Category: Media Watch

* “We’re within reach of strategically defeating al-Qaida.” Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

* “Citizens of the more affluent, fiscally conservative Northern European countries are fed up with pouring billions of their tax euros into the coffers of Southern European states they see as irresponsible, spending too much, retiring too early and not saving enough.”–Frida Ghitis, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

* “Quite simply, we lost our way.” Part of an editorial apology in the last issue of the scandal-closing British tabloid News of the World.

*”If not now, when?”–President Barack Obama on a deficit-fix deal.

* “The struggles of the next few weeks are about what sort of party the GOP is–a normal conservative party or an odd protest movement that has separated itself from normal governance, the normal rules of evidence and the ancient habits of our nation.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “Space leadership is highly symbolic of national capabilities and international influence, and a decline in space leadership will be seen as symbolic of a relative decline in U.S. power and influence.”–Scott Pace, former associate NASA administrator.

* “Her staff, which is not ready for prime time, is not serving as a filter to protect her from eager but misinformed supporters, and from herself.”–George Will, Washington Post, on Michelle Bachmann’s penchant for fact gaffes.

* “Teacher education is a low-status field in universities, even within education schools. Too often, admissions and graduation standards are weak. …”–Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and former president of Teachers College at Columbia University.

* “There is little to no relationship between an individual’s willingness to admit ignorance and his or her tendency to offer opinions.”–University of Cincinnati political scientist George Bishop.

* “We spend more than $7 billion providing Head Start to nearly 1 million children each year. And finally there is indisputable evidence about the program’s effectiveness, provided by the Department of Health and Human Services: Head Start simply does not work.”–Joe Klein, Time magazine.

* “Liz (Taylor) and Dick (Burton) were famous, but they weren’t easily accessible. They defined charisma before politicians and political consultants cheapened the term.”–Gerald Rafshoon, movie producer and erstwhile media adviser to former President Jimmy Carter.

* “In the past decade many (Puerto Ricans) have moved to Central Florida, mainly to Orlando and Tampa, where Puerto Ricans now number approximately 850,000. Unlike the mostly blue-collar and unschooled Puerto Ricans who immigrated to New York and other points north in the 1940s and 1950s, today’s newcomers support statehood and lean Republican.”–Luisita Lopez Torregrosa, Los Angeles Times.

* “Despite the criticisms of former Gov. Charlie Crist, no one can levy any attacks upon him for the way he handled the BP oil spill. …It is now July 2011, and the billion-dollar-plus bill owed to Florida remains unpaid. The reason? (Gov.) Scott does not want corporate America to pick up the check even when the wrongdoing is clear, the damages apparent and the need for payment never greater.”–Tampa attorney Steve Yerrid, the former special counsel to the governor regarding the Deepwater Horizon Oil disaster.

* “In the meantime, if she needs extra cash, Casey (Anthony’s) criminal defense lawyers might consider giving her part-time work baby-sitting their children and grandchildren.”–John Kass, Chicago Tribune.

* “I think we showed them we’re not backing down, we’re not scared of them, them and their $180 million payroll, we don’t care.”–Baltimore pitcher Kevin Gregg on the recent physical confrontation between the Orioles and the Boston Red Sox.

* “The rhetoric of campaigning is not necessarily the reality of governing.”–Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “Sort of a cross between Walking Tall and Barney Fife.”–Ex-Ray and Hall of Famer Wade Boggs on his role as a Louisiana deputy sheriff in Swamp Shark, a Syfy network movie.

In the end, Casey Anthony was convicted of being a liar. Intentionally misleading criminal investigators is not the typical MO of a not-guilty suspect, but hardly a capital crime. More like a misdemeanor. Thus, a stern finger-wagging, not the death penalty for first degree murder, will, in effect, be her sentence.

The jury, which did not ask to review any evidence, chose not to meet with the media immediately after deliberating for 11 hours before rendering its verdict. Not surprising, given that the media’s first blind-siding question would have been: 

*”Any of you–in your gut–really believe she didn’t kill her daughter?”

*Followed by: “Why do you suppose she misled law enforcement?”

