Category: Media Watch

* “Russia’s goal was, and is, to keep Ukraine so unstable that we accept everything that the Russians want. I have no doubt that Putin could, with his direct influence, end the fighting.”–Petro Poroshenko, president-elect of Ukraine.

* “I would betray my duty to you, and to the country we love, if I sent you into harm’s way simply because I saw a problem somewhere in the world that needed fixing, or because I was worried about critics who think military intervention is the only way for America to avoid looking weak.”–President Barack Obama in his commencement speech to the U.S. Military Academy’s class of 2014.

* “I want the best relations with the government of the United States, based on respect and permanent communications.”–Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

* “I will not be a part of a political slugfest on the backs of dead Americans.”–Part of Hillary Clinton’s rebuttal to partisan charges that she and others in the Obama Administration tried to cover up aspects of the Benghazi attacks.

* “I was trained as a spy in sort of the traditional sense of the word in that I lived and worked undercover overseas–pretending to work in a job that I’m not–and even being assigned a name that was not mine.”–Edward Snowden.

* “We’re very pleased to be here. We’re learning a lot about the changes taking place in Cuba.”–Thomas J. Donohue, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO.

* “When the militias evaporated, so did the original meaning of the Second Amendment.”–Michael Waldman, author of The Second Amendment: A Biography.

* “It has always confused me when people refer to this as a liberal issue. William F. Buckley and Milton Friedman were supporters of marijuana reform, and medical marijuana in particular.”–Dan Riffle, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project.

* “As appalling as the wait times are for VA care, the people living in states that refused the Medicaid expansion aren’t just waiting too long for care. They’re not getting it at all. They’re going completely uninsured when federal law grants them comprehensive coverage.”–Ezra Klein, Vox.com.

* “We have too few college graduates. We also have too few people who are prepared for college.”–MIT economist David Autor.

* “What stands out to me most about Maya Angelou is not what she has done or written or spoken, it’s how she lived her life. She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace.”–Oprah Winfrey.

* “Separating children by race, class or test scores into pseudo-private charter schools is affecting our communities and our nation in the very ways we once tried to undo.”–Sally Kohn, The Daily Beast.

* “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.”–Novelist, poet Margaret Atwood.

* “This country just can’t fall to lobbyists and their deceit and manipulation. I’m not going to just sit back and have all Bill’s hard work just trashed to inside-the-Beltway politics. Ugh.”–Beverly Young, widow of the late Rep. C.W. Bill Young, in vowing to run against David Jolly in 2016.

* “The expectations of the anchorman have changed over the years. Stations want you to be able to report, shoot and edit video.”–Michael Bille, owner of Tampa-based Collective Talent, an online employment resource.

* “Tampa Bay’s long-term economic future will significantly benefit if we develop options for people to travel to work and home.”–U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, in announcing a $4.8 million federal grant for a proposed high-speed ferry.

* “They became a global franchise after winning the Super Bowl. I think he deserves a tremendous amount of credit. … He was a man who sold watches door to door and became owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United.”–Jon Gruden on the passing of Bucs’ owner Malcolm Glazer.

* “By partnering with Ohio State University … we’ve built a cancer-research expressway.”–Alan List, president and CEO of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, on Moffitt teaming with Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center to create the largest known database of patients for research.

* “You’re seeing the effects of an improving economy.”–Bob Henriquez, Hillsborough County property appraiser, on the third straight year of growth in real estate values.

* “There are some days you could actually out-walk a bus using the transit way. It’s not functioning the way it was intended.”–Jeff Seward, CFO of HART, on why the Marion Street transit way needs revamping.

* “It’s beginning to happen.”–D.T. Minich, CEO of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, on prospects for selling vacation packages in China.

* “May God protect us from the fear of change.”–Pope Francis in Jordan on his three-day visit through the Holy Land.

* “We must study if the current interpretation of the constitution is sufficient in order to protect the people and their peaceful lives. … There is a misunderstanding that Japan will return to a country that wages war, but that will never happen. Japan sticks to its pacifist pledge it has kept since the end of the war.”–Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

* It is an important election because the trend in the counting shows that old ideas about caste, religion and region have not been relevant. … The youth across India have voted for change, and Modi represented that change.”–Indian author and political analyst Dipankar Gupta on the election of Narendra Modi, Hindu nationalist and economic reformer, as India’s next prime minister.

* “Recent events do not inspire much confidence. Instead, future defenses of Obama’s foreign policy may boil down to just six words: ‘At least he didn’t invade Iraq.'”–Ross Douthat, New York Times.

