Journalism

The Times' Jill Abramson is Coming to Town. Be Sure to Follow Her Speech on Twitter.

Jill Abramson, executive editor of my favorite daily newspaper, The New York Times, will speak in town a week from tomorrow, 10 days later than originally planned. Her announced topic will be the same thing that delayed her: "The Boston Marathon Tragedy: 'Quality Journalism's Role in the Hyper Speed ... More >>

BBQ Snob Daniel Vaughn is Now the Barbecue Editor at Texas Monthly

If you haven't heard, Daniel Vaughn, AKA The BBQ Snob, has recently been hired by Texas Monthly as their official barbecue editor. He joins William Breathes, the Denver Westword ganja writer, in the the ultra-elite ranks of the coolest jobs in journalism. See also: - Daniel Vaughn: The BBQ Snob I ... More >>

The Atlantic Magazine Flunks the Truthfulness Test With Scientology Ad

The Atlantic magazine has stumbled badly on that really hard multiple choice question at the end of the Journalism 101 final exam: "Lying to your readers is: 1) a good thing, or 2) a bad thing." One pictures them hunched over the bubble sheet, eyes squinted closed and pencil tips to their tongues, b ... More >>

Anonymous' Barrett Brown Pleads Not Guilty To Stratfor Hacking Charges

Hacktivist collective Anonymous has had a busy couple days, fighting their old foe the Westboro Baptist Church. Meanwhile, court records show that their former self-proclaimed spokesperson, Barrett Brown, has pleaded not guilty to twelve charges related to the hacking of the intelligence firm Strat ... More >>

How Bleacher Report Rules the World

Step 1: Be terrible. Step 2: Count the money. Repeat both steps as necessary.

Media Bias Doesn't Matter Much if No One Is Listening Anyway

David Carr, who writes a media column for The New York Times, has a piece in today's paper about dumb it is for Republicans to claim the mainstream media are biased against Mitt Romney. He pulls a bit of a trick, seems to me, by folding claims of media bias into a separate issue -- an accusation fro ... More >>

SMU Student Indicted for Raping a Classmate in a Dorm Room

A 20-year-old junior at SMU has been indicted on charges that he raped a fellow student in a dorm room in February. The student, Donald Samuel Cuba, was booked into Dallas County Jail and is out on a $15,000 bond. The story -- including details on the school's controversial student-discipline heari ... More >>

In Fight Over Flammable Parker County Water Well, Judge Decides Who Is, Isn't A Journalist

Tricky work deciding who gets the protections of a journalist in court. In the case of a natural gas production company suing a Parker County man who blames it for contaminating his water well, state district Judge Trey Loftin attempted to suss it out in a recent order compelling fracking blogger Sh ... More >>

A Night of Linsanity in Dallas

It was about four seconds after I arrived at the American Airlines Center last night that I saw my first Jeremy Lin jersey, on an Asian reporter in the media parking lot. A journalistic sin, sure, but one you've gotta let slide on Jeremy Lin Appreciation Night. Mavericks games on any other night ar ... More >>

Soledad Speaks

Dallas News Publisher Jim Moroney Talks to UT Students, Profs About the Future of His Paper

On Thursday, Jim Moroney paid a visit to Austin, where he told an audience of University of Texas journalism students and professors: Only The Major Metropolitan Newspaper can preserve, protect and defend democracy ... or something like that. The Dallas Morning News's publisher spoke of rapidly shri ... More >>

Catch a Wave

Rick Perry's Blossoming Bromance With Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a Walking Civil Rights Violation

"When life's got you by the balls, beat life in the face with your baton."​A week or so back, Politico reported that Rick Perry had reached out to Phoenix-area Sheriff Joe Arpaio, one of America's fiercest illegal-immigration foes and a constant innovator in the competitive field of Being a To ... More >>

The End of SMU's News War

On campus, as it is in the real world: Two news operations became one.​You can't swing a mace and chain around Observer HQ without hitting someone who knows what it's like to fight in a real newspaper war. That Buzz fellow worked in San Antonio back when the Express-News toiled against the Lig ... More >>

Let's Watch Domingo Garcia, Redistricting Commission Discuss the Future of Dallas

Redistricting Commissioners Elizabeth Jones and Domingo Garcia, who have tough and thankless jobs for which they aren't paid a penny, are displeased with me at the moment for nay-saying their incomplete maps. Garcia chided me in the comments, writing that it appears I've graduated from " ... More >>

Mooney River: Once Again, D Magazine Misses the Trinity River Toll Road Story

​Hey, I was out of town last week when the August issue of D hit the streets -- well, given the magazine's target demo, perhaps we should say it hit the winding lanes and parkways -- with an essay titled "Let's Ditch the Trinity River Toll Road." Wow. Pretty remarkable. From the time of the ... More >>

Small-Town Muckraker Joey Dauben Will Run the World Some Day. Just Ask Him.

In the little towns outside of Dallas, publisher and aspiring politician Joey Dauben is on a crusade to expose abuses of power, civic mischief and -- most of all -- himself.

Six Letdowns at the James Beard Book, Broadcast & Journalism Awards

Bite us, Jimmy.​Not sure if you guys heard, but this year City of Ate picked up a nomination from the James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards for Group Food Blog, and I was nominated in the Humor category for a feature story we did on fried hamsters. Awesome! We City of Aters were so excited, ... More >>

Food Writers Fret About James Beard's Humor Division

This week's announcement of James Beard Foundation award nominees triggered another round of hand-wringing among food writers over whether the newly created humor award cheapens culinary journalism. ​The concern was raised yesterday on a listserv maintained by the Association of Food Journali ... More >>

More On the Rogers Situation: Because, Really, Is Anything More Important?

​Great. Tell me you're sick of journalists talking about journalists. I was too. I was perfectly ready to drop L'Affaire Tim Rogers -- whether or not he used his clout as the editor of D Magazine to get his kid bucked into a preschool program ahead of qualified poor kids. But Mr. Rogers feels ... More >>

D Magazine Editor Tim Rogers Should Have Taken The Schutze Short Course On How Not to Humiliate Yourself as a Journalist.

Stephan Pyles Thanksgiving Cooking Class: You'll Never Want Another Butterball

Stephan Pyles​Among other things, the Thanksgiving cooking class at Stephan Pyles taught me that the main things I know about journalism are wrong. I had a journalism professor open his class with, "You think you're going to be happy? You're not. You think this career is going to be easy? I ... More >>

A Certain Type of Charm

Florida Prof Unearths Sixth Floor Museum Talks by Dallas Journo Legend Vivian Castleberry

​As the women's editor for the Dallas Times Herald for nearly 30 years, from the 1950s to the '80s, Vivian Castleberry revolutionized the section's coverage -- addressing domestic violence, for example, in addition to lifestyle pieces on decor and fashion -- and became the first woman named to the ... More >>

Sportatorium: Happy Birthday To ... Us!

​I'm like you, I didn't know if this thing would make it two weeks. But, whatdya know, all the sudden it's been two years. Seems like just yesterday we launched this lil' corner of the blogosphere. After 730 days, 1,370 items and more than 20,500 comments we've survived to our second bir ... More >>

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Boom

Ifill Towers

Charitable Turkeys

Queen Question

See the story of Helen Thomas

Life Stories

A Voice for Radio

Makeover Magic

Beauty expert to cover Dallas' flaws

Rose Is a Rose

Warrior Reporter

Channel 4's Becky Oliver is queen of ambush journalism, wielding her microphone like a sword. Sure it's cheap and sensational. It's also a lot harder than it looks.