*And then: “Any problem with the defendant not taking the stand — or would the testimony of a proven liar have been of no value?”

*And finally: “Was your six-week cloister a factor in your quick turnaround?”  

But the code of silence will be broken. The jurors will tell family and friends about the deliberations and they, in turn, will tell others. The media will keep at it. Why not at least control what would otherwise be second- and third-hand attributed comments? And why not get paid for it?

As deplorable as it is, checkbook journalism was alive and, well, disgustingly on display in the Anthony case. ABC paid Casey Anthony a 6-figure sum three years ago when the case made national headlines for all the obvious reasons. They even coughed up money to interview the witness who discovered the body. The victim’s grandparents were paid by CBS News. And more.

Now the jury will be approached. And re-approached. Even the Chilean miners, who made an existential pact to stay together on their story, experienced splinters. It’s human nature. It’s the marketplace. It’s show biz. It’s appalling. It’s a fitting dysfunctional extension of this case.

Ghost writers and producers are already in the queue. 

In the end, Casey Anthony was convicted of being a liar. Intentionally misleading criminal investigators is not the typical MO of a not-guilty suspect, but hardly a capital crime. More like a misdemeanor. Thus, a stern finger-wagging, not the death penalty for first degree murder, will, in effect, be her sentence.

The jury, which did not ask to review any evidence, chose not to meet with the media immediately after deliberating for 11 hours before rendering its verdict. Not surprising, given that the media’s first blind-siding question would have been: 

*”Any of you–in your gut–really believe she didn’t kill her daughter?”

*Followed by: “Why do you suppose she misled law enforcement?”

*And then: “Any problem with the defendant not taking the stand — or would the testimony of a proven liar have been of no value?”

*And finally: “Was your six-week cloister a factor in your quick turnaround?”  

But the code of silence will be broken. The jurors will tell family and friends about the deliberations and they, in turn, will tell others. The media will keep at it. Why not at least control what would otherwise be second- and third-hand attributed comments? And why not get paid for it?

As deplorable as it is, checkbook journalism was alive and, well, disgustingly on display in the Anthony case. ABC paid Casey Anthony a 6-figure sum three years ago when the case made national headlines for all the obvious reasons. They even coughed up money to interview the witness who discovered the body. The victim’s grandparents were paid by CBS News. And more.

Now the jury will be approached. And re-approached. Even the Chilean miners, who made an existential pact to stay together on their story, experienced splinters. It’s human nature. It’s the marketplace. It’s show biz. It’s appalling. It’s a fitting dysfunctional extension of this case.

Ghost writers and producers are already in the queue.

A recent issue of Money magazine gave a nice travel plug to Clearwater, noting “the temperature averages 83 degrees in July–a few degrees cooler than Miami–and the gentle gulf is just as warm.” In particular, Money recommended a ferry hop to Caladesi Island for “unspoiled seashore,” Fort De Soto’s North Beach “for kayaking and standup paddle-boarding,” and Clearwater Beach, “where the promenade is lined with shops and restaurants.” It included an appropriately picturesque, color photo of the Sheraton Sand Key Resort.

Not that we need reminding, of course, but sometimes it helps to see how others see us.

* “The indicators show unequivocally that the world continues to warm.”–Thomas R. Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center.

* “There is no Chavismo without Chavez. It is a personal project, and it lives and ends with him.”–Anibal Romero, political science professor at Simon Bolivar University, on the prospects of Venezuela’s “socialist revolution” continuing without President Hugo Chavez, who recently returned from Cuba where he underwent cancer surgery.

* “The states had extraordinary power under the Articles of Confederation. Most of them had their own navies and their own currencies. The truth is, the Constitution massively  strengthened the central government of the U.S. for the simple reason that it established one where none had existed before.”–Richard Stengel, Time magazine.

* “Obama’s actual governing style emphasizes delegation and occasional passivity. Being led by Barack Obama is like being trumpeted into battle by Miles Davis. He makes you want to sit down and discern. But this is who Obama is, and he’s not going to change, no matter how many liberals plead for him to start acting like Howard Dean.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “We can’t save Medicare as we know it.”–Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn.