* “There was a time when the U.S. was intervening everywhere, and throughout the world people were reproaching the country. And now the U.S. is not intervening, and people are reproaching them again.”–French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

* “There are two kinds of big companies in the United States: those who’ve been hacked by the Chinese and those who don’t yet know that they’ve been hacked by the Chinese.”–FBI Director James Comey.

* “Democracies tend to have a tough time with long-range planning. Voters tend to want more government services than they are willing to pay for. The system of checks and balances can slide into paralysis, as more interest groups acquire veto power over legislation.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “I get most of my news, probably, driving back and forth to work, on the radio. Talk guys usually.”–Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

* “In a true financial panic, the moral imperative is to ignore moral hazard and first put out the fire. This is counterintuitive. It feels deeply unfair.”–Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

* “What this does is it welcomes technology and innovation to Colorado.”–Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, on legislation to provide state oversight for ride-sharing companies.

* “If Jeb’s name was Brown instead of Bush, I think he would be the (Republican presidential) front-runner today.”–Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.

* “Never before has the Hispanic vote played such a pivotal role in electing an American president, and never again will there be a president of the United States voted into office without courting the Hispanic electorate.”–Javier Palomarez, president and chief executive of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

* “We’ve got more than 100,000 bridges that are old enough to qualify for Medicare.”–President Barack Obama.

* “You have to look at the reality. You have to do the math. It’s not only a mathematical issue, but it’s a moral issue.”–Jan Brewer, Republican governor of Arizona, on why she pushed her state to accept Medicaid expansion.

* “It really is just almost awesome in its evilness.”–MIT health economist Jonathan Gruber on states that refuse to accept Medicaid expansion funds.

* “The new heroin population is whiter. It’s not inner city; it’s suburbia.”–James Hall, drug abuse epidemiologist at Nova Southeastern University.

* “I never expected to run for office–but then again, I never expected to do a lot of things in my life. I never expected to meet the president of the United States. I never expected to be a blonde.”–Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in her book, A Fighting Chance.

* “In political terms, a deceased ex-husband is better than a living one.”–Amy Chozick, New York Times.

* “In politics, there are three basic categories. There’s campaigning, there’s governing and there’s talking about it. The easiest of the three is talking about it. It also pays the best.”–Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and Republican presidential candidate who hosts a cable show on Fox News and a radio program for Cumulus.

* “In an ideal world, I would not say that John was the best candidate, but in the world we live in I would say he is the best candidate.”–Former Florida State University President Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte in nominating state Sen. John Thrasher for FSU president.

* “It’s a big loss. The city’s going to miss him.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn on the death of Al Austin.

* “He has given back to this community and to this country every day that I’ve known him.”–Former Mayor Dick Greco on the death of Al Austin.

* “I’ve been waiting for this one. This is good.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, reacting to the announcement that Jeff Vinik and partners had filed a rezoning application with the city to build a proposed 400-room hotel on a parking lot just west of the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

* “Local (non-chain) businesses bring more money into your community.”–Maryann Ferenc, owner of Mise en Place restaurant and co-founder of the Tampa Independent Business Alliance.

* “It’s good for the city; it’s part of my job to be involved in a big event in the city.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman on taking part in the St. Pete Pride festival.

It was understandable that the Julie Schenecker double-murder trial would draw inordinate media coverage, including CNN’s Nancy Grace, the harridan from media hell. And it was, alas, inevitable that live streaming and Twitter would be coverage staples.

But societal reflection isn’t precluded just because these are the times we live in.

Trials in real time, as any court reporter can attest, are tedious proceedings. But when this one wasn’t, it wasn’t just because there was psychiatric conflict. It was also because it was uncomfortably horrific and tragic. That there is a viable audience for this sort of up-close-and-personally-wincing coverage speaks volumes, modern media era notwithstanding. Voyeuristic seems too polite a word.

Call me old-school. I’ve been called worse.

As a former teacher, certain things pedagogical still resonate like nails defiling a blackboard. Teaching to a test. Money rewards for “high-achieving” schools, no matter how much affluence influenced the achievement. Overuse and misuse of AP courses.

There are others, but I’ll just note one more. The well-intentioned practice of honoring teachers, who increasingly struggle for professional respect in this society, in ways that, ironically, underscore the challenge and undermine efforts to address it. Case in point: the dedicated Greco Middle School teacher who earned this year’s Hillsborough County We Deliver award for employees who exceed expectations.

She was presented with a $10,000 check–after being sprayed with silly string by students. Of course it was in celebratory, congratulatory fun. But you know what the media chose to depict in the photo. The image, context notwithstanding, was not helpful to those typically underpaid, underappreciated and under scrutiny.

