS MONTH at the D8 Conference near Los Angeles, Apple CEO Steve Jobs discussed the impact of his company’s latest gadget: the vaunted iPad. In an interview, Jobs was asked whether this new technology – which, among other things, provides print-news organizations with a tool to offer digital content in a more engaging and interactive fashion than through conventional websites – will “save journalism.” “One [...]
Tags:apple·Clay Shirky·digital media·iPad·journalism·media·new media·New York Times·newspapers·Steve Jobs·technlology·Wall Street Journal·Washington Post
A ‘G’-gantic waste
June 7th, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, Oh Canada, Toronto
ON MONDAY Toronto began the erection (tee hee) of security fencing for the upcoming G20 summit. Lockdown time is drawing nigh, and the city can start looking forward to having a sizable portion of the downtown core sealed off — and to coping with the traffic restrictions and road closures that will screw over residents and businesses in the affected areas. Suppose it’s pointless to wonder why [...]
Tags:Canada·CN Tower·economy·G20 Summit·Ontario·Philadelphia Phillies·politics·Rogers Centre·Roy Halladay·Royal Ontario Museum·security·Toronto·Toronto Blue Jays
BP reaches out
May 31st, 2010 · View Comments · Around the World, Currently, Media Matters, Weird and wacky
HAVING CAUSED THE worst oil “spill“ and one of the greatest environmental disasters in U.S. history, BP has taken to Twitter to provide information and updates on how its dealing with the catastrophic mess. Its account, @BPGlobalPR, “exists to get BP’s message and mission statement out into the twitterers!” according to the brief bio. A few of @BPGlobalPR’s recent tweets:
Tags:BP·environment·flotilla·Israel·oil spill·social media·Top Kill·Twitter