* “Three years after the meltdown of our financial markets, it’s clear who is winning and who is losing. Wall Street–arms outstretched in triumph–is racing toward the finish-line tape while millions of American families are struggling to stay on their feet. … There seems to be no correlation between who drove the crisis and who is paying the price. … With tens of millions still unemployed, isn’t it time to shift from an economy based on money making money to one based on money creating jobs and genuine prosperity?”–Phil Angelides, chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.

* “Worn out by the rampant sexting of Anthony Weiner and the relentless blogging of (New York) Archbishop (Timothy) Dolan, I’m wondering if our institutions need to rejigger: Maybe pols should be celibate and priests should be married.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “I grew up in that environment. I know people can afford it.”–Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, who was born to wealth, on why he has been adamant in pushing for higher income taxes on the wealthy to help address his state’s $5 billion budget deficit.

* “She has in her power the ability to prevent a real shift in the balance of power on the court.”–Edwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California at Irvine law school, on the implications of 78-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg retiring before the next presidential election.

* “You’re doing a lot of things people had hoped you would do, and yet (your) approval rating recently has not been stellar. And I’m stunned as to why.”–Mike Huckabee on Gov. Rick Scott’s low approval ratings.

* “Our current political policy seems to be the way you create jobs is to make us the cheapest and least regulated state in the nation. I think that’s absolute stupidity.”–Former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham.

* “Believe it or not, we’ve never had a master plan for the city’s core.”–Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn on using a $1.2 million HUD grant to create a master plan covering downtown, Ybor City, Channelside, Tampa Heights, Riverside Heights and North Hyde Park.

Nice complimentary spread on Tampa in a recent “Weekend Getaways” feature of the Palm Beach Post. It emphasized this city’s “eclectic” mix of enticing venues. In particular, “cozy” Hyde Park, “waterfront” Channelside, the “sparkling” International Plaza and Bay Street district, and Ybor City, the “flashing historic grand daddy of Tampa nightlife.”

Among those prominently quoted: Travis Claytor, spokesman for Tampa Bay & Co.; Steve Lavelle, general manager of the Green Iguana bar in Ybor; and Dennis Trujillo, general manager of the Latin-themed restaurant and bar Ceviche in SoHo.

Approximately one in five Americans smokes. That figure hasn’t changed since 2004. So the Food and Drug Administration has upped the ante on cigarette-pack warning labels. They will now be graphic–far removed from those parental-like admonitions of the 1960s that dispassionately noted that “Cigarettes may be hazardous to your health.”

In order to get the attention of this country’s 46 million smokers, especially teenagers, the FDA is ramping up a fear and loathing campaign. It will range from disgusting images of diseased lungs and rotting teeth to a corpse and will cover the upper half of cigarette packs. Nine different images in all.

Maybe that will whittle down the estimated 443,000 deaths per year in the United States linked to tobacco use. Maybe it will lower the casualty rate in Florida, now estimated at 30,000 annually. Maybe.

The biggest challenge–and the foremost priority–is kids. As in deter them from ever starting. But there remains considerable skepticism that teens–a demographic often without intimations of mortality–might not be won over by scare-tactic labels. Hell, their video games are more graphic.

Well, then, here’s another choice to add to the other nine. Try scaring and insulting. To scare is also to dare. But to insult is to belittle. Combine words with an image. For example, over the photo of the guy with the tracheotomy: “I Buy These Because I’m Stupid.”

If not, then try to balance the budget with an obscene excise tax.

* “It may turn out that Iraq will be the only country in the region with a representative government. But would I have recommended fighting for 10 years in order to achieve this? I would have said no.”–Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

* “In response to all the rumors, I can testify that the president is recovering in a satisfactory manner.”–Adan Chavez on reports that his brother, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is recovering from emergency (pelvic abscess) surgery in Cuba.

* “Jon Huntsman is making a point of being civil, saying, ‘I don’t think you need to run down somebody’s rep in order to run for the office of the president.’ To Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, the shadow leadership of the GOP, such restraint smacks of wimpy accommodation–or treason.”–Margaret Carlson, Bloomberg News.