* “Like the great wall and bedrock that embrace us today, nothing can ever break us.”–President Barack Obama, during the opening ceremony for the National Sept. 11 Memorial Museum.

* “Ukraine is a middle power living next to a giant bear, and Vietnam is a middle power living next to a giant tiger. Ukraine is struggling with how to deal with a declining Russia that is looking for dignity in all the wrong places–like in Crimea–and Vietnam is struggling with how to deal with a rising China that is looking for oil in all the wrong places–like in Vietnam’s territorial waters.”–Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times.

* “As Vladimir Putin is to Ukraine’s sovereignty so are Islamic militants to the rights of women everywhere.”–Ann McFeathers, McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

* “We must study if the current interpretation of the constitution is sufficient in order to protect the people and their peaceful lives. … There is a misunderstanding that Japan will return to a country that wages war, but that will never happen. Japan sticks to its pacifist pledge it has kept since the end of the war.”–Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

* “It is an important election because the trend in the counting shows that old ideas about caste, religion and region have not been relevant. … The youth across India have voted for change, and Modi represented that change.”–Indian author and political analyst Dipankar Gupta, on the election of Narendra Modi, Hindu nationalist and economic reformer, as India’s next prime minister.

* “An undesirable consequence of the (Supreme) Court’s partisan divide is that it becomes increasingly difficult to contend with a straight face that constitutional law is not simply politics by other means, and that justices are not merely politicians clad in fine robes.”–University of Texas law Professor Justin Driver.

* “I get most of my news, probably, driving back and forth to work, on the radio. Talk guys, usually.”–Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

* “In a true financial panic, the moral imperative is to ignore moral hazard and first put out the fire. This is counterintuitive. It feels deeply unfair.”–Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

* “If she has brain damage, I must be in really bad shape, because she’s still quicker than I am. There’s nothing to it.”–Former President Bill Clinton, defending Hillary Clinton after Republican strategist Karl Rove suggested she might have suffered a “traumatic brain injury” in 2012.

* “If Jeb’s last name was Brown instead of  Bush, I think he would be the (Republican presidential) front-runner today.”–Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.

* “We’ve got more than 100,000 bridges that are old enough to qualify for Medicare.”–President Barack Obama.

* “I think all science deserves skepticism.”–Sen. Marco Rubio.

* “The new heroin population is whiter. It’s not inner city; it’s suburbia.”–James Hall, a drug abuse epidemiologist at Nova Southeastern University.

* “It’s silly, childish and frankly, rude. It’s galactically stupid.”–Former Gov. Charlie Crist, on the Florida Council of 100 withdrawing its invitation to speak at its spring meeting in Orlando.

* “This was not just an outlier–a rose amongst thorns. It’s starting to have the look of a trend of an accelerating jobs recovery.”–University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith, on the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity report that showed more jobs (34,000) created last month than any month in the past three years.

* “We’re excited about bringing more than 1,000 jobs and being part of the local community. We expect to find a great work force here.”–Amazon spokeswoman Nina Lindsey.

* “Local (non-chain) businesses bring more money into your community.” Maryann Ferenc, owner of Mise en Place restaurant and co-founder of the Tampa Independent Business Alliance.

* “Tampa International Airport is part of the Tampa Bay area, and we should be reflecting the Tampa Bay brand.”–TIA spokeswoman Janet Zink.

* “It’s good for the city; it’s part of my job to be involved in a big event in the city.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, on taking part in the St. Pete Pride festival.

Tampawas well referenced in Sunday’s New York Times–and, no, it had nothing to do with the Schenecker trial or the murder-suicide/fire at James Blake’s Avila house.

In the context of a Travel section piece on the understandable downturn in American tourists visiting Russia these days, mention was made of Tampa-based Exeter International, a “luxury travel agency” that has been organizing custom trips to Russia since 1992. The Arts & Leisure section had a biographical sketch of Calvin Royal III, part of the American Ballet Theater’s “new blood” now performing at the Metropolitan Opera House. The Business section feature, “What You Get,” included a 13,000-square-foot, chateau-style Tampa Palms (Reserve subdivision) house, six bedrooms, six-plus bathrooms, that is selling for $3.5 million ($265 per square foot.) For what it’s worth–and if you have to ask, etc.–taxes are nearly $44,000 plus $10,200 in annual association fees.

* “Most presidents make their name in foreign policy by taking on strong enemies; but most of what threatens global stability today are crumbling states. Exactly how many can we rescue at one time? I’d love to help Ukrainian reformers build a functioning democracy, but the reason that is so daunting a task is because their own politicians wasted two decades looting their own country.”–Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times.

