Category: News

Wednesday, September 08, 2004 2:05 PM With two months left before the presidential election, what kind of coverage can we expect from the national news media? Did the media become obsessed with the Swift Boat controversy because it was sexier and easier than examining John Kerry’s and George Bush’s differences on economics and health care? Where have the bright spots been so far? Four experts in politics and media will tackle these questions in “Bush-Kerry: How’re We Doing?”, ”a Los Angeles Press Club panel on Wednesday, Sept. 8, at the…

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Thursday, August 19, 2004 2:06 PM WHO: Amy Alkon, Emmanuelle Richard, Cathy Seipp and the L.A. Press Club invite you to… WHAT: A party for Luke Ford, who has just published two books: “XXX-Communicated: Rebel Without a Shul,” a memoir about his years reconciling his Orthodox Judaism with his Matt Drudge-style coverage of the San Fernando Valley’s biggest Industry; and “The Producers: Profiles In Frustration,” a collection of his favorite interviews with Hollywood players. WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 19, from 7-10pm. WHERE: The fabulous rooftop pool of the Wyndham Bel-Age Hotel…

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Thursday, August 19, 2004 2:01 PM WHO: Amy Alkon, Emmanuelle Richard, Cathy Seipp and the L.A. Press Club invite you to… WHAT: A nonpartisan election eve party celebrating the publication of the new book “All the President’s Spin,” by the Spinsanity guys: Ben Fritz (who writes for Variety in L.A. and so will be at the party), Bryan Keefer and Brendan Nyan (who do not live in L.A. and so, alas, will not.) WHEN: Monday, Nov. 1, from 7-10 p.m. WHERE: Nic’s Martini Lounge in Beverly Hills, 453 N. Canon…

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Wednesday, August 04, 2004 2:08 PM In late June, the BBC put out new editorial standards. The BBC wants to prevent another “unfounded report” like the one last May from reporter Andrew Gilligan. On live radio, Gilligan suggested that British officials knew the claim that Iraq could use WMDS within 45 minutes was weak. Gilligan relied on an off-the-record conversation with scientist David Kelly, who later commited suicide. The BBC’s new standards make editors, reporters, anchors, and producers more accountable. They call for limited use of anonymous sources; better note-taking;…

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Saturday, July 17, 2004 8:26 PM

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Saturday, July 17, 2004 7:58 PM BY DIANA LJUNGAEUS A few months ago Donna Barstow and Yael Swerdlow met at a Press Club book party and posed for a photo together. Now, these two Press Club club members have both achieved new milestones. Donna has a cartoon book of her own out, and Yael has launched a new career as director of media rela- tions for the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles. The 8 Ball took a moment to catch up with these two busy women. Yael Swerdlow…

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Saturday, July 17, 2004 7:44 PM BY BOB BAKER You may make more money than Lance Orozco, but he knows what counts: He runs a one-reporter opera- tion, wears blue jeans to work, doesn’t put on a tie, covers the stories he wants to—and is the newly crowned Los Angeles Press Club Radio Journalist of the Year. “We’ve all worked for big news entities and we’ve all said, ‘Boy, if I were covering the news, I know what I’d do,’” says Orozco, 46, the reporter/news director of KCLU-FM, the public-radio…

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Saturday, July 17, 2004 7:38 PM BY JON BEAUPRE It’s a fact: nothing has shaken up the world of journalism so much since Mr. Guttenberg invented moveable type. Not Jayson Blair, not Stephen Glass, not Jack Kelley. Those guys were one-offs who will (hopefully) be object lessons for journos the world over. Blogging, however, could change the meaning of news and journalism forever. (At this point, every contemporary article on the subject explains that ‘blog’ is short for ‘web-log’, a form of online interactive journal, but then you already knew…

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Tuesday, July 13, 2004 2:08 PM WHAT: Los Angeles Press Club invites to a Q & A with David Brock, Founder of MediaMatters.org. Co-sponsored by PR Newswire. WHO: David Brock originally gained notoriety as the closeted gay conservative who wrote the “Troopergate” story about Bill Clinton and a scathing book about Anita Hill. Since then, Brock authored Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative, a New York Times best-seller about his training as a political conservative. His next book, The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It…

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Wednesday, July 07, 2004 2:09 PM Last year, Australian Sue Smethurst was stopped by border guards at LAX, questioned, handcuffed, probed, held in a detention center for 15 hours, and then sent back on the long flight home. Was she plotting a terrorist attack? No, she was coming to interview Olivia Newton-John. Similar rude surprises have awaited at least 20 journalists from countries such as France, England, Germany, and the Netherlands since last May, when some L.A. border control personnel began enforcing the previously ignored Journalist Visa requirement for reporters…

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