29 Past the Hour

"There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone..."

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:31:38 -0400

“There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters. These records potentially reveal communications with confidential sources across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month period, provide a road map to AP’s newsgathering operations, and disclose information about AP’s activities and operations that the government has no conceivable right to know.”

We regard this action by the Department of Justice as a serious interference with AP’s constitutional rights to gather and report the news.”

- Gary Pruitt, President and CEO of the Associated Press, in a letter (PDF) to US Attorney General Eric Holder.

The News, via the AP:

The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for the Associated Press in what the news cooperative’s top executive called a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into how news organizations gather the news.

The records obtained by the Justice Department listed incoming and outgoing calls, and the duration of each call, for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and the main number for AP reporters in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP.

In all, the government seized those records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to AP and its journalists in April and May of 2012. The exact number of journalists who used the phone lines during that period is unknown but more than 100 journalists work in the offices whose phone records were targeted on a wide array of stories about government and other matters.

As Declan McCullagh, chief political correspondent for CNET, points out, 28 CFR 50.10 (the Code of Federal Regulations) includes the following:

No subpoena may be issued to any member of the news media or for the telephone toll records of any member of the news media without the express authorization of the Attorney General… Failure to obtain the prior approval of the Attorney General may constitute grounds for an administrative reprimand or other appropriate disciplinary action.

So, evidently, Eric Holder gave his express authorization for monitoring of the Associated Press’ phone records. Besides the initial WTF, we wait to hear how this is spun to justify the intrusion.
(via futurejournalismproject)

One state, two state … Is the digital world’s...

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 13:24:09 -0500

One state, two state …

Is the digital world’s maxim of “immediacy!” a threat to world peace?

Does Nov. 29’s U.N. Twitter error underscore the need to slow down? Reporters across the globe have moved in fewer than 2 years from a system that bolstered checks and balances and provided edits and write-thrus, to having to tweet or post on the social channel of the moment. There is no oversight, no bank of editors. Social media has its place, but maybe it’s not breaking news.

"“A language dies every 14 days.” Patricia Ryan"

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 10:00:24 -0500

“

“A language dies every 14 days.”

Patricia Ryan

”

- What if Einstein had had to pass TOEFL? In this TED talk longtime English teacher Patrician Ryan makes the case for why we should rethink insisting on English and why doing so might inhibit, rather than nurture, thought.

fastcompany: A political campaign website has a singular...

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 13:38:25 -0500

fastcompany:

A political campaign website has a singular purpose: vacuum up personal information and donations. How they do it is a matter of priorities. Content-heavy sites are slow to load and expensive to operate; running one in a cost-conscious manner means eliminating unnecessary server requests, tracking user behavior, optimizing every interaction, and shaving kilobytes off pages. So who does it better, Barack Obama or Mitt Romney? The answer could provide yet another clue into how effective each man would be leading the country’s economic recovery. A side-by-side comparison reveals that neither site is perfect—and that they are not very similar

Does the fracas over the now-iced CNN story on women voters say...

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:00:00 -0500

Does the fracas over the now-iced CNN story on women voters say more about our discomfort with the new age of media than it does hormonal women casting ballots? 29 Past the Hour thinks it might.

In a day when the chatter on Facebook and Twitter affect the news churn as much — more? — as what’s coming out of Washington, we’re not sure the outrage isn’t a little misplaced. In the last decade, U.S. viewers and readers have supported media’s turn to the trite by gobbling up stories about Kim Kardashian’s three-second marriage, what diet secrets the real housewives have, and the latest from Honey Boo Boo. It’s a chicken or the egg question, really, but does an appetite for the hackneyed shape the news we get or does the social shape of news make us crave more junk? Either way, CNN, like other media institutions, is searching for ways to stay relevant with its content.

This was the story of an Internet research study, and truthfully, should’ve fallen into the same bucket with the PEOPLE-like news CNN pumps out daily about everything from starlets in and out of love to congressmen’s indiscretions. Instead of owning its embrace of vapid stories that appeal to modern sensibilities, CNN’s real error was turning on its staff and removing the story while a writer and those who signed off twisted in the wind, left to scratch their heads about this slippery slope they navigate at America’s Most Trusted Name in News.

This story may not pass the sniff-test of legitimate journalism, but let’s at least have the intellectual integrity to admit the olfactory system is broken.

"This 2,990-word story, titled “The New ‘No Comment’: F—- Off,” is the definitive investigation into..."

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 09:00:44 -0500

“This 2,990-word story, titled “The New ‘No Comment’: F—- Off,” is the definitive investigation into why, when, how, and with what frequency everyone tells Politico reporters to “fuck off.” Of the many, many preexisting questions we had about this topic—Does “the rise of social media like Twitter and Facebook” enhance the ways people tell Politico reporters to “fuck off”? Is this new, fast-paced Washington culture to blame for the rise in people telling Politico reporters to “fuck off”? Is it essentially Obama’s fault that people are telling Politico reporters to “fuck off”?—this piece answered all of them.”

- Greatest Politico Story Ever Asks Why Spokespeople Are Always So Mean to Politico | Vanity Fair (via markcoatney)

FJP: There’s a giant meme machine in here.
(via futurejournalismproject)

In honor of Guy Fawkes Day, Fast Co. put together this list of...

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 13:00:00 -0500

In honor of Guy Fawkes Day, Fast Co. put together this list of gold-medal advertisements that showed up during the 2012 London Games.

In a nod to Guy Fawkes Day, we ask, “Are British ads...