* “China is the second-largest economy on the planet. If growth slows there, it affects everybody.”–Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, on news that China’s growth “slowed” to 7.4 percent in the first quarter.

* “The defining fact of China in our time is its contradictions. … It is home to two of the world’s most highly valued Internet companies (Tencent and Baidu), as well as history’s most sophisticated effort to censor human expression. China is both the world’s newest superpower and its largest authoritarian state.”–Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China.

* “The commitments we’re announcing prove that there are cost-effective ways to tackle climate change and create jobs at the same time.”–President Barack Obama.

* “Oskar Schindler gave me my life, but Steven Spielberg gave me my voice.”–Celina Biniaz, who was one of the Jews saved by Schindler.

* “… I think that we have to rein in what has become an almost article of faith that anybody can have a gun anywhere, any time. … And I think you can say that and still support the right of people to own guns.”–Hillary Clinton.

* “It’s time to burn the beret and bury the blue dress.”–Monica Lewinsky.

* “So obtuse has become the (Republican) Party’s dialogue on climate change that it’s now been reduced to believing or not believing, as if it were a religious mantra.”–Jon M. Huntsman Jr., chairman of the Atlantic Council and former 2012 GOP presidential candidate.

* “Want the military to never go to war? Make it a military that can never lose any war.”–U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.

* “Although the term ‘affirmative action’ is commonly used to describe colleges’ and universities’  use of race in crafting admissions policies, I instead use the term ‘race-sensitive admissions policies.'”–U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

* “I promise tonight will be both amusing and over quickly, just like (Chris) Christie’s presidential bid.”–Comedian Joel McHale, at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

* “Technology is way ahead of the science. We’re creating this stuff, and we don’t understand the implications.”–Dr. Maciej L. Goniewicz, assistant professor of oncology at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, on the growing popularity of e-cigarettes.

* “I couldn’t be consistent with myself and my core beliefs and stay with a party that was so unfriendly toward the African-American president, I’ll just go there.”–Charlie Crist.

* “It’s never more than 10 months until the next session.”–Florida Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville.

* “Demographics are clearly on the side of Democrats in Florida. … Most of the key components of the Republican electorate are in decline; the key components of the Democratic coalition are in ascendancy.”–Darryl Paulson, professor emeritus of government at USF-St. Petersburg.

* “Rick runs our state like a CEO because that’s what he is, and that’s what we need. And that’s why our state is thriving.”–Attorney General Pam Bondi, introducing Gov. Rick Scott at the Hillsborough County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner.

* “We’re working on so many things together. But exports, the international strategy, we felt there was every opportunity for us to do it better if we do it together.”–Rick Homans, Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp. CEO, on the formal announcement that Hillsborough and Pinellas counties have formed the Tampa Bay Export Alliance.

* “If we’re going to attract progressive types of corporate businesses, mass transit is an issue.”–Mark Mondello, CEO of Jabil Circuit Inc.

* “We can be really critical, but we should step back and realize we have a lot of good things here. … That’s why we doubled down and invested in Tampa Bay.”–Bob Dutkowsky, CEO of Tech Data Corp., on why Tech Data decided to expand its Tampa Bay headquarters.

* “The PTC (Public Transportation Commission) needs to go away or adapt to the times. They have a horse-and-buggy mentality in an iPhone era.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

The list of societal stuffI don’tget is long enough. Now add this: live streaming and Twitter following of the Julie Schenecker, first-degree, double-murder trial. Trials in real time, as we know, are tedious proceedings. But when this one isn’t, it’s because it’s uncomfortably horrific and tragic. That there is an anticipated, viable audience for this speaks volumes. Voyeuristic seems too polite a word.

* I’m a fan of PolitiFact and PunditFact. I salute the Tampa Bay Times for its proactive, staying-on-task enterprise in an increasingly challenging media marketplace. Both PFs help to out and hold accountable those who abuse public political forums. The more tools the better, because the longer a misleading statistic or a calculated misstatement goes unchallenged, the more likely it is to become de facto reality.

But there is, of course, wide discretion in choosing–cherry-picking, if you will–targets. Not all, no matter how topical, are equally worthy of valuable space and research–and reader–time. A recent PunditFact example: Former NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s comment about racism on ABC’s This Week.

“More whites believe in ghosts than in racism,” noted Abdul-Jabbar. There was at least a hint of tongue-in-cheekiness in this “fact.”  As well as in Abdul-Jabbar’s “validation”: “That’s why we have shows like Ghostbusters and don’t have shows like ‘Racistbusters.'”

