* Veteran sportswriter Joey Johnston, who wrote for both the Tampa Tribune and the Tampa Bay Times, has formed Johnson Communications. He scored a coup on Sunday with a prominent piece in the “Your Money” section of the New York Times that chronicled the family-first efforts of mixed martial arts fighter Martin Vergara, a Mexican-American living in Tampa. Vergara now works as a trainer at Jaye Maddon’s Epic Boxing and Fitness on W. Kennedy Boulevard.
* According to the America’s Most Literate Cities survey, St. Petersburg ranks second nationally in newspaper readers per capita–behind only Washington, D.C. “This is a wonderful hometown for the (Tampa Bay) Times, and we try to return the favor by giving our town a good newspaper,” said Paul Tash, chairman and CEO of the Times Publishing Co.
Moreover, imagine where St. Pete would rank if the Times hadn’t had to resort to such a barebones product–even after it absorbed some talent and readership from the late Tampa Tribune. Were it not for obituaries and Rooms to Go ads, it would be beyond embarrassing.
* Iranian-born author and television host Reza Aslan has acknowledged that he has sometimes told people that he was Mexican to stay clear of any issues over his Muslim faith. “That tells you how little I knew about America,” he says. “I didn’t realize you guys don’t like Mexicans either.”
His diversion from his Tehran roots is reminiscent of a similar ploy by another Iranian, Farrukh Quraishi, who was one of the original Tampa Bay Rowdies back in the day. I once asked him how he was handling his heritage in the context of the then-Iranian hostage crisis and how he answered questions about his roots. “I tell them I’m Persian,” said Quraishi, “and they just nod.”
* A recent study by the Federal Reserve compared predictions of key economic indicators–unemployment, inflation, interest rates, GDP, etc.–with the actual outcomes. And noted wide-spread errors. The well-publicized study’s conclusion: “Considerable uncertainty surrounds all macroeconomic projections.” It didn’t reference the “Trump market.”
No wonder the economic musings of a frustrated President Harry S. Truman, who once drolly noted his preference for “one-handed economists,” still resonate today. HST’s rationale: They wouldn’t be inclined to say “but on the other hand.”