* “Apparently, I actually have to commit suicide to convince people I’m not running.”–New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

* “Whereas Ron Paul criticizes U.S. interventionism in tropes familiar to the left–anti-imperial blowback, manipulation by neocons, moral equivalence–Rand Paul merely says America doesn’t have the money.”–Matt Continetti, The Weekly Standard.

* “When a church embraces a political party and becomes politicized, they lose their prophetic voice.”–Jo Anne Lyon, general superintendent of the Wesleyan Church, a member of the National Association of Evangelicals.

* “Drug policies here are more punitive and counterproductive than in other democracies and have brought about an explosion in prison populations. At the end of 1980, just before I left office, 500,000 people were incarcerated in America; at the end of 2009 the number was nearly 2.3 million. There are 743 people in prison for every 100,000 Americans, a higher portion than in any other country and seven times as great as in Europe.”–Former President Jimmy Carter.

* “History textbooks are badly written. So politically correct as to be comic.”–Historian David McCullough.

* “The U.S. armed forces knit together whites, blacks, Asians and Hispanics from diverse backgrounds, invests in their education and training, provides them with excellent health care and child care. And it does all this with minimal income gaps: A senior general earns about 10 times what a private makes, while, by my calculation, CEOs at major companies earn about 300 times as much as those cleaning their offices. That’s right: The military ethos can sound pretty lefty.”–Nicholas Kristof, New York Times.

* “There’s a difference between an economy not sprinting forward and one that’s going backward. This is an economy that’s walking forward instead of sprinting.”–Jeffrey Rubin, Birinyi Associates investment firm.

* “Let me be clear: Tax hikes are off the table.”–House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

* “Governors and presidents generally get too much credit and blame for job creation or losses.”–Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron.

* “How cool is it to be making history: the first Republican presidential campaign to be headquartered in Florida.”–GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman.

* “Renewable energy is a market that was shunned for a number of years. The general climate for renewable energy has changed.”–Jeff Adams, vice president of Tampa-based Griffin contracting and point man in the effort to build Pinellas County’s first major solar farm.

* “Downtowns are about density.”–Former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.

* “Diversity is always an issue in Tampa. We have a few tokens, but it’s not nearly the representation of the numbers in the community.”–Former Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman.

* “The citizens don’t care that I’m a woman, and frankly they don’t care I’m a lesbian. They want their city to be safe.”–Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor.

* “Remove hockey from the equation. Had he chosen another business, he would be a phenomenal businessman there, too.”–Tampa Bay Lightning CEO Tod Leiweke commenting on Bolts’ general manager Steve Yzerman.

* “China is not a nation where public anger collectively seeks to topple the existing order. It is time to debunk this ludicrous lie.”–The Global Times, a tabloid linked to the Communist Party of China.

* “I will always be an advocate in terms of wars of necessity. I am just much more cautious on wars of choice.”–Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

* “(Defense Secretary) Gates’ patience with the Europeans is, understandably, just about exhausted. Two decades after the Soviet Union disintegrated and the Red Army went home, America is still carrying 75 percent of the NATO burden for the defense of Europe.”–Pat Buchanan, Creators Syndicate.

* “You remember a few years ago I was saying ‘thank you’ to the foreigners for their help; every minute we were thanking them. Now I have stopped saying that. They’re here for their own purposes, for their own goals, and they’re using our soil for that.”–Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

* “That we would build bridges in Baghdad and Kandahar and not in Baltimore and Kansas City absolutely boggles the mind.”–Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

* “Unless we get health care inflation under control by replacing the perverse fee-for-service incentive structure, there will be no money for anything else.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “Our goal shouldn’t be to ‘save Medicare,’ whatever that means. It should be to ensure that Americans get the health care they need, at a cost the nation can afford.”–Paul Krugman, New York Times.

* “In case there was any remaining doubt, Monday’s session underscored just how conservative the modern Republican Party has become, whether one hails from Ron Paul’s libertarian wing, Bachmann’s Tea Party caucus, or the mainstream establishment of Romney and Pawlenty.”–Carl Cannon, Real Clear Politics.

