Bill Conlin: A Lifetime in Sports. And a Story For Every Day.

JUST STUMBLED ACROSS this video tribute (above) to Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin, a Temple grad who was honored with a Lew Klein Award last week.Conlin is an icon in Philadelphia sports. There's no ethical question here. But listen to the dude. There's great stuff in these vide...

Marc Zumoff: "When You're an Intern, You're in The Farm System."

MARC ZUMOFF WAS not the most popular kid in high school when he was growing up in Northeast Philadelphia. He was heavy and socially awkward. "I wasn't really that dynamic," Zumoff said.That lasted into his time while a student here at Temple. Now, however, he gets paid to talk about basketball as the voice of the Philadelphia 76ers. He's one of around 30 professional basketball play-by-play announcers in the country. He gets front row seats, flies...

Can A Reporter Have An Opinion?

CAN YOU ROOT for a cause and report on it at the same time?That's the situation that Philadelphia Daily News reporter/ editor/ blogger Will Bunch finds himself. He has reported on the Occupy movement while at the same time, he serves as a fellow at a left leaning think tank. He's been tweeting his support for the Occupiers. Is there anything wrong with that?“I think my editors are really proud to have someone writing with a point of view," Bunch...

Steve Esack: "Any Assignment I Do, I Do to The Best of My Ability."

STEVE ESACK HOLDS a grudge.The Northeast Philly native went to the Community College of Philadelphia before transferring to Temple (c/o '96). He took a reporting job at a weekly newspaper in the 'burbs before landing a gig at the Philadelphia Daily News. As a desk clerk. He answered phones and delivered mail. But he wanted to be a writer. When he approached the executive editor of the newspaper, the editor told Steve, "You won't get anywhere because...

Can The Public Really Help The Newsmakers?

A NEWSPAPER IN THE UK is now posting their story budget for the next day's paper, hoping that readers will see the story list and contribute to it.Is this a good idea?"What if readers were able to help newsdesks work out which stories were worth investing precious reporting resources in?" the national news editor of The Guardian wrote yesterday. "What if all those experts who delight in telling us what's wrong with our stories after they've been...

Can You Say That On-Air or In Print?

LAST WEEK, THE Washington Post discovered that, for many years, presidential candidate Rick Perry leased a hunting camp that he had a racially offensive nickname for. Here is the lead of the Post's story:In the early years of his political career, Rick Perry began hosting fellow lawmakers, friends and supporters at his family’s secluded West Texas hunting camp, a place known by the name painted in block letters across a large, flat rock standing...

When Are the Protesters Newsworthy?

Protesters have camped out in New York City since September 17, and more than 1,000 have been arrested so far.During the first week of the "occupation" by a group organized under the banner "Occupy Wall Street," there was virtually no coverage by the mainstream press."The recent protests on Wall Street did not involve large numbers of people, prominent people, a great disruption or an especially clear objective," NPR's executive editor told their ombudsman, the person in charge of determining whether the network has performed properly.Media coverage...