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 12:00:00 -0500

In a nod to Guy Fawkes Day, we ask, “Are British ads better than American ads?” In 2010, the New York Times made the case by contrasting this now iconic Barclaycard television commercial against one from Bank of America it said showed “less inspiration.”

Why Are British English and American English Different?

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 10:00:37 -0500

Why Are British English and American English Different?:

The always on-point Grammar Girl (Mignon Fogarty) provided this entertaining and educational look at our differences for 2009’s Independence Day. We’ll dust it off for 2012’s Guy Fawkes Day — because you can never review too often how to handle punctuation marks with quotations.

"“England and America are two countries separated by the same language.” — George..."

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 09:00:37 -0500

“

“England and America are two countries separated by the same language.”

— George Bernard Shaw

“England and America are two countries separated by the Atlantic Ocean.”

— Eddie Izzard

”

How Tone of Voice Can Make or Break a Brand

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 09:00:37 -0500

How Tone of Voice Can Make or Break a Brand:

If a brand says it values customer service, its messaging must support that — all of its messaging. This blog post from ABC Copywriting’s Tom Albrighton shares a case study of how it can easily all fall apart. The takeaway for writers is this: listen to your clients and ensure the language you offer supports their aspirations and their brand promises. Even the small print matters.

Happy Guy Fawkes Day! To tip our hats to our friends across the...

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 08:00:35 -0500

Happy Guy Fawkes Day! To tip our hats to our friends across the pond, 29 Past the Hour will be posting content today related to language for all English-speaking people. And yes, that’s what we usually do.

We’ll start with a nod to the useful and humorous British to American Translator and Dictionary and the related book by Jeremy Smith.

"“Our mothers may be the best brand managers of all. Consider that from day one Mom has the..."

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 10:00:40 -0400

“

“Our mothers may be the best brand managers of all. Consider that from day one Mom has the most contact with her children. She’s the one who teaches them the skills required to socialize; get along well with others, work hard, be honest, brush their teeth, be on time, show respect, get an education…you know the drill.”

Brent Pulford

”

- from The Mutha of All Branding Experts
Via I Have An Idea

11 Tips to Find the Best LinkedIn Groups

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 10:23:14 -0400

11 Tips to Find the Best LinkedIn Groups:

Jeff Haden writes for Inc.com that LinkedIn Groups can augment business and even personal success. “Find and join the right groups, and it’s easy to keep up with news and trends, make connections, ask and answer questions, land new clients—even start a romance. (Well, maybe that last one isn’t so easy.)”

Here, his 11 tips for the finding the best groups:

austinkleon: maudnewton: mttbll: Padgett Powell’s rules on...

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 10:12:30 -0400

austinkleon:

maudnewton:

mttbll:

Padgett Powell’s rules on “What Writing Should Do,” printed in the back of The Interrogative Mood.

I had lost my syllabus from his class, but once this book was published I had the most important part of it again.

I’m reading The Interrogative Mood right now and loving it.

The Best of Sandy Coverage Online

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:59:14 -0400

The Best of Sandy Coverage Online:

futurejournalismproject:

PBS Mediashift has compiled a list of the best online resources on Sandy:

-Latest News
-Live Updates
-Twitter Feeds
-Twitter Lists
-Facebook Pages
-Photos
-Videos
-Maps
-Articles

So if you’re covering it or surviving it, click-through to check out the resources on whatever platform you prefer. We hope everyone is safe.

Penguin Books, Random House to Merge, Creating World's Largest Consumer Books Publisher

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:05:55 -0400

usatoday:

The planned joint venture will be known as Penguin Random House.

As well as publishing books from authors such as John Grisham, Random House scored a major hit this year with “Fifty Shades of Grey.” Penguin has a strong backlist, including George Orwell, Jack Kerouac and John Le Carre.

More: http://usat.ly/SsiPIM

What Copywriters Can Learn from Rock-n-Roll

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 10:00:30 -0400

What Copywriters Can Learn from Rock-n-Roll:

The U.K.-based Professional Copywriters’ Network reminds professional writers of the basics in this blog post by Andy Maslen. Tune into to 5 Rock Guitar Mantras And Why They Could Double Your Response Rate for pitch-perfect copy.

On Slogans and Strategy

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:30:32 -0400

On Slogans and Strategy:

“Brainstorming discussions … are fine, as long as everyone’s clear that the output is the starting point for the creative process, not its finishing line.”

ABC Copywriting’s Tom Albrighton discusses the painstaking process of copywriting for slogans. Is it better to present one idea you believe in or offer the client a few choices? Whatever approach you take, Albrighton makes the case for ensuring you haven’t fallen victim to board room hand-wringing. Be the professional and take a stand with clarity in language and a commitment to the customer’s, not the client’s, point of view. That’s called strategy.

Does Over-the-Top News Hurt More than Help? All but one option...

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:41:00 -0400

Does Over-the-Top News Hurt More than Help?

All but one option on the first page of Google results in a search for “Frankenstorm” links to a news story with the ferociously dramatic name in the headline. The legit news sources that determined it cut journalistic muster included TIME, the New York Times, ABC News and CBS News. CNN stood alone, choosing “Superstorm” instead, and only used the hair-raising moniker in a subhead dedicated to a section explaining why it might become a storm “of historic proportion.” (Thank you, CNN.)

In Graceless Under Pressure, CommPro.biz’s co-founder Steve Cody talks about how personal and professional motivations can compromise news judgment, and in that, a tandem responsibility to measured response.