* “Our party cannot be all things to all people. It can’t be. Our loudest opponents on the left are never going to like us, so let’s stop trying to curry favor with them.”–Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

* “We just live in such a ‘What have you done for me lately?’ culture, and it’s tough when you’re trying to get credit for something that didn’t happen–we didn’t have a depression.”–Jonathan Alter, author of “The Promise: President Obama, Year One.”

* “The bias of the mainstream media is toward sensationalism, conflict and laziness.”–Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart.

* “I’ll be looking for other ways to contribute my talents.”–Former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner.

* “We are not in normal. There is nothing normal about politics right now. This is wide open.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe assessing the GOP presidential candidates.

* “There are boys with little life experience running the nation’s fourth-largest state.”–Nancy Argenziano, former Republican state representative and member of the Florida Public Service Commission.

* “I don’t think it’s rocket science. There’s a way to do this and a way to do it right.”–Florida House Redistricting Chairman Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.

* “I think the message of  ‘Wonderland’ is still a good one and it’s uplifting–that you have to look at your life as a blessing and not as a lot of problems.”–Judy Lisi, president of the David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts.

Thought here is: Would that any of us could be so honored on the way out.

How fitting that Tom McEwen’s farewell send-off was one for the ages–before a standing room only crowd that ranged from Manny the barber (Huerta) to Eddie the billionaire (DeBartolo). Here a Frank Morsani and Barry Cohen. There a Jon Gruden and Bryan Glazer. Mayor Bob Buckhorn: check. Former Mayor and political icon Dick Greco: check. Members of the media who weren’t there to cover it: check.

Imagine, a central casting, Irish-brogued MC, aka Monsignor Laurence Higgins, for immortal perspective and humor. Hall of Fame athletes–guys named Spurrier and Selmon–as eulogists.

Net effect: Lots of vintage war stories and many more smiles and laughs than tears. Even allowing for a moving, bagpiped version of “Amazing Grace.” A true celebration of a life well lived. From working behind the scenes to catapult Tampa and Tampa Bay into the big time to enduring suffering with uncommon grace and wit.

And one final agenda item.

We’ve all been following that ongoing stadium saga involving the city of St. Petersburg, the Tampa Bay Rays and the need for an enlightened, regional self-interest scenario. It was recently noted that investment funds affiliated with a Denver individual responsible for putting together the Colorado Rockies baseball stadium deal have purchased land in the Channel District. Then last week Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan raised stadium-centered speculation about community redevelopment areas and tax increment financing.

This area is reaching a point where the Rays, on record as saying they will not stay the (2027 lease) course on staying in outmoded, geographically-challenged Tropicana Field, will force the issue. St. Pete is obviously not inclined to take one for the (regional) team. It may come down to Tampa or Charlotte or San Antonio or Las Vegas or even more metro New York. Chances are the water will continue to be a “big divide,” as Stu Sternberg has pointedly noted.

So, Tom McEwen, call home.

P.S. Sorry to bother you while you’re working that celestial room, but those folks already know all about you.

Tom McEwen, as many have been reminding us, embodied another era. He was an activist/ journalist who did a conflict-of-interest tap dance to advance the best interests of his community.

But being the avatar of old school also had other aspects. The anecdotal details are countless. Here’s just one:

Back in the pre-pro football day, Dick Greco was part of the influential civic group that was wooing the NFL in order to win an expansion franchise for Tampa Bay. McEwen was their consummate insider who cultivated key contacts within the NFL ownership clique. The same clique that would  determine who would get the next (two) expansion teams.

McEwen was, of course, doing as much up-front chronicling as back-stage orchestrating. He was with the other Tampa operatives in New York for the actual announcement by the NFL in 1974. The mood at the Drake Hotel was confident–a key “source” indicated Tampa was in–but you never know. When the announcement was official and Tampa Bay was, indeed, named, McEwen was there to capture the dynamics of the moment and send the story back to Tampa ASAP. He quoted everybody up there from Tampa. Including Greco.

But Greco wasn’t there. He had a conflict and had to fly out on business earlier.

They met up later in Tampa.

Greco: “Tom, you quoted me, and I wasn’t even there.”

McEwen: “I know, but that’s what you would have said.”

Greco: “You’re right.”

That was then. This is not. In so many ways.