For the record, Abdul-Jabbar’s statement was found to be “mostly false” on the Truth O Meter.

* Once again it is time for Time magazine’s annual paean to marketing and what remains of newsstand appeal: its “100 Most Influential People” issue. There’s something inherently weird with any list, however necessarily eclectic, that includes Barack Obama, Beyonce, Pope Francis, Janet Yellen, Vlad Putin, Miley Cyrus, Kim Jong Un and Megyn Kelly. But it also includes John Kovac.

John who?

Graduates of Tampa’s Jesuit High would know. Kovac’s a Jesuit alum and the son of former USF College of Engineering Dean Mike Kovac. John Kovac is now a Harvard-based astronomer credited with leading the team that has validated the “Big Bang” theory.

Too bad we’re not asking Miley who?

* “Why is it that everybody is so eager to use military force after we’ve just gone through a decade of war at enormous cost to our troops and to our budget? And what is it exactly that these critics think would have been accomplished?”–President Barack Obama, in response to those advocating the funneling of weapons to Ukrainian soldiers.

* “Clearly the Russians have declared NATO as an adversary, so we have to begin to view Russia no longer as a partner.”–Alexander Vershbow, deputy secretary-general of NATO.

* “The Republican Party will adapt, evolve or die.”–Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., at Harvard’s Institute of Politics.

* “Trickle-down economics could have been true. It just happened to be wrong.”–Thomas Piketty, author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century.

* “Universities and colleges are institutions of learning and research that do not have customers; instead they have multiple stakeholders, including students, faculty, administrators, parents and the public. … In business, the bottom line is measured in profits; at a university the bottom line is measured in the extent to which we promote the common good through research and teaching.”–John W. Traphagan, professor of religious studies at the University of Texas.

* “Too many of today’s graduates are more familiar with the Kardashians than the Kennedys, with Lady Gaga than Lady Macbeth. To further highlight our misplaced priorities, a Google search for Justin Bieber produces 400 million hits–more than 10 times as many as a search for William Shakespeare.”–Daniel Burnett, press secretary of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

* “Be wise, because the world needs more wisdom. And if you cannot be wise, pretend to be someone who is wise, and then just behave like they would.”–British author Neil Gaiman, at a commencement speech at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts.

* “In a very, very, very deep place I’m secure. And on the surface, secure. But somewhere in there, I need 20,000 screaming people a night to feel normal.”–U2’s Bono.

* “Americans are both deeply religious and profoundly ignorant about religion.”–Stephen Prothero, author of Religious Literacy.

* “House Republicans actually give John Boehner a harder time than they give me. Which means orange really is the new black.”–President Barack Obama, at the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner.

* “There is a belief, which is just not true, that women are just in bad occupations and if we just put them in better occupations, we would solve the gender gap problem.”–Claudia Goldin, Harvard University labor economist.

* “Walgreen Co. is considering a move to Switzerland after buying a stake in Swiss pharmacy company Alliance Boots GMBH. Yes, your corner drugstore would like to take your copay, bill your Medicare policy and then pay its taxes in Switzerland.”–Al Lewis, Wall Street Journal.

* “We need to see people other than ourselves in order to empathize. If we don’t live around others, we do ourselves and our society damage because our ability to relate becomes impaired. … It’s nearly impossible to commiserate with the unseen and unknown.”–Charles M. Blow, New York Times.

* “It turns out that several of the states with the most fiercely contested midterm races also boast some of the highest sign-up numbers for Obamacare. … In Florida, some 983,000 people are now signed up. … This is in a state where the Democratic candidate for governor, Charlie Crist, is running on a very pro-Obamacare message.”–Greg Sargent, Washington Post.

* “I don’t regret that decision at all.”–Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford, on leading the House’s opposition to Medicaid expansion.

* “One person’s turkey is another person’s eagle.”–Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Coral Gables.

* “When you become too engrossed in pet projects, the system finds a way to utilize that to get you to do other things. When you don’t care about a pet project, it’s easier to stand on your principles.”–Minority Leader Perry Thurston, D-Plantation.

* “My vote against the budget is symbolic for what’s unfinished.”–Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach.

* “That park is vastly underutilized, inefficient and the neighborhood deserves better. It blocks the river completely and is not as safe as it could or should be.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park.

* “Quite frankly, it’s less than luxurious, and it’s very difficult to be here all day.”–Rays’ manager Joe Maddon, on having to play a split doubleheader in Boston, where Fenway Park’s visitors’ clubhouse is notoriously small